Atra announced at the start of the training that she had no preferences regarding special admission.
There was no systematic method; she said she would conduct training in a form close to real combat. She added that it would be so tough it would make you cry, so bear with it and follow along.
There was a bit of a lie mixed in there.
“No preferences regarding special admission.” That was a lie. In reality, she leaned slightly towards disliking it.
Teaching someone.
Not just any ordinary class, but personally teaching someone one-on-one brought up extraordinarily unpleasant memories for Atra.
Memories she didn’t want to recall anymore. But occasionally, she couldn’t help but think back to them.
If someone else had made such an offer, she would have told them to shove it and threw a fit. If they continued to talk, she would have socked them right in the jaw.
But the person making the offer was none other than the owner of the cradle. He was her benefactor who had helped her many times and was aware of her situation.
Still, if he made such an offer, she thought there must be some reason behind it, and reluctantly agreed.
Yet, doubts lingered. Was he talented enough to be brought in personally by the principal? She couldn’t shake the question of whether he was worth it.
Additionally, her personal feelings mixed in and tilted her view on this one-on-one training towards negativity.
“There’s no systematic teaching.” That much was true. Of course, Atra thought she had her own form of method to it.
No matter how crappy the situation was, at least she had to maintain some dignity.
On the first day, she assessed the basic physical abilities and willpower through running. It wasn’t impossible to measure in other ways, but she couldn’t expect much from a newly awakened superhuman.
“Barely acceptable.”
His physical capabilities were subpar. Even considering he had just become a superhuman, he was weak. At best, he was hanging on at the lowest tier.
His willpower… quite decent. He certainly had some stubbornness. But was he truly exceptional? Not really.
His innate ability was in the sensing category.
Being blind, yet having the basic functionality to manage daily life. She hadn’t done a precise measurement, but based on what she heard from Lee Ha-yul, she guessed his sensing ability was unusual and among the higher ranks.
On the second day, she had him run again to see how much he had grown through the blessing of growth.
Normally, expecting results overnight is insane. It’s extremely rare for anyone to make any significant growth in a single day. Even for someone who just became a superhuman, it usually doesn’t happen.
But with the blessing of growth, it wasn’t impossible. The cradle was a place where unconventional growth could occur. It’s no wonder young superhumans desperately wish to enroll in the cradle.
“Not bad.”
Compared to other students, his growth was indeed higher. But of course, it had to be higher than the average since he was admitted through special measures.
Next, she handed him a sword and conducted a simple test.
“Hm.”
Atra maintained a critical gaze but didn’t fabricate facts or deny reality.
In this aspect, he had some semblance of talent.
When she first handed him the sword and struck, surprisingly, he managed to respond well, having anticipated her attack.
After that, despite her not saying much, he visibly improved each moment.
The trajectory of the sword became sharper, and his grip was notably steadier.
At first, his posture was awkward, as if he were just copying others, but as time passed, it began to transform into his own technique.
But it was still mediocre. He had talent. If he really applied himself, he might be able to compete with those possessing innate abilities in swordsmanship. Or perhaps he might even have innate abilities in techniques other than sensing.
So?
There are countless innate abilities in swordsmanship. Among the countless practitioners, only those who have talent and have poured blood, sweat, and tears reach a certain level at the cradle.
Of course, it wasn’t just mediocre talent.
But with the label of “special admission” attached… it left her wondering, “Do we really need to?”
If he had been normally admitted, she might have thought he was usable.
If it had been through recommendation admission, she would have considered him quite good…
But the tag of “special admission” was too heavy.
Weak physique, standard mental strength, above-average sensing ability, and fairly quick sword skills.
All of that was unsuitable for the unprecedented nature of special admission.
There was a huge disparity between the brilliant prospects of the golden generation so far and the potential Lee Ha-yul was showing now.
Of course, it had only been two days. He might possess exceptional talents in areas beyond swordsmanship too. It was still too soon to make a definitive judgment.
Thus, on the following day, she handed him a spear.
Lee Ha-yul took the spear and wore a frowning expression. He looked like he was questioning whether this was right while fiddling with the spear shaft.
It made sense. Although it had only been a day, he would have gotten used to the sword, so demanding a change of weapons now seemed unfair.
As the saying goes, “If you’re going to dig a well, dig a single well,” focusing on one thing would indeed be more efficient given the limitations of time and talent.
