27. Taeryeong Divine Art (7)
As the days passed, my proficiency with Taeryeong Divine Art rose sharply. At first, I had to sit still and concentrate for a long time before I could use it, but now I could manage it even while jogging lightly to some extent.
Of course, using it while running required even more time to gather concentration, so it was still difficult to use in the middle of a fast-paced battle.
In wuxia novels, people freely used things like mind methods and movement arts, so I'd thought of them as passive abilities that activated automatically, but in reality they demanded considerable effort and practice.
On top of that, using Taeryeong Divine Art and Mana Concentration simultaneously in real combat was still almost impossibly difficult.
But the power was undeniable.
I could say with confidence that if I could just concentrate mana into my sword, I would be able to tear through at least a 3-Class Shield with ease.
That said, it was still too early to relax just because I'd caught up somewhat to the protagonists.
Apparently, in the divine beast space the other day, the trio of female protagonists had displayed 4-Class magic.
That was by no means easy, even for those at the 3-Class level. Their potential to grow into 4-Class had been flung wide open, allowing them to forcefully use power at roughly the 4-Class level.
Having experienced magic one step above themselves, they would reach 4-Class before long, and Hae Wonryang—who had already been pushing himself to his limits under the effects of darkening—along with Ma Yuseong, was also scheduled to arrive at that realm very soon.
There were all sorts of reasons, but in the end, the surest method for the future was for me to become stronger. So without being satisfied with my current level, I continued to train steadily.
The Magic Combat Practice curriculum conducted personally by Instructor Lee Hanwol was brutal as hell, but it was the kind of class one could hardly receive anywhere else, so I participated seriously too.
Setting aside the fact that it helped with practicing Taeryeong Divine Art, people who could both fight as well as Lee Hanwol and teach as well as Lee Hanwol were extremely rare.
Well, that was probably why he was in charge of S-Class.
Magic Combat Practice started with developing a sense for identifying the range of target spells, then moved on to controlling areas, taking advantageous positions even in unfavorable circumstances, striking at openings in the opponent's awareness, and all sorts of other things…
really, all sorts of 'tutorials.'
To be honest, I already knew all of it.
No—more than knew it. Back in the game, I had even taken those things and developed them in my own way, posting my own strategy guides about them on the community several times.
In other words, there wasn't anything particularly new in the content of the lessons themselves.
The only thing that mattered to me was the fact that I could actually carry out the practice.
Once the day's schedule ended, I headed straight for the training grounds.
I reduced strength training dramatically, down to about an hour a day. Now, breathing mattered more than muscle strength.
"Hup!"
Clank!
The moment I lowered the heavy barbell to the floor, a loud metallic sound echoed through the training hall.
"…You seem pretty lively these days?"
Apparently she'd come to work on her basic conditioning, because Eizel, her sky-blue hair tied up in a ponytail and sweat drenching her whole body, asked that in a casual tone.
"Yeah. Health is the best. If you wait until your back aches and your neck aches before working out, it's already too late."
"Are you an old man?"
"You could at least call me mature and wise."
"Ah… yes…"
Leaving her behind, I hoisted the barbell again with all my might and said:
"Hup! And if you take care of your health like this—hngh!—you can live long, stay healthy, and keep going!"
Clank!
"Huu. I'm dying here."
Since I'd more or less wrecked my muscles enough for the day, I wiped off my sweat with a towel, thinking I'd move on to Taeryeong Divine Art training. But somehow, Eizel was standing there with a dark expression, her head lowered.
"What. What is it this time?"
"…What? Ah, n-no. It's nothing. I'll… be going now."
"Suit yourself."
I waved a hand while chugging down a protein shake, but she didn't react and walked off in the same drooping mood.
"What's with her now…?"
Women's psychology really was something I'd never understand.
Once you'd learned the basic theory of magic combat to some degree, it was time to actually duel other students.
From this point onward, different classes would begin taking the class together. If you had rotten luck, F-Class and S-Class might be matched up to spar, or D-Class and C-Class might get paired off and start battling over their pride.
Today, S-Class and A-Class were having a joint class together. S-Class generally didn't care who they were matched with, but A-Class was a little different.
Because A-Class was the one that secretly paid attention to S-Class.
