Qualities of a True Warrior

"As expected, my eye for talent was spot on. Messiah's son. You were born with the qualities of an excellent warrior."

After my spar with Rebecca ended, War Incarnate came down from the spectator seats to give me his assessment.

He seemed to think pretty highly of me. Well, yeah. Things got so hectic during the fight that I didn't fully register it at the time, but now that it was over, I felt a bit dazed.

Who would've thought I'd beat Rebecca?

I did struggle a bit here and there, but overall, it felt fairly straightforward. I wondered if maybe she'd gone easy on me... but I immediately dismissed the idea.

She and Mom would never hold back—doing so would only poison my growth.

Even as those thoughts raced through my mind, War Incarnate's evaluation continued.

"At the very least, I don't feel like this trip was a waste. Thanks to you, I got a good show."

"Ah, no need. I'm the one who's grateful for the high praise."

"Still, don't get arrogant."

Before I could sheepishly scratch my cheek, he spoke in a deeply solemn tone.

"Vain pride scars the mind and dulls your skills. You're not weak, but you're still far from catching up to the Messiah. So don't get any foolish ideas and keep training steadily—"

"Well, well. That's not what you were saying behind his back, is it? You told me just now, 'That kid's definitely going to surpass the Messiah soon.'"

"Sh-shut your trap, you old fogey...!"

War Incarnate flushed bright red, visibly flustered as he glared at Tower Master.

...So this guy wasn't entirely honest after all.

I'd been listening so earnestly, caught up in the solemn atmosphere.

"Of course."

Getting cocky and crashing is something third-rate novel villains do. I didn't aspire to a protagonist's life straight out of a story, but I sure as hell wasn't planning to end up as some disposable baddie.

"Anyway, we'll be heading out now. Remember what I said and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't slack on your training, Messiah's son. Especially your martial techniques—"

"Ignore that muscle pig and focus on magic. Just close your eyes and give magic a shot for once."

Even as they left, these elementary-school kids—no, constellations—kept bickering. Didn't they ever get tired?

That's when it happened.

"In that spirit, here's a little gift for you."

Tower Master suddenly scurried over and handed me something.

Curious, I looked—it was a small orb perfectly sized for one hand.

"Your familiar's adorable. It'll probably stay cute even when it grows up."

She smiled warmly at Gift, who was sitting obediently by my side. I'd brought him into the arena after the spar.

"But cute is cute, and once it gets bigger, carrying it around everywhere will be a hassle, right?"

"Yeah, you're not wrong."

Honestly, it was already a handful. The guy was 1.5 times the size of a large dog, so I'd been seriously considering a bigger place.

But why bring up Gift out of the blue?

"And with that dragon shell of his, plenty of folks will feel threatened right off the bat. Not knowing it's really just a big softie wolf underneath."

Whoa, shit. What the hell? This woman knew Gift could polymorph?

"...How'd you know he's actually a wolf? Did Mom tell you—?"

"No, I didn't hear it from anyone. I just knew at a glance. We're both hiding our true forms behind shells, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after all. Call it a sense of kinship?"

So the little girl I was seeing right now was just a facade too?

"And above all, no crude polymorph can fool me."

Her eyes gleamed with sharp yellow light as she fixed them on Gift beside me.

-Kki, kkiwoong...

Gift flinched, trembling and letting out a pitiful whine.

...I'd never seen him scared of anyone like this before. She wasn't even glaring murderously.

Puzzled, I checked Gift's emotional state.

It wasn't simple fear. Awe out of nowhere? Was he overwhelmed by the sheer presence of a constellation? Or something more...?

"Oh dear. Looks like your familiar doesn't care much for me. How disappointing. I even prepared a special home for him."

"A home?"

"The orb in your hand. I called it a gift for you, but it's really more useful for your familiar."

I glanced down at the orb in my palm. A home? This thing?

"Press the little button right in the center."

Oh, yeah—there was a small protrusion. I pressed it, and with a click, the top popped open like a pendant, revealing the interior.

I couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

Inside was a miniature room, exquisitely furnished on a tiny scale.

"You can keep your familiar in there whenever you want. Like a pocket pet carrier for ultra-small companions."

"Whoa..."

