Mistaken for a Fairy
ch22

[I Guess My Disciple is a Genius]

Hwa-ryeon realized that her teacher had been going out more frequently lately. Seo-yeon went to the market about every three days, and each time, she took Hwa-ryeon with her.

It could be said that this was also the reason why Hwa-ryeon was munching on sweets while holding Seo-yeon's hand tightly.

Hwa-ryeon didn't know if her teacher was doing this to show that she had nothing to hide, or if she was truly treating her like a child, but she somehow guessed it was the latter.

"Do you want more sweets?"

"It's okay."

She presumed that her teacher was treating her the way an old man would treat his grown-up grandchild.

'This place is sweeter than next door. I should ask her to buy them here from now on.'

Whether it was because her perspective had changed, or because a lot of time had passed, Hwa-ryeon now accepted Seo-yeon treating her like a child as a matter of course.

It was said that the king, teacher, and parents were one. Considering the grace she had received from her teacher, she began to regard acting like a child as a form of filial piety in its own way.

It could be said that her mindset itself had completely changed.

Hwa-ryeon had completely adapted to her smaller body. At first, she had suffered a lot because her limbs were shorter overall, but now she was so used to it that she realized that the smaller range of motion also had its own advantages.

First of all, her body was light, so it took less effort to move. She got full quickly even if she ate little, and she was energetic all day long. The disadvantage was that she craved sweets from time to time, but when that happened, she could quickly feel better by eating one or two sweets like now.

This was the result of adding some of Yuheon's techniques to the existing Blunt Heavenly Concealment Art. As a result, the technique became much more sophisticated, but Hwa-ryeon no longer wanted to recall what happened then.

It was because Yuheon's face, who had brought a bunch of techniques with names that felt ominous and sinister from the start, such as Infant Descending Art and Reverse Scale Childish Heart Art, kept flashing through her mind.

Hwa-ryeon never knew that an owl could feel like such a sinister animal.

She hated it at the time, but as a result, Hwa-ryeon's appearance became even more girlish than before. To paraphrase Yuheon, it could be said that she had become more adorable.

That was the case even now, as she walked with a sweet in her mouth. As she walked, the gazes of the boys poured down on her, so she could guess its effectiveness.

Of course, Hwa-ryeon didn't care about those gazes at all. She was so focused on eating the sweet.

"Teacher, where are we going today?"

"I'm thinking of going to the Clear Wind Martial Arts School for now."

"Martial Arts School...?"

Hwa-ryeon just blinked at Seo-yeon's sudden words. If she had to pick someone who seemed the least likely to be associated with the word "Martial Arts School" in the world, she thought her teacher would be in the top three.

Given her teacher's personality, there was no way she would go to tear down the signboard of a sect. If so, there must be another reason, but no matter how hard she racked her brains, she couldn't think of a good reason.

'What's the Clear Wind Martial Arts School?'

From the name, it sounded like a third-rate Martial Arts School that could be found anywhere in the neighborhood. The master's name must be Cheong-pung, and his skills would be so poor that he couldn't even draw out Sword Qi properly.

Of course, there was a possibility that the man named Cheong-pung was a hidden master like her teacher, so Hwa-ryeon silently followed Seo-yeon.

Soon, the signboard of the Clear Wind Martial Arts School came into view. As expected, the old and faded wooden signboard had the words "Clear Wind Martial Arts School" written roughly on it. Inside the wide-open Martial Arts School, young boys were wielding wooden swords and learning clumsy stances.

With Seo-yeon's appearance, the children wielding wooden swords all stopped and stared at them. Their gazes lingered on Hwa-ryeon longer than on Seo-yeon. It seemed they were curious because a pretty child they hadn't seen in the neighborhood had appeared.

Soon, heavy footsteps were heard from inside, and a large man appeared.

"What brings you here?"

The man looked at Seo-yeon with wary eyes and asked.

"Are you the master?"

"I am the master, but..."

"I'm trying to learn swordsmanship, but do you accept women too?"

Hwa-ryeon looked at Seo-yeon in a hurry, wondering if her teacher had really come to challenge the dojo.

"......!"

