I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God Chapter 5

If one were to ask anyone close to Collector Kayan which word defined him the least, most would answer with “conceited,” “arrogant,” or “careless.”

He had worked as a Bednicker collector for 34 years and had completed 1,031 missions.

Although he wasn’t the strongest collector, no one could contest that he was the most perfect collector.

He hadn’t expected that today would be the day that put a stain on his career.

Of course, with his dry personality, Kayan didn’t put too much aning in his personal record, but this was still very unexpected for him.

Kayan nearly let out a sigh as he rembered the voices of those who suggested that he retire.

It seems I’ve finally beco old.

He looked forward again.

The dull blade was pointing directly at his neck without a single tremor, and the one holding that sword had a crooked smile on his face accompanied by a cold gaze looking straight at him.

Since when had Luan Bednicker possessed such eyes?

What was with everything he’d seen at the main house? Had Luan beco enlightened in such a short ti? And if not... Was everything just an act?

Kayan dismissed the thought. He checked the pain embedded in his body from the attack Luan had just launched.

“...The sword art passed down through House Bednicker: Iron Heart.”

“...”

“The attack that hit on my chin was the seventh technique, sky piercer. The repeated attacks on my chest, solar plexus, and stomach had traces of the fourth technique, three-fold strike.” Kayan looked at Luan as he asked, “Did you perhaps create a fist art based on the house’s sword art?”

At that, Luan smiled brightly as he retracted his sword. “That’s what I told you.”

Kayan thought to himself.

Although it might be obvious, the difference between a sword art and a fist art was quite large. The more one looked into it, the more obvious the differences beca. After all, the role a blade played in combat was completely different from that of a fist.

What did this all an?

If he really did create a fist art based on the Bednicker family’s swordsmanship...

Just as Luan had insisted before, this couldn’t be explained away as just the creation of a new martial art. This was much more complicated than that.

This was like painting over an already completed painting with a new piece of art, but still maintaining the mood of the original piece because there would be no point if the strength of the original was altered too much.

Kayan knew just how unbelievably absurd such a feat was.

This is only possible if you have a level of understanding multiple tis deeper than even the original creator of the sword art.

House Bednicker had to be inford.

There was another genius who could stand next to the eldest son, Hero.

* * * * *

* * * * *

After retracting the sword and stepping away, I didn’t say anything for a mont, just waiting.

I wanted to give the collector, who seed to be deep in his thoughts, ti to organize them.

Without saying a word, Kayan stood up.

He checked over his disheveled clothes and even combed his hair to be perfect before looking at with a complicated expression.

“White Sun Form,” he said. He let out a sigh. “Is that the na of the martial art that you have created?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s outstanding.”

Honestly, because it wasn’t sothing I’d made alone, I felt a little guilty. I changed the subject to free myself from the discomfort.

“Your movents were excellent as well. Your footwork was quite unique. What skill was that?”

For so reason, the light returned to Kayan’s eyes. He looked toward with an expression that was hard to describe.

“It can’t be helped if you can’t tell .”

“That isn’t the case, but...” Kayan dragged out his sentence before shaking his head and looking directly at . “Could you perhaps show the full White Sun Form?”

“Is this the final test?”

“That isn’t the case. You have already proven your worth, young master.”

“Oh.” Seeing how his attitude toward had completely flipped, I mischievously asked, “Are you saying I’m better than my second elder brother?”

“If what I saw is correct,” Kayan said as he again checked the condition of his clothes, “you are far beyond Young Master Hector.”

“...”

Everyone who knew Kayan knew that he didn’t give out complints easily. He was practically going out of his way to flatter .

Since I didn’t give an imdiate reply, Kayan answered first. He spoke calmly, but there was a trace of uneasiness in his tone and expression.

“What I just asked was purely a personal request. Please forget about it.”

He seed to want to maintain his attitude as a collector, but he still wished to see the entirety of the White Sun Form.

So this is the reaction I’ll get if I show soone the White Sun Form.

As stated before, a collector’s job had many aspects.

Two of them were “inspecting” and “assessing.”

They were to personally observe the martial arts of the Bednicker bloodline and assess them.

The old man in front of was the oldest working collector and had assessed many different martial arts. Seeing a person of such caliber get this “excited” after seeing part of the White Sun Form made feel pretty good.

But I can’t just show him everything.

Collector Kayan.

He was a target I could obtain a lot from.

I quietly looked at the man.

“The White Sun Form isn’t a finished martial art,” I said slowly, “so I can’t really show you everything.”

“I see.”

There were bound to be many weak points in a martial art that wasn’t yet completed.