But Atra’s thoughts were a bit different. Sure, it’s efficient to focus on one well… that’s true.
But shouldn’t we reference how to dig other wells and what results come from them?
Just because you wield a sword doesn’t mean you should be clueless about how to deal with a spear.
Even if he never picked up a spear, he should at least know how to face one.
Atra, in charge of Lee Ha-yul’s combat major lectures, thought at the very least so.
The reason Atra had him try different weapons was to help him discover his talents through trial and error.
It was a teaching approach where she intended to guide him to understand how to use various weapons through experience.
At the very least, that was her perspective, and through her efforts and talent, she became a top-tier hero in the “individual combat” category.
“Well then, here I go.”
For a while, they would evaluate his talent this way. If Lee Ha-yul’s talent didn’t match the label of special admission… she’d have to lower the intensity of training and provide suitable education.
Seeing Lee Ha-yul firmly grip the spear as if he was prepared, Atra gave a brief warning and thrust forward with the spear.
– Clang!
The spear was quickly brushed aside.
“Hm?”
A small sense of discomfort. Atra subtly retrieved the somewhat shaking spear and thrust again.
Three thrusts aimed at the forehead, neck, and heart followed.
Even yesterday, Lee Ha-yul had managed a commendable defense against Atra’s first strikes. It was fairly decent when considering she expected him to simply allow her attacks.
But the responses afterward were clumsy. The connections between his movements were awkward and easy to break. He could have blocked before even starting his action.
Yesterday’s Lee Ha-yul had performed like that.
– Clang! Clang! Clash!
He responded. The three thrusts were blocked by the spear. Atra’s eyes widened.
The connections were surprisingly smooth. At least, it was a significant improvement from yesterday.
To verify, she withdrew the spear.
A slash followed.
The spear was a weapon specialized for thrusts, but its length made it formidable for slashing and sweeping too.
– Whoosh!
The attack sliced through the air. Without making an effort to respond, Lee Ha-yul stepped back a few paces to evade, then steadied his grip on the spear and landed it on the ground.
“Hm.”
He transitioned from the glancing slash to a thrust. An instant change in action, the spear tip sliced through the wind. It was a straightforward thrust.
Clang! The spear that had been slicing the air was struck by another spear. Atra didn’t retreat but once more challenged with her spear. This time, Lee Ha-yul didn’t back away either, responding in kind.
The spears clashed. They met with thrusts, blocked slashes, and the shaft colliding in a wrestling match.
“Who is this guy…?”
What the hell is going on?
Amid the cross of spears, Atra’s eyes tilted in disbelief.
Yesterday’s Lee Ha-yul was proficient with the sword. Though she categorized him as inexperienced, he did handle it well for a beginner.
Today’s Lee Ha-yul was skilled with the spear. Inexperienced? By Atra’s standards, he was still inexperienced. But he had shown clear improvement since yesterday.
Yesterday, he practiced with a sword. But today, he was wielding a spear. And yet, he was still growing.
And.
– Clash! Crash! Clang!
He was still growing. The speed of that growth was steep, distinctly faster than it had been yesterday.
To confirm, Atra raised the difficulty levels. The physical capabilities were the same, but she increased the density of the techniques.
Lee Ha-yul, who had been responding confidently, frowned. It seemed grappling with her head-on was proving difficult, and he switched tactics to avoid direct confrontation.
His legs flowed over the ground like water. The clumsiness of his earlier footwork had improved. Thanks to that, his upper body had extra stamina, allowing him to defend, and occasionally launch a counterattack.
He seemed to favor a counterattack after a defense, and he was doing well. He didn’t resort to other tricks and simply stood firm in his defense.
The spear blocking Atra’s thrust wobbled precariously. Consequently, the defense formed by the spear threatened to collapse.
But it held its ground in the end. He still managed to prevent a hits just like yesterday.
And above all, his physical level was different from yesterday… or rather, that wasn’t it.
It was strange.
Atra narrowed her eyes. She still hadn’t made a precise judgment. There wasn’t enough evidence to conclude. She needed to push Lee Ha-yul further.
To get a clearer direction for her evaluation…
“Prepare yourself, teacher! The moment I catch up, I’ll repay you for all this!”
“……”
An unpleasant memory. She was reminded once more.
After a hundred exchanges, Lee Ha-yul’s defenses were finally pierced.
