It was a law that the second week of anything was the breaking point.
When it came to dieting, you wanted to give up as it entered the second week, and training centers began serious hazing during that time too.
Just before heading into the second week, I gave Emika a firm warning.
“From now on, it’s the real deal. If you mess up, you could fall into a slump or get the yips.”
Yips, localized dystonia.
It occurs when the increase of anxiety and pressure leads to overthinking one’s movements, disrupting the automatic process.
It’s often seen in pitchers because the human throwing ability is a highly evolved act of intelligence developed over a long period.
In the past, they would wonder, how far I should stretch my arm, is this how I should move my legs?
Doubts about oneself start to amplify, and performance worsens.
Once abilities engraved at the genetic level begin to falter, it takes a long time to recover.
You must never lose yourself in any situation.
“Yup…! I’m ready!”
Emika’s prowess was at the threshold of ‘Imaginary Internalization Stage.’
She knew how to completely control her body and sought to expand around her.
“You’ve probably just considered executing perfect moves until now. Now you need perfect responses. Hold your Kodachi and close your eyes.”
Vision is both a blessing and a curse to humans.
The world is three-dimensional, but the image captured on the retina is two-dimensional.
Therefore, misunderstandings of distance happen quite frequently among fencers.
Standing in front of the scarecrow with a katana, Emika set her stance.
“Do whatever you can. Ideally, try your best technique.”
“I will demonstrate Kasuminotachi, one of the four techniques of Omotenotachi.”
From a suitable distance, Emika adopted an upper stance and lifted her sword high.
The first move, she lunged forward in an instant and thrust her blade towards the scarecrow’s neck.
The second move, simultaneously slipping her body at an angle to anticipate a counterattack, she drove her sword down, and for the third move, she hacked down again to the empty top of the scarecrow.
If the attack was blocked, the fourth move would defend against a low counter, and using the Ogazumi stance, she would fend off the upper attack of the fifth move, finishing it with a sixth upper fake and a seventh thrust.
With such confidence, every movement was seamless.
Had she executed this technique without mastering it, even a middle school student at the academy would have fallen at her first strike.
Now it was time for my coaching.
“You can open your eyes now. Do it just like me.”
I stood in place of the scarecrow, holding a children’s wooden sword.
“Isn’t it dangerous, even if it’s a wooden sword? Unless you’re using extreme measures, you can’t block this attack—”
“Why are you rambling so much?! Just do it already!”
“Nene!”
Replicating the first move, I lightly stepped back to create distance.
Emika confidently moved in diagonally and struck with her sword.
Clang!
“Uh-oh?”
But my sword didn’t bounce off; it stuck perfectly to her saber.
Using wrist strength, I pushed the sword aside and swung the wooden sword strongly towards her forehead.
Thud!
“If you can’t apply what you’ve practiced, what’s the point of memorizing it a hundred times?!”
Bang!
“Aaaah!”
The wooden sword collided with Emika’s skull, creating a melodious sound.
“Listen well, Sister Emika. Sparring isn’t the Olympics. We don’t fight with the same weapon or under the same conditions. Didn’t I warn you last year and you haven’t fixed it at all?”
“But I didn’t think the sword would stick…”
“Can you be a professional who uses aura and not consider its rebound coefficient?!”
[Integration: Iron-Oxide-Aluminum-Magnesium]
[Casting Level 2: Thermite Reaction]
[Release: Thermite Reaction]
I created a lightsaber again and crossed it with the other sword.
Hum—
“It’s just passing through the sword?”
“Depending on the density of the aura and its properties, the characteristics of the sword can be infinitely changed. Someone wanting to handle such a sword should not have biases about it. Like I’ve said multiple times, a sword is just a sword.”
As I sighed deeply, Emika’s gaze fell sorrowfully to the ground.
“Ugh, this is hard…”
“I’m feeling frustrated too.”
“But I can’t consider every situation, can I?”
“Of course not. What I mean is to break down time. Your processing speed is excellent. However, each of your movements is unnecessarily big and slow. It’s meaningless if the established technique isn’t executed quickly. So, break down every nuanced movement to respond instantly to any variable.”
Predictions belong to the realms of psychological warfare and luck.
You shouldn’t rely on probabilities for your life no matter how many rounds you play in a fighting game.
“The one who makes the last decision wins. That’s the essence of sparring.”
In the end, sparring is nothing more than rock-paper-scissors.
Of course, if you have an incredibly strong pair of scissors, you’ll cut through fists.
