Is It Really Delicious?
Is It Really Delicious?
Gale controls wind. It can feel the wind blowing from afar and gather information. This is a huge advantage for an archer.
That isn't the only advantage.
The arrow that left the bowstring rode the wind. Instead of losing force, it gained power, changing its trajectory freely without losing its target.
Gale is a Unique Ability that works well with any armament or tactic, but it was especially suited for a bow.
'Is its detection ability better than Taesan's?'
Lee Ha-yul, who imitated Gale through Homogenization, felt it too.
He traced the information carried by the wind. Even without deploying Observation, that alone was enough to perceive the surroundings.
Gale isn't a Detection Type ability, but it detects over a vast range with precision that would mock most ordinary detection abilities.
Taesan was similar. However, Taesan detected through the earth, while Gale detected through the wind.
'Heavenly Thunder can also detect, but it's not a basic function.'
Daera and the 8th Iteration.
Both Heavenly Thunder Manifestors could produce an External Sense using lightning energy, but it wasn't a fundamental feature like Taesan or Gale.
Calamity Flame had no detection ability at all. Azure Sea could manage it by twisting the body, but its efficiency was extremely low compared with the previous abilities.
'In other words, Gale is in trouble if the wind gets blocked.'
Lee Ha-yul swung his sword. The dull-bladed training sword coiled with Gale and severed the wind that had been tracing him.
"Ugh."
Lee Ha-sol's shoulders flinched. The Gale she thought she had hidden well had been spotted and cut off in an instant.
Of course, a severed path could be reconnected. The arrow merely wavered for a moment before steadying its edge and flying in.
That brief wavering was enough.
Lee Ha-yul twisted his wrist. Sshrak! The Gale coiled around the blade scattered against the edge and sliced the arrow shaft cleanly.
At the same time, he took a long stride forward.
The unleashed Gale wrapped around Lee Ha-yul again. The Gale surging in pushed his back, while the Gale advancing ahead traced and revealed everything in all directions.
The information wasn't satisfying. It had collided with Lee Ha-sol's Gale, creating interference.
'This much will do.'
In the old days—not that long ago, really—he'd fought just fine with far worse information. He let out a quiet laugh and shot forward.
Lee Ha-sol pulled her body back.
She was also wrapped in Gale. In an instant, the drawn bowstring loosed a barrage of arrows—real and feint.
In a flash, the entire front was thick with arrows.
'Arrows with physical substance, arrows woven from Gale, and arrows made of illusion.'
A Technique Category Expansion Ability. It belonged to the 8th Iteration. Judging by the form, she'd learned it well.
"Hup!"
The attacks didn't only come from the front. Daera, who'd been harassing his awareness from the rear, lowered her stance, wreathed herself in Heavenly Thunder, and closed the distance in a single burst.
- Crackle!
The sound of thunder registered belatedly. Of course, he'd already sensed it through Gale, so responding wasn't a problem. Lee Ha-yul opened his empty hand.
Rumble! Heavenly Thunder spilled out from his palm in streams.
'Bujeonsa.'
A high-grade lightning-attribute spell. He poured Heavenly Thunder into its formula. Normally the formula would have shattered, but Lee Ha-yul's Heavenly Thunder obediently followed the magic's form and manifested.
Crackle! The Heavenly Thunder that dropped to the ground split into dozens of branches. Soon the branches raised their heads like snakes and tore through the air, snapping.
- Bzzzzt...!
"Euk!?"
Daera's face crumpled as she charged in with fierce momentum.
There was shock at the idea that Heavenly Thunder could be this well-behaved, but the worst part was that those snake bastards had bitten precisely the lightning energy she was using to produce her External Sense.
'Obviously he aimed for it on purpose!'
Daera twisted her body urgently. A stream of Heavenly Thunder barely grazed her shoulder. She kicked off the ground repeatedly, dodging the follow-up bolts.
- Patapata!
Her External Sense had been cut off, but the senses activated by Heavenly Thunder and her instincts remained. Heavenly Thunder was fast, but what Daera manifested and wore was also Heavenly Thunder.
"One shot...!"
Daera planted her hand on the ground and sprang up. At the same time, she twisted the accumulated Heavenly Thunder with her prosthetic arm, wrenched her body, and swung her arm with full force.
- Rumble!
The Heavenly Thunder was launched late, yet it surged ahead before Lee Ha-sol's arrows.
From the front, a chaotic mass of Gale and arrows. From the rear, a nicely condensed straight blow of Heavenly Thunder.