Cheong-pung, the master of the Clear Wind Martial Arts School, replied.

"We don't discriminate between men and women, but the standards are set for men, so it won't be easy to keep up."

"I'm just thinking of learning enough for self-defense. That much is fine."

Cheong-pung's brow furrowed. As a martial artist who ran a Martial Arts School, his pride was hurt. But how could he stand on his pride when it came to making a living? Cheong-pung nodded, trying not to show it as much as possible.

"Classes start at Sa-si (10 AM). The period is in monthly units, and the price is eighty nyang... It's almost time to start swordsmanship, so would you like to watch first?"

"I will."

Cheong-pung had a lot of experience dealing with women who came to the Martial Arts School to learn. Usually, if he showed them the repetitive, energetic, difficult, and boring postures, they would get scared and drop out on their own.

Cheong-pung got up from his seat and gave training orders to the students.

"All students, perform Eagle Strike Sword! Instructors, take your wooden swords and go down and immediately remove any student whose posture is wrong. One lap around the neighborhood for each wrong posture."

Soon, the students began to perform swordsmanship with loud answers. Cheong-pung watched the students with a satisfied expression, then went up to the platform and performed swordsmanship.

"Tahat!"

Eagle Strike Sword is a swordsmanship that attacks quickly and fiercely, like a sharp hawk attacking its prey. In short, it was a heavy sword that excluded tricks.

That's why Cheong-pung had pride in his sword. He thought he was twice as good as other Martial Arts Schools that only dazzled people with flashy swordsmanship that had no substance.

'It's better to give up quickly if you're not going to do it properly.'

Cheong-pung thought of this as his own consideration. If self-defense was really the goal, you shouldn't start with a half-hearted attitude. Would Heukdo show mercy just because you're a woman? To protect yourself from threats, you either have to commit to seeing it through to the end, or you should spend money to hire a bodyguard.

Cheong-pung began to swing his sword fiercely and relentlessly.

"Hmm."

One of the instructors watching Cheong-pung smiled.

"The master is serious today. The Intent in his sword is unusual."

"I guess he's trying to scare the guests again. I have a feeling this month will be tight anyway."

"Everyone, don't look away and follow properly! To perform swordsmanship like the master, you need to give it your all every day! You there! Get out!"

The instructor removed one of the students whose posture was shaking and continued.

"He'll do it well. Honestly, you know it too. Eagle Strike Sword isn't a sword for women to learn."

"That's true."

However, unlike the instructors' impressions, Hwa-ryeon's thoughts, who was watching from behind, were completely different.

'Hmm.'

It's terrible.

It shouldn't be this terrible.

Despite Cheong-pung's best efforts, Hwa-ryeon didn't feel anything while watching Eagle Strike Sword.

'Why is he moving like that there?'

It was so terrible that she couldn't even say anything.

Although she had never properly learned swordsmanship, she was the Great Maiden of a sect that would be second to none in the Central Plains. She had a lot of experience defeating masters directly, and most of them were swordsmen, so it was only natural that she was familiar with swordsmanship.

But look at that swordsmanship.

It slows down at the point where it should be plunging down fiercely, and the power is lost in the part where it should be strengthened. So much so that she even thought that the reason her teacher brought her here was to show her an example of bad swordsmanship.

Of course, it wasn't too bad considering it was a neighborhood Martial Arts School. But that was it. If you met a Heukdo who knew how to use a sword, your head would fly off without being able to withstand three moves.

As soon as she thought that, Seo-yeon opened her mouth.

"Hwa-ryeon."

"Yes, Teacher."

"How is that swordsmanship?"

Hwa-ryeon was about to answer that it wasn't good, but she closed her mouth when she saw Seo-yeon's serious face. Hwa-ryeon turned her head again and watched Cheong-pung with a serious expression before saying.

"If it were me, I would do it like this there. Ah, wait a minute."

Hwa-ryeon got up from her seat and picked up a wooden sword that was lying on the floor. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Hwa-ryeon quickly took a stance.

Soon, Hwa-ryeon's wooden sword cut through the air.

At first, there was no power in the tip of the sword, and she often lost her balance and staggered. The Sword Body trembled like an aspen, and her body movements were also creaky.

