Monsters Above Monsters
As soon as I returned to the cold, damp cave, Jin Sohee sat down and began meditating.
Since having death energy nearby could have a negative effect on her, I put some distance between us and sat down as well.
So the energy has settled properly.
The energy I’d gained from swallowing the Blood Pill had mingled with my death energy and formed a dark red bead beneath my navel.
Is this the energy of this world?
I slowly tried spreading the energy gathered below my navel throughout my body.
What is this?
That bead, no larger than a fingernail, was producing power on par with my death energy.
Of course, since the death energy had mixed in, that much might be possible—but even so, it didn’t fully explain what was happening.
Is it because of the location?
The space below the navel. Maybe energy anchored there was simply more efficient.
Just as I was about to move the death energy into that space below my navel, cautious footsteps came from the darkness.
Swish, swish.
There wasn’t just one person. There were two. I didn’t even need to open my eyes to know who they were. Lee Cheolgang and one of his lackeys.
“Boss, doesn’t that girl look weird? She’s drenched in sweat, and she hasn’t moved since a while ago.”
“Yeah, something’s off.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to deal with her now?”
“Hmm...”
Lee Cheolgang came closer and closer.
I slowly opened my eyes and warned them.
“Don’t come any closer.”
My voice made both of them flinch and stop in their tracks.
“Wang Saryeong? Weren’t you asleep?” Lee Cheolgang asked, sounding rattled. I didn’t even bother standing up as I looked at him.
“Whether I was asleep or not, there’s no reason for you to come over here.”
“And whether I come over or not, that’s none of your business either, is it?”
“I was asked to.”
Lee Cheolgang looked around, then actually tried to persuade me.
“You saw that bitch fighting too. She might even be stronger than you.”
He seemed to know that Jin Sohee was stronger than him, but he had no idea about me.
Well, from an ordinary person’s point of view, Jin Sohee’s flashy fighting would definitely look stronger.
If only he’d thought about why Jin Sohee had asked me to protect her.
He was still a kid, after all. However perceptive he might be, his limits were obvious.
“If you team up with us, killing a worthless bitch like her would be nothing.”
So where had all that confidence from before gone? Now he wanted to pick off the weak first.
The Blood Cult was insane. There was no logic in gathering children and making them do this kind of thing in the first place.
Placed in a place like this, the overconfident little brat had already turned into a coward who only wanted to take out the weak.
“Just go.”
“...Wang Saryeong, I gave you a chance.”
“What?”
Lee Cheolgang stirred up his energy. Red power. Reddened eyes.
Looks like he’d become able to use the power of the Blood Pill.
“You should’ve taken the hint when I was being nice.”
He was so absurdly adorable like that. I almost wanted to bite him to death on the spot.
“What, you want to fight?”
I’d told him as much just yesterday. Lee Cheolgang lunged at me, looking offended, then caught my energy and hesitated.
I’d deliberately let it out enough for even Lee Cheolgang to feel it.
“Y-you... how...”
“You’re no match for me, much less Jin Sohee, so stop dreaming impossible dreams and go sleep in a corner.”
Lee Cheolgang stared at me in shock, then retreated with his lackey.
“Tsk. Rats.”
I closed my eyes again and focused on moving the death energy into the space below my navel.
.
.
.
At dawn, I sensed movement behind me. Jin Sohee had opened her eyes.
Her complexion was better than yesterday’s, and her gaze was sharper than before.
“...Thanks.”
“Just don’t forget your promise. You said you’d do anything I asked.”
“I know. I always keep my word.”
As soon as daylight broke, the instructors stormed into the cave.
“Everyone gather in the training grounds!”
The security in the training grounds was even tighter than yesterday.
The chief instructor stood before the platform, looking down at us with cold eyes.
“Starting today, you’ll be reborn as proud members of the Blood Cult.
“To celebrate, an elder of our sect has personally come to visit.”
From the stairs at the back, a hunched old man slowly walked forward.
“Crazy...”
The thought slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
I hadn’t expected there to be someone even worse than the chief instructor.
If the chief instructor was close to the level of a Swordmaster beginner in my previous life, this elder was at the upper echelon.
There are probably several elders, and the cult leader too. Just how many monsters are there in this Blood Cult...?
Ten years wouldn’t be enough to deal with monsters like that.
At minimum, twenty years. And if I had to face the other elders and the cult leader too, I couldn’t even begin to guess how many more years it would take.
“This honored one is Elder Swordscratch Old Freak Sa Ma-hwi. Show proper respect and welcome him.”
The elder climbed onto the platform, leaning on his cane.
He coughed into his hand and let out a dry rattle of a cough, looking every inch the feeble old man who’d been tucked away in a back room.
That he could hide his real power so completely while playing the part was what made him even more terrifying.
