—Shhhk!
Shhhk!
‘Isn’t this a bit much even for a fantasy game?’
Using Mana Step, she began devouring my blind spots.
As if defying the laws of motion and gravity, Athena of the Gaia Tribe unleashed zero-delay spin moves one after another.
This was beyond fantasy or wuxia—it was practically sci-fi.
‘Whoa.
That Heavenly Martial Body is something else.’
Because of it, I found myself in a rather precarious situation.
Athena’s fists kept coming within inches of my face.
But what kind of body did Geum Taeyang possess?
It was the Heavenly Martial Body—the one destined to become the supreme being of the martial world.
My Heavenly Martial Body trait immediately provided a solution.
Conqueror Geum Taeyang’s Heavenly Martial Body has activated.
You have acquired [True Mana Sense].
It was True Mana Sense.
‘Okay.
I can feel exactly how Athena is circulating her mana.
Thanks to that, I can read her attacks without needing preparatory movements.
This is on a completely different level from ordinary mana sensing.’
Mana Step naturally consumed far more mana than normal attacks.
So if one’s mana-sensing ability was excellent, they could read the flow and respond.
With True Mana Sense, it became map-hack level.
In other words, thanks to the cheat trait Heavenly Martial Body, I had acquired the natural enemy technique of mana movement arts—something only a high-tier magic class like Nadia would possess.
—Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
“What?
You were hiding intermediate mana sensing?
How underhanded.”
To Athena, it must have looked like I’d been hiding my mana-sensing skill and then suddenly revealed it.
Until just moments ago, my movements had shown no sign of mana sensing at all.
Still, she assumed it was merely high-level mana sensing rather than True Mana Sense.
“Isn’t that obvious?
Hiding one’s full strength is also strategy and tactics.
Just like how you never told me you received secret techniques from the chieftain.”
Even while relying on Heavenly Martial Body, I bluffed as if I’d actually been hiding mana sensing.
If I revealed the truth, Athena hadn’t informed me about her secret techniques for an entire week.
And that was natural for a warrior of Tessadar’s caliber.
Why would she volunteer the information without being asked under proper circumstances?
That would be failing as a warrior.
“Reading the secret technique the moment you saw Mana Step… You really do have a good head for battle!”
—Thud!
With her trump cards exposed, Athena took a very heavy thrusting stance.
‘She’s going for Tyrant’s Crushing Strike.’
One of the Tyrant’s Fist techniques—Tyrant’s Crushing Strike.
An all-or-nothing blow said to split even giant boulders.
How did I know the technique name?
I’d heard it in the heroic tales the Great Mother told me as a child.
That information had connected with my Thousand-Mile Insight and clicked into place.
‘But before that, there’s the package technique that comes with it.’
Tyrant’s Crushing Strike was incredibly powerful, but its form was large.
To compensate for that weakness, a follow-up skill always accompanied it—
—Fwoooosh!!
‘Tyrant’s Presence Suppression!’
A skill that halted the opponent’s movements with the tyrant’s overwhelming aura.
As expected, the powerful suppressing force of Tyrant’s Presence Suppression blasted toward me before the Crushing Strike was unleashed.
‘At this distance, I’ll just get hit on the guard and sent flying.’
At that moment, my Thousand-Mile Insight delivered interesting information.
Athena wasn’t aiming for a clean hit.
She was only trying to create a picture where she roughly suppressed me by striking my guard.
‘In that case, I should counterattack.’
Under that situation, I came up with a rather stylish counter.
“This is the end of our duel!”
—Fwoooosh!!
Amidst it all, Athena’s Tyrant’s Crushing Fist was unleashed.
—Thud!!
I firmly locked my guard over my chest, then—
—Whoosh!
—released it right before the strike landed.
“!!!??????”
Athena’s pupils dilated sharply.
It clearly meant she had encountered an unexpected variable outside her calculations.
—Thud!!
But it was too late to stop the Crushing Strike.
Athena’s powerful attack extended fully and struck her childhood friend Geum Taeyang’s chest.
“Guhhh!”
—Vwoooom!
Along with Geum Taeyang’s thick scream, his heavy body was sent flying as if it had grown wings.
—Crash!
Crash!
He flew roughly five meters and slammed into the training ground floor.
“Hey!
Geum Taeyang!”
—Thud thud thud!
Athena ran toward the fallen Geum Taeyang, screaming.
“Cough!
Ghh…”
“You could’ve blocked that!
Why did you drop your guard, you crazy bastard!”
—Thud!
Athena hurriedly knelt beside Geum Taeyang, lifted his upper body into her arms, and shouted—half angry, half panicked.
“I just wanted to show off my toughness.
Heh-heh…”
Even while on the verge of passing out, Geum Taeyang bluffed at her.
“You crazy bastard!
Geum Taeyang, you crazy bastard!”
But Athena’s eyes were already brimming with tears, so she couldn’t even mock her mischievous childhood friend’s bluff.
“Feeling better now…?
Then I think I’ll pass out for a bit…”
—Smile…
—Kiss…
Geum Taeyang’s eyes were already fading.
With a warm smile toward Athena’s tears, he left behind an enigmatic remark and fainted.
‘True revenge?
Heh.
It’s about breaking the opponent’s intentions and hurting their heart.
Perfect.’
—Grin!
Grin!
My entire body was battered.
The soreness in my guarded arms and shoulders was indescribable, and my waist, thighs, and ankle ligaments had taken damage from reacting to Athena’s Mana Step.
So now, lying on the fur rug in my tent in the middle of the night, I was giving myself a massage.
Yet despite the miserable state, the triumphant upward curl of my lips refused to be suppressed.
‘That tomboy crying and sniffling in guilt… Serves her right for throwing a tantrum.’
Athena had supported me from the training ground while crying her eyes out as she explained the situation to the Great Mother.
She’d wanted to vent the pent-up frustration of the past fortnight by beating me up a little in a spar, but she’d been countered by me playing on top of her head.
This counter was possible because my endurance was A-rank.
Thousand-Mile Insight had concluded that, with my endurance, the worst that would happen from taking Athena’s Tyrant’s Crushing Strike was fainting.
‘Well, I can’t say I don’t understand that tantrum at all.’
Of course, this risky gamble of mine wasn’t solely to tease Athena.
There was a deeper aim.
Just as I was diligently self-caring my victory wounds—
“Can I… come in?”
Athena’s voice came through, cautious and completely deflated.
In other words, late at night, she had come to my tent alone.