Chapter 37
The body of the top-tier knight, Iron, standing right before the Master.
I thought that if I didn’t use my aura, I could at least hold a decent sparring match against a Great Warrior.
After all, battles between experts usually co down to a hair’s breadth, and I prided myself on having plenty of experience in one-on-one combat.
But that was rely my delusion.
“Ha!”
With a short shout, Leisha stepped forward and leapt at .
In just a few light steps, the distance closed instantly.
I tried my best to read her movents.
‘Fast.’
The difference in skill level mattered, but even more, her being ard with gauntlets gave her an overwhelming advantage in speed over , wielding a greatsword.
In situations like this, the most efficient thod was to crouch low, defend first, and look for openings in the opponent’s attack.
A greatsword’s power was undoubtedly lethal, but its weight often left weaknesses exposed after a swing, so one had to seize the right timing perfectly.
Thunk!!
Yet I couldn’t resist at all and was struck by the very first hit.
“Ugh!”
Before I could even regain my senses, another blow followed.
“Gah!”
By the ti I tried to withstand and push my blade into an opening, her shadow had already vanished.
“Hah!”
Suddenly, Leisha appeared before and slamd an uppercut into my jaw.
From then on, I was beaten relentlessly without pause.
I doubted I had ever taken so many hits in my entire life.
It was a brutality that left no room for acknowledgnt, not even a speck.
“Hah, hah… what’s happening?”
Her steps followed no rhythm or pattern, making it impossible to predict her approach.
Her attack paths flowed freely between straight lines and curves, leaving unable to find the strike points.
The speed was so impossible to block by sight alone that one had to predict the direction or target to defend—but I couldn’t, so I just kept getting pounded.
The only relief was that my endurance was top-notch, so I didn’t collapse from the first strike.
Thanks to that, I could survive several consecutive hits, and as absurd as it sounded, experiencing more attacks increased the chance of getting a feel for her style.
Even so, it didn’t look easy in the current situation.
“You’re slow, bear.”
“Uh… sorry about that.”
“But sturdy. Feels good hitting you.”
“Can’t you at least give a hint about what I should do?”
“First, get hit. You grow when you get hit. Now, here I go again.”
“Hey, wait—”
I thought she’d at least explain sothing since this was training, but she was far more ruthless than I expected.
She relished the feeling of my toughness and imdiately charged again.
‘Is this really right?’
I didn’t know if this was how beastman training normally went, or if she was just weird, but it felt like I had drawn the short straw.
How was I supposed to gain anything from this?
‘No, what kind of teaching is this to begin with?’
So I kept getting pumled by her, repeating it over and over until I collapsed from exhaustion.
No matter how I tried to block her attacks, it was impossible with my abilities.
After roughly an hour of training, she finally approached and said sothing that might actually help.
“You’re slow, bear. Do you know why you’re slow?”
“I’m slow because I’m slow. Why would there be any other reason?”
“No. I’m adjusting to your speed right now.”
“Huh? That can’t be.”
Then how was she moving so much faster than ?
“You think too much. Do you calculate with your head before moving?”
“How else am I supposed to react when your attacks are invisible?”
“Thinking. That’s the problem.”
So my speed was on par with Leisha’s, but the ti spent calculating in my head before acting was slowing down?
“You’re strange.”
“Strange how?”
“Sothing is off. If you don’t correct that, you can’t even begin.”
‘Sothing is off’… I could guess at that to so extent.
‘It’s not surprising since I suddenly beca Iron.’
Sothing about the unification with the spiritual body, or so they said.
I thought I could move Iron’s body as I wished, but apparently, there were still so shortcomings.
Still, I was amazed by her claim that I moved exactly like Iron’s physical capabilities.
‘This body has more potential than I thought.’
In my mories, Iron couldn’t move like Leisha.
Perhaps he never fully realized his potential.
“At least your body is sturdy. Well, that’s how training in Johnson Territory is.”
In the southern regions, aura training primarily focused on maximizing the quantity and quality of aura accumulated within the body.
In contrast, Johnson Territory’s thod invested much of the accumulated aura into the body itself.
The accumulation speed was slightly slower, but it significantly enhanced physical abilities.
‘Unlike the southern knights, who were lean and fast, most Johnson Territory knights are bulky for this reason.’
Their muscles weren’t just built by exercise—they were reinforced by aura, giving them incredible durability and strength.
It was almost laughable that all the knights in Johnson Territory, who had almost nothing to start with, were all so muscular.
‘Sa goes for Iron.’
It seed that Iron was a knight specialized in tough, rough brawling rather than delicate, calculated combat.
“But how do you know about our Territory’s training thod?”
“Why wouldn’t I? That thod is an adaptation of the bear tribe’s, isn’t it?”
“…Really?”
“You didn’t know?”
Leisha seed to know quite a bit about our Territory’s thod, so I asked.
But then I heard sothing odd.
She claid that our thod originated from the bear tribe?
I had no idea about that either, so I tilted my head in curiosity.
“Before Johnson Territory settled here, didn’t they drive out the pigs? The bear and lion tribes helped with that.”
“I think I’ve heard sothing about the pig tribe.”
“In that process, the bear tribe was ultimately annihilated. Before their Great Chief died, he handed the training thod to Lord Johnson. Lord Johnson combined it with their own thod, which is probably the training thod you, bear, have learned now.”