A portable orb to store my familiar anytime. It was basically a Poké Ball.

I'd just been thinking about testing it when a system prompt appeared right on cue.

I nodded, and Gift's body was enveloped in white light, sucked straight into the orb—like a Pokémon capture, down to the animation. Straight-up plagiarism levels.

-Kkiang!

Miniaturized to match the tiny furniture, Gift looked up at me from inside, wagging his tail happily. He seemed pretty content.

"That muscle pig gave you an eye last time, right? So I had to give you something too. Especially since you're Hyun-min's son."

"It's not an 'eye,' it's Throw Eye. You damn old fogey."

"What do you think? Like the gift?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Love it."

No exaggeration. My worries about moving to a bigger house were gone. And crucially, when I needed to hide Gift, I wouldn't have to polymorph him into Wolf Fire and stuff him in my pocket anymore. It was inefficient—kept draining my mana while he stayed transformed.

It took me a second to grasp what she meant, then it hit me.

To a third party, it just looked like a quirky orb. No one would imagine a familiar inside.

In other words, when the enemy's off guard, I can summon Gift from this 'Poké Ball' for a surprise attack.

Mom's got killer instincts. Gotta praise that sense.

Looking closer, this thing was a game-changer. Pure utility put it in my top three items easy.

"Well, gifts delivered. Time for us to really head out."

"Hope we meet again soon. I mean it."

I waved with a smile as they turned to leave.

"It was great meeting both of you."

They were like mentors to my parents—figures akin to master and disciple. For me, their son, this meeting felt special and honorable.

War Incarnate vanished quietly like a mirage, a stark contrast to his flashy entrance. Tower Master opened a gate, just like when she arrived.

As she took a step toward it...

"Um, ma'am. One sec."

I called out to Tower Master in a slightly urgent tone. She turned, eyes wide.

"Something wrong?"

I knew it might be rude, but I had to ask.

"...About my dad. How's he doing these days—?"

"Curious about Hyun-min's status?"

"...Yeah."

Mom had mentioned months ago that Dad was in the middle of constellation registration review. I'd been too busy to ask since, but now I couldn't hold back. What, was the review taking a century?

"Hyun-min recently passed and officially became an Apprentice Constellation."

"What?!"

...Mom didn't know either?

"Ah, no, wait—then why hasn't Dad said a word to me or Mom...?"

"Hm. Something about being busy picking a title these days, he said."

"...Ma'am, have you actually met my dad?"

"Of course. He came to me first, actually. A fine man who knows the true bond between master and disciple, heh heh!"

Heh heh my ass... He honors master-disciple bonds but ghosts his own family?

"Don't make that 'stabbed in the back' face. When Hyun-min reunited with me, the topic he brought up most was his family."

"...Could you tell me what exactly he said?"

"Well, too much to repeat verbatim. But to sum it up briefly..."

Ahem.Tower Master cleared her throat and grinned broadly.

Was she imitating Dad? It was spot-on—his smiling face overlapped perfectly in my mind.

"I will appear before my family at a timing they could never imagine."

"......"

"—Something like that."

"......"

"Ah, Hyun-min asked me to keep it secret. Slipped my mind. Heh. What's the Messiah's reaction?"

"...She says you'll make him die twice when you meet."

"Oh dear, now Hyun-min will suffer because of me. Well, this weepy old lady will take her leave. Take care!"

Poof!

...And Tower Master was gone.

If I cursed Dad right now, would that count as filial impiety...?

A timing we "could never imagine"? What kind of bullshit—er, nonsense—was that? Planning to show up when I'm taking a dump or something, Dad?

"Hwang Jae-min kiddo. You okay?"

Rebecca approached me, her face like a neutered puppy, concern in her eyes as I spaced out.

"Y-yeah, fine. My brain's just buzzing a bit... but this much is okay, right?"

"You don't look okay at all... I hope this brings you some comfort."

I turned to her. In her hands was a folded red cloth of obvious fine quality, with a sword neatly laid atop it.

"Huh?"

Wait. That ring-pommel saber—was it...?

"...Sword of Salvation?"

Why was Mom's beloved sword here?

"Correct. Though it's just a replica. The Messiah and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I stayed up nights making it for a day like this."

The real one's in a museum, naturally.

