The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43. Interlude – Berald’s Martial Arts
After parting ways with Juliet.
I headed to the Training Ground with Berald.
‘So the Ryu Family truly lives up to its name.’
Berald already possessed a private Training Ground that I had been trying to acquire with gold I’d… ah, ‘borrowed’ from Juliet.
“A private Training Ground really is convenient. There’s even a sound-dampening barrier set up around it.”
“The family provided it for me.”
Berald smiled with a hint of bitterness as he changed into comfortable athletic wear.
He loosened up his body with some light warm-up exercises and asked.
“But why did you suddenly suggest I learn martial arts? Did you perhaps forget that I’m a Magic Department Candidate, sir?”
The way he said ‘also’ suggested he’d been frequently mistaken for a Warrior Department member.
‘Well, with that build, who would believe he’s in the Magic Department?’
In fact, when I first met him in the supplementary class, I naturally assumed he was in the Warrior Department.
‘I even thought he was a senior older than me.’
That Berald turned out to be a Magic Department Candidate a year below me.
Now that I’m so accustomed to it, it doesn’t strike me as particularly odd, but it was quite a shock when I first saw him.
“There’s no school rule saying Magic Department Candidates can’t learn martial arts, is there?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Berald scratched his head with an awkward smile.
“Alright, fine. If it’s just a light learning experience.”
Berald clenched his fists and nodded.
“Good. Then shall we start with a quick test?”
“A test?”
“I need to know your current level beforehand.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.”
Berald took a stance as if he understood.
“Huh.”
He raised both fists to face height and lowered his body.
His breathing shallow and controlled. His muscles relaxed, ready to burst forward at any moment.
A stance assumed naturally, without anyone teaching him.
‘This guy really is a natural when it comes to throwing punches.’
I chuckled and stood at a slight distance from Berald.
I didn’t bother taking a proper fighting stance.
Leisurely, as if I’d just woken from sleep.
I straightened my back with my arms hanging loosely at my sides.
“….”
Berald’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he observed my posture.
There was nothing in my stance that suggested I was preparing for combat.
“Hmm. It seems you’ve gained quite the enlightenment in the time we haven’t seen each other, sir.”
Did he think he was being disrespected?
Berald fixed me with a fierce glare, tightening his clenched fists with renewed force.
“But there’s one thing you should know, brother.”
The stigma carved into Berald’s left chest blazed with light, and mana surged through his entire body.
“I may not know magic, but I’m quite confident in my fists.”
Boom!
With a heavy sound that shook the Training Ground floor, Berald’s body shot forward with terrifying momentum.
The distance closed in the blink of an eye.
A fist brimming with mana tore through the air with a vicious whistle, aimed directly at my philtrum.
Indeed, just as Berald claimed, it was such a refined strike that it was hard to believe it came from someone who had never properly learned martial arts.
“That works out well.”
Tap.
I leisurely extend my hand toward the approaching fist.
Like a hawk snatching its prey, I seize Berald’s wrist, sweep his ankle, and roughly yank the captured wrist toward me.
“I’m rather confident in my fists too.”
In an instant, Berald’s massive frame lifts into the air.
A sky flip.
The martial technique I had learned directly from Berald himself now inverted his body against the flow of time.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Berald crashes onto the Training Ground floor, back first.
He gasps out fragmented breaths, groaning in pain.
“What, is it over already?”
“Hgh… I’m not sure what it was, but I’ve definitely gained some enlightenment!”
Berald staggers to his feet and plants them firmly once more.
Boom, boom, boom!
As if an earthquake had struck, the Training Ground trembles beneath his feet as his two-meter frame charges forward.
“You think you can just bulldoze your way through everything with raw power.”
Rather than evade Berald’s terrifying charge, I rush toward him instead.
A fist swings down viciously.
Berald’s fist and mine collide.
Crack!
The moment my fist meets his, something explodes with a sound, and Berald’s fist bounces backward.
“Grrrrgh!”
