Chapter 6: Kawada Arena (2)

‘Finally, practical weapons skills.’

Chayeon checked the schedule.

Sitting in the classroom listening to classes was incredibly boring, but it seemed like she had finally found a class worth taking.

She ran every morning and did strength training in her room after work, but she wanted to move her body more.

[You’re looking forward to it a lot.]

‘Sitting and listening to lectures isn’t my taste.’

The other students in the same class were listening with sparkling eyes, but she didn’t know what was so interesting about it.

Usually, children of that age hated studying more than anything in the world, didn’t they?

At least Chayeon did.

It was the same now.

‘More than that, why a sword of all things?’

Before the weapons skills training, she had chosen her main weapon, and Chayeon had chosen swordsmanship according to Heukgu’s words.

Well, it was the most stylish and safest weapon to look at, but realistically, she thought that a blunt weapon or a long spear would be better.

Realistically, she thought that a firearm would be the best, but Heukgu insisted on the sword.

[It has to be a sword.]

It was not understood.

Chayeon had no advantage even if she held a sword.

She had never even handled a kitchen knife for cooking.

She concluded that it was just because he was a chuunibyou spirit.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like the sword.

It was a man’s romance that everyone dreamed of at least once when they were young.

When she went to the training ground, the other students except for her had already arrived.

The supervising teacher in front, who confirmed that the last person had arrived, looked at the paper she had and shouted.

“Sword, spear, throwing knife, iron club, blunt weapons, and other special weapons. Six categories. Move to the place that suits your weapon.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the students scattered to the place where the teacher in charge of their weapon was.

Chayeon also headed to the place where the swordsmanship teacher was.

As a popular weapon, the most students gathered there.

There were many types of swords, but what Chayeon would handle was a curved sword.

It was according to Heukgu’s words.

She took her place with a practice wooden sword with a curve.

It was a wooden sword, but it also had a scabbard and was worn on the waist.

First outdoor class.

Chayeon felt a thrill.

What would she do?

Would it be from building basic physical strength?

Or maybe she would practice the postures she had only learned in theory.

Chayeon mulled over the weapons skills theory that she had uniquely listened to hard.

When swinging a weapon in the drawn state, keep in mind to swing it in the shortest path.

In the case of a curved sword, it is disadvantageous to cut flesh and bones if you do not cut it while maintaining an angle of 30 to 45 degrees.

And again………….

“Today, we will have practical training by partnering up and sparring.”

Chayeon’s thoughts were cut off by the teacher’s words that followed.

“Practical training? On the first class?”

When she unknowingly spoke her mind, the teacher looked at her.

“That’s right, yes. Were you…Jeon Chayeon? It’s your first class because you haven’t been here for long.”

Chayeon realized her mistake.

It was her first outdoor class because she came in the middle, but it wasn’t for the other students.

“Hmm, then you’ll practice separately.

“Teacher, can I spar with Chayeon?”

A girl raised her hand and spoke boldly.

Was she a middle school student or a high school student?

She was a black-haired girl with a bluish-green tint.

Wearing a smooth white dress and a white pointy hat, and holding a broom, she was very noticeable.

Even though it was an outdoor class.

“Arena, are you going to spar with her?”

“Yes, I’m going to teach Chayeon the basic postures through sparring.”

It was a very bold request.

Depending on how you listened, it was an incredibly arrogant statement, but the person herself was not stretching out, but had a matter-of-course tone.

“Hmm…………, well, it’s okay if it’s Arena. Do it like that.”

“Thank you.”

When the teacher allowed it, the girl called Arena approached Chayeon.

“Huh, I don’t know what kind of supernatural power you’re going to use, but a sword isn’t that easy. Show me your skills.”

Arena, who had come close, said while looking at Chayeon.

‘What is this? Why is she picking a fight all of a sudden?’

Chayeon’s eyes scanned Arena up and down.

It was a familiar appearance.

Striking golden eyes that caught people’s attention and a unique outfit.

Besides, she was wearing a pointy hat and carrying a broom as if she was saying ‘I’m a witch’ to anyone who looked at her, and her main weapon was a blade.

Because of her strong impression, she had checked her name in the attendance book.

At that time, it was definitely not a foreign name like Arena.

It was definitely a Korean name with three letters.

Ah, she remembered.

“Geumma, Ru Geumma. Right? Please take care of me.”

At that moment, Arena’s face turned pale.

Her expression hardened and she glared at him with eyes full of hostility.

She was even trembling.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Chayeon was looking at her with a sense of embarrassment when suddenly Arena shouted loudly.

“Don’t call me by that name!”

