Chapter 168: [168] You Are Doing It Wrong

Mana.

That simple word was what made all the difference. Throughout their fight, Ark had been trying to use his ears the way a normal human would.

But Soo-jin was right. The Patient Ear was not a normal human sense, and he was far from being human.

During that moment, he had focused on feeling the flow of mana through his senses. He manipulated the supply of mana to them, then poured in so much energy that he could feel his ears tingling.

And it was at that moment that he heard it, the nearly inconceivable sound of fabric brushing against each other!

"You are a really fast learner." Soo-jin laughed. "To think you would learn the first step so quickly..."

Ark cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

Something odd was happening. From what he was hearing, Soo-jin should have been at the opposite side of the room.

He poured even more mana and his senses flared. Apart from the attack he had just blocked, which made her position clear, there was something else...

The brushing of skin against skin, the minute sound of moving lips. It was coming from right in front of him.

"I was right, you—! So you were actually manipulating the sound!"

Soo-jin immediately jumped out of the way, laughing as she suddenly vanished from his senses once more.

"I wasn’t cheating, this is the proper way to teach, you know?"

Ark turned around, trying to figure out the true source of the sound.

"At this moment I am your master. Can you not put a little faith in me?"

"I know you enough to know you are having the time of your life torturing me. Training or not."

"..."

"Are you sure?"

Ark’s body immediately went stiff. Her voice was right next to his ear, the wind of her breath brushing against his cheekbones.

But he did not take a single move. He did not move his sword one bit. It was a fake.

"Heh?" Soo-jin sounded amused. Ark still had a very long way to go before he would learn the Patient Ear, but to be able to tell when she was faking being close to him.

She smiled. "Tell me, Ark..."

Ark suddenly heard a light twitch right in front of him. It was nearly inaudible, but it was there. And then Soo-jin’s voice came shortly after...

"How much can you hear with those ears of yours?"

Clang!

Ark shifted his foot forward, and then swung his blade, only to meet something hard. It was Soo-jin’s sword.

From the sound reflected from the blade, he could tell exactly where she was. He launched another attack, his blade slicing upwards, scratching the floor and unleashing sparks, just before whistling into the air.

Soo-jin leaned back, a smile still on her face as the sword whipped past her. She elegantly dodged more of his attacks, then jumped back.

She landed with the tip of her toes, cushioning her descent. But the moment her feet brushed the floor, Ark’s head snapped in her direction.

He had heard her.

Soo-jin swung her blade in a horizontal arc, just as Ark charged right at her. But as the blade came, Ark leaned back, sliding on the floor, right underneath the slash!

He had not been sure if he heard right, but there was a sound of brushing fabric. The sound of Soo-jin’s sleeves, coupled with what position she must have been in after the jump, was enough to give him a vague idea of her position.

Their blades clashed once again, the sound of their cloisonné ringing through the entirety of the hall.

Ark could not hear the sword; it was still practically invisible to him. But as for Soo-jin, slowly but surely, he was beginning to unravel the sounds of her like a puzzle piece.

From the sound of her clothes, to her footsteps, the sound of her skin as it brushed the edges of the fabric, her fingers as they held her weapon tighter—

’Was that a breath?!’

Ark laughed as he attacked with a stab, his sword slicing right above Soo-jin’s head, just at the space between her ears.

She immediately deflected the attack, one of her ears laying flat as she flung the sword to the side, the spark igniting right next to her face.

Soo-jin felt cold sweat roll down her back. She was not fighting at her full capacity because this was training, but soon, she found herself moving faster as Ark’s attacks were beginning to get too close for comfort.

The more the fight raged on, the more Ark felt his senses ignite. Little by little, new sounds were opening up to him. It was fun, exhilarating even. It felt like discovering new notes in a song you had heard over a thousand times.

But it was not enough...

"Why can’t I hear the sword?" Ark asked as he leaned back, dodging one of Soo-jin’s strikes.

Soo-jin smiled as they exchanged a number of blows, the two of them battling in a diameter so small that they were never more than a few feet apart.

"It is because you are still doing it wrong!" Soo-jin heaved a breath as their weapons collided, sending a shockwave that rippled through their bodies, as well as the stage.

The floor that had already been cracked from the previous battle burst open, sending dust and stone fragments flying into the air.

Ark shifted his head to the side, right out of the path of one of the flying rocks. If anyone saw him right then, they would think he could somehow see through the blindfold.

"I am doing it wrong? How??"

Swish!

He jumped into the air as Soo-jin’s slash nearly took out his legs. He did a flip, just before bringing his sword down in a vulgar arc, packed with devastating force!

BOOM!

Soo-jin jumped into a roll, just as the sword slammed into the floor, caving it and shattering his katana into pieces.

Who was going to pay for all these damages?

Ark stretched out his hand towards Mountain, who had been watching patiently by the sidelines, and the giant sent a sword spinning through the air, right at him.

A sabre.

He grabbed the sword from thin air and spun it around his neck, at the figure approaching him from behind.

But he was not fast enough.

Soo-jin ducked under the strike, slammed the weapon out of his hand, before tackling him to the floor, pinning him between her thighs.

She was sweating profusely, and Ark could feel the heat radiating from her body onto his chest, but she had a wide grin on her face as she placed her sword against his neck.

"Step one, is to recognize the sounds you would not have normally noticed."

Her smile broadened.

"Step two. Is to see with your Ears..." Her hand gently stroked the side of his face. "Or whatever you have in there~"