Everyone found an opponent and stood face-to-face for a one-on-one match.
Next to each of them, an instructor stood by.
At that moment, Instructor Park Moonho added a word.
“Oh, I forgot to mention. You are not allowed to use mana in this spar either. However, if you want a specific weapon, tell your assigned instructor. Good luck, everyone.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Park Moonho pressed a button on the Gift attached to his wrist.
Piiiiiiiiing—
A wave of mana radiated in all directions, instantly sweeping a 10-meter radius.
As soon as the trainees were touched by the wave, they felt a deep sense of loss, their shoulders drooping.
Strangely enough, though, the instructors were perfectly fine.
Even though they were exposed to the MPSP just the same, there was no sense that the instructors had lost their mana at all.
The other trainees didn’t notice, but Kim Seo-jun discovered something.
When the MPSP mana wave swept past the instructors, a transparent barrier formed around their bodies, deflecting the wave.
It was such a subtle difference that only Kim Seo-jun, who was very interested in the MPSP, could notice.
‘Just as I thought. There’s no way they’d have an MPSP without a way to block it.’
Kim Seo-jun decided he had to figure out the anti-MPSP system as well, and took a step closer to Irina.
At that, their instructor spoke.
“Pick your weapons first.”
“Huh? Ah… Right, of course.”
Irina finally recovered from the shock of losing her mana.
“I’ll go with a rapier.”
Irina chose the rapier, a sword said to suit women best.
The instructor raised his left hand, which was gloved in a mix of silver and gray, and tapped the empty space before his chest with his palm.
At that moment, a palm-sized magic circle appeared in the air.
The instructor reached into the magic circle and pulled out a normal rapier.
“Here you go. Cadet Kim Seo-jun, what weapon would you like?”
Kim Seo-jun was a little surprised at seeing an item being drawn from a spatial pocket via magic, but he quickly realized it was simply a function of a special device.
It was obvious, since all the instructors were using the same spatial technique to produce whatever weapons the trainees requested.
“I don’t need a weapon.”
Kim Seo-jun didn’t ask for any.
He wasn’t showing off or acting out of baseless confidence.
Last night, after completing his training in Immovable Heart, he’d started practicing a martial art called ‘Palguk Cheolsango’ and didn’t need a weapon to try it out.
Palguk Cheolsango.
This was the exclusive martial art of his old comrade Park Daeman, who was like an older brother to him in his previous life.
It was a full-body striking art that turned every part of the body into iron, using it as a weapon to strike the opponent—that was Palguk Cheolsango.
If Immovable Heart was an endlessly tranquil cultivation of the mind, Palguk Cheolsango was the extreme weaponization of the body.
These two martial arts were polar opposites, but when combined, their effects became even greater.
So, while learning Immovable Heart, he remembered Palguk Cheolsango and began practicing it as well.
Kim Seo-jun was curious.
How effective would Palguk Cheolsango be against Irina, who wielded the sharp and light rapier?
“What? You’re going to fight a rapier bare-handed?”
It was unthinkable.
If you could use mana, maybe. But fighting an armed opponent bare-handed with mana sealed was practically suicide.
The instructor once again told him to pick a weapon.
“Jaeger training is no joke. The weapon given to Cadet Irina is not a practice sword, it’s a real weapon! So pick a weapon.”
“I’m not joking, either.”
His tone was firm.
The instructor was a bit troubled.
He couldn’t just force a weapon into his hands if the trainee refused.
The instructor glanced toward Park Moonho, who was observing everything from the sidelines.
Park Moonho had also heard Kim Seo-jun say he didn’t need a weapon.
He curled one side of his lips and muttered to himself that the kid was arrogant.
Then he nodded, signaling to let the trainee have his way.
With Park Moonho’s permission, the instructor stepped back.
“If it gets dangerous, I’ll step in. So don’t worry and go all out. Begin!”
The instructor thought Kim Seo-jun wouldn’t last long before getting cut by Irina’s sword.
Yesterday, he’d placed third in the test, which was impressive, but with enough physical training, anyone could achieve that.
But this was different.
Now, they were dueling with real weapons that could kill. Skill and nimble movements were more important than brute strength.
As the instructor was thinking that and announced the start, Irina bit her lip and glared at Kim Seo-jun.
Irina thought Kim Seo-jun was looking down on her.
‘Just how easy did he think I am…?’
She felt a sudden burst of anger.
Since childhood, she’d trained in Western swordsmanship and was highly skilled with a rapier.