Ru, which took her mother’s surname, Geum, which meant gold, and Ma, which meant horse. Taking three letters, Ru Geumma.

It was Arena’s Korean name.

It was a name that her parents, who liked horses, had given her.

Arena also did not hate that name.

Until she realized that the name was reminiscent of a certain word.

All the students in the class knew how much she hated to be called by that name, so they never mentioned those three letters in front of her.

And yet,

The taboo was touched.

In front of her face, too.

I can’t forgive it.

“Draw your sword.”

Arena took out her wooden sword.

It was a fierce atmosphere.

“I’ll break that arrogant nose!”

“Why are you suddenly getting angry?”

Chayeon’s thoughtless words fueled her anger.

“0…,0……!”

‘I’ll show you what’s what!’

Whether Arena was trembling or not, Chayeon was dawdling and pulling out her wooden sword.

She couldn’t understand why she was angry at all.

‘How would I know the heart of a teenage girl? Let’s focus on the sparring. Where should I start, the first posture is·

It was right after she recalled her memory and barely managed to get into position.

Arena, who had approached in an instant, swung her wooden sword mercilessly.

Clang!

With a cheerful sound, stars twinkled in front of Chayeon’s eyes.

Her crown was burning.

‘What?’

As she reflexively grabbed her head with a tingling pain and stepped back, she saw Arena’s figure, which had already come within her reach.

“Huh, I was just swinging it to explore lightly.”

It was a lie.

She swung her wooden sword with all her might, approaching with all her might so that she could never stop her.

As expected, Chayeon was standing there blankly and got hit on the head.

‘If it was a real sword, she would have died instantly.’

Arena smiled triumphantly as she looked at Chayeon.

Then she quickly rushed again.

“Do that again!”

Clang!

“Without even a tiny bit of skill!”

Clang!

“Arrogantly!”

Clang!

“Looking down on me!”

Clang!

“With nothing!”

Clang!

Arena’s sword successively hit Chayeon’s shoulder, arm, leg, abdomen, and head.

Chayeon hurriedly tried to follow her, but Arena’s quick and skilled sword did not allow her to defend.

‘Why is she doing this?’

It seemed like emotions were piling up, but she had no idea why.

She didn’t remember acting arrogantly, and it was absurd to say that she was looking down on her because Chayeon, who was short, couldn’t be looking down.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Apart from her personality, Arena’s sword was smooth and fast as textbook.

For some reason, there was not as much damage as she thought.

“Hey, shouldn’t we stop that?”

“It’s brutal.”

The other students around her began to whisper as they saw Arena inflicting unilateral violence.

It was when the teacher, who had also discovered the scene, was about to stop the sparring.

Thud-

Arena’s wooden sword, which had been going in a horizontal cut towards the waist, was blocked by Chayeon for the first time.

“Huh!?”

Arena was surprised that she hadn’t thought she would defend it.

‘Has she finally gotten tired?’

Chayeon took a breath of relief after seeing Arena, who had paused, but then she hastily grabbed her sword when she saw her swinging her sword even more impetuously.

Thud! Clang! Clang!

Unlike before, Arena’s sword was being blocked by Chayeon every time.

‘The sword seems duller than before.’

Did she get tired too quickly because she had attacked so fiercely in the beginning?

Chayeon was thinking that, but in fact, Arena’s sword was in a more intense state.

‘Something, I can see it well.’

The movement of the feet.

The movement of the body’s center of axis.

The preliminary movements before swinging the sword.

At what angle will she cut and raise the sword?

Her attack, which was so fast that she couldn’t even see it at first, began to come into her eyes one by one as if her night vision was adapting.

The subtle rotation of the elbow and the angle of the wrist,

The use of the shoulder, the movement of the waist,

These things were clearly grasped, and the response was also seen.

In the midst of the pouring fierce attack, Chayeon was watching Arena’s technique in real time and absorbing it into her own.

“What! Why isn’t it hitting!”

When her attack didn’t work at some point, Arena swung her sword with even more force.

However, no matter which direction or angle she swung it from, her attack was simply blocked.

Chayeon skillfully parried her sword to the point that it was impossible to imagine the appearance of being helplessly beaten just a moment ago.

The more her attack was blocked, the more impatient Arena became.

‘No way! No way! No way!’

Impatience piled up and Arena gradually lost her composure.

A gap came into Chayeon’s eyes, who was blocking the attack with minimal movement.

‘Should I hit her mercilessly?’

Chayeon hesitated.

If she went in now, she could hit her hard in the neck, eyes, head, abdomen, or anywhere else.

Since she had been unilaterally hit until now, she wanted to make her pay the price.

