The Lively Duel
“Do you think they got mad? Why are they sparring so brutally?”
Teraden’s words were spot-on. The duel between the two was brutal, like watching wild beasts tear at each other. Blanser had always been ruthless from the start, but Junior looked different from the way I remembered him. I’d seen his matches a few times before, and he used to hold back, giving his opponent the first strike, defending, then crushing them. He never flaunted his strength or acted arrogantly, which made him look so refined. But right now, Junior was totally different. He charged Blanser with savage force, unleashing a wild storm of attacks.
“UOOOOOO!!”
Blanser’s and Junior’s Cheneung, unpowered by Ineung and without machines, were evenly matched. Boom! Whack! Each time they clashed, they pounded each other mercilessly, slamming into each other with even stronger force. The wild cheers of the crowd lasted only a little while. As time passed, the cheers faded, leaving only the chilling sound of impacts echoing through the air.
The spectators who had been cheering wildly at first now wore serious faces. Some were stimulated by Junior’s overwhelming skill, others shrank back in fear, and still others were captivated. But the two of them, completely absorbed in the fight, had happy smiles on their faces. It was as if they were genuinely thrilled by the opponent’s strength and the chance to clash with an equal foe to the death.
KRAACK!
Blanser’s massive body, blocked head-on by Junior’s fist, slid across the sandy ground, unable to withstand the force. Teraden’s eyes widened as he stuck out his tongue at the weird sight.
“Whoa, the first time I’ve seen him get pushed back by strength.”
“Ugh…”
PAAAT!
Blanser let out a groan as Junior charged again, and the two tangled once more. Boom! KWAAN!
Blanser’s attacks were so threatening that each one could be called a lethal strike. In fact, the Blanser I’d watched up until now had knocked out his opponent in a single hit every time, without fail. Rumor had it that even at the Welcoming Night, everyone except Jinbon had been knocked down by his one punch. The somewhat unfamiliar yet eerie nickname “Face Destroyer” was because Blanser was that powerful.
But Junior took every one of Blanser’s fierce assaults without falling, his expression unchanged. “…Still, it seems like he’s about a half-step ahead of us.”
Teraden, watching the duel, let out a self-deprecating smile.
“Don’t rush it. Think back to when we first left the village. Look at how much stronger we’ve become compared to then. We can get even stronger from now on. Today’s us is stronger than yesterday’s us, and tomorrow’s us will be stronger than today’s.”
“Yeah… that’s true, I guess?”
KRAACCK!
While I was comforting Teraden, Blanser and Junior exchanged a simultaneous strike. They tumbled across the ground together.
“Tsk!”
Blanser wiped away the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned.
“I heard it from my teacher. Ever since then, I’ve been dying to fight him someday.”
“…”
“Hey, why do you call that old man ‘teacher’? Wait, I think I saw a story somewhere where a kid couldn’t call his dad ‘dad’ for some reason.”
“Maybe there’s some unspeakable reason behind it?”
“Do you have to hide it? They look exactly the same anyway.”
“…Yeah, but I think they’re trying really hard to keep it secret.”
“Aigoo, you dumbass.”
KWAAN!
“Alright! If you’re going to start, let’s finish it! Release!”
While Teraden and I chatted, Blanser’s feet pounded the ground so hard that he suddenly opened his gate.
“Manifestation.”
Junior matched him, unleashing the power of his machines. Swoosh, swish! The sphere floating beside Junior wrapped around his right arm with a strange sound. I’d always been curious about its purpose—turns out it was exactly that.
“W-Warning…!”
“Everyone, back away…!”
The spectators, watching from around ten to twenty paces, screamed in shock at the unexpected situation and scrambled to retreat far behind. This wasn’t a spar anymore—it was going too far.
“Teraden.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”
We had been watching the duel from a relatively close spot and stepped in just as the collision was about to happen, stopping the fight. KRAANG! KWAACK!
I spread my palm to block Junior’s machine-wrapped fist, and the impact of his broken arm spread through my hand and into my whole body. He must have gone all out to take me down.
“Ugh, my hand’s numb.”
Teraden’s irritated expression showed that Blanser felt the same way.
“Enough. Stop.”
“Haru-ssi?”
“Teraden-hyung? No! Why…!”
“Both of you got too heated. Calm yourselves.”
“Yeah, kids. That’s enough.”
With my and Teraden’s intervention, Blanser and Junior each pulled back their strength and slowly retreated.
“…Lord Haru. I’ll take my leave first.”
“Alright, good work. Any injuries?”
“Yes, of course. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Junior bowed deeply and left without looking back.
“How was it fighting?”
After shaking his wrist a few times, Teraden grinned at Blanser.
“…It was strong. I didn’t think I’d lose, but I also didn’t think I’d win. But I’ll definitely fight him next time.”
