Chapter 117
Chapter 117: Opening Eyes (4)
"……."
Dong Bong-soo took the child's moon cake and put it in his mouth without a moment's hesitation. The salty taste covered the sweetness, but it would become nutrients once digested anyway. Taste wasn't important.
Gulp.
He could see saliva hurriedly going down the child's throat.
Had the child given him emergency rations they'd been saving for a long time to eat themselves?
To someone with a million gold, one silver coin might be nothing, but to someone with one silver coin, that was everything. Likewise, to this kid, Hui-a, the sweat-soaked, damp moon cake that Dong Bong-soo had just swallowed was everything.
And they'd given it to him, someone completely unrelated, expecting nothing in return.
It was something difficult for Dong Bong-soo to imagine, and something he'd never experienced.
A new...... species, so different from the humans he'd seen until now.
Dong Bong-soo took out a lump of silver and a painting he'd drawn yesterday from his Inventory and held them out to the child.
Like the child's moon cake, that too was Dong Bong-soo's everything.
All the money he had left after spending everything, and a painting containing all the insights he'd gained after newly opening his eyes.
The child stared blankly at the silver—naturally not even glancing at the painting—and swallowed again, but ultimately didn't take it.
"Eh~. It's okay. Hui-a just gave the moon cake. I don't need money. I'll gratefully accept the painting though. Thank you."
It was Hui-a bowing their head and accepting only the painting.
No matter how much of a child, they knew well that silver was money and how precious a lump that size was. They must also know, of course, that if they accepted it, they could buy more than an armful of delicious moon cake.
Chuckle—
A natural snicker, perhaps the first since birth, briefly crossed Dong Bong-soo's lips for just a moment. Though it soon disappeared, it had definitely formed.
He quietly watched the child a bit longer, then threw the silver lump upward above their head.
The silver lump soared high into the sky, then flew slowly like a butterfly and quietly flew into the back pocket of the child's pants.
The child, not knowing the silver lump had entered their pants, raised their head and searched around trying to find where the silver had gone.
At that moment, Dong Bong-soo's emotionless voice reached the child's ears.
"Let's meet again later when you've got a splendid ivory tooth or something."
"……?"
Hui-a lowered their raised head and looked back at Dong Bong-soo.
They couldn't understand his words at all. Not understanding was better for the child anyway.
"If many kids like you gather, playing hero at the Murim Alliance might be worth trying."
Dong Bong-soo ruffled the child's hair once, then bent down again and picked up a pebble rolling around by the stream. Then he threw it gently as he had been doing.
However, the direction was different from before—not toward the stone tower but the opposite direction, toward the top of a distant hill. The hill was quite high, serving as a boundary line distinguishing this small village in a corner of Zhengzhou from Zhengzhou's bustling district.
The kid, Hui-a's gaze naturally followed the stone's trajectory. As they had for several days, just like that.
Crack!
The stone that had been flying like a butterfly over the hillside suddenly exploded in midair.
"Late."
When his voice remained as a lingering sound circling Hui-a's ears, Dong Bong-soo was already rushing to the top of the hill. His body, moving as if sliding like a snake, was truly moving at tremendous speed.
Regardless, the other children except Hui-a merely circled and played around the stone tower several times their height that Dong Bong-soo had built up over the past few days……
Serpent Spirit Movement.
Though it was a Movement Technique now lost to time, to the children it was less of a spectacle than the frogs laying eggs by the stream as Awakening of Insects approached.
Of course, to Dong Bong-soo as well, the children were merely frog eggs not worth hunting.
Whooong—
The Internal Energy latent throughout Dong Bong-soo's entire body freely traversed the wide-open acupoints and meridians throughout his body through [Novice's ???]. There was not the slightest blockage.
All Energy operation and emission-reception that had been achieved through virtual simulation over the past few days was being performed freely.
Operation meant moving Energy according to sword forms, Movement Techniques, Footwork, etc.
Emission-reception meant emitting Internal True Energy outward to strike enemies or receiving Energy.
However, one might question whether there's really a need to emit Energy and then receive it again, but looking at Dong Bong-soo, one could easily see that wasn't the case.
An invisible Super True Energy Field was spread within a radius of ten meters around his body.
Around every object, a gravitational field spreads according to its mass. And since people also have mass, they likewise have a gravitational field.
Then, around someone who possesses True Energy, might there not be something called a True Energy Field? This was a question Dong Bong-soo had held from long ago.
During the long period in the past, since True Energy hadn't accumulated at all inside his body, there was no way to confirm it, but now that he could freely operate True Energy, the flow of True Energy began to appear in his eyes.