Even without mana, she was confident she could easily handle any D-rank or lower Hunter with her swordsmanship alone.
And yet, he wanted to fight her with his bare hands.
Irina decided she’d teach this arrogant guy a harsh lesson.
“Ta-at!”
Irina closed the distance in a flash and swung her rapier.
Since the instructor would intervene if things got dangerous, she could go on the offensive without worrying about injury.
Like the saying, “Fly like a bird, sting like a bee,” her swordsmanship was dazzlingly quick and allowed for swift attacks and defenses.
It seemed impossible for Kim Seo-jun, who was completely unarmed, to block her attacks.
The instructor watching, ready to intervene at any moment, tensed—then something amazing happened.
In the blink of an eye, Irina’s rapier was stabbing straight for Kim Seo-jun’s chest.
But Kim Seo-jun leaned forward and charged toward the blade instead.
At this rate, his face could be pierced by the sword—a dangerous situation.
In that instant, Kim Seo-jun slipped aside, leaving only an afterimage.
As if following a perfectly written script, he let the blade pass over his shoulder and closed in on Irina’s front. Then, with both hands, he swiftly grabbed her arm and shoulder and yanked her in.
Irina didn’t panic, quickly rotating her sword to try and slash at him. However—
Chuak.
Irina felt her whole body suddenly lurch violently, and a wave of vertigo hit her.
For a split second, she lost all sense of sight, space, and balance.
She couldn’t tell which way she was facing, or whether she was standing or lying down.
In that instant, she felt a sharp impact all over her body.
Puh-ong.
A chilling pain shot through her right side.
Along with it, Irina was sent flying five meters, tumbling across the ground.
Park Moonho and the instructor watching both gaped in shock.
Even they couldn’t tell exactly what had happened.
All they saw was Kim Seo-jun letting Irina’s sword slide over his shoulder, closing in like the wind, grabbing her arm and shoulder, and then—somehow, the two had swapped positions in a flash.
Then, a powerful strike sounded as Irina was sent flying.
Amazingly, in that brief moment, Kim Seo-jun had ended up behind Irina and struck her with his back and shoulder.
Kim Seo-jun had performed three changes in the blink of an eye.
He grabbed her arm and shoulder to switch places, instantly circled behind, and struck with his back—a dazzling technique.
They had never seen such a skill before, and couldn’t understand how it was even possible.
Irina, lying on the ground, felt the same.
She only remembered thrusting with her sword, and trying to twist her wrist to slash at Kim Seo-jun as he closed in.
Right after that, she was tumbling on the ground.
‘What the heck was that?’
Fortunately, Irina suffered nothing more than a minor bruise.
But the match was already over.
Covered in dust, Irina got up and stared at Kim Seo-jun.
He stood there, wearing an expression that seemed somehow dissatisfied.
Seeing the person who had sent her flying wear that expression wounded her pride.
But rather than being angry at Kim Seo-jun, she was more upset at her own shortcomings.
‘Is this all I’m capable of?’
A deep sense of self-doubt overcame her.
She had come to Korea, her mother’s homeland, with a grand goal, only to be utterly defeated by a fellow trainee of the same age.
She had never imagined that, even if Jaeger was Korea’s top secret organization of ability users, there could be someone so overwhelmingly strong as to humiliate her this badly.
What’s more, her opponent wasn’t even a Jaeger agent or instructor, just another trainee.
‘I’ve been far too conceited.’
Irina finally realized that she had judged herself too generously.
Meanwhile, Kim Seo-jun was quite displeased with how things had turned out.
The technique he’d just used was the ‘Banwi’ and ‘Cheolsango’ forms of Palguk Cheolsango.
Banwi (Reverse Position).
As the name suggested, it was a technique that instantly swapped positions with the opponent. Anyone caught by it would experience intense confusion for about a second.
In terms of mystical abilities, it was like inflicting a stun for one second—a setup move for launching a powerful follow-up.
Kim Seo-jun had followed up with Cheolsango (Iron Mountain Strike) on the stunned Irina.
Cheolsango was a form where you circle behind the opponent and strike hard with your back and shoulder.
Banwi and Cheolsango were a combo.
After using Banwi to get behind the opponent, you naturally turn your back, making it perfect to use Cheolsango right away.
Honestly, the technique worked perfectly.
The problem was, Kim Seo-jun hadn’t managed to control the power of Palguk Cheolsango properly.
