ch13

“Teach me martial arts?”

I had actually expected it to some extent.

Golb nodded at my question, and Silb stared at my face, grinning foolishly, then hurriedly nodded along.

It seems only Golb wants to learn martial arts itself, and Silb is just tagging along.

“You know it doesn’t make sense, right?”

I leaned against Rudolph’s neck and rested my chin on my left arm.

“Our meeting wasn’t exactly friendly, but fundamentally, you’re a giant who eats people.”

Then, pointing to myself with my right hand, I said,

“In my case, it’s a matter of consequence. If I were weaker than you, I would have been eaten, or at best, become Silb’s toy.”

“That’s not true… Elf isn’t a toy…”

He frantically waved his hands in surprise, but that’s what makes him even more cruel, being so ignorant and innocent.

Silb’s mind doesn’t properly consider the difference between an Elf and a giant.

If I were actually weak, I might have had a horrific experience as a sentient being, to the point where being eaten would have been preferable.

“I don’t think the Elves I teach would be defeated by you either, but should I give power to a species that might become a natural enemy?”

“That’s…”

“Look.”

I raise my right arm.

The sleeve of the loose martial arts uniform slides down, revealing an arm that looks like a dainty child’s arm.

However, the two of them, who had been beaten unconscious by it, turned pale.

“It’s such a small arm. In terms of weight, your forearm is probably a thousand times heavier.”

Golb looked at his right forearm.

The collision with me had shattered it from the knuckles to the ulna.

Even with the giant’s transcendent vitality, it wasn’t getting better yet.

“Your strong forearm, which can throw a hundred thousand pound boulder, was also shattered by my reed-like arm. And that’s the power of martial arts.”

“Of course, not everyone who learns martial arts becomes like this. My case is special. But it’s that innate Divine Power. Even that alone is a disaster for humans. Elves can’t easily ignore it either.”

“You already possess that much power and are a top predator, consuming a large amount in nature, simply because your race is a giant. If you learn martial arts and become stronger, you’ll be unleashing a disaster upon the world, even with the mission of an ecosystem Regulator given to you by your mother.”

As an unlearned person, curiosity about what would happen if a creature with such physical conditions possessed martial arts is natural, but considering the impact it would have on the world, I couldn’t easily overlook it.

I released my chin from my hand, stood up straight, and continued speaking.

“Above all, a martial artist has one rule when bestowing their martial arts to a successor.”

“…What is it?”

“非人不傳 (bī rén bù chuán)”

Golb, looking disappointed at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to receive martial arts, questioned me.

“非人不傳?”

“It means you can’t teach someone who isn’t human.”

“…Giants are a branch of humans.”

“That’s not what I mean by human.”

Martial arts in the Central Plains bestowed many transcendent powers upon humans, but it was also the culprit behind great tragedies.

Like a sword has no eyes, martial arts is ultimately just a great tool, and what you do with it depends on the person who possesses it.

Among the things that happened before I was even born in my previous life, there were huge bloodbaths like the righteous and demonic war, and it wasn’t difficult to find those who abused the common people with their paltry power, believing in the inviolability of the government due to the power of the martial world.

Countless large and small bloodbaths have occurred in the history of the martial world due to lost divine arts falling into the hands of those who lack character.

Therefore, prestigious families and sects that inherit excellent, but equally strong and dangerous martial arts, strive to cultivate character as much as they achieve in martial arts.

“I’m talking about the morals and conduct of a person.”

“In the first place, why do you need to have more power than you already do? In my case, you can think of it as a natural disaster, but living according to your instincts is enough with what you already have.”

At those words, Golb slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with intense emotion.

“I want to go back to the village.”

“Village? You mean the village of giants you used to live in?”

Golb nodded.

“The number of giants who can live in the giants’ village has been fixed for some time.”

“We need dozens of times more of everything, whether it’s clothes, weapons, or food, than other creatures.”

“When the village can no longer withstand the consumption, a duel is held each time to determine which giants will remain in the village.”

“My father lost in that duel and died, and my mother and we became Wandering Giants.”

Golb said, sounding aggrieved.

“Exiled giants have nothing. Besides, things outside aren’t suitable for giants to use, like these clothes. Something is always lacking. Exiled giants are always short on food or something, so they wander endlessly until they die.”

“So, when the selection duel takes place, you have to defeat the village’s warriors and re-enter, but they are giants who have survived each duel and have been well-fed and well-managed in the village.”

“Until now, no Wandering Giant who has been exiled has ever defeated a village giant and re-entered the village. Frankly, if I were alone, I would have challenged them whether I died this way or that way, but…”

Golb looked at his younger brother.

And probably his mother, Bronya, too.

Especially in the case of his younger brother, Silb, his intelligence was very low.

A giant with poor fuel efficiency and only strong strength wouldn’t survive long.

For a Wandering Giant, where even a few failed hunts have a significant impact, the lack of intelligence is a major weakness.

Because nature is survival of the fittest.

However, the more I heard about the giants, the stranger it became.

‘Hearing about it, it seems like the giants have a fundamental design problem.’

Generally, they are just creatures that eat and grow, so they are close to a disaster for the ecosystem, so I understand, but the way they control the population is too violent.

In the case of Elves, they are destined to live long lives, but they are only allowed to have one romantic relationship.

Having children is also not easy, but fundamentally, forming a relationship itself is not easy.

Even considering bereavement, the soul and body do not allow a second partner.

