Graves Without Bodies

In this world, there exists a place known as the Boundary.

The phenomenon born when the dimensional gates shattered had stitched Earth to other dimensions. At the 'Gates' lying nearest to that rift stand those called the 'Guardians of Humanity.' And deep, deep within... humanity's sworn enemies, the beings known as Demons, have made their seat.

The Demons are the enemies of mankind. There is no middle ground to be had with them. For they have offered up the things of this world to beings called the Outer Ones in exchange for power — and their ultimate purpose is the annihilation of the human race.

"How tedious..."

With every passing stretch of time, the Demons came to understand that the hours allotted to them were running out.

"The one the Prophet spoke of. I hear he enrolled at Korea Hero Academy this year."

In a place where darkness had settled thick and lightless, the Demons held their council. Not one among them possessed a form that could be called normal. One towered more than fifteen meters high; another looked as though it had been hurled into a furnace, its whole body melted and running, frozen mid-flow.

"We cannot set foot outside this place. But once that being awakens, our lives will be numbered all the same."

"The cleanest solution would be to butcher the students along with the entire school."

"Impossible. That is where the 'Emperor' dwells. The moment we leave the Boundary, she will be waiting there for us."

And the instant a Demon passes beyond the Boundary, its power falls into decay. This is the doing of an Oath — one forged long ago by a great hero who was, in his day, hailed as the finest humanity had ever produced.

"Then we move the Villains."

"Can that rabble be trusted? They posture about tearing down society's order, but the moment their necks are on the line, they're nothing but trash who look after their own hides first."

"Even amid trash, the odd gem is to be found. The Heaven-Controlling Society — they style themselves the heavens themselves and await the Heavenly Demon who will blanket the skies. Surely they'd prove useful?"

"Hm. Those lot, eh."

The Demons deliberated. Rousing them would demand a steep price, but as pawns went, they were far from the worst.

"Then we move the Heaven-Controlling Society. And as our follow-up, we strike at the one who will awaken Starlight Mana."

"What is known of this being?"

"Nothing. Not a face, not a sex — we do not even know where they come from."

"So that was why you set the Black Demon Order loose?"

"It was. I moved them hoping to pry out even the smallest scrap of information. Yet all we learned is that the target is a first-year."

"A quandary. We cannot even pin down who they are."

"Then why not simply kill every last one of them?"

The man who had been quietest of all finally spoke — a man who looked to stand a good two meters tall. Unlike the Demons, these were beings who had joined hands with them for one reason alone: a desire to see the world's order torn down. Villains. They had gained their power from no sinister patron, and precisely because of that, they were the trickier breed to handle.

"Good. You look brimming with confidence. Then let us keep it simple: your initiation test shall be how you resolve this affair."

At the Demon's words, the Villain grinned.

"First of all..."

Soyosan Mountain, Dongducheon — Gyeonggi Province.

Under normal circumstances it was quite the journey, but I had come straight here through the warp gate at Korea Hero Academy. Guitar case slung across my back, I leaned against a post and waited.

"Hmmm..."

The Heukcheon Demonic Sword stood at my side, tilting her head.

"Star mana, you say. So an heir to the power of starlight does live in this era."

"You know of it?"

"Of course. Though I have seen it only in old texts, mind you. Regardless — Master, mark this well: do not let that woman slip away."

"Never intended to."

I let out a lazy yawn. I had pushed my training a little hard the day before, and my whole body felt heavy and sore.

"S-Seoha?"

A short while later, Seo Gayeon arrived.

I had told her to dress comfortably, and her outfit showed it: a black T-shirt, white high-waisted shorts, and the sword she had brought along for self-defense. Students of Korea Hero Academy were classed as prospective heroes, so carrying a weapon posed no trouble at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all.

"You made it. Shall we get going, then?"

"O-okay."

When I started toward the mountain, she pattered along at my heels.

"B-but Seoha, wh-where exactly are we going?" Seo Gayeon asked.

I considered dodging the question for a moment, then decided I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might as well tell her the plain truth.

"A dungeon."

"A-a dungeon... a d-dungeon?!?!"

Seo Gayeon nearly leapt out of her skin.

"A d-dungeon? C-can the two of us re-really handle one?"

"Relax. Just trust me."

This was a dungeon I had hand-picked for her sake. One she could walk out of safely — unless she was secretly working for the Demons and meant to spring a trap on me. The Demons were a mild concern, but I had tuned the place to a level I could clear without breaking a sweat.

And above all, I have Will now.

Will — the power to take what burned in the mind and manifest it upon reality. That power had since been converted into the stat called Heaven-Defiance, but its essence remained, in a form far mightier than before.

Status window.

I called it up and looked it over.

One number stood out above all the rest: Vitality. It had shot up at a ludicrous rate — and this without my having so much as touched the elixir Seo Yebin had given me. Everything else had crept up modestly, too.

"You seem used to hiking."

"Y-yeah. Wh-when I was little, my p-parents really l-liked hiking."

A faint flush crept over Seo Gayeon's face. I knew the reason. Her family wasn't poor, exactly — but they weren't well-off either. As a child she had grown used to foraging in the mountains, picking mushrooms and wild greens to help stretch the table.

"Shall we head on up, then?"

"Mm-hm."

We climbed on. There were stretches where the slope stole our breath, but each time we paused to let it return before pressing on.

An hour of climbing like that, and the trail finally leveled out — graves came into view. And among them, countless people.

