WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor: Joy
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 33: Limits
──────
In the height of spring, Elena submitted a quarterly report to the Dersia Mage Tower.
Fourth-tier mages were required to report their achievements every quarter, though those achievements were not necessarily limited to magic. If they had nothing worth reporting, they could take on and complete a commission suited to their rank through the Adventurer’s Guild.
However, that applied to ordinary fourth-tier mages affiliated with the tower. Candidates to become the tower master’s disciples were held to a harsher standard.
Two of their four quarterly reports had to concern magic.
In other words, one could not become Heavenly Thunder Orca’s disciple simply by neglecting magic, doing physical work, and taking the easy route.
For the second quarter of the year, Elena submitted the first volume of the Heinderga Magic Formula (Provisional Title). She had not yet completed the specific spells, but she had organized the magic she sought to pursue and its fundamental theory. Orca gave it a high score in the quarterly evaluation.
“Just wait until the third quarter.”
Elena said that over the celebratory meal on the day she returned from the evaluation.
Yuri did not need to ask what she wanted him to wait for.
“Okay.”
The season changed.
This world, with one sun and one moon, apparently had four seasons as well.
When twenty-seven-year-old orphan Lee Su-hyeok became twenty-year-old orphan Yuri, it had been spring, cool during the day and chilly at night. A few months after Bakerd left, however, the sweltering summer arrived.
He did not know the exact temperature, but it felt as hot as summer in Korea. Training in the mansion garden became difficult because of it. He was already moving constantly, and with the heat added on top, sweat poured from him in the most literal sense.
It actually rained often, too.
As Yuri endured that summer, he felt fortunate to be staying at Elena’s mansion.
What if he had spent the summer in that communal housing in Oldor, the sort that looked ready to collapse at any moment?
The pit latrine that reeked whenever one passed nearby. The well that required someone to draw water every time they wanted to wash. The communal kitchen that was far removed from anything resembling hygiene. The cramped one-room space where opening the window was the only means of cooling off.
Spending the summer in that room without even a fan, much less an air conditioner, was horrifying to imagine.
Elena’s mansion, on the other hand, remained comfortable even in summer. There was nothing to be done about the blazing sunlight striking him in the garden, but indoors, Yuri could not feel the heat at all.
While Elena prepared her third-quarter report, Yuri immersed himself in martial arts.
The Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil, the Fist of the Rending Cloud, and the Whirlwind Cloud Steps.
He did not spend any particular time training the Art of the Untainted Heart. As his attainment in the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil increased, his understanding of the Art of the Untainted Heart rose along with it.
A cultivation technique was, ultimately, a method of controlling and using internal energy. Focusing on the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil alone was enough.
Using the Fist of the Rending Cloud and the Whirlwind Cloud Steps together had also become easy. He had grown so accustomed to it that using them separately now felt awkward and difficult.
Linking the four forms into one.
He had made far more progress than when he first showed it to Bakerd.
“Do you even realize how remarkable it is to connect every form into one without interruption, Yuri-nim?”
With Bakerd gone, there was no suitable person to ask for martial arts advice. Yuri still had no intention of becoming Namgung Yuri or Yuri Namgung, nor did he have the slightest intention of seeking out the Moonlit Reveller.
In the end, Haryeong was the only person left by his side who could offer advice on martial arts. When Yuri said he wanted to link every form together, her expression immediately turned stern.
“To accomplish that, you must understand the ultimate essence of the forms and master them perfectly enough to use them even through instinct and unconsciousness. Put more simply, you must be able to use the optimal form in any situation without thinking about it.”
“Hmm...”
“Using the forms in sequence. Using them in a reordered sequence. Those are easy. You simply use each one separately. But ‘linking’ them is different. It means making multiple forms flow naturally and flexibly like water, giving them a unity as if they had been one from the beginning.”
“I do not quite understand from words alone. Show me a demonstration.”
“Well, well.”
Even after several months together, Haryeong rarely changed her expression. Still, Yuri had learned to notice even her smallest changes. A faint playfulness lingered in her eyes as she looked at him.
