Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Training to Become a Spirit Beast
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"Myaaah."
"Shaaah."
A week had passed since I fainted.
In that time, I'd been engaging in some self-inflicted harm... sort of.
In other words, I'd fully healed the wounds from removing the poison.
Now my movements were perfectly adapted again, and I could open my mouth wide without any pain.
What did that mean?
There were no more obstacles standing in the way of me becoming a spirit beast.
In short! I was ready to dive into serious training!
Sssss.
By the way, the instructor for this training was Silpi, the one among us most familiar with mana and packed with all sorts of knowledge.
"Mya!"
"Sha!"
Finally!
Silpi, even more hyped than usual, poured an excessive amount of passion and attention into her students—me and Cheong.
So, what was the first training we did?
Meditation, that's right.
But is it okay to meditate like this?
The issue was with the posture required for proper meditation.
Cheong was in that classic cat loaf position.
I was curled up in a ball, resting my head comfortably for meditation.
That's what she said.
So we each held our most comfortable positions and began our meditation time.
Breathing with intention, huh.
Sip. Haah.
What intention should I put into it?
Resolve to become a spirit beast?
Or memories of the past I'd experienced here?
Or...
Gratitude for my friends who truly worried about me.
If Silpi and Cheong hadn't nursed me, I wouldn't be taking this lesson for a long time yet.
And that green weird substance she found.
It played a huge role in my recovery.
The one Silpi tasted and threw a fit over because it was bitter.
I didn't eat it like Silpi did—I applied it directly to the wound.
That was probably the right way to use it.
Still, I used a ton of it.
But the problem was that my wound was inside my mouth.
I was careful not to swallow it like Silpi, but every time I swallowed saliva, that bitter taste and scent was just awful.
No wonder Silpi freaked out and Cheong got aggressive about it.
Fwhoosh.
Still, thanks to it, I'm perfectly fine now.
Yeah, even if the process was tough, the result is the best.
Sip. Haah.
But is it okay to think like this?
I snapped to—my thoughts had wandered off.
I meant to focus on gratitude for Silpi and Cheong, but now I was reviewing that medicine again.
Is my concentration just that weak?
My thoughts keep veering off.
I'm not usually this bad at focusing.
See? I'm not the type to space out like this, but when I came to, the gallery was right there in front of me!
My instincts were sabotaging my focus—my future was looking worrisome already.
Others might think I was just goofing off or had lost my mind, calling me scatterbrained while sneaking peeks at the gallery posts.
Tsk.
Some pretty fun posts had gone up.
A photo of some buff guy flexing an arm with a cat drawing tattooed on it.
Ignoring the cat doodle, it was the kind of muscle that even made other guys go "whoa."
I wasn't the only one who thought so—soon comments praising the poster's muscles and asking for workout tips were piling up.
Hm?
Then I spotted a post that caught my eye for some reason.
Went to find a spirit beast for me, huh.
Just clickbait? Or real?
Guess I'll check it out.
So I clicked into it.
Right at the moment the post loaded, Silpi caught me spacing out.
Damn...
"Myaaah..."
"Shaaah..."
I'm exhausted.
Exhausted enough to flop on the floor and pass out again right now.
Why am I so beat?
Silpi's lesson.
The mood was so warm and fuzzy during the initial meditation.
But who knew that was just to lower our guards for what came next?
"Mya."
"Sha."
I liked it better when I was sick.
At least then I wasn't this mentally drained.
Now Cheong was blatantly slacking off, while I at least pretended to listen.
It felt like a theory class in fifth period after lunch at school.
You know, super sleepy and unable to focus.
Gotta go back to that post I missed.
Got caught by Silpi at the worst timing.
I secretly reopened the gallery and found the post I hadn't finished.
Here it is.
Whoa, he met the Mountain Lord?
The Mountain Lord is infamous for his cranky personality.
I hoped the poster hadn't gotten seriously hurt and kept reading.
.
.
.
Anyway, what did I ask the Mountain Lord?
Only the stuff that'd be bones and flesh for Galju. So Galju, read this post. Certify after.
1. What's the benchmark for becoming a spirit beast?
Answer: Whether your body and mind can dominate mana without being dominated by it.
2. What's the biggest hurdle to becoming a spirit beast?
Answer: Intelligence. Back when we were just dumb beasts, our low IQs made it hard even to perceive mana.
3. Any small tips for becoming one?
Answer: Live in mana-rich places. Increases your instinctual chance to awaken to it. And think a lot to boost your intelligence.
4. Does difficulty vary by animal?
Answer: Nope. As long as you handle mana well like in Q1, everyone starts equal except born idiots without spirit beast blood. Smarter ones have higher odds, though.
5. What about dragons?
Answer: Dragons are special cases among spirit beasts. Gotta go through the imoogi stage first, and not just anyone can, so it's twice as hard as normal.
6. What about imoogi?
Answer: Two ways: Sea creatures in a dragon king's domain can become imoogi if they please him—he lends some power. But on land without a dragon king, only snakes can. Difficulty skyrockets compared to sea ones, so forget imoogi and aim for snake spirit beast instead.
7. How does a snake become an imoogi?
Answer: Ever heard this? Imoogi make the Yeouiju, and dragons wield it.
Yeah, no way my path was gonna be easy.
I'd half-expected it since pulling my teeth to remove the poison.
If all that's true, my road ahead is a straight-up vertical climb.
But this pisses me off a bit.
I grimaced slightly rereading Q6.
Sea critters just gotta suck up to the dragon king?
Real animal discrimination.
I got annoyed and started thwacking the floor with my tail.
No, seriously.
Some struggle just to become spirit beasts, pulling teeth and all, while others get to be imoogi just by cozying up.
Ah, did it show on my face without me realizing?
I shook my head apologetically at Silpi and Cheong, then recalled Q7.
Imoogi make the Yeouiju.
Does it mean literally make one? Or is there a hidden meaning?
Lacking knowledge on this, I decided to ask the spirit right in front of me.
"Sha!"
Silpi! Help! Desperately requesting aid!
Our news hawk, faster at spreading and hearing gossip than anyone.
The wind spirit, Silpi.
Time to get back to work.