On the other hand, she couldn’t shake off the thought that she was still a child.

She didn’t have a hobby of harassing young girls.

‘It wasn’t as painful as I thought.’

The only pain was the first blow, and the other attacks were honestly just a sense of being hit, but they didn’t hurt at all.

‘Let’s just hit her appropriately.’

Chayeon, who had decided so, rushed into Arena’s arms and swung her sword towards her backhand.

Clang!

With a cheerful sound, Chayeon’s sword slapped Arena’s backhand.

The wooden sword that had been knocked back by the reaction spun in the air and fell to the ground.

“…..”

Arena was looking at the empty air with a blank face.

Chayeon, who thought the sparring was over, turned around.

“Hey, where…

The sparring isn’t over!”

When she turned around again at the voice she heard, Arena was glaring at Chayeon with her face flushed.

“Th, that’s, yes! I just put too much strength in it for a moment, I was, I was just careless!”

While making meaningless excuses that didn’t make sense, Arena picked up the fallen wooden sword.

“It’s going to be tiring.”

“What…!”

“Ah.”

‘The thought came out again.’

Arena’s face turned even redder.

“Don’t be complacent because you succeeded in one attack!”

Arena jumped again.

It was a neat approach without any excess, just like before.

Clang!

But the result was different from before.

Chayeon blocked her attack too easily.

Even after attacking several times, Arena’s sword still could not reach Chayeon’s hair.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

‘Ah, a gap.’

Arena’s was wielding her sword with an unstable center of gravity.

Chayeon lightly raised her sword and faced it.

Clang-

Arena’s sword, which had been cutting through the air with a terrifying momentum, slipped from her hand and rolled on the floor.

“Hoo.”

The teacher, who was watching, quietly admired.

“N-No! Again! Do it again!”

“Hey. hey.”

“You’re getting pretty good, though. It’s too different from the beginning.”

“What……! Don’t pretend to be considerate now! Do it again!”

Chayeon had said that because she really thought she was tired, but Arena became even more angry.

After that, Arena picked up her sword and challenged her again and again, but the result was the same.

Chayeon, who was blocking the attack with light movements, sometimes hit her backhand, sometimes hit her wrist, or sometimes directly faced her sword, and occasionally tripped her.

Every time, her sword flew into the air or she herself repeatedly fell awkwardly.

People who had thought Arena was too much at first now felt sorry for her, who was covered in dirt.

“Hah…! Hah!”

“Are you okay?”

Arena was gasping for breath with her white clothes stained with dirt.

On the other hand, Chayeon looked fine without a drop of sweat.

“This is…, this is ridiculous! You! You deliberately hid your skills!”

Arena shouted, pointing her sword at Chayeon.

Her voice alone was sharp, but it was unclear where that energy was coming from.

“No, I didn’t hide it or anything.”

Chayeon scratched her head.

“You should be more humble. Even if you’re tired, if you’re being defeated by me, who’s trying this for the first time today, it seems like you’re not that good either. You shouldn’t say you’re going to teach someone with that kind of skill.”

Unintentionally, her cruel words pierced Arena’s heart.

“Am, am I a beginner!?”

Those words swirled in Arena’s head.

A beginner.

Well, she was still a freshman, and she knew that there were many people who were better than her.

But she had been holding a sword since she was a child, and she had been steadily working hard for half a year since entering school, and she didn’t doubt that she was talented, so how could she, that, a beginner?

While possessing such outstanding skills, she deliberately deceived her.

“…Hic, hic,”

“Huh?”

Arena’s eyes, which had been glaring with a murderous aura, became flabby, and tears like chicken droppings began to flow down.

“Hic, hic, waaah!”

Arena, who had started to cry like a child, ran away somewhere.

It was like a cliché from an anime from ten years ago.

“…What the heck.”

Chayeon was overwhelmed by the sudden situation and could only stare blankly at her disappearing.

[You made a girl cry.]

Heukgu, who thought it was time, added a word in a hateful voice.

After class, Arena was called to the teacher’s office and scolded.

After being unilaterally beaten in the sparring – although she hit her much more – she was going to leave the class without permission.

But there was nothing she could say to the teacher.

‘It’s embarrassing!’

But,

-Today, I’m trying this for the first time,

-It seems like you’re not that good either.

It was unforgivable for Jeon Chayeon to act like that, apart from being ashamed.

Deception, humiliation, ridicule.

From the beginning, she was acting with all of that in mind.

There was no doubt about it.

She must have been trying to embarrass herself by pretending to be a beginner and then revealing her skills.

‘Jeon Chayeon…! I will never, never forgive you! I will definitely repay the humiliation of today. Definitely!’