Chapter 108 (1/2)

Chapter 108. Evil x.x.x

When morning dawned, Seol Jihu's eyes opened on their own. Just seven days ago, he couldn't wake up unless someone woke him up. His body had perfectly gotten used to the training schedule, so it shot up when morning came no matter how tired and exhausted it was.

When Seol Jihu dazedly stared into the air with only his upper body up, blood fell down from his nostrils.

“…Ah.”

He had gotten used to this by now. He wiped his nose clean before he rummaged through the medicine bottles and took out a healing potion and a stamina recovery potion.

He drank them down in one gulp. This was because they had the effect of recovering one's energy, although they weren't normally used this way.

The village head would be sad if he found out that his prized potions were being used as mere tonics, but Seol Jihu had no other choice. After all, he might have really died if he didn't drink them. And starting from today, there was a new bottle to drink.

Seol Jihu looked at the milky medicine bottle Jang Maldong gave him and grinned. From what he found out with the color of General Observation, this Competence had a four-times multiplicative effect for twelve hours.

Although it paled in comparison to the VIP shop's Competence, it was still nothing to scoff at. After emptying the bottle in one gulp, Seol Jihu marched out of the cave commandingly.

After breakfast.

For some reason, Jang Maldong ended the morning exercise early and dragged Seol Jihu to a large tree measuring more than two arms' width around.

“Originally, I planned to make you continue that death-inducing run until the day we go back.”

Seol Jihu flinched hearing his serious tone. He didn't doubt Jang Maldong for even a second.

“But it looks like you overcame a wall….”

It sounded like Jang Maldong knew his stamina broke through.

“Don't be too happy. People don't say stamina is the foundation to all strength for nothing. You're only getting started. Your freakishly high mana overshadows even some High Rankers, but your other stats are too low.”

He wasn't wrong. Even the difference between High-Low and Low-Intermediate couldn't be taken lightly, yet Seol Jihu's Mana stat was at High-Intermediate.

It would make some sense if he were a Magician who refined mana to materialize spells, but as a Warrior who mainly used mana to amplify his physical abilities, this abnormality posed a problem.

“Of course, that also helps you to exhibit strength well beyond your level and physical abilities.”

“Right, it does.” Seol Jihu agreed right away. “But the way you said 'freakishly high' makes it sound like it's a bad thing.”

“Isn't that obvious?” Jang Maldong chuckled and then crossed his arms. “Your mana might flow through your Circuit, but it's your body that is influenced by the mana's amplifying effect. Once or twice might be okay, but in the long term, it will have a negative effect on your body.”

“What do you mean by negative effect…?”

“Hmph, since you recklessly overwork your body all the time, you should have experienced it already…. A constant throbbing of the head, a sudden knot in your stomach, regular dizziness, or a sudden loss of strength…. Do any of these ring a bell?”

A sour look appeared on Seol Jihu's face, like he just bit into a bitter persimmon. The symptoms Jang Maldong described were everything he'd felt whenever he used his mana to the limit.

Seeing the youth's speechless face, Jang Maldong clicked his tongue.

“If the body is a car, then mana is the engine. If the engine overheats and explodes, the entire car will burn up.”

“Don't forget. Your engine is a time bomb.”

Seol Jihu's expression turned solemn.

'I see…. The reason for those strange symptoms was my engine screaming….'

Those were all things he hadn't thought much of until now.

“Let's cut the chit chat. Get in there.”

Jang Maldong pointed his cane at a large old tree, which had dozens of logs hanging from it. At first glance, they seemed to be positioned randomly, but the different direction and height of the logs were signs that they were placed with great care.

Seol Jihu walked until he was in the middle of the hanging logs. He looked around and saw a few bloodied logs.

'What training could this be?'

“Did you drink the Competence?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what the advantage of Competence is?”

Seol Jihu gave a simple reply at Jang Maldong's question.

“It's increasing the body's rate of improvement.”

“You're not wrong, but you're not entirely correct. If you use it that way, you're only making use of half of the Competence's effect.”

'Half?'

When Seol Jihu tilted his head, Jang Maldong grinned.

“The real effect of Competence is multiplying the efficiency of all activities of the body.”

Seol Jihu thought, 'Isn't that the same thing?' But he didn't say it out loud. The moment he did, he had a strong hunch that he would be smacked with a cane.

