Chapter 32: A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step (3)
Han Seohyun dragged his brother's soul out of the body. His brother's screams rang in his ears. Even as his own body trembled uncontrollably, Han Seohyun didn't stop forcing the body upright.
Han Seohyun's mana, stained as black as tar, burrowed into Han Jo-hee's body. And at that moment, Han Jo-hee's final memories unfolded in Han Seohyun's mind like engravings.
"It hurts... it hurts! It hurts, please stop...
It's agony... I want to die! No, I don't want to die.
My brother, my, my brother...
Seohyun, what did they do to you, Seohyun, Seohyun!
I'm sorry, Seohyun. Your brother is sorry. I couldn't do more, it's my fault, your brother's fault.
Seohyun... Seohyun..."
All that remained at the end was his own name.
As the screams faded, Han Jo-hee's soul appeared before his eyes. Han Seohyun had seen plenty of the dead, but facing someone's soul like this was a first.
Was it the price of the summoning? Han Jo-hee's soul was cracking and crumbling like dry earth. In that state, Han Jo-hee simply stared at Han Seohyun for a long while.
"Hyung."
Han Seohyun said to him, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry, really sorry. I'm the one who should be more sorry."
Whether it was because Han Seohyun's skills were lacking, or because too much time had passed since Han Jo-hee's death, conversation between them was impossible.
Fear, anger. Sorrow. Resignation and worry directed at himself.
Worry—that's what broke Han Seohyun.
Han Jo-hee's corpse crumbled. The skin covered in bruises and wounds scattered like dust, leaving only pale bones behind.
"I, I..."
Only then did Han Seohyun realize his mistake. He'd turned his brother into an undead. The skeleton clattered to its feet before him.
"Hyung was worried about me until the very end. And he seemed to say he'd follow my every will, so don't be sorry. That's exactly what it felt like."
That was how they'd formed a 'contract,' he said.
"Releasing the contract is my choice too, but... I just couldn't send hyung back. I couldn't."
I patted the guy's shoulder at his words.
"I want to get revenge on those bastards somehow."
Fresh anger must have surged again—Han Seohyun's body trembled.
"To do that, you need to figure out your abilities properly."
Clashing with them now would just get us crushed. I told Han Seohyun,
"Right now, you can barely manage summoning. You need to find out your limits—what you can do, how far."
If this was his first contract with a skeleton, he needed to understand his powers all the more.
I, having neatly organized the instant noodle cups, asked Han Seohyun,
"You said it never dissipates completely, right?"
"Yeah."
"Let's spar first, then."
"With you?"
"Yeah."
Han Seohyun narrowed his eyes, watching me loosen up casually.
"I heard your talent is 'lie.'"
Oh, right. Now the whole country knew my secret. Damn it all—wanted nationwide because of that.
"I've got other tricks besides that."
━Tricks? How dare you!
I ignored Ray's outburst and told Han Seohyun,
"Don't worry about me. Show me your full power."
We found a suitable clearing.
Han Seohyun summoned the skeleton with a tense face. It was no longer something you could call Han Jo-hee, but it still felt uncomfortable somehow.
Well, the discomfort didn't last.
I drew the dagger from my thigh sheath.
"I won't go easy, so come at me with everything you've got."
The skeleton awkwardly hunched over. Its stance was laughably sloppy. I circled it slowly, checking for tricks, but it was full of openings. I closed in and smashed my elbow into its neck, sending the head flying.
In an instant, the cervical vertebrae snapped, and the skull hit the ground.
"Weaker than I thought."
I didn't even need to draw on mana. Pure physical force was enough to shatter it easily—the skeleton was that frail.
It wasn't just durability; its movements screamed zero combat sense.
The headless skeleton clattered around, searching for its head. What if I smashed the femur?
I approached slowly and kicked the femur. Thwack—it flew outward.
Without the femur, the skeleton collapsed. It writhed on the ground, trying to rise, but never managed. Han Seohyun watched blankly, bit his lip, and unsummoned it.
"How long to resummon?"
"T-two hours."
I shrugged.
"Then let's work till then."
At my words, Han Seohyun glanced at me nervously and stood.
"Okay."
Unlike before, he obeyed without a fuss.
━Still, he seems to take you a bit more seriously now.
I chuckled at Ray's words.
Two hours later, the skeleton reappeared fully restored. And I smashed it in thirty seconds.