Among the students in S-Class, there were quite a few whose grades or rank were actually lower than those of students in A-Class, and because of that, many of the noble students in A-Class ground their teeth in resentment at the idea that someone who seemed to have nothing particularly outstanding, and who even had low status, could somehow be in S-Class.
It wasn't hard to understand.
If you had spent your whole life hearing you were a genius in a prestigious family, walked the elite path with total discipline, and even had top-level grades and rank, only to wind up in A-Class instead of S-Class, then of course you'd feel awful.
But the one paired against me was—
"Baek Yuseol. I've been hearing quite a lot of rumors about you lately."
"Uh-huh, thanks."
Yuslek Checoveilen.
The son of the famous Marquess Checoveilen family from the Scarlven Empire, and such a prodigy that he had ranked no less than 29th at Stella's entrance ceremony.
…That was his lore, anyway. Honestly, from my perspective, he was neither more nor less than 'Jeremy's sandwich errand boy.'
Among people who enjoyed Aiter World, there were, on rare occasions, players who took Jeremy's route and romanced him.
If you looked at screenshots from those players, there were some unintentionally hilarious moments: every time Jeremy prepared some surprise gift for the player or arranged something appropriate to the time and place, Yuslek and his retainers would appear in the background in tiny form, scurrying around doing errands.
Well, appearances aside, he was still the son of a prestigious house ranked near the top even within Stella, so I guess when Jeremy wasn't around, he liked to play king.
"Both sides, arm your staffs."
At the instructor's order, Yuslek and I leveled our staffs at each other.
He was a mage just entering early 3-Class, so if this had been the old me, winning would have been out of the question—I would've had to rely on some kind of trick no matter what.
But now things were different.
Today's goal was to defeat Yuslek perfectly.
Honestly, it might be a little difficult. I had gotten somewhat better at handling Taeryeong Divine Art, but whether I could really bring it out and use it in actual combat was something even I couldn't say for sure.
Still, that guy Yuslek had been continuously annoying me, directly and indirectly, by making the little underlings who followed him bother me, and I'd been thinking for a while now that I needed to put him in his place at least once.
Even as an adult(?), there was a limit to how much patience one could have.
"You should get beaten up a little today."
"…What?"
Yuslek's face twisted as though he couldn't believe what he had heard. I was sick of that same old aristocratic reaction by now.
Probably because I'd seen too much of Edmund Atalek acting like that in the past.
"Begin duel!"
The instant the instructor's signal dropped, Yuslek raised his staff.
"Blue current, rise!"
At once, a blue magic circle spread across the floor, and a small spiral of water surged upward, winding itself around Yuslek's body.
'Wow.'
As expected, a prestigious house really was a prestigious house. His casting speed was much faster than that of the second-year student I'd fought before.
Shwaaaak!
Because the practice hall was not a proper duel arena, the terrain was nothing but open flat ground.
Creating favorable terrain first made victory easier. But I had no such magic, and since it was flat land, I also couldn't run around and torment him like I had last time.
Not that I intended to.
Without activating the Telephon Sword, I slowly stepped sideways. Keeping a close eye on my movements, Yuslek floated two blue magic circles around his body.
He must have thought that if he attacked first, I'd use Blink to exploit the opening, so he was cautiously watching my movements.
The judgment itself deserved high marks: he underestimated me as a person, but not my actual combat ability.
But I wonder if he realized that this very caution of his was what would help me right now.
[Taeryeong Divine Art]
Mana is like the wind. It always exists, but you cannot see it with your eyes, and it cannot be grasped— it merely brushes past me and disappears.
I imagined catching the wind in my hand.
Catching the wind was impossible.
So instead, I imagined mana not as wind, but as water.
Flowing water was also hard to grasp in one's hand…
but at the very least, it was possible to let some gather in your palm.
If the mana that had always brushed past my body until now was wind, then now it was flowing water.
[Blood mana circulation rate is increased.]
Even though only a tiny amount of mana had gathered in my body, my senses rose to a startling degree. My five senses sharpened, and the movement of mana became clearer.
"…So you're not going to come first!"
Shwaak!
Unable to endure it any longer, Yuslek finally unleashed an entire waterfall at me.
"O blue current, surge into waves!"
A blue torrent crashed down, like a small wave rushing toward me. For a 3-Class mage, summoning that much water out of empty air where there was nothing at all was genuinely impressive.
But to me, it was not a particularly meaningful attack.
