Vol 7 Chapter 53

Even while meeting Kapros's anger-filled gaze, Superior had become endlessly shameless. Kapros finally sighed and withdrew the magical power from the Superior staff. Perhaps because the aftereffects of the intense battle hadn't faded yet, his hands were tingling.

"If you knew about such things, you should have taught me earlier."

"Shouldn't you naturally know something that basic if you think about it? How can I teach everything in detail when I don't even know what you know and don't know?"

"..."

"Anyway, now that Style 2 has opened up, don't you have some sense of Ma-Rakian now?"

Sense? What nonsense. He didn't have even an inkling, let alone a sense.

While Kapros was seething with such thoughts, Superior dispersed his sword and made it disappear before approaching him.

"Whether you've noticed or not, Ma-Rakian is closer to magic than swordsmanship."

"Magic?"

Come to think of it, he had thought the names of the Ma-Rakian skills that had appeared so far were quite similar to magic names rather than sword skill names. But no matter what, they were sword skills, so how could they be closer to magic...

"Do you know what Ma-Rakian means? 'Ma' means mysterious power in ancient language. 'Ra' and 'kian' mean weapon and illusion respectively. They say magic was also called kian in that era."

"So?"

"I created this swordsmanship strictly out of my own necessity. As a mage, I had limitations in learning regular swordsmanship. Have you seen high-level sword techniques? Strangely, they're not much different from magic. So I thought - if high-level sword techniques have effects similar to magic, couldn't I, as a mage, implement them more easily by mixing in magic?"

Though Kapros hadn't seen high-level sword skills, Superior's words seemed very plausible as he listened.

"The result was that I could create quite successful techniques. The guy who taught me swordsmanship hated Ma-Rakian, calling it cheating... but who cares. If it looks similar and has similar power, isn't that enough?"

"..."

Hmm, somehow that person's feelings were understandable too...

"In other words, Ma-Rakian is something that can't be effective unless you're proficient in both magic and swordsmanship."

Superior seemed to have considerable pride in Ma-Rakian.

Though Superior's words still didn't quite make sense to Kapros yet, when he recalled that all the turning points in his Ma-Rakian training weren't much different from what he had felt during magic training, he thought that might be the important point in training this swordsmanship.

'I think I'm starting to get a sense of it.'

Whether magic or swordsmanship or whatever, if you just keep practicing and working hard with your body, at some point you naturally come to realize something like flowing water. It would probably improve after going through a few more sword sparring matches or battles.

With that mindset, Kapros gripped the Superior staff firmly once more.

"Let's spar one more time."

"Again? Sure, fine."

"This time I'll try using Style 2."

"Full of enthusiasm? Do as you wish."

Looking at Superior's confident smile, Kapros also showed his teeth in a grin. From his quick assessment, both his stamina and magical power were still barely depleted.

"This time I'll go first. Haah!"

"Director Nam. I hear people from headquarters are finally coming tomorrow?"

Nam Mugeon frowned and nodded at the question he heard as soon as he entered the office after arriving at work, which happened to be about the unlucky headquarters.

"Ah, yes. That's what I heard."

"Somehow it doesn't feel real."

What's the point of it feeling real... Anyway, only the higher-ups were busy preparing to receive them, and there wasn't much for the operations department, the lowest of the low, to worry about. Nam Mugeon clicked his tongue inwardly while putting his things down at his desk.

'Looking at the lack of calls lately, it seems the higher-ups are really incredibly busy...'

No matter how busy, Yoon Seok-ho, who would always call Nam Mugeon at least once a week either in game or at work to hear reports, had been silent for over two weeks now.

'Well, whether I worry or not, that raccoon-like person will manage fine on his own.'

Anyway, how should he meet Kwon Cheon-woo today? Nam Mugeon tore at his hair over this new daily morning worry.

Even after eating together, he didn't feel even slightly closer to him, as the guy had incredibly high guards up to a mysterious degree. Though they clearly exchanged pleasant conversation, looking back later, one could see that he hadn't said anything about personal matters.

Nam Mugeon was at his wit's end as no information about Kwon Cheon-woo came out even when he sounded out his own office team members who seemed fairly close to Kwon Cheon-woo.

'Still, after treating him at the café, shouldn't something change?'

Looks like he'll have to hang around Team 1 diligently today too. How did his situation become so pitiful? Nam Mugeon sighed and went out of the office to get at least a drink. As he was walking down the corridor toward the break room with vending machines, suddenly someone called out to him from behind.

"Director Nam!"

"Oh... Kwon Cheon-woo-ssi?"

"Hello. Did you just arrive at work?"

The red-haired young man approaching with a friendly smile was that very Kwon Cheon-woo whom Nam Mugeon had been thinking about more desperately than even his lovely girlfriend Soyoung just moments ago.

"Ah, yes, well."

"Are you going to the break room?"

"Haha. Yes. My throat's a bit dry."

When he answered with an awkward laugh, Kwon Cheon-woo nodded brightly with a smile.

"I was just going to buy yogurt too. Since you treated me yesterday, would it be alright if I buy you a drink today?"

What could this mean? Was it just a simple expression of gratitude as the words suggested? Or had he perhaps noticed that Nam Mugeon had taken an interest in him in a strange way? Though countless thoughts flashed through his mind, Nam Mugeon decided to grab hold of the opportunity that had approached.

"Really? That's fine with me, haha, shall I accept a drink from Kwon Cheon-woo-ssi?"