Confirming My Power
Are you sure?
"Phew... Here, take this. I completed what you asked for."
"Thanks. As expected, it's perfect."
Imir handed Cheon Seong one of the gauntlets he had requested, and Cheon Seong examined it before thanking Imir that it was flawless.
"Ugh! Of course. How much did I suffer making that thing?"
Imir stretched after receiving praise for his hard work, complaining that Cheon Seong was the reason he was so exhausted. He shot Cheon a fierce glare.
"Really? Then eat this too."
"Huh? What kind of—"
Cheon Seong shoved whatever it was straight into Imir's mouth before he could finish. Imir pounded his chest like he was hitting a chicken, barely swallowing it down.
"You bastard! I almost choked to death! What the hell is that?!"
"How's your body?"
Imir's face twisted in panic. "This is the real thing! You're seriously asking if I'm fine?!... Wait, what the—? What did you give me?!"
Cheon Seong scratched his cheek calmly. "Nothing special. I felt bad about that... thing yesterday, so I brought this simple Hundred-Year Ginseng."
"Wh-what?!"
Cheon Seong nodded. Imir bolted forward, grabbing his collar and shouting.
"You're feeding me raw Hundred-Year Ginseng?! What the hell are you thinking?!"
"Don't worry, there's more..."
"You absolute lunatic! You don't even know that raw medicine needs processing to become twice as effective?!"
Cheon Seong tried to explain, but Imir refused to let go, shaking him harder and scolding him. Cheon realized Imir was about to ignore everything else and simply waited for the rant to end in silence.
After thirty minutes of Imir recounting the entire history and principles of medicinal herbs, the torrent finally stopped. Cheon Seong pulled out something else and handed it to Imir.
"Here, take this. And Nepira, you get this."
"Haack... haack! What is it now?"
"Ah... thank you. But what is this...?"
"Ask Imir. I'll be going now. I'll tell you about yesterday when I come back. See you then."
"Huh? Ah, okay. Take care. So this is what...?"
Cheon Seong teleported away after telling Nepira to ask Imir. The moment he vanished, Imir's eyes widened like saucers at the item in his hands.
"T-this... this... this is... that... the... the...?"
"Kuek!"
[Item Acquired: Heavenly Orchid of the Thousand Years]
"M-Mir-nim?! Mir-nim! Come back to me! Mir-nim!!"
Imir collapsed, foam at his mouth, after checking the item. Nepira frantically shook him awake, but he never regained consciousness.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Ugh... Where am I...?"
"Ah, you’re awake. Mir-nim? I was so startled when you suddenly collapsed."
"Ugh, my head... Why did I faint?"
Nepira told him to wait and wrapped something in cloth, then showed it to him.
"Huh? What is this...? Ah, shit... I almost fainted again. So this is what that guy brought?"
"Yes."
The item was a sky-blue glowing Mountain Ginseng, noticeably thicker than normal ones.
One Hundred-Year Ginseng.
Among them, the Ginseng that had absorbed the pure energy of the earth over countless centuries and become a medicinal herb.
After a hundred years it was called the Hundred-Year Ginseng. After a thousand years it was the Thousand-Year Ginseng. If another several hundred years passed, it would become the Legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng that supposedly started wars in history alone—the pinnacle of such herbs.
That was the gift Cheon Seong had brought back empty-handed, saying he was sorry.
"Crazy bastard. I knew you were crazy, but bringing such a precious thing as a gift... you're insane!"
"Ah, by the way, Mir-nim. Could you look at this? The hero said I should ask you about it."
Imir cursed Cheon Seong as a madman for bringing such a valuable herb just because he felt bad about yesterday's incident. Yet the corner of his mouth curved into a wide smile. Nepira, who had received the gift herself, smiled too and handed him a single flower.
"Hah... What on earth is he really? How did he even get the Euphorys?"
"Euphorys? What's that?"
Imir easily explained the flower to the confused Nepira.
"Euphorys is a flower that brings happiness. Its scent erases nightmares and lets you dream of happy moments from the past. In history, royalty once cherished it. But only a hundred years ago, it was supposed to be extinct. I wonder how he got one."
"Happiness...?"
Imir's words left Nepira dazed. She accepted the flower and brought it to her nose, inhaling its scent.
"The fragrance... it's so warm and soothing."
She felt the warmth of Euphorys in the air, like an unseen spring breeze.
That warmth, combined with gratitude for the man who had risked everything to obtain it for her sake, brought a gentle smile to Nepira's lips.
***
[Are you prepared?]
"Yes, of course."
After returning from Imir, Cheon Seong asked Beatrice for a sparring match.
The reason was simple.
Actually, no—not simple at all.
It was the most important thing to him.
"I just want to confirm my current strength one last time."
Next day after tomorrow, he would enter the academy.
He was not worried about the competition inside the school.
A few annoying kids would bother him, but not enough to worry about.
