Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Misunderstanding (1)

Moments ago, Ha Jin had stepped into the training yard and taken up position facing the wooden practice dummies. He drew a deep breath and chanted the incantation.

"Fireball."

A basic fire spell, yet one with considerable destructive power. In the same instant, a tiny spark ignited at Ha Jin's outstretched fingertips and swelled into a blazing sphere the size of an adult's fist.

The roiling fireball hurtled toward the nearest wooden dummy with ferocious momentum.

CRAAASH—!

A heavy impact, and the fireball struck the dummy dead-on. The figure was engulfed in flames in an instant. Before long, it had been reduced to a handful of ash, its form utterly erased.

"As expected."

Ha Jin couldn't help letting a low murmur of admiration escape as he took in the sight before him.

"Even accounting for it being wood, the power is impressive. Nothing beats fire magic for sheer, brute destructive force."

Even a basic Fireball packed this much punch. What if he could cast high-level spells like Explosion or Hellfire?

'It's a shame my mana level is so low right now. I need to either brew a mana potion or raise my capacity itself—one or the other.'

Researching how to use high-level magic was all well and good. But for the moment, the priority was to check and sharpen the spells he could actually use.

"Alright, that's enough for offensive magic. Next, I need to train defensive magic."

Ha Jin turned toward a fresh wooden dummy.

"After all, a fight isn't won by offense alone. Who knows what kinds of outlandish martial arts might come flying at me—I need to be thoroughly prepared."

Ha Jin's eyes grew serious again. Fighting against martial artists was a far cry from battling magical beasts inside Gates—the variables were immense.

For starters, the speed of those using footwork techniques was nearly impossible for an ordinary person's eyes to follow, and the sheer variety of martial arts posed a formidable threat.

Above all, a mage's greatest weakness was vulnerability to physical attacks. Defensive magic was an obvious necessity.

"Ideally, something like Magic Guard would be best, but......"

Magic Guard: a passive spell that formed an invisible barrier of mana around the caster's body, reducing incoming damage. It was arguably the finest defensive spell available, but it had a fatal drawback.

'Mana, of course.'

Maintaining Magic Guard all day consumed an enormous amount of mana. In his current state, where he couldn't freely wield his mana, the efficiency was far too poor.

One wrong move and his mana might bottom out right when he needed it most. That was the last thing he wanted.

And it wasn't as though he could gulp down mana recovery potions like water the way he had during his Hunter days. In the end, he had to pick and choose.

"A Shield spell that I can deploy in the moment I need it would be the better call......"

Shield magic specialized in blocking attacks from a specific direction. It was more mana-efficient than Magic Guard and could withstand one or two powerful blows. But the problem started here.

"The question is how to train Shield magic. I need to take hits and build up the feel for it, but......"

Ha Jin looked around the training yard. The wooden dummies could only be attacked one-sidedly. They were hardly suitable sparring partners for Shield practice.

"There's no one around to practice with. I'm inside the Demon Path Hall, so I can't exactly ask that Captain Yang fellow to come in and throw a punch at me......"

He sank into thought for a moment. How could he train his Shield magic effectively?

Right then, he felt a gaze. A prickling sensation, as though something sharp were boring into him. He turned his head, and there in the far corner of the training yard, a young woman was staring straight through him.

A rather keen pair of eyes, and an aura that was anything but ordinary.

'What's that about? She's been watching me for a while now, hasn't she? A martial artist, I assume?'

Judging by her age, she looked roughly similar to him.

In that instant, an idea sparked in Ha Jin's mind. If she was here in the training yard at this hour, didn't that mean she was a martial artist too?

'Should I ask her for a quick spar? If she's a fellow cadet, she'd be a perfect partner for Shield practice. I'll just have to ask her not to hit too hard, of course......'

Ha Jin hesitated briefly, then made up his mind. He had no other viable options. In the end, he slowly began walking toward the woman.

Securing a sparring partner for his Shield practice was the top priority, and the woman watching him from across the yard was the most suitable candidate.

Meanwhile, the moment Cheon Ha-rin detected Ha Jin walking straight toward her, she couldn't conceal a flash of alarm.

'Don't tell me he noticed I was spying on him......?'

Spying on someone else's martial arts training was a serious breach of etiquette. Being caught in the act meant considerable humiliation.

Knowing this, Cheon Ha-rin's heart began to race. She tried to compose her expression, but her eyelids trembled almost imperceptibly.

'No—I should use this chance to ask about Ghost Hand instead.'

Cheon Ha-rin forced her pounding heart to settle. In the meantime, Ha Jin came to a stop a few paces in front of her and offered a polite clasped hands greeting.

"Excuse me, might I ask who you are? I'm Cadet Four Hundred, Ha Jin. If you have a moment to spare......"

Just as Ha Jin was introducing himself and about to state his purpose, Cheon Ha-rin cut him off. Her voice was calm, yet carried a peculiar edge.

"I know."

The unexpected reply made Ha Jin falter. You know me?

Cheon Ha-rin stared straight into Ha Jin's eyes and spoke with deliberate force on every syllable.

"You're Ghost Hand's disciple."

"Oh, yes, that's right, but......"

Ha Jin tried to continue, but Cheon Ha-rin sliced through his words as if unwilling to give him an inch. Her chin tilted up slightly.

"The whole Demon Path Hall knows you're Ghost Hand's disciple. Why bother with the introduction? What a waste of time."

Her voice was ice-cold. As though Ha Jin's very existence offended her.

'Wow, what a charming personality. Should I not have come over?'

When Ha Jin stared at her in disbelief, Cheon Ha-rin pressed on even more aggressively.

"Enough. I'm not here because I have business with the likes of you. I came because I'm curious about what that Ghost Hand geezer has been up to since he retired."