*
The spear came flying at an uncontrollable speed. Atra sensed it with her spatial perception and tried to respond as best as she could, but before she could process one attack, another came!
“Graaaah…!”
Yesterday, she had him wield a sword, and now today, he was being told to use a spear. She had been running simulations using only the sword from last night until this morning, and now suddenly switching to a spear felt unreasonable.
It was ridiculous, but she gripped the spear anyway. A powerful person must have their reasons.
Fortunately, since they were in the same combat category, she was able to handle the spear fairly well. Because she had run simulations by sacrificing sleep, she managed to evade all strikes at first without taking a single hit.
She contemplated spatial perception amidst her training yesterday and today.
She had seen Gop-hwa blazing fiercely. It wasn’t the first time she had seen Gop-hwa. But it had never flickered like today, nor had it been this vivid before.
Spatial perception.
On the first day, she had almost drowned in excessive information, and afterward, the downgraded radar spatial perception provided too little information.
Currently, her spatial perception was capable of recognizing colors… I mean, it had performance similar to that of an ordinary person’s sight.
But then she thought.
The radar spatial perception had indeed been deficient. Since it didn’t recognize color, daily life had been inconvenient. But had it not sensed movements? No, it had managed to do that well.
She asked herself. Was color really that important during combat? The answer depended on the battle.
But in the sparring yesterday, it turned out it wasn’t necessary.
Spatial perception has limitations on information it can take in, or more precisely, there are limits to what I can accept.
On the first day, the overwhelming amount of information overloaded her brain.
Radar spatial perception and color spatial perception.
In separating simple movements during sparring, which version of spatial perception would be more effective?
– Clash…! Clang! Clang!
The answer was radar perception. At least, compared to yesterday, Atra’s movements were being felt much better.
In the realm of black and green. A world that was dreadfully hard to look at, yet for combat, it was far more suitable than color.
Her proficiency with spatial perception had grown, and thanks to radar perception, she could easily distinguish facial features.
What once felt like a flat palm now felt like a hand with distinct lines.
Thanks to that, she was perceiving and responding to a lot more than she had yesterday.
Also, the simulations she relentlessly ran even while sleeping had contributed massively.
The main reason she had pushed herself into relentless simulations was due to the sheer pain she experienced.
If this prolonged beating continued on rainy days, she feared she might really die.
There are sayings that growth accompanies pain. She remembered hearing that before.
But there are also words of wisdom that say no pain, no gain is even better.
It’s a simple matter. I didn’t want to be bludgeoned to a pulp.
Though she was used to being beaten since childhood, just because she was familiar with it didn’t mean she wanted to keep experiencing it.
With such determination, she worked hard…!
– Clang! Clang! Crash! Bang!
“Here, here.”
“Gah! Ack!”
The spear that breached her defense struck her shoulder and thigh. The shock sent a jolt of pain down her spine, causing her to bite her lip.
“It’s the same when you get hit…!”
She had grown since yesterday…!
Clearly, she had initially defended well, but at some point, Atra adhered to the raised level and swiftly tore through her defenses, initiating a relentless onslaught.
– Bang!
“Your counterattacks are lacking, giving your opponent more chances to strike. As a result, their attacks on your defense are becoming more frantic.”
– Clash! Bang!
“Improve your footwork. While you wield the spear with your arms, ultimately your movements rely on your legs.”
– Bang!
“Don’t think of your actions as one-off maneuvers; integrate them. Each move affects the actions that follow.”
Yet, just as she was about to spin into a fit, valid advice followed her relentless barrage.
If all she did was hammer away without teaching anything, she might have resisted, but since she perceived some effort in helping her, it became tough to push back.
Several hours later.
Once again, it was I who ended up sprawled on the ground.
As I absentmindedly fiddled with the mangled spear, Professor Atra approached me, appearing to be deep in thought.
“You’ve definitely improved compared to yesterday. This growth was unexpected.”
That didn’t mean she had escaped from the brutal beatings. Even having sacrificed nearly all her sleep, even the normal visibility she earned through hard work, she hadn’t managed to break free from it.
After exchanging a few more words, Professor Atra turned to leave the training ground. My mind was still clouded, and I couldn’t quite recall what she had just said.
“……?”
Something felt off.
After thinking it through, I let out a quiet sigh.
“W-wait…?”
Usually, they would give me some water after class, but today they hadn’t given me any…?
I was parched…!
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