Valentina POV:

Lissandra sat cross-legged in front of a wooden blackboard I had created. I adjusted my earth glasses and examined her raised hand.

“Do you believe… you have the answer?”

She puffed out her chest; a glint of light flashed through her eyes as she gave me a confident nod.

“Taekwondo is an ancient martial art passed down from generation to generation. However, its original form was somehow lost over time. As a result, when the average person performs a Taekwondo kick, all they can do is shift the air in front of them!”

Lissandra mimicked my demonstration as I held back my laughter. Her purple bang swayed side to side in front of her forehead while her menacing glare rested on the wooden doll I had made.

“+5 points for Lissandra. She’s currently unstoppable! Who can match her?!!”

I manipulated the humanoid golems to bow down in front of her as she pointed her nose to the sky. A cute giggle left her mouth; her happiness spreading to the golems she messed around with.

My lips formed a thin smile at the scene. I didn’t want her to be so serious all the time. It was true that becoming strong in this world was important, but she needed to enjoy herself. I’m sure that’s something her real parents would want.

“Mum, Mum! Look, his hand fell off!”

She laughed as the golems pretended to chase after her, angered by the loss of one of their comrade’s arms. I removed the earth glasses I had created and placed them beside the blackboard.

‘A mother... Ahh... If my parents were still around, they’d kill me for having a child so young~’

I mused to myself as time passed by. Once Lissandra had her fill of fun, she sat down in front of me with burning eyes. Whenever she made that expression, it meant she was ready to learn...

To learn a lot.

“As you already know, Taekwondo lost its original form. Many schools speculated that perhaps there was no original form in the first place. They argued that it was made for the average person, not for those who could use Ki.

Others denied those claims. Instead, they believed that Martial Artists became weaker over time, so the form of Taekwondo changed to accommodate them.

Eventually, the two sides reached a foolish consensus. Their ignorance lead to the burning of all the old Taekwondo scrolls.”

I picked up a stick and tapped the blackboard with it that contained various diagrams.

“Whichever side you choose to believe, the reality is still the same. Taekwondo, much like Boxing, Karate and the other Martial Arts, has become largely obsolete among Ki practitioners. They offer no advantage over your opponent since a Ki enhanced kick is still a kick. The same goes for a punch, so why waste time learning how to throw it differently?”

Lissandra tilted her head to the side, pondering over the explanation she had just heard. Not many people in the martial art world liked to hear this, but it was the truth.

Even if you knew all of the Taekwondo techniques and utilized them... It’d be nothing more than a flashy fighting style. Your kicks would only be as strong as your Ki. Of course, this didn’t factor in the technique aspect of a fight, but even that could only go so far.

Most Ki practitioners either learnt the basics of combat from their teacher or through actual fights. They didn’t pay for Martial Art classes.

“The founder of the Seung Style was dissatisfied with this outcome. No matter how many dans were added to his belt, his kick could never split a mountain in half by itself. So he went on a journey to create True Taekwondo.”

I swiped my hand over the blackboard, erasing its contents as new diagrams took their place.

“It took him 80 years to accomplish his goal and when he did, he returned to the mountain that had become 8x taller. He lowered his centre of gravity; his feet lightly placed on the ground while his Ki oscillated along his Ki Channels. He shifted forward, leaving behind a different coloured afterimage as his foot sliced through the air. His kick didn’t just split the mountain in half, but also the sky above.”

Lissandra leaned forward as the story reached its climax. Her eyes sparkled while she eagerly waited to hear more.

“Put plainly, what he had achieved was the creation of a new ‘Flow of Ki.’ This flow oscillates your Ki back and forth along your Ki Channels, allowing you to enter ‘Sine Wave.’

Staying true to the core concept of ‘Sine Wave,’ your muscles are not only completely relaxed, but your speed and power are magnified based on the Sine Wave you use.

Your body will literally shift to a different wavelength, changing your rhythm and greatly enhancing the next oscillation...”