It was a mess, to say the least.

Some of the students who were watching even laughed as if to show off.

'You're not even worth a punch...!'

Hwa-ryeon frowned at her body, which didn't move as she thought it would. But the moment she made eye contact with Seo-yeon, who was silently watching her, she felt a deep ripple in her heart.

'......'

Hwa-ryeon readjusted her grip on the wooden sword.

Although this was the first time she had performed swordsmanship, Hwa-ryeon thought that her Comprehension was no less than that of any genius.

That's why she was arrogant that she could easily perform the stances of such a terrible swordsmanship, and she failed miserably.

'Let's focus.'

Hwa-ryeon's expression became so serious that it was hard to imagine that she was the same person as before. Hwa-ryeon closed her eyes and repeatedly performed the stances as she remembered them.

There were a total of five stances in Eagle Strike Sword.

'Soar, descend, swirl, pierce, and return to the starting position.'

Each stance must have had its original name, but Hwa-ryeon just decided to call it that.

Hwa-ryeon's movements were still creaky. The laughter from the side was still the same, but Hwa-ryeon no longer cared.

When she repeated all the stances of Eagle Strike Sword five times with her eyes closed, Hwa-ryeon realized what was wrong with her movements. When she repeated it ten times, she was able to perform all the stances more accurately, and the trembling from the Sword Body also subsided gently.

When she repeated it twenty times, she began to perform the stances by mixing up the order as she pleased. Around this time, Hwa-ryeon felt like she knew where the origin of Eagle Strike Sword was.

'......Diancang Sect?'

When she repeated it thirty times, Hwa-ryeon was completely immersed in Eagle Strike Sword. The unnecessary movements disappeared from the stances, and the attacks became heavier with each repetition. At the same time, Hwa-ryeon thought of the Diancang Sect.

A Taoist sect that wielded swordsmanship that was as fast as lightning, heavy and powerful, and focused on stabbing to the death, abandoning cutting. Eagle Strike Sword was clearly similar to Diancang. This was because all the stances were ultimately preparations for piercing something.

Could it be a swordsmanship created by a secular disciple who went down the mountain a long time ago? Or has it changed like this in the process of subtracting and adding over the years?

When she repeated it fifty times, Hwa-ryeon could no longer dismiss it as a terrible swordsmanship.

Although the stances had changed over the years and most of the original color had been lost, the author's determination was still there.

Perhaps the author of Eagle Strike Sword admired the Diancang Sect. He may not have had much talent for martial arts, but his determination must have been enough to pierce the sky. Even though he knew that he would not be able to move forward due to the wall of reality, he would have stubbornly clung to it and imitated the Form of Diancang clumsily.

"......"

An imitation that wanted to resemble the original endlessly.

Hwa-ryeon stood silently for a moment.

Hwa-ryeon's eyes were facing the empty air, but it was as if she was looking at the unknown martial artist who created Eagle Strike Sword beyond that.

Even if the Form is crude, can you denigrate the Intent contained within it?

Hwa-ryeon couldn't say anything and just opened and closed her mouth, then lowered her head deeply. She was ashamed.

Suddenly, Hwa-ryeon felt pathetic.

"Hoo......"

Hwa-ryeon, who exhaled as if spitting it out, looked at Seo-yeon again. Then, she stared at Cheong-pung and the students who had stiffened.

Hwa-ryeon took a fist salute to Cheong-pung and said this.

"Master Cheong-pung. My knowledge was short, and I couldn't realize the true meaning of the swordsmanship. May I ask for a spar?"

"Hmm......"

Cheong-pung groaned and looked around carefully. All the students' eyes were on Cheong-pung. It was obvious what would happen to the school if he backed down here.

Normally, he would have called a student of a similar age instead, but he couldn't because Hwa-ryeon's skills didn't seem ordinary. He didn't even trust the instructors. What could he do but step up himself?

"......Come in. I'll give you five moves."

"Thank you."

That day, the Cheong-pung School had its signboard torn down.

A strange rumor that a woman and a girl were going around challenging dojos spread throughout Henan.