Chapter 23 …
Three Forms (2)
The mana core—the heart of body arts—and the mana road—the skeletal framework.
How these two were designed determined the distinctive traits of a body art.
And the body art newly created by Yohan was based on the Redner family’s body art.
To be precise, it was more accurate to say that Yohan had improved the original.
Because of that, it was only natural that the body art Yuri had learned carried the characteristics of the Redner family’s style.
One of those traits now manifested through Yuri’s body.
Tap—.
The moment his foot touched the ground, Yuri’s body surged forward.
Nothing described the sight more perfectly than the phrase “light as if floating.”
As if he were stepping on clouds, or completely free from gravity—it was a bizarre sight.
Cloud Step (Unbo), the first technique of the Redner family, also known as Stepping on Clouds.
This body art, said to originate from a sage of the ancient East—this was what Yohan had once said about it:
[If the day comes when you can properly use Unbo… you’ll truly be able to step on clouds.]
Yuri remembered that day clearly.
The day Yohan blew away an entire cliff.
The day he carried Yuri and walked down through midair.
So that was Unbo.
Yohan’s words about truly stepping on clouds had not been an exaggeration.
Even if right now I’m just running on the ground…
Someday, he too would run atop the clouds.
Yuri believed that.
Well, for now, this is enough.
Ssssh—.
Like a ghost, Yuri closed in on the destructive red aura Mu-chi had unleashed.
Without hesitation, he leapt straight into it.
To an onlooker, it looked like a moth flying into flames.
Anyone ignorant of the situation would have expected Yuri to be torn into a thousand pieces.
But what happened next overturned that expectation.
Srrrk—.
Yuri moved within the storm of red spear-blades swirling from all directions.
Ssss—.
His movements weren’t particularly fast.
But they were light, flexible… and strange.
He slipped through the tightly woven attacks like a boneless creature.
Ssssh—.
As he narrowly avoided a red spear-blade by a margin of five millimeters, Yohan’s past words echoed in Yuri’s ears.
[Unbo isn’t something you can use just because your legs are strong! Your whole body—your whole body! Only when you can fully utilize your entire body will Unbo reveal its true power!]
Yuri had never forgotten that advice.
He had repeated it thousands—tens of thousands—of times, until it even appeared in his dreams.
The lower body is the link connecting the earth and the upper body.
Wooooong—.
The soles of his feet pressed into the ground, and the force he gained spread through both legs and throughout his entire body.
The moment his mana core added mana along the designated path, Yuri’s movement transcended its limits.
Shusss—.
Dozens—hundreds—of attacks failed to even brush the hem of his clothes.
* * *
Watching Yuri move freely within the frenzy of red flashes, Ralph let out a faint sigh.
“…Unbo.”
And it was Unbo of considerable completion.
Because Ralph knew better than anyone how demanding Unbo was, he recognized it instantly.
As old memories of suffering under Unbo surfaced, Ralph gave a bitter smile—then suddenly jolted.
Wait… doesn’t that mean that brat learned Unbo in just half a year?!
There were countless families and secret body arts in the world.
If one were to rank them overall, the Redner family’s body art would easily place within the top five.
In other words—it was extremely difficult.
So difficult that most people could never master it even in a lifetime.
And he’s using it at that level in just six months? Absurd.
Of course, Ralph knew how much effort Yuri had poured in over the past half year.
But even if someone worked several times harder, some simply couldn’t do it.
In that sense… that kid is the real deal.
Not just capable—
exceptionally capable.
Ralph had no choice but to acknowledge Yuri’s talent.
If Yuri hadn’t been limited to just six months…
If he had been given a little more time, this spar would have ended in Yuri’s victory.
But—
“Not yet.”
Ralph spoke while watching Yuri move within Mu-chi’s attacks.
“He can’t break through any further.”
Just as he said, Yuri was smoothly dodging Mu-chi’s attacks—but he wasn’t advancing.
It almost looked as if he were trapped within Mu-chi’s assault.
If things continued like this, Yuri—who had less total mana—would inevitably collapse first.
Predicting Mu-chi’s victory, Ralph grinned at Yohan.
“Well, that’s unfortunate. If his Unbo mastery were just a bit higher, it would’ve been a fine match.”
A faint sense of victory colored his words.
Ralph wanted to see Yohan irritated—
but what he met instead was Yohan’s crooked grin.
“Right. At that rate, he can’t break through.”
“…?”
“Of course, that’s if that’s all he has.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Heh heh.”
At Yohan’s low chuckle, something flashed through Ralph’s mind.
“…No way?!”
His gaze snapped urgently back to Yuri.
* * *
Red energy hemmed Yuri in from all sides.
Dodge one, and another came flying.
Every path forward was stubbornly blocked.
As the situation repeated itself, Yuri realized:
At this rate, nothing would change.
He needed a shift.
Faster… faster!
To break through this red cage, he had to move faster than now—
Fast enough that the lingering red aura couldn’t keep up.
Yuri’s mana core pulsed again, channeling mana into a new mana road.
Mana flowed along a path completely different from Unbo.
Crackle—.
At the same time, Yuri heard a spark ignite within himself.
[Do you remember what I told you? That you’d learn the fastest and most free body art in the world. If Unbo handles the freedom… then what you’ll learn next is…]
The small spark inside him instantly branched outward—
[Extreme speed.]
Tzzzz—.
Lightning wrapped around Yuri’s entire body.
The Redner family’s secret body art—
Thunder Wing (Noeik).
Crackle—! Pzzzt!
The moment white lightning writhed, Yuri moved.
Flash—.
A single burst of white light—
and suddenly there were two Yuris.
