Same Bed, Different Dreams
Same Bed, Different Dreams
A spirit, almost like a translucent will-o'-the-wisp and seeping a gloom-ridden aura, drifted lazily in the air.
For a while it wandered, as if unsure where to go, then slipped right into the corpse of an avian monster lying on the lawn.
- Thud
The corpse twitched. Although the embalming had kept the body intact, the dead thing moved on its own.
After flopping about like a fish out of water, the corpse defied providence and rose upright on its own two legs.
Chirp-chirp— it even let out a cry and beat its wings, perching neatly on Lee Ha-yul's shoulder.
This was necromancy, the art of handling the flesh and soul of the dead.
"Looks like a sparrow. Is this an 8th-Rank monster?"
[Yes, it's 8th-Rank. That makes it the easiest to handle with necromancy.]
"Even so, that's impressive. You've only been learning for a few days."
Chirp-chirp— the monster shook its head vigorously and glanced around busily. Watching it move so much like a living sparrow, Hong Yeon-hwa casually reached out a finger.
"Mm... it's cold."
Hong Yeon-hwa rubbed the stiff feathers and frowned.
Its behavior made it seem alive, but it lacked a living body's warmth. Even if she strained her ears, there was no heartbeat. It was literally a moving corpse.
At least it looked intact, so there wasn't much aversion; honestly, if it had been a rotting, decayed corpse, she wouldn't have felt such easy appreciation.
[What do you think?]
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head slightly and asked.
"No problems. The coordination is seamless, nothing feels out of place... and the spirit is intact."
Lee Ji-yeon examined the spirit's condition for a moment.
The most basic and efficient way to handle spirits is to infuse a summoned spirit into a corpse and use it as a corpse doll.
Operating a spirit alone gives only extremely limited physical interference, and using a corpse by itself only yields one-time methods like corpse explosion.
So the standard is to stuff a spirit into an empty corpse and use it as a soldier controlled at will.
The spirit dwelling in the corpse... no problem. No loss during the fusion process into the body.
The corpse hadn't been damaged while the spirit settled in either.
Her control was remarkably clean. No waste, efficient, and swift.
'...When could I ever handle it like that.'
Lee Ji-yeon awkwardly searched her memories.
Sensing life force had come quickly, but life force manipulation limited to herself had taken several days.
Extending that sense outward, mastering manipulation, and then stepping into necromancy... the time it had taken her to handle it as skillfully as this...
'Aish...'
She mentally tapped a calculator for a moment, and Lee Ji-yeon felt a renewed sense of misery.
Some people would call even this the whining of a gluttonous pig who's already had her fill... but wasn't evaluation always relative?
Watching a prodigy with unprecedented talent right in front of her, she couldn't help but feel intimidated.
Nothing in this world is easy, but necromancy is an especially difficult skill to handle.
Most necromancers rely on unique abilities.
Cases where someone learns necromancy by directly sensing and handling life force without a unique ability are so rare they're hard to find.
In other words, necromancers generally possess a unique ability that includes necromancy.
The unique ability of the necromancy-using cultists she'd seen in China was like that, and so was the Taesan that Lee Ji-yeon possessed.
And the Taesan Lee Ha-yul handles is the same.
"......"
Lee Ha-yul had requested to observe Taesan during their mentoring session.
Nothing strange about that.
Because Taesan is an extremely rare unique ability.
Meeting a Taesan manifestor as a mentee is truly uncommon, so most people would naturally ask to observe Taesan on this occasion.
Lee Ha-yul must have known that too, and had planned to covertly learn Taesan's application by requesting to observe it.
But what Lee Ha-yul hadn't considered... was that Lee Ji-yeon had already received speculation from her family that Lee Ha-yul might have manifested Taesan.
- Determine if he really manifested Taesan, and if he has, teach him as much of Taesan's application as possible. If he's handling Taesan... he'll eventually bring it out at a crucial moment.
More than that, Lee Ji-yeon had received direct instructions from the head of the Taesan clan.
Teach Taesan to Lee Ha-yul.
Having received those orders, Lee Ji-yeon was now wordlessly demonstrating Taesan's application in great detail, starting from the basics.
