Chapter 011
### [Chapter 011]
< Vessel of Power (1) >
11
The view of the vegetable garden in front of my eyes was fierce.
The stems were black and hard, and the leaves were sharp like blades.
The tips emitted a faint light, looking more like well-forged weapons than medicinal herbs.
‘Is this the Golden Bone Grass?’
I recalled the warning message I saw when I obtained the seeds.
[Caution: If consumed by one who has not reached a certain level of Internal Energy, the medicinal potency (Yak-ryeok) may not be endured and the consumer's bones throughout the body may break.]
It was a dangerous item.
But at the same time, it was what I needed most right now.
‘The state of my body.’
Thanks to 6 years of field life, I was lean and sturdy without any excess fat, but that was all.
An E-Class Awakener was, in the end, just slightly better than an ordinary person.
Before the sharp claws or teeth of monsters, I was no different from a sheet of paper.
They would just pierce right through the skin, and I had no way to withstand it.
‘Let's test it.’
I went to a corner of the yard and took a stance, recalling the bare-body training the Bureau Hunters used to do.
It was training to temporarily strengthen physical abilities through basic mana manipulation.
I tried to draw up mana as I was used to.
But the E-Rank mana core was like a creaking old faucet, unable to properly draw out even a handful of mana.
‘No, it’s not this.’
What I will use is not mana.
Internal Energy (Naegong).
A power more fundamental and perfectly one with my body.
‘Again....’
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my fist, drawing up clear and pure Internal Energy from deep within my dantian.
Cr-crack-
A faint energy lingered around my hand.
It felt similar to when I held the stone.
With that fist, I struck the old persimmon tree in the yard with all my might.
Thud!
“...Ugh!”
There was damage to the tree.
But every joint in my fingers throbbed and stung as if the bones had cracked.
“It’s just as I expected.”
Internal Energy was powerful, but my physical body, the vessel that holds that Internal Energy, was still a weak E-Class.
If I entered the Tower in this state, I would suffer fatal injuries even from a Goblin's rusty dagger.
“Alright. Let's eat it.”
Firming my resolve, I went to the field and picked the single black, obsidian-like hard fruit that had grown at the end of the sturdiest Golden Bone Grass stem.
It was the only fruit this seed had bloomed.
And then, I chewed and swallowed the metallic-tasting fruit.
Crunch, crack-!
In that instant, a terrible pain as if every bone in my body was screaming and being reassembled swept over me.
“Agh!”
A sharp and destructive sensation, completely different from when I ate the Hasuo.
The skeleton, the foundation of the body, was being forcibly twisted and strengthened.
“Kugh...!”
I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.
Beyond my blurring vision, I saw the Gorani pacing around anxiously and Muryong staring at me intently.
Squeezing out my last bit of strength, I crawled toward the veranda and collapsed.
* * *
How much time had passed?
I woke up slowly as the coldness of the floor brought me to my senses.
It seemed I had been passed out on the veranda all night.
“Ugh....”
My whole body was stiff.
It felt as if every muscle was screaming as if I had been hit by a large truck.
‘Did I fail?’
If I only felt the bone-shattering pain without any change.
Feeling hollow, I placed my hand on the veranda floor to raise my body.
Crack-!
“...Huh?”
Where my palm touched. The veranda floor, made of solid pine, cracked open like a dry cracker.
‘I just placed my hand there?’
I looked down at my hand.
Outwardly, nothing had changed.
Pop, snap!
But as I moved every joint in my fingers, I felt a hardness and solidity incomparable to before.
It felt as if my bones had truly changed into something else.
‘No way.’
To test it, I approached the old persimmon tree I had struck with my fist yesterday.
And once again, I clenched my fist.
This time, I didn't load it with Internal Energy.
Only with pure physical strength.
Boom-!
A heavy impact sound incomparable to last time.
The thick bark of the persimmon tree burst open, revealing the white flesh inside.
And my fist?
“...It’s fine.”
It was perfectly okay.
Far from pain, I didn't even feel an itch.
It felt as if I had struck a fluffy cotton blanket.
“Is there anything else?”
Anything visible or within reach, I wanted to test it.
“This was left over.”
A steel pipe left over by the repair team yesterday caught my eye.
And then, without hesitation, I struck my forearm with it with all my might.
Clang-!
A dull sound of metal clashing.
The steel pipe bent like a piece of taffy.
But not a single faint red mark remained on my arm.
“Is this the power of the Golden Bone Grass?”
It was amazing.
It was a slightly different feeling from when I ate the Hasuo.
Back then, it felt like the energy inside my body had become powerful.
While the sense of seeing the world changed as clear Internal Energy filled me, the reason I didn't feel a huge change was likely because the vessel holding the power remained the same.
‘My body must have still been trapped in the limits of E-Class.’
But now it was different.
It felt as if the very foundation of my existence had changed.
“I think it’s okay to go to the Tower at this level.”
I looked at the ticket Lee Seok-ju had left behind.
Once I tear this ticket for the first time, I will have the authority to enter the Tower.
