Deicide And Destruction, Appear (5)

They were combat manuals, magic introductions, and general treatises that Talis had stashed away in the pocket dimension as a hobby over many years.

That doesn’t mean every combat manual or magic-related book became a technical guide.

“Damn it! I don’t understand it anymore!”

After kicking the piled-up books around and stomping about, Talis finally stopped after quite some time.

The serious training began the very next day.

While sleeping deeply, a tremendous pain surged in my side, and I woke up feeling like I had hit a wall.

In a daze, I looked around and saw Talis standing beside the bed, flicking his finger upwards, signaling me to get up.

“Ugh… What time is it now…?”

“I don’t know. The sun hasn’t risen. Let’s go.”

“Where to…?”

“We’re going underground. This master worked on it a bit all night yesterday.”

I was dragged unwillingly to the underground training hall after waking up. I rubbed my eyes at the changed underground training ground.

“This…?”

“How is it? Do you like it?”

His behavior was really annoying now, but I liked it very much. Even now.

He must have modified the formation in the underground training hall because the density of divine power felt heavy and immense.

Every step toward the center of the training ground, the divine power hitting my face was so intense it felt like being pulled underwater.

“Hehehe. Disciple, now it begins. Be careful.”

“Yes? Ugh!”

A tremendous shock overwhelmed my whole body. At the same time, the floor expanded greatly and my face rubbed against it.

My vision turned white and my breath was choked. I struggled to get up but couldn’t move an inch from where I was.

“Disciple, I set up something interesting here. Gravity magic! But it’s too crude, not very efficient. Moreover, in that state, you’d have suffered serious strain. The mansion might collapse if things went wrong. So I specially modified it. Divine power suppression magic, gravity magic, and binding magic. How is it? Useful?”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

It feels like oxygen in my lungs isn’t moving. Actually, I don’t even know if there’s oxygen left in my lungs.

Because of the tremendous gravity, it feels like oxygen isn’t even reaching above my knees, let alone my heart. I forced myself to cough to supply oxygen to my head.

After lying there coughing for about ten minutes, I barely felt my vision return to normal.

However, I still couldn’t get up and even breathing was difficult.

Just ten minutes. In that short time, all my strength seemed to have drained from my body.

But when I barely lifted my head to look at Talis, he said it wasn’t time to finish yet.

‘I’m going to die in here.’

Veins bulged on my forearms and palms.

When I forced strength, I again felt oxygen shortage in my brain. But I didn’t give up.

“Gag, gasp, cough, gasp.”

Making strange breathing sounds, I barely sat up. Just sitting up almost made me pass out.

Standing up to train was out of the question.

“Foolish disciple, how can you train against that? Move. Even a finger, or your hardened divine power, or your tongue, at least your eyeballs!”

“Ahem!”

“Devote yourself solely to becoming stronger every moment. Some call it martial, others demon! Explore and crave the principles of the world. See through martial arts, hear through demon, speak through martial, feel and breathe through demon. Become the incarnation of martial and demon!”¹

“…Damn. Ugh!!”

My sitting posture was unstable. Head bowed, back hunched.

Even in my dazed state, Talis’s words came clearly to my ears. No, they pierced my chest and mind like a painfully cold blade.

I began moving my eyeballs, tongue, and fingers first.

I don’t know how much time passed, but as I started moving my wrist and arm, a message appeared before my eyes, but I was too dazed to check it.

As if possessed, I put all my effort into getting up.

When larger movements became possible, I placed both hands on the ground and wobbled as I stood up.

Straightening my back as if I were a god supporting the world required tremendous effort.

If I relaxed even a little, the overwhelming weight and the magic energy binding my body would swallow me. I endured it again and again.

Something, whether blood or sweat, got into my eyes, so I closed them tightly, clenched my teeth, and stood up.

Immediately, the pressure pressing my whole body and the binding energy vanished. At the same time, unable to control the force of standing, I jumped into the air and fell backward.

Thud.

“Heheheheheh. You’re truly a disciple who is both fun to torment and watch.”

I vaguely heard Talis’s voice but passed out before hearing it all.