“It'll be better for you to experience it once than to hear it a hundred times. Perform the Thrust, Strike, and Cut.”

Rather than asking, 'Here?', Seol Jihu swallowed his saliva. The logs were definitely not hanging here as decorations. They were sure to come flying at him during the training. He could easily tell just from the way Jang Maldong grabbed one of the logs.

“Start.”

Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ Seol Jihu began to perform the spear techniques. After about twenty reps, a log came flying toward his left flank. As he had been on guard expecting something like this to happen, Seol Jihu immediately tried to avoid it by stepping backward. However….

Thwack!

“Uuk!”

Before he could even take two steps, he felt a blunt impact on the back of his head. He wasn't hit. He actually ran into it himself.

“Who told you to move?”

Seol Jihu rubbed his head and groaned at Jang Maldong's commanding tone.

“You can use your five senses or rely on your sixth sense. The goal of this training is to dodge without looking behind you.”

When he shouted, “Again!”, Seol Jihu hurriedly returned to the middle.

'I can't move from this spot.'

Although he constantly reminded himself, the same thing ended up happening on his second try. He was used to performing the three spear techniques in one spot, but having to pay attention to the logs added a whole new level of confusion.

Tk, tk, tk, tk! In the end, he was smacked in four different spots before falling. Clutching his head, he rolled around in pain.

“Nice going.”

“Come on, how am I supposed to dodge them if I'm not looking?”

“I never told you to dodge without looking. I told you to not look back.”

Jang Maldong continued calmly.

“I also told you not to move from that spot. But I never told you not to move at all.”

'Wordplay?'

When Seol Jihu stared at him with blinking eyes, Jang Maldong closed his eyes gently. He was boiling with anger on the inside, but he opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“Listen, brat. Stop trying to do things without a plan and use your head. Think about why you're investing your time into this training after drinking a precious Competence.”

He sighed and pointed the cane at him again.

“You're quite proficient with the Thrust, Strike, and Cut. As long as you get in the right form, you display a high level of spearmans.h.i.+p. But the problem is this — no matter the reason, if your form gets shaken up even a little bit, your level plummets. It no longer stays as spearmans.h.i.+p but devolves into a random waving. Do you know why?”

Shake, shake.

“That's because you have no experience. A true expert can block, parry, or dodge the enemy's attack, all the while counter attacking in the perfect spot.”

“You're saying my attacks are too honest?”

“Don't spout nonsense. Where'd you hear that? You can't even do those 'honest' attacks.”

Pummeled by cold, hard facts, Seol Jihu was at a loss for words and could only shrug his shoulders. Jang Maldong wasn't wrong. It wasn't like he could ask his opponent in the middle of a fierce battle, 'I'm trying to do a proper attack, so can you wait a moment? If possible, take a few steps back too.'

“I might be helping you train, but you're the one who is going to make something of it! If you find out what my intentions are in making you do this training and even pull off some level of success, then you'll end up with a great weapon in your hands.”

“A great… weapon?”

“Well… it will provide a foundation to correct your twisted mind, technique, and body.”

Jang Maldong wasn't the type of person to say things in vain. Seol Jihu became a little more serious.

“What are you doing? Get up.”

“Wait.”

“Wait? What, you don't want to train?”

“Five minutes, no, three minutes! Just give me three minutes. Let me think about something.”

Jang Maldong revealed a look of discontent, but he didn't say no. That was because he could tell Seol Jihu's att.i.tude had changed.

After reflecting on everything Jang Maldong said, Seol Jihu opened his mouth, “Sir, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“I know what the five senses are, but what do you mean by sixth sense?”

“…Hm.”

Jang Maldong dropped his head a little and a thin smile spread across his face.

'Good!'

The youth wasn't a genius who could understand ten things if he was taught one. But since he was at least trying to understand more than one, how could Jang Maldong not be happy?

“I'll give you an example. Have you ever felt like someone was looking at you? Even once.”

Seol Jihu went, “Ah!” There were indeed times like that. Was it in high school? When he was enjoying talking with his close female cla.s.smates, he often felt a stinging glare. And once he turned around, sensing that something was off, he would always see Yoo Seonhwa looking at him restlessly. He still didn't know why. After all, they weren't even going out at the time.

“Looks like you have. The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning – that's what I call the sixth sense.”

