"It means no wasted movements. No misspent energy. Everything goes where I want it to go, every time."

"And why do you want that?"

...where's this line of questioning even going? She's not at all sure how to answer this question.

He catches that confusion. "Surely you don't just want perfect control of your body for itself? You walk to get places. You talk to be understood. You fight to defeat your foe. What are you perfecting your body for?"

"To drive away Surt." If that's how far he wants to go, that's her end goal.

Fist Joo Tae-seo raises both eyebrows in a rare display of surprise. "I would not have expected that from you."

She quashes the instinct to make an annoyed noise. It'd be disrespectful. "There is nothing more important in the world. I don't want... glory or fame. And I'm not... I don't talk about it because everyone thinks it's childish. That I'm just saying it. So I don't say it. But I want to do it. It's only going to be people who want to do it that will do it, so someone has to."

His surprise is replaced by understanding while she speaks. "You want to be perfect to defeat—"

"Drive away," she says, then winces. "My apologies, Fist-nim."

"Think nothing of it. But elaborate?"

"...I don't know that Surt can be defeated. Odin tried. Thanatos tried. But he can be sealed, and driven away. ...if it is possible to defeat him, I want to defeat him. But what's important is that he's gone."

"I see."

...if he's not going to say anything she also won't.

After a few thoughtful seconds he resumes walking. "So you seek perfect control of your own body to use it in a fight against a terrible foe. You have an overriding goal in service of which you do all other things."

"Yes."

"That is the way of the monk. Nothing more, nothing less. It is to live in service of your goal, work in service of your goal, train and fight and eat and sleep in service of your goal. Every movement must be in service of your goal."

She nods. She knows that; that's why she chose to be a monk in the first place.

"And so your movements should not be about themselves."

"...I'm not sure I understand, Fist-nim."

"You said you did not want to advance to the next belt until you perfected your form. Do you believe the forms of your next belt will use nothing of what you have learned and practised here?"

"No."

"Tell me, if you could walk up to Surt right now and kill him with a single touch, would you do it?"

"Yes."

"Yes? Would you not want to perfect your body first?"

"...maybe afterwards."