Not only that, but thanks to [Novice's ???], since True Energy emission-reception was performed freely, his sensitivity to True Energy also became incomparably excellent compared to others.
No. The word excellent was far insufficient.
It was insane.
Yes, insane.
Even knowing that gravitational fields exist, there's no one in the world who feels them. True Energy Fields were the same. Knowing about True Energy and operating it within the body versus breathing with nature and feeling it were completely different dimensional matters.
However.......
Dong Bong-soo was feeling the True Energy Field with insane senses, and breathing with it.
Not only feeling it but controlling the True Energy Field around him through True Energy emission-reception.
He named this the Super True Energy Field.
Energy emission.
A Super True Energy Wave momentarily escaped his body slightly, and his Super True Energy Field rippled. But no one knew this fact. The only people who could know were those as sensitive to Energy as Dong Bong-soo.
Unfortunately, there was no such person here. Perhaps there never would be again in this Central Plains……
Energy reception.
The Super True Energy Wave struck all things in all directions and returned to his body.
'Five.'
The first effect of the Super True Energy Wave obtained through simulation.
An ability much the same as bats shooting ultrasonic waves to confirm surrounding geography and prey locations. The only difference was that what Dong Bong-soo emitted wasn't ultrasonic waves but Super True Energy Waves.
The moment Dong Bong-soo grasped the location of the 'five delivered prey,' he was already entering behind a tall pine tree atop the hill. Because the Super True Energy Wave had informed him.
That the foremost prey was there.
"……!"
The assassin was startled. The assassin's expression, their body language said "How!" Though their face and entire body were covered with a mask, he could tell.
From the assassins' perspective, dawn should have been the perfect time to strike, but Dong Bong-soo......
Was not a human constrained by mere things like time. He was simply feeling boredom at the laziness of the assassins who'd been delivered late.
Squeeze.
[Wanderer's Sword] was already in Dong Bong-soo's hand.
It struck downward. An indifferent voice immediately followed.
"Righteous Vertical Supporting Sea."
"Eek!"
The assassin crossed the blades of the twin short sabers held in both hands in an X-shape and lifted them upward.
Clang!
The Wanderer's Sword struck between the twin short sabers and couldn't advance further. It wasn't a strike with all his strength, but still it only had this much power. It was a disappointing sword form.
Dong Bong-soo immediately erased the Righteous Vertical Supporting Sea sword form from his mind. It was a useless sword form that couldn't even kill an enemy of this level in one strike.
That was when.
The wavelength of the Super True Energy Wave emitted behind Dong Bong-soo and returning grew shorter. Meaning a new enemy was approaching.
3, 2, 1.......
The instant the enemy reached exactly one meter behind him.
Dong Bong-soo retrieved the Wanderer's Sword and slid smoothly backward. That fluid movement was exactly like clouds freely flowing across the sky.
"Huh!"
Another assassin who had been approaching stealthily let out an alarmed sound as the 'goods' suddenly slid toward them with their back still turned. Not only was it unexpected, but the speed was beyond imagination.
Moreover.......
They seemed to have heard somewhere of a Movement Technique that could move so freely while keeping one's back turned, so their surprise was doubled. Though they'd never actually seen it, they felt confident it was probably certain.
"Flowing Cloud Void Step?"
However, whether the assassin recognized it or not, Dong Bong-soo swung his sword while turning his body as soon as he felt the target had entered the Wanderer's Sword's range.
Whoooong-!
Clang-!
The assassin, even amid their surprise, hastily raised their short saber sideways and blocked Dong Bong-soo's sword. However, the force was so strong they were roughly flung to the opposite side.
"Guh!"
Dong Bong-soo flowed like a cloud following the assassin being flung away and swung his sword again while circling to the opposite side. The sight was so ferocious it shook all the surrounding trees. Clearly, up until following the assassin, he'd been soft as if clouds were playing, but now that appearance was hardly to be found at all.
"Left Turn Killing Mystery."
Dong Bong-soo continued to speak the sword form names aloud while unfolding sword techniques.
Why he was doing so was his alone to know.
The attack continued.
Boom!
As the assassin was struck again from the opposite side in addition to the force flinging them away, they suffered tremendous internal injuries despite defending properly and flew far away. Even if they didn't die, it was a fatal wound severe enough that standing again would be difficult. Dying was only a matter of time.
Even during this, Dong Bong-soo's Super True Energy Wave rippled in all directions. Though not yet perfect, his Super True Energy Field was solid, like how gravitational fields continue to be maintained in any situation.
The Super True Energy Wave informed him that another new assassin was approaching.
A Sword Fragment appeared in Dong Bong-soo's mouth.