"P-Puhehehe…"
Ah, today was fun too.
Giggling to myself, I headed to my private training ground in the back mountains.
Honestly, picking on someone twenty years old by saying stuff like "you're pissed off, huh?" felt a bit awkward now that I was grown up, but come on—Senior Sister Jang had such a great reaction.
"I just can't help myself."
Her icy face, which never seemed to twitch, crumpling in frustration was endlessly entertaining no matter how many times I saw it.
Grinning as I recalled that expression again, I stepped into the clearing—only to sense a familiar presence.
I turned toward it with a smirk.
"Already caught, so why keep hiding? Come on out."
"…You've got sharp senses."
I looked at the figure who appeared before me, accompanied by that cool, beautiful voice.
Senior Sister Jang, who had lost her composure and chased after me just moments ago, had regained her calm and reverted to her usual frosty expression.
After staring at her face for a bit, I let my gaze drop lower.
In each of her hands was a real sword.
"Gasp. N-No way, are you holding a grudge…?"
At my feigned fear, her elegant eyebrows—painted as finely as if by a master artist—furrowed slightly.
Seeing that, I burst into giggles.
"Were you that mad about losing to me, Senior Sister Jang?"
"…As I said before, I'm not that petty. I clearly lost our spar. I admit it."
Her face, staring at me with real swords in hand, was utterly serious.
Hmm, this just makes me want to tease her more.
"You got pissed off after losing, huh?"
"Argh…! That speech pattern of yours…!"
As her brow twisted again and I cackled, a long sigh echoed.
A sigh brimming with barely contained frustration.
Push any further, and she'd really get upset.
Better call it here for today.
With that thought, I opened my mouth again.
"You admit it, yet you show up at my private training ground with real swords… How am I supposed to take that?"
"…That's."
"Want me to guess? You're itching for a rematch? This time with your real martial arts."
"…!"
Just as I'd noticed our master hiding his skills, I'd long known both senior sisters were concealing theirs too.
Unlike me—a trainee who'd paid to learn some third-rate techniques—they must have properly inherited Master Wang-sam's unique arts.
"You lost without using your true martial arts, so you want a proper go this time?"
It had happened just two days ago.
As usual, I was set for my morning spar with Master, but out of nowhere, he suggested I face Senior Sister Jang instead.
-Huh? Why all of a sudden?
When I'd begged to spar with her before, he'd refused flat-out. What changed?
When I asked, Master Wang-sam cleared his throat awkwardly and said:
-Er, ahem! Sparring with a superior like your master has its benefits, but so does facing a peer of similar skill. I held you back before out of concern for your growth, but now that you're nearly twenty…
-You're saying since we're all grown up, we should spar among ourselves—what's so hard about that?
-....
That's how I ended up in my first spar at the hall against someone other than Master—Senior Sister Jang, no less.
The result? As you've probably guessed, I won.
"My victory must've hit you hard, huh? Showing up with real swords to demand a rematch."
"…Yes. Very much so."
Her short reply came with an expression that screamed she had a lot to say.
I wonder what she's been holding back—and how much?
If I win this spar too, will she spill it all?
The mood suggested as much, so I had to accept.
Coming to that conclusion inwardly, I probed her anyway.
"What if I get hurt sparring with real swords? What if I cry and run home, and my only source of income dries up?"
"You've already figured it out, but we don't need the income. The hall is just a front."
As expected.
Nodding, I gave a sly grin.
"A front, huh? Should I report you to the local magistrate?"
"You won't. Good or bad, it's been ten years. I know you're not the type."
"Hmm. You know too much about me. Time for you to die."
"Sorry, but I can't oblige. I still have things to do."
I'd tossed out the line playfully cold, but her serious response killed the fun.
Staring at her with cooled eyes, she suddenly bowed formally to me.
"Young Master Goon Ja-seong of Goon Family Manor. I formally challenge you to a spar."
"…What's this? You're starting to freak me out for real."
"As I said earlier, our identities as the master of a rural martial hall and his disciples are false."
"...."
I shut my mouth at Senior Sister Jang's overly frank words.
Then shrugged.
"Figured as much. Master claimed he only trained in the Three Calamities Technique, but lately in spars, he keeps using footwork I've never seen."
"…It must be getting hard for him to hold back against you."
She gazed at me with deepened, somber eyes.