'...What am I supposed to do with this...'
Lee Ji-yeon let out an internal sigh, feeling a throbbing headache.
Ever since she witnessed Lee Ha-yul's life force hitting rock bottom, her thoughts had tilted toward 'he manifested it.'
She still hadn't seen him openly manifest it... but seeing him handle life force and necromancy this skillfully in such a short time made her even more certain he had manifested Taesan.
Now that she thought about it, his surname was also 'Lee,' just like hers. She'd have to ask him about the meaning, but she couldn't help thinking... maybe this was a kind of foreshadowing.
Of course, questions remained.
Why did he keep his own life force at rock bottom while being able to sense and manipulate it?
Why didn't he feel any discomfort despite being aware that Lee Ji-yeon was supplying him life force?
He was clearly supposed to have manifested Taesan, so why wasn't his mana's attribute earth energy...
How was he handling both Taesan and Calamity Flame at the same time...
'...It's complicated...'
She felt heavy sighs would escape before she knew it.
If the fact that Lee Ha-yul—who had manifested Calamity Flame and belonged to the Calamity Flame family—had also manifested Taesan became known... she couldn't imagine what kind of chaos would erupt.
Did the Calamity Flame family even know Lee Ha-yul had manifested Taesan?
Or did they know and that's why they took him in first?
Either way, the situation would be just as complicated.
From a family's standpoint, they would naturally want to bring a child who manifested their unique ability into the family.
The same goes for Taesan.
No matter how actively they interact and how often the manifestors of each unique ability have been betrothed to each other... it's different when the family registry itself changes.
'Calamity Flame and Taesan, huh...'
Swallowing yet another sigh, Lee Ji-yeon looked at Lee Ha-yul with complicated eyes.
.
.
.
Baek A-rin also had much on her mind.
At first, she'd had no time to think about anything else while tending to Lee Ha-yul's Calamity Flame, but before long, as Lee Ha-yul began controlling the Calamity Flame himself, her composure grew a little.
'Calamity Flame and Azure Sea, huh...'
The simultaneous manifestation of Calamity Flame and Azure Sea.
In the common sense she knew, it was impossible, but she didn't blindly trust that. Common sense was originally meant to be broken.
He manifested Azure Sea, but his mana attribute was normally different? Well, Lee Ha-yul's case could be different.
The important thing was that Lee Ha-yul had manifested Azure Sea, and also manifested Calamity Flame.
Lee Ha-yul was a unique existence.
Not in the wordplay sense of 'everyone has their own life,' but literally the only being who simultaneously held both Calamity Flame and Azure Sea.
He was the only existence who could understand the ice of Azure Sea and kindle Calamity Flame.
And he was the sole case who showed her a realistic possibility.
That was why Baek A-rin desperately needed Lee Ha-yul's help.
She turned her head slightly. She could see Hong Yeon-hwa, stuck close to Lee Ha-yul who was absorbed in necromancy training, chattering away.
Sometimes she still couldn't believe it. She never knew that mad dog could have such gentle eyes.
It still didn't seem like they'd consummated anything... but it was clear they had a deeper relationship than Baek A-rin did.
'What a shame.'
Baek A-rin suddenly felt regret.
If she was going to get close anyway, she should have approached more actively at the start of the semester.
She should have closed the distance before Hong Yeon-hwa got close.
If she had... she wouldn't be feeling this strange anxiety like she did now.
Baek A-rin fiddled with her hands for no reason.
They were very hard and cold now, but she vividly remembered them touching the flame and melting.
She remembered the warmth that settled in for a moment as the chill retreated, the sensation that felt so vivid even for a brief while.
It was still only on the surface, but she held hope for a flame that might someday reach this damn heart.
'.......'
That was why Baek A-rin wanted to get closer to Lee Ha-yul.
She wanted to grow close enough to him that he would reach out his hand to help her—no matter what she asked of him, no matter what state she became, even if she didn't voice it, even if she couldn't ask, even if she had to stab him in the back.
It was a shameless thought, but... that was all. For him, she could do anything.
Baek A-rin gazed at Lee Ha-yul with a peculiar look.
.
.