The real one—
and the afterimage left behind.
The red cage could no longer contain Yuri, who had spread the wings of lightning.
Pzzzt—.
Mu-chi’s red domain extended about three meters in radius.
Yuri pierced through it in a single step.
And when he reappeared—
it was behind Mu-chi.
Click—.
The blade rested on Mu-chi’s shoulder.
As the sharp edge pressed against his neck, a thin line of blood formed.
Mu-chi froze in shock.
Grinning while gripping the sword hilt, Yuri said:
“Now it’s one to one, you bastard.”
* * *
Seeing Yuri’s blade at Mu-chi’s neck, Ralph let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Ha!”
If Unbo originated from an ancient Eastern sage, then Thunder Wing was the crystallization of the Redner family’s centuries of history.
Unbo and Thunder Wing.
The Redner family’s two supreme techniques—
Thunder and Cloud.
With just those two techniques alone, the Redner family had achieved towering fame across the continent.
Hadn’t Yohan himself earned the right to challenge the Sword Lord through Thunder and Cloud?
But precisely because of that, they were extremely difficult techniques.
It was said to take years just to grasp the fundamentals.
And he finished both in only six months?
Both Unbo and Thunder Wing—
Yuri wasn’t merely imitating them.
He understood them completely and was using them beyond the basic level.
Dumbfounded, Ralph asked Yohan:
“…How on earth did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“That kid. What exactly did you teach him in six months to make him reach that level?”
At Ralph’s question, Yohan puffed out his chest arrogantly.
“Ahem. Looks like you’ve finally realized? That this great me is also a genius educator!”
“….”
“You want to know my secret? Then ask properly. Ahem!”
At Yohan’s smugness, Ralph’s face instantly soured.
He fell into intense internal conflict.
Do I really need to endure that smug face to hear it?
Or—
Do I throw away my pride and ask?
After long deliberation, he chose the latter.
For the sake of educating his beloved grandson, he abandoned his pride.
“Ahem… I-if senior would kindly bestow some guidance upon this junior after so long… that would be… nice… hrk.”
“That’s it?”
“…P-please.”
“Heh. It’s been a while since you’ve shown the proper attitude of a junior.”
“Ghk!”
“Well then, since you’re begging so earnestly, how could I ignore a junior’s request?”
“…So what is it?”
“My secret? It’s nothing special. Just…”
“Just?”
“Teach a smart kid. They grow well on their own.”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“…….”
The moment Ralph saw Yohan’s sly face, his hand twitched violently.
His fist trembled so hard veins bulged.
Senior or not—
right now, he felt like he could punch him.
But the last thread of reason held him back.
Meanwhile, watching Ralph tremble with rage, Yohan snickered inwardly.
Secret? As if I have one.
Even if he wanted to tell him, there was no secret to share.
What he’d said to Ralph was the truth.
I just pointed him in the right direction and he grew on his own.
Truthfully, even Yohan hadn’t expected Yuri to reach this level.
He had thought that mastering just Unbo in six months would already be a great success.
And Thunder Wing too?
I thought that was impossible.
Even he had taken one year to build Unbo’s foundation and enter Thunder Wing, and three years total to reach Yuri’s current level.
He—once praised as the greatest genius of the Redner family since the fifth patriarch who created Thunder Wing—had taken that long.
Yet…
I knew the brat was talented, but this is…
When he finally saw the results—
the kid was far more monstrous than he’d estimated.
Yohan recalled Yuri’s calm face when he’d asked in shock.
[What nonsense are you suddenly spouting? You’re the one who taught me—what am I supposed to say when you ask how I did it?]
Unbo was one thing.
Even Yohan had been able to imitate it the very day he learned it.
But when Yuri immediately replicated Thunder Wing on the same day—
and responded so nonchalantly—
Yohan had felt utterly deflated.
What an irritating brat.
This was the second time in his life he had felt envy and jealousy toward someone’s talent.
The first had been the Sword Lord.
The second was Yuri.
And what poured oil onto Yohan’s burning jealousy—
was Yuri’s attitude.
[Old man, get up! It’s time to train!]
Being able to learn everything easily often meant losing interest just as quickly.
Not always—but many geniuses lost their passion for learning because of their overwhelming talent.
Especially in the early stages.
That was when a master was supposed to keep them grounded.
But Yuri was different.
[What? I’m the one training—why do you look tired, old man?]
Even without being pushed.
Even without someone urging him forward.
Yuri never wavered and walked his path.
[It’s over? I refuse! I decide when my training ends!]
[W-wait… just… let me finish… this… and then… rest… ugh! Bleeaargh!]
[Old man, one more bowl! Eating is training too! This bowl becomes tomorrow’s muscles and bones!]
[Wait… I can… still do it… I’m not… tired… I’m… getting… up…]
Despite his monstrous talent, Yuri gave his all every single day.
He never compromised on the promise he made to himself.
And what about Yohan at Yuri’s age?
I couldn’t do that.
Amid the praise and flattery surrounding him, he had compromised—
I’m good enough… I’ve done enough… resting a little should be fine, right?
Right during the period that most influenced growth.
Because of that, watching Yuri filled him with regret.
If I had been like Yuri back then… would my match with the Sword Lord have turned out differently?
Maybe that was why.
Because Yuri was accomplishing what he himself had not.
Or because he had been moved by the boy’s talent and effort.
I only meant to give him a taste for motivation and teach up to Thunder Wing…
He might have ended up teaching Yuri more than originally planned.
“Seriously, what an annoying brat.”
Despite the grumbling words—
Yohan’s lips curved into a pleased smile.
