Chapter 445
Chapter 445
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 445
>Chapter Title: The Spirits of Horus
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The owl spirit Kairo eyed Kupa and Kang Seol alternately with a displeased expression.
- Hah… Is this fate, or what….
Shindio and Gian whispered to each other.
“The vibe… it feels like they might actually let us in?”
“Yeah, is it because of that bird?”
“I’ve never seen a bird that big before. There’s a legend in the north about a phoenix, an incredibly huge bird….”
“That’s a Keshi tribe legend… It has nothing to do with the Deki tribe.”
- Step back, Kupa. Don’t you know you shouldn’t get attached to personal matters!
Kururuk-!
Kupa stuck close to Kang Seol and raised its voice toward Kairo.
Kurururuk-!
Kurururururu!
- Grr… If that’s your will, then I’ll permit the outsiders to stay. That satisfy you?
Kururuk-!
Kairo tapped its forehead with a wing feather.
- How did a guy like this even get in here….
“Looks like we’re good….”
“Yeah… Is this what they call connections? It’s a bird, though?”
“Thanks to it, we get to sleep in Horus tonight.”
Kang Seol stroked Kupa’s beak and asked,
“Kupa, what brings you to Horus?”
Kurruk!
Kurruruk!
Kang Seol pieced together a few phrases Kairo had tossed out to deduce why Kupa was here.
“No way… Is Kupa taking the spirit trial?”
Kairo replied indifferently.
- It’s too early for that child yet. But it is on that path.
Kang Seol looked at Kupa with wide eyes and said,
“Impressive, Kupa. You’re trying to become a spirit?”
Kurruruk-!
Kupa spread its wings wide, proudly showing off its achievements. Kang Seol beamed at the sight.
“Good job, Kupa. You’ve worked hard.”
Kururuk-!
Kairo averted its gaze from them and said,
- What’s this aura of Motutu I sense from you all?
Now that the mood had shifted to actually hearing them out, Kang Seol recounted what had happened in Triem.
“The ogres of Triem shared some of their hunt with us. The atmosphere didn’t allow for refusal, so we partook.”
- I see… But those guys would do that. Motutu must have wandered onto their territory, right?
“That’s what we heard.”
- Hah… In that case, nothing to be done. Motutu’s end is regrettable, but it’s something we must accept.
Kang Seol asked Kairo about Motutu’s strange demise.
“But why did Motutu leave Horus?”
- …Because corruption had seeped into its very marrow.
‘Corruption….’
The first thing that came to mind was Azanik.
Other possibilities swirled in his head as well.
- It’s not for you to worry over. It’s a spirit matter.
“…Understood.”
Kairo turned to leave after dropping that curt remark.
- I don’t know why you’ve come to Horus, but don’t stay too long.
Kang Seol called out to the departing spirit.
“Kairo! If it’s not too late, could we meet Javatu?”
Javatu.
The deer spirit of Horus.
Kairo’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the name.
- Javatu? Why?
Kang Seol took Tansia’s hand and spoke frankly.
“This child unconsciously envisioned a great deer.”
- …Is that true?
This question was directed at Tansia.
She spread her tiny fingers, mimicking antlers.
“Yeah! Big horns! Big deer!”
Sensing no lie in her words, Kairo flapped its wings and took flight.
- Very well. I’ll awaken the spirits.
Wuuuuuuung…
An emerald glow spread across the entire mountain. Tiny lights like fireflies flowed toward somewhere.
“Tree! Super big!”
In the direction Tansia pointed stood a massive tree at the mountain’s center. It was likely the largest tree Kang Seol had ever seen in Pandea.
‘Spirit Tree Dekibu.’
This soul tree rising on Horus Mountain was the Deki tribe’s symbol. Their name derived from it for that very reason.
- Kupa, I’ll go ahead.
Whoooosh…
Whiiioooo…
Kairo soared up, stirring a tremendous wind. As if heading to a prearranged spot.
Kururuk-!
Kupa lowered its body invitingly.
“Long time no see!”
Karen hopped on first, excited. Kang Seol, holding Tansia, and Karuna followed onto Kupa’s back.
Kang Seol glanced at Gian and Shindio and asked,
“Not riding?”
“……We’re supposed to ride?”
“It’s a ride?”
- Hey, get on!
- Scary… Orange tribe!
- Not a sports car… right?
- It’s a sports tank.
Once Gian and Shindio climbed aboard, Kupa shook its enormous wings.
Whooong…
Whoooong…
Soon, they lifted off, rising high enough to take in all of Horus Mountain at once.
“I-I’m flying!”
“Man… this is killer.”
Gian grew quiet, facing the cold wind, lost in some strange emotion.
Whiiioooo…
The flight wasn’t long.
Kwajijijik…
Kupa landed roughly.
They had arrived where massive spirit statues carved from stone faced each other.
Kairo stood beside the owl statue.
“Where are the other spirits….”
- They’re coming.
Kuuuung…
“…W-What’s that? Earthquake?”
“Doesn’t seem like it….”
Kuuuung…
Kuuuung…
A bear spirit larger than the trees burst through the forest and lay down beside the bear statue.
Turning his head, Kang Seol saw a wolf spirit of no small size already in place.
- Yaaawn….
The yawning wolf spirit.
Each had a name, but Kairo didn’t bother introducing them.
Even without introductions, Kang Seol knew all their names.
‘Everyone’s doing well….’
One of his great sayings had a profound connection to them.
Thud…
Thud…
A lesser rumble than the bear’s approached.
A deer spirit with grand antlers emerged from the woods.