A moment later, like waking from spring lethargy unwillingly, a nasty shock to my cheek made me frown and regain consciousness.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Are you awake now?”

“Oh? Is that so? I didn’t know. Get up, disciple.”

Though he surely knew, I glared at Talis who kept slapping me, then screamed as I got up.

“Get up, settle comfortably, and gather your divine power. Focus.”

“Yes.”

Perhaps due to suppressed memories, sitting comfortably on the accumulation formation and circulating energy according to the Mixed Origin Yang Divine Art path, I was overwhelmed by the fierce influx of divine power and the vigorous internal rotation.

The tremendous inflow and flow of energy made my body twitch.

“Disciple, don’t be flustered or nervous; just accept it. The first reason is that your capacity expanded from the recent training, and the second is that more energy flows in due to the internal energy’s gravitational pull healing your body. So accept everything coming in. This is a priceless opportunity.”

Though I couldn’t answer, I poured all my effort into accumulating divine power as Talis said.

I focused on the tremendous inflow of energy so much I couldn’t even enter selflessness for a while.

Satisfied with the heavy and full divine power, I stood up, but Talis was gone, leaving a note.

Let’s eat.

“…Tch.”

After a slightly late breakfast, the training continued, changing from Talis to Biosis, to the point where I couldn’t tell if it was training or torment.

“Disciple, do you know the fastest and most skillful way to handle the Superior Enhanced Energy?”

“…I don’t know.”

“You learn it through your body.”

“…What?”

“Simply put, it means you learn by getting hit.”

“…I think there might be other ways.”

I stepped back with a bad feeling and argued, but the smile on Biosis’s lips only deepened.

“Other ways? There are, but they’re slow. Didn’t you say you have no time?”

“…Damn.”

“Oh ho! Look at that spirit. Truly a worthy disciple. Now, let’s begin. Give it your all… survive!”

Biosis fiercely attacked as if to avenge the previous day’s defensive battle.

I tried counterattacks and struggled desperately.

I tried throwing sand, spitting, pretending to fall, and even wrestling moves.

I choked from behind and bit ears, but all methods failed.

I tried to poke the eyes but broke a finger, tried an arm bar but was lifted forcefully and slammed onto the training ground floor, feeling bone-crushing pain.

After that, I was repeatedly punched with Superior Enhanced Energy wrapped fists just short of death, passing out and regaining consciousness.

When seriously injured, they forcibly poured stolen potions down my throat and urged me to heal internal injuries once conscious.

After repeating fainting and healing internal injuries three or four times, the morning training ended.

“How is it, disciple? Doesn’t the Superior Enhanced Energy feel deeply imprinted on your body?”

“…Yes, yes.”

“Hehehe. You’re truly a disciple who knows this teacher’s greatness.”

After Biosis’s self-praise, I had no strength to move even a finger when training ended.

After forcing down the lunch, Talis waited at the training ground, smiling brightly.

“Welcome, disciple.”

“…Yes.”

Somehow, that pure bright smile like that of a kid’s felt ominous. Could it be magic training…?

“Do you know the fastest way to learn Destruction?”

It’s the same.

“You’re not going to say that magic is learned by getting hit, are you?”

“Hmph! Who says such nonsense! Of course, magic must be understood intellectually!”

That’s a relief.

“I see. Yes, let’s begin.”

“Yes. If you get hit until your head bursts, you’ll naturally realize it.”

“…What?”

I was so dumbfounded I didn’t realize I spoke informally. Mages should train through magical research, formulas, or calculations.

“What kind of Heavenly God girl proposes to a Demon God? Why learn magic by getting hit until your head breaks?”

“Tsk tsk. Foolish disciple, you said your skill list includes 12 basic magic schools, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s actually nonsense. You might have heard, but magic schools have opposing schools. Transmuters mainly slow or speed up speed, time, or state, or change states. The Transmutation and Protection schools are opposites. You can’t learn both simultaneously. But you learned Protection and Necromancy, which oppose Transmutation.”

I roughly understood what he meant—probably thanks to talent insight—and nodded.

The more I understood, the more I felt like sinking into a swamp, but I couldn’t deny he was right.

