The word "suitable."
It set Cheon Ha-rin's pride ablaze.
The Sect Leader's daughter. The Demon Path Hall's top-ranked cadet. Every ounce of honor and self-worth she had built was, in a single instant, reduced to the paltry word "suitable." Her eyes glinted with killing intent fierce enough to tear Ha Jin to shreds on the spot.
"I'll see for myself just how impressive you are to consider this Cheon Ha-rin a suitable opponent. Follow me."
Cheon Ha-rin ground her teeth and growled.
She whirled around and strode toward the sparring platform set up at the center of the training yard. Ha Jin, sensing things were taking a more serious turn than expected, hurried after her and tried to explain.
"Um, excuse me? What I meant was, that's not what I was trying to say—I think there's been a misunderstanding?"
But his words didn't reach Cheon Ha-rin, who was on the verge of losing all reason.
"Shut up!"
Cheon Ha-rin barked as she mounted the sparring platform. She glared at Ha Jin and focused every nerve on gauging his abilities.
She began to analyze his posture, breathing, gaze—even the flow of his presence—with meticulous precision.
'Fine. Let me see just how remarkable this disciple the old man chose really is.'
But before long, bewilderment crept across Cheon Ha-rin's face. Why couldn't she sense anything?
As far as she knew, any martial artist who had reached a certain level naturally radiated the energy of their inner arts. The stronger they were, the more distinct and overwhelming that energy should be.
Yet from Ha Jin, she could detect neither the flow of inner arts nor any ripple of presence.
'That's strange. At his level, there should be inner arts energy radiating from him...... Is he really a Pinnacle-level master?'
Cheon Ha-rin was confused. The more she looked at the man before her, the more he seemed like a walking enigma. Judging by what she could feel, he was like an empty husk.
But she quickly gathered herself and reminded herself of Ha Jin's identity once more.
'Right. This man is the disciple of Ghost Hand—the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's foremost assassin.'
Ghost Hand had not been a master who overwhelmed his opponents with raw demonic arts. He was an assassin among assassins, one who moved like a shadow and eliminated targets without a trace.
Naturally, the most critical skill was the ability to perfectly conceal one's energy. And as Cheon Ha-rin knew, Ghost Hand's ability to erase his presence had reached a depth befitting the foremost assassin.
'They said he felt like an ordinary old man in everyday life, so no one ever suspected he was an assassin.'
Even her father, the Sect Leader, had spoken with admiration about Ghost Hand's concealment abilities. With that thought, Cheon Ha-rin could vaguely guess why she sensed nothing from Ha Jin.
'He must be the same. He would've inherited Ghost Hand's martial arts directly.'
He must have mastered that overwhelming energy-concealment ability along with everything else. But even so, the fact that a Pinnacle-level warrior felt like an untrained civilian was nothing short of tongue-dropping.
"So that's how it is, then."
"Hm? What is?"
Cheon Ha-rin caught herself swallowing dryly. She realized that judging hastily by appearances alone could cost her dearly.
"Ghost Hand's disciple or not, I'll make you realize that looking down on me was your worst mistake."
"What......? Excuse me?"
"Did you not hear me? Get up on the sparring platform."
Having steeled her resolve, Cheon Ha-rin hesitated no more. She drew the sword from her waist. Then she beckoned Ha Jin with a curl of her fingers.
'She's insane......'
No matter how he looked at it, words weren't getting through. Ha Jin let out a sigh and changed his approach. Trying to talk down someone who refused to listen was the most foolish thing a person could do.
The best way to deal with such people was to match them on their own terms.
'Fine, let's fight. I'll get some practice in and teach this impossible woman a lesson while I'm at it......'
Ha Jin wasn't someone who preferred fighting. But he wasn't the type to avoid it at all costs, either.
Especially not against the type who only heard what they wanted to hear.
At length, Ha Jin climbed onto the sparring platform as well. He offered a light clasped hands greeting.
"Cadet Four Hundred, Ha Jin......"
"Cadet Number One, Cheon Ha-rin."
Basic courtesies exchanged, Cheon Ha-rin readjusted her grip on her sword and in the next instant launched off the platform with ferocious momentum, hurling herself at Ha Jin.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Before Ha Jin could even finish his defensive preparations, Cheon Ha-rin dropped low like a beast and lashed out with her blade. An unpredictable arc closed in on Ha Jin's nape.
Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a practice spar?
Why is there a killing strike coming at my neck from the very start? The nape, really......?
Before he could even process his questions, Cheon Ha-rin's sword force surged forward. Within it, the unmistakable aura of a killing strike—a brutal, malicious intent to end her opponent—was deeply embedded.
"Gah!"
Caught off guard by the killing intent, Ha Jin instinctively threw his body backward and barely dodged the slash.
But even the sword wind from the near miss was enough to make his cheek sting and burn. Was this a spar? No. This was combat—a fight with lives on the line.
"Are you insane?! You're actually trying to kill me?!"
In his urgency and disbelief, Ha Jin couldn't stop a crude outburst from ripping out of him. His composure had vanished without a trace, and cold sweat was already trickling down his forehead.
No matter how he looked at it, this woman genuinely intended to kill him.
If that was the case, he couldn't just stand there and take it. Ha Jin immediately recalibrated his thinking. There was no room for leisure.
'She said she passed the trial as number one? Then she's exactly the type Captain Yang warned me about—someone I absolutely can't ignore. No wonder she won't listen to reason......'
People like her had spent their entire lives doing nothing but training, hadn't they? Their social skills would be lacking, so naturally, communication might not work. As a modern, civilized person of intellect and character, it was only right for him to be the understanding one.
