“Anyway, it’s a relief that you mastered the Breath of the Azure Dragon so easily.”
“Well, let’s just say that I have a special attribute technique.”
Eurius, who had verbally hit Jegal Unhyeon, replied cheerfully to Jegal Hwayeong’s words.
It was such an unexpected situation that he had momentarily forgotten about it, but if the Jegal family was not just cooperating with him but actually joining under his command, it was an enormous benefit.
The people of the Jegal family were dumbfounded at first, but soon they started to understand it in their own way.
‘Well, he might be a descendant of player or something like that. He could see stats after all.’
‘He might have figured out how my inner power moves when I infused him with my energy.’
Jegal Unhyeon glanced at Eurius with admiration in his eyes and opened his mouth again.
“It’s fortunate that your achievement is so fast. Collecting the remaining martial arts is not something we can do right away. For now, it would be better for you to learn from me as a senior and master at least one of them perfectly.”
The position of a senior in the Four Gods Conference was originally meant to guide the junior. But Jegal Unhyeon had some doubts as well.
‘He could master the Breath of the Azure Dragon without seeing the secret manual. He must have a heavenly talent, but why is he so unbalanced as a martial artist?’
“Do you have one more question for me? Can you answer it?”
Eurius spoke to Jegal Unhyeon who was lost in thought.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered something. You said you felt your energy fuse last time, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why didn’t you ask me then? Why did you need time to think until you came to the capital?”
That made sense.
Didn’t he say that there were even people who became disabled by the collision of energies?
He should have known just by seeing his energy fuse. Why didn’t he ask sooner?
‘This is a bit awkward.’
Jegal Unhyeon showed a troubled expression for the first time.
“Is it a difficult question to answer?”
“It’s not that. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
He sighed and told him the truth.
“This might sound unpleasant to you, but honestly, your energy control was too poor even for someone who was inexperienced.”
“…”
This time Eurius was hit hard.
He couldn’t help but make a sour face.
“So in other words, you thought I was too lacking to be a legendary figure.”
“I’m sorry. But seeing how you mastered the Breath of the Azure Dragon in one breath today, it doesn’t seem like that anymore.”
“…”
Eurius had nothing to say. He was not a genius by any means. But hearing someone say ‘You look talentless!’ directly was not a pleasant feeling.
‘But I gained a lot, so I’ll just train hard and make it work.’
He was not so stupid as to deny his shortcomings.
He relaxed his expression as if he had noticed Jegal Unhyeon’s words.
“I can fill in the gaps for you as a martial artist.”
“To be honest, it was a bit embarrassing. But I’m grateful if you can teach me.”
In fact, since he left the empire, Eurius had no proper master, and until recently, he had been stuck in a wall even when he trained.
Normally, if he reached the level of a superhuman, he would not have to rush, but unfortunately he could not be satisfied with that.
The enemies he had to face were too strong.
The issue of honorifics was also compromised by training.
“As long as you have something to teach me, I think it’s fair to call you my master.”
Jegal Unhyeon nodded reluctantly.
“Then I hope you don’t blame me for being respectful to you in public later. This is something I can’t compromise on either.”
That’s how the issue of honorifics was settled for now.
***
The next day.
The Azure Dragon Hall had a fairly large training hall underground, as it was a group made by the martial artists of the Jegal family.
Eurius and Jegal Unhyeon were facing each other with their weapons drawn.
It was their first sparring to test each other’s skills, so Jegal Unhyeon spoke with a serious expression.
“First of all, I need to see your exact skill level. I’ll give you three chances as a senior!”
He was saying that he would just take three attacks from him as he was the teacher.
“I don’t care as long as you don’t complain later.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”Jegal Unhyeon slowly raised his spear and took his stance.
Eurius knew at a glance that he was higher than him in terms of realm, but if he gave him three chances without attacking, he thought he could make him struggle a bit.
Shh!
“!?”
As he hid his presence with the Counterattack Ghost Technique, Jegal Unhyeon also momentarily widened his eyes.
Eurius secretly attempted his first attack with the Invisible Sword.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the blade of the spear clashed with the sword. Jegal Unhyeon spoke calmly.
“A peculiar attack. That’s one.”
It was his best move, but Jegal Unhyeon easily blocked it with the tip of his spear. Eurius had no choice but to make a bitter expression.
‘As expected, it’s hard to gain much advantage with the Invisible Sword against a superhuman who is among the top ranks.’
From the second time on, Eurius gave it his all. His sword flew silently with tremendous force towards Jegal Unhyeon’s neck.
Bang!
A loud noise erupted and the shockwave from their collision cracked the walls of the training hall.
“That’s two. Your inner power is really amazing for your age.”
He praised Eurius’s inner power, which was his force output, for being higher than expected, but he defended it skillfully.
Eurius couldn’t help but be surprised inwardly.
He had already mastered two of the secret techniques of Lee Cheongmun, albeit incompletely, and he had grown considerably stronger through constant training, but Jegal Unhyeon blocked his full-powered attack without much effort.
‘It’s all or nothing.’
Shiiik!
Eurius decided to unleash his full power for the third time.
He aimed at Jegal Unhyeon’s whole body with his terrifying explosive force.
