The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 459: Disciples (2)

It was just a wooden stick. It didn’t feel like a graded weapon at all. And yet—

Crack!

Not a single line formed between Peace’s teeth. The Flame Horned Lion bit down hard on the proffered stick, and Young Chaos flicked his wrist like he was playing with a fishing rod, whipping the stick up. Peace, lifted into the air, let go of the stick and tried to spread his wings — but Young Chaos’s hand seized him by the scruff first.

– Kyarrng!

It was so fast that neither I nor Peace could follow it. A clump of red fur went sailing away.

“Ah, Peace!”

In an instant, Peace shrank to a red dot and splash — fell into the lake. ‘Peace hates water!’ flashed through my mind, and Young Chaos had already turned back to me.

“You can use weapons. I’m S–class right now — try resisting.”

At the same time, my vision went black — thunk — and there was a sound. Yuhyun was already in front of me. I hurriedly cast the Teacher skill on my brother; Ruler’s Sword met the descending wooden stick.

Wow… and it made the SS–grade look pointless.

“Why are you blocking me, though?”

You acted like it was healthy and you weren’t going to stop it. At my words, my brother looked back at me.

“How am I supposed to just watch you get hit.”

He said his body moved before his mind — and for some reason my chest twinged.

“Yuhyun…”

My little brother — too good for this world.

“What are you two doing.”

“They do that at home, like, all the time. It gets on my nerves.”

Yerim grumbled that Mister Han Yuhyun was a problem, but Mister was worse.

“The third has it hard.”

“Right!”

Power built in the wooden stick. Even though both were S–class right now, Ruler’s Sword was slowly forced back. So this is the difference in efficiency of power use. I heard the ground crunch under Yuhyun’s feet. Earth and grass bunched up beneath his braced heels as they crept and rose.

It was obvious he couldn’t retreat because of me, so I quickly stepped aside. The instant I did, Young Chaos cranked the pressure up — in a single burst. What, more from there?

Screee— Yuhyun’s feet dragged and the stick slid sideways. Like a living snake, it curved cunningly for Yuhyun’s waist. It was the moment his balance wobbled under that heavy pressure. Even prepared, it was the kind of attack that’s hard to avoid — but without flinching, Yuhyun changed Ruler’s Sword into a flexible sword.

The black blade stretched long in an instant. Kak–a–kak! The stick skimmed the flexible blade. With a flexible sword that bends easily, meeting such a power–laden strike head–on is hard. Mistime it and the blade gets driven back and cuts you instead.

So Yuhyun only nudged the attack line off a little. At the same time, the tip of the flexible blade bit into the ground; he relaxed his body and shortened the sword back to a relatively short longsword. His body followed the shrinking blade naturally, as if drawn along by the grip in his hand. He leaned far to the side and—

Screee—!

The end of the stick tore a long slash across his regalia at the waist. It only grazed and that happened — sir! The kid’s going to get hurt!

“Aren’t you putting a bit too much into it!”

“For the second, this is the bare minimum he should be avoiding.”

The stick, still extended, changed direction as–is. Using the planted blade as an axis, Yuhyun twisted his tilted body half a turn with a quick spin. He shifted from the left to the right of the sword in a flash — and as he popped upright, Young Chaos’s palm touched the pommel of Ruler’s Sword.

Thunk!

Pressed by Chaos’s palm, the sword dug deeper into the ground; the palm that struck the pommel slid down onto Yuhyun’s wrist. Even at an S–class pace, it was hard to follow. There was no time for a body to react!

His wrist was caught — the next instant, a kick drove in. The small boy’s body sank into Yuhyun’s space and thumped his chest, while the hand on the sword wrist twisted. With his brace lost, his body flew back like a rag.

Crash!

Yuhyun was driven back more than ten meters and slammed into a tree. Crack! A thick trunk snapped like a reed. Yuhyun!

“Hey, wait — ow!”

Ow! Even bracing my back, I couldn’t see it move.

“For the first, I don’t even know where to start.”

Chaos popped up in front of me like a ghost, clicked his tongue, and swung the stick. Maybe he was matching it to me — the stick coming in was visible. I scrambled back and drew my blade.

“Your eyes track pretty well.”

Whish! The stick smacked my flank. The sting yanked an “urk” out of me.

“You’re a slug, body–wise.”

“Well, I have seen a lot of— ow!”

I tried to block, but it was literally flailing. With S–classes all around and the Teacher skill, my eye had gotten picky. In my head, I knew perfectly how to block the incoming strike.

But my body was the problem.

Turn the blade like this to deflect, step like that to slip the body out. Great plan — but I was slow. Lacking strength, speed, and flexibility.

“It’s only been a few days since — urk — the surgery!”

“And you’ve been working out steadily?”

…I had nothing to say even with ten mouths. I meant to start, but I used the leg as an excuse and lately… well. And I really am not fully healed yet. I’d at least been stretching my upper body.

“Mister…”

Yerim looked at me with heartbreaking pity. I cast the Teacher skill on Yerim too, and even I pitied me.

In Yerim’s eyes, his attacks looked like light taps in play — and I couldn’t resist at all, just panicked… Ah, seriously, how can I not even avoid that, what a loser. It was getting tragic. Yuhyun, having steadied himself, looked at me with regret; Peace, having flown back, whined. Even the Rookie fidgeted anxiously.

“…First.”

“…Yes.”

“Just sit here.”

[That’s right, Honey. I’ll give you a chair.]

The Rookie conjured a chair fluffed with white fur. It floated in the air, no legs.

“I can still—”

“Hyung, sit. You’ve got a bruise here.”