Having made his judgment, Lee Ha-yul raised both hands.
He extended his right arm—the one wrapped in Gale—behind him and released it. Whooooosh! The bound Gale exploded into a wild storm.
Gale and Heavenly Thunder collided. Heavenly Thunder was superior in speed and output. In a head-on contest, it wouldn't hold long before being pierced.
So Gale wrapped around Heavenly Thunder and guided it. The force dispersed. The scattered Heavenly Thunder was swept along the flow of Gale and dissipated.
Now the front, still full of Gale and arrows.
Lee Ha-yul thrust his left hand—wreathed in Heavenly Thunder—forward. Before his two fingers extended like a gun barrel, Heavenly Thunder compressed.
'Bang.'
- Kwarung!
The released Heavenly Thunder shot out.
The trajectory wasn't a straight line.
It bent its path at will, striking down every arrow. Leaving a complicated web of lines in the air, the Heavenly Thunder aimed for Lee Ha-sol.
Lee Ha-sol also felt the suspicion that Heavenly Thunder had ever been this sweet a child.
Daera's Heavenly Thunder was strong and fast, but it didn't obey as well as Lee Ha-yul's did.
Yet Lee Ha-yul's Heavenly Thunder wasn't slow either. In the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Thunder that had shot down the arrows aimed for her throat.
Can't dodge. Lee Ha-sol wasn't that fast. Deflect it? Impossible. It would strike before she could move her bow.
In the end, Lee Ha-sol's choice was similar to Lee Ha-yul's.
- Whoooosh!
The Gale wrapped around her body exploded. The rough, rising storm swept through everything.
Heavenly Thunder crashed into Gale.
The pattern was the same as before. But the outcome was different. Lee Ha-sol's Gale couldn't wrap around Heavenly Thunder and divert it.
- Kwarung!
"Ah."
A hole was punched clean through the storm. The moment Lee Ha-sol's eyes flew wide, the Heavenly Thunder had already invaded her uvula. A tingling lightning energy tickled her skin.
Right when the sharply honed Heavenly Thunder was about to pierce her neck—
- it ended like this.
Clap! Along with Lee Ha-yul's applause, the Heavenly Thunder scattered.
As though it had all been a dream, the Heavenly Thunder vanished, and Lee Ha-sol blinked.
She touched her neck, but it only stung a little; not a single wound remained.
"Gyaaaak...! This is seriously cheating!"
Daera, who'd screamed sharply, sprawled out on the grass. The blades of wind that had surrounded her melted into the air.
Glaring at him, Daera pushed her lips out in a pout.
"Putting output restrictions on us makes it way too hard. If I could've raised it just a little, I could've shaken him off."
- Sure, that's probably true, but the point is to handle it precisely from the smallest unit so that you'll handle it well even when you raise the output.
Lee Ha-yul easily brushed off Daera's complaint with a small laugh.
He confirmed Daera stretched out on the ground and Lee Ha-sol, who had collected herself and approached, then shrugged his shoulders.
- See? It ended pretty similarly to just now. Whether it's Gale or Heavenly Thunder, if the ability you've spread outside gets cut, you're in trouble. My point stands, right?
"I dunno. Wasn't that just civilian abuse just now, senior?"
"Senior~ I don't really understand the part you were explaining earlier~"
- ...How long are you going to keep that up?
"Huh? What do you mean, senior?"
Grinning from ear to ear, Lee Ha-sol tilted her head. Lee Ha-yul's smile, as he was about to dive into his advice, wavered.
He'd teased them once, and now they'd been teasing him for two hours straight. Regretting his own words, Lee Ha-yul let his shoulders droop.
- ...Hoo, anyway! The part I was talking about keeps showing up, right?
When he switched into serious explanation mode, Daera and Lee Ha-sol corrected their postures.
Even outside of Mentoring Practice, the two had been receiving a lot of help from Lee Ha-yul for a while now.
So they knew full well what a remarkable teacher he was.
- When you deliberately lower the output, your control wavers, right? That's only natural, since you're handling it at an unfamiliar output.
"Doing it with Heavenly Thunder instead of mana is way harder. If I mess up just a little, it zaps off in some other direction immediately."
- Still, you have to overcome that. Heavenly Thunder is as ferocious as it is hard to control, so you need to reach the point where your control doesn't waver no matter what output or scale you manifest.
The flaws that had just surfaced were being pointed out one by one.
