Junhyuk did not know how he had managed to block Arltan’s attacks. He had done so subconsciously. Three minutes and two seconds.

Since becoming a hero, Junhyuk had thought of himself as strong, but against Artlan, blocking was all he was able to do. And he had barely managed that.

Junhyuk grabbed Artlan’s hand, and Artlan helped him up, patting his back lightly.

“You did well,” Artlan said, and he felt his chest warm up. Junhyuk was doing fine, and Artlan had paid him a compliment.

Artlan grabbed another bottle of alcohol, and Sarang healed him in the meantime.

“Are you OK?”

“I learned a lot.”

As Artlan drank, the other heroes paid their bets. They were staring awkwardly at Artlan.

Still drinking, Artlan said, “If you don’t believe me, fight him. I bet he’ll last three minutes against anyone.”

Halo stepped forward then.

“I’m expecting good things from him.”

“Are you going to use your powers?”

“Are you saying I can’t finish the fight in three minutes without my powers?”

Halo was deeply interested, and as he stood in front of Junhyuk, he unsheathed his sword. Junhyuk frowned. Halo was comparing himself to Artlan. They had entered a compet.i.tive mode, and Halo would do his best to win. Would he be able to last three minutes that way?

Junhyuk knew it from the previous party, they fought viciously.

Artlan, Halo and Nudra all had different skills, but they were all hard to deal with.

Junhyuk brandished his swords and stood in front of Halo. He was sure of just one thing. The duel would just be for fun.

Slightly scared, he smiled. Junhyuk was enjoying these fights.

Halo smiled as well.

“You’re smiling?!”

Halo’s demeanor made him even more anxious, and Junhyuk smiled even wider because of that.

“I’m shaking.”

Halo lowered his stance, and Junhyuk could feel how sharp the hero was. Artlan used his acceleration, counterattacks and combos, but Halo attacked in single, powerful strikes.

Junhyuk knew just how heavy Halo’s attack was. He had fought the hero before.

He took a lower stance as well, and Nudra said, “If this keeps up, the three minutes will go by fast.”

Somehow, Halo seemed translucent. His movements were explosive.

Clang!

Junhyuk barely blocked the attack. He was not pushed back, however, and he didn’t let his guard down. Halo would follow that single, heavy strike with another, but none of them were weak. All of Halo’s attacks were incredibly heavy.

Clang!

After blocking twice, Junhyuk bit his lip. He might be able to last three minutes, but he would be badly injured from the exchange.

He paid attention to what Halo was teaching him. Halo was gripping his sword with both hands, making his attacks fast and strong. The attack speed was so fast that Junhyuk was having a hard time dealing with the force generated by it.

He had learned something. He felt like his wrists would break from blocking, but he was getting used to Halo’s speed.

He was getting clued about how to block the strikes, but as time pa.s.sed, he was having a harder time doing it. However, he did not step back.

Almost in berserk mode, Junhyuk blocked one last time. He had reached his limit. At the same time, Halo, having had his sword deflected, ran his sword down to Junhyuk’s wrist and slashed it. Junhyuk dropped his sword then, and Halo aimed his own sword at his neck.

Junhyuk regained his composure and looked up. Halo was smiling at him.

“You did well.”

Junhyuk sighed and grabbed his wrist. Sarang healed him, and the injury on the wrist was no longer.

Halo sighed and added, “Surprising. You really lasted three minutes.” Turning to Artlan, he continued, “Three minutes and one second. I’m better than you.”

“Hm… I took thirty seconds to evaluate his skills.”

Halo’s brow furrowed, and he went back to his seat. The hero grabbed a drink and looked at Nudra.

“You should teach him.”

Nudra took a moment to think before getting up. He had his hands behind his back and, with a smirk, he said, “I should teach you something. Do you want to rest first?”

Junhyuk put opened and closed the hand with the injured wrist before grabbing his sword again. He was tired, but he didn’t want to stop now.

Nudra smiled at him and said, “Surprising. You still want to fight me.” After staring at him, the old man added, “Try to last a while.”

Nudra took one big step toward him, and Junhyuk swung both swords at the hero. Junhyuk attacked, but Nudra moved seamlessly, closing in on him, and end extended his fist toward Junhyuk. The fist looked light and soft as a feather, so Junhyuk did not respond to it in time.

When he finally attempted to block the strike, the speed of Nudra’s hand had increased immensely.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

Junhyuk was thrown back, rolling across the ground until hitting the wall behind him. He vomited a pool of blood, tried to get up, and vomited even more blood, taking a knee then.

