The Return of the Talented Monopolist is Special

“What?”

“Is he really out of his mind…?”

At Eugene’s words, the entire advanced class jumped up, exuding a fierce aura, ready to knock Eugene down at any moment.

To Eugene’s eyes, Jwick was one of the lower-level students in the advanced class, but even so, the intensity of his aura was considerable.

“Is this how you’re supposed to act with a senior?”

Jwick, who seemed to have had a rough time in the advanced class, was already furious from the start.

Eugene lifted his wooden sword and smirked.

“Is it right to beat someone who’s just standing still, claiming to be the strong?”

“I’ll tear your mouth open.”

Just as Jwick was about to charge at Eugene, someone spoke up.

“I’ll judge this fight, then.”

Suddenly, Emaks appeared, sitting on a nearby chair with his arms crossed, his face showing interest.

“Instructor Emaks!”

All the advanced trainees bowed to Emaks, but he waved his hand dismissively.

“Continue, Eugene Robert. I know you have the favor of the head of the family. However…”

His voice deepened.

“If you show disappointing behavior here today, you will be expelled immediately. That’s the price for disobeying the seniors’ orders.”

No matter how much they claimed to follow the strong, there was still a hierarchy to respect.

However, Eugene had disobeyed, and now he had to prove his abilities.

Eugene nodded, shifting his gaze.

But—

The person he was looking for was gone.

Eugene instinctively turned around, raising his wooden sword in a horizontal position.

As expected—

Jwick had already moved behind Eugene, swinging his wooden sword down at him.

Crack!

Eugene blocked the strike and immediately used his footwork to retreat.

“Heh, looks like you’ve been working hard.”

Jwick smirked, looking relaxed.

“Let’s see how far you can go…”

Eugene used his ghost step technique to close the distance quickly.

It was an eerie movement as if stepping on thin air, yet it wasn’t slow in the slightest.

There was no visible aura, but the speed and trajectory were exactly like a “ghost.”

However, Jwick, having passed the trials of a lion and training as a veteran of the advanced class at Penchel, knew how to handle such techniques.

“That ghost step, it’s nothing. You can practice it all you want.”

Jwick aimed his wooden sword at the spot where Eugene would inevitably step.

This was a textbook counter to the ghost step.

The idea was that Eugene would likely be forced to step somewhere awkward, losing his balance, and Jwick would strike upward with his sword to take him down.

That was the plan, at least.

“!”

But Eugene twisted his body at a strange angle, and before Jwick could even get close enough to land a blow, Eugene spoke.

“You’re slow.”

Eugene grabbed Jwick’s neck with his left hand and slammed him into the ground.

Crash!

“Ugh.”

Jwick immediately lost consciousness.

The other advanced trainees might not have noticed, but Emaks did.

‘He modified the Ghost Step. At first, I doubted the effectiveness of his improved Ghost Step, but now… it’s truly useful.’

Moreover,

‘The balance between his upper and lower body, and even his evasion, which seemed like it was based on predicting Jwick’s swordsmanship, followed the basics of Penchel swordsmanship meticulously.’

These elements were the result of Eugene’s six months of relentless training at Penchel.

The fight that had just unfolded revealed how much Eugene had focused on training and how much practice he had gone through.

To think that a trainee from the advanced class would fall so easily to a lower-level student.

“Crazy…!”

“What… what just happened?”

The advanced trainees, unable to believe what they were seeing, exchanged bewildered glances, looking back and forth between Eugene and the fallen Jwick.

Soon, they all nodded slightly, as if they had reached a mutual understanding, and then charged at Eugene all at once.

Dozens of wooden swords charging from all directions would have been an overwhelming threat to most, but to Eugene, it was just another problem to deal with.

With a click, Eugene spread his feet wide and positioned his sword near his side.

Emaks, who had noticed Eugene’s stance, widened his eyes in realization.

“That’s…?”

It was the Footwork Technique.

The execution of the technique was swift.

As Eugene’s hand twitched, five lines of light flashed, and more than a dozen trainees clutched their chests and stomachs, collapsing to the ground.

Despite being struck by wooden swords, their clothes were torn by the five lines, leaving them in tatters.

Eugene had used his Footwork Technique combined with Strike Marks.

“Kuh…”

“Aagh…”

Shaking his head, Eugene muttered.

“You all have good core balance, but your depth perception is lacking. You can’t block attacks because of your poor peripheral vision.”

Emaks narrowed his eyes.

‘In that brief moment, he identified the strengths and weaknesses of the advanced trainees… He’s growing much faster than I expected, despite his age.’

At the same time, he clicked his tongue.

‘The advanced trainees… they waste time with superficial training and don’t improve. Maybe this will finally get them to take things seriously. If it weren’t for Eugene, even someone like Eldor could have easily handled these guys.’

