Chapter 152
“You want me to teach you about combat?”
Choi Hyun-seok made a puzzled expression at Abelson’s sudden request.
“Yes. I think I need to learn how to fight properly.”
“Hmm, certainly if Ms. Abelson learns combat it would be useful in many ways.”
Abelson possesses immense holy power.
If utilized properly, it would surely become a great strength.
The problem is that Choi Hyun-seok doesn’t know how to use magic.
Moreover, he knows nothing about holy power.
“I don’t know magic. And I know even less about holy power.”
“No. What I want to learn is Choi Hyun-seok’s Fighting Spirit and fighting techniques.”
“Are you thinking of engaging in close combat?”
“To some extent, yes. Of course, I’ll learn magic too. I’d be grateful if the fairy over there could help… If not, I plan to self-study.”
This was the first time Abelson mentioned Rachel.
Rachel put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest.
“Ahem! There’s nothing I can’t teach when it comes to magic! I’ll have you know I was quite famous as a dedicated fairy back in the day!”
Making such bold claims with that confident pose doesn’t inspire much confidence.
“I’ve never seen you use proper attack magic.”
“How dare you say such rude things!”
Rachel said with furrowed brows.
“It’s not that I can’t use it, I choose not to!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s more efficient for the hero to use the magical power than for me to take it and use it.”
Choi Hyun-seok always squeezes out every last bit of magical power and demonic energy until they’re depleted.
In such extreme situations, if Rachel were to use magic and drain magical power, it would hinder combat.
“The hero’s fighting techniques use less magical power and are more powerful than my magic!”
“Surprisingly honest.”
“Anyway, the conclusion is that I choose not to use it, not that I can’t.”
“Then can you teach magic to Ms. Abelson? It’s holy power though?”
“Of course. I’m well-versed in the theory of holy power too.”
“Oho…”
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes sparkled.
‘Finally found a proper use for her after a long time.’
If Abelson learns magic, her combat power will increase dramatically at once.
‘Even if Abelson engages in close combat, she’ll have excess holy power. Rather than letting it go to waste, it would be better to use it for magic.’
Choi Hyun-seok efficiently uses all his magical power through his excellent physical specs and magical control, scraping even the bottom.
However, Abelson is completely different.
She has too much holy power compared to her physical abilities.
Even if she uses holy power liberally in simple close combat, she won’t run out.
Therefore, if she learns proper attack magic to use her excess holy power, it will surely become a great strength.
“Then it’s decided.”
Choi Hyun-seok clapped his hands and summarized.
“I’ll teach Fighting Spirit s and fighting techniques, and Rachel will teach magic.”
“I’ll be in your care.”
Abelson’s face was filled with determination.
This wasn’t a momentary impulse but a choice made after long deliberation.
She had already made up her mind.
***
Choi Hyun-seok raised his arm to block the mace.
“Too slow. And too obvious. Your opponent isn’t blind, would they get hit by such an obvious swing?”
“Huff, huff…”
Abelson looked up at Choi Hyun-seok while dripping with sweat.
He maintained a clean appearance without a single drop of sweat.
“You have excess holy power anyway, Ms. Abelson. So during combat, you should always have your body activated with holy power. When I attack, when blocking the opponent’s attack, when dodging. Holy power should always be circulating, that’s what I mean.”
“Yes…”
Abelson answered with difficulty.
“Let’s try again.”
“I-I can’t move my body.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
Due to excessive muscle strain, Abelson truly couldn’t move a finger.
This transcended matters of willpower.
“Then use holy power.”
“What…?”
“Sometimes when I can’t move my body, I use magical power to move my muscles instead. It should work with holy power too.”
“Th-that…”
Abelson made a bewildered expression.
Rachel, who was watching from the side, clicked her tongue.
“Hero. Do you think everyone in the world is a natural genius like you?”
“Why are you picking a fight now?”
“How do you think someone who solves problems with addition and subtraction would react if you tell them it’s easier with calculus!?”
“Ah, is that how it is…?”
Choi Hyun-seok didn’t realize it was such a difficult thing since he had been doing it instinctively from before.
“Take it step by step! Step by step!”
“Uh… Step by step… Right.”
Choi Hyun-seok nodded reluctantly.
‘I never learned step by step either, how am I supposed to teach step by step!?’
Choi Hyun-seok learned almost all his techniques through life-and-death situations in actual combat.
Even when not in combat, he mostly learned through insights gained during training.
However, this was only possible because he was Choi Hyun-seok.
Originally, these were skills that needed to be learned systematically over a very long time.
There was no way Choi Hyun-seok, who learned intuitively as needed, could provide systematic education.