Lissandra stared at me with slight confusion in her eyes as my words trailed off. I got too caught up in the details of the Seung Style that I forgot to simplify it for her.

“It looks like this.”

I lowered my hand, and my body flickered forward, leaving behind three different coloured silhouettes. I arched my back but kept my raised foot locked in place.

“Woah... Mum, you had... Three more of you?...”

I didn’t finish the motion, instead choosing to lower my leg and move back towards the blackboard. I smiled at her cute reaction before pointing towards the diagrams again.

“What you just saw was when my rhythm, breathing and motion changed. Now, that would normally be considered an opening in some cases, but in the Seung Style, it’s not. Those oscillati... Those afterimages you just saw, they can attack too.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Whaat?? Really?!”

She jumped to her feet and studied the diagram. Lissandra cocked her head to the side, still not able to fully grasp just how all of this was possible.

“Yes, really.”

I tapped her head with the stick, and she sat back down. I decided to put the detailed explanations aside for now and focus on finishing the rest of the story.

“The founder was satisfied. His journey had come to an end, so he returned to the outside world. He set up his own school, and many new students signed up, but there was a problem.”

“Ooo, what was it??”

Lissandra balled her hands into tiny fists that shook up and down.

“The students... were all women. You see, the founder was a really handsome man, so the massive growth of his school quickly spread across the Taekwondo world.

Any males that did join ended up quitting shortly after. They would either worry about impressing the females, or they developed a severe inferiority complex due to always being compared to the founder.”

“That sounds mean...”

Lissandra pitied the men in the story who had just wanted to learn. It was easy to say they should have just ignored it, but I imagine that’s quite hard to do when you have hundreds of beautiful women telling you how bad you are compared to another guy.

“Hmm... In the end, he was left with only female students. He taught them well, and just when a few of them could finally use the base form of the Seung Style; the founder received a formal letter from the Taekwondo Association, telling him to close down his school immediately.”

“But why? He was helping people!”

Lissandra glared at the image showing the TA threatening the Founder.

“They hated him because of one reason: his style proved that Taekwondo was made for those who could use Ki. The Founder’s appeal was denied, and he spoke to his students about the current dilemma. He told them of the risks, but they all encouraged him to continue teaching, so he did.

Later on, in that same month, he arrived back at the dojo and was greeted with a sea of blood. The TA had hired powerful mercenaries to wipe out the entire school as punishment for disobeying their order. Only a few people managed to survive the brutal massacre, and the Founder escaped with them.

He went back into seclusion, but the TA weren’t satisfied: they wanted him and every disciple he ever taught dead. One by one, the survivors died at the hands of mercenaries, and after a hard-fought battle, the Founder succumbed to his injuries, dying alone in the mountains.”

Lissandra’s pupils shook. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists.

“However, the style that he had created lived on through the bloodshed all the way down to me.”

I stepped forward and crouched down in front of Lissandra.

“My sensei died in my arms protecting me from those who now hunt us for fun. I am the last Head of the Seung School; there are no other survivors, just me.”

She took a deep breath, frantically trying to hold back the tears that wanted to erupt out of her eyes.

“Lissandra, I rejected your parents several times, not because of you, but because of me. You being with me is dangerous. You being related to me is dangerous. Whether you’re a child or not, they won’t hesitate to kill you on the spot.”

She clenched her teeth while shifting her gaze to the ground. Lissandra refused to let a single tear drop out of her eyes as I reached the conclusion of today’s lesson.

“Look at how I’m living, Lissandra. Is this really the life you want?”

A shadow fell over her face. She slowly looked up at me with resolute eyes.

“You’re wrong, Mum! You only stay here... Because of me. You’re protecting me... I know they can’t touch you carelessly... Because you’re strong! So... So make me strong like you!!”

‘...’

My heart throbbed as I pulled her into a hug. Her words were wrong. I was strong, but the world was a vast place. So vast that I had to tread carefully.

However, I admired the strength she had in that little body of hers.

‘Sensei... Is this how you felt when I asked you to teach me?’