If one were to mindlessly show it off to another person, they might be able to see its weaknesses and find ways to break through it before it was truly completed.

Kayan seed to understand this point even without stating it outright because he started to look a little down in the silence.

Should I throw out so bait here?

“Of course,” I began, “I know that Sir Kayan is a trustworthy man. So I have a suggestion...”

With a nervous expression, I looked at Kayan.

“I’ll show you a few techniques from the White Sun Form. In exchange, could you teach the footwork that you showed a mont ago?”

“By footwork...?”

“The thing you showed off before. The skill to make your opponent misjudge your speed by changing your steps.”

The mont I said that, Kayan’s expression changed greatly.

Had I said sothing wrong?

His expression was difficult to read, and it was hard to describe it in a few words.

I looked at Kayan, who had a complicated expression on his face.

“Did I perhaps ask for too much?”

“That’s not it. It’s just...”

Kayan closed his eyes.

He seed to go deep into his thoughts, but he spoke again before long.

“It was 34 years ago.”

“Huh?”

“When I was just another free knight, I t Lord Dellark—the current family head.”

“...”

“It was after the end of the Krunbell War. The Empire had truly lost, and I spent three days and nights running away without being able to sleep. Those damned followers of Dark Genesis were tracking relentlessly. I raised my sword, ready to face my death, and fought them. I fought for who knows how long. When my consciousness was starting to fade and my body refusing to move, the family head appeared.”

I never knew Kayan was soone who could talk so much.

But, unreflective of that thought, I was listening quite quietly, and the scene from his tale seed to start playing out in my head.

“He slaughtered the followers of Dark Genesis and saved . After that, the first words he said to ...”

A faint smile appeared on Kayan’s lips.

“Your footwork is quite peculiar. What skill is that?”

I furrowed my brow.

Was it a coincidence, or an inevitability? The Lord of Blood and Iron had said the sa thing in the past as I had said here.

Though I guess it would be more accurate to say that I said the sa thing as the family head.

“He continued to talk and asked if I could teach it to him.”

“...”

“After eting you here today, young master, those dusty mories of the past have been relighted. So...” Kayan paused to find his words before shaking his head. “I seem to have gone off on a tangent. I don’t know why, but I wished to tell you this.”

Even Kayan didn’t seem to know why he had told this.

I closed my mouth for a mont as well.

The smile I had just seen on Kayan’s face was the smile of an old man reminiscing about the past.

Considering his age, it wasn’t unexpected, but this was the first ti I’d ever seen Kayan smile like that.

The one fact making feel particularly strange was that I would’ve never known about this if I hadn’t returned to the past.

If not for this opportunity, I would’ve rembered Kayan as “a cold-hearted collector who shed neither blood nor tears” until the day I died.

“The footwork I showed you doesn’t have any special na. I personally just call it hidden steps.”

“Hidden steps.”

“It’s not difficult for to teach you... but I don’t know if it will be useful to you.”

“What do you an?”

“It’s quite a difficult skill to master properly.”

I’d expected that.

Kayan continued, “As you saw, it is a practical skill, so a few collectors and even other young masters have asked to share the technique with them. It wasn’t sothing I needed to hide, so I did teach all of them...”

“But none of them were able to learn it properly,” I guessed.

“From what I know, the only one to have learned it properly is the family head.”

“Hmm...”

It did look like a difficult skill, but was it that difficult? I couldn’t tell from just watching.

Maybe sensing my doubt, Kayan took a few steps back, then moved forward a few steps to give a practical example.

“What’s more important than the footwork is the movent of your shoulders. People generally use their shoulders as a guiding point for their upper body.”

The difference was that he was moving much slower this ti, and since he was walking sideways, it was a more objective viewpoint for learning.

I stared intently at the way he was moving for a ti.

“I understand the basics. The main point is to confuse the target’s senses by desyncing the movent of the upper and lower body.”

“That’s right. Gentle upper-body movents combined with slow but large steps. These are the basics, but...”

“But you need to synergize them perfectly. All right.” I glanced to the side to look at Kayan and copied his movents. “Is it... like this?”

One step, two steps, three steps...

“Oh, oh, oh ho—!?”

I couldn’t make the fourth step. I lost my balance and faceplanted on the carpet.

It was such an embarrassing scene that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Looks like it’ll be difficult for to use it right now. I can’t even copy it properly since my hips don’t support at the mont. How were my hidden steps?”

Kayan was silent, like he had lost the ability to speak.

“How long has it been?”

“Hmm?”

“How long have you been deceiving the house, young master?”

Deceiving the house? What?