The Library Committee Chair (1)
Samadhi True Fire.
The flame that had once risen in Taishang Laojun's Eight Trigrams Furnace — a fire that could melt down even the concept of immortality itself. And yet its essence did not lie in burning a being away, or in rendering it to slag.
As I recall, they called it the flame of the alchemical arts.
So the heart of the Eight Trigrams Furnace and the Samadhi True Fire was not death. It was nearer to a new beginning. Nearer to purification. It could, in that sense, be called yang energy brought to its utmost extreme.
What he held was only a fragment, but Bihyung imitated the Samadhi True Fire all the same, and at the same time let that peculiar nature seep — little by little, the barest trickle — into the spiritual power of his lower dantian.
The fire roared. Flames along his inner meridians surged fiercer, and the blaze that had shone like a bright sun gradually bled of its color until it ran white. Even so, the power gathered inside it pressed outward with the coiled menace of a tiger. That energy ran the length of his arm and, before he knew it, heated the joined shaft until the metal glowed red.
...It's melting.
The yin energy soaked into the metal — the interior that had been frozen solid — was coming undone. Little by little it thawed, and then, with a dull snap, the progress stopped cold.
I've still got energy left?
He sank deeper, searching for the cause, and understood at once. His attainment of Divine Weapon-Body Unity was lacking.
The only part of me connected is a single arm. Which means I can't sound the Ruyi nearly as deeply as I'd like.
That was fine. Knowing the method was enough to have the shape of it in hand.
The yin energy I've melted comes to about three-tenths of the whole.
Thirty percent, through one arm. The moment he achieved Divine Weapon-Body Unity in full, he felt certain he could melt the yin energy away entirely.
Bihyung, in high spirits, was just about to open his eyes.
A chime rang — that familiar notification — and a message rose with it.
Through Lore, you have imitated the fundamental power possessed by a seat of the Upper Grade.
Though that worth is not yet whole, you have accomplished something impossible at the present moment!
Achievement obtained: "Quite the Knack"!
Proficiency in the Bloodline, Mimicry, climbs at a steep pitch!
The grade of Mimicry has been raised to A!
...Huh.
Bihyung stared at the message for that brief instant, then looked quietly down at the Ruyi staff gripped in his hand.
Sorry for hitting you. I mean it.
There was no other word for it. The thing was a lucky charm with legs.
I stepped into the 4th Rank, picked up an achievement, and even raised Mimicry's grade!
A tree that gives without stint... no. Sun Wukong and the Ruyi.
Beaming, Bihyung withdrew from the mindscape of his lower dantian. He was itching to look over his newly upgraded self and try his hand at the power.
He opened his eyes — and found the cadets staring at him in open shock.
Yeesh. Would you look at those eyes, bulging like that. Keep it up and they'll fall right out.
"Just now... that was real, right?"
At last the cadets, who had only been gaping, pointed at Bihyung with trembling eyes and started talking over one another.
"He ranked up... right?"
It wasn't the tone of simple certainty. It was the voice of someone who had seen it with their own eyes and half-hoped another person would deny it. Well. Of course they couldn't believe it.
Even I've never heard of a first-year reaching the 4th Rank.
An achievement no longtime veteran had ever managed — and he had gone and done it.
I suppose I can call myself a proper Middle Rank now.
Only at the very threshold, granted. Even so, the cadets of Class A were still doubting their own eyes.
"There was this flash of light, and his body in the lotus position floated up a little... that's the reaction when you rank up, isn't it?"
"...Yeah. It's exactly what I've heard."
"Whoa... what even is the top cadet? Class starts and he walks straight into the realm of affinity, and now he's ranking up too?"
"It's like... he's a different species from us."
Bihyung flinched in advance at that last mutter. Oof. His heart. At least use a blinker before you cut in.
Well. Even I think I climbed fast.
Two weeks after regular classes began, he had already reached the 4th Rank. Dig through the entire history of the Academy and you would not find an achievement to match it, before or since. But it was not a result won by outstanding talent.
It's all manner of fated encounters, and a racial advantage cranked to the limit.
What could he do? To anyone who wasn't moving alongside him, it would look like talent. He decided to keep the pure-genius act going all the way to the end.
...Which meant that if he didn't want to fall behind in this seat, he would have to weight his training even heavier.
He was swallowing a sigh and about to rise when a voice came down from above.
"Oh? What's this. Top cadet. What are you, a bean sprout? Why do I get the feeling you grow by the day?"
The professor in charge descended from the rooftop, picking at his ear, a glint in his eye.