“So that’s what happened.”
The Pig Tribe, which had committed all sorts of atrocities, including enslaving the Rabbit Tribe, was regarded as a public enemy even among the beastn, and the Bear Tribe could not coexist under the sa sky as them.
During attempts at diplomacy to establish good relations, the Bear Tribe’s warriors went hunting, and the Pig Tribe invaded the village, killing all the Bear Tribe children.
Truly, their sense of humanity—or lack thereof—was astounding.
At this point, even the Empire might have cried foul.
The Johnson family, who planned to pacify this region, drew in the Bear and Lion Tribes to form a united front.
After driving out the Pig Tribe entirely and claiming this area, they constructed a castle—the beginning of Johnson Territory.
At that ti, the Rabbit Tribe, who had been enslaved by the Pig Tribe, staged a mass escape toward the Forest of Illusions.
So, basically, the Lion Tribe and our Territory had a decent relationship.
It was remarkable that Leisha, a mber of the Lion Tribe, knew a history even I, the master of the castle, could not rember.
“Anyway, our Territory’s training thod is similar to that of the Bear Tribe, right? The Bear Tribe… what kind of people were they?”
“They were true warriors, with bodies as strong as steel, ravaging enemy lines. So powerful that even those arrogant pigs had no choice but to get blindsided.”
“…The Pig Tribe has always seed like that kind of people anyway.”
Steel-like bodies… I could start to get a feel for it.
“Do you have any hints or anything?”
“There’s nothing like that. You’ll figure it out when you get hit. Just take it first.”
“No, what…”
Leisha seed to know a lot, so I cautiously asked her, and her answer was unbelievable.
“You’ll understand everything when you get hit.”
Unsure, but since it was training, I decided to follow her instructions.
If my top priority was to fully control this body, there was no better thod than repeated real combat.
“Ugh.”
“Argh.”
“Wow…”
But this wasn’t an easy task.
Leisha was faster than I imagined, and I couldn’t control her movents with my senses.
As a result, during the entire training session, I was rcilessly beaten by her.
“Good job, bear.”
“You look a bit flushed.”
“Misunderstanding. I’m tired too.”
“Misunderstanding, my foot.”
After training, I was battered and bruised, but Leisha seed oddly refreshed.
Of course, her facial expression didn’t change much.
But her good mood was obvious—the proof being that tail.
The lion’s tail was swaying gently.
Yes, you can fake a facial expression, but you can’t fake a tail that sways happily.
The way it swayed cutely only made more irritated.
“Ending here feels a bit unsatisfying… Ah, right. Leisha, can you also oversee the captain’s training, not just ?”
“The captain? Ah, that sturdy-looking human friend, you an.”
“Yes. How about it?”
“Hmm, sounds tempting.”
“Great. Shall we call him right away?”
Feeling it was unfair to be the only one getting pounded, I called Rudick imdiately.
Rudick, who oversaw the knights’ training in the Order, reluctantly stepped into the training field.
He seed annoyed, wondering why he had to do this when he was already busy training the knights.
“Shouldn’t you be enjoying a peaceful date with the beautiful rcenary commander instead of dragging an innocent bystander into this?”
Complaining unnecessarily was his thing.
“Huh? Sparring? Even if it’s a Great Warrior or sothing, still… sparring with a woman?”
“But don’t you spar well with female knights?”
“They’re not really won.”
“So Leisha is a woman, huh?”
“A very lovely lady, indeed.”
Beating was habitual.
At Rudick’s chattering, Leisha’s tail stiffened again.
She seed annoyed.
“You should learn too. As the captain of the knights, you should aim at the Master, shouldn’t you?”
“Hmm, will this help? Well, fine then.”
Anyway, Rudick also wanted to beco stronger.
He seed sowhat doubtful since he hadn’t directly experienced Leisha’s prowess, but he grudgingly accepted the training when persuaded.
As soon as the training began, Leisha flew at him like lightning, and he started taking hits relentlessly.
As expected of a female lion.
No rcy.
“Wow, so I also got beaten like that? Incredible.”
Watching from the side, I realized her movents were truly artful.
She was like a ghost—utterly untouchable.
Still, watching Rudick helplessly take hits felt oddly satisfying.
“But he’s reacting a little?”
Unlike , who could not react at all, Rudick flinched and adjusted slightly to her movents.
Maybe it was the survival instinct of a beast?
‘This seems different from re perception, awakening senses beyond the five.’
While I pondered, Rudick continued getting pounded and eventually collapsed from exhaustion, ending the training.
“Indeed, the captain is better. Rudick surpasses you, bear. Step it up.”
“Even I can see that. I would have had the upper hand sparring with him.”
“That’s because your level is low. That’s normal at first.”
It wasn’t entirely clear, but I started to get an inkling.
Clearly, more than just seeing, feeling, and thinking was required.
Deficiencies could only be overco through practice and mastery.
According to Leisha, I hadn’t even properly begun.
“By the way, are all Great Warriors like you?”
“It’s hard for to say myself, but I’m on the stronger side.”
“Oh, really?”
Seeing Leisha flying around, I worried if all Masters and Great Warriors were that strong, but it seed she was among the stronger ones.
Then, among human Masters, there probably weren’t many stronger than Leisha.
It was information that gave at least a bit of motivation.
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