Time passed, and before she knew it, a full week had gone by since Choa began learning martial arts.
Ever since that first day, Choa had practically lived in the Association’s underground training room.
Now, having finished her Qi circulation and energy regulation, she quietly recalled her memories from the past week.
A total of 168 hours.
She thought back on everything that had happened during that time, but surprisingly, it could all be summed up in a single word.
Not even a sentence—just one word.
Choa nearly let out a hollow laugh at the absurd fact that her entire week could be summarized by the word “training.”
“Miss Choa, are you ready?”
“I-I’m ready anytime.”
Choa looked forward.
Standing there in his usual black martial robes, Cheon Hwi was fiddling with his smartphone, preparing the stream.
It was time for the once-a-week training broadcast he had promised to viewers.
And that day was today.
In just a few minutes, countless viewers would tune in, eager to witness Choa’s martial arts progress.
“D-Do you think I’ll do okay…?”
In truth, Choa couldn’t shake her anxiety.
The life of “streamer Choa” and the life of “Jeong Da-hee, a D-rank Awakened”
had always been vastly different—especially the latter, which had always been gloomy.
Her mana was just okay.
Her talent was just okay.
Her trait was… also just okay.
As a textbook example of an average D-rank Awakened, Jeong Da-hee had always been ignored, ridiculed, and dismissed.
Mocked for her low rank.
Looked down on for her mediocre mana.
Teased for her underwhelming trait, and criticized for her poor swordsmanship.
It’s said that someone who’s lived their whole life poor won’t know how to spend money, even if they suddenly become rich.
Choa was the same.
After spending her whole life being harshly judged as an Awakened, she couldn’t bring herself to feel confident even after a week of effort.
“Everyone’s probably expecting a lot… but if I don’t show any results…”
If that happened, Cheon Hwi—who had proudly stepped in as her master—
would surely be hit with criticism too.
Just as the discouraged Choa was about to voice her concern—
“Hahaha!”
“W-Why are you laughing?!”
Hearing Choa’s words, Cheon Hwi burst into laughter.
Like a studio audience cackling at a TV comedy show, the usually composed and solemn Cheon Hwi wiped away tears as he laughed.
Choa blushed in confusion at the unexpected reaction.
Then, while adjusting the stream settings, Cheon Hwi suddenly turned to look at her, the corners of his lips curling up.
Anyone could see it—his expression was brimming with confidence.
How nice it must be to smile that freely.
Just as Choa was thinking that, Cheon Hwi opened his mouth, his voice still tinged with laughter.
“Miss Choa, do you remember what I told you about the martial artist’s stages of advancement?”
“Y-Yes, I think you said… It goes Third-rate, then Second-rate, First-rate, and then there’s the Peak stage after that…?”
“You remembered well. There are stages beyond the Peak too—like Transcendent Peak and Flower Realm, but we don’t need to worry about those for now.”
What matters most right now is this next part.
With emphasis, Cheon Hwi continued.
“Have you ever thought about how those martial artist stages compare to the Awakened ranks?”
“…Huh?”
Choa let out a dumbfounded sound, eyes going wide at a question she hadn’t even considered.
She looked at him with a blank expression, like a child seeing something amazing for the first time.
Grinning at her look, Cheon Hwi said casually,
“Miss Choa, you’re already at the level of a C-rank Awakened. Even by strict standards, you’re just a step below C-rank.”
“R-Really?!”
Martial artists and Awakened beings are fundamentally different.
A low-level martial artist is just someone with a sturdy body and some skill, to put it plainly, still a human who can die from a bullet.
Meanwhile, even a low-tier Awakened has a Trait, a supernatural ability,
which guarantees a certain baseline of power compared to martial artists.
On the flip side, Awakened beings usually have inferior martial skill
compared to martial artists at the same level.
And unlike Awakened Traits, martial artists don’t have unique or specialized abilities.
Taking that into account, Cheon Hwi had created a rough comparison between the two:
S-rank Awakened ≈ Martial artist at the Profound Realm
A-rank Awakened ≈ Martial artist at the Flower Realm
B-rank Awakened ≈ Martial artist at the Transcendent Peak
C-rank Awakened ≈ First-rate to Peak martial artist
D- and E-rank Awakened ≈ Second-rate and Third-rate martial artists, respectively
If you only looked at the analysis results, Choa’s current level—still at the Second-rate stage—meant her combat ability remained at D-rank.
But Choa was already a D-rank Awakened from the start.
In other words, she had the advantages of both an Awakened and a martial artist.
“She’s a D-rank Awakened with the Trait called Battle Instinct, and now she’s learned a martial art that perfectly complements that Trait, right?”
“Ah…!”
Even setting that aside, the martial art Cheon Hwi had taught her—Blood Heaven Asura Technique—was incredibly powerful.
It was the Blood Demon’s personal technique, the strongest martial art of the Blood Cult, and it could stand shoulder to shoulder with the legendary Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art.
