It was a common understanding that the second week is a critical juncture.
When diets enter their second week, people often feel like giving up, and boot camps usually ramp up the intensity during this period.
Just before entering the second week, I firmly warned Emika.
“This is where it gets real. If you’re not careful, you could fall into a slump or suffer from yips.”
Yips, a form of focal dystonia.
It’s a phenomenon where an athlete becomes overly focused on their movements due to increased anxiety and pressure, causing them to lose their automatic skills.
This is often witnessed among pitchers, as throwing is a highly complex, evolved skill requiring advanced cognition.
Thoughts like, ‘How far did I extend my arm? Is this the right way to move my legs?’ arise.
Self-doubt amplifies, and performance deteriorates.
Once a skill ingrained at the genetic level starts to falter, it can take a long time to recover.
One must strive to maintain their identity in any situation.
“Okay…! I’m ready!”
Emika’s skill level was at the initial stage of ‘mental imagery internalization.’
She understood how to control her body perfectly and sought to expand her capabilities.
“You’ve only been executing perfect movements until now. Now, you need perfect responses. Now take your kodachi, close your eyes.”
Vision is both a blessing and a curse for humans.
The world is three-dimensional, but the image cast on the retina is two-dimensional.
Thus, the process of misjudging distances occurs quite frequently among athletes as well.
Emika stood before the scarecrow, holding her katana and took her stance.
“Do anything you know how to do. It would be best if it’s something you’re most confident in.”
“I will demonstrate Kasumi-no-Tachi from the four basic techniques.”
Standing at a suitable distance, Emika assumed a high guard and lifted her sword.
One stance, she swiftly lunged forward, directing the blade at the scarecrow’s neck.
Two stances, simultaneously withdrawing her body at an angle to anticipate the opponent’s counter, she brought her sword down, and three stances were spent striking at the empty upper area of the scarecrow again.
If the attack had been blocked, the four stance would have countered below, executing five stances with thrusts at the upper section, finishing with six stances with a feint, and seven with a thrust.
Confident in her technique, her movements were crisp and precise.
Without having mastered this technique, even a third-year Academy student would have been defeated in one blow.
Now, my coaching began.
“You can open your eyes. Now, do the same thing as I do.”
I stood in front of the scarecrow, holding a children’s wooden sword.
“Even if it’s a wooden sword, isn’t it dangerous? If it’s not a stage prop, this attack wouldn’t be blockable—”
“Why are you rambling so much? Just do it!”
“Understood!”
Identically, in the first stance, I lightly pulled my foot back and created some distance.
Emika confidently entered at an angle and swung her sword.
Clack—!
“Hmm?”
But my sword didn’t bounce off; it stuck to her longsword.
I used my wrist strength to push her sword aside and struck the wooden sword firmly towards her forehead.
“What’s the use of memorizing if you can’t apply it in practice?”
Thud—!
“Ahh!”
The wooden sword resonated against Emika’s skull with a clear sound.
“Emika, listen closely. Sparring isn’t the Olympics. We don’t fight under the same weapons or conditions. I think I once advised you about this last year, but you haven’t fixed it at all?”
“But I didn’t think the sword would stick…”
“Isn’t it absurd for someone who makes a profession out of handling aura to overlook the coefficient of restitution?”
[Material Synthesis: Iron-Oxide-Aluminum-Magnesium]
[2nd Circle Casting: Thermite Reaction]
[Canceling Casting: Thermite Reaction]
I created a lightsaber again, crossing it with the other sword.
Vroom—
“The sword just goes through?”
“Depending on the density and nature of the aura, you can alter the properties of the sword infinitely. What are you to do if someone who intends to wield such a sword carries biases against it? As I’ve said time and again, a sword is just a sword.”
With a deep sigh, I noticed Emika’s gaze drop sadly to the ground.
“Ugh, this is difficult…”
“I feel frustrated too.”
“But I can’t consider every situation!”
“That’s definitely the case. What I mean is to break down your time. Your processing speed is excellent. However, each movement is unnecessarily large and slow. There’s no point in quickly executing already established techniques. You need to break down your differentiative movements in detail to respond instantly to any variable.”
Predicting is the realm of psychological battles and luck.
One shouldn’t rely on chance when it comes to life and death.
“The one who decides last 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, they would break through punches.
