After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Kyaaaa!"

"Isn't that the Sword Dragon?!"

"That's the Sword Dragon, isn't it?"

Si-Hun's popularity could also be felt in the Red Rose Guild.

The people working at the counter rushed to them while screaming.

"Wh-What brings you to the Red Rose Guild?!"

"A-A-A-A-A-Are you perhaps joining the Red Rose Guild?"

"Uhhh…" Si-Hun shook his head while smiling awkwardly. "No. It's true that I am receiving a lot of help from Red Rose, but I have already pledged my loyalty to someone else."

"L-Loyalty?"

"Would you mind telling us who?"

"I'm sorry, but that's a bit…"

The members of the Red Rose Guild looked a bit disappointed.

"Th-Then could I at least have an autograph?"

"Mmm, that's…"

Si-Hun scratched his cheek as he was having difficulty refusing.

Kang-Woo opened his mouth and said, "Let's stop wasting time and get going."

"Ah, yes! Understood, hyung-nim!"

"…"

The guild members glared at Kang-Woo.

"What's up with that squid?"

'Isn't squid a bit too harsh?'

Kang-Woo frowned after hearing what they were mumbling behind him.

Objectively speaking, Kang-Woo also had fairly decent looks. No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was good-looking, but next to Si-Hun, most average-looking people were like squids.

Si-Hun said, "I'm going to give them a piece of my mind. How dare they call you a squid…?"

"Don't make this any more miserable for me than it has to be. Just follow me."

Si-Hun stepping up to protect Kang-Woo's honor in this situation would make Kang-Woo look even more pathetic.

They took the elevator and went to the training room.

"Ah, you're here. The guildmaster has given me the details." Park Hyun-Woo welcomed them at the training room entrance. After opening the door, he carefully said, "Come to think of it, I've heard about your spar with our guildmaster in the training room at Hwarang Corps headquarters."

"Oh…"

"The repair fees were up in the billions, I've heard. Hahahaha"—Hyun-Woo grabbed Kang-Woo's hand while laughing dryly—"I would appreciate it if the same did not happen here."

"… Yes, of course."

"Hahaha! I will hold you to that."

Kang-Woo could feel the fatigue in Hyun-Woo's laugh.

'I believe he's the one mainly in charge of managing the guild.'

Hyun-Woo had likely been swamped with work due to the multitude of incidents as of late.

Kang-Woo looked in pity at Hyun-Woo's thin shoulders as he walked away and then entered the training room.

"Let us begin right away," Si-Hun remarked.

"Sounds good."

Si-Hun glanced at the practice weapons that were inside the training room. "First off, which weapon do you mainly use, hyung-nim?"

"Hmm… I don't have one in particular."

He used different weapons based on the situation.

Si-Hun nodded.

"Even still, it would be best for you to choose a weapon that you will mainly use to learn martial arts. Hmm… Let's start with a sword first, since I specialize in sword martial arts."

"A sword, huh?"

To be honest, the weapon he was the most accustomed to was the spear.

He also used the Authority of Blades quite often, but its shape slightly differed from a conventional sword. It emerged from the back of his hands for him to swing, so it was more akin to an assassin's hidden blade than a sword.

'I guess if I'm learning martial arts from the Sword Dragon, it's better to use a sword.'

He grabbed a practice sword.

"First, I will teach you the basic movements of the Sleeping Dragon Sword Technique. I'm sure you'll be able to learn them all in just a day."

Si-Hun displayed all of the movements.

The Sleeping Dragon Sword Technique had eight different movements.

The sword moved as fluidly as water. After showing him the movements, Si-Hun turned around.

"Now you try them."

"… What?"

"Just do exactly what I showed you."

"How could I possibly do that when I only saw it once?"

"Pardon? But you're just following my form."

Si-Hun looked at Kang-Woo in confusion.

Kang-Woo looked at him in disbelief and just swung the sword around at random.

"Would you be able to follow this if I told you to?" Kang-Woo asked.

"Of course."

Si-Hun perfectly copied what Kang-Woo had just done.

'The fuck?'

Kang-Woo felt something was weirdly out of place.

"Don't be like that and give it a try, hyung-nim."

"I literally can't, man."

"Hmm… Then I'll guide you through each movement, one by one."

Si-Hun tilted his head and performed the first movement of the Sleeping Dragon Sword Style.

It involved swinging the sword down from up high to waist level and then back up as if bouncing off the air.

Kang-Woo tried to copy Si-Hun's movements.

"No. That's not how you do it, hyung-nim."

"Huh? It was perfect, wasn't it?"

"You put too much strength into your downswing. If you do that, the rebound when you swing back up will be too strong."

Si-Hun repeated the first movement, which Kang-Woo also tried again.

"That's not it, hyung-nim. You didn't swing hard enough this time,"

'What do I have to do, then?'

While thinking it was harder than he initially thought, Kang-Woo put a bit more strength into the downswing.

Whoosh!

"Oh, a little bit weaker there."