Sarang healed him quickly. That result was shocking to him. Why did Nudra’s attack look so slow?

Junhyuk didn’t even last three seconds. Meanwhile, Artlan and Halo were talking to Nudra.

“What did you do to the kid?”

“That’s not a power, but it’s almost like one!”

Nudra laughed and replied, “Just say you are jealous.”

Vera stuck her tongue out at him and said, “Old man, you are too much.”

Nudra laughed and gave him a bottle. After taking a swig from it, Junhyuk asked, “What was that?”

Nudra whispered to him, “My secret technique.”

Junhyuk wanted to learn it. Even though he trained with swords, he still wanted to learn it.

“Can you teach it to me?”

Nudra laughed and replied, “You are already learning too many things as it is.”

“So, I must master my own skills first.”

“Of course. You should focus on one thing before trying to learn another.”

Junhyuk nodded. He couldn’t learned everything he wanted.

He looked into himself. Sparring was hard, but he learned a lot from it.

Artlan signaled for him, and Junhyuk took a seat.

“I’ll call that you swordsmanship. Train harder and make it better.” Artlan poured him a drink and added, “You did well.”

“Thank you.”

Junhyuk drank it all in one shot, and Halo refilled his gla.s.s.

“Your defensive skills have increased, but you must also increase your offensive skills.”

“I’ll show you those later.”

“Drink up. We’ll spar some more later.”

“Yes.”

Junhyuk took the shot, and Nudra refilled his gla.s.s for him.

“This is just the beginning.”

Junhyuk knew that as well. He would have lasted longer if he had used his powers, but he didn’t think he would have won. Junhyuk couldn’t measure up to his teachers yet.

His heart pounded at the thought of fighting them in the tournament.

Junhyuk took the shot and said, “Teach me more.”

Artlan emptied his bottle and said, “You are my student, so you can’t lost in the first round of the tournament. I’ll teach you.”

Junhyuk smiled and replied, “I’ll work hard!”

Vera, with her arms resting on Sarang’s shoulders, said, “Sarang, we should practice. I’ll teach you what it means to fight with magic.”

The training facility repaired itself, so the heroes could go all out in there. Sparring was essential for mages as well.

After some thought, Gongon walked up to Nudra.

“Human, when I transform, I fight barehanded. Can you teach me anything?”

Nudra smiled at Gongon and asked, “We aren’t in the Dimensional Battlefield, so how long does your transformation last?”

“One month, and there’s plenty of mana here.”

“Do you want to spar with me?”

Gongon transformed, and Nudra smiled at the hatchling.

“You’ll be the first dragon to learn human martial arts.”

“It’s rare for dragons to ask humans for favors.”

After staring at Junhyuk, Nudra said, “I have nothing to do, so I’ll teach you. It’ll be hard.”

“I’m a dragon. I learn fast.”

“Haha! Sure.”

Diane smacked her lips and said, “I want to grab his b.u.t.t.”

Layla walked up to her.

“I learned to move from you. Can you teach me anything else?”

“It’ll be hard for a human like you to learn our techniques.”

“Expect good things from me.”

“Is Halo OK with this?”

“Halo? He has nothing left to teach me.”

“He said that? Can you defeat him now?”

“No.”

“Then, why does he not have anything else to teach you?”

“Now, I’m supposed to learn on my own.”

“Humans often say that. I can’t teach you archery, but I’ll teach you other skills.”

“Thank you.”

Elise watched every hero pair up with a teacher and smacked her lips. Her style of fighting was different. She did not use her body to attack and she spent most of her time in her lab.

She got up, and at that moment, someone grabbed her b.u.t.t.

“Ahh!”

Who was it that grabbed her b.u.t.t? Elise turned to look at the culprit and saw Diane there.

“I like firm b.u.t.ts. I don’t like them soft like yours.” Looking at Elise, Diane said, “You should learn how to control your body.”

Elise’s eyes beamed. Diane had moved incredibly fast.

“Can I learn?”

“You won’t be like an elf, but you’ll move faster.”

“Then, teach me.”

Junhyuk smiled when he saw his team was learning from Artlan’s team. At that moment, Artlan said, “We don’t have time to spare. We should start training now. Get up.”

Junhyuk got up and brandished his swords. Artlan did the same. Without hesitation, Junhyuk attacked first.