Guild Master Lee Hyeok-jun burst out angrily at the claim, which defied common sense.
“What are you talking about, Manager Han? Are you still half asleep? Are you playing a joke on me?”
“No, Guild Master. It is true.”
“Tell him to come here at once! No, I will go myself!”
As Manager Han continued saying such strange things, the angry guild master sprang from his seat.
“It makes no sense. They only started yesterday. You went to see them yesterday too, did you not? And he corrected that problem in a day?”
On the way to the training room, the guild master fired off questions in rapid succession.
It was only natural. Woo Ha-na's weakness had persisted for quite some time.
It was not a problem that should have been so easily solved.
“And you say it has been corrected? That weakness? Did you see it with your own eyes?”
“Yes. That is what I observed.”
“You really checked it yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Let us go. Quickly.”
When they reached the private training room, the guild master drew a deep breath and stepped inside.
If Manager Han was telling the truth…….
WHOOSHHHH—!
A fierce gust struck them the instant they opened the door.
It was Woo Ha-na who had created it.
“Uh……?”
She was crossing the training room at tremendous speed.
Explosive Acceleration.
It was the ability she should have been able to wield all along but had never properly controlled because of her crippling weakness.
The guild master stared blankly at her before turning to Yu-jun, who was training her diligently.
“How on earth…….”
Words failed him.
Manager Han, watching at his side, nodded as though he understood exactly how Lee felt.
The guild master was probably thinking the same things he had thought.
How was this possible?
What on earth was happening?
“I told you, did I not? I found someone talented.”
Ten minutes later, Woo Ha-na, drenched in sweat, bowed to the guild master and Manager Han.
“That was some proper training.”
“Thank you!”
Woo Ha-na was exhilarated. Naturally so: she had been freely using an ability of her own that she had never experienced like this before.
“Go and rest. You worked hard.”
“Yes!”
Once he saw that she was taking a break, the guild master strode toward Yu-jun.
“Trainer Kang.”
“Ah, Guild Master. Thank you for trusting me with her.”
“No, no. I am the one who should thank you! Thank you for signing a contract with our guild! I never thought you would solve Ha-na's problem this quickly! You astonished me! We had been unable to correct it for so long…….”
Once Woo Ha-na could circulate her mana explosively, she could wield her ability properly and draw out even the potential she had always possessed.
Yu-jun grinned inwardly at the guild master's reaction and asked,
“Are you satisfied?”
“Of course I am!”
“Then I would like to make one more proposal.”
Through Woo Ha-na, he had clearly demonstrated his ability as a trainer.
‘Now for the next step.’
“A proposal?”
“I would like to teach Sky Guild's youth trainees.”
“Our trainees……?”
It had been more than ten years since guilds began putting serious effort into developing young trainees.
Every guild regarded its trainees as its future and devoted considerable care to their development.
The trainers entrusted with them therefore needed considerable experience and skill.
And because so much was demanded of their dedicated trainers, another practice had taken hold: guilds generally did not entrust young trainees to freelance trainers on short-term contracts.
Woo Ha-na had been an exception. The existing trainers had been unable to solve her problem, so Lee had assigned her to Yu-jun as a test.
The guild master looked troubled as he considered it, then made a different proposal.
“Hmmmmm…… Why not join us as a regular employee instead?”
Yu-jun merely smiled and bowed his head in silence.
It was a refusal.
The guild master immediately gave an awkward smile.
Yu-jun held the initiative and even the power to choose.
His achievement had been that remarkable.
If such a trainer wanted to teach the youth trainees, it would be better for the guild master to accept, even if it meant breaking convention.
Yu-jun was a gem already shining before him.
They had found a gem others had failed to recognize. Should they not make good use of it?
Seen that way, maintaining a good relationship with Yu-jun came first.
“Very well. We have signed a contract, so it is only proper to discuss regular employment once that contract ends. But we do not assign our guild's youth trainees to outside trainers. You know why, do you not?”
“Yes, I do.”
That was precisely why Yu-jun had asked.
The guild master let out a deep sigh at his confident manner.
But had he not seen it with his own eyes?
He had seen how Woo Ha-na had changed.
He decided to wager on that possibility.
“Phew…… Very well! First I need to speak to our dedicated trainers. They might resent it.”
They might think Yu-jun was taking their places.
Handing over their own territory so readily would wound the pride of the guild's trainers.
“But let me ask you something first. Did you make that proposal because there is a particular trainee you want to take on?”
Yu-jun nodded and said what he had prepared.
Through Woo Ha-na, he had shown that he could train a promising youth trainee.
Now it was time to do the reverse.
“Yes. I would like to teach the lowest-performing youth trainee in Sky Guild.”
***
“I hear a new trainer is coming.”
“Could it be Baek Seong-ju? He is a free agent now.”
“A guild like ours could definitely attract Trainer Baek!”
Baek Seong-ju was a famous trainer rated A-grade. He had recently left his guild and was now a free agent.
That guild had been Dream Guild.