"It should be a set of two for the complete form, but we ran out of time and materials. My apologies."

"N-no, don't apologize. I'm just... kinda stunned."

"It's the reward for the final curriculum, in lieu of the shop. Please accept it gladly."

"......"

With hands trembling from the overwhelming emotion, I carefully gripped the Sword of Salvation.

The moment the hilt settled in my palm:

In that instant, a terrifying energy surged through me, making every hair stand on end.

Regaining my composure, I saw a fierce blue ghostly aura—fundamentally different from mana—rippling along the blade.

How many evils had this single sword felled? How many lives had it saved?

"......"

The blade that confronted calamity and saved the world. Mom's symbol, now in my hands—the feeling was indescribable.

"You more than deserve it, Hwang Jae-min kiddo."

"...Thank you. Really."

No matter how cheat-like Pandora's Box was, it couldn't compare to the Sword of Salvation. Not in raw system performance, but in what it meant to me psychologically.

That said, I can't relegate Pandora's Box to the back burner.

There had to be a way to use them together optimally. Plenty of time before tackling Full Moon Canyon, so I'd figure it out.

Whoosh—

A gate linking back to Earth appeared nearby—the signal that my month-long training was finally over. I'd grabbed the Disaster Egg while preparing to leave earlier too...

Perfect. Time to go home.

"It felt like pure hell at the time—something I'd never want to relive as a memory..."

I gave Rebecca a faint smile.

"But seeing how I'm kinda sad to leave, guess that was just me being dramatic."

"......"

"Thanks to you, Rebecca, I made huge strides."

"I gained much as well."

"Aw, what did I even—"

"Because of you, for the first time since receiving this life, I could smile a true smile."

Her soft words made me lift my gaze from the ground to her face.

A radiant smile. The brief one she'd flashed after my victory in the spar was back—bright enough to light up anyone's heart.

Swish.

I extended my hand. Not some ritual for receiving the shop, but a genuine handshake.

"......"

Rebecca looked down at it silently, then said,

"May you walk only the path of victory, great son of the Messiah."

And clasped it firmly.

After Jae-min left the sanctuary.

"Hoo..."

For some reason, Rebecca found herself exhaling deeply, hand on her chest.

She then gently touched the corner of her mouth.

She didn't want to flatten the upward curve. What was this feeling?

'It's not a bad feeling at all.'

As she fiddled with her smile, tugging it this way and that in odd solo antics...

"Is he gone...?"

A small voice from behind pierced her ears.

Startled, Rebecca dropped her hand and turned.

The passage into the arena—shrouded in thick darkness that allowed no light, where only a silhouette faintly stood.

Her attire and face obscured by shadows, but unmistakable.

"Messiah."

The noble aura from that slender frame couldn't be hidden.

Rebecca bowed deeply to the constellation she served devotedly—Hyun-sook.

A wistful sigh escaped Hyun-sook's lips.

"The laws of the Hall are truly loathsome. What law in the world blocks a long-dreamed mother-son reunion?"

"I saw your son off safely, so worry not."

"...Right. And it's not like we'll never meet again, so no need to grieve too much. Soon enough, surely—"

Crackle.

"......"

Even as she bowed in reverence, Rebecca caught Hyun-sook's form distorting like screen noise for a split second.

"Really. Never doing that again."

"...I've followed your will silently thus far, but it was too much from the start. To think you'd even offer 'divine power' to train your son..."

"I'm a bit tired now... Save the nagging for later, Rebecca."

Constellations were like that. Having reached transcendence, they needed no food or drink, sustaining themselves on unique energy called divine power.

But Hyun-sook had generously poured over a month's worth into Jae-min's stats.

Disguised as a flashy-sounding "shop," of course.

"Still, I must say this: Thank you, Rebecca. What would I have done without you?"

"...You're truly incorrigible."

Directly granting divine power to an agent was a strict taboo under Hall laws. So she'd funneled it through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her helper, Rebecca—a loophole of sorts.

"You nearly lost your very existence. There's a limit to devotion for your son."

That explained it—Hyun-sook's voice, uncharacteristically weary.

Even so,

"Couldn't be helped."

Hyun-sook smiled innocently, as if it were nothing.

"Motherly love is just like that."