Book 24 Chapter 13
Sword against Sword
—Unfamiliarity and Familiarity
The spirit warrior who drew her sword looked incredibly unfamiliar. A warrior speaks more with their sword than their mouth. Especially, martial arts, including swordsmanship, are not achieved overnight.
A swordsman’s sword tip always accumulates the years of that person. The saying that a swordsman’s blade is tempered by years is not without reason. However, the spirit warrior who drew her sword looked so different despite it being something that should have been familiar. It was extremely unfamiliar, like the stance of someone met for the first time. But Na Yerine had no intention of dismissing her assumptions. Although the spirit warrior’s stance was unfamiliar, it was not natural. Her swordsmanship lacked the naturalness acquired through years of dedicated practice.
“That’s something to confirm as well!”
If that stance, too, was superimposed, then she had only one thing to do: forcefully peel off that veneer.
The spirit warrior was the opposite of Na Yerine.
While Na Yerine felt unfamiliarity and was flustered by the spirit warrior’s stance, the spirit warrior felt an unknown familiarity and was flustered. Na Yerine’s appearance with her sword drawn was incredibly familiar. It wasn’t just a visual sensation; she felt it with her entire body. It was as if she knew her opponent’s habits.
“Why do I feel this way? This should be the first time I’m fighting this person, right? The first time we’re crossing swords, so why?”
As if to shake off her thoughts, the spirit warrior shook her head vigorously.
“The first move is towards the left shoulder.”
It was a thought that flashed through her mind.
The moment Na Yerine took the first step of her footwork, the spirit warrior’s body reflexively pulled her left shoulder back. The next moment, a sword blade carrying a cold chill pierced where the spirit warrior’s left shoulder had been. It was an incomparably clear and clean single strike, without sound or trace.
“…!”
The spirit warrior was startled by her own actions.
“How?!”
Na Yerine was equally surprised. It was as if she had known this single strike was coming and dodged it.
“D-don’t be surprised. Such a clumsy single strike is obvious!”
However, she didn’t sound as confident as her boast suggested.
“Lies!”
Both Na Yerine and the spirit warrior herself knew that her words were a lie.
Na Yerine, as a test, launched three consecutive moves. It was a combination she often used in her sparring matches with Dokgo Ryong. The spirit warrior dodged Na Yerine’s sword without any effort, as if predicting its trajectory. Despite her attacks failing consecutively, Na Yerine was delighted.
“Yeonbi was right!”
“You are indeed the lion Dokgo, aren’t you!”
Na Yerine’s cry was filled with undeniable joy.
“What nonsense are you spouting? How many times have I told you that’s impossible?”
“No, the fact that you could dodge my sword so easily is proof. You somehow knew where my sword would strike, didn’t you?”
“H-how did you know that?”
Indeed, the spirit warrior had instinctively followed a premonition and dodged all of Na Yerine’s sword techniques.
“Of course. The techniques I just used were the ones I often practiced with Dokgo Ryong.”
The sword techniques of Geomgak could be broadly divided into three stages.
Starting with ‘Little Bird’s Wing Flap,’ learned when one first picks up a sword as a disciple of Geomgak, called So-an Sword. Then, after achieving a certain level in So-an Sword, one can learn the somewhat elegant and exhilarating Bi-hong Sword. Finally, only a select few disciples with exceptional talent are granted special permission to learn the Geomgak’s unique martial art, the Sword Empress’s signature technique, Han-sang Okryong Shin Sword. These were the three stages in total.
So-an Sword is agile and frequent, with small movements. Bi-hong Sword is grand and exhilarating, yet elegant. Each sword move is large and therefore powerful. These three types of sword techniques each have their own characteristics.
For young girls, So-an Sword is suitable. If one learns powerful swordsmanship that their growing body cannot handle from the start, their body can be damaged. Especially, a girl’s body is more delicate than a boy’s. Therefore, Geomgak divided swordsmanship into three stages to allow the body to gradually adapt to the sword and progress to higher levels. Thus, Geomgak disciples who entered at a young age learned ‘So-an Sword’ for the longest period. Both Na Yerine and Dokgo Ryong, and even the Sword Empress, began their swordsmanship journey with this So-an Sword. This So-an Sword can be said to be the foundation and basis of Geomgak. In the past, Dokgo Ryong was the one who intensely taught the So-an Sword to the young Na Yerine, who had entered Geomgak after being hurt.
Na Yerine had not forgotten the warmth of Dokgo Ryong’s touch as she held her hand and taught her one by one.
“Please remember, older sister! Please! These sword techniques, these moves that hold our shared memories and the time we spent together, remember them. The sound of this sword being swung, its direction, you surely remember, older sister. Even if your head doesn’t remember, your body can never forget this. Because you loved Geomgak’s sword so much. Because you respected our master so much.”