What concerned him was external interference—not academy students.
The strength of the groups that would attack the academy was what worried him.
'Noah. They are too much for me alone.'
The Noah members would invade the academy.
He did not know what the Noah wanted to achieve by attacking.
The biggest problem was that Yuna would get hurt in the attack.
The future had already changed a lot.
So whether Noah would attack the academy remained unknown.
But that meant Yuna might not get hurt at all, or the damage might be different... or even so severe that she could die.
The possibility that Yuna would be separated from him, no matter how tiny—less than 0.000001 percent—was enough to drive him insane with fear.
With the day of entering the academy approaching, he had begun dreaming of the nightmares he had abandoned after the move.
That was why he needed confirmation. Certainty.
He needed to confirm his strength, to have the absolute certainty that he could protect Yuna.
The only opponent he could fight at full power was Beatrice, his teacher before he even met Yuna as a lover.
[Ready? Come at me. I will give you the first move.]
Beatrice, the one who had not prepared at all, offered the first move.
But Cheon Seong could not relax.
Though completely defenseless, she showed no gaps whatsoever.
Offering the first move was a privilege granted by the strong to the weak.
And to Cheon Seong, Beatrice was the absolute weak one.
No argument. It was a perfect fact.
"Then I go."
He attacked with full power from the very first move.
Against his teacher, he charged forward with full power.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art
Form One
White Night · Shooting Star
A pure white meteor shot into the sky, split apart, and plummeted to the earth.
His own adaptation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, not learned from Beatrice.
[I have never seen such a technique. Did you create it yourself?]
Beatrice watched the meteor shower and praised his growth, then unleashed a powerful fist toward the falling stars.
Kwak—!!
[But the power is still lacking.]
The pure fist without mana instantly shattered his meteor, shaking the trees and scattering their leaves in the wind.
Strong.
He had known it, but Beatrice's strength was far beyond his expectations.
'I thought I was close... I was wrong.'
He had reached the point where he could defeat one Highest-rank user alone.
His current rank was right at the border between Upper and Highest.
Even considering the gap between Upper and Highest, it was abnormal that he could face Highest-rank.
Yet he still could not meet Beatrice's gaze.
He knew Beatrice had not been serious when fighting him before, but the difference was far greater than he imagined.
Splash.
Sweat poured down his face.
He could not attack carelessly now.
He had already used the first move, which Beatrice had simply blocked with a regular fist.
Now, one small movement from him could end the match.
Whoosh—!
[Why, I did not raise you to be so weak.]
"Kuek—!!"
Beatrice's fist shot forward and pierced him straight on.
'Barely... I need the next move—!!'
At the last instant, he barely raised his guard.
The fist contained no mana, no magic power, no Celestial Power.
Yet the pain in his arm was like electricity.
There was no time to hesitate. He had to prepare for the next attack.
'Behind me!'
He turned, wrapping mana around his leg and kicking at the sky like slicing it in half.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art
Form One · Variant
White Night · Kick
He struck fiercely where Beatrice's aura lingered, wrapping White Night around his leg.
Whoosh—!!
But his attack never reached her.
[Did you forget that I taught you magic?]
The "attack" he had thrown was only the remnant of Beatrice's aura shaped like her figure.
The voice behind him and the scorching heat burning his back.
Whoosh— whoosh—!
Eighth-rank Flame Magic.
[Primordial Flame]
A beautiful flame blending crimson and azure.
A magic he had never known.
But he knew one thing for certain.
Even this was not Beatrice's full power.
And if he faced it, he would be on the verge of defeat.
'Ordinary attribute magic won't work.'
He could not cast any spell right now to block the flames.
Using low-level attribute magic would just make the heat vaporize him instantly.
At least sixth-rank was required to have any chance.
But he could not use sixth-rank magic in such a short time.
Converting mana to mana circuits took two seconds.
Casting sixth-rank attribute magic took six seconds.
It was too slow.
Beatrice's magic was already complete.
She had only been giving him time to try something. That spell could incinerate him at any moment.
'What now... what can I do...?'
There was no way to completely block that spell.
He had to endure the damage and minimize it.
Two seconds.
He flowed his black mana into blue mana.
Another two seconds.
He spread the blue mana through his mana circuits and chanted.
Fourth-rank attribute magic.
[Surge Strike]
A fierce wave of surging water shot toward Beatrice's flames.
[Then, let's see how well you endure this.]
Beatrice's flame descended toward Cheon Seong's magic, evaporating it quickly and advancing forward.
Chi-chi-chi—!!
Fortunately, unlike Cheon Seong's full-power magic, Beatrice's used only a portion of her strength.
Her magic evaporated his water and shrank as it came closer.
When it finally reached him, it was half its original size.
Yet the heat was enough to burn most people to ash.
Cheon Seong raised his guard toward the flames.
The fire collided with his guard, spreading in all directions and turning the area into a sea of fire.
The entire ground turned bright red.