The Second Shedding
Startled, Jekyeong whipped his tail, bursting both of the creature's eyes in quick succession. Though it left his already filthy body even dirtier, he didn't care.
'There really are some bizarre bastards out there.'
At some point, creatures that could no longer be classified as ordinary beasts began to catch his eye. It would have been one thing if they merely looked strange, but some of them possessed bizarre abilities. A creature blinking its eyes even after its breath had stopped was strange, but it was still on the milder side.
The leopard-like beast he had tried to hunt a few days ago, for instance, possessed an acceleration ability—the kind of power where its movements suddenly multiplied in speed, something he had only ever seen in the manga of his past life. He had somehow cornered the agile creature into a dense thicket of massive trees where movement was restricted. Just when he thought, 'This is the end,' the cornered beast suddenly activated what looked like a double-speed mode, slipped away in a flash, and fled. Jekyeong could only stare blankly at its rapidly receding back.
Seriously, if it had such an ability, why hadn't it used it to fight earlier instead of saving it solely to escape?
'That bastard probably possessed a special bloodline. It failed to inherit spiritual intelligence, but managed to salvage that single ability.'
As an aside, that was Jekyeong's first failed hunt since starting his partnership with Cheongo. Fortunately, Cheongo immediately located another target, so they didn't go empty-handed that day, but Jekyeong engraved the lesson taught by that leopard-like beast deep into his bones: Never let your guard down under any circumstances until you have completely severed the prey's windpipe. Escaping with just a lost meal was a fortunate outcome. If a creature you deemed easy prey suddenly transformed and delivered a fatal blow, your very life could be forfeit. You could easily lose your life in a hunt you expected to end in seconds.
'There are no easy fights.'
Especially in a fight where lives are on the line, one must assume anything can happen. He already knew this, but his continuous success and peace had made him temporarily complacent. He had to engrave this renewed vigilance not just in his mind, but deep into his very instincts, ensuring he would never forget it again.
"Huh?"
Cheongo looked at Jekyeong in confusion as he chewed his meat, lost in thought. The yellow serpent's eyes were fierce like a beast's, yet cold and calculating like a human's. That bizarre combination exuded a strange, perilous aura. If not for the trust they had built while hunting together, Cheongo would have spread its wings and fled immediately.
"Jekyeong! Jekyeong!"
"Yeah?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Jekyeong swallowed a large chunk of meat in one gulp and said, "Thinking about how I can quickly become a Yo-beast."
"You can do it! You can do it! I have a feeling!"
It wasn't just empty talk. In Cheongo's eyes, Jekyeong looked no different from a Yo-beast. His body, which had grown to about fifteen meters, was so sturdy and threatening that when coiled, it looked like a massive boulder. The aura he subtly exuded made onlookers feel an instinctive pressure that went far beyond simple fear. Compared to a real Yo-beast, there seemed to be something lacking, but that was a very minor difference. As an observer, Cheongo could see things more objectively and accurately. The bird was certain Jekyeong would soon become a Yo-beast. The envious glances it had occasionally cast over the past few days stemmed from this inner conviction.
"Yeah. I'll become one eventually. But when is the question."
Jekyeong knew his growth period was far from over. Setting everything else aside, just thinking of his parents gave him a clear answer. Though he had grown to about fifteen meters, he was still dwarfed compared to his parents, who had easily exceeded fifty meters in length.
'If my current growth rate keeps up... will it take about one or two years?'
Even thinking about it now, it was hard to comprehend how his parents hadn't been Yo-beasts. But looking at it another way, it meant that the standard separating beasts from Yo-beasts wasn't simply vital energy. Without a doubt, in terms of vital energy alone, his parents were not lacking compared to most Yo-beasts, and would have actually been on the superior side. However, his parents lacked spiritual intelligence. That was why they had no choice but to remain as large, powerful beasts rather than Yo-beasts.
'Vital energy can be built up somehow as long as you eat steadily and grow. But spiritual intelligence isn't like that. Therefore, the most important thing for a beast to become a Yo-beast isn't vital energy, but spiritual intelligence. In that sense, I hold a massive advantage.'
Jekyeong glanced at Cheongo, who was pecking at a small piece of meat in several bites. Cheongo didn't lack spiritual intelligence either. It claimed a Seonin had directly ignited it, and while the credibility of that claim was slightly doubtful, its spiritual intelligence was more than enough to become a Yo-beast. Unfortunately, while it had spiritual intelligence, it lacked vital energy. That was Cheongo's innate limitation and weakness.
'I suppose it's a racial difference.'
Despite always eating its fill since they started hunting together, Cheongo hadn't grown that much. Of course, compared to its initial size, it had grown nearly twice as large, but that was merely the difference between a sparrow and a pigeon. While size wasn't everything, from what he had seen so far, larger size generally meant more robust vital energy. He didn't know what the threshold of vital energy was for Cheongo to become a Yo-beast, but in Jekyeong's eyes, the bird's vital energy was still woefully lacking.
'The one who desperately needs better meat isn't me, but that fellow.'
Glancing at the bird tearing into its meat, Jekyeong headed back to his cozy underwater home. The pond was still large enough for him to submerge himself, but compared to when he first saw it, the water level had visibly decreased. The spiritual energy had decreased proportionally as well. At this rate, he would have to leave the home he had grown attached to within a month.