But there was still one person left.

“Impressive.”

It was Cain, who had been observing the whole situation with his arms crossed from the back.

Amidst the groans of the fallen trainees, Cain maintained his posture and added one more thing.

“I apologize.”

Eugene furrowed his brow in response.

“I didn’t come here for an apology. If you’re going to apologize, you should be apologizing to Rauler. You’re no different from Jwick.”

Cain nodded.

“That’s true. I wanted to apologize, so I’ll go with Jwick to Rauler.”

“Is that all?”

“I’ve already filed the disciplinary report. Soon, Jwick and the other two will be summoned to the Law Enforcement Hall.”

Eugene was slightly surprised by Cain’s calm admission and the actions he’d taken but quickly narrowed his eyes and stared at him.

“That’s well done, but I still have something I need to take care of.”

“…”

Cain stared at Eugene for a moment before smirking.

“You want to fight me, huh? How bold.”

“I can be like that sometimes.”

Eugene saw a faint spark of competitive spirit in Cain’s smile.

It seemed that Cain, too, was feeling a sense of rivalry after watching Eugene defeat the entire advanced class.

Eugene locked eyes with Cain.

‘This guy… surprisingly calm. And… ‘

Eugene moved closer to Cain and aimed his wooden sword at him.

Eugene also had something to gain from this fight, and his desire to engage was rising.

‘This is my chance to see his swordsmanship.’

At that moment, the bell signaling the start of training rang.

“If you want it, come at me.”

Cain spoke a single word and, with lightning-fast movement, grabbed his wooden sword and thrust it at Eugene’s abdomen.

Eugene used Acrobatic SSteps twisting his body to avoid Cain’s attack.

At the same time, he instinctively realized:

‘Symbolic Swordsmanship, I might see it today.’

The reason was that he could feel a hint of anger in Cain’s thrust.

Moreover, Cain was faster and more versatile in his attacks than Eugene had expected.

Taking advantage of their close range, Cain pushed Eugene with his shoulder and immediately swung his sword.

But strangely, instead of using the blade, Cain attacked with the side of his sword. No, it was more accurate to say he struck with it.

Bang!

Eugene blocked the attack but was pushed back significantly.

‘He doesn’t like fighting at close range. So, using the side of his sword, he created more space between us. Smart.’

Eugene’s gaze sharpened.

Cain wasn’t someone who relied on just appearances.

“Release your aura.”

Cain spoke in a low voice, and as he moved his body, his outer garment was thrown off, likely due to the heat building up within him.

Eugene grinned.

“That’s exactly what I wanted, Senior.”

Whom!

Eugene activated his Mok-Gwang, and as his Atom began to spin, white light radiated from his body.

Similarly, Cain released his aura, and with a burst of light, the air around him became dense.

Both of them observed each other’s aura levels and silently admired them.

‘Cain is the only one from the advanced class who’s useful. At 17, this level of power is to be expected.’

‘Eugene Robert, the leader of the lower class… He’s much stronger than I thought.’

Neither spoke, but their intent was clear.

Swoosh, crash!

The two charged at each other, clashing their swords together.

Clang! Clang! Crack! Crash!

The sound of impact reverberated continuously.

The wooden swords, infused with aura, became much more dangerous, and even Emaks, who had been watching as a judge, couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

The two were evenly matched, exchanging strikes with their wooden swords.

Since neither of them had fully unleashed their power yet, Eugene wasn’t in a hurry and controlled the flow of the fight.

However, even amid the battle, Eugene couldn’t help but be impressed by Cain.

‘Speed, focus, intelligence, strength. Not bad. No, it’s excellent. He’s not just using the basic Penchel swordsmanship but seems to have his unique footwork technique. He’s not even a direct descendant, yet he’s this strong.’

Of course, if it turned into a battle of stamina, Eugene’s victory was certain.

The effects of Mok-Gwang, such as physical enhancement and rapid recovery, were already manifesting.

But…

‘What I want to see is something else.’

Eugene needed to draw out Cain’s aggressiveness more.

To do that?

‘If I know Cain, he’ll use symbolic swordsmanship only when he’s overwhelmed by overwhelming force. He hates losing more than anything else.’

Cain.

Eugene knew enough about his background to devise such a plan.

Whom!

Eugene’s Atom spun even more fiercely.

“…!”

As their wooden swords clashed, Cain flinched when he saw the dense aura enveloping Eugene’s body.

It was clear even to him that Eugene’s aura was stronger than his own.

Eugene pressed forward with a cold, sharp look in his eyes.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A deafening sound echoed, and the training hall trembled slightly.

The wooden sword Eugene held now seemed to have the destructive power of a massive hammer, its weight carrying a crushing force.

Amid the battle, Cain spat out words as if gnashing his teeth.

