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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 93
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93. Kali and Midnight Training
***
At the hour when darkness had fallen deep.
Cheon-seong had parted ways with Karitas and was heading towards Kali's private training room.
Footstep.
As Cheon-seong walked through the academy, he felt a strange sense of liberation. It was as if the gaze he had constantly felt before had finally vanished.
Even as he scanned his surroundings, he found himself tilting his head curiously.
"Surely... I felt someone's gaze."
He hadn't shown it in front of Karitas, but he had constantly felt as if someone was watching him the entire time they were together.
Midway, he had deliberately not shown any sign of it, lest Karitas become unnecessarily anxious.
Now, that gaze was completely gone, but...
He thought about it, then shook his head.
"It might just be a misunderstanding..."
There were so many students who had looked at them while he was moving with Karitas that he might just be overly sensitive.
Besides, there was no way anyone would be tailing him. He needed to clear his mind of these distracting thoughts.
Now, he had to focus and train his skill.
Footstep.
Clearing his mind, he slowly took a step forward.
...
Clunk.
As the training room door opened, he found himself facing Kali.
"Welcome. Han Cheon-seong, student."
"I apologize for the late hour."
"What's there to apologize for? I said it was fine."
Facing a faintly smiling Kali, he stepped into the training room and immediately felt a distinctly different atmosphere. The air density itself was clearly different from outside the training room.
His breathing felt a little heavy, and his body naturally tensed up.
Despite this, Kali, dressed in her instructor's uniform, looked remarkably neat even though they were meeting at night.
"Before we begin training, would you like to wear Elimiang's Grace?"
"Ah, that would be great."
He desperately needed the power of the magic engineering item right now.
Although spending time relaxing with Karitas had somewhat eased his body, overexertion would immediately cause a reaction.
Click.
Kali brought over a pair of ruby earrings, as if she had been preparing them, and he now naturally accepted her approaching him.
With a soft movement.
Kali, who had approached him, directly put the earrings on his ears.
Click.
Click.
Along with the sound of the clasps locking into place, he was no longer surprised by the pain of the earrings being fastened, as he had been the first time.
"You seem quite used to it now, don't you?"
At her playful tone, a small laugh escaped him too.
"Well... it's not my first time anymore."
"Right, that's true. Anyway, before we get into the training, I want to make sure you have the concept down. Han Cheon-seong, student. I believe you first grasped a clue about your skill during your sparring match with Gerrard, correct?"
"I felt it a little earlier than that."
"A little earlier... then you grasped a clue about your skill earlier than I thought."
"Yes. But even when I thought I had a clue about the skill, I wasn't entirely certain."
As they calmly exchanged words, he naturally activated Elimiang's Grace.
—!
A warm energy circulated throughout his body, and he felt distinctly lighter. With a sensation of renewed vitality flowing through his entire being, he lightly flexed his hands and waited for Kali, as if deep in thought.
"Then, perhaps... Han Cheon-seong, student, have you already fully grasped the concept of the skill? Or are you still just getting a feel for it?"
To her cautious yet serious tone, he replied exactly as he felt.
"I have fully grasped the concept."
—To pierce a point and twist it.
The direction the concept would take was already completely solidified.
"...You've grasped the concept? That's even more surprising than I thought."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Of course, I was very surprised during that sparring match with Gerrard. It was a power that couldn't normally be manifested by just thrusting a spear. I thought perhaps you had instinctively unleashed it. But if you say you understand the concept, that's a different story."
As he absorbed her every word, curiosity welled up within him.
What other stages were there after grasping the concept of a skill?
"And rather than just talking, it'd be faster if I just showed you once."
"...You're going to show me?"
"Yes. I'll show you my skill."
At her light tone, his gaze involuntarily drifted to her hand.
'If it's Kali's skill...'
[Super-Vibration]
Even in the story, Kali's skill didn't appear very often.
However, every time she deployed her skill, such a massive aftermath swept across the battlefield that its impact was truly intense.
It was such a powerful skill that even the protagonist, Leonhardt, would come to see Kali in a new light towards the later stages.
"Oh, Han Cheon-seong, student. How did you know I use my hands when I use my skill?"
"Ah, that's... I just thought you'd naturally use your hands."
Even as he replied, he couldn't help but let out an awkward laugh for a moment.
Because he couldn't tell her he already knew her skill.
"Really? Well... most skills *are* used with the hands, after all."
Fortunately, Kali didn't think much of his words and extended her hand towards a point in the air a little distance away from him.
"I'm going to deploy the skill very weakly. But even so, you must absolutely not touch the aura of my skill. Han Cheon-seong, student, stay alert."
"Yes. I understand."
Taking her warning seriously, he focused his gaze on her hand.
Immediately after.
Swoosh. The moment Kali lightly clenched her outstretched right hand.
"…!"
His body reacted first.
For a moment, it felt as if his heart had simply stopped. His breath temporarily hitched, and he couldn't even utter a sound.
And then, it slowly came into view.
—!
A single, intense crimson circle, slowly expanding in size as if drawing a massive ring around her clenched hand.
Gradually widening its scale, the crimson circle slowly began to expand its range.
"In my case, I naturally awakened my skill as my trait evolved. But the moment you truly understand the concept while using a skill, you'll know how to wield that power to use it more destructively."
Even amidst Kali's calm voice, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the intense crimson aura.