Han Seohyun was speechless.
"You've got a lot of training ahead."
His face flushed at my words.
He must have been embarrassed remembering how he'd bossed me around with skills like this.
Yeah, it was pretty bad. I asked Han Seohyun,
"No combat training at the academy?"
"I was in the mage class, so mostly mana control drills."
"No combat at all?"
Huh. Even if mana talent is key, you never know what happens in a gate. That's why Babel grinded everyone equally, mages or not. At my mutter, Han Seohyun paled.
"B-Babel? You're from Babel Academy?"
"Yeah, graduated."
"Why would a graduate from there..."
"Long story."
I gazed wistfully into the distance, feigning depth. Whatever misunderstanding he got, Han Seohyun trailed off.
"B-Boss."
"Huh?"
The title startled me. Sure, I'd told him to call me that, but I hadn't expected him to actually do it.
"I've got a lot of shortcomings. Sorry for being cocky before. Please teach me. How to get stronger."
I sighed. Stroking his shaggy hair, I said,
"I was gonna teach you anyway. We want the same thing, right?"
"Y-yeah."
I grinned.
"But you do whatever I say without complaint, got it?"
"Yes."
For now, I'd give him Babel-style training. Necromancer or not, he was too weak for the backline right now.
And there were more things to check.
"Does the skeleton get reconstructed each summon? Or does it go into your subspace and pop out? If subspace, can it carry other stuff?"
Han Seohyun blinked at my questions.
"Uh, not sure. Do I need to know that?"
"Of course."
To find ways to damage monsters with my talent, I'd tried everything imaginable.
This works, that doesn't. Even stuff others would scoff at as stupid.
I didn't master my talent till academy graduation, but I gained plenty from it.
"Nothing beats knowing your talent's exact limits."
We ran a few tests together.
I drew on the skeleton with charcoal. Then asked Han Seohyun to unsummon and resummon.
Luckily, resummoning an intact one took only five minutes—we got results fast.
The redrawn skeleton still had my marks.
"Not reconstruction—it's stored somewhere and comes back as is."
Maybe it could store other things with it?
Next, I tied a ribbon around the skeleton.
"Wh-what's this."
"Experiment, experiment."
Ignoring the subtle abuse vibes, I asked for another resummon.
Surprisingly, the ribbon stayed on its skull. I tried more items and learned a few things.
Objects under 5kg mass and 30cm³ volume stayed.
"Capacity probably grows with proficiency."
Han Seohyun, face ashen, slumped down. Dozens of resummons for tests would do that.
"G-gonna puke."
"But it helped, right?"
He nodded, pale as a ghost.
"Never summoned this much before."
"First time? Oh, right—no practice materials."
"That too... but it creeped me out."
Han Seohyun had never really used his talent properly.
"Everyone said it was bad luck. Creepy. No one at the academy liked me."
Why? Tall, handsome face. Sure, bad posture hides the height, shaggy hair makes him look gloomy—but still, no bullying!
━Your assessment sounds worse somehow.
What? Just stating facts!
━You've built up a grudge over days, huh.
Honestly, Han Seohyun wasn't the nicest guy.
Neither was I.
But as fellow outcasts, I got it best.
"Ignore those idiots. Talent's not the issue—use it well."
Han Seohyun asked,
"Isn't it weird? I turned my dead brother into a skeleton."
"Well, it's creepy, can't deny that, but not entirely."
Damn double negatives twisting my words.
I didn't want to badmouth my new ally, but yeah, it was weird. Some would call it horrifying—I felt a bit that way too.
But.
"From what I saw of your brother, he'd do anything to protect you."
I didn't know Han Jo-hee deeply. But he'd cherished this kid fiercely.
"That skeleton isn't your brother. But if some part of him lingers... it'd be on your side. Your strongest ally."
Turning Han Jo-hee into a skeleton was an accident Han Seohyun couldn't avoid. To chase his brother's killers, he'd hijacked that end, making it ongoing.
But I wasn't one to judge.
"Your brother would blame me instead. 'Why make my precious little brother suffer in these mountains? Can't send him to academy, so turning him into a criminal hopeful?'"
Han Jo-hee's resentment wouldn't touch Han Seohyun.
"That's what he'd say."
Han Seohyun bowed his head.
I turned away as tears soaked his feet.