Yuhyun sat me down and examined my wrist. Peace, in spirit form, trotted to my feet and looked up at me with worry.

“Anywhere else bruised? See — on your arm too.”

“Grandpa, you need to go easy on Mister.”

“I am going easy. And a bruise means it heals stronger. I hit exactly enough — don’t worry.”

Like building calluses, huh. Chaos shot me a what am I going to do with you look, then turned to Yerim.

“Sir, Yerim’s still young!”

It’s one thing for me and Yuhyun, but please be careful with Yerim—!

“She says so, third?”

“I’m an S–class Hunter, you know?”

Yerim drew her spear.

“And you have to learn bodywork. If Grandpa’s the strongest, of course you can’t miss this!”

“Come on!” she shouted — and Chaos was in her face as if he’d teleported. Yerim hurried to block the stick, which thrust straight like a spear. The stick’s tip slid, twisted, and shot upward.

“Ugh!”

Yerim staggered, shoulder jabbed hard.

“Your lower body has no strength.”

The dropped stick clipped her unsteady leg this time. Chaos barked at the same time:

“Use the spear like a cane!”

Yerim, falling from the leg hit, quickly set the spear vertical and planted it to hold herself up. She could have escaped the crisis easily with a skill, but wanting to learn bodywork, she used nothing but her body and weapon.

After he’d pressed her a few times, Chaos glanced at Yuhyun.

“Third, you’ve been trying to imitate the second.”

“Huh? No! Why would I!”

“Because he’s the strongest — around you, third. A spear can feel similar to a sword.”

Sure — of the people around Yerim worth emulating, the strongest was Yuhyun. Seong mainly used chains, so set him aside; Hyunah’s the Great Spear, but her style is too different. There was a spear–user on Yerim’s team, but watching Yuhyun constantly, no wonder they didn’t measure up.

Yerim’s neck flushed.

“I didn’t mean to, but… I’ve watched a lot, so, subconsciously, maybe…”

“A spear and a sword are different. A sword has an edge; a spear shaft doesn’t.”

He said Yerim had a habit of swinging the spear to “cut.”

“It’s instinct to want to emulate someone stronger than you. All the more if you think that person is friendly to you, you pick up their habits. One reason the second barely took influence from anyone but the first is that.”

Because he’s strong enough already, and there aren’t any strong people he considers friendly. Maybe a bit of neutral, frequent contact with Chief Song… The kid isn’t friendly to others — barely even interested…

“Should I fix it?”

“There are two paths. Overhaul for spear–first — or use a sword as well.”

“The latter! Why not be good at more things.”

“Grab too many at once and you drop them all — but two is fine. Then draw a sword. Do you have a spare?”

“I do.”

Yerim pulled a sword from her inventory. She wouldn’t have used a longsword much, but her posture was surprisingly familiar. And yes — there was a trace of Yuhyun in it. Yerim’s eyes sparkled; this was fun.

“Load your legs; mind your footing!”

Ka–gang! He swung the stick at her sword and called out corrections.

“Flight and teleport made your lower–body handling sloppy.”

“Yes!”

He rapped her legs and arms here and there, correcting them, then waved Yuhyun over. So he could handle both together. Looked like it. Without hesitation, Yuhyun stamped the ground. As the distance closed, Chaos flicked a stone with his toes. The stone popped up; he crushed it hard with an elbow and sent it flying at Yuhyun.

That much shouldn’t be hard to avoid—

Crack!

—and as it reached my brother, the stone suddenly shattered. What the hell. Not a skill… a timed break with pure control? Seriously? While the grains scattered like sand and blanked his view, Chaos closed in tight. Yerim was already doubled with a rough jab to her side.

And Yuhyun—

“Urk!”

—avoided the shoulder shot but took one to the waist. Kids, kids…

“Go easy!”

My words went in one ear and out the other as the wooden stick in Young Chaos’s hand got even busier. Oh boy.

“Reduce bodily mana to the minimum.”

After a round of status checks, he lined Yuhyun and Yerim up. Both were dusty, hair a mess. S–class or not, my heart ached. How many times did they roll on the ground. I could cry.

“Think of concentrating it in one place. The place a magic stone will settle, so to speak. You don’t have one yet, but when humans reach a certain grade, a magic stone forms.”

He tapped his chest.

“In humanoid form, usually the heart or the head. The head is dangerous, so gather it to your heart.”

“Uh… I feel weaker, Grandpa.”

“When mana drops, your physical ability naturally drops too. Still, you’re S–class — stronger than low–ranks. In that state — run.”

“Run?”

“Circle the lake and back. No mana — just your bodies. To handle power efficiently, you start from nothing. Especially those who were strong from the start.”

“Go,” he said, and the two set off. With mana minimized, they were definitely slower than usual. My kids, working so hard…

“First, take off your shirt. Bunny, can you remove the chair back?”

[Yes!]

As I shrugged out of my top, Chaos came close and looked over my back.

“It’s stabilized as–is. Thankfully, it hasn’t twisted again.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“Judging by the second’s attitude, he still hasn’t said anything.”

“Eh?” Then — oh, lifespan.

“How am I supposed to say that.”

“You haven’t told anyone?”

“No. No one knows, of course. Please keep it a secret going forward. I’m asking you.”

“All right.”

Young Chaos pressed my back and nape a few times — with enough force to sting — then waved for me to dress.

“You should have brought that guy too.”

“That guy?”

“The little moon.”

…Seong Hyunjae, then. “Little moon” sounded very different from “when he was a small moon.”

“If he still hasn’t said anything, then — is he serious.”

“About what?”

“Or the opposite.”

What on earth are you talking about. Please include subtitles for me too.