'What a shame.'
Enjoying his daily improving condition was addictive, but Jekyeong felt more regret over having to leave his safe and cozy home. Of course, even in this pond, he had to maintain a minimum level of vigilance in case some crazed beast barged in while he slept, but it was incomparable to the days when he slept on tree branches, exposed to the wind. If he had to make a comparison, it was literally the difference between a suite in a five-star hotel and sleeping on newspapers in front of a train station. He had never experienced either in this life or his last, but that was how he imagined the difference.
But now he had to prepare to leave. In fact, he had already asked Cheongo to look for a suitable place a while ago, but there had been no results yet. It seemed there were no suitable places nearby, so he would have to venture further out to find a decent spot.
'It'll be fine.'
Jekyeong thought optimistically. He would surely find a place larger and cozier than this pond. It would easily accommodate his growing size and wouldn't shrink like this pond. Perhaps he could stay there leisurely for a few years. If so, would he finally say goodbye to his nomadic life?
As Jekyeong continued his positive thoughts, his eyes suddenly twitched. Out of nowhere, he began to feel an itch as if thousands of ants were crawling over him. No, not thousands—at this rate, it was tens of thousands.
'Could this be...'
If it were his first time, he would have been gripped by fear beyond panic, but Jekyeong was no stranger to this experience. He had gone through this before. A smile spread across his contorted face. Though it was an unbearable pain, he knew: this pain would eventually pass, and after it did, the sweet fruit of patience would arrive.
"Ugh!"
In any case, the premise was that he had to endure this terrible pain. Just because he had experienced it once didn't make the pain any lighter. The pain of the second shedding was just as agonizing as the first.
'Damn it. I messed up.'
He should have prepared for this situation! Left with no choice, Jekyeong began to rub his body against a small rock embedded in the pond floor, relaxing his muscles as much as possible. However, he had barely rubbed against it before the rock began to crack. It was because he had unconsciously exerted force while rubbing.
"Argh!"
Ultimately, Jekyeong had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure the pain. He wanted to bite every part of his body his teeth could reach, from his tail to his torso, to relieve the itch. But he exercised his utmost patience and reason to overcome the urge.
After some time, the period of endurance that felt endless finally passed, and Jekyeong collapsed, letting out a long sigh.
Crunch! Rustle—
Scales peeled off Jekyeong's long, stretched body like dead skin. As if an invisible bathhouse scrubber were vigorously scrubbing away, parts that were originally part of his body peeled off and crumbled.
Jekyeong hadn't noticed yet, but his current state was different from his previous shedding. Unlike the last time, where his bones and muscles grew stronger but there was no external growth, this shedding had caused him to grow significantly. His long, sprawled body had grown to nearly twenty meters, and his bulk had increased accordingly.
'Huh?'
Coming to his senses late, Jekyeong was startled by the sudden, extreme hunger he felt. And only after raising his body in panic did he realize he had suddenly grown incredibly large.
'Is this even possible?'
He thought he had gotten somewhat used to the mysteries of this world, but it seemed he had been greatly mistaken.
'Still... this is good.'
His body had grown larger and stronger. Although he couldn't fully feel it yet due to his hunger, his vital energy must have grown just as strong. He felt he needed to fill his stomach first to make a proper judgment, but...
'I think it's possible. Even if not, it's right around the corner.'
Jekyeong swam up toward the surface. As the nearly twenty-meter-long serpent moved its entire body forward, the entire peaceful pond shook violently.
Only after finishing two hunts in a row did his hunger finally subside. Part of it was because he was that hungry, but it was also because Cheongo wasn't there, forcing him to find prey on his own, which took time. If he had finished the hunt quickly, once probably would have been enough.
It was a one-sided relationship where he had never felt any inconvenience, but this time, it felt inconvenient. Cheongo could come find him at the pond in time for the hunt, but Jekyeong couldn't do the same. This was due to the unavoidable fear Cheongo had of him, which Jekyeong had no choice but to understand. This understanding was the greatest pillar supporting their relationship. Until Cheongo could shake off that fear on its own, it was not something Jekyeong could force, even if it was inconvenient for him.
Having filled his stomach reasonably well, Jekyeong returned to the pond. He went down to the bottom of the pond and calmly settled his mind. Since it was a familiar routine he did every day lately, Jekyeong was able to enter a semi-meditative state in an instant.
'Whew.'
Spiritual energy resonance. It sounded like something grand, but in reality, it was nothing special. When Yu Jeonggyeom briefly explained spiritual energy resonance to the best of his knowledge, Jekyeong had grasped the concept to some extent. In his mind, spiritual energy resonance was a form of image training. Ultimately, things like spiritual energy and spiritual inspiration relied on spiritual senses that transcended the physical body. How should one handle senses that transcended the physical body? Jekyeong had reached his own conclusion: it was the mind, and furthermore, the imagination. Spiritual energy resonance was making the physical body, which held the power of vital energy, touch the spiritual energy. Then, how could he make the two touch? Jekyeong found the answer in imagination, mind, and will.
'Believe that you can do it, and make it happen through sheer will.'
This was another reason why it was so difficult for a beast to become a Yo-beast. First, one had to open their spiritual inspiration to feel spiritual energy, and then their physical body had to resonate with that spiritual energy.