Just then, I heard a commotion outside the gate along with an urgent voice.
“Oh dear, what should we do....”
“The old lady next door?”
Thinking something might have happened, I hurried outside.
“Old lady, what’s going on?”
At the entrance of the village, three or four elders, including the old lady, were gathered and restless.
Where their gaze was directed, a giant tree had fallen and completely blocked the road.
“The wind and rain were so fierce last night, and it finally fell over.”
It was a giant old tree that had lived for hundreds of years, regarded as the guardian of the village.
The problem was that this tree completely blocked the only road into the village.
“We contacted the village head, but it’ll take at least half a day for the equipment to come from town.”
“Oh dear, today is the day I have to go to the hospital in town, this is a disaster.”
The elders' faces were full of worry.
“Let me take a look.”
I scanned the fallen tree.
It was a massive size that wouldn't budge even if four or five adults clung to it.
“Should I give it a try?”
At my words, the old lady waved her hand.
“Oh dear, young man. I appreciate the thought, but you’ll hurt your back trying to use strength. How could you lift something like that?”
“Yes, young gentleman. Even the strong men couldn't lift that.”
I didn't say more and approached the thickest part of the fallen tree's trunk.
Then, I took a stance as if embracing the tree with both arms and put strength into my legs.
“Hup!”
Creak-
In that moment, I felt it clearly. That my body had completely changed.
Previously, it was a weight that wouldn't have moved even if I squeezed out all my strength.
But now it was different.
My two legs planted on the ground held the surface as firmly as steel pillars, and the flow of power traveling up my waist to my back muscles was smooth and unobstructed.
As if every part of my body had found its place, every bone and muscle were in perfect harmony.
Internal Energy was a powerful energy, but I was always anxious because the body holding it couldn't keep up.
‘It was a state like putting a high-output engine on an old cultivator.’
But now, my reborn body had become a perfect state capable of freely holding and exploding any powerful Internal Energy.
I could now freely contain and let flow the overflowing power of Internal Energy with my sturdy body.
The base of the tree, which had been deeply rooted in the ground, began to lift up slowly but surely, kicking up dust.
“...Huh?”
“...My goodness.”
The elders' mouths hung open.
After lifting the tree to chest height, I moved it toward the forest by the roadside and set it down.
At first, I lifted it mindlessly with all my might, but in the process of moving the giant tree, I naturally found the knack.
I concentrate the Internal Energy only on the waist and leg muscles that need to provide power.
The arms and shoulders are only tasked with supporting the weight.
The sense of sending the flow of Internal Energy exactly to where it’s needed.
Like turning a faucet to adjust the strength of a water stream, I could adjust the intensity of the power.
“Uh, uh...?!”
With much less strength, I handle heavier weight.
It felt like I was re-reading my body's instruction manual.
It didn't feel difficult at all, to the point I felt as if I were moving a toy instead of this giant tree.
Thud-!
As the tree settled on the ground, the surrounding earth vibrated slightly.
Dusting the dirt off my hands, I said to the elders.
“The cars can pass through now.”
“....”
“....”
A moment of silence followed.
Everyone was looking back and forth between me and the tree I had moved, with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
The first one to snap out of it was the old lady next door.
“No, young man... you look thin, but what on earth is your identity? Are you a world-class strongman?”
The old lady was looking with eyes that couldn't believe it.
I just shrugged and smiled.
“We can't just leave it at this, young man! Come to our house and eat. You used your strength, so you must eat heartily!”
“Oh dear, then come to our house! I’ll have to catch a hen!”
“Young gentleman, I saw your garden didn't have much the other day, take some sweet potatoes dug from our field!”
In an instant, I became a village hero.
Each of the elders was anxious to take me to their house and give me one more thing.
Feeling the bustling warmth after a long time from the way they packed side dishes, rice, and everything out of worry that a young man living alone might starve.
* * *
Meanwhile, Cha Jin-seok had been losing sleep for several days.
The miracle-like changes that happened to Lee Seok-ju and Old Man No.
He had a suspicion that Jang Kang-hyun was at the center of it, but no proof.
It had been several days since he commissioned an informant, but even the whereabouts were vague as to where the guy was holed up.
Just as his lips were parched with impatience.
Ding!
A message arrived from the informant he had been waiting for.
[Found him. It’s an old country house on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do. Sending address.]
I finally caught the tail.
“It’s certain he’s up to some trickery here.”
Cha Jin-seok headed toward the address received from the informant.
After arriving, he stared at the garden of the country house with an absurd look as something was growing there.
“Did he really become a farmer? What a joke.”
The mysterious grass stems planted in the field caught Cha Jin-seok’s eye.
They weren't ordinary plants, but had a unique appearance that looked like they would bloom inside the Tower.
“As I thought, he was growing something strange here.”
Just then, the sight that entered Cha Jin-seok’s eyes.
Kang-hyun was lying on the veranda, sleeping very peacefully.
Cha Jin-seok twisted the corners of his mouth up.
‘Should I play a prank?’
< Vessel of Power (1) > END