“Ah! Deer! It’s him!”
Tansia pointed at the deer spirit, Javatu, and shouted.
- …Kairo, you woke us for an outsider?
- No choice.
Kang Seol bowed his head to Javatu.
“This child dreamed of you, Lord Javatu.”
- A call of the soul. Does she wish to become a spirit?
Tansia tilted her head.
“Spirit?”
Kang Seol quickly interjected.
“She cannot become a spirit. She’s a dragon.”
Prurr…
The deer spirit Javatu denied it.
- She is no dragon. She failed to become one.
“Ugh…….”
Tansia’s big eyes welled up at being told she wasn’t a dragon.
- Harsh.
- Even to a young life.
The wolf and bear spirits chimed in, and Javatu, looking troubled, tried to smooth things over.
- Not yet, young one.
“…….”
As Kang Seol wiped Tansia’s nose while she calmed down, Javatu spoke.
- Why not take her to her sister?
“Her mother and sister sent her to me from the start.”
- I see… You’re deemed more fit to bear her future… A mere small life… Incomprehensible, but I dare not question that one’s judgment.
Thud…
Javatu approached Tansia and lowered itself.
She stroked the deer’s snout.
“Nostrils huge too! A cave!”
- …Not quite a cave. Anyway, what do you desire?
“I wanna be a dragon!”
Javatu nodded.
- Then you’ve come to the right place. I’ll make you one in a few days.
“Really? For real?”
- But it might not be the form you expect.
Tansia nodded.
Thud… Thud…
Whish…
Javatu gently bit Tansia’s clothes and placed her on its back.
- Return in three days to pick up the child.
“…Understood. Tansia, you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah! Big deer all fluffy.”
- …The fur a bit lower down is my pride.
As Javatu departed, the other spirits turned to Kang Seol.
- That all?
Kang Seol shook his head.
- Knew it. You’re looking for those digging underground?
Gian jumped in.
“Yeah! Where are they now?”
- They’ve already left Horus. Unless they return, we can’t know. But I saw them heading west.
‘West….’
No ruins came to mind, suggesting they targeted an undiscovered site.
“Three days… That’s enough time, right?”
Kairo shrugged at Gian’s words.
- Don’t know. One thing I can say: In three days, she can become a dragon. Whether a true one, who knows.
Cryptic words.
Kang Seol soothed his party and withdrew.
“Thank you. We’ll return in three days.”
- I’ll inform the Deki elders. Rest easy.
Shindio said to Kairo,
“Um… If the expedition can’t enter the village, could we set up camp in the territory?”
- There’s a valley to the east. Set up there.
“Thank you!”
Kang Seol’s group departed under Deki guidance.
“Kupa, see you!”
Kururuk-!
Kupa cried out joyfully.
It stared endlessly at where Kang Seol had vanished.
- Kupa, you fool. Ditching your training for what?
When Kairo pressed Kupa, surprisingly, a voice like Kairo’s emerged from it.
- He is precious.
- What, like your master?
- Something like that.
- Tch….
Kupa glared at Kairo and the other spirits.
- Don’t tell them I’ve learned human speech.
The bear said indifferently.
- Your act was convincing. Kururuk? Kurururuk?
- Heh… Kihehe! Anyone could see it was just a big dumb bird. Even I was fooled for a moment…. Haven’t you reached spirit realm? Why keep up the act….
Kwajik…
Kupa shattered a rock with its beak.
- I’m just a big dumb bird. That’s how I’ve lived… and will continue.
The spirits smacked their lips and nodded.
* * *
Kang Seol recalled an old event.
- Now, I shall be you all, and you all shall be me.
Words spoken when his sayings tore open the spirits’ world.
For three days, those words lingered in Kang Seol’s mind.
Back then, Horus’s spirits were surely included: owl spirit Kairo, deer spirit Javatu, wolf spirit Miazhu, bear spirit Belgibu.
Motutu had been a bit downcast and tricky compared to the others, so they hadn’t mingled much.
That explained his lack of aversion to eating Motutu’s meat.
‘Can I hear about him from the spirits?’
His sayings had been closer to Horus Mountain’s spirits than others.
He wondered what life was like after failed ascension, and their relations.
A pure soul able to transform into all spirits with a human body: Gori.
That too was one who had reached ascension.
Whiiioooo…
Lost in thought, Kang Seol was hit by a massive gust.
It was the owl spirit Kairo.
- Check on the child’s status.
Nod…
Kang Seol hurried with his group to where the spirits gathered. Three days had passed; time to verify Javatu’s promise.
Prurr…
Javatu snorted steam from its nostrils at Tansia.
- Child, show us.
Tansia clenched her fists tight, gathering energy.
Goooong…
Pajik…
Pajijijik…
Black lightning transformed her body.
First came the horns.
“Grrrrr….”
Chijijik-!
In an instant, something deer-horn-like popped out, replacing her horns.
- …Even if unintended. Those are my horns.
“Again!”
Chijijik…
Chijijijik…
This time, Tansia’s body was enveloped in mystical energy.
Kugugugugu…
“Kid… she really was a dragon….”
Just sensing that overwhelming aura made it clear. Tansia was undoubtedly a dragon.
[Tansia has received teachings from the deer spirit ‘Javatu.’]
[‘Dragon’ inheritance adventure begins.]
[Adventure details undecided.]
Pajijijik-!
Her body began turning pitch black. Claws grew, and beastly fangs filled her mouth.
[Enlightenment! Tansia awakens a new ability.]
[Soul Form: Dragon awakens.]
……
Now, it was time for Tansia to return to her original form.