.
'...What are those bitches glaring at?'
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been side-eyeing Lee Ji-yeon and Baek A-rin's complicated and melancholic(?) gazes, subtly furrowed her brow.
In that brief moment, she'd internally lumped them together as 'those bitches' and her inner voice went hostile, but she paid it no mind.
One was an older sister she was close with, the other a friend, so that kind of talk came easily—and they'd acted outrageously enough to deserve it.
Why were they making a fuss, suddenly hugging a kid without permission? It was sexual harassment, clearly taking advantage of Lee Ha-yul's low wariness toward others. Behavior that could be reported right away.
The reason Hong Yeon-hwa hadn't immediately thrown a punch was that she knew their dispositions, and because Lee Ha-yul himself had flapped both arms to block her path.
Baek A-rin especially—her recent behavior rubbed her the wrong way. She wanted to grab and shake her... but if she did, Lee Ha-yul would be sad again...
'Tsk.'
Hong Yeon-hwa clicked her tongue and turned her gaze back to Lee Ha-yul.
Lee Ha-yul was concentrating and manipulating the spirits. Every time his hands moved to form hand seals, the countless spirits arrayed around moved in perfect unison.
'The trial's almost over, huh? It's taking a bit long, though.'
Even now, because of the trial, unpleasant memories must be surfacing and agitating his emotions... but Lee Ha-yul showed no signs of trouble on the outside.
At most, his brow furrowed now and then, and a cold sweat broke out, making his natural scent stronger.
...Of course, when night fell, he'd get drowsy and clingy because of the atmosphere... but Hong Yeon-hwa actually liked that.
Anyway, the Trial of Calamity Flame would soon end. When it did, the Calamity Flame would show some change.
For reference, in the family, the Trial of Calamity Flame was treated similarly to a coming-of-age ceremony.
Especially the first trial was heavily regarded as such, so the elders of the family who had received the news were already preparing congratulatory gifts.
Watching quietly, it seemed the family were even more delighted by Lee Ha-yul's Calamity Flame manifestation than Hong Yeon-hwa was.
'A gift, huh...'
Just as her thoughts reached that point, the image of a bright red scarf suddenly surged in Hong Yeon-hwa's mind.
The first gift she'd received from Lee Ha-yul—a scarf. The weather was unsuitable now, and she was so worried it might get damaged that she'd treated it specially and stored it carefully in a safe.
'I need to repay that too...'
Hong Yeon-hwa racked her brain.
What kind of gift would be good? What would make Ha-yul happy?
She'd been worrying about it ever since she received the gift, but she couldn't quite figure out what would be good.
'Still, if I'm going to give him something, wouldn't the Birth Festival be best? Giving it on the festival day would be more memorable...'
As Hong Yeon-hwa mulled over the topic of gifts, she suddenly recalled a past remark of her own.
- "Uh, um... s-sorry. Nothing comes out yet... I'll definitely let you try later..."
"......"
Hong Yeon-hwa blinked blankly, then stole a glance at her own chest.
The words from the past somehow sounded tempting.
.
.
.
That night.
A moonlit dawn.
Unusually, I woke up in the middle of sleep and squirmed my body.
Soon I felt soft sensations from both sides. One warm, and the other cool.
They were Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin, respectively.
Memories from before I fell asleep surfaced.
The nonsense from the Calamity Flame grew worse as evening approached, and drowsiness began to creep in.
I held on as long as I could in Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin's embrace... and finally fell asleep between the two of them.
'What is this...'
After the recollection finished, I frowned.
Instead of my hand, which was buried in soft flesh, I used the Sky Wing Feather to gently stroke around my solar plexus.
Something felt heavy in my stomach.
Actually, it felt more like a bubbling boil. A sensation like flames rising from inside and warming my body.
'When in the world does that damn trial end...'
Sleepiness washed over me again. I shook my head, then buried my face back into the soft embrace.
- Fwoosh...
Suddenly, the sound of a flame rising rang in my ears.
Along with a strange sensation, as if something was forming at my solar plexus.
* * *
[Unique Ability 「?」 is...]
...
[Unique Ability 「Calamity Flame」 manifests.]