Even so, Elves consume fewer natural resources than ordinary creatures, so even if the population increases, Elves are a species that can adapt and live in various ways.

In comparison, in the case of giants, except for the ecology near the giants’ village, almost no space in the world is even a suitable environment for giants to live in.

And to survive, they kill each other at regular intervals to exile them and maintain the population.

‘In some ways, it even feels like the Gu technique.’

In my previous life’s Central Plains, there was a secret technique to fill a narrow jar with insects or animals that had deadly poison, make them eat each other, and then create the last one remaining.

The last one, filled with poison, was used as a material for vicious curses and was itself a powerful poison.

Is it too much of a leap to think that the giants are being confined to the giants’ village to allow only the strong giants to survive?

I need to investigate the giants’ village as well.

I can’t simply feel sorry for them and interfere with the giants’ rules, or risk making the already dangerous giants even stronger with martial arts.

However, if necessary…

“If I were to teach you martial arts…”

At those words, Golb’s head shot up.

“I’ll do anything!”

“Even if it means betraying your own kind as a result?”

He flinched at those words, then slowly pondered.

And soon, as if he had come to a conclusion, he nodded.

“They’re the ones who exiled us anyway, and this guy and Mom are the most important to me. As long as it doesn’t harm my family…”

“That’s enough. I also hope that there will never be a need for you to do that in the first place.”

I slowly stated the other conditions.

“And don’t eat humans.”

“Humans?”

“Elves and humans look similar, and if you eat humans, you’ll subconsciously consider Elves as food as well. I don’t want to do anything that harms my own kind.”

“I understand.”

“If you break this, I’ll kill you and your brother myself, since I planted the seed.”

At my quiet declaration, he swallowed hard.

“The reason I didn’t kill you last time, even though I was attacked, is nothing special. You weren’t a threat to me, and you were just living your own way as Wandering Giants. Elves only hunt as much as necessary. They rarely take lives unless it deviates from the overall natural order. But this is different.”

I revealed my killing intent for the first time outside the forest.

The surrounding energies resonated with my will and dominated the space.

In the space that followed my will, where it felt like everything in the world was showing hostility, their faces turned pale, and they couldn’t even breathe properly.

“As the martial artist Araya, I cannot tolerate the martial arts that originated from me harming my own kind. Therefore, if you break this promise, I can assure you that your proud, large body will come to understand the hearts of the humans you used to mock as dwarves. Will you still learn martial arts?”

As I withdrew my energy, Silb collapsed like a kite with a broken string, and Golb gasped for the breath he had been holding back.

“Si…Silb?”

“He’s not dead. So, what’s your answer?”

“…I will. I will never eat humans for the rest of my life. Neither will my brother and mother.”

“Good. Then I will impart martial arts, but…hmm…”

It’s embarrassing to say this after putting on such a show.

“I can’t teach you the entire martial arts.”

“What do you mean…”

It would be absurd if I said that I couldn’t teach you after saying all that grand stuff, but I have my reasons.

“To be precise, I can’t teach you the 심의 (sim-ui) – the mental aspect. All I can teach you right now is the 형 (hyeong) – the form. I can’t impart the 심의 (sim-ui) contained within right now.”

“……”

“Don’t look at me with such a dissatisfied expression. There are two reasons for this.”

I held out my index and middle fingers and continued explaining.

“The first is that martial arts is only martial arts when the form and the intention you want to achieve are aligned.”

“In martial arts, intention is direction, and the aura that empowers the form while following the direction is inner energy. In martial arts, it’s called 내공 (nae-gong).”

“The problem is that this aura is fundamentally an energy from outside, not the power that the creature originally possesses, and fundamentally, circulating or moving this energy within the body involves danger.”

“That’s why you need 심법 (sim-beop) – mental cultivation. It’s to gather the energy of nature into your body and control it with your will.”

“The problem is that the mental cultivation I possess is tailored to the Elf’s body, and it’s likely to be very different from the giant’s characteristics. In this case, the possibility of it being executed properly is low, but even if it is executed, it’s likely to be dangerous.”

“I can’t impart it right now because I don’t know exactly how the giant’s body is structured.”

“The second is that I can’t trust you yet. If you only learn what you need and don’t keep your promise when I’m not around, how great would the damage be, even if I kill you?”

“I’ll teach you the form and leave, so you should accumulate virtue so that I can trust you. If you meet me again and you have kept your promise to the end, I will accept your 배사지례 (bae-sa-ji-rye) – formal apprenticeship ceremony and impart the mental cultivation to you.”

Golb nodded in agreement, as if he thought there was some truth in my words.

“Then, let’s start by looking at your form, brothers. I’ll check the overall coordination, starting with the flow of your bodies. Wake Silb and have him join in.”

Soon, the prepared giants swung their fists from their positions.

“Swing with all your might.”

Though their movements were clumsy, perhaps due to their enormous mass, simply swinging created a sound like the wind tearing apart.

Each time the giants moved their bodies, I checked their muscles, the transfer of power and center, and the twisting of their forms.

“Stop, I understand for now.”

At those words, Silb collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, and Golb leaned against a large rock beside him, barely standing.

“We need to address the first issue right away.”

Perhaps because their immense strength was enough, their method of using their bodies was a complete mess.

“My giant disciples. The first problem you must overcome to learn form.”

I asserted, recalling the giants’ awkward postures.

“You aren’t swinging at all.”