Though Berald possessed far greater raw physical strength and far more mana infused in his fists.
It was Berald who stumbled backward, clutching his fist and groaning.
I take a long stride toward the retreating Berald.
“If the strongest always won, why would martial technique even exist?”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Now my fists rain down across Berald’s entire body.
“Ugh! Hack!”
First, a strike to the philtrum.
Then two successive blows to the throat and solar plexus.
I swept his legs out from under him to collapse his stance, then brought my hand down like a blade across his head.
“Gack!”
Berald clutched his crown with both hands and let out a bizarre cry.
“Want more?”
“No, no! Stop! I yield!”
The gap between us was so overwhelming that there was no need to continue the match.
Berald blinked in disbelief as he stared at me.
“Damn it, where on earth did you learn techniques like that?”
“That’s….”
At Berald’s question, I could only trail off and let out a wry chuckle.
“…Who knows?”
How could I explain it?
That it was you who taught me these techniques.
That because you existed.
I was able to become what I am.
“Ugh. Well, if it’s hard to talk about, you don’t need to tell me.”
Berald shook his head and pushed himself up.
“Still, I had some confidence in my fists… but I suppose Warrior Department Candidates truly are on a different level.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“I’d say among all the Warrior Department Candidates, there are only a handful who could beat you in bare-handed combat.”
Berald already possessed such exceptional skill that it was impossible to believe he had never trained in martial arts before.
Raw, innate strength that could only be described as natural talent, backed by an immense reserve of mana.
Weighty yet sharp punches that showed no sign of being untrained.
Even the instinctive sense to regulate his breathing in sync with his movements.
‘He’s definitely someone born with a gift for fighting.’
The reason he couldn’t mount a single proper resistance against me despite possessing such natural talent was simple.
‘Because my opponent was me.’
It felt awkward to say it myself.
Honestly, the gap between Berald and me now was so vast that mere talent couldn’t possibly bridge it.
Even Lucas Kane would be no match for me in bare-handed combat, so how could Berald, who hadn’t even properly trained in martial arts, stand against me?
‘Don’t think it unfair.’
Because it was you who made me what I am today.
“By the way, what you just showed me… is that really martial arts?”
“Hm?”
“It felt a bit different from the martial arts I know.”
Berald continued, his eyes narrowed.
“When our fists collided earlier, right? Before I even touched your fist, something burst out and my fist just bounced back.”
“….”
“How do I put this… it’s hard to explain precisely. It felt less like pure martial arts and more like something mixed with magic, you know?”
“…Heh.”
A hollow laugh escaped my lips of its own accord.
‘So, no matter what anyone says, this is a martial art you created.’
I never expected him to grasp it so quickly.
“That’s right. This martial art can only be properly used if you’ve learned magic.”
“A martial art that requires learning magic to use…? Such a thing exists?”
“It does.”
As I nodded quietly, Berald let out a low hum.
“What’s the name of that martial art?”
“The name?”
“A martial art of that caliber surely has its own name, doesn’t it?”
“A name, you say…”
I stifled a chuckle and shook my head.
Suddenly.
A fragment from my past life brushed across my mind.
-Hey, now that I think about it, what’s the name of this martial art?
-The name?
-Yeah. I mean, even though you’ve borrowed from here and there, you’re essentially the one who created this martial art, right?
-Hmm. I haven’t really thought of a specific name.
-Come on, you created a martial art of this level and it doesn’t even have a name? That doesn’t make sense.
-Hahahaha! If a name is necessary, I’ll call it “Berald’s Martial Art”!
-No, you’re seriously going with that name?
-Doesn’t it sound impressive?
I shook my head at Berald’s shrug back then.
-There are so many fancier names out there like Tai Chi or Five Elements Fist…
-Haha! But I like Berald’s Martial Art!
-Why?
-Across this vast Continent, only I and you know of this martial art.
-So?
