Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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“Grrr...”
It was the first time I had seen Cheong like this.
Her pretty eyes, which had always held various emotions, were now filled solely with murderous intent toward the enemy in front of her. Her breathing, her movements, even the slightest twitch of her body—all radiated a will to 'hunt' me.
'Was everything up until now just playing around?'
I wondered just how many times Cheong and I had fought over the past while.
We bickered so often that even if it was once a day, I could believe it.
But in all those times, this was the first time she had ever been this furious.
Even on the day we first met, it hadn't been to this extent.
-W-We have to stop her, right?!
Just like me, Silpi was sweating at the sight of Cheong's ferocious form, fidgeting anxiously.
Yeah, it must be confusing for her.
Cheong's appearance had changed upon becoming an imoogi, and from Silpi's perspective—who knew that the shed skin over there was just that, a shed—she saw this fight as a misunderstanding.
'And stop her, huh.'
If I could, I wish someone would stop her. For real.
I didn't want to fight her in that state either.
[Impossible.]
But it was impossible.
I flatly denied it to Silpi.
She had already closed off her heart and ears.
How could I possibly calm her down when she was this excited, ignoring even Silpi or me?
Whoosh.
'Fast.'
Something white flashed before my eyes in an instant.
If I hadn't quickly jerked my head back, my face would have been torn by Cheong's claws.
[But slow.]
Fast, but slow.
A contradictory expression that didn't quite match.
As I dodged Cheong's attack, I thought it perfectly described what I was feeling.
She was definitely fast.
Her speed rivaled Silpi, the wind spirit who wouldn't lose to anyone in terms of velocity.
But she was slow.
Her attacks toward me appeared slow, allowing me to dodge them all.
Swish.
-E-El! In front!
'When?'
But sometimes, she showed movements that were strangely mysterious.
Just like now.
I had just dodged an attack, and Cheong had clearly landed beside me.
Yet now she was attacking from right in front of me.
A position change like teleportation.
But my sharpened senses, honed since becoming an imoogi, told me otherwise.
Cheong had achieved something magic-like purely through physical ability, without manipulating mana.
[What a terrifying body.]
And she had learned from the previous attack, now using both arms in an X-shape. What talent.
Whoosh.
But who am I?
Even with the penalty of low durability, I was still an imoogi—one of the upper ranks among spirit beasts.
Whirrr.
“Grr?!”
-Wh-What?!
Invisible wind grabbed Cheong.
Knowing full well who could wield wind so freely here, Cheong glared at Silpi and ground her teeth, her face saying she wouldn't let her off if she didn't remove it immediately.
Silpi frantically waved her hands, shouting as if she had something to say.
-I-It wasn't me!
“Gr...?”
Then who did this?
At Cheong's question, I let out a light chuckle and replied.
[Me.]
-El?! How could you...
[You didn't forget what’s needed to make a Yeouiju, did you?]
The foundation of the Yeouiju is the qi of the five elements, and to shape it, wind and thunder qi are required.
And what I had just used was wind. The power of feng (風).
But even after my explanation, Silpi's expression didn't clear up; she still looked puzzled.
-But an imoogi can't wield a Yeouiju, right?
Silpi's doubt was valid.
A dragon might, but an imoogi couldn't handle the Yeouiju's power.
[It's not the Yeouiju's power.]
But the power I used wasn't from the Yeouiju.
To be precise, it was the residual qi left over after creating it.
If asked how qi remained in my body, I'd say it was thanks to a lot of luck.
Normally, creating a Yeouiju consumes all absorbed power.
But during my transformation into an imoogi, a problem arose.
My body changed fine, but I ended up smaller than a typical imoogi.
Naturally, the Yeouiju adjusted its power to fit its owner's body, and the trimmed-off power melted into mine.
-...What does that mean?
[In other words, my Yeouiju is smaller than a normal imoogi's, but in exchange, I absorbed that power and can wield Yeouiju-level strength to some extent.]
