[Title: Should I hug you differently...]
Unlike the sleepless first day of boot camp, I woke up refreshingly, stretching after a good night's sleep.
Seeing the faint light coming in through the window, it must be sunrise.
When I opened the door and headed to the porch, I saw Master sitting cross-legged.
The soft light shining on her face and her hair fluttering in the dawn breeze made me just stare blankly at Master.
Master's fox ears twitched toward me.
"Ki (Qi) flows through all things in the world."
It wasn't polite to ask 'S... Suddenly?', so I decided to just listen attentively.
"It goes without saying for humans, even the wind riding the mountains to rise to the sky..."
Wind gathered at the tips of her hands elegantly spread out.
"Even in the streams carving through rivers to advance to the sea..."
As if soothing the wind running wild here and there, she grasped and pulled it, and it was quietly sucked into her body.
"Ki also flows in the land where life blooms."
Haze rose above the twitching white ears.
"Since you move by borrowing the Ki of Heaven and Earth every time you breathe in and out, you must always be grateful to nature in using your body as a furnace to temper Ki."
The haze became a flower bud shedding soft light, then bloomed fully.
At the sight that felt like something a supreme expert would do, I clapped and responded.
—Clap clap clap clap!
"Waaaa!"
Pride rising simultaneously.
'My Master!'
Master smiled pleasantly and jumped up from her spot.
"It will be arduous training... Have you made up your mind?"
"Yes!"
"You won't become strong overnight. Do you have the confidence to endure?"
"Yes!"
"Good! Since I will give you a single spark, grow it to make the world hot!"
"Yes!"
She's cute.
The raised chin, the tail wagging vigorously, and the eyes glancing at me.
'She was this kind of character?'
Seeing Master putting her hands on her hips and grinning, laughter leaked out.
As we were smiling pleasantly looking at each other, Master cleared her throat.
"Ahem! Let's start training right away! 100 laps around the yard!"
Hmm, as expected, the national rule of training is running.
I nodded obediently and ran around the yard.
Master nodded with a smile and sipped tea she pulled out from who knows where.
"Huff... Huff..."
"Still 50 more laps left~"
Since the yard wasn't big, I thought it wouldn't be that difficult...
—Dadadada... Whoosh...
"Huh?"
As I ran diligently, my feet gradually started to float and speed began to pick up.
—Whoooosh!
Master, who was sipping tea elegantly, had her eyes go wide.
"Lightness Art (Gyeongsinbeop)...?"
Even the feeling of stepping on the yard's soil was erased, and just swinging my legs propelled my body forward 쭉쭉.
I wondered if training could be like this, but I couldn't control it either.
As I was running at such high speed, Master appeared in an instant and grabbed my shoulder with a thud.
"Grass-skimming Flight (Chosangbi)! No, it's different! Void-treading Step (Heogongdapbo)!"
I regretted not reading martial arts novels diligently...
"Yes?"
Master swung her tail and started groping my whole body.
"Ki is still at beginner level, and there's no Internal Energy... How did this happen?"
"Master?"
I flushed red from embarrassment, but Master grabbed my shoulders and shook me vigorously.
"Child! How did you do that just now? By any chance have you learned martial arts?"
"Master... I'm getting motion sick..."
"Didn't you say you had no memories? Is the body remembering? There was definitely no grain! No, how can you do Void-treading Step with this level of energy!"
I feel like words I can't understand are being shoved into my head.
Breathing roughly, I shouted to Master whose eyes had become scary.
"I... I don't know how I did it!"
"W... What did you say?"
"It just happened as I ran! Actually, a while ago I was being chased by a black slime..."
"You just ran?"
"Yep!"
Master's expression became serious, then she thrust her hand into empty air.
"????"
'Inventory? Subspace?'
From the magic-like space, Master took out two wooden swords and handed one over.
"Here, try copying the movements I do."
"Ah, yep."
Holding the sword in a daze, I stared blankly at Master.
"The swordsmanship I will show you from now on is the Three Disasters Sword... I'll explain later. First, Mount Tai Crushes the Crown (Taesanapjeong)!"
—Vwooom!
A posture of straightening the back and striking down with the sword from top to bottom.
—Swish
When I followed the simple movement, Master nodded and took the next posture.
"Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies (Hoengsocheongun)!"
A horizontal cut extending the arm straight. Following Master, I drew a line sideways with the wooden sword.
"Immortal Points the Way (Seoninjiro)!"
This too was simple. Stepping forward and putting weight into it, puk. Just a thrust.
As I stared blankly at Master with my arm extended, Master put her hand on her chin and said to me.