Otherwise, every contestant is not free from strategizing.
Just knowing that your opponent might throw a cloth gives you the confidence to throw scissors.
“Get up, let’s try again.”
There’s nothing more effective than pain when correcting mistakes.
After all, humans are animals at heart.
Whenever Emika’s arm or her center of weight in her calves fell out of place, I corrected her with the wooden sword.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“Who taught you that awful way of teaching?”
“Our master did.”
“Really? That guy should learn it the hard way too.”
“…!”
It was as if Emika’s mouth fell open as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have.
“What’s wrong with that? There’s nothing to worry about. While there’s no right answer in martial arts, there are certainly wrong ones.”
In the end, Emika sat down on the bare floor, wiping the sweat flowing like beads.
You could see her whole body covered in bruises.
I started gathering my things to head home.
“Is this the end for today?”
“Yep. If we continue, I might get mad and hit you.”
“Chii, you’ve already hit me plenty.”
“If you ever get hit properly, you might change your mind!”
Emika pouted her lips with a distorted face.
“The national exchange match? It’s nothing. Who was last year’s champion again?”
“Ashvin Ramakrishnan. An Indian kid. He can’t participate this year due to age restrictions.”
“Right, I remember he looked to be at a similar level as you, so if you just slap him a few times with a…”
“Na-me-ya, Na-me-ya.”
“Huh?”
“What was the moment you awakened your imaginary world? No one in this world awakened their aura before you.”
I hesitated for a moment, unable to mention my past life.
But would it really be okay to slightly adapt that story?
“I had a younger sister, you see?”
“Younger sister? Orphanage sister?”
“Sort of. The circumstances were similar to an orphanage since there wasn’t really anyone around. Anyway, the neighborhood had poor security, so there were plenty of bad people. Then, one day, my sister got kidnapped.”
“Gasp! What happened to her…?!”
Emika covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes serious.
“The end of a kidnapping is usually obvious, right? She died.”
“Ah…”
“We found the criminal quickly too. He turned out to be a pathetic human.”
“Something so sad happened to you… Did that guy end up in prison?”
“No, I killed him.”
“… What?”
“I beat him to death until he died.”
*
Lysianthus, tulip, dahlia.
This year, I once again bought three types of flowers to visit my mother.
I prayed in front of the urn for a long time.
I chatted about what had happened in the past year through a child’s voice.
How I saved my friend Baek Ah-rin from the strange grandfather of Duri Do, and how I met a poor female student and an elite couple at Korea University.
My mom might not remember all their names, but I listed down Baek Bong-gon, Daniel, Shin Yeon-ho, and Ban So-wool one after the other.
To lighten the mood, I told her about trips abroad that I couldn’t go on, and I shared news about my feature in the Genius Discovery Team.
Though I did get swept into a bomb scare in the middle, I lied about receiving a clown box so that my mom wouldn’t worry.
After having fought with Professor Cheon a few times, we reconciled, and I had finally started calling him Dad, which felt a bit awkward.
I even accidentally broke the treasure of a major Japanese faction, and during the Academy Competition, I didn’t hold back in smashing the heads of up-and-coming students.
Especially, I wanted to go to Neverland with my mom so badly, and the lack of an opportunity made me tear up.
I’ve been busy rushing around to film commercials to earn money for Adella’s bounty, and I was secretly pleased that the healing magic I researched in my past life had been developed into medication.
Though I regretted missing traces of Valpurgis, I was relieved that the feared 7-circle spells had been cast without a hitch.
Recently, I had my head spinning due to a tax investigation, but it all went by smoothly, and the Sports Day with friends became a cherished memory.
I confessed to being quite busy lately, assisting Emika with her training.
“Thanks for listening today too.”
Before I exited, I suddenly noticed the eight empty slots around Seol-ah’s urn and felt uneasy.
The columbarium side left those spots empty as a token of gratitude towards me, but didn’t that make Seol-ah seem like a loner?
I recalled friends and acquaintances who had passed away in my previous life one by one.
My biological mother, Tenebraia, my cute sister, Niobe, the three members of the hero party Klaus, Sylvia, and Remilia, plus my mentor, Maria, and the chief commander, Luri, made seven people in total.
‘One seems to be missing. Hiasen, I’ll just consider you dead too.’
Considering the mess the country had turned into, a civil revolution must have occurred at some point.
Then precisely eight people would be accounted for.
I wasn’t particularly inclined to memorialize them, though.
There was no sense in heightening my guilt; having decided to focus on this life, I accepted the past life as just that.