Dream Guild had recently recruited a new trainer, and Baek Seong-ju had ultimately stepped down.
If Sky Guild could bring in Baek Seong-ju, it could expect good results.
His fee would be high, but what kind of guild was Sky Guild?
It was a guild with a well-funded parent company.
“Our guild certainly has money to spare.”
“I heard the trainer is new.”
“New? You mean a rookie trainer is coming?”
“Don't we already have plenty of trainers? We don't need a rookie.”
Sky Guild's training room.
Many promising young Awakened from Sky Guild had gathered there.
Quite a few had just graduated from the academy and were brimming with confidence.
After all, their very first job was at Sky Guild, ranked in the sixties.
It was not a guild the size of a major corporation, but it was comparable to a mid-sized company. They had every reason to think highly of themselves.
Besides, they had trained under numerous instructors at the academy. Naturally, they were wary of the idea of a rookie trainer.
“I don't have much faith in a rookie trainer.”
“Hey, I heard he's not a rookie. He's an outside trainer. A freelancer.”
“A freelancer? Why? Our own trainers are skilled too…….”
“Freelance trainers don't usually teach youth trainees, do they?”
“Then I suppose he won't be teaching all of us.”
The trainees were puzzled.
Being a freelancer meant this was not a newly hired Sky Guild trainer.
Even so, the fact that word of his arrival had spread suggested that he was quite skilled.
They would not entrust every trainee to a freelancer. Presumably, the guild meant to select a few for him to teach.
“Now I'm a little curious.”
“They wouldn't bring him in unless he was exceptionally skilled, would they?”
“But who is this trainer?”
As everyone murmured, Woo Ha-na entered the training room.
Her face was flushed with excitement.
Only two training sessions.
Those two sessions had changed everything.
They were on an entirely different level from any training she had received before.
‘Has training ever made me feel this excited?’
Training had always been a source of worry for her.
Woo Ha-na was an Awakened whose future in the guild seemed assured.
Even so, she felt miserable on days when she could not keep up with her training.
She could feel her own limits.
Yu-jun's training, however, was different.
‘I understand what he means right away.’
Understanding was a crucial part of training.
However well someone explained something, training was practically meaningless if the person receiving it could not understand.
By that measure, Kang Yu-jun's training was the first ‘real’ training Woo Ha-na had ever experienced.
Had learning ever been so enjoyable?
Had she ever felt herself changing so immediately?
That was why she had come to the training room early again today.
She had also canceled every session with her private trainers.
No, she had gone beyond canceling them.
-[I intend to end our contract.]
She did not plan to receive their training any longer.
-[May I ask what brought this on so suddenly? Could we meet to discuss it?]
-[I found a better trainer.]
She could have put it more gently, but saw no need to dress it up.
‘I found a real trainer!’
The others murmured in surprise when Woo Ha-na appeared so early.
“Shouldn't she be having her private training now?”
“That's odd. Maybe she's here to try training with the freelancer?”
“I heard Ms. Woo has been stuck at a wall lately. She's getting too old to be called a youth trainee, too.”
Woo Ha-na was twenty-one.
It was time for her to graduate from the youth program and become a fighting member of the guild, yet she had remained stuck at that wall.
Of course, that had been true only until yesterday.
Thanks to Yu-jun's training, she had awakened the sensation she needed.
Strictly speaking, though, she had only just found a thread to follow. She needed Yu-jun to make that sensation fully her own.
With his training, she could grow wings.
That was what Woo Ha-na believed.
Just then, someone entered the training room.
“Good day. I am Trainer Kang Yu-jun, and I will be working with you for a while.”
Kang Yu-jun.
Sky Guild's young trainees looked bewildered.
They certainly knew the name and face.
As far as they knew, Kang Yu-jun was no trainer.
One of them raised a hand cautiously.
“Uh, I have a question.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Are you that Kang Yu-jun?”
“Yes. Some of you may know me. I am that Kang Yu-jun.”
Their expressions soured.
Kang Yu-jun was famous.
As the very image of someone who took the money and ran.
He had received an enormous amount of support from the Promise Guild, only to fail to become a proper Awakened. To them, he could only be a man who had taken the money and run.
And now that same Kang Yu-jun had arrived as their new trainer.
No wonder they looked displeased.
Yu-jun understood their reaction.
‘Once I've trained them…….’
Those distrustful looks would become looks of trust.
Yu-jun approached the Awakened who had asked the question.
“What is your name?”
“Kim Gyo-jun.”
“Mr. Kim, do you find me untrustworthy?”
Yu-jun asked directly.
Kim Gyo-jun was too flustered to answer.
“Yes!”
The answer came from elsewhere.
It was a youth trainee who seemed to have a strong personality.
Blue light shone from various parts of their body, suggesting they ranked among the better trainees.
“I see. The rest of you feel the same way, I take it?”
Yu-jun looked around at the other Awakened. In the process, his eyes met Woo Ha-na's.
He grinned.
She had already experienced his training. She knew.