Yeah, simply put, that's it.
-Isn't that bad? It might be fine now, but a smaller Yeouiju means less power than others later on.
[Not really.]
Because this qi I absorbed...
It resonates with the Yeouiju, steadily building power bit by bit.
An imoogi accumulates power in the Yeouiju to become a dragon.
Naturally, there's a limit to how much it can hold.
A Yeouiju that can store more power raises the odds of becoming a dragon.
But sadly, the vessel's size is fixed. And Yeouijus are famously unchanging in size once formed.
So Silpi was worried after hearing me.
But I'm an exception.
The qi left in my body grows, unlike the Yeouiju.
Even as we spoke, the qi in my body was continuously growing stronger.
-So, El, you're an imoogi but can wield dragon power? And you won't lack power climbing the Dragon Gate.
[It's still too weak to force it now... but eventually, yeah. And the Dragon Gate won't fail me for lack of power either.]
Honestly, I just learned this myself.
My body instinctively suggested a way to resolve this amid Cheong's killing intent: use the residual qi.
-But doesn't using power mean you have to replenish it?
[Exactly.]
I used power, so I need to refill it.
My power shines more in the late game.
Say it increases by 1 now with what I have.
Hit a threshold, it becomes 2.
Another, 3. Then 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10—the growth accelerates.
And the thresholds are based on how much power my Yeouiju holds.
Probably because it resonates with the Yeouiju's power, stronger Yeouiju means bigger gains.
-Uh, so the wind holding Cheong now is...
[Squeezing out every last bit of power I have.]
Honestly, a little more and I might not handle wind for a while.
At my words, Silpi paled and moved her hands.
-Th-Then let me hold her now!
[No need anymore.]
Plop.
I released the wind power, freeing Cheong.
Silpi gathered power, worried Cheong might attack again, but Cheong's reaction made it pointless.
Poke poke.
“Mew?”
[Yeah, finally recognizing me.]
Cheong cautiously placed her paws on my body and started kneading.
The front paws that tried to kill me moments ago now moved carefully, lest I get hurt.
But reading the emotion in her actions, I smiled and said.
[Took you long enough.]
“Mew! Mya mya!”
Cheong made excuses.
She said she saw me split open and dead.
[That was shed skin. Fragments of the past I cast off to become like this.]
“Mya? Myam!”
[Hm? That doesn't matter.]
Suddenly, Cheong demanded ownership of the shed skin, and I allowed it.
I had no idea why she wanted my shed skin, but I didn't need it.
Oh, but I did tell her not to eat it like the tail.
Even so, eating my shed skin felt a bit much.
-Uh, huh?
As we laughed and chatted amiably again, Silpi—who still hadn't caught up—stammered and pointed at us.
[Why are you so flustered?]
-No, you were just fighting like you wanted to kill each other. And now you're suddenly reconciled?
[No reason to keep fighting once she recognized me.]
This wasn't the first or second time.
Why act like an amateur?
At my words, Silpi unconsciously nodded.
Yeah, her time with us was shorter than mine with Cheong, but she still needed to get used to it.
“Mya! Myam!”
-Huh? Preserve this without damaging it?
By the way, as Cheong handed my shed skin to Silpi, she asked her to preserve it—prevent rot or breakage due to variables. Not preservatives, but preservation.
I wondered if wind could do that, but Silpi casually snapped her fingers, creating a translucent wind orb around the shed skin.
-This should keep it in this state permanently.
[Wind can do that too, huh.]
-Now that you can wield wind, want me to teach you?
Sure, I'd love that.
But after grabbing Cheong earlier, my qi was nearly depleted, so theory now, practice later.
[Let's head back.]
Everything was wrapped up, so time to go home.
Our home.
“...You're late.”
[Who are you?]
-Who are you?
“Mya?”
What’s with this scar-covered old man?