Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Seo Mugyeom thought things were going really well and took his starting stance.
Pyo Inhaeng didn’t explain the details from the beginning and seemed to have decided to watch what Seo Mugyeom would do first.
Seo Mugyeom naturally felt nervous in front of the Division Leader.
Before, he had acted however he pleased, but this time, it didn’t feel right to do that.
He felt that if he made even a slight mistake, the Division Leader would lash out at him harshly.
Pyo Inhaeng seemed to notice this and encouraged Seo Mugyeom.
“I don’t have high expectations, so just do your best.
With your hand like that, it’ll be hard to go all out anyway.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Seo Mugyeom thought it was more important to learn as much as possible from Pyo Inhaeng than to preserve his hand, and he reaffirmed his resolve.
Thinking that if he hesitated because he hated being scolded, he might miss this opportunity to learn from the Division Leader forever, he snapped to attention.
“I’ll begin, Division Leader.”
“How many times do I have to tell you to do that?”
From that moment, Seo Mugyeom swung his fists at Pyo Inhaeng.
Pyo Inhaeng thought he didn’t need to go all out just yet.
He believed he’d have some time to observe what Seo Mugyeom was doing.
But when he suddenly saw a bluish aura ripple from Seo Mugyeom’s fist, he snapped to attention.
He immediately drew up his internal energy and activated his protective qi armor, thinking that getting hit by that punch could cause serious damage.
He had already been surprised watching Seo Mugyeom use a sword so effortlessly, but this was even more astonishing.
It wasn’t like one could just decide to use fist techniques one day and pull it off like Seo Mugyeom was doing.
That is, if it was real martial arts and not just street brawling.
He shook his head and faced Seo Mugyeom again, thinking that such thoughts were meaningless.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d entered a duel feeling genuinely afraid of getting hurt—oddly enough, that made him feel good.
Seo Mugyeom unleashed a flurry of attacks with a sense of impact he hadn’t imagined, and Pyo Inhaeng tried to catch his fists so he wouldn’t go wild.
He thought that as long as he made up his mind, he could easily manage that, and he wanted to teach Seo Mugyeom this was a possible outcome.
What Pyo Inhaeng had in mind was to grab Seo Mugyeom’s fist and plant a clean punch on his face while he was stuck in place.
That way, he would remember to be cautious of such possibilities when charging at an opponent in the future.
But no matter how much he tried to grab Seo Mugyeom’s hand, he couldn’t catch it.
Pyo Inhaeng wasn’t just trying half-heartedly.
He was fully intent on catching it, but every time he tried, Seo Mugyeom slipped out.
And not only did he evade, but each moment he flowed with energy and landed hits on Pyo Inhaeng.
“Ha…!”
A helpless sound slipped out of Pyo Inhaeng’s mouth without him realizing it.
At that moment, he was being beaten unilaterally by Seo Mugyeom.
Who could have imagined such a scene?
“Seo Mugyeom, Seo Mugyeom!”
Pyo Inhaeng shouted, and Seo Mugyeom stopped in surprise.
“Step aside for a moment!”
When Pyo Inhaeng shouted fiercely, Seo Mugyeom backed off.
“I’m not a fist martial artist. So there’s a limit to fighting with fist techniques. From now on, I’ll fight with a sword.”
“…What?”
Seo Mugyeom looked at him, thinking, wasn’t that different from what he said earlier?
But Pyo Inhaeng paid it no mind and drew his sword.
“Most of the fights you’ll have in the Imperial City from now on will be like this. You’ll have to swing your fists against people wielding swords.”
Looking closely at Pyo Inhaeng’s face, it seemed like those words came out on the spur of the moment.
But he started swinging his sword as if it didn’t matter.
He seemed determined to repay all the hits he had taken from Seo Mugyeom, as he now attacked mercilessly.
Seo Mugyeom wasn’t familiar with that type of fight and hesitated for a moment, but he soon calmed his breath.
Then he infused internal energy into his fists.
He thought that wielding a sword didn’t make things any different, and he quickly closed the distance.
Pyo Inhaeng thought it would be truly disgraceful to lose even while wielding a sword and swung desperately.
Seo Mugyeom moved back and forth, gradually learning the optimal distance.
He had never had such an experience before, so he was quite worried, but he also felt motivated.
‘Now that I think about it, my fist doesn’t even hurt. Last time I punched, I got seriously injured.’
That thought only lasted a moment.
Seo Mugyeom’s quick punch gained strength and struck the sword aimed at him.
Pyo Inhaeng seemed to have infused internal energy into his sword too, as energy shimmered around it, but when the punch struck, the sword bent.
At that moment, Seo Mugyeom and Pyo Inhaeng’s gazes met.
“…!”
Pyo Inhaeng looked at Seo Mugyeom with a genuinely dumbfounded expression.
“You… right now!”
His face said he wanted to ask, what the hell did you do to my sword?
Seo Mugyeom also stopped like a child who had done something wrong.
“I’m sorry, Division Leader. I didn’t expect this to happen.”