As I was leaving the columbarium, I received a call from Emika.
“Hello, Sister Emika? What’s this about at this hour?”
“It’s Koizumi Yoshihiro.”
“Oh, what’s going on?”
A sharp voice came through, making me wonder if she had caught the flu.
Why was my master calling me through Emika’s phone?
“Miss NoName, it would be best if we conclude your lessons with the heir here. If you leave your account number, I can remit the fee for the six sessions later.”
“Excuse me? Hold on a second, why the sudden announcement?”
“The young lady wishes to no longer continue her education.”
That unexpected remark made me knit my brows.
“Is that Emika’s opinion? What’s the reason she’s giving?”
“The young lady’s opinion has been fully reflected. We may not know the reason, but surely Miss Na-me is aware, no?”
Could it be…
Did she actually decide to quit just based on that single remark?
Looking back to recall any other incidents, the only time her expression had soured was just when I mentioned it.
“Can I at least hear the reason she’s quitting? Would it be alright for me to drop by tomorrow?”
“Just a moment… Is that alright? Yes, they confirm it’s fine.”
“Okay then, I’ll swing by right after the academy ends.”
Sigh…
Taking care of a child is truly difficult, isn’t it?
*
‘I’m sure it wasn’t a lie…’
Emika had a good eye for detecting lies since she was young.
Watching the elderly from her family who eschewed causing trouble, one could see that the movement of the aura differs subtly depending on whether they were sincere or not.
“Katsuhata, if something like this happens again, just tell me before the head of the family, not him. Do you know how awkward that was?”
“I’m sorry. It just so happened that the head of the family was right in front of me…”
“I never imagined you’d be so disappointing, having listened well to the heir’s education. Was your pride really hurt by learning from a nine-year-old?”
“It’s not that.”
“Na-me is coming in as well. Let’s hear the reason.”
Na-me entered the Hanok Hotel reception room, still dressed in her academy uniform.
Emika and Master sat side by side on the sofa, while Na-me pulled out a chair opposite to them and sat down.
“Why the sudden desire to quit? Did I push too hard? I didn’t realize you were struggling since you’ve been following along so well.”
It truly was unreasonable to say that Na-me’s education was incredibly difficult.
Such a level of training was hard to find even within the Katsuhata Sect.
Yet, the fact that Na-me was speaking so calmly about having killed someone painted her as an object of fear itself.
If Na-me had been an adult, Emika probably would’ve thought that it was truly fortunate that the perpetrator had died right then.
‘Na-me is only eight years old…’
That exceeded even the bounds of childhood.
A child wearing the guise of a monster or perhaps a demon.
The guilt of only being able to consider Na-me in that light added to Emika’s resolve to quit her training.
“Is it true that you killed someone?”
Emika asked in a voice smaller than an ant.
Koizumi Yoshihiro’s white eyebrows shot up oddly.
Na-me, receiving the question, nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.
“What? Was that the reason? Of course, it’s a lie; I’ve never killed anyone!”
Na-me’s Aura Heart didn’t waver even a bit.
In other words, it was the truth.
‘What the… why is this true? Was I mistaken?’
Emika’s cheeks turned bright red.
She felt foolish for suffering through it for three whole days.
“What kind of story are you telling?”
Koizumi Yoshihiro asked, arms crossed.
“Oh, Katsuhata asked me how I awakened my External Manifestation. I told her that there was someone I really wanted to kill, but I awakened it as a result.”
“Hm… Awakenings through anger are quite rare, but they aren’t nonexistent. Some can act rationally in the face of emotion.”
“Then what you told me…!”
“Of course, that’s just an exaggeration.”
Na-me smiled softly.
The aura swayed slightly.
It was neither truth nor lie, but ambiguous.
‘It’s not so much an exaggeration, but she indeed didn’t kill anyone after all?’
Emika racked her brain diligently.
That much was within a range Emika could accept.
“So, you’ll attend class again today?”
“Yep, I’m sorry for misunderstanding…! I feel like I was possessed by something.”
“Then I’m relieved. How does Koizumi-dono see it? Do you think Katsuhata has improved a lot?”
“She has learned to grasp the higher techniques of the clan herself. If I’d known the synergy between geniuses would be this strong, I would have had them meet much sooner. By the way, Miss Na-me, do you have any thoughts on joining the Katsuhata Sect?”
“You already know that I’m happy as I am now.”
“Understood. I’ll rely on you from now on.”
Koizumi and Na-me exchanged a handshake of trust.