The light, so condensed it seemed to possess mass, appeared like an aura detached from this world.
At a certain point, the aura simply halted in mid-air. Inside the crimson circle, subtle ripples continuously shimmered, like waves.
Crimson waves that seemed to sever the world.
Even the forms beyond the waves appeared blurry, and he found himself staring, as if entranced.
"However, if you're trying to awaken a skill on your own, I believe you need to follow the proper procedure. Your body and mind are still like an incomplete vessel, and in contrast, a skill is such an enormous and immense power that it could easily put a great strain on your body. Just like you, Han Cheon-seong, student, right now."
Focusing on her continued words, he felt a tremor gradually run through his body at the aura visible before his eyes.
'With a single gesture...'
How many hundreds of monsters must have perished?
Even without having directly witnessed the aftermath of the technique, it was easy to imagine. The moment that intense crimson wave expanded its area and dominated space, anything caught within it would surely explode and meet its demise.
"So, we'll start by learning to control the power."
"...Controlling the power?"
"Han Cheon-seong, student, you said you understand the concept of the skill, but even so, you probably can't manifest it while controlling its power. Can you?"
...When she asked, as if seeing right through him, he nodded blankly.
The moment he felt he had truly touched upon the concept of the skill, he had writhed in terrible pain and lost consciousness in the park.
And the next day.
Even when he concretized the concept a little more and deployed it, his body struggled just to withstand it.
The pain he felt was still there, and he had merely endured it by force.
"Actually, it's quite remarkable for you, Han Cheon-seong, student. To awaken a clue about a skill and grasp its concept at trait level 4. Skills, regardless of the type of trait, are already powers that far transcend natural laws. They manifest one's will into reality, or express it in another form."
"...The power to manifest one's will."
"Yes, in my case, I desired immense power as my trait evolved on the battlefield. I don't know if you, Han Cheon-seong, student, will truly grasp the feeling by seeing this power now. But this crimson circle is a skill named 'Super-Vibration.' It's a skill I obtained by desiring mass slaughter."
Kali's voice was light, but the meaning it carried was anything but.
"Mass slaughter?"
"That's right. To protect my allied officers and soldiers, I had an earnest wish to kill more monsters. My wish was manifested, and the power of Super-Vibration amplified to an extreme degree is what you see."
Having said that, Kali slowly began to diminish the manifested skill.
—!!!
The crimson circle gradually narrowed, and then, after spreading faint ripples through the air, it completely vanished.
"Depending on the person, and depending on their trait, everyone obtains a different skill. In that sense, Han Cheon-seong, student. Would you like to tell me the concept of the skill you've awakened?"
At her gently continued words, he slowly opened his mouth.
"It's the concept of 'piercing a point and twisting it.'"
"Piercing a point and twisting it... that certainly sounds like a concept suited for spear-wielding. Was there any particular phenomenon you earnestly wished for or desired?"
At the more specific question, he paused to reflect on the concept he had awakened.
—To pierce a point and twist it.
It was a power he originally could never withstand. It was as if he had wished for it in order to withstand immense power.
To pierce and twist because he couldn't receive or block it with his spear.
By twisting it like that, he would neutralize the opponent's power and erase its force.
"To be more specific, I wished to return the opponent's power to nothingness."
"To return it to nothingness."
"Yes. When I first sparred with Leonhardt, and even more so, during my sparring match with Instructor Kali, I felt an insurmountable force."
Even as he spoke, the concept felt like it was becoming more and more concrete.
To the extent that he understood why he had wished for a skill, and how he had obtained such a concept.
"An insurmountable force, you say..."
"I thought that no matter how much I tried in the future, I would ultimately never reach Leonhardt or Instructor Kali."
"Han Cheon-seong, student. You... thought that at that moment?"
"I did, for a moment. I wondered if the result of my efforts might be different if my trait was Unique or Rare grade, instead of Common..."
As he calmly conveyed the emotions he felt at the time, a small laugh escaped him.
To be honest, he hadn't considered Leonhardt a wall when he faced him.
Of course, when Leonhardt reached Level 3 without any warning, he did feel something like that for a moment, but the *true* wall he felt was Kali.
The ability called Vibration, belonging to the Super-Phenomenon series.
It was... truly an overwhelming trait that made anyone facing it feel helplessness, a difference in their very caliber.
Of course, her unbelievably high trait level of 9 also granted her immense stats, but he couldn't help but feel envy for the trait itself.
"..."
Seeing Kali unable to easily open her mouth after his words, he felt rather calm.
"That's why I earnestly wished for it. To be able to reach anything with the spear I wield. To be able to deflect any power, no matter how immense, with my spear."
Even as he spoke, gratitude welled up within him.
Because Kali was there, he was able to achieve such significant progress.
Because he could grasp a clue about a skill he had never even thought of and try to move forward like this.
"...So that's what it was."
"My sparring match with Instructor Kali was truly a great help."
For him to advance further, Kali was an absolutely necessary presence.
"That's the result of your will, Han Cheon-seong, student. It's an exaggeration to say I provided such great help."
"No, it's not. It was possible precisely because it was Instructor Kali, not someone else."
As she became flustered, he pushed his point even more strongly.
That it *had* to be her. He needed to appeal to her a little more.
"...Because it was me?"
The moment Kali averted her gaze, he idly wondered if he had said something wrong.