‘What should I do…’
Choi Hyun-seok was lost in thought.
How could he teach Abelson?
After thinking for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Right. That’s how we’ll do it.”
Choi Hyun-seok looked at Abelson with shining eyes.
“Ms. Abelson.”
“Yes.”
“In my opinion, you were born with combat sense. You have talent.”
At the sudden praise, Abelson nodded with a dubious expression.
“I’m not just saying this, it’s true.”
“Thank you.”
“And handling holy power! This goes without saying. It’s just that your physical utilization is weak. You handle holy power itself very well, don’t you?”
“Yes… I was the next Holy Maiden after all.”
Abelson is a Holy Maiden chosen by God.
When it comes to handling holy power, she would be among the top in the continent.
“So from now on, we’ll replace training with practical sparring.”
“What?”
“I know from experience that our type learns faster through direct experience rather than listening to explanations.”
“Ah…”
“It will be much harder than now, but I guarantee you’ll achieve results!”
Abelson’s expression darkened slightly.
It was already too difficult, and now it will become even harder.
What kind of hell was waiting for her?
‘I can’t give up already.’
Abelson gritted her teeth.
Her momentarily wavering eyes became clear again.
‘I will become strong.’
Abelson made a commitment to become stronger.
She couldn’t fall when she had just crossed the starting line.
She looked at Choi Hyun-seok with sparkling eyes.
“Okay. Please teach me.”
“Yes. Then from now on, I’ll hit you for real.”
“What?”
“This is all I learned… Getting hit while learning is the best way.”
“Wait… Mr. Choi Hyun-seok. That’s, wait!”
Abelson raised her voice for the first time.
The response was cold.
“Enemies won’t wait for you.”
Choi Hyun-seok’s fist slammed into Abelson’s face.
***
“This is great. Indeed, training like real combat is the best!”
Choi Hyun-seok’s voice was strangely excited.
“Since Ms. Abelson is proficient in healing magic, she recovers instantly. Isn’t this perfect? If we train like this every day, you’ll improve noticeably day by day.”
Actually, he was genuinely excited.
‘When repeatedly pushed to the extreme, the growth rate is incredible!’
Choi Hyun-seok attacked Abelson as if trying to kill her, just as he had learned from Reidrun.
Naturally, Abelson was nearly killed.
However, she was an expert in healing.
She instantly healed her wounds and resumed sparring.
As this situation kept repeating, Abelson’s skills improved dramatically.
Having to heal herself to survive in extreme situations improved her mental strength and healing abilities simultaneously – a triple benefit.
“As long as you don’t lose consciousness, anything goes. These are truly the best training conditions!”
However, problems arose when Abelson lost consciousness.
Once, when she was nearly dead and unconscious, Rachel barely managed to save her.
“I’m not just saying this, these are truly the best training conditions!”
“Yes…”
“Ms. Abelson can become stronger instantly. I guarantee it!”
“Yeees…”
Abelson dragged out her response.
‘This man is a demon…’
To say these are the best training conditions after beating someone nearly to death.
Could he actually be a psychopath?
She couldn’t help but think that.
“Since mental fatigue remains even if the body recovers, let’s stop here for today.”
Thankfully, even psychopaths give time to rest.
At that moment, Rachel, who had been watching from the side, jumped in.
“Then from now on, it’s Rachel’s time!”
“Hey, Ms. Abelson is tired and needs rest, how can you teach now?”
“Tch! The hero got to enjoy everything, right!?”
“What nonsense are you saying about enjoying!”
“You did enjoy it! I saw you smiling while hitting her!”
“That’s not it!”
Choi Hyun-seok swore he didn’t.
Well, he did smile while hitting her.
But it wasn’t because he enjoyed hitting her, rather he was pleased because Abelson’s growth was visibly remarkable.
“Do you think I’m crazy enough to do that?”
“A pervert who smiles while hitting women! Psychopath!”
“Why you…!”
Choi Hyun-seok grabbed Rachel.
“Kyaaak! Stop! I’m sorry!”
Just as he was about to flick Rachel’s forehead.
Abelson approached.
“I’m fine… Please start the magic training too.”
“Are you sure? You must be mentally exhausted.”
“I should learn as much as I can when I have the chance. So I won’t regret later thinking I should have tried harder at this moment.”
Abelson’s eyes were clear.
Choi Hyun-seok silently handed Rachel over.
“Please teach me well.”
“Ahem! From now on, call me teach… Nevermind. Just call me Rachel.”
Rachel changed her words when Choi Hyun-seok raised his fist.