“Y-you…! How did you do that…?”

It was a complex question.

Aura, footwork, swordsmanship.

Eugene was demonstrating an absurd level of mastery in all these areas.

What had been an even battle was now completely turned on its head. Cain had become desperate, focusing entirely on defense.

Sweat poured down his forehead like rain.

In contrast, Eugene only breathed a little more heavily, but there was no sign of fatigue.

Eugene, who had been silent, suddenly stopped his attack and, with his sword pressed against Cain’s, lightly clicked his tongue.

Tsk.

“Unless you use symbolic swordsmanship, this will be tough.”

“Damn…!”

Cain growled in frustration, but the situation didn’t change.

The swords, locked together, trembled with tension.

Bang!

Cain used all his strength to push Eugene back.

“You’ve already figured out that I prefer to fight at a distance, huh…!”

“I knew that long ago.”

Cain glared at Eugene, who looked bored and then released more of his aura, gripping his wooden sword with both hands.

“Alright.”

“What’s alright?”

“I’ll show you what you want to see.”

With those words, a red haze began to rise around Cain.

The haze swirled around him like a lion’s mane, and it even started to converge around Eugene.

Cain’s symbol was the Red Wolf.

The roar of the red wolf flickered behind Cain.

Although he was still young and his aura wasn’t strong enough to fully master symbolic swordsmanship, this was enough to impress Eugene, who grinned with interest.

“Why didn’t you do this sooner?”

Eugene, too, spun his Atom at maximum speed, drawing out all his aura.

Just now, he realized:

‘I understood how Cain’s symbolic swordsmanship manifests. The key was in his heart.’

Eugene narrowed his eyes and focused all his aura ionhis lower abdomen.

At the same time:

‘I’ll combine the swordsmanship I’ve trained for 12 years with the basic swordsmanship I learned at Penchel.’

It made sense to mix the two, but how?

The answer came quickly.

‘I’ll combine both sword techniques into a single form. That form will be… a rose.’

The swordsmanship Eugene had built over the years would take the form of the petals of a rose, and the basic swordsmanship from Penchel would become the thorny stem of the rose.

He would then shape the completed form of the rose with his aura, concentrated in his lower abdomen.

The most important element here was the peaceful, calm mind that the master of Gwangma had mentioned—”clear as a mirror.”

To connect the red petals of the rose and its thorny stem with precision, Eugene needed a calm and composed state of mind.

Whom!

A fierce gust of wind blew through the training hall.

The floor, made of reinforced stone resistant to most impacts, cracked, and window frames fixed to the walls flew through the air.

“Th-this… is impossible…”

Cain stood stunned, not even realizing he was still wielding his symbolic swordsmanship as he watched the scene unfold.

Overwhelming.

Just by watching, one could feel the overwhelming power.

Then, Eugene realized what Cain had intended when he asked to see his symbolic swordsmanship.

‘He wanted me to see it, understand its principles, and use it against him…!’

At that moment…

“Enough—!”

Emaks, who had been watching everything unfold, stepped in between the two.

“Stop! If both of you don’t stop now, I’ll have you both expelled from Penchel!”

Though he said this, Emaks was concerned for their safety.

However,

Hoo…

Eugene had a pained expression on his face as if he were struggling to control his symbolic swordsmanship.

Damn… I managed to manifest the symbolic swordsmanship, but controlling it iwasmore difficult than I thought.

It felt like his lower abdomen was burning, and the thorns of the rose seemed to be piercing his entire body.

Finally realizing Eugene’s condition was worsening, Emaks, using his aura, grabbed Eugene’s sword and broke it in half.

Only then did Eugene let out a strained groan and brace himself on his knees with both hands.

“Cain, Eugene, that’s enough. It’s over.”

Cain, gritting his teeth, retracted his symbolic swordsmanship.

Emaks clicked his tongue as he supported the staggering Eugene.

“I know you’re exceptional, but overusing your aura is poison to you. Remember that.”

“…Understood.”

Cain bit his lip as he watched Eugene’s back while he leaned on Emaks and descended the stairs.

The reason was clear:

‘…If we had fought, I would’ve lost.’

Even without having fought directly, Cain knew the outcome.

The unpleasant shame and embarrassment, mixed with curiosity about how Eugene, at such a young age, had reached such a high level, flooded his mind.

***

That night, in Jade’s office.

“How is the training progressing?”

Jade asked Emaks as he looked out the window.

“I’ll give you the main points.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to have Eugene accompany us on the upcoming Black Tortoise Knight mission.”

This was a mission usually only open to the top performers of the advanced class, and Emaks wanted to take Eugene along as an observer.

Jade’s lips curled into a smile.

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It will be dangerous, yes. But…”

Jade nodded in understanding.

“He’ll learn a lot from it.”

“Proceed with it.”