‘Living proof.’
Normally, Woo Ha-na had no reason to be here.
She had come for one reason alone: she wanted Yu-jun to train her.
Yu-jun liked that attitude.
And he had suitable teaching material standing right in front of him.
‘Perfect timing, Kim Gyo-jun.’
Kim Gyo-jun's entire body was so riddled with cracks that it was hardly an exaggeration to say there were cracks everywhere.
‘He'd respond no matter where I started.’
Yu-jun could tell immediately that Kim Gyo-jun was currently Sky Guild's lowest-grade youth trainee.
“There is no need for more words. Trainee Kim Gyo-jun, I will demonstrate on you how I conduct training.”
Yu-jun immediately used Awakened Scan.
-Scanning Awakened.
-Analyzing Awakened!
The information soon appeared.
-[Kim Gyo-jun] Overall Grade: D-
-Body: [E]
-Mind: [A]
-Awakened Ability: Weapon Enhancement
-Special Notes: High Concentration
-Potential: B
-Awakened Analysis complete.
-Current Awakened Analysis level: 1.
It was an analysis sheet of an Awakened in every sense.
‘Special notes and potential.’
With Awakened Analysis unlocked, Yu-jun could identify Kim Gyo-jun's clear strengths.
‘His potential isn't particularly high, but his concentration is remarkable.’
This was a ready-made answer sheet for training.
It showed the Body grade essential to planning training, along with the Mind grade that revealed his mental condition, his awakened ability, and even special notes.
With all that to guide him, training should not fail.
‘Failing to help him grow would be the stupid part.’
Yu-jun grinned.
‘But if his special trait is concentration…….’
It probably meant he would devote himself fully to whatever training Yu-jun gave him.
‘And Awakened Analysis is only level one.’
The analysis it provided now was very simple. At a higher level, it should offer more detail.
‘Normally, it shows strengths and weaknesses too.’
At a higher level, he would be able to see those as well.
‘His Body grade is E, but his Mind grade is A.’
The gap was enormous.
Awakened Scan, then Awakened Analysis.
Using what he had learned about Kim Gyo-jun, Yu-jun decided how to teach him.
“Please use your ability.”
Kim Gyo-jun hesitated, then drew a sword from his waist.
HISSS—.
Mana surged from his body.
There was little of it, but unlike Woo Ha-na, he had no problem with the way it circulated.
Yet the cracks began to deepen the moment he drew it up.
‘His mana circulation is normal. But his mana is being used elsewhere.’
His weakness was his frail body.
‘He's instinctively using mana to compensate for his weak body.’
Yu-jun grasped his condition in an instant.
The information made it easy to understand.
Of course, not everyone could have done the same merely because they were given that information.
Yu-jun had spent thirteen years on an elite training path under countless trainers.
That experience, combined with his natural insight, was coming into its own.
“Trainee Kim Gyo-jun, about that mana of yours.”
Yu-jun stepped closer and poked the cracked area with his index finger.
A small amount of mana infused the movement.
HISSS—!
Yu-jun's mana traveled through his fingertip into Kim Gyo-jun's body.
It was a very dangerous act, but for Yu-jun it was easy and presented no problem.
“Spread it out. Do not let it pool.”
Kim Gyo-jun had probably been taught to gather his mana to strengthen his weak body.
But that was not the answer.
Kim Gyo-jun staggered for a moment.
It felt strange.
For some reason, his body was moving as Yu-jun had told it to.
‘The cracks are disappearing.’
That meant Yu-jun was right.
But there was no light yet.
The problem had been solved temporarily; it had not become a strength.
“Use the sword technique you learned at the academy.”
Awakened academies taught students to handle various weapons.
Given his Weapon Enhancement ability, Kim Gyo-jun would also have received specialized sword instruction.
He obeyed Yu-jun without protest.
For some reason, he felt that he should.
WHOOSH—!
The instant Kim Gyo-jun swung his sword, Yu-jun drew the baton he had brought with him and moved it. It was thin, like the baton an orchestra conductor would carry.
‘I'll put mana into this.’
The baton pressed precisely against Kim Gyo-jun's shoulder.
At the exact moment his sword lunged forward, the mana that had spread throughout his body concentrated in his shoulder.
WHOOOSHHHH—!
His sword stroke began slowly, then accelerated toward its end.
POP—!
Kim Gyo-jun's sword tore through the air.
“Uh……?”
Even after driving his sword forward, Kim Gyo-jun was stunned. He had never experienced such power.
Both its speed and its force astonished him. Had he really done that himself?
There had been pain, but the moment was enough to make him forget even that.
“How……?”
Seeing the shock in Kim Gyo-jun's eyes, Yu-jun looked around and said,
“This is how I will conduct the training.”
Everyone stood frozen, stunned by a result they had never imagined.
Yu-jun paid it no mind and continued,
“And I will not train all of you. I intend to teach exactly three people.”
At that, the trainees' eyes changed, and their attention fixed on Yu-jun.