She put on red glasses from her chest and began teaching in earnest.
“Now, before learning magic! Do you know how magic and fighting techniques are different!?”
“No, not exactly…”
“My my. We need to start from the basics! Perfect timing. Hero, come sit here too!”
“Huh? Me too?”
“Of course! All these basics will help later!”
“Oh, okay…”
Once the students gathered, the teacher began her proper explanation.
“There are many differences between magic and fighting techniques, but the biggest difference can be distinguished by whether magic is processed or not. What this means is…”
That day, Teacher Rachel’s explanation continued until late at night.
***
“Finally arrived…”
“Wow, so this is the capital of the Mariette Kingdom.”
Several days later.
The group arrived at Scolbon, the capital of the Mariette Kingdom.
Entering the capital could be resolved with money.
“Is one gold coin enough?”
“Oh! Of course!”
He slipped money to the merchant entering the capital and hid in the cargo wagon.
As his experience grew, Choi Hyun-seok was becoming more skilled at various techniques.
“Ah, everything’s good, but it’s a bit disappointing that I had to use hero points.”
Choi Hyun-seok said while raising his hand.
There was an unfamiliar bracelet on his wrist.
⥠Hide my demonic energy!
Description: A versatile bracelet in sleek matte black that adjusts to fit the user! It also has the function of blocking leaking demonic energy.
Ability: Demonic energy blocking
Required Hero Points: 300
A whopping 300 points.
Choi Hyun-seok bought two with tears in his eyes.
One for his arm.
The other he put around Bobo’s neck.
“Sigh… Can’t be helped.”
Although Choi Hyun-seok and Bobo block their demonic energy, they can’t prevent the tiniest amounts from leaking out.
While ordinary people wouldn’t notice, this is the capital, and there could be skilled experts here.
If their demonic energy is detected, things won’t end well.
In the end, it was an unavoidable expense.
“At least the performance is reliable, that’s good.”
Unlike its playful description, the bracelet was worth the points.
When Choi Hyun-seok wore it while suppressing his demonic energy, not even the tiniest amount leaked out.
This way, unless someone directly checks inside, there’s no worry about being discovered.
“Should we find an inn first? I feel uncomfortable since I haven’t properly washed for a while.”
“Yes!”
“Ms. Abelson. You don’t need to answer with such intensity anymore. This isn’t a training situation…”
“Understood!”
Abelson had changed quite a bit.
Usually expressionless, now her eyes held a strangely murderous glint.
Her responses were still brief like before, but they had an oddly military-like, crisp quality that felt out of place.
‘Well, it’ll probably fix itself with time.’
He figured it was just temporary due to the extreme stress of the past week.
“Let’s see. Where might there be an inn…”
At that moment, just as he was about to move to look for an inn.
Suddenly, Bobo, who was in his arms, started barking.
“Kwang! Kwang!”
“Huh? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
Choi Hyun-seok held onto Bobo in confusion.
Even holding on with all his strength, it wasn’t easy to control Bobo due to his immense power.
“Kwang! Kwaaang!”
“Please stay still!”
Bobo kept barking at something.
Choi Hyun-seok lifted his head to look in the direction Bobo was barking.
At the same time, he felt as if time had stopped.
“That’s…”
A beauty.
Such a beautiful woman that distorted his sense of reality.
Her long black hair swayed softly, and her skin was white as jade.
Her tall stature and perfectly curved figure revealed through the black see-through dress she wore, created an even more captivating atmosphere.
Following her slender, snow-white neck up to her sharp jawline, there sat features as if carved by a sculptor’s knife.
Particularly striking were her sharp yet elegant eyes, which held a magical power that seemed to draw in whoever looked at them.
A beauty with an overwhelming presence even among the countless crowds.
Yet the people around passed by as if she didn’t exist.
Then their eyes met.
Choi Hyun-seok unconsciously gulped.
*Grin*
The corners of her red lips curved upward.
A smile that seemed familiar from somewhere.
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.
‘No way…!’
Clatter! Clatter…!
Coincidentally, a wagon appeared between the woman and Choi Hyun-seok.
The wagon passed between them in an instant, but when he looked again, the woman was gone.
As if she had never existed there in the first place.
Choi Hyun-seok stared blankly at where the woman had been for a while.
Bobo too was no longer barking and stayed quietly in his arms.
“Hero, what’s wrong?”
Rachel tapped Choi Hyun-seok’s head as he stood there like a broken robot.
“Didn’t you see?”
“See what?”
“No… It’s nothing.”
Choi Hyun-seok shook his head and tried to shake off the thoughts.
Hemis isn’t deaadd <3