City ​​of Witches 223

Chapter 223 – #50_Golden Talent (2)

#221

1.
Dense magical power alone becomes a massive storm.
Eloa briefly closed her mouth, watching the radiant magical reflections scattering gold light all around, resonating with the air with a low hum.

Duke Tiferet, hunting homunculi and enemies with a single sword.
She had many enemies, but there were also many witches who envied and admired her.
For that reason, many witches, wandering the mortal realm, often asked her for guidance.

The reasons varied.
For safety, for higher magical achievements, to become stronger.
When they came with their own plausible reasons and ambitions, she readily passed on her honed martial arts.

‘I don’t think this suits me.’
‘It’s different from what I expected.’
‘I’m sorry.’

And usually, they gave up in less than two weeks.
It wasn’t that the witches lacked patience or perseverance.
Witches were generally more tenacious and diligent than any human, to the point of being considered madness in some ways.

The reason why such witches chose to give up quickly was because they could calculate within that time.
The calculation that ‘no matter how hard I try, I won’t gain anything from this.’
Tiferet’s teachings were something completely different from those of ordinary witches.

Therefore, Eloa, three days after the start of training.
That is, as soon as she realized that Siwoo had no talent for martial arts, she unconsciously placed him on the same level as other witches.
She accepted it with a brief disappointment, thinking, ‘He’ll quit soon.’

Therefore, she didn’t even think of properly checking.
What kind of talent he had, and in what areas he showed strengths.
She didn’t even doubt how he, who seemed so ordinary, had survived so many battlefields.

“Am I still lacking? It’s starting to get a bit hard.”

Starting to get a bit hard?
He didn’t look like that at all.
Not a single drop of sweat was on his forehead.
If he were determined, he could probably generate twice or four times that amount of magical power.

“If you used all of that for physical enhancement, your spirit body would explode.”
“I guess so…? Actually, I can’t even handle that much.”

With a light gesture from Siwoo, about half of the magical power quickly dissipated.
Tiferet couldn’t help but be surprised again at his ability to freely manipulate magical power.
It was a clear indication of how deeply he had achieved control over magical power.

“Can you reduce it a bit more?”
“Yes, is this enough?”

After reducing the magical power several times, only the amount that Tiferet thought would be safe to use for enhancement through the magical circuit remained.

“Good, that’s appropriate for the first use.”

Eloa realized that her voice had become lighter with anticipation.

“I’ll tell you the method first.”
“Yes, please.”
“Sit down for a moment.”
“Yes.”

As Siwoo sat cross-legged, Eloa continued her explanation.

“Originally, physical enhancement starts from the brand and circulates through the magical circuit to the extremities. But since your brand is in a different location, we need to make some adjustments.
From now on, I will guide your magical power. Remember the order well.
Of course, I have no intention of harming you or snooping around, so you can rest assured. Is that alright?”

Eloa spoke cautiously.
Eloa always used a careful and serious tone, but she was especially so now.

Giving up control of one’s magical power, or accepting another’s magical power into one’s body.
Both of these were extremely dangerous acts.
If even a tiny bit of malice or mistake were mixed in, one could suffer internal injuries that would be difficult to recover from.
Many witches had shaken their heads at this point when she taught them physical enhancement.

“Hey, I didn’t even think about that.”

But Siwoo readily lowered his head and waited for Eloa.
Only a fortnight, and despite not having had such enthusiastic lessons, he readily disarmed himself.
Siwoo had stepped forward without hesitation because he didn’t know the dangers in detail, but to Eloa, it was seen as a sign of immense trust.

“Duke?”
“Ah, I understand.”

Eloa hesitantly reached out her white hand and placed it on the crown of Siwoo’s head.

“It’s best not to move if possible.”
“Yes, I understand.”

A tiny bit of her magical power seeped into Siwoo’s body.
Like priming water, Eloa’s magical power, which had penetrated the circuit, slowly began to guide Siwoo.
In the process, Eloa was able to see Siwoo’s magical circuit as it was.

The circuit extended from the brand in his left eye to various parts of his body.
Eloa, having guided the magical power through the Yangbaek point to the Baekhoe point, slowly began to spread it throughout his body.

“……..”
“……..”

Neither of them said anything.
If either of them lost concentration in the current state, they could see something they wouldn’t want to see.

“Done, did you remember?”

Enhancing the body was more complicated than it seemed.
If magical power was not applied in the correct order, magical power entanglement would occur.
Also, if it was not accurately distributed considering the movement of joints and muscle mass, a major disaster could occur.

For example, if 10 units of magical power were applied to the fist when making a punching motion, but only about 2 units were applied to the shoulder, a dislocation or other self-inflicted injury would occur.
Therefore, the process was naturally complex and cautious.

“It wouldn’t be easy to remember at once. I’ll do it again.”
“Ah, I think I remembered it. I was just reviewing it for a moment.”
“Is that so?”

If it had been the anticipation she had felt for Siwoo a little while ago, she would have told him not to talk nonsense and to look again carefully.
But after seeing the amplification of magical power a little while ago, it didn’t seem like a mere reckless act.

“Show me.”