'Of course, I'm going to land at least one hit.'
In that instant, Cheon Ha-rin's blade came flying toward him again.
***
Contrary to his resolve, a counterattack didn't follow right away.
As Cheon Ha-rin's murderous assault continued, Ha Jin felt a genuine chill run down his spine.
At this rate, his life could truly be in danger. He had to abandon any thought of taking her lightly. Right now, survival came first.
Ha Jin sharpened every nerve and began tracking Cheon Ha-rin's movements with his eyes.
Fortunately, Cheon Ha-rin had not yet reached the tier of what one might call an absolute master. Her sword path and body techniques did not completely outpace his dynamic vision.
The senses he had honed through countless battles with magical beasts during his Hunter days were barely managing to read her movements.
'Here it comes! Shield, deploy!'
And just as Cheon Ha-rin's blade drove viciously toward his flank, Ha Jin focused his mana precisely at the predicted point of impact.
Mana bloomed from his fingertips, and a transparent Shield barrier materialized.
CLANG!
A grating metallic ring, and Cheon Ha-rin's strike was blocked. A success, for now. But the real challenge began here.
CHING—! CLANGCLANG—! CLANG—!
Cheon Ha-rin's assault did not relent. The air around them filled instantly with the piercing din of clashing metal. For Ha Jin, it only grew more grueling.
Cheon Ha-rin's swordwork was devastatingly precise. The instant Ha Jin so much as hinted at an opening, her blade came streaking toward it.
He couldn't afford to let his concentration slip for even a moment. The instant he did, her sword would come crashing in.
'Damn it, this is harder than I thought.'
Shield magic consumed mana in proportion to the damage it blocked. With each attack he deflected, Ha Jin could feel his internal mana being drained in real time. It was a completely different sensation from facing the First Disciple at the inn.
It was as though he were pouring water into a bottomless jar—his mana was being consumed at a terrifying rate.
'At this rate I'll definitely lose. No—losing isn't the problem. I might actually die because I can't block one of those slashes.'
After a few exchanges, beads of sweat were already forming across Ha Jin's forehead. Maintaining the Shield alone was a struggle, yet Cheon Ha-rin showed no sign of letting up.
CLANG—!
'Barely blocked that one too......'
Meanwhile, Cheon Ha-rin—who was relentlessly pouring out attacks—also sensed something strange mid-duel.
'Why is he blocking so well?'
Her sword was clearly moving faster and sharper than usual. Her pride stung by Ha Jin's "suitable" remark, she was drawing on far more inner arts than she normally would.
And yet her opponent seemed to be reading her every attack beforehand, blocking them without any apparent difficulty.
'Is this what Pinnacle-level mastery looks like?'
Cheon Ha-rin swallowed a bitter taste inwardly. No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't reach that level—that was how it felt.
What's more, he deflected or blocked her razor-sharp strikes with nothing but a bizarre motion of waving his fingers and tracing something in the air. As if an invisible wall stood between them.
While she was immersed in her assault and turning these thoughts over, Cheon Ha-rin suddenly noticed something else that was off.
'Wait—why does it feel like I've been the only one attacking this entire time?'
It was a hollow sensation, as though she were slashing at empty air all by herself. Only then did Cheon Ha-rin realize it: Ha Jin had not attempted a single counterattack.
He hadn't even drawn the sword hanging at his waist.
The instant she processed this, Cheon Ha-rin's brow twisted even more fiercely. Humiliation and fury flared across her face once again.
'This bastard! How dare he show this kind of leisure against me?!'
This went beyond a mere difference in skill. It was a blatant display of contempt, a mockery.
Cheon Ha-rin's gaze turned even more murderous. In her view, a true spar was one where both sides gave their all.
Focusing entirely on defense like that could only be interpreted as looking down on one's opponent from an absurd height.
"You're hiding your strength."
"......What?"
Cheon Ha-rin's rage-filled cry echoed across the sparring platform. Her eyes blazed.
But Ha Jin merely regarded her with a blank, bewildered expression. Like someone who genuinely had no idea what was happening.
And genuinely, he didn't. He answered with perfect honesty.
"No, I'm giving it everything I've got right now."
Perhaps the answer sounded too nonchalant. Cheon Ha-rin's fury only intensified.
"A man who claims to be giving his all hasn't even drawn his sword and is sitting there playing around!"
Cheon Ha-rin shrieked, her voice raw with irritation, and readjusted her grip. Her rage had already reached its peak.
Only then did Ha Jin seem to realize what he had done wrong. He let out a small exclamation. Then he hurriedly yanked out the sword at his waist.
"There—happy?"
Of course, this belated gesture only poured oil on the fire.
Watching Ha Jin clumsily draw his sword, Cheon Ha-rin channeled her boiling fury into killing intent.
"How dare you subject me to this humiliation! I will shatter your arrogance here and now!"
No one could stop her anymore.
With Cheon Ha-rin's cry, the presence erupting from her body became fierce enough to blanket the entire sparring platform.
"No, that's really not what's happening! I'm truly doing my best......"
Ha Jin cried out desperately, but his words did not reach Cheon Ha-rin, who had already lost all reason.
"Save your lies! Your disgusting charade ends now!"
The killing intent pouring from Cheon Ha-rin's sword was nothing short of overwhelming. He had drawn his blade, but Ha Jin instinctively understood that there was no way he could match this rampaging woman in a proper swordfight.
Defending with magic alone was already more than he could handle. With his clumsy swordsmanship, his head would be separated from his shoulders in an instant.
And then he saw it—a blue glow crystallizing along Cheon Ha-rin's blade. Sword Energy.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
She was unleashing Sword Energy in a practice spar?!