Hic!
The sight of Crow’s Duck’s figure flashing in Blanser’s eyes made Teraden flinch.
“Hey, why is that guy’s face getting uglier every time I see him? Is he actually Crow’s Duck’s son or something?”
* * *
A few days after the duel, on a holiday with no lectures. Since I had nothing better to do, my group went to Lan’s workshop outside the National Academy.
“Welcome.”
Lan and Wolhyang welcomed us. Well, Wolhyang excepted. Teraden let out a small sigh upon spotting her—after getting scolded by her as “auntie” recently.
‘Warm! Haru-hyung! Teraden-hyung’s whole body is freezing! What do I do? Should I call Hyeondo to burn the house down?’
If Maru and Lan hadn’t tried so hard to stop me, we might have caused a real disaster.
‘Hah… Hah! What just happened? I had a nightmare or something.’
‘What dream?’
‘I don’t know, there was a person in black clothes on a boat in the middle of a river, and when I called his name he waved at me to come over.’
…That sounds like the Three Rivers. It must have been super dangerous.
Teraden, who had locked eyes with Wolhyang because of that, took a quick look at her. But he soon snapped back to his usual self.
“Lord Lan, I learned about the awakening of Ineung in the Ineung studies class last time. I heard that there are fewer than twenty people on the entire continent who have reached the awakening level. Could Lord Lan be among those twenty?”
“It seems the National Academy teaches even that. You’re exactly right, Teraden.”
Teraden’s eyes sparkled, and Lan gave a soft, gentle smile.
“Excluding the five without Ineung, all seven of the Pillars have already reached awakening. In a way, awakening must be essential to take the position of the Seven Pillars.”
“What? Essential? Why?”
“There are two ways to inherit the Pillar position. The first is proving your qualifications through at least three Pillar confirmations, then inheriting. The second is through the Pillar Challenge, taking the position by force.”
“The qualification you mentioned in the first one is precisely awakening, and in the second, the challengers must also possess the power of awakening, so it’s essential.”
“Exactly right, Lord Haru. But there’s more to it. In her case, she inherited the Pillar position through a method that falls into neither category.”
“Hahaha! Then if we ever awaken, we can challenge Lord Lan too?”
Teraden’s words were rude, even if they were meant as a joke, but Lan laughed it off lightly.
“I’d be happy to welcome any of you at any time.”
“But, when you reach awakening, what are the good points?”
Ever since the Ineung studies class, Teraden had been overflowing with awe and anticipation for awakening. He stuck to Lan like a leech, bombarding him with endless questions. Lan answered Teraden’s questions in turn.
“Well, the good points. First, let me ask you, Lord Teraden. How do you use Ineung?”
“What? Uh… You open the gate, right?”
Teraden’s head tilted halfway at Lan’s extremely simple question. I’d heard people say that hearing the obvious can sometimes leave you puzzled. Teraden was in that state now.
“Correct. But once you reach awakening, you can use Ineung freely without even opening the gate.”
SAAARAAARA. A light breeze swirled around us as Lan answered.
“Of course, even without awakening, you can use it at a very faint level like now. But when awakened, you can do this too.”
WHOOOOO-!
A vortex appeared on Lan’s palm, exactly like the one I’d seen the first time we met. At the time, I’d thought it was just a whirlwind and moved on. Now, seeing Lan compress such a powerful vortex into his hand and control it, I realized how incredible his ability really was—even without opening any gate.
If that vortex broke free from Lan’s control, it would turn the surroundings into a wasteland like a runaway colt.
“Wow, then how did the fifth Pillar become the Pillar without Ineung?”
“The fifth Pillar could reach the position because he inherited the will of the Sword Saint, one of the Seven Stars. Most generations of people who wielded the sword with fierce power were those who inherited the Sword Saint’s will. Besides the fifth Pillar, who was among the Seven Pillars in the previous generation, there is also the sixth Pillar of the same family as you and me in the current continent.”
The sixth Pillar… Is he referring to Arirang Jaksan? I heard that the other six Pillars of the family, like Feltics, left the village around the time I and Teraden started walking. I don’t know much about Jaksan, though I do remember playing with him as a child. It’s a hazy memory now, but…
“Oh, that guy? He suddenly disappeared without a word around the time we were eight or nine. There was a big fuss, and I thought he was dead. When I heard he became a Pillar, I was shocked.”
Agreeing with Teraden’s words, Maru and I nodded. But… something felt off. Upon closer thought, I couldn’t see Jubern.
“By the way, I don’t see Lord Jubern. Where is he?”
“Ah, Lord Jubern…”
Lan hesitated for a moment before continuing slowly.
“A few days ago, he took a short leave to fulfill my orders.”