“Are you trying to use this excuse to figure out my martial arts?”
“Come to think of it, I have never seen you use martial arts, Haryeong-nim.”
“That is fortunate, and only natural. I am an assassin and Lady Elena’s bodyguard. There are only two situations in which I would use martial arts: when I must act as an assassin, and when Lady Elena’s safety is threatened.”
“Right...”
“As I told you before, Yuri-nim, I am a cruel, merciless, and terrifying assassin when I am on a mission. I am also a diligent, loyal, and exemplary bodyguard who protects my charge with all my strength. Such a person does not use martial arts for trivial matters.”
“You are driving up your price quite a bit.”
“You are correct, Yuri-nim. I am expensive. This is not limited to money. Even if you are the 3.5 Billion Man, you cannot hire me. That is because I am an expensive assassin.”
“Yes, yes...”
There was playfulness in her eyes, and her face remained expressionless. Yet those words were not a joke. Yuri had been interested in an assassin’s martial arts, so he had subtly tested Haryeong. As expected, she had refused him.
“But.”
Just as he thought that, Haryeong suddenly raised a finger.
“I may be a terrifying assassin, but I am not an assassin right now. I have a human heart.”
“...?”
“The time and connection we have shared cannot be called weighty, but neither are they entirely light. So today, considering all that, I will give you a special discount.”
“A discount?”
“In exchange for seeing your martial arts, I will show you a little of mine as well. What do you think? Is that not an appealing offer? A chance to witness the martial arts of this terrifying and conscientious assassin.”
Their connection was an excuse. To be honest, Haryeong wanted to gauge Yuri’s exact martial ability as well.
His study of internal energy was not yet particularly impressive, but even the Martial Extremity Venerable had acknowledged Yuri’s martial ability. Still, Haryeong had never been able to properly assess it because she had not secretly watched him train.
“You want to see my martial arts? How?”
“A spar would be simplest.”
“A spar?”
“Why are you so surprised? Ah, do not worry. I will spar with the human heart of someone who is not an assassin. I will not use weapons, and I will barely use any internal energy.”
“What do you mean, barely?”
“If I use none at all, it will be difficult to perform the forms properly, will it not?”
“Even so, it seems dangerous...”
“Goodness.”
Haryeong’s eyes widened. She stared steadily at Yuri, then opened her lips without a trace of laughter.
“Surely you are not worried about me?”
“No, I mean it seems dangerous for me.”
“If you had been worried about me, I would have thought you terribly presumptuous and considered giving you a proper lesson. Since you are not, I feel both relieved and disappointed.”
“Why relieved and disappointed?”
“Though it would have been presumptuous, worrying about me would have been commendable. But were you not merely thinking about protecting yourself?”
After saying that, Haryeong took several steps back.
“Anyway, let us spar.”
“I never said I would.”
“What kind of person says all this and then refuses to spar?”
“You were the one saying everything.”
“Did you not want to see my martial arts? And did you not ask me because you were unsure whether you had linked your forms properly? Sparring will answer every question you have.”
Thinking about it, she was right.
Yuri stopped hesitating. He took several steps back as well and assumed the opening stance of the Fist of the Rending Cloud. Facing him, Haryeong let her shoulders hang loosely, pressed together the index and middle fingers of both hands, and extended them straight out.
“What is that?”
“A substitute for daggers.”
“I will use the Fist of the Rending Cloud.”
“You do not know any other martial arts anyway.”
“What martial art will you use, Haryeong-nim?”
“Do not subtly try to pry into my martial arts. I am not a fool. Do you think I would fall for such a leading ques...”
Yuri moved before Haryeong could finish.
The footwork of the Whirlwind Cloud Steps closed the distance in an instant, and fists he had swung countless times became clouds that swept over Haryeong.
“You are shameless.”
Haryeong muttered without looking the slightest bit surprised.
The conclusion was that Yuri lost.
He did not go down in a single blow, but not one of his fists ever reached Haryeong. It was a strange experience.