“Hooh…”
But it was useless again.
No matter how fast, stealthy, and powerful his attack was, Jegal Unhyeon blocked it like a ghost.
His Invisible Sword was something that even a superhuman could not sense properly, but Jegal Unhyeon somehow managed to deflect it with the most efficient movement just before it touched his body.
Watching him, Eurius remembered an old memory with a question.
‘Come to think of it, didn’t the Count Carlos block my attack like this too?’
“This time it was a continuous attack, but I’ll just count it as the third one. Then it’s my turn.”
“!?”
Eurius had to focus on defense right away.
Dozens of shadows of spears were coming at him.
“Damn!”
Jegal Unhyeon’s attack was not simply stabbing in a straight line. Surprisingly, the trajectory of the spear twisted like a snake or bent in an unexpected direction.
This was his fourth-stage secret technique, Space Distortion.
It was harder to block than the Invisible Sword.
The spear that aimed at his neck suddenly shot at his head and the shadow of the spear disappeared and then the tip of the spear popped out from under his feet.
Clang clang clang!
Eurius raised his senses to the extreme and somehow fended off the attack, but anyone could see that he was absolutely inferior.
‘Damn it!’
He couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Being weaker was a problem, but there was something more important.
‘He only attacks as much as I can defend. The gap is bigger than I thought.’
Jegal Unhyeon pushed him back while having some leeway.
If he had attacked with the intention of killing him, Eurius would have been seriously injured.
For about ten minutes, Eurius was busy defending himself and Jegal Unhyeon did not give any advice either.
He just silently swung his spear.
And at some point he stopped his hand.
“I’ll end it here.”
“…”
Jegal Unhyeon still looked calm and Eurius couldn’t help but feel gloomy because he couldn’t counterattack properly.
Soon Jegal Unhyeon opened his mouth.
“I think I know your problem.”
“Problem?”
Eurius looked puzzled. He thought it was just a difference in skill, but was there something wrong?
“Do you know about [Dominance]?”
“What is Dominance?”Eurius asked stupidly.
It was a word he had never heard before. But Jegal Unhyeon looked at him strangely.
“That’s weird? Even if you’re from the Western Continent where there is no systematic training method, you should have mastered the basics by now.”
Jegal Unhyeon saw Eurius as someone who had just reached the fourth stage as a chick.
He looked like he had trained for a few years after becoming a superhuman.
‘Is it because he reached the realm at such a young age?’
He tilted his head and started to explain.
“Dominance is the distance that a martial artist can perfectly control. Simply put, it’s putting a certain space under your control.”
‘Controlling space?’
Eurius looked at the Yellow Dragon Sword.
Come to think of it, the Emperor said that the next realm was domination.
Was that related to this Dominance?
“What does it mean to control space?”
“Hmm… From what I saw, the ability you gained from the fourth stage is the ability to hide your presence, right?”
“That’s right.”
“But didn’t you wonder? How could I block your attack without any presence?”
“Did you block it with your senses?”
“If I had learned the martial arts of the White Tiger Association like you, I might have been able to. But unfortunately, I’m not that good at sensing.”
“!?”
Eurius was shocked.
How could he block his Invisible Sword without sensing it?
He was frustrated, but he kept listening.
Then Jegal Unhyeon swung his spear a few more times.
Dozens of shadows of spears covered about thirty meters around him.
Crack crack crack!
The stone floor cracked and dust flew as the shadows of spears passed by.
After a while, there was nothing intact within thirty meters of Jegal Unhyeon except where Eurius was standing.
“This is the distance I can control as my range. Of course, I can block the enemy’s attack at this distance too.”
“Ah!”
Eurius finally understood the meaning of Dominance.
“You understand now. If you narrow down the distance of your Dominance, you can do more precise defense or attack.”
“To be honest, I don’t fully understand. I don’t get this Sword-Spirit Fusion either.”
“Actually, this has nothing to do with inner power. It’s just that your weapon naturally draws out energy according to your will when you swing it hard enough.”
“!?”
‘What are you talking about?’
How could an inanimate object like a spear have a will and draw out inner power?
He was annoyed, but Eurius continued to listen.
“We call this Divine Spear Fusion. You use a sword, so it would be Divine Sword Fusion.”
‘What the hell?’
Eurius almost tore his hair out.
‘Is there no way? If I were a player, there must be some way…’
[If you can’t do it, why don’t you practice with the Yellow Dragon?]
“That’s right!”
Eurius remembered the Emperor’s advice and drew out the Yellow Dragon Sword again.
And he earnestly asked for help.
‘Please give me some way.’
[You’re talentless, remember?]
The Yellow Dragon Sword had rejected him at first because of this point. But listening to the Emperor’s words, he hinted that there might be some way using this damn sword.
Ding!
[Quest – The Trial of the Yellow Dragon has begun.]
“Huh?”
Eurius felt that the sword in his hand suddenly became heavy.
No, it wasn’t that the sword became heavy.
‘My force is gone?’
The force that filled his body was gone.
Therefore, the physical enhancement by force was released.
No! According to the system’s explanation, it wasn’t gone.
[Stage 1 – Your sense of force is sealed.]