(Nava's POV)
It's been a week since that weird blonde man decided to take me in as his student. Ever since then, my days have been filled with training, lectures, and endless questions that only made me more confused.
He started by teaching me about this world—about something called "Honkai."
According to him, Honkai is a corruptive entity that tests humanity itself, forcing it to evolve beyond its limits. It evolves alongside humanity, mirroring our progress and growing stronger the more we do.
I remember how confused I was when he first explained that to me.
"What do you mean we're supposed to fight something that evolves as we evolve?" I asked.
He just smiled and said that the only way to defeat it was to nurture a being capable of matching its level of evolution—a being born of humanity, yet beyond it. He told me there already existed one being perfect for defeating it… and another, equally perfect, to replace it.
I never understood why he always called that entity "it," as if naming it would give it power.
After that, he began sharing what he called "public knowledge," the kind of stuff known by people aware of the supernatural. But he also taught me things that, according to him, no one else alive knows.
He told me stories about the Flame Chasers and the Divine Keys.
What caught my interest most was the Flame Chaser of Decimation.
"You mean to tell me," I asked, "that a mortal managed to fight on equal grounds with something divine?"
He nodded, almost proud. "Indeed. Even if he was only the third strongest, his sheer strength and modification allowed him to stand against gods."
That man's greatest feat, apparently, was defeating a Herrscher as a human.
I still don't know if he even was human after that.
Anyway, back to that weird guy's lessons.
He finally told me his name yesterday.
Adam.
Something about that name felt off to me. Maybe because it's the name of the first human in Christianity—or maybe it was just my gut screaming that this guy is trouble.
Teacher Adam explained that there are thirteen Herrschers in total, though the previous era had fourteen.
He even listed them for me:
Reason, Void, Thunder, Wind, Ice, Death, Flame, Sentience, Stars, Dominance or Legion, Binding, Corruption, and finally—Finality.
Then he looked straight at me and said I had the potential to become one of them.
Yeah, I was shocked too. Me? A Herrscher? I could barely survive his insane lessons, and now I'm supposed to believe I can stand among monsters that shape worlds?
After that, the lectures ended, and the real nightmare began.
He started training me in combat.
Boxing. Kickboxing. Taekwondo. Muay Thai. And something he called Renewal Taekwondo.
And that last one? That's where my suffering truly began.
After the endless training sessions, he started teaching me the focus behind each martial art, as if that somehow made my pain feel more justified.
He said Renewal Taekwondo was a "stylish martial art emphasizing speed, precision, and the exploitation of weak points."
Yeah, stylish. Sure.
He also said it required me to kick three times in under a second while accurately targeting an opponent's head.
Three times.
In. One. Second.
And apparently, that's normal.
I swear this martial art wasn't meant for humans. I had to study human anatomy just to know which weak points to target. My brain was about to explode trying to memorize which nerves connected where while my legs were ready to give out.
But somehow, I managed to learn four moves from it: Baek Rok, Baekdu, Axe, and Ground Drawer.
Baek Rok was a 180-degree kick. I had to kick a Honkai beast twenty-nine feet into the ground before he accepted that I'd learned it.
Baekdu was a knee attack—I had to send another beast flying thirty meters with a combo just for him to nod in approval.
Axe was, well, a jumping axe kick. He made me split the ground ten feet deep with it before he said, "Good job." My leg is still screaming from that one.
And the hardest of all? Ground Drawer. A spinning kick that grinds the floor itself. I had to destroy an entire wall just from the wind pressure before he said it was acceptable.
By the end of it, my whole lower body was on fire.
And when he told me there were recoilless forms of each move, I almost started crying blood.
Luckily, he said I didn't have to learn those. For now.
Then, as if he hadn't tortured me enough, he decided to teach me how to cook.
Cooking.
While my legs were still killing me.
That blonde devil really knows how to make me suffer.
Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, he tells me I have to learn two more Renewal Taekwondo moves: Hwechook and Nigawa Kick.
And—get this—I had to learn both within a week.
Hwechook, according to him, was a spinning kick that gathered momentum from rapid rotation at a central point. I barely understood half of that.
Nigawa Kick was, apparently, a stylish backflip kick that used the momentum of the flip to stomp on another enemy's face mid-air.
He even demonstrated it. The ground cracked.
I still remember how my stomach twisted when he mentioned "recoilless" forms of both moves. What kind of psycho trains someone by casually breaking physics?
I swear, my legs were already shivering just thinking about it.
And then came the final test.
"Little Nava, I will see your progress in martial arts. Let's spar," he said out of nowhere.
The next thing I knew, we were standing in what used to be an arena—a broken, ruined place that looked like it hadn't seen peace in decades.
When he said "Go," I didn't hesitate. I dashed forward and launched a Baek Rok kick, putting everything I had into it.
Blocked. Effortlessly.
Then he used that random dragon technique again, and I was flying before I even processed what happened.
I rolled to a stop, coughing dust.
I got up, charged again, and went for his weak points with a flurry of punches.
He blocked all of them. Effortlessly.
"Focus your rhythm, little Nava," he said calmly. "Your intent must follow your flow."
I wanted to punch his stupid serene face.
Fine. Let's see him handle Ground Drawer.
I spun low and kicked out—but the bastard mirrored me! He used Ground Drawer too, and worse, hurled debris at me mid-spin like it was part of the technique.
"You didn't tell me that was allowed!" I shouted as I dodged a flying rock.
"Adaptation," he said with a grin. "That's the essence of mastery."
For a full hour, I threw everything I had at him—every punch, kick, and spin I'd learned. And for a full hour, he countered all of them, showing me better versions of my own attacks.
Forty-six times. That's how many times I got sent flying.
When I finally collapsed, panting in the corner, he stood there without a scratch, smiling like this was just a light workout.
"I have a question, old man," I said between breaths.
"What's the strongest move in Renewal Taekwondo for you?"
He paused, thinking. Then he smiled that calm, terrifying smile.
"For me, it's Jin Hoechook. It draws in all surrounding energy, compresses it, and releases it like a collapsing star. It creates a black-hole-like force that drains the enemy's very essence."
I just stared at him.
He's serious.
A black hole.
I couldn't even make a proper tornado kick, and he's talking about black holes?!
After the spar, though, he finally let me rest. He even fed me—a warm meal that almost made me forget the pain.
Sometimes, he's nice.
Other times, he's the literal devil.
But as I sat under the broken arena's twilight, my body aching yet my heart strangely calm, a thought came to me.
Maybe this pain means something.
Maybe by mastering Renewal Taekwondo, by understanding his teachings, I could finally break free from everything that held me back.
Yeah… my dream is clear now.
To perfect Renewal Taekwondo.
To perfect myself.
And one day, to stand alongside my teacher in that final battle he keeps talking about—the battle against Finality itself.
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I was having fun creating this specific chapter that's why it's long
Nava's personality is what I would imagine is the personality of a perfect MC in my visions innocent always rambling but had a true dream of a high caliber
God of high school reference is heavy in this chapter by the way I liked the renewal taekwando and I've already finished the manga or manhwa whatever it's called and it's actually my very first read that is not anime it's the first story I ever finished too
So I'm a big fan of renewal taekwando Jin Mori is just the best In my eyes but yeah that's all the motivations I got to do this is because I saw a god of highschool video while scrolling TikTok and now I want to make a chapter heavily influenced by it
Adam also is a prodigy at combat too by the way that's why he already knew all of the renewal taekwando and other basic martial arts some Chinese one too it's part of his wish to ROB
Edit: I miscounted on the amount of herrschers I didn't even notice it till I read it by every word by word