They seemed as though they would touch, but they did not.
‘No, did they touch?’
He did not know. It was ambiguous. If he had to compare it to something, sparring with Haryeong felt like fighting a fluttering feather. She was so light and fluttering that even when he touched her, it did not feel as though he had.
He chased Haryeong around for quite some time. She did not focus solely on evasion. Several attacks, swaying before bending in bizarre directions, struck Yuri’s body. Her long, extended fingers.
Haryeong had called them daggers.
In other words, Yuri had been stabbed by Haryeong’s daggers dozens of times during that spar. If they had been real daggers, he would have long since been covered in blood and sprawled on the ground.
Anyway, he lost.
“Why do you look like that?”
Yuri was the one who asked. Sitting on the ground and calming his ragged breathing, he tilted his head as he looked up at Haryeong standing blankly before him.
“What is wrong with my expression? I look the same as always.”
“No, you do not.”
“You look dissatisfied and irritated.”
That was how Yuri saw it. Haryeong’s brows were very slightly more furrowed than usual, and the corners of lips that should have been straight were twisted just a little.
“Yuri-nim, are you a fortune-teller?”
“No.”
“Have you learned mind-reading?”
“No.”
“Then why do you pretend to know? You do not know anything. Dissatisfaction? Irritation? I am a cold-blooded assassin. Emotions such as dissatisfaction and irritation are of no help whatsoever in an assassin’s work. That is why I cut off all such emotions at a very young age.”
“I do not think so. You seem even more irritated and dissatisfied as you say that.”
“I said that is not the case.”
“Even your way of speaking is different from usual. Why are you dissatisfied and irritated? I am the one who got beaten one-sidedly and lost.”
“Would you like to be hit more?”
Haryeong rarely did so, but she opened her eyes wide and glared at Yuri.
“No.”
Yuri immediately backed down. Even after he obediently shut his mouth, Haryeong continued glaring at him with the same expression for a while.
“Hmm.”
A moment later, Haryeong composed herself.
“First, Yuri-nim. Regarding what you said earlier about linking the forms of the Fist of the Rending Cloud into one.”
“Yes.”
“From what I saw, it was fairly good. Of course, you could not so much as brush the hem of my clothes, an outstanding assassin, but considering your experience with martial arts, I would say your current attainment is remarkable.”
“Do you have any further advice? Anything that needs improvement?”
“Well, I do not know the forms or formulas of the Fist of the Rending Cloud. If you feel uncertain right now, it may be because your internal energy is insufficient. Or it may be because your experience is insufficient.”
“Experience?”
“The only people you have properly sparred with so far are me and Fist Wolf. That little scuffle with the Namgung young master could not even be called sparring.”
“That is true.”
“There are limits to training martial arts alone. To clearly grasp what feels ambiguous, you must accumulate many different experiences.”
Haryeong tilted her head. Her complicatedly displeased expression had disappeared, but her eyes remained dark and chilling, like a snake watching its prey.
“Yuri-nim. What tier are you now?”
“Pardon?”
“You must have a rough idea. In my view, you passed second-tier long ago.”
“Well... I do use internal energy to supplement my movements, but I do not think I am anywhere near third-tier.”
Yuri lied calmly.
Haryeong had held back, and Yuri had done much the same. Throughout the spar, he had meticulously controlled his internal energy.
His talent for martial arts was innate, but his talent for mana was merely average. That was always the assessment of those who had acknowledged Yuri’s talent, and Yuri did not want to stray from it.
A second-tier martial artist could actively use the internal energy in their dantian to strengthen their body. Lifting heavy rocks, moving intensely without becoming short of breath, and avoiding serious injury even when struck. Second-tier was the point at which the body became tough beyond the level of ordinary training.
A third-tier martial artist could emit internal energy beyond the body. For a swordsman, it was the beginning stage of sword energy. A martial artist could wrap internal energy around their body.
“Second-tier...”
In truth, Yuri had already reached third-tier, but he could not boast about it.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
