The day after meeting Ji Sunhwa, Amon headed to the training ground as promised.
Amon arrived two hours early, while Ji Sunhwa arrived thirty minutes before the scheduled time.
Seeing Amon already finished with his warm-up upon arrival, Ji Sunhwa instinctively checked her watch.
9 AM.
Hearing that Amon had arrived at 7 AM, she was astounded by his diligence.
“Why’d you come so early? Did you want to see me that badly?”
Amon silently pointed to the corner of the training ground.
There, Cassie and Sonia were already wiping off sweat, having finished their sparring.
They stared at Ji Sunhwa with unreadable eyes.
They smiled warmly.
However, within those smiles lay a clear warning—not to even joke about flirting unless she wanted to be torn apart.
Receiving the razor-sharp jealousy of these women, Ji Sunhwa stiffened.
“You have two lovers?”
“It just happened that way.”
“Are you the playboy type, or is it just that Westerners have an open mindset?”
“Even in open-minded Western culture, I’m an unusual case.”
“I figured.”
Ji Sunhwa nodded, adjusting the image of Amon in her mind.
“But why are you out so early? Did you have breakfast? You know you can’t use being tired as an excuse before our spar, right?”
“Don’t worry. I already ate, and this is just part of my routine.”
“What time did you wake up?”
“I wake up at 4:30 AM every day. I have to attend morning prayer at 5.”
“…”
Once again, her mental image of Amon shifted.
‘A skilled Casanova with an added trait—devoutness.’
***
The two spent some time getting to know each other, and at 9:30 AM, they finally drew their swords.
“You remember that this is just a skill assessment spar, right?”
Ji Sunhwa reminded him once more of the purpose of the match.
It was to ensure that neither of them used lethal techniques or killing blows in an attempt to win.
To prevent accidents, they checked each other’s swords.
As she inspected Amon’s weapons, she noticed something odd.
‘What the…?’
It was as if he discarded a sword every time he swung.
By the time they finished checking, Amon had over thirty swords.
He stored them all within his priestly robes.
To Ji Sunhwa, who had never seen such a spatial function before, it was a series of surprises.
“Do all Vatican paladins fight in priest robes?”
“No. I just like wearing them.”
Amon shook his head vigorously, trying to correct yet another misunderstanding.
Even among holy knights, no one intentionally fought in these robes.
They had poor flexibility, and design-wise, they weren’t suited for combat.
However, ever since Amon had been given the fake identity of a priest, he had stubbornly stuck to wearing them.
Of course, his comrades never questioned it, knowing he had his reasons.
“Once we spar, you’ll understand why I wear this.”
Tilting her head, Ji Sunhwa readied herself for battle.
Not long after the match began, she understood.
‘He’s already hard to track with my eyes, but the plain robes make it even worse.’
Amon swung his sword.
Ji Sunhwa dodged with ease—but the next attack was the problem.
The billowing fabric of his robes obscured his opposite shoulder, making it difficult to predict his movements.
She barely evaded a thrust that emerged from behind the flapping cloth.
Quickly widening the distance between them, she rested her hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword.
In that instant, the scabbard shimmered—
Amon reacted without hesitation, throwing his sword with his right hand.
Clang!
The dulled blades clashed midair.
“Hmph.”
Her trump card had been countered effortlessly.
But she wasn’t out of options yet.
Her brain sent a signal down her spine.
Her spinal implant processed the signal, accelerating her nervous system.
This was standard neural acceleration.
Leaving an afterimage in her wake, she closed the distance between them in an instant.
But Amon didn’t focus on her—instead, he defended behind him.
Clang!
Her afterimage vanished, and Ji Sunhwa, now behind him, swung her sword.
Amon blocked it with ease and smiled.
“A good strategy.”
“Have you seen this before?”
“No. First time.”
“Then how did you react?”
“I imagined someone might try it. Plus, I’m used to holograms.”
“Tsk.”
Watching from a distance, Sonia asked Cassie, “I couldn’t see a thing. What just happened?”
“Of course you couldn’t. It was an application of optical camouflage and holograms.”
According to Cassie, Ji Sunhwa had activated multiple implants at once.
As she neared Amon, she turned invisible using optical camouflage and circled behind him.
Meanwhile, a holographic afterimage continued charging forward, distracting him.
However, there was something Ji Sunhwa didn’t know—
Amon’s Mystic Eyes traced souls.
No matter how much she deceived reality, his eyes could not be fooled.
***
She continued demonstrating her skills, but Amon blocked every move.
Eventually, she had shown everything she could except for the techniques she reserved for real combat.
“That’s all I’ve got. What do you think?”
“Indeed. At this level, I can take you with me.”
Amon evaluated her combat skills—by his standards, she was at least equivalent to a division head in the security bureau.
‘To be this strong at her age…’
Even more impressive—she relied purely on augmentations, without any divine power.
She was indeed worthy of being called a genius.
Amon completed his assessment and was about to lower his sword.
But Ji Sunhwa wouldn’t let him.
“It’s a little unfair if I’m the only one showing my skills, don’t you think?”
“I need to see what you can do before I trust you with my life.”
Her choice of words could be misinterpreted, but Amon didn’t dwell on it.
He simply nodded.
“Alright, understood.”
Amon threw his sword.
It wasn’t meant for throwing, but just like last time, he figured at least one would hit.
He defended himself without panic, recalling the time he had been bewitched by the cursed blade.