"You noticed, yet you kept coming to our hall. Why?"
"No one else around here to teach me martial arts but Master."
"You've already mastered the Three Calamities Technique."
"Martial arts aren't just about learning them. Sparring builds experience, and besides…"
"It's not that. You're curious about our situation, aren't you?"
…So I wasn't the only one who noticed.
As Senior Sister Jang said, the biggest reason I'd kept visiting the hall all this time was curiosity about them.
Suspicious martial artists hiding in this backwater, running a front as a hall master and disciples.
It reeked of adventure, you know? A grand one!
"I'll admit it. Yeah, I was curious about Master and you sisters. So? Spilling all this means you're willing to tell me?"
In answer to my question, Senior Sister Jang tossed me a sword.
I snatched the sheathed blade midair and instantly grasped her intent.
"If you win the spar, you'll tell me everything?"
"Yes. If I lose again, I'll tell you everything without a single lie. Our full story."
*
Win the spar, and she'd reveal everything I'd wondered about all these years.
I flashed a triumphant smile at the answer I'd hoped for.
Plus, judging by the mood, she planned to fight with her true martial arts this time.
Not the Three Calamities Swordsmanship she'd used last time to hide her skills, but the real deal.
My heart raced at the thought of finally witnessing martial arts beyond the Three Calamities Swordsmanship.
And I hadn't gone all-out in our last bout either.
Over the past five years, through trial and error, I'd forged new techniques. This was the perfect chance to test them.
"Alright. Let's do this."
I drew the sword from its sheath.
It emerged with a clear ring.
One glance at the flawless blade told me this wasn't some street forge knockoff.
"What's this sword? Doesn't look ordinary."
"My spare. Consider it thanks for playing along with our ruse."
A spare? Doesn't seem like one you'd shelve.
So she knew it was all an act.
Snickering, I set the sheath aside and lightly gripped the hilt, extending it forward.
The basic stance of the Three Calamities Swordsmanship.
Seeing it, Senior Sister Jang hesitated before asking:
"…Just to check, you're planning to face me with the Three Calamities Swordsmanship?"
"What else? It's all I know."
"..."
A strange doubt flickered across her icy face.
Seeing it, I snickered.
"I can guess what you're thinking, but I've never learned anything else. You know that—no opportunities."
Until I was ten, I'd lazed around waiting for some destined encounter.
Like a story protagonist stumbling into a miraculous inheritance and mastering peerless arts, I clung to baseless faith it'd happen to me.
It never did.
All I could afford with pocket change from the market was the third-rate Three Calamities Technique.
So I remade it.
I deconstructed the only art I knew thoroughly.
Then rebuilt it, infusing inspirations from countless wuxia novels I'd read in my past life and the wild imaginings of their authors.
My Three Calamities Technique now differed greatly from the original.
But at its core, it was still just that—one technique I'd mastered.
Hearing my answer, Senior Sister Jang studied my face, then nodded.
"I see. Still, you're hiding something, aren't you?"
"Oh, you picked up on that?"
"Yes. Because while you were watching me, I was watching you."
Her rather intriguing reply caught me off guard.
What was it? It sparked weird imaginings… Snap out of it.
Shaking off the stray thoughts, I heard her resolute voice.
"Show me everything you're hiding, Young Master. I'll go all-out today too."
With that, she drew her sword and assumed a stance.
Bending at the waist, pulling back the blade in her right hand—a posture I'd never seen, radiating fierce momentum.
The true qi in her body responded to her will.
I swallowed involuntarily at the sharp pressure.
A thrilling tension coursed through me as I grinned, lips curling up.
Her emitted aura was mere bravado to mask inferiority, but it loosened my briefly stiff body.
Her current pressure bore down on me fiercely.
"…Whew."
Gotta admit what's true.
At least in internal energy, the gap between her and me was like heaven and earth.
No way she was some rejuvenated elder, so probably stuffed with premium elixirs.
Now that I thought about it, the hall closed for days sometimes when I was young.
Bet they snuck in elixir sessions to boost their cultivation.
Reasonable suspicion. I sharpened all my senses, focusing on her.
Her knees bent slowly, her stance lowering.
The instant they buckled fully—
*Boom!*
With an explosive thud, Senior Sister Jang kicked off the ground and shot toward me like an arrow.
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