If that’s not the case, all fighters would not be free from strategic struggles.
Even knowing that the opponent might play rock gives you the confidence to throw scissors.
“Get up, let’s try again.”
Nothing is as effective as pain when pointing out a mistake.
Humans are, after all, animals.
Whenever Emika’s arm strength faltered or her center of gravity shifted, I corrected her with my wooden sword.
Thud—!
“Ugh!”
“Who taught you this nonsense?”
“Our master did.”
“Really? That person needs to learn by getting hit too.”
“…!”
Emika’s mouth dropped open as if she had heard something forbidden.
“Well, what of it? It’s not that, but it’s wrong. There’s no answer in martial arts, but there are undoubtedly clear wrong answers.”
Eventually, Emika sat on the ground, wiping the sweat that flowed like drizzle.
I could see that her entire body was covered in bruises.
I started packing up my things to go home.
“Is this the end for today?”
“Yes. If we continue, I might get mad and hit you.”
“Tsk, you’ve already hit me plenty.”
“If you really take a proper hit, your thinking would change, wouldn’t it?”
Emika pouted her lips with a twisted expression.
“The national exchange competition is nothing. Who was last year’s winner?”
“Ashvin Ramakrishnan. An Indian. He can’t participate this year due to age restrictions.”
“Right, he seemed to be at the similar level as you. If I just give him a few slaps…”
“Nameya Nameya.”
“What?”
“What was the moment that sparked your awakening to the mental imagery world? No one has awakened their aura before you in this world.”
I hesitated for a moment.
I couldn’t mention my past life.
Is it acceptable to share a suitably embellished version?
“I had a little sister, you know?”
“A sister? An orphanage sister?”
“Kind of like that. The circumstances there were similar to the orphanage, as many bad people were around due to poor public safety. One day, my sister got kidnapped.”
“Oh no, what happened to her?”
Emika covered her mouth with a serious expression.
“The outcome of a kidnapping is predictable. She died.”
“Ahh…”
“I quickly found the culprit, and he turned out to be a really insignificant person.”
“Name had such a sad experience… Did that perpetrator end up in prison?”
“No, I killed him.”
“… What?”
“I beat him to death.”
Lisianthus, tulips, dahlias.
This year, I went to see my mother with the same three types of flowers.
I spent a long time praying for her soul in front of her urn.
I shared the events I experienced over the past year in a childish manner.
I talked about saving my orphanage friend Baekarin from the strange grandfather of Durido, and the fate of meeting an unfortunate high school girl and an elite couple at Korea University.
Even if my mother may not remember every name, I recited Baek Bong Gon, Dan Ni El, Shin Yeon Ho, and Ban So Wol in order.
To lighten the mood, I mentioned going on an overseas trip that I hadn’t been able to go on and the news of appearing in a genius discovery show.
Though I was caught up in a bombing incident, I lied that I received a clown box so my mother wouldn’t worry.
After fighting with Professor Cheon and reconciling, I told her I now call him Dad.
I crushed the treasures of a giant Japanese school and didn’t spare any budding students during the Academy tournament.
I particularly wanted to visit Neverland with my mother, but tears fell as that opportunity never came.
I kept busy doing advertisements to earn money for Adella, and I was secretly pleased that healing magic I researched in my previous life had been developed as medicine.
Despite missing the traces of Valpurgis, I was relieved that the feared 7th Circle magic was cast successfully.
Recently, I had been troubled by the National Tax Service investigation for a while, but it fortunately passed without issue, and the sports competition with friends became a good memory.
I confessed that I was very busy helping Emika with her training.
“Thank you for listening today.”
As I was about to leave after saying goodbye, I suddenly noticed the eight vacant slots around Seol-a’s urn.
The memorial hall had left them empty as a sign of gratitude towards me, but wouldn’t this make Seol-a feel lonely?
I thought of the acquaintances from my past life one by one.
My late mother Tenevrayia, my cute sister Niobe, and the three companions of the hero party Klaus, Silvia, Remilia, along with Master Maria and General Ruri, made seven.
‘One is awkwardly missing. Hiasen, I’ll count you as dead too.’
The country had fallen into chaos; surely a citizens’ revolution had happened at least once.
Then I would make exactly eight.
In truth, I hadn’t intended to commemorate them.