"What is this place?"

"Graves."

Graves without bodies, as they were called. Back when the dimensions first shattered and beings from other worlds poured through, humanity awakened to mana and supernatural abilities. The benevolent ones among those beings passed their martial arts and magic down to the people of Earth. The trouble came with the beings called 'Demons' that slipped out through the shattering dimensions — and with the monsters. Many were devoured. Many more died without leaving so much as a corpse behind. Some stepped into a gate and were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never seen again; others breathed their last trapped inside towers. In South Korea alone, the tally ran past ten million souls.

These bodyless graves had been raised in their memory. And the dungeon we had come for lay close by — born of the grudges that had pooled around these graves resonating with a certain object.

I led Seo Gayeon deeper in, toward the recesses where the visitors dwindled and the gravestones thinned out. Before long we reached ground with neither people nor graves: a cliff. On the sheer rock face dropping away down the mountainside gaped a tiny crevice — a cramped little opening barely wide enough for a small child to squeeze through.

"S-so this is the d-dungeon."

"Yep."

Seo Gayeon was shaking like a leaf.

"I'll go in first. Stay right behind me."

"O-okay."

Just in case of the unexpected, I had to take point. Guiding it with Will, I floated the guitar case holding the Heukcheon Demonic Sword in ahead of me.

"Master — is this not rather rough treatment for me?"

Bear with it.

I told her through the telepathy-like power I had picked up while training my Will of late. Truthfully, I would much rather have stowed her in my subspace, but she loathed that with a passion, so I had resigned myself to lugging her around like this.

Folding myself nearly in half, I squeezed inside. Hngh. I could hear Seo Gayeon shuffling along behind me — she was managing to keep up. I pressed deeper.

After perhaps a hundred meters of stooped shuffling, the passage began, little by little, to widen.

Then a monster came into view. Kiihk? A half-transparent shape wreathed in drifting wisps of deep violet flame — a monster known as a vengeful spirit.

"W-wh-what is th-that?"

"A monster. Grudges gather and condense into creatures like that — a spirit, of a kind."

"I-isn't it d-dangerous?"

"Not at all."

First, to set her mind at ease, I drew the Heukcheon Demonic Sword. Swish— At my Will's command, the sword shot toward the spirit. Kiiheeek—! The vengeful spirit let out one final shriek and died.

The Heukcheon Demonic Sword had been quenched and hammered countless times in the power of Heaven-Defiance. A spirit whose body was woven of pure 'mana' had no hope of withstanding it. Where vengeful spirits were concerned, I was something beyond even their natural predator.

Which was exactly the problem.

In this case, my strength was a touch too much of a good thing. Seo Gayeon was in no danger, but the moment I intervened, any Demon made of vengeful spirits would crumble beneath my attacks before she could so much as touch it.

"I-it's gone?"

"Did you really think I'd drag you somewhere dangerous?"

I let the corner of my mouth curl as I said it, and she flinched. Don't tell me she had genuinely believed we'd wandered in here without a plan.

"Don't worry. Your safety is guaranteed. The reason I brought you here is that this dungeon suits you better than any other."

"Th-this one does?"

"Yep. The star mana you carry, Gayeon, is the polar opposite of the demonic. The more you fight things tied to that side, the more your own mana will bloom."

"I-I see."

Seo Gayeon looked up at me with trembling eyes.

"So then — what would you say is the fastest way to make mana bloom?"

"F-fighting really hard?"

"Nope. It's getting rolled to within an inch of your life. Don't worry — I'll make sure your life is never actually on the line."

"Wh-what?"

I fished a potion out of my subspace — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one brewed to smell like a feast to vengeful spirits. I popped the stopper, and a rank, acrid odor stung the tip of my nose.

"Well then — good luck."

"H-huh?"

Watching the vengeful spirits come swarming, I pushed Seo Gayeon forward and took up position behind her.

"Haah... haah..."

Still gripping her sword, Seo Gayeon was breathing in great heaves. Her once-neat outfit was scraped and torn all over. Most of the vengeful spirits were dead. There had, in truth, been a moment where things nearly went wrong — but the instant her star mana bloomed, if only a fraction, every last spirit in the passage had quite literally 'evaporated.'

Without a word, Lee Seoha uncapped a healing potion and smoothed it over her wounds.

"Drink this."

"Haah, hah... th-thank you."

Cupping the potion in both hands, she gulped it down.

"Feel like you've found the knack?"

"Y-yeah. Sort of," she managed between breaths.

"Then just a little long— no. Let's call it a day."

Seo Gayeon's expression changed in a heartbeat — the look of someone for whom one more step was simply out of the question. Lee Seoha found it a shame, but he let it go. Had it been something he alone had to endure, he would have forced his way through... but demanding the same of her felt a step too far. For now.

Seo Gayeon, still catching her breath, replayed what had just happened in her mind. The vengeful spirits reaching for her. And the power she had felt stirring inside her own body in the instant before Lee Seoha moved. So vivid it was almost blinding — that power had come to her as a shock.

"Hm. Guess we'll need a different dungeon next time."

"H-huh?"

Before she could ask what he meant, a gaze cold enough to turn the blood swept over her.

"Demons."

Lee Seoha chuckled lightly and closed his hand around the Heukcheon Demonic Sword. He hadn't planned on hunting anything today — but when the loot came walking to him of its own accord, it was only good manners to pick it up.