"Already the 4th Rank... Even Tuseonnyeo, youngest and swiftest ever to reach the 9th Rank, was slower than you."
It was growth faster than anyone had expected. The professor looked from Bihyung, who had achieved it, to the Class A cadets burning with zeal as they watched his back.
Well, now? Their eyes haven't gone dead.
They were following what he himself had told them. Be astonished by the top cadet, but don't let it make you frantic. A virtuous cycle, properly formed.
I like this. I ought to suggest a way for those kids to grow, too.
And also —
A stage where our monster of a top cadet can bring his strengthened power fully to bear.
Well. It wasn't even settled yet. A plan that existed only in his head. The professor shook the thought off and walked over to Bihyung.
"You concentrated Divine Weapon-Body Unity into one arm?"
"Yes."
"Hah. I've heard of Sword-Hand Unity focused in the hand, but this is a first."
"...Did I do something wrong?"
Bihyung's reply was rather cautious. The professor looked at him and nodded.
"Did you do something wrong? Of course you did."
"Which part..."
"Your reaction. Pull off something like that, and there ought to be more flavor to it — chest out, a proper I am a grandmaster! Don't you think?"
Only then did Bihyung realize the professor was teasing him.
"So nothing's actually wrong, then."
"Mm. Nothing wrong. If anything, all I can do is marvel."
The professor grinned, pointed at Bihyung's shoulder, and then in turn at his upper body and his lower body.
"From here on, make it your goal to lead the sensation concentrated in the arm through the upper body, and on into the lower body. That will be Divine Weapon-Body Unity."
He said it easily, but Bihyung expected the work would be difficult beyond measure.
Just holding it in one arm already wears out my spirit.
It wasn't even at a level he could use in a fight yet. And now he was supposed to widen the domain of unity further? He could have said, flatly, that it was impossible for the moment.
The professor seemed to read exactly that, and cackled.
"Look at this. I looked into you last time too, but aren't you a born thief?"
"...Now what."
Seeing Bihyung's tone turn sullen, the professor laughed again, eyes crinkling.
"Divine Weapon-Body Unity isn't something talent alone can buy. You have to spend time understanding the weapon. And if the weapon you mean to unite with is of a high grade? Then the time required multiplies without end."
On the contrary —
"You've every right to take pride in having united, even through a single arm, with a weapon of that caliber."
Drag in the rising stars who spanned the world this very moment, and there still would not be one among them who could do it.
"So understanding the weapon's heart comes first, and unity is only something incidental that follows. Reverse that order, and far from achieving unity, you may get swallowed instead."
Don't be impatient. Counsel that wound its way around to saying just that, and Bihyung nodded.
Right. It's still early in the story.
He had been through so much, and faced only things that did not look like the early story at all, that he had forgotten the obvious.
Look. Even the next main story hadn't been decided yet, had it?
"Thank you for the advice."
Bihyung dipped his head, and the professor, who had been laughing broad and hearty, spoke.
"Class ends here today. Don't forget to review, and don't get impatient either. Understood?"
"...Yes!"
With the ringing shout of the Class A cadets, Tuesday of the second week of regular classes came to an end.
After class, once he returned to the dormitory, the hundred ghosts surged up out of Bihyung's shadow.
"A fruitful class. In particular, coming to know that staff, and becoming able to handle it even a little — my sincere congratulations, Boss."
Dueogsi bowed his head first and offered the words, and the other ghosts congratulated him as well, in booming voices.
No — at this rate he really had become some kind of gang boss.
"Don't do that. There's still a long way to go."
"Even after an achievement, your hunger for achievement hasn't ended. A fine thing."
A spirit of rivalry turned upon oneself burned fierce in him, and never had Dueogsi seen such a one fail. He nodded in satisfaction and asked,
"Then, would you care for a spar, after so long?"
"Oh? I was just thinking that. I feel like I need to check over everything that grew this time."
How much output the 4th Rank would actually give. How far his present strength would carry. And the rest of it. He had to confirm what he had gained.
"Then, right now..."
Dueogsi was saying so, and just taking a step, when a chime sounded. A text notification.
Bihyung took out his phone and looked at the screen. A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It was from the professor. But the moment Bihyung read it, puzzlement crossed his face.
The library committee chair? Why her?
He was puzzled — and at the same time, he thought the timing was fortunate. There was a question left over from when he had dealt with Yu Gyeongsu. That, too, had to be answered.
Bihyung sent back a reply that it was fine to give out the number.
And with it —
The time of the tale, stalled all this while, was about to move.