[Mana Concentration]
I focused all my mana into the Telephon Sword. Originally, the only magic I could cut through were shooting-type spells of 3-Class or below.
But now, I could try something slightly different.
Shwaaaaaa—!
A small-scale wave charged at me violently. It looked almost like a miniature natural disaster.
I slowly lowered my sword toward that wave. What I was about to do was not any kind of sword technique or formal move.
It was a brutally simple slash.
From below, to above.
A vertical cut.
And yet the impact of that simple slash was anything but simple.
…Shwaaak!!
Splash!!
As though Moses' miracle had occurred, the wave directly before me split apart, opening up a path nearly four meters long.
It wasn't just that I had split the wave itself. I had severed the circuit connecting the spell's very structure, so the wave instantly lost its force and collapsed.
"Wh-what…?!"
Only then did I begin to understand roughly what level I was at now.
Given enough time to concentrate while in top condition, I could cut through 3-Class magic as much as I wanted.
'That's incredible…'
Even I hadn't expected it to be this much, so I was a little surprised, but the practice wasn't over yet, so I couldn't stand there gawking.
[Blink]
The instant I quickly dug into Yuslek's range, droplets of water burst chaotically out of thin air. Since I had deliberately stepped into the area of his target magic, he used target spells just as I expected.
The advantage of target magic was that it cast quickly, but at the same time, it was very difficult to use another spell alongside it, and the follow-up delay was long, leaving the caster vulnerable.
I aimed for that weakness, intentionally baited out the target magic, dodged it with a single step, and swung my sword.
'Water Dragon Cannon.'
Shwaak!!
The flat ground rippled, and a stream of water shaped like a dragon burst upward, trying to swallow my entire body. But that too I cut apart with ease.
"Ghk!"
Yuslek slowly retreated while wildly swinging his staff. Blue magic circles appeared and vanished one after another, rushing at me.
A whip of water was said to be able to slice through even armor, but it never reached me, and a water cannon could shatter even rock to pieces, but the moment it met my sword, it split in half and burst uselessly like a water balloon.
As all his attacks were blocked, Yuslek gradually grew impatient and began firing off even stronger spells.
His magic was certainly excellent.
But that was his fatal mistake.
'No matter how unfavorable things become, never lose your composure' was the most important virtue in magic combat, and my aggressive advance had shaken him badly.
Of course, that was good news for me.
Unfortunately, keeping Taeryeong Divine Art maintained for long while also using Blink was still difficult even now, so if this turned into a prolonged battle, I might actually lose.
So I had to make full use of Yuslek's mistake.
[Blink]
"Ugh…!"
The moment I used Blink behind him, Yuslek hurriedly summoned a wall of water to his rear.
A Shield always had to maintain a flat form, so it could block only a single direction. But if you created a barrier using elemental magic, it had lower defensive power in exchange for making the issue of shape irrelevant.
But walls of water were effective when blocking fire or wind-type magic.
Against a physical type like me, they were of little use.
Without hesitation, I charged straight at Yuslek's back and swung my sword in a wide arc. The wall of water split into two under the Telephon Sword, packed full with Mana Concentration, and I was able to slash across his back.
"Kheok—!"
He sprawled forward in a thoroughly miserable fashion, and the match ended with me leveling the Telephon Sword at his neck.
"Practice complete. Both sides, lower your staffs."
At the instructor's command, I deactivated Telephon.
"Damn it…"
Leaving behind Yuslek, who clenched his teeth and grabbed at the ground in frustration, I turned and walked away quickly.
'As expected… it's still a little hard to use in real combat.'
Through this spar, I keenly realized just how lacking I still was. To the point that I felt ridiculous for having been so pleased over the increase in my swordsmanship's power.
It was only because my opponent had been Yuslek, someone still a beginner at magic combat. If I had faced someone who attacked with systematic precision from the very beginning, I might actually have lost instead.
It was hard enough just maintaining Taeryeong Divine Art, and the concentration time required to activate it was significant, making it difficult to bring out easily in real battle.
Thump.
I passed by after giving Yuslek—who had made me feel my own shortcomings so clearly—a light pat on the shoulder.
"Thanks."
"…What?"
He looked dumbfounded, as though he didn't understand me at all, but I meant it sincerely. A mage like Yuslek was more than enough to serve as an excellent sparring partner for reflecting on myself.
Read only on MugenCodex