Arena

Chapter 133 – Heising (Part 1)

Just two bullets were enough to sink an entire ship.

I thought it was enough to just prevent the ships from moving but having both masts fall in the same direction had a huge effect.

I had sunk five ships in this manner when.

“The bastards are gaining speed!”

Shouted Vincent.

“Let’s do the same.”

“Yes, but we cannot go faster than they can. They capture tons of people as slaves to row their boats.”

Now that I looked closer, each pirate ship had tons of paddles.

Every time I used two bullets to sink a ship, the people caught as slaves were dying.

‘It can’t be helped.’

I got a shitty feeling but it didn’t’ affect my sense of integrity and morals. It’s as I’ve said, nothing can be done about it.

I gave Sylph an order.

“Push the boat with wind.”

-Meow!

A stand of wind pushed at our sail. And as it did, the sailboat we were on lurched forward.

Just like that, as we kept a steady distance between us and the pirate ships, I continued shooting.

Poo shook-

The AW50F fired.

Kaang!

But this time, the bullet hit something I wasn’t able to see and I heard the sound of the bullet flinging off.

‘It’s defense magic.’

I immediately switched target to a different ship.

In the world of the Arena, there weren’t that many magicians.

Even amongst the corrupt Chinese examinees, there can’t be that many who practice magic.

Thus, that meant that there couldn’t be a magician on every ship.

Rather than scuffle with a magician’s defense magic, I thought it was a much wiser choice to just switch what ship I was attacking.

My thinking was correct.

The newly targeted pirate ship had no defense methods so the mast shattered without any issues.

Even from afar I could sense the pirates’ panic.

With their massive formation in ruins, they were just heading in the direction of our sailboat.

But then, all of a sudden, one small boat came into sight.

There were two people on board and despite just one person rowing, their speed was very fast.

‘An examinee!’

I switched my target to the two people on the boat.

I looked at the two people on board through my scope.

A plain looking middle aged man was hard at work rowing the boat.

The other looked to be in his late 20’s, a young man, his long hair tied behind him and with a lot of piercings on his ears.

The young man had an arrogant expression and was cockily standing on his boat, looking this way.

This young man was probably high up in the pirate ranks.

If he wasn’t, it would be very weird for him to be standing there while someone older was rowing.

‘Hm, shall we see what you’re made of?’

I aimed for the young man’s head and pulled the trigger.

Poo shook-

Surprisingly, nearly at the same moment I pulled the trigger, the young man tilted his head to the side and dodged it.

The speed with which he moved his head to the left was so fast, I almost didn’t see it.

That reaction could only mean he knew there was a bullet coming at him.

And he dodged it!

A reflex rate far surpassing that of human limits.

‘He’s an aura master!’

I had heard it from Odin in the past which is how I could tell.

This time, I shot aiming at his torso.

Then the opponent threw a hard punch.

Kwang!

The heavy thud rang all the way out here.

Surprisingly, this time he hit the bullet with his fist. My bullet that could pierce through walls!

His fist was wrapped in a blue aura.

No, his whole body was engulfed a flaming haze.

‘He uses his bare hands as a weapon.’

That means the opponent was a magician.

Why?

Because if he wasn’t a martial artist before he became an examinee, it would be weird for him to not have chosen a weapon.

It is far more advantageous to have a weapon than to not, and if he wasn’t a martial artist, there was no reason he would have stubbornly stuck the bullet with his bare hands.

With two shots, I had somewhat an idea of who my opponent is.

‘He’s confident in close combat. That means……’

I smiled.

‘I just won’t let him get close.’

I fired two shots in succession.

This time, I didn’t aim for the young man with the piercings that had the aura master skill.

The middle aged man in the back that was rowing his two paddles as hard as he could.

The two paddles were shattered and the middle aged man was flustered. The boat could no longer move forward and was stuck in place.

The young man must have been angry because he glared in my direction.

Looking through the scope, it felt like our eyes had met.

‘Now, what will you do?’

This time, I aimed for the boat they were on and pulled the trigger.

Pa ji jik!

It shattered the front of the boat.

The boat leaned forward and began to sink.

The young man ordered something to the middle-aged man.

The middle aged man nodded and jumped into the ocean.

The middle aged man swam and returned to the fleet.

And the young man made a strong leap from the sinking boat.

He flew into the sky and was coming this way.

“Be careful. If he is an aura master……”

It was while Cha Ji-hye was speaking when.

Surprisingly, the young man started running on top of the water.

Every time his feet touched the water, the water would erupt where he stepped and his body would fly forward.

“…… even things like that are possible. He releases aura in his feet and can maintaining running position even on the water. It is possible if you are an aura master.”

It was similar to how I run using the Divine Protection of the Wind.

With incredible speed, the young man headed this way.

I fired one more shot at the young man that was charging towards me.

Kaang!

A circle of aura appeared and defended the young man who was in the center of it. The aura shield sparked when the bullet ricocheted off.

‘I see, so you can do that too!’

I thought of the explanation Odin gave me.

This was my first battle with an aura master.

“Stay here. I’ll have to go towards him.”