I narrowed my eyes before a small sigh left my mouth. It wasn’t the same. Lissandra wasn’t just my disciple... She was my daughter.

“...Are you really sure?”

A part of me wanted her to say no; I didn’t want her to carry the same burdens I did.

“I am... I won’t let you fight alone!”

I let go of Lissandra and looked into her large eyes. There wasn’t a shred of fear in them, just an overflowing abundance of determination and resolve.

My eyebrows quivered as I rested my hand on her head. She had already surpassed the level of a black belt in Taekwondo a long time ago. Now all she needed was approval.

The surrounding scenery became pitch black, and a faint light blue fog gently swirled around the base of our ankles. Lissandra stood perfectly still as my lips parted.

“I am the 45th Head of the Seung School. Predecessors, bear witness to the passing of the torch.”

One by one, the will of the previous Heads manifested themselves behind me. They formed rows that led all the way back to the Founder, who stood on top of a large silhouetted mountain, looking down at us.

I removed my hand and stepped out of the way. Their gaze swept over a nervous Lissandra. They looked through her, examining not just the physical, but the mental and spiritual.

A few seconds passed by, and they nodded their heads in unison. The Founder saw the consensus and gazed at Lissandra. The final decision rested with him.

His lips curved upward as he also nodded his head.

I placed my hand back over her forehead while the word for sky, 天, that was present on my forehead, also imprinted itself in the middle of hers.

The previous Heads had accepted her into the fold, and now she carried the will of the 46th Head inside of her.

Lissandra bowed deeply before them, showing both respect and dignity in front of her elders. With the Mark of Acceptance bestowed, the surrounding scenery faded along with the symbol on her forehead.

“How do you feel?”

Sweat poured down her face, soaking into her clothes. Her arms trembled, and she struggled to open her eyes. I observed her small body turn around as she activated the Mark of Acceptance.

‘!’

Lissandra stomped her foot into the ground; her Ki flared out, forcing the walls of the wide room to shudder. A web of cracks formed across their surface from the abrupt explosion of her Ki.

‘!!’

She raised her leg, leaving behind three different coloured afterimages when her foot sliced down to the ground. The force of her kick fragmented the earth and ripped apart the sealed entrance to the tunnel.

A gust of wind rushed inside.

The entire cliff shook. Boulders crashed against the side of the mountain as Lissandra’s eyes opened to thin slits.

“I feel grea...”

Her words trailed off, and she hit the ground with a loud thud. Sweat continued to stream down her face while she laid unconscious.

‘...That was the 1st Sine Wave: The Han Wave. Did she copy me from what I showed her earlier?’

I picked her up and placed her down on the bed. Lissandra gasped for air; her face contorted as several pained whimpers left her mouth. Her small hand gripped mine, refusing to let go.

I saw my younger self overlap with hers; my sensei also holding my hand tight. The intense burden acted as a reminder: a reminder of the weight we carry by using the Seung Style.

Due to Lissandra being the next Head, her burden was heavier, so she would suffer for the rest of the night. It was the result of meeting and standing before all of the previous Heads.

It was common for many masters to chase after students who have talent or potential. Some needed a student who had enough talent to master their techniques, while others wanted a talent to surpass themselves. In turn, raising the quality that would be passed down to future generations.

However, too much talent can be self-destructive if not managed correctly: that was Lissandra. Her talent eclipsed that of the Founder, and judging by his will, he was extremely pleased by this.

‘...I need to seal it.’

I fanned out my fingers toward her forehead, and the Mark of Acceptance responded to my call, revealing the sky symbol. I performed an ancient technique I had stumbled across in Vidris years ago. Through this Flow of Ki, I sealed as much of her talent as I could.

‘...’

Half...

That’s all I could lock away. If her life was ever in any danger, the seal would automatically break. Otherwise, it would remain until she broke through that barrier.

‘It’s enough to alleviate the burden.’

I stroked her cheek while she slept with difficulty. Lissandra now walked the same path I did.