[Kim Seo-jun]
-Mana: 139 / Inner Strength: 137 / Control: 121
-Mysteries: Yeokbalsan Gigese (22%) / Sun God Technique (25%) / Psychokinetic Barrier (7%) / Sura Lightning Strike (5%) / Mind’s Eye (6%)
Kim Seo-jun frowned as he checked his status.
There was a ‘Control’ stat, and it was as high as 121.
Yet, the impact of the Cheolsango he’d just used was twice as strong as he intended.
He’d only meant to make Irina lose her balance and send her flying about two meters.
But she’d actually been blown back five meters.
‘Does this mean that, with my current control level, I can’t properly handle Palguk Cheolsango?’
In other words, the skill level of Palguk Cheolsango was much higher than he’d thought.
‘I’ll have to be careful using Palguk Cheolsango from now on.’
Kim Seo-jun was worried that if he misused it, it might cause unnecessary problems.
Banwi and Cheolsango were the basic forms of Palguk Cheolsango.
There were six more forms, and even a final secret move—so he’d have to be even more cautious when using it.
“Hm… For now, you two go over there and rest.”
Their instructor had Kim Seo-jun and Irina move aside.
Since their spar had ended so quickly, they had to wait until the others finished.
Soon, the duels of all five pairs were over.
Yang Hwi and Choi Cheol-min’s match ended with Yang Hwi’s victory.
Contrary to appearances, Yang Hwi was a master of real-world martial arts, and he had a fierce duel with Choi Cheol-min, who specialized in powerful close combat.
Both fought with short daggers, and Yang Hwi only managed to win by twisting Choi Cheol-min’s arm behind his back as the five-minute mana-lock from MPSP was about to end.
The match between Jo Tae-seok and Ahn Ji-woon was a complete victory for Ahn Ji-woon.
Jo Tae-seok was too reliant on his mystery, Connect, and had no talent for close combat.
Because of that, he couldn’t even put up a fight against Ahn Ji-woon, whose mystery, Battle Mode, was focused on combat.
With Min Sora and Im Hee-joo, the result was completely unexpected.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, 18-year-old high schooler Im Hee-joo won.
Min Sora was an ability user with the mystery Intangibility, and her style was to dodge attacks and strike from a distance—she was naturally weak in direct weapon combat.
Im Hee-joo, though lacking in technique, had a stubbornness that kept her relentlessly pressing Min Sora.
In the end, Min Sora’s shoulder was grazed by Im Hee-joo’s sword, and the match ended simply.
Even though it was just a slight cut, Min Sora immediately acknowledged her defeat.
The last match was Park Hae-sung vs. Shin Tae-yang.
Their match ended just as quickly.
Park Hae-sung, who had confidently volunteered to kick Shin Tae-yang down to the lower group—
But without mana, his fighting skills were all show.
Shin Tae-yang, on the other hand, had brilliant fighting skills.
What he’d learned was Jeet Kune Do.
Not the common, watered-down kind, but ancient Jeet Kune Do with deep roots and a long tradition.
Kim Seo-jun recognized Shin Tae-yang’s Jeet Kune Do immediately.
He’d never learned ancient Jeet Kune Do himself, but along with Palguk Cheolsango, it was considered one of the two great close-quarters martial arts, so he knew quite a bit about its power and techniques.
And crucially, this ancient Jeet Kune Do was the signature art of one of the Eight God Generals under Heavenly Demon Commander Cheon Kang-woo.
‘He’s only learned the outer shell.’
To Kim Seo-jun’s eyes, Shin Tae-yang’s Jeet Kune Do was not the real thing.
It looked flashy, but there was no substance.
Even so, Park Hae-sung was sent flying by this superficial Jeet Kune Do.
Park Hae-sung had chosen a spear, but it seemed just for show—it didn’t even serve as a decent club in the fight against Shin Tae-yang.
Shin Tae-yang had chosen knuckles as his weapon.
If Shin Tae-yang’s knuckles had been sharp, there’d have been a big hole in Park Hae-sung’s abdomen.
‘But with the right guidance, he could be useful…’
Kim Seo-jun saw that Shin Tae-yang had real talent for martial arts.
If he could use the fake ancient Jeet Kune Do this well, he’d be even more formidable if taught the real thing.
Kim Seo-jun needed strong allies who could fight alongside him against any dangers the future might bring.
His top priority was the seven companions, but if he got the chance, he was willing to recruit even more.
With that in mind, Kim Seo-jun decided to keep a close eye on Irina and Shin Tae-yang.