“Do you think you’ll be okay alone?”

“Yes, if it’s on the sea, I’ll have a big advantage.”

On top of the water, using Sylph’s wind power, I can stay afloat.

But that young man, in order to keep running on top of the water, must was using up a lot of his aura supply. I’m sure of it.

I unsummon my AW50F and order Sylph through my mind.

Synthesize!

Sylph merged into my body.

Instantly, wind wrapped around my body.

The warm energy of nature overflowed within me.

‘Good, let’s go!’

I leapt off the sailboat.

The young man was staring at me and gathered his aura into his right fist.

The flowing flames of the blue aura took the shape of his fist.

Would I call that an aura fist?

Anyway, the young man looked ready to land a huge blow to me.

I could guess what the young man was planning to do.

He would have thought the same thing as me.

Since he was disadvantaged on the water, he’ll want to have a fast as possible win with one massive blow.

If that’s the case, I just won’t play along!

Paat!

With a step on the surface of the water I lunged forward.

The young man looked up at me and jumped too. Spewing aura from his feet, it made a huge wave flow across the water.

As he jumped, he made a huge fist.

I immediately called the wind and shifted left.

His punch missed me.

“Bastard!”

The young man shouted out as he faltered in midair.

Hwi li lik!

From there he wrapped an immense amount of aura on his right foot and did a spin kick.

I created a whirlwind again and dodged it.

Hwaaang!

The shock pushed both of us apart.

With his determination and incredible leg strength, I got pushed further away.

The young man, who had now fallen to the ocean, took another strong step on the surface of the water.

Chwaaaak!

Like a backwards flowing waterfall, the ocean created giant ripples.

With that recoil, the young man came flying towards me again.

No need to face him head on. We would be evenly matched if we fought on land, but in the ocean and in the air, I had much more of an advantage!

I rode my wind in a clockwise direction.

Then I sent a wind knife at his back.

Swe e ek-

Had he sensed the danger?

Even though he was in midair, he was able to sharply twist his body and send out a side kick.

Paaang!

The wind knife was destroyed from his aura kick.

He reminded me of an Olympic taekwondo athlete. Such a clean move! I was naturally in awe. I was definitely right in my assumption he was a martial artist.

Then should I see just how good his skills are?

I created 12 wind knives.

And from left, right, top, all directions, I attacked the young man.

The young guy just looked at them while sneering.

His two fists became enveloped in aura.

Endless punching ensued!

The young man spun around and around in midair as he descended and like a rain, his punches were all encompassing. In every direction, his punches rang out

Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pang!

It was almost confusing how many arms he had. I could even see the aura’s afterimage.

All 12 wind knives had been destroyed.

But that super speed punching, I felt like I had seen it a lot somewhere.

That punch as if multiple fists are growing from his arm like eggplants. That……

“Is that Fānziquán?”*

(TLN: Mentioned in chapter 14, Bāguà zhǎng is known for circle walking. It literally means ‘eight trigram palm.’ Fānziquán routines are usually quite short and very fast. It literally means ‘rotating fist.’

I ask lightly as we both descended.

The young man’s facial expression changed.

“Unexpected. That a mere Korean martial artist amateur could recognize this.”

“I knew a crazy skilled Chinese martial artist. If he was alive he would have been stronger than the likes of you.”

“Ha, I’ve met many guys who think that. Eventually all of them kneeled before me.”

“Well, sort out your levels in the afterlife. Go to the afterlife and find Kang Chun-seong.”

“……what?”

I hovered over him and created 24 wind knives.

Here, twice that of before. Try eating all of these.

Pa pa pa pa pat-!

Wind knives enveloped him from all directions.

“Kuk!”

The young man grit his teeth, then once again began his punching.

Pu pup u pup u pup u pung!

It was incredible.

I couldn’t help but be awed by his skill.

The disciplined and detailed movement of every punch. I could feel the strength of the mastery and concentration that was different from that of an amateur.

The young man, having eradicated all the wind knives once more, somersaulted in midair and with one foot, mad an elegant jump down to the surface of the water.

Paaang!

A wall of water shot up!

This time, lightly jumping off into the air, the young man threw a kick at me.

His foot came in like a blade.

I moved my body to the side and evaded by ducking my body down.

With one hand, I grabbed the surface of the water. A net of wind supported my hand.

With the other hand, I did a cartwheel to back away.

The power of Sylph and having played excitedly with the elves the games of tag, this was the result of those things.

I created a whirlwind to encompass my body. And I sharpen my whirlwind like razors.

Surrounded by whirlwind made of wind knives, I headed towards the young man.

The young man, as if thinking I had been caught in a trap, made an aura fist and punched out at me.

But before the encounter, I shot upwards. Just the whirlwind made of wind knives remained to clash with the young man.

Am I crazy? Like I would crash into him with my whole body.

Kwaaaaang-!

The whirlwind made of wind knives and the young man’s aura fist collided.

The ripped whirlwind scattered in all directions and created waves in the ocean.

A blowing gale on top of the seas.

Having flown up into the air, with 24 wind knives, I pounced on the man.