“You didn’t expect this? You mess things up like this and say you didn’t expect it, and that makes it okay?”
But Pyo Inhaeng didn’t want to drag this on pathetically.
He was the one who first suggested the duel, and if the sword ended up like this during the match, it was entirely his responsibility.
Pyo Inhaeng couldn’t believe he was saying this to Seo Mugyeom.
“Continue.”
He shouted as he drew another spare sword.
Seo Mugyeom thought hesitating now would only make things worse and launched another attack immediately.
This time, Pyo Inhaeng successfully grabbed Seo Mugyeom’s fist, but Seo Mugyeom didn’t stop there and struck him with his elbow.
Pyo Inhaeng had suggested the duel to help raise Seo Mugyeom’s real combat instincts, but now he wasn’t sure if there was anything left for him to teach.
“How is any of this even possible? It’s one thing to have internal energy or martial skills, but this is something you absolutely cannot learn in such a short time.”
Seo Mugyeom also fully understood what he meant.
That was something even Seo Mugyeom himself found strange.
“Well, whatever the reason, good things are good.
Let’s keep going.
Until now, I thought I could be of help to you, but maybe I shouldn’t think of it that way.
I might have more to learn from you while sparring.”
If he truly meant that, Seo Mugyeom was grateful.
He had gained a lot from dueling with the Division Leader, but he had been feeling sorry for taking up too much of his time.
But if the Division Leader also gained something from this, Seo Mugyeom wanted to spar with him as much as possible.
“Begin.”
As soon as Pyo Inhaeng finished speaking, Seo Mugyeom struck Pyo Inhaeng’s head with his elbow.
It was a move he had tried before when his hand was grabbed, and he wanted to become more proficient at it.
Pyo Inhaeng tried to step back, but he couldn’t avoid it completely and got hit.
Pyo Inhaeng now believed he had to go all out and focused sharply.
It was no longer a situation he could laugh off.
Taking a proper hit was becoming harder and harder to endure.
Seo Mugyeom seemed to be good at everything else but didn’t know how to control his strength.
If it had been the Vice Division Leader or one of the executives, they would have adjusted their strength appropriately and not struck so hard.
Then again, those people wouldn’t have been able to push Pyo Inhaeng around like this in the first place.
From that point, the two of them exchanged hundreds of blows.
Neither of them was aware of how much time had passed.
It wasn’t that only Pyo Inhaeng was being hit unilaterally.
As time passed, his body gradually awakened.
And he delivered critical attacks to Seo Mugyeom as well.
Seo Mugyeom was surprised that such attacks were possible and absorbed them at an incredible speed.
Their duel didn’t end after two hours, nor even after three.
Even after their clothes were soaked in sweat, neither of them stopped.
They didn’t show any signs of exhaustion, fearing the other might suggest stopping.
Because both of them equally and passionately wanted to continue sparring, they pushed on.
The duel finally stopped because Seo Mugyeom’s legs gave out, and he sat down without meaning to.
He immediately tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn’t support him anymore.
Even when he tried to stand straight, they gave way helplessly, and he collapsed again.
Pyo Inhaeng also thought it was unreasonable for Seo Mugyeom to continue sparring and ended the match.
“You’re really incredible, Seo Mugyeom.
To be honest, even after saying I would become strong again, I had many worries.
If it was something that could be done by will alone, why wouldn’t others have become strong too?”
Seo Mugyeom nodded, thinking he was right.
“But it all felt vague.
I didn’t know how long it would take, and I was unsure if it was even possible.
But dueling with you gave me hope that the time would be cut drastically.”
Pyo Inhaeng said and then looked a bit sheepish.
Seo Mugyeom also knew that the Division Leader was not someone who easily said such things.
That’s why he was grateful he said it.
“Let’s go. Let’s eat something and recover our strength.”
“Yes, Division Leader.”
Originally, the Tenth Division’s mealtime was strictly scheduled, but when the Division Leader said he was starving after training and pressured the cook, the cook quickly prepared a feast.
While eating together, the Division Leader said to Seo Mugyeom:
“Seo Mugyeom, the other divisions don’t serve food this well.
So don’t even think about going to another division. You must stay by my side until the end.”
“Really?”
The main point was to stay by his side, but Seo Mugyeom seemed surprised by the claim that other divisions didn’t serve such good food.
“I thought all divisions in the Guardian Ten Division got meals like this.
I was thankful because I thought the Sect Leader took great care of the warriors’ meals, but I guess that wasn’t the case?”
Then Pyo Inhaeng, as if he found a chance to brag, spoke proudly.
“Absolutely not.
The Sect Leader allocates money for each division in the Guardian Ten Division, but how that money is spent is up to the Division Leader.
In our Tenth Division, we spend over thirty percent on food expenses.
Other places probably don’t even go over twenty.
Even the First Division might not go over twenty.”
“Is that so? I didn’t know. That’s an important thing, so I think it’s something others should know about too.”
Pyo Inhaeng felt slightly embarrassed, wondering if this was something to be talked about so seriously.