It would only inflate my sense of guilt, so in this life, I decided to fully accept being alive and consider the past as just the past.
While leaving the memorial hall, I received a call from Emika.
“Hello, Emika? What’s up at this hour?”
“This is Koizumi Yoshihiro.”
“Oh, what’s going on?”
Hearing his cold voice, I thought he might have caught a cold.
“Why did my master contact me using Emika’s phone?”
“Lady Nameya, it would be best to conclude your lessons with the heir here. Please leave your account number for the payment of the six sessions, and we’ll remit it later.”
“Excuse me? Wait, why all of a sudden?”
“Lady has expressed that she no longer wishes to continue her education.”
I frowned at the sudden news.
“Is this Emika’s opinion? What reason did she give?”
“Her opinion has been entirely reflected. We’re not sure of the reasoning, but wouldn’t you know better than anyone, Nameya?”
Could it be…
Just for such a statement?
I tried to recall any other reason, but the only time Emika’s expression soured was precisely when I mentioned that.
“Can I at least hear the reason for stopping? Is it okay to visit tomorrow?”
“Just a moment… Is it okay? Yes, it’s fine.”
“Okay, then I’ll stop by right after Academy ends.”
Sigh…
It really is hard to deal with children.
‘It certainly wasn’t a lie…’
Emika had been good at spotting lies since she was a child.
Observing the elders of her family, who extremely avoided causing trouble, I could see the movement of their auras differed slightly depending on whether they were genuine or not.
“Emika, it would have been good if you had informed me directly instead of the head of the family next time something like this happened. Do you have any idea how troubling this is?”
“I’m sorry. The head was right in front of me…”
“I never imagined you would say that now that you were attentive in your heir training. Is it that humiliating to learn from a nine-year-old kid?”
“That’s not it.”
“Looks like Nameya is coming in. Let’s hear the reason.”
Name entered the hanok hotel reception room still in her Academy uniform.
Emika and the master sat together on the sofa, while Name seated herself in the chair across from them.
“Why did you suddenly say you didn’t want to learn anymore? Was I too strict? I didn’t think you’d find it hard since you’ve been keeping up so well.”
In truth, Name’s training was incredibly difficult.
Such intensity was hard to find even within Katsuhata School.
But Name, who said she had killed without blinking an eye, was a subject of fear itself.
If Name had been an adult, Emika would have genuinely thought it was fortunate the perpetrator had died right then and there.
‘But Name is only eight…’
This surpassed the bounds of childhood.
A monster or demon masquerading as a child.
On one hand, guilt for only being able to see Name in that light prompted Emika to resolve to stop her education.
“Did you really kill someone?”
Emika asked in an ant-like voice.
Koizumi Yoshihiro raised an eyebrow at the question.
Name, even after hearing it, shrugged nonchalantly.
“Was that why? Of course, it’s a lie! I’ve never killed anyone!”
Name’s aura heart showed no signs of wavering.
In other words, it was the truth.
‘What? Why is this the truth? Did I misunderstand?’
Emika’s cheeks turned bright red.
She felt foolish for having struggled for three days.
“What are you talking about?”
Koizumi Yoshihiro asked, crossing his arms.
“Oh, Katsuhata asked how I awakened my external manifestation. I told her that I had someone I really wanted to kill, and that’s how I awakened.”
“Hmm… Awakening the inner world through rage is extremely rare but not impossible. Some people do prioritize reason over emotion when angry.”
“Then what she told me was…!”
“Of course, that’s an exaggeration, an exaggeration.”
Name grinned.
The aura fluctuated slightly.
It was neither true nor false; it was ambiguous.
‘It’s not quite an exaggeration, but does that mean she didn’t kill anyone after all?’
Emika’s mind worked hard.
If it were to that extent, it was within the range she could accept.
“Then you’ll participate in class today, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry for misunderstanding…! I really feel like I was possessed or something.”
“That’s a relief. What do you think, Koizumi? Do you think Katsuhata has improved a lot?”
“She learned to independently grasp her family’s advanced swordsmanship. If I had known the synergy among geniuses would be this profound, I would have brought her to meet sooner. By the way, Name, are you not considering joining the Katsuhata School?”
“You know me. I like it just the way it is.”
“Understood. I look forward to your continued guidance.”
Koizumi and Name exchanged a handshake of trust.