-You have an immortal body, so you’ll live for an extremely long time, won’t you? Our parents were exactly like that, and as they aged, they’d forget even their own children’s names.
-….
-But no matter how long you live, a technique ingrained in your body throughout your lifetime—you wouldn’t forget its name even after a thousand years, would you?
That’s why.
Berald’s Martial Art.
-Even if I die, please remember at least the name.
-Who’s dying, you fool?
-Hehe. Anyway, since it’s a martial art I created, I’ll name it as I please!
-Sigh. Fine, I understand. Berald’s Martial Art—let’s call it that. So… stop spouting nonsense about dying.
-Ha-ha! Of course! Do I look like the kind of man who dies so easily? I’ll live until I crush that Demon God bastard’s skull and smear his brains on the walls!
-Sure, sure. When that time comes, I’ll clean up the mess for you.
Not long after that incident.
Berald collapsed before me as a cold corpse.
“….”
Crack.
Thick tendons bulged between my clenched fists.
“Huh? Brother? Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just lost in thought for a moment.”
“Hmm. So what’s the name of that martial art technique anyway?”
“The name is….”
I turned to look at Berald and shrugged my shoulders.
“It doesn’t have a separate name.”
“What? A martial art technique of that caliber doesn’t even have a name?”
“Well, martial arts in general are considered an unconventional discipline anyway.”
“Even so….”
Berald sighed and shook his head in disapproval.
“How about this then?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“If you ever master this martial art technique completely… we’ll attach your name to it.”
“My name?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and continued speaking.
“We’ll call it the Berald Martial Art.”
“No, how could I attach my name to a martial art I learned from you, brother? If anything, your name should be attached to it.”
“Stop complaining. If your older brother says it’s done this way, then it’s done this way. Or do you want me to refuse to teach you?”
“Ugh.”
Berald swallowed hard with a troubled expression, then nodded.
“Understood. When I eventually master the martial art technique you taught me, I’ll call it that.”
“Good. Then let’s start right away.”
I turned to face Berald and held up two fingers.
“There are two major ways to handle mana. One is circulating through the body’s interior to influence the inner realm. The other is releasing it outward to influence the outer realm.”
The core principle of the Berald Martial Art was harmonizing these two methods appropriately.
“W-wait, why the sudden lecture on mana? Aren’t you supposed to teach me the martial art?”
“Just listen. You need to understand this to use the martial art I’m teaching you.”
“I’m terrible with theory….”
Berald trailed off with a dejected expression.
Seeing him already intimidated before we’d even begun, I felt an urge to smack him upside the head.
‘I need to be patient.’
Wasn’t my own reaction exactly like that when Berald first suggested I try learning martial arts?
“Generally speaking, when we say ‘magic,’ we’re referring to the act of expelling mana outward to affect the external world—in other words, the macroscopic realm.”
“Is that so?”
“…Is that so? You learned all of this back in your first year, for crying out loud.”
“Ahem, ahem! That’s strange… I don’t recall learning it.”
“…”
I need to be patient.
Patient, that’s what I need to be.
In my past life, even that bastard Berald must have been frustrated as hell on the inside, yet he taught me without a single harsh word.
“Anyway… the truly important thing here isn’t the macroscopic realm where visible phenomena occur, but rather the microscopic realm.”
“Ooh, the microscopic realm! So that’s what you meant!”
Berald nodded knowingly, stroking his chin as if enlightened.
‘Right. Even if he skipped classes, he should at least know the basics at this level.’
I was about to continue my explanation, feeling secretly pleased, when—
“I had no idea your tastes aligned with mine, sir!”
“What?”
What tastes are the same?
“Hehehehe! Surely any man would agree that maturity is the finest quality, wouldn’t you say?”
“No.”
What on earth is he talking about?
“A woman bearing the sorrow and loneliness of lost companionship! That rich, profound allure you cannot find in inexperienced youngsters is truly…”
“Shut it.”
“Hm? Shut what, sir?”
“Your mouth. Now.”
This idiot.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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