"Try doing these movements I taught you continuously."
"Yep!"
I don't know what she wants to check, but I just did as ordered.
—Swish swish swish!
"Hmm..."
—Swish swish swish!
"Hoh..."
—Swish swish swish!
"Um?"
It bothers me for no reason that interjections are attached every time I swing.
Feeling like Master is shouting 'You have no talent' inside my head...
When I swung the sword until sweat poured down like that, Master nodded.
"Stop, good work. Hmm..."
The ambiguous reaction of tilting her head; it bothers me so much I can't stand it.
"Master... If I have no talent, please tell me. I will accept it humbly."
Master, who was lost in thought, waved her hand and said.
"Th-that's not it. First off, the talent itself was excellent. The position of the hand holding the sword, the pinky finger firmly wrapping the handle, the back and legs following naturally... However..."
Oh? Am I good?
"For a child who did Void-treading Step just now, how should I put it... it's bland?"
"Is... Is that so?"
"Right. Steps contained mysterious profound principles that even I couldn't recognize, but the swordsmanship was just... just good."
So to summarize, it seems the effects are lacking.
Still, I heard that I'm good, but I don't know if I should be happy about this or not.
Master, seeing my face, was startled and squished my cheeks with both hands.
"D... Don't make such a face! I said the swordsmanship itself was excellent? I-It's because I was too surprised at first so don't mind it..."
"I unnerstand..."
"R-right! Child, it might be because there's no opponent. Let's have a sparring match."
Master? It's my first day today though?
Whether my thoughts were written on my face, Master held the sword and smiled slightly.
"You have to know the feeling, and sparring is the best for getting interested. It's okay to go as hard as you want, so try attacking!"
I felt like she was diverting a disappointed child's attention elsewhere but...
"Then I will start!"
I couldn't help getting excited at the word sparring.
I attacked Master with the movements I just copied.
—Swish
"That's it~"
—Swish
"Doing well~"
—Swish
"Fufu."
Even though I put quite a bit of strength into it, Master blocked and deflected my attacks as if looking at a cute child.
Master's interjections were embarrassing, but if I complained here, I felt I would become a real brat, so I just let it be.
Also, the soft voice is nice to hear...
Master, who was blocking attacks like that, gave a variation.
"Now, this time I will attack so try blocking well. Top to bottom~"
Contrary to the soft tone, the attack coming toward the top of my head was quite fast.
—Whoosh
Since she told me how she would attack, I lifted the sword over my head and blocked.
—Clack!
The cheerful sound of wooden swords clashing, a thrilling sensation transmitted through my hands.
"This time sideways~"
—Whoosh
—Clack!
"Doing well~ This time a thrust~"
'Thrust? How do I block a thrust?'
Should I parry the sword? Which direction? Both sides? Up and down?
I, who couldn't think of the option to dodge, panicked and put strength in to parry the sword sideways but...
—Swish-sh-sh-sh!
"Uh?"
The moment my blade touched Master's sword face, my arm vibrated and bent at a bizarre angle.
As the sword was sucked in, Master's wrist twisted, and Master opened her eyes wide and rotated her body.
—Whirrr!
"Uh-uh? Uh?"
When Master, who spun continuously in the air, landed and swung her sword at the ground, the yard was torn apart, making a brutal sound.
—Craaaaaaack!
I don't even know what happened. Just now my arm... Come to think of it, Master?
"M... Master!"
Master opened her eyes wide and dropped the sword from her hand.
"Profound principles of Absorption (Heup), Curve (Man), Union (Hap), Rebound (Tan)...? What is this... Grand Shift of Heaven and Earth (Geongondaena-i)?"
'Heupman... Yes?'
As I couldn't understand what she was saying, Master approached and grabbed my shoulders.
Master's tail wagged vigorously, her eyes sparkled, and her face turned red as her lips twitched.
Even while doing so, stomping her feet, she was like a puppy who didn't know what to do because it was so happy.
"Child! Where did you get that! No! Genius is not enough! You are a prodigy sent down by the heavens!"
Master wrapped her arms around my neck, screaming and jumping up and down.
Crazy... Master's huge breasts started rubbing against my body.
"Genius! Prodigy! A monster sent down from the sky! My disciple! My disciple! Kyaaak!!"
Master's sweet scent rushed in hook, but my neck was pressured before I could smell much of it.
"Kugh! Breath... Breaaath...!"
"Harin-ah! Are you watching! Your sister has obtained a fortuitous encounter of the ages!!"
Without even a moment to be embarrassed by all the fuss, I just craved the decreasing oxygen.