However, the next attack from Amon took her by surprise.
“The sky?!”
While she was distracted by the flying sword, Amon had leaped high into the air, reaching the height of her crown.
He was now plummeting straight down toward her.
She quickly composed herself, raised her sword, and took a defensive stance.
At that moment, Amon kicked off the air and shifted out of her line of sight.
Because of this, the light behind him shone directly into her eyes.
‘I’ve been caught!’
Her vision was momentarily blocked.
It was only a split second, but in battle, that was fatal.
She instinctively swung her sword forward, but it cut through nothing but empty air.
When she opened her eyes, Amon had already landed silently on the ground, kneeling, with the tip of his sword aimed at her throat.
“I think I’ve shown you enough, haven’t I?”
Amon smiled kindly, and she let out a small laugh.
‘I’m just an ordinary fighter after all.’
This was what a true genius looked like.
She had thought he was just someone who relied on raw talent and physical ability, but his battle instincts were flawless as well.
“A perfect defeat.”
Hearing her straightforward acknowledgment, Amon finally withdrew his sword.
“It was an excellent match.”
“I learned a lot.”
With their sparring concluded, Amon and Ji Sunhwa made their way to the bench.
***
As they approached, Sonia handed them towels, and Cassie gave them bottled water.
“Isn’t this expensive?”
Unaware that Cassie was an executive at MegaCorp, Ji Sunhwa worried about her wallet.
In contrast, Amon and Sonia drank the water without hesitation, as if it were only natural.
Amon even poured the water over his head to cool off.
Ji Sunhwa frowned at the sight.
“I had my suspicions when you took your sister to that fancy restaurant… Are you guys rich? Or does the Vatican pay you a lot?”
Amon and his companions simply smiled without answering.
With so many people around and constant government surveillance in Joseon, they had to be cautious with their words.
Feeling oddly left out by their silence, Ji Sunhwa began gathering her belongings.
Just then, a scholar approached them.
He walked over with his hands clasped behind his back, fanning himself.
Stroking his graying beard, the scholar addressed Amon.
“Pardon my impertinence, but may I request a moment of your time?”
Amon saw no reason to refuse the man’s polite inquiry.
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you. Allow me to introduce myself first.”
The scholar pulled out a business card from his sleeve.
It had a simple design.
However, the content was far from simple.
Chosen Universal MOdel-sampling Neuro-infusion education Group, A company that specialized in extracting and programming neural-learning models.
It was the exclusive supplier of Joseon’s most profitable export—educational and training USBs.
Because the name was too long, most simply called it Chumon.
And the scholar introduced himself as Park Kyuwon, an executive at this state-run corporation.
‘This name sounds familiar.’
Of course, as the world’s largest neuro-infusion education company, it made sense that he had heard of it.
But for some reason, it felt familiar in a different way.
Amon brushed aside the unnecessary thoughts and focused on the executive before him.
“What business do you have with me?”
“Your Korean is quite fluent. By any chance, have you ever used our company’s USB… Ahem!”
The executive cleared his throat, quickly realizing his slip of the tongue.
“Forgive my rudeness. Please forget that comment.”
Amon had heard reactions like this countless times and dismissed it without concern.
“So, what do you want?”
“The truth is, I happened to witness your swordsmanship earlier.”
At his words, Amon briefly looked around.
Unlike the West, where privacy was valued, Joseon had no such concept.
The training grounds were designed to be easily observable from the outside.
‘Even China and Japan are extremely sensitive about protecting their martial arts schools…’
It was clear that the government here intended to prevent any overwhelming individual power or private militias from gaining an edge.
Amon nodded, listening to Kyuwon’s proposal.
“Would you be willing to sign a contract with our company to commercialize your swordsmanship?”
Hearing the offer, Amon took a moment to think.
‘Come to think of it, they do sell sword techniques here.’
As an educational corporation, they sold not only academic and childhood learning programs but also a variety of other skills.
Some of their products even included military tactics and sword techniques used by special forces.
‘If I were to sell my swordsmanship to a company like this…’
Amon weighed the pros and cons.
Money was the first thing that came to mind, but it no longer held much meaning for him.
He set that thought aside and placed another consideration on the scale—the risk of exposing his techniques.
‘The more people know about my swordsmanship, the more who can counter me.’
His judgment tilted toward refusal.
However, he didn’t reject the offer outright.
“What exactly about my swordsmanship did you find unique?”
“The way you throw your sword to distract your opponent—that technique doesn’t exist in any known martial art. I was completely captivated by it.”
Kyuwon was well-versed in sword techniques.
He mentioned the famed sword schools of China, the samurai styles of Japan, and even Western longsword techniques.
Yet, no matter how much he researched, he had never seen anything like Amon’s approach.
“So, you only need me to demonstrate the throwing and attacking method?”
“Yes. Naturally, you don’t have to reveal all your secrets.”
All they wanted was to study and commercialize the technique of throwing the sword and attacking at the right moment.
As Kyuwon explained, Amon reconsidered.
Soon, he placed a new weight on the benefits side of the scale.
Then, he made his decision.
“In that case, I have a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“My swordsmanship is highly unstructured. Would you be willing to help refine and formalize it into a proper style?”
Kyuwon immediately nodded.
“Of course. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have any market value.”
The negotiation was settled.
Amon and Kyuwon shook hands.
Amon smiled with satisfaction.
‘I’ll teach this to my squad.’
That was the real reason the scales had tipped.