“This year’s children... do have quite a bit of killing intent...”
The elder’s voice was harsh, like metal scraping against metal.
He swept his gaze over the children gathered below the platform, one by one.
Then his eyes stopped on me. Instinctively, I hid my death energy deep inside and let only the Blood Pill’s power show on the surface.
The elder’s eyes narrowed. It was only a matter of seconds, but gooseflesh rose along my spine.
That old man was probably seeing the flow of blood vessels inside my body right now.
“Chief instructor.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Keep a close eye on that brat and that girl. Wouldn’t it be a waste to let them die in a place like this?”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
At the elder’s fingertip were me and Jin Sohee. Lee Cheolgang, standing nearby, shot me a jealous glare, but I had no room to care.
I was too busy hiding my death energy from the eyes of an upper-echelon Swordmaster.
The elder coughed again and returned to his seat, and the chief instructor stepped forward once more.
“From this moment on, we begin the Blood Cult’s rite.”
Two instructors dragged out about twenty bound people.
And then...
Slash!
All twenty died at once, and the blood they shed pooled into the sunken floor.
Strange patterns were drawn around it, vaguely resembling a magic circle at first glance.
“First group, line up. By receiving the blessing of blood, you will grow closer to the Blood Cult.”
Group by group, they lined up. They drank the blood pooled in the pit and then returned to their places.
I had no idea what meaning it held, but it was probably some initiation rite to enter the Blood Cult.
The lines of children moved on in turn, and at last it was Group 44’s turn.
Lee Cheolgang, his lackey, and then Jin Sohee all drank the blood, and now it was my turn.
A suspicious pattern. I couldn’t see any markings belonging to an actual magic circle. It might have been closer to a ritual than sorcery, so I couldn’t figure it out right away.
“Drink.”
I knelt and drank the blood scooped up in the ladle.
I felt nothing at all, which made it seem like there was no real effect.
I went back to my place and waited for the rite to end.
At last, the final group passed through, and the ceremony finally concluded.
“From today onward, you are proud members of the Blood Cult. Since you’ve become members of our sect, we will give you a gift.”
The instructors moved then, distributing books to each group.
“This is Blood Flow Art, the Blood Cult’s introductory heart technique.
“It helps the blood art circulate smoothly, so you must learn it as a foundation.”
Inside the book marked Blood Flow Art were detailed instructions on where to move energy and how to strengthen it.
“However, to prevent leakage of the heart technique, you may only read it here.
“In other words, until you learn Blood Flow Art, you cannot leave this training ground.
“Only those who master Blood Flow Art will be allowed to leave this place and be officially recognized as members of the Blood Cult.”
So if they couldn’t learn it, they’d stay trapped here and be locked up again.
That was fine by me. I’d been planning to study the energy of this world anyway, so if they were giving me time first, all the better.
“Anything you do inside the training grounds is fine, so do your best to learn it.”
The children all began reading their books. Some of them had already started circulating energy.
They’d probably been learning to use energy even before they were brought to the Blood Cult, just like Jin Sohee.
“Can you do it?” Jin Sohee asked as she came over to me.
“I’ll have to see.”
I needed to figure out how it was used, how it intersected with death energy, and whether I could use magic after learning it.
“If you need help, let me know.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Since I’d stood guard for her once, Jin Sohee seemed to have opened up to me a little.
If I ran into something I couldn’t figure out, asking her for advice after she’d already learned to use energy might not be a bad idea.
“All right. Let’s get started.”
First, I needed to check the death energy I’d tucked beneath my navel while protecting Jin Sohee.
According to the book, that location was called the dantian—the place where people in this world gathered their energy.
In my previous life, I’d formed a circle in my heart. Here, that function was being used in the dantian instead.
“Better test it.”
I drew out only a trace of the death energy stored in my dantian and triggered a spell.
It was a magic that barely consumed any mana, since I didn’t want to risk being noticed by the elder.
Stealth.
A basic concealment spell. Since I’d mixed in almost no death energy, the effect was nearly nonexistent, but it also meant the elder was unlikely to notice.
For now, using magic through the dantian isn’t a problem.
If I could use magic through the dantian, then there was no reason martial arts wouldn’t work too.
Well, then. Nothing to worry about.
Now I would learn Blood Flow Art. The structure was simple: move energy along the meridians and strengthen it, like rolling a snowball.
I guided the energy pulled from the dark red bead in my dantian along the meridians described in Blood Flow Art.
Along the way, I drew in the surrounding death energy. After making one full circuit through the meridians, it returned to my dantian.
Not that difficult, really.
When I relaxed my focus and slowly opened my eyes, the situation had changed from before I’d begun learning Blood Flow Art.
“What the hell, how much time has passed?”