Had anyone else heard her, they would have been struck speechless by the sheer rudeness. Fortunately, Ha Jin didn't fall into that category. If anything, her tone—which suggested she personally knew Ghost Hand—piqued his curiosity.

"You know the elder?"

"What? Obviously......"

"Perfect. I've actually been wanting to ask someone about him!"

"......?"

Ha Jin was genuinely delighted. At last, he had found someone he could ask personal questions about Ghost Hand.

***

Meanwhile. Cheon Ha-rin was so dumbfounded she nearly burst out laughing.

'He's asking me about the Ghost Hand geezer? Is he sane? He's the one who's been attached to the old man this whole time!'

There had to be some hidden motive. Cheon Ha-rin scrutinized Ha Jin's expression, scouring it for any sign of an ulterior intent. But she couldn't read a thing.

His face looked utterly, hopelessly vacant.

'I can't figure out what he's thinking at all. Is he putting on an act on purpose?'

If not, there was no explanation. After trying and failing to decipher Ha Jin's thoughts, Cheon Ha-rin finally gave up and got to the point.

What mattered to her right now wasn't Ha Jin's inner thoughts, but how he had become Ghost Hand's disciple.

"So how did you end up becoming that old man's disciple?"

"His disciple?"

Ha Jin tilted his head briefly, then answered without much deliberation.

"Well, the elder just took me in when I'd collapsed on the side of the road."

It was an answer so casual and simple it was as if he were saying he ate because he was hungry. And in that moment, Cheon Ha-rin's expression warped almost imperceptibly. Her eyebrow twitched. The corner of her lip quivered as though seized by a spasm.

'He just... took him in?!'

The position as Ghost Hand's disciple—the one she had so desperately wanted yet been refused—had been handed to this seemingly unremarkable man as though he were a pebble picked up off the street.

It was the moment a proper crack formed in her pride.

"Good. I've answered one question, so now it's my turn to ask. What kind of person was Elder Ghost Hand?"

Ha Jin's reason for asking was simple. The Ghost Hand he had heard about from Yang Jun was deified like some legendary hero—completely devoid of any sense of reality.

It was as though someone were claiming, "Ghost Hand could cover a thousand li in a single stride!" Of course, he might have actually been able to do that.

He could understand the reverence, but what he needed right now was Ghost Hand's human side. As long as the perception of him being Ghost Hand's disciple had taken root, he needed to avoid tarnishing the man's honor. And to steer clear of raising suspicion, he needed to know Ghost Hand well enough.

At Ha Jin's question, Cheon Ha-rin fell silent for a moment. Something complex flickered in her eyes. She turned the question back on him.

"Then what was the Ghost Hand you knew like?"

Ha Jin frowned faintly at the answer-a-question-with-a-question. Though outwardly he maintained a calm expression.

"Hmm, the Elder Ghost Hand I knew was an incredibly kind and caring person. He looked after my meals and treated me with the warmth of a real grandfather."

The moment words like "kind," "caring," and "warmth" spilled from Ha Jin's mouth, Cheon Ha-rin's expression froze over once more. A sense of inexplicable betrayal crept in.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's foremost assassin—the merciless Ghost Hand who seemed to have neither tears nor blood—had been kind and caring? Impossible.

It was a side of Ghost Hand that Cheon Ha-rin had never known, and the revelation made her tremble to her very fingertips.

CREAK—!

Her teeth clenched involuntarily.

'I poured my heart into begging him to take me as his disciple, and he rejected me that coldly......'

Every word about Ghost Hand that fell from Ha Jin's lips drove into Cheon Ha-rin's chest like a dagger. The old man's firm declaration that he had no intention of taking a disciple still rang in her ears.

'I thought that applied to everyone, but was it only meant for me?'

Cheon Ha-rin bit her lip. Listening to Ha Jin's account, it was clear that Ghost Hand had simply not wanted to accept her as his disciple.

'Right, this man has already reached the Pinnacle. The old man must have recognized his talent and taken him in. In the end, my talent just wasn't enough......'

Just as she was blaming herself and trying to swallow the bitterness, a different thought struck her. She fixed Ha Jin with a piercing glare and asked.

"And you approached me just to ask these trivial questions?"

Her voice was laced with contempt and irritation. She wanted to direct this anger at someone.

Ha Jin shook his head.

"Hm? No, actually, there was one more thing I wanted to ask."

"What?"

Ha Jin said it as lightly as if it were nothing.

"If you don't mind, I was wondering if you'd be up for a quick spar. I happened to need a training partner."

At his words, Cheon Ha-rin stared at Ha Jin blankly for a moment, as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then she asked, her voice frigid.

"Why me, of all people?"

Ha Jin was caught off guard. They were the only two people in the training yard right now—that was the entire reason he'd asked.

He could hardly say what he was actually thinking: 'Are you blind? There are only two of us here.' In the end, after agonizing over how to rephrase it, he opened his mouth.

"You seem pretty skilled in martial arts, and you just seemed... suitable, all things considered......?"

Judging by the sword she wore, she seemed like a perfect fit for Shield practice. Blocking a weapon was the whole point, after all.

But in that instant, fury blazed in Cheon Ha-rin's eyes. Her face flushed red, and her clenched fists began to shake.

'What? "Suitable"? Me! The Sect Leader's daughter, the top-ranked cadet of the Demon Path Hall—Cheon Ha-rin—and he writes me off for that reason?'

Her pride shattered into a thousand pieces. She could not tolerate what felt like a blatant display of contempt.

She barely suppressed the explosion of rage threatening to burst forth, glaring at Ha Jin with eyes brimming with killing intent.

"You're dead. Follow me to the sparring platform."

"......Pardon?"

Just like that?