Chapter 19 – Training (2)
Water Lily (2)
Nearly six years have passed since Yuno learned martial arts from Catherine.
From the day she took Catherine as her teacher, Juno’s days were filled with repeated harsh training.
He pounced on Catherine every day, sparring until her body was a mess, then led her injured body and kicked her with his fists and feet on a steel punching bag, and pounded her body with an iron ball. Later, Yuno had to train his fingers by dipping them in hot sand.
The skin on his hands and feet peeled off every day, and the bones and muscles of his entire body were intact, but Yuno, who was a prince, treated his injuries by pouring the highest quality potion, and the internal injuries he suffered inside his body were completed with mana practice after all training. Every time I did it, Catherine helped me by moving my mana, so I came back to normal the next morning.
As a result of this difficult training, Yuno’s body became stronger and harder as the days passed, but Catherine increased the intensity of the training as Yuno became stronger, so the intensity of the training that Yuno felt remained the same.
Because of that, Yuno sometimes regretted choosing such difficult penance. However, every time he sparred with members of the Guard Knights, he could feel that he had become much stronger, and Yuno devoted himself even more to training.
Isabella asked as she looked at Yuno, who had been helping Isabella and Marie exercise with Eliza during their personal exercise session every morning, and had also been working out hard since the morning.
“Yuno! I heard that training with Catherine is very difficult… Why are you still working out so hard in the morning?”
At Isabella’s words, Yuno, who had been helping Marie with her warm-up exercises, looked behind her.
“Hmm, thanks to the teacher’s teachings, it seems like I can’t reach the level of master. I’m doing it because I think I can achieve it if I work harder. Well, it’s been almost a year.”
“Still, take it easy. Today is your coming-of-age ceremony, so be sure to attend this evening.”
“Yes. Okay, sister.”
Yuno answered like that and headed to the backyard to relax again. Since they were all becoming adults now, after the age of 14, they stopped using the knights’ parade ground and instead created a private training hall behind the empress’ palace, creating a space where servants and maids could not enter.
That’s why Yuno freely threw off his clothes and started running.
Through training with Catherine, Yuno’s body developed much more than when she was young. Her height was close to 190 cm, and her massively developed muscles were reminiscent of an ogre. Moreover, the scars covering her entire body gave Yuno an idea of how rough her training had been.
And Isabella and Marie sighed together.
“Whoa~ Look at the scars on Yuno’s body… Those scars on that beautiful skin… I’m so upset that I’m dying? Even my mom gets upset every time she sees Yuno. She doesn’t participate in dances at all and only practices every day.”
“That’s right, Sister. Mari will protect you even if you don’t become that strong… Why do you want to become that strong?”
“Hmm? Mari? This sister will protect Yuno. So, Mari, we should think about getting married quickly, right?”
“What do you mean? That’s it? If it’s a married couple, the older sister will be sold out first through an arranged marriage. Since I’m a high-level spiritist, I won’t get married and will stay by my brother’s side.”
“Hmph! Senior Spiritualist? You? Huh, with that personality, a Senior Spiritual will easily sign a contract with you. All you have to do is watch your sister become a mage and live with Yuno.”
The two sisters, who were looking at Yuno while taking a break after being exhausted from exercising, glared at each other and fought. Looking at her older sister and her younger brother, Eliza smiled in remorse.
Eliza had an agreement to return to the Kingdom of Leon at the age of 20, so she was training with the goal of becoming a master before that, and she had the talent and passion certified by Liechtenauer to achieve that, so she was thinking of gaining the freedom to marry and marry Yuno. Moreover, when she was young, she secretly proposed the secret contract proposed by Isabella to Marie, so she could be said to have secured her position with the support of both parties.
Of course, Yuno did not know the inside story, but the three women were watching Yuno with different inner feelings.
It was the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, but today as well, Juno was not missing her training with Catherine.
Although her training was usually difficult, today Catherine was especially harsh on her Juno from the beginning of her classes.
“Don’t just move quickly! I always say this, but if your blows don’t have power, they’re useless!”
“What happens if you move like that and the opponent is holding a dagger?”
“A long time ago, my teacher said that if you trained like this, you could ignore daggers… Wow!”
Yuno tried to protest by wiping her mouth for a moment, but after being struck in the abdomen with the blade of her hand, Yuno’s mouth was quietly shut.
“If the opponent is at the master level, no matter how much it is my body, it will inevitably be broken through. So, you too must become a master and know how to surround your body with mana.”
‘Why are you making that assumption now? I’m not a master yet, damn it… I’ll quickly become stronger than you and train you… We’ll see then. Master~ Cough!’
Despite her useless thoughts, Juno continued to move her hands and feet and continue her sparring with Catherine.
As Yuno was out of breath after an unusually harsh sparring today, Catherine did not give him a moment’s rest, unlike usual, and demanded that he hit a steel punching bag.