Whoosh!

"No. Your swing was too weak."

Whoosh!

"You have to swing a bit harder."

Three hours passed.

Kang-Woo's expression carried a hint of irritation after performing the same movement for three hours straight.

"Did you also struggle with controlling your strength at first, Si-Hun?"

"Y-Yes," Si-Hun said while trying to avoid his gaze.

Kang-Woo realized that he was lying.

"You can be honest."

"… I was able to perfectly control my strength in about two to three tries," Si-Hun said carefully.

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief.

'He learned how to do this in just two to three tries?'

Controlling the first movement's strength was equivalent to filling a cup with water to its very top while blindfolded.

It was a totally different kind of sense from the battle sense that Kang-Woo had polished through countless battles, so he couldn't get a good grasp of it.

"Fuu. Let's leave strength control for later and just stick to learning the movements' proper form."

"Mmm… Understood."

Si-Hun looked at Kang-Woo as if he couldn't understand what the problem was and then nodded.

The Sleeping Dragon Sword Technique had eight movements in total.

Kang-Woo followed Si-Hun along each movement and performed them so that they all linked with each other.

'The transitions between the forms feel a bit clunky.'

It felt weird as he tried to link each movement. It was as if he was forcing a mismatched gear to turn.

"I can't seem to link the fourth and fifth movements smoothly. What should I do?"

Kang-Woo turned to face Si-Hun. The sole purpose of a master was to give their disciples guidance.

Si-Hun answered while making his characteristic smile, "You should just swing your sword naturally without being conscious of linking them."

"What?"

"It's not working because you're being too conscious of it. Just let your senses take over your body."

"Mmm…"

Kang-Woo swung the sword while tilting his head. Just like Si-Hun suggested, he let his senses swing the sword for him.

It obviously didn't work.

'What the hell?'

Kang-Woo finally figured out why he was getting this out-of-place feeling for a while.

Si-Hun was a genius before he was an outstanding swordsman—a genius with talent far above ordinary people, at that.

'That's literally the same thing as saying to just last-hit the minions when they're low.'[1]

Something similar had occurred during an interview with a certain genius pro gamer. He spoke as if things were natural, but as he was a genius, things that were natural to him were not natural to others. It seemed as if Si-Hun wasn't aware of this.

Because he could do it so naturally, he couldn't understand what others were struggling with.

"Hmm."

Although only a single day had passed, Kang-Woo became sure of something.

'Si-Hun doesn't have talent in being someone's master.'

Because he was too talented, he couldn't explain how to do things to others. It was impossible to learn anything from Si-Hun unless one was as talented as him.

"Tsk… I'll have to give up learning martial arts from you."

"Wh-What do you mean, hyung-nim? I guess I really was too weak to help you…"

"No, that's not it. It's actually the complete opposite."

"The opposite?"

"You're too talented."

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent.

Kang-Woo sighed and turned around.

"Let's stop here. I'm sure we'll have other opportunities in the future."

"Ah…"

Si-Hun groaned lightly. He seemed disappointed because the opportunity for him to repay Kang-Woo even a little had gone down the drain.

"H-Hyung-nim. How about you try learning a cultivation technique?"

"Cultivation technique?"

"Yes. The backbone of martial arts isn't sword or foot techniques, but cultivation techniques. I'm sure I'll be able to teach you that properly at the very least."

"Hmm."

While thinking about it for a little while, Kang-Woo nodded.

It was worth a shot.

"Okay. First of all, why don't you check how I circulate my energy within my body?"

"Okay."

Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Beholder and checked how the energy flowed inside Si-Hun's body. He could see the movements of Qi with the dantian at its center.

'I think I could pull this off.'

If it was just controlling the energy inside himself rather than controlling his body, he felt that he could do it.

Kang-Woo sat and recalled how the Qi flowed inside Si-Hun's body.

Ring.

[Activating the effect of the Trait "Ruler of Demonic Energy." Raising your control over demonic energy.]

[You have learned the Qi cultivation technique "Heavenly Dragon Cultivation Technique."]

'Oh.'

He had succeeded in just one try.

As he used the Heavenly Dragon Cultivation Technique, his demonic energy circulated throughout his entire body with the dantian at the focus.

'Huh?'

As he used the cultivation technique, he could feel his demonic energy concentrating in the area under his belly button. This area was known as the dantian.

However, the demonic energy didn't just concentrate there. It also formed a round crystal.

'This is…'

It was a familiar sensation.

The image of a black gem popped up in his mind.

Ring.

[You have successfully formed a demonic crystal.]

[You have obtained a clue for the final condition of Ultimate Demonic Body.]

'Si-Hun…'

Excitement ran through his body.

He had found a clue for the final condition of the Ultimate Demonic Body where he had least expected it.

'I love you, man!'

1. Last-hitting minions is a learned skill in League of Legends. Although it's easy to just say to "hit them when they are low," it's difficult to time when to hit them without practice because they also hit each other. ☜