“And this sixth sense… it's something that can be trained?”

“If the reaction of your brain or your instincts are what's causing it, then why not? In the end, it's still a physical phenomenon.”

Seol Jihu exclaimed in awe inwardly. He finally understood why Jang Maldong made him drink the Competence. When he picked up his spear and got up, Jang Maldong also prepared himself.

“Start when you're ready.”

His signal also changed from 'start' to 'start when you're ready'. These three additional words made a whole world of difference.

Shortly afterward, Seol Jihu's spear began to stab and slice through the air. After another twenty reps….

A rope began to move. Seol Jihu didn't turn back to see where the log was coming from and only focused on the movement of the rope.

Soon, when the rope that was moving like a pendulum drew a horizontal line, he slightly raised his leg.

An abrasive surface brushed past his foot. That wasn't all. Tong! The sound of a log hitting something rang out.

'Left? No, is it a bit behind that?'

He wasn't sure. However, as soon as he heard the sound of something cutting through the air, he twisted his body. And as he spun, he stabbed forward with his spear.

“That's it.”

He heard a compliment for the first time. But before he even had the chance to rejoice, a b.l.o.o.d.y smell spread out from the right side. He reflexively turned his head.

“Good.”

In the next instant, his neck felt itchy. Maintaining a high level of concentration, Seol Jihu followed his instincts and lowered his head.

Swish. A sandpaper-like sensation brushed past his spine.

“Excellent!”

Jang Maldong clenched his fists. Like the saying, 'praise breeds willingness', Seol Jihu became more excited and heated up about the training.

Second week. The training entered a new phase.

The content of the training changed quite a bit, but the biggest change was that Jang Maldong began to add detailed advice no matter what training Seol Jihu did.

Even during weight training.

“The body can't just be tough. It needs to be made durable so that it can absorb or ward off impact. If it can't be bent like steel, there's a chance it will shatter.” He nagged about making the muscles more elastic.

Of course, he did more than just physical training. When the morning training ended, Seol Jihu began his mana training under the guidance of Jang Maldong.

“Flash Step is a technique in which you move instantly by using the elasticity that comes from bending your body like a bow.”

The h.e.l.lish muscle training ended, and Seol Jihu's ears perked up as he drank water while panting. He was expecting to begin Mana Spear training, but his interest was piqued after hearing the words 'Flash Step'. After all, who wouldn't be excited about learning a new ability?

“Since it uses your entire body, you can say it's closer to a body technique than a foot technique.”

Jang Maldong pointed at a large tree in the distance. This one was a normal tree that didn't have any logs hanging off of it.

“You see that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Prepare your Mana Spear.”

“Excuse me?”

He couldn't help but do a double take. Jang Maldong immediately gave a more detailed explanation.

“Use your Mana Spear to make each leaf fall off. Remember, it's one leaf per spear. Make sure your Mana Spear doesn't affect the surroundings of the leaf.”

“Then… I would need to make the spear small and weak.”

“Yes, the key is to consume minimal energy to create Mana Spears. Try it. It won't be easy.”

“Is there a point in doing that? The more mana I put in, the stronger Mana Spears—”

“That's precisely the problem.” Jang Maldong snorted.

“There are three goals for this training. The first is to fix your bad habit.”

“No matter who or what you're fighting, you tend to pour your mana in. Like I said before, if you don't stop now, your body will break apart in the future.”

“The second goal is a matter of efficiency. Since you always use all of your mana to defeat your target, you are unable to do delicate control. In other words, your control over mana is poor.”

Seol Jihu thought he was quite skilled at controlling his mana, so this came as a surprise. Although he nodded his head in agreement, he still had a few doubts.

“I understand what you mean, but what does this training have to do with Flash Step?”

He asked, figuring that the answer would be related to the third goal. However, Jang Maldong didn't answer outright.

“You know…,” Jang Maldong stared at him and grinned. “I've been thinking this for a while now, but you really are the type who needs to be taught ten out of ten things.”

“S-Sorry.” Interpreting Jang Maldong's words as him needing to be spoonfed, he hurriedly apologized. Jang Maldong shook his head.

“You don't need to apologize. You grew up on Earth, so it would be strange if you knew these things. Besides, it's not a bad thing to seek advice.”

He sighed disappointedly as he looked at Hugo, who was collapsed in the corner.