“So, a unique guy like you doesn’t need formulas or such. Just apply magic until your head breaks, and repeat and master it so you can use magic reflexively even with your eyes closed. Then you’ll move to the next stage.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at Talis’s opinion, as if he had seen the skill proficiency system I had never mentioned to him.

Then he laughed triumphantly for a long time, “kekekekek.”

“So, now take this great teacher’s words as truth and begin. From now on, this teacher will cast basic magic. You offset or counter it with opposing magic. Dodging is fine, but if you raise your power, I’ll roast you thoroughly, so beware.”

“…Ugh.”

The first magic that flew was about 200 magic arrows. White glowing magic arrows filled my vision and poured down.

I tried dodging and defending with protection magic, but it was useless. No, if I could block this after learning magic just yesterday, that would be abnormal.

“Crazy!”

Puff puff puff puff puff puff puff.

Thanks to tough skin or the Enhanced Energy talent, fortunately, my skin wasn’t pierced.

Talis gave a creepy smile and praised my body’s condition.

After that, fireballs came and roasted my flesh, then ice froze my entire arm. I was buried in the ground and shocked by lightning.

What was more frustrating was that Talis’s nasty magic contained Destruction energy, so even though I properly offset it, I still had to endure it with my body.

After such painful training, I could finally rest when it was time for dinner.

But strangely, four representatives including Lee Hyo-ju were also exhausted and sat at the dinner table.

“What did you do? You look more tired than me.”

“Kimhana! Waaah!”

“Ehyo.”

“Ugh…”

“…We trained.”

I pushed away Naruan, who had come up rubbing her face on me, and asked Lee Hyo-ju, who gave a relatively coherent answer.

“Training?”

“Yes… They helped us.”

“…You mean Biosis and Talis?”

“Yes…”

Could these old men have trained them to a level similar to mine? No, they seem surprisingly fine for that.

“What kind of training did you do?”

“Kim Han, Kim Han, the perverted old man tormented me!”

“Hey hey! Stop rubbing your face everywhere on me!”

Naruan, just over waist height, ran at me head-on and rubbed his face, unintentionally touching sensitive areas.

I hurriedly pushed Naruan away and asked what training they had.

Removing words like ‘stop! stop!’ from the middle, it seems Naruan sparred with Biosis during the afternoon when I trained with Talis.

Given Biosis’s personality, he probably didn’t go easy on cute Naruan.

Then suddenly, I had a question.

“Isn’t your ‘injury setting’ minor injury?”

“He told us to raise it to serious injury.”

“Huh? Not moderate serious injury but serious injury?”

The injury settings increase in order: minor injury, moderate minor injury, serious injury, critical injury, instant death.

Serious injury allows for broken bones or one or two holes in the body.

“Are you… okay?”

Though I was more tired and had faced death, I couldn’t help but sympathize with those without Heavenly Strength and the talent Regeneration.

“…We have to.”

“Sigh.”

“Don’t worry, companion.”

“I will become strong! For Kim Han!”

I asked Biosis and Talis, who just entered the dining hall, about their training.

Mae Young-ryeong and Hazel said Talis mainly taught them.

Especially, Talis showed interest in Mae Young-ryeong’s ‘Tale of the Stars [Ex]’ and pushed her all day proudly.

Biosis mainly taught Naruan and Lee Hyo-ju, focusing solely on sparring.

But when I heard that after sparring he kindly pointed out their shortcomings, I got angry this time.

Because unlike me, who was urged to heal internal injuries immediately after sparring and then start sparring again, they were given time!

Thus, a hectic day passed.

About a week after starting training, one morning.

As usual, I was happily getting beaten by Biosis at the training ground.

“Water Breath! Transmute! Gravity infusion. Waterfall!”

Water with tremendous weight fell from above the empty training ground.

The moment divine power moved, Biosis stepped outside the training ground, and I, gasping from accumulated damage, felt a threat to my life for the first time in a while.

“Crazy! Healing Wind!!”

“Kkuek!”

After that, the message was buried by the falling water stream and unreadable.

Hearing someone’s scream I had forgotten for a while, I fainted.