- Look at this video here. The 7-minute-04-second part. Your body and Heavenly Thunder are moving separately, right? From here to here... the aftereffects of the shaking keep appearing. Also, from this point onward, the output itself wavers...
"......"
The problem was that its insight into weaknesses was far too detailed and precise.
Even flaws the person themselves wouldn't know about, or ones that would be hard to catch from a careful outside observation, were laid bare one by one.
"Seriously, you even know about toe movements? Junior Disciple, just how far does your detection reach?"
It was obsessive to the point of being perverted.
- ...We'll talk about other things in a bit. All right, let me show you an example of mana operation.
Lee Ha-yul flinched, then took Daera's hand and let his mana flow into her.
- You feed the mana about this much... and when guiding it, it's best to focus on this flow.
"Hmm..."
Mana came in along her circuits. Normally there would be a rejection, but Lee Ha-yul's mana flowed smoothly into every corner of her circuits without a problem.
Thanks to that, she was able to directly and easily experience the most ideal way to operate mana.
- You also need to pay attention to your body movement. The muscles here are getting overworked, so when striking, distribute it properly...
"Mm... Mm-hmm..."
After helping with the mana operation, Lee Ha-yul grabbed Daera's forearm and gently kneaded it.
Daera's shoulders flinched.
Her muscles had stiffened a little from the intense movement. The touch that pressed precisely along the grain of the muscles, and Lee Ha-yul's mana spreading into the muscle, brought a tickling thrill.
"J-Junior Disciple, your mana is so pure that my own mana feels like sewer water."
- Please don't say that.
"Hwehik...?!"
Having worked his way from her forearm to her shoulder, Lee Ha-yul lightly clasped Daera's prosthetic arm.
- Your prosthetic arm... is there any discomfort?
"Uh, hoo... N-Not at all... The senses are connected, so what discomfort..."
- Still, that's a relief...
It was a prosthetic I had crafted with great care at the time. Even now, I inspect it every time my skills improve, but in the end it's still a prosthetic.
Someday, I have to restore Daera's arm.
As it happened, Lee Ha-yul had recently done something crazy enough to modify his own spiritual blueprint, and he had succeeded perfectly.
'I'm not yet at the level where I can interfere with someone else's soul.'
It is possible. But until I'm sure of its safety, I can't try it on Daera.
I should experiment on some miscellaneous monsters for the time being.
- Now, Senior Daera, you're done! Please wait a moment.
"Hahk...!"
Lee Ha-yul nodded, gave Daera's palm a light smack, and stood up.
Next was Lee Ha-sol's turn.
"Senior, is it finally my turn?"
- It didn't take that long...
Lee Ha-sol pouted and glared at him. Lee Ha-yul felt a little wronged, but knowing it was a joke, he quietly sat down next to her.
The procedure was the same as with Daera.
He pointed out her weaknesses and mistakes, adding advice tailored to them. He poured mana into her to demonstrate how to carry out the advice.
"Hoo, hooo..."
When he injected the mana, Lee Ha-sol's shoulders quivered. As he observed Lee Ha-sol letting out a heavy breath, Lee Ha-yul raised his concentration.
- You're still in the conception stage for the Gale Expansion Ability, right?
"Yesss... hoo, haa... Not yet..."
Daera's Heavenly Thunder had many examples of expansion abilities. That was thanks to the 8th Iteration having taught such a wide variety of expansion abilities.
But Gale was an independent manifestation, the very first of its kind. With no records or traces left by predecessors, they had to charge into the expansion ability from scratch.
'Of course, since it's an attribute-type ability, we could reference other wind-attribute unique abilities...'
But Gale was so special that it couldn't be fully applied.
'So I also have to help diligently.'
Unique abilities—and expansion abilities—are heavily influenced by one's mindscape. You can't achieve it simply by handling mana well.
In other words, if Lee Ha-yul wanted to help at all, he had to accurately grasp Lee Ha-sol's mindscape.
He had the Observation Authority, but that alone was insufficient to understand a mindscape.
He could also use the mindscape series through Homogenization, but Lee Ha-yul knew of a power more useful at times like this.
'The Authority of Harmonization.'
The Tower of Harmonization.
Its master, the Tower Master of Harmonization, unified the world's speech with that authority.
I'm not sure about written characters, but spoken words are conveyed through the mindscape, making translation unnecessary. That is founded on connection with one another.
Of course, Lee Ha-yul didn't possess the Authority of Harmonization.
What he had initially received were the Observation Authority and the Space Authority. And later, the Knowledge Authority.