The So-an Sword she was now displaying was so powerful that one would question if it was truly the basic So-an Sword. However, her sword was imbued with irreplaceable, unforgettable memories.
Yeonbi was the one who advised her to deliberately attack as she did in their usual practice spars. Then, she told her to observe the reaction carefully. If the opponent was truly Dokgo Ryong, there would be some reaction. As Yeonbi said, the spirit warrior’s body remembered something. However, Yeonbi added the following:
“But that won’t be enough for her to admit it. She’ll probably deny it even more.”
The spirit warrior was taken aback by the familiar and warm feeling she discovered in Na Yerine’s sword techniques. How could she feel warmth from Geomgak’s sword techniques, which she should have hated? Yet, she couldn’t explain this intensely familiar sensation and the effortlessly understood flow of the sword.
However, the spirit warrior shook her head vigorously again.
“No! Don’t think too deeply. This is a trap, meant to deceive me. So don’t fall for it!”
The spirit warrior denied her own feelings.
“Hmph, unbelievable! I don’t believe such tricks!”
“You have to believe it, because it’s the truth.”
“Hmph, a truth with no evidence is not a truth!”
Even if she hadn’t used any tricks, it seemed to be of no use to the spirit warrior at this moment. The spirit warrior was strong-willed and stubborn. Why was she still lost in delusion! Na Yerine became angry out of pity. Seizing the moment when her emotions were stirred by anger, the spirit warrior unleashed her sword techniques.
It was a bizarre sword technique. The sword didn’t come from the direction of the sound. At first, Na Yerine, who tried to gauge the trajectory by sound, was at a disadvantage. Several parts of her clothes were cut. If she hadn’t possessed innate sharpness, blood would have already soaked the cut fabric.
“What is this sword technique called?”
Na Yerine asked, without letting down her guard.
“It is the secret technique of Monghwan Villa, ‘Monghwan Saryeong Sword Technique’! It is in no way inferior to your Geomgak’s sword.”
The word ‘your’ made Na Yerine’s heart ache.
“Why ‘your’? Please don’t say such sad things! Geomgak’s sword is not only my sword, but also your sword.”
“That’s impossible. I hate Geomgak. Because it was people from your Geomgak who took one of my eyes.”
“No, older sister. That’s a misunderstanding. You are mistaken. You are being deceived right now, by them!”
Na Yerine shouted, pointing at Monghwan Sangmu with her finger.
“Silence! If you insult the villa further, I will not forgive you!”
The spirit warrior, filled with rage, shouted in an angry voice and unleashed three consecutive moves. Na Yerine could only retreat.
Yeonbi, seeing that her response was about half a breath slower than usual, frowned instinctively. This was not good. It was necessary to quickly return to the original Na Yerine, her own rhythm.
Na Yerine was trying to superimpose the Dokgo Ryong she knew from the past onto the current spirit warrior, and due to that discrepancy, her responses were becoming slightly delayed. The her Na Yerine knew and the her now were different in every way.
“Trying to fit the past’s shadow won’t win the present. A response suited for this very moment is needed!”
Na Yerine decided to forget the past Dokgo Ryong for a moment. Then, she focused her attention on the spirit warrior in front of her.
At that moment, a flood of information began to flow through Na Yerine’s eyes. The spirit warrior’s grip on the sword, the sword’s trajectory, subtle muscle movements, chest movements, breathing, the shape of her foot placement on the ground, minute changes in her center of gravity, and so on. Absorbing all that information, she formed an ‘image’ of the current spirit warrior. This was also a precise analysis of the spirit warrior as a subject. Na Yerine was determined to win, even if it meant using all her abilities. She couldn’t back down like this.
The ‘Monghwan Saryeong Sword Technique’ that the spirit warrior was currently displaying was a technique where fake and real moves changed fluidly. Its main characteristic was the discrepancy between sound and sword trajectory. It was a wonderfully complex sword technique, but it was also cluttered. Above all, it had a strong tendency to rely on mere tricks. The sonic deception was likely due to a special device built into the sword. It was a technique that could achieve quick results in a short period, but could never reach a certain level. The analysis was complete.
“Alright. I will prove it, so that you can prove it yourself.”
Na Yerine injected more vital energy into her sword, from which white sword qi bloomed like heat haze. From her beloved sword ‘Bingru,’ a cold mist began to emanate.
Na Yerine had fully unleashed her sword.
“Here I go.”
The dance of a phoenix with pure white ice feathers began. The white blade danced. It was a beautiful dance, but its power was terrifying enough to send chills down one’s spine.