“Now, from now on, you will hit with your fists without stopping. There will be absolutely no breaks in between. The time is until I tell you to stop!”
Yuno thought that today was particularly difficult, but since it was an order from her teacher, Yuno thought there must be some reason and pounded the steel punching bag.
Bang bang!
The calluses on Yuno’s fists had long since worn off, so there wasn’t much pain, but the impact was being transmitted to the bones, and because he was giving his all with each punch, his stamina was quickly being used up.
However, all that came out of Catherine’s mouth was to switch to a kick instead of telling him to stop, and Yuno continued hitting the punching bag even though all of his hands and feet were in shambles.
Time passed like that, and even as dinner time came to a close, Juno was still hitting the steel punching bag with his fists, as instructed by Catherine.
His fist was a complete mess, covered in blood with all of his bones fractured, his leg bones were completely shattered, and his stamina was completely exhausted, but Catherine was unable to stop Juno.
“Continue! If you continue to train hard, you will reach this limit. Your brain is telling you that it is dangerous to move your body any further. And that notification is the pain you feel. If you were a normal person, you would have stopped a long time ago… Your body and mana have already reached master level. Let the mana move your body naturally!”
Catherine’s words seemed to finally inform him of the purpose of starting this training, but Juno could not hear what she said.
Then he fell into a trance and hit his steel sandbag, forgetting about his own body. However, instead of hitting the punching bag from exhaustion like before, she was following an artistic path that contained the movements taught by Catherine. At the same time, a clear blue light began to form on Yuno’s fist.
‘Yeah… That’s it. You can force it to transcend. Transcend human limitations! That’s how you become a master today’
Coo! Coo! Coo!
Now, whenever Yuno’s fist stuck, her steel punching bag began to dent in the shape of her fist. The punching bag she used when she was young was hollow, but now she is using something made entirely of metal, and it is getting more and more distorted.
Moreover, the blue light on Yuno’s fist became darker and more destructive, and the punching bag was losing its shape and gradually turning into a lump of scrap metal.
“Quaaang!!”
With an extremely loud roar, Yuno’s fist finally shattered the punching bag made of solid steel. Now, the blue light on Yuno’s fist had formed a single shape that could be called a fist, so Yuno had to stare at his fist with blank eyes.
Clap clap clap
“Yuno. Congratulations on reaching the level of master!”
“Master… My… Did I step on the master?”
“Okay, boy. What do you think is growing on your hand? This is a method that Master Lee came up with after putting a lot of thought into breaking through what has been blocking your realm since last year.”
Juno approached Catherine with an emotional face.
“Master~!!”
“Yes, yes, this guy! You must be the first in the history of the continent to have reached the master’s level at the age of 19. I also reached that level at the age of 26…”
Catherine hugged Yuno and congratulated her with her sincere heart. She then forced Yuno to sit on the floor and cross her legs.
“Master? But this is…?”
“You can say that you have forcibly reached the level of a master by injecting the mana that was overflowing in the mana hole into your body. So, you have to make the inside of your body know that as well. Only then can you say that you have become a true master?”
From Catherine’s explanation, Juno realized that she had not undergone a body change, one of the Master’s symbols.
“Ah! Then?”
“From now on, I will slowly guide the mana in your body. Turn it naturally as if you were doing the exercises on a regular basis. And just like before, you should let your body go with the flow.”
Yuno closed her eyes and focused her mind on the mana within her body. I could feel the mana slowly flowing out of the mana hole. However, since the amount was several times more than what she usually practiced, Yuno was embarrassed, but as Catherine’s mana slowly helped her, Yuno soon regained her stability.
Then, Mana began to circulate rapidly within Yuno’s body, and Yuno finally lost consciousness as she felt something break inside her head.
Pap-duk, Pap-duk, Pap-duk, Pap-duk
As Juno’s body began to glow blue, Catherine removed her hand from Juno’s body. She then went up to the first floor and approached the knights guarding Juno’s palace.
“Unconditionally, do not allow anyone to enter this building. Even if it is the Liechtenauer, the Empress, or even the Emperor, they will absolutely not be allowed to enter this place for one day from now.”
“Catherine, what’s going on? What’s going on is that even His Majesty the Emperor… And His Highness Juno has to attend today’s coming-of-age ceremony!”
“Yuno has just become a Master. So he will undergo a body change for a day, so tell him!”
The knight’s eyes widened after hearing Catherine’s words.
“Is that really true? Your Highness Yuno is the Master?”
“Okay! Don’t make me explain again and again, just convey it quickly!”
As soon as they heard Catherine’s words, two out of the four knights of the Royal Guard ran to the imperial palace and the headquarters of the Knights of the Imperial Guard respectively.
And after a while, the entire reserve force of the Guard led by Viscount Speyer came and began to thoroughly guard Juno’s palace, so Catherine, somewhat relieved, went down to her basement again and looked at Juno’s condition.
*Yuno’s scar-filled body before body change