And during the past week of training her, Cheon Hwi had come to realize something else.
“Miss Choa, you’re much more gifted in martial arts than I expected.”
“G-Gifted?”
“Martial talent—something like that. Normally, the term includes not just one’s talent for techniques, but also their comprehension—what we call Five-Star Aptitude.”
Even if someone was born with the Blood Demon’s constitution, that didn’t guarantee they’d also have high comprehension or execution skills in martial arts.
That was something Cheon Hwi had been cautiously worried about.
But to his surprise, Choa possessed martial potential far beyond what he had imagined.
After all, even if she had shortcuts, didn’t she rise from Third-rate to Second-rate in just one week?
A martial artist who forms a dantian by cultivating internal energy through Qi Flow reaches the Third-rate.
Once that internal energy can be circulated to enhance the body’s physical strength, they become Second-rate.
By contrast, Awakened individuals already have enough mana in their bodies to form a dantian from the start, and many can manipulate that mana somewhat intuitively.
The key to Choa’s rapid advancement wasn’t just the fact that she was Awakened, her innate talent and tireless effort played a major role too.
“And don’t forget, she’s only learned the inner cultivation part of Blood Heaven Asura Technique so far.”
“T-That’s true…”
Blood Heaven Asura Technique isn’t a single martial art.
It’s a full collection of techniques created by the Blood Demon, a compilation of countless blood-based techniques and forbidden arts, a set made specifically for the Sacred Blood Body.
Of course, there’s also a dedicated defensive technique and a sword style, and now that Choa had entered into Blood Heaven Asura Technique, it was time for her to begin learning them one by one.
“And the swordsmanship I modified for you, while it’s not advanced enough to be considered a true main martial art, it’s solid and reliable up to the First-rate level.
It’s a highly universal, fundamental style.”
Choa still hadn’t fully realized the extent of her progress.
People are naturally slow to notice their own changes.
Unless they can feel it directly, it often goes unnoticed.
But Cheon Hwi was different.
As someone observing from the outside, and more importantly, as the one who had personally taught Choa, he could clearly see it.
Even though only a week had passed, Choa was already displaying capabilities close to a C-rank Awakened.
So Cheon Hwi had prepared a little segment within the stream to show that off.
“Do you see this mannequin here?”
“Y-Yes…!”
Cheon Hwi used Telekinetic Grasp to pull over a pure-white mannequin
that had been left in a corner of the training room.
Choa tilted her head at the mannequin, which wouldn’t have looked out of place even wearing designer clothes at a department store.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like a completely ordinary white mannequin.
It had no facial features.
Its body was just a bit larger than an average adult male.
There was a faint presence of mana, but not enough to suggest anything special.
Still, seeing the amused curve at the corner of Cheon Hwi’s lips, Choa could tell it was no ordinary object.
“This is a combat training mannequin, recently developed by the Hunter Association’s research team.”
“A-A combat mannequin?!”
“They specifically labeled it ‘for training use,’ so it’s not suitable for actual combat situations, but for training, it performs perfectly.”
Cheon Hwi stood the mannequin upright and activated it, then stepped back a few paces.
The mannequin began to move.
It consumed mana as fuel, and futuristic grooves carved into its body began to glow faintly blue.
Watching the now-active mannequin, Cheon Hwi nodded in satisfaction.
He tapped the mannequin’s chest lightly with the back of his hand and said:
“For today’s stream, Miss Choa, you’ll be sparring against this mannequin.”
“W-Whaaat?! S-Sparring?!”
“Yes. At your current level, Miss Choa, you should be able to take it down without much difficulty.”
Without much difficulty.
But in Choa’s ears—who had been training with Cheon Hwi for a week, those words sounded more like.
It’s not an easy opponent.
Well, of course.
He always made hard things sound like they were nothing.
He’d boost your confidence with clever words, then push you forward, forcing you to learn by facing things head-on.
After spending a week learning his training style, Choa knew this was probably another one of those moments.
Swallowing hard at the appearance of what could be a tough opponent, she braced herself.
“There’s no need to be nervous. Just do your best—just like you’ve been doing all week.”
“O-Okay then…! I-I’ll give it a try…!”
Despite Cheon Hwi’s reassurance, Choa tensed up even more under pressure.
But Cheon Hwi simply smiled at the sight and casually returned to fiddling with his smartphone to finish preparing the stream.
She may be nervous now, but once she actually starts sparring with the mannequin, the tension will melt away soon enough.
That’s what Cheon Hwi believed, and the corner of his lips twitched again with anticipation.
After all, he was very curious to see how the viewers would react once they witnessed Choa’s growth.
“Now then—let’s show the world the results of your week of training.”
With those confident words, his smartphone rose into the air using Telekinetic Grasp, floating gently above.
[Now Streaming / Song Cheon Hwi: 1st Training Results Broadcast]