Siwoo, who had risen from his seat, tilted his head left and right, then began to circulate magical power throughout his body.
Much more power than the amount of magical power Eloa had demonstrated as an example was distributed correctly and appropriately to his body.

“Wow… it really works.”
“Would you try moving carefully?”
“Like this?”
“Be careful…!”

-Boom!

Eloa had suggested just walking lightly, but Siwoo lightly threw a punch into the air as if jabbing.
The feeling of omnipotence, like becoming a superhuman when wearing armor.
The fist, swung so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye, tore through the air.

He moved his body quickly in succession.
He jumped quickly from side to side, or flew his body as if swinging a sword.
He had only lightly kicked the ground with his foot, but he flew almost 20 meters into the sky and landed.
The martial arts he had learned to some extent while sparring with Eloa unfolded surprisingly naturally.

“……..”

Eloa unknowingly opened her mouth slightly.
If a baby you taught to walk said, ‘Hmm, I think I get it?’ and immediately did a windmill, that’s probably how it would feel.
Anyway, it was a level of receptivity that far exceeded her expectations.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

Siwoo moved his body this way and that.
He wanted to try a rising dragon punch or a leaf whirlwind, but since the Duke was watching, he replaced it with clumsy shadow boxing.

His body movements were free.
It was amazing that he could move like this without the help of armor.

(1) Think about the body’s movement in advance.
(2) Move the armor accordingly.
(3) The body inside moves.

Since (1) and (2) were omitted, the body moved as he thought without even a small delay or error.
To put it simply, it felt like the difference between clicking an icon on a monitor with a mouse or touching it directly with your hand.

Eloa was confused.
Siwoo’s movements, when he wasn’t using magical power, were clumsy.
It was like, the very epitome of ‘a person who can’t control their body properly’ that she had met countless times.
But as soon as he enhanced his spirit body with magical power, his movements were free as if he had taken off a sandbag.
His hands and feet, which had repeatedly been out of sync, now matched perfectly.

Eloa vaguely realized.
He had been holding in his mind and visualizing what she had taught him quite accurately.
However, he had not been able to realize it because he was not born with the athletic ability to execute it.

Like a bicycle that loses speed and falls sideways.
However, the movements that his body could not follow were realized as they were with the aid of magical power.
From the beginning, he was a genius at handling magical power, not his body.

Her shock was brief, and curiosity suddenly arose.

“Siwoo.”
“Yes, Duke. Thanks to you, I’m learning something good.”
“Would you try this too?”

Eloa took a breath.
She pulled her front foot close to her back foot, put magical power into it, and took a step forward.
She bent both legs like a horse stance, but the front foot was perpendicular to the stepping foot.
She pushed off the ground, concentrated that power into her legs without wasting it, then accelerated by rotating her waist.
She rotated while using the power pulled up to her back as an axis, and at the same time, accelerated with magical power.
Finally, if all the power reaching the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fist was gathered at the extreme point and released forward…

-Bang!

The sound of striking an iron plate was heard as Eloa’s fist, held vertically, cut through the air.
Even though it didn’t touch anything.
The rooftop cement that had been supporting her was now cracked and split.

It was the most basic of basics that Eloa instinctively applied when using swordsmanship.
The ultimate technique of gathering all the generated power at one point without leakage, the power release (發勁).

“Oh sh*t… Bukkun….”

Siwoo clapped and admired.
He had a memory of being beaten with that in the past, so his insides felt a bit tense, but it was definitely cool.
Eloa, her light pink hair that had been fluttering for a moment, was now neatly arranged, and she exhaled and composed herself.

“Now, try it.”
“You’re telling me to follow that…?”

He couldn’t even think of it.
If it was just flailing his arms and legs, he would have at least pretended to do it, but if he showed a martial arts master-like figure and calmly told him to follow, the thought ‘How can I do this!’ would naturally come to mind.

“It’s simple. Relax your body as much as possible, and use only the necessary muscles.”

That’s easier said than done…

“But you have a difference here. Don’t try to move your body.”
“Don’t move my body?”
“Yes, relax your body as much as possible, and try to do it with the feeling of concentrating and moving only the magical power within the magical circuit.”
“….Can you show me a few more times?”
“It’s not difficult.”

Eloa took the same stance as before.
And so that he could refer to it, she struck with the same magical power, the same force, and the same timing, without a single error.

At first glance, it seemed like nothing, but it was a very great level.
Because her body moved along the same trajectory without a 1mm error.
It was like landing at the same distance and in the same posture without a single error while long jumping.
It meant that Eloa’s body control ability had gone beyond the human realm.

“Hoo… how is it?”

Siwoo carefully watched Eloa’s demonstration.
What he focused on was not the posture or movements.
With his left eye, which could visualize the flow of magical power, he watched at what timing and how magical power was distributed, and how it affected acceleration.

“I’ll try it once.”
“Do so.”

Under Eloa’s gaze, which was full of anticipation despite her seeming indifference, Siwoo followed her movements that he had imagined in his head.

-Kuuung!

And.
A small crater was created on the rooftop.

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Commissioned artwork provided by Amelpipejoa!!!

Happy moments of Amelia and the previous Marigold in their childhood…!!!
They look so harmonious…. So cute!!!