'But it's not that I lack the other two authorities either.'
The Authority of Growth, generously granted in the form of a blessing. And the Authority of Harmonization, processed and passed on in the form of a 'Status Window'.
[The Tower Master of Harmonization blinks.]
[Huh? Savior? What are you doin—]
- Drrrring...
A strand of mana stretched out and latched onto the Status Window, sucking it greedily.
[Tower of Harmoniz@#$%!?]
[Hwek$32%?!?$─!?]
...
- Drring!
[Lee Ha-yul manifests the Authority 「Har?monization」.]
Done. It wasn't the full Authority of Harmonization, but against a single person, he could use the authority to connect.
'This actually works.'
He had tried it on a whim, never expecting it to succeed. Inwardly flustered, Lee Ha-yul recalled the situation and stirred the Authority of Harmonization.
- Poof.
A pure white line popped out of Lee Ha-yul's head. It wriggled in the air for a moment, then connected to Lee Ha-sol, who was breathing heavily.
- ...Vwooooong...
In an instant, his ears went deaf.
It was unfamiliar, yet a sensation similar to ones he'd experienced a few times tickled his chest.
'...Was bypassing my curses always through the Authority of Harmonization?'
It wasn't exactly the same, but it was definitely a similar category. Lee Ha-yul gained a fresh realization and stared at Lee Ha-sol.
On the off chance, he opened his eyes, but he couldn't see. Put simply, the senses weren't connected.
It seemed the explanation that satisfying deliberately imposed conditions was what mattered was correct.
As he slowly withdrew his mana, Lee Ha-sol, having exhaled deeply, was staring intently at Lee Ha-yul right in front of her.
Focusing on the connection, Lee Ha-sol's mindscape was shared—
[Oh my god, look at him pursing his lips, he's so cute!]
[Every time he calls me 'Senior, Senior' and gets embarrassed, it's really cute... If he's going to be like that, why does he tease me too? But that's lovable too.]
[The lunch was so delicious today... Way better than what I make. Why is Ha-yul so good at cooking? I never get a chance to cook for him...]
[Ahh, and I have to visit the orphanage together later. When should I bring it up?]
[Is he used to me kissing his cheek now? Before, he was fine with it, so I need to quickly get soaked by Ha-yul—]
- Snap.
Lee Ha-yul promptly severed the connection.
"Se... Ha-yul? What's wrong?"
Having been catching her breath, Lee Ha-sol tilted her head.
Wearing an extremely innocent and gentle smile. As if to hide his bright red face, Lee Ha-yul shook his head vigorously.
- No, no... It's just a little hot because of the Calamity Flame.
Fwoosh! The Calamity Flame stuck its head out indignantly from within him. Lee Ha-yul pressed down firmly on the Calamity Flame's head and shoved it back inside.
Even after he put the Calamity Flame away, the surroundings were tinged orange.
Evening was gradually approaching.
- ...It's gotten late. Would you like to stay for dinner?
"If you invite me, I'd be happy to."
Still holding hands with Lee Ha-yul, Lee Ha-sol smiled brightly.
* * *
I put a little extra effort into that day's meal.
It was the first day of the new semester, so they hadn't exerted themselves much, but that didn't mean they'd been resting entirely either.
I prepared the meal diligently, hoping everyone would eat well, eat plenty, and regain their energy.
Of course, for me, it was simply a feast for the eyes, forever out of reach.
"Ha-yul, try this too."
"Hehe... Ahh~"
A meal spent mechanically cramming food into my mouth while looking forward to the real meal to come later.
If there was any joy in it, it was the moments when the people around me would kindly feed me.
The food has no taste, but it's a chance to receive affection.
Smiling softly, I nom-nommed the stir-fried pork that Yeon-hwa picked up with her chopsticks.
"...How is it?"
"It's delicious!"
I gulped down the meat and answered.
At that, Yeon-hwa tilted her head and looked me straight in the eyes.
Strange gazes kept clinging to me. I blinked and glanced around.
It wasn't just Yeon-hwa. Somewhere along the way, everyone seated at the table was staring at me as if they'd planned it.
With a strange sense of foreboding, I rolled my eyes around.
"Wh-Why are you all like this? Is there something else you need...?"
"You can't taste things properly. But you still call the meat delicious?"
"...Hic."
- Clatter.
The chopsticks slipped from my frozen hand.
But no one paid the slightest attention to the fallen chopsticks.
* * *
