Yeong-ryeok Reinforcement (2)
Pi Yu-jun stopped rolling the candy in his mouth.
"Forgot you passed out yesterday?"
A gentle warning. Yun Ga-eun chimed in urgently.
"Yeah, Do-gyeol, just like the teacher said... for the time being..."
"Keep practicing the basics steadily, right?"
Do-gyeol's eyes sparkled.
"When you've got a chance like this to swing freely without a care, you grab it."
His trademark shamelessness. And the fierce passion for sorcery hidden behind it. Pi Yu-jun liked that tenacity in him.
"Fine. It's your body, you take care of it. Come on out."
As Do-gyeol stepped forward boldly, tsking sounds rose from around them.
"Acting all high and mighty just 'cause he's picked up a bit of sorcery."
"I had my moments like that too. Showed off my strength without knowing better and ended up bedridden for a week."
"Let him have his fun."
Kang Hak's eyebrows twisted too.
"This talisman-tinkering punk thinks he can stand behind me?"
Standing behind his overwhelming destructive power meant inevitable comparisons. And that confidence, refusing to back down—it didn't sit entirely well with him.
"You think I'm a joke?"
"Do-gyeol's really getting under your skin, huh?"
He whipped his head around at the grating voice. At the end of it was Baek Seo-rin, watching the scene with intrigued eyes.
"What bullshit is that?"
"If you weren't seeing me as a rival, would you even get pissed? You usually don't give a damn."
"You think I'd see trash like you as a rival?"
"Suit yourself."
Baek Seo-rin shrugged without even looking at him, and Kang Hak's eyebrows trembled.
'I'm gonna kill you someday.'
Meanwhile, Do-gyeol stood before the massive stone pillar.
The chat window's reactions split sharply. Those holding him back and those egging him on. Do-gyeol's lips curved up slyly.
'Yeah. If I'm doing it, might as well do it right.'
Who knew when another practice chance like this would come? No point sticking to familiar methods—time to try that.
Shaaaa—!
Jet-black smoke exploded from behind Do-gyeol's back like an eruption. It writhed and coalesced in the air like ink spreading in water, swiftly taking on a massive form.
"......?!"
Not a dragon, not a worm—a grotesque figure crammed with countless eyeballs and hideous teeth. A summoned spirit. The very same that had shocked Baek Seo-rin, now manifesting smack in the middle of the Yeonmu-jang.
"Th-that's the one from before!"
"What the hell is he doing?!"
The students recoiled in horror. They'd been told to do yeong-ryeok body reinforcement—why summon some monstrous thing?
The chat was just as flustered. But Do-gyeol stayed calm.
'Externalizing yeong-ryeok into a solid form is several times harder than body reinforcement, right?'
Which meant mastering this would naturally improve internal reinforcement. He'd gotten smooth at treating it like an arm extension, so practicing this way should help even more. A perfect setup right now. No way he'd waste the chance to train control and test destructive power with a simple punch.
'Let's see how much bite it has.'
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the summoned spirit lunged at the pillar, its maw splitting open wide.
Kwajik! Kwajajajik!
From top to base, it shredded in an instant. As effortless as crunching through soft cookies—like Langue de Chat.
And then—
Thud!
The spirit snapped its jaws shut and dispersed into the air. Nothing remained in its place. No debris, no traces—the entire massive pillar had vanished cleanly.
'Hmm. Destructive power's top-notch... but too risky for people. Wouldn't even leave bones behind.'
As Do-gyeol mulled it over internally, the Yeonmu-jang fell silent, like ice water had been dumped over it.
"......"
"What the hell did that guy just do?"
"A spell? Shikshin?"
They started murmuring one by one, soon exploding into a cacophony.
"Th-that's cheating with shikshin!"
"We were supposed to do body reinforcement, not show off shikshin!"
"You think we can't summon shikshin?!"
The kids protested hotly, desperately downplaying the overwhelming power they'd just witnessed.
'I can't even summon one...'
Baek Seo-rin's eyes differed from the cowed face of the 10th team's member beside her.
'That thing... as I thought.'
The alien sensation from the team battle. No mistake now.
'Do-gyeol... what are you...'
Pi Yu-jun, hands in his pockets, quietly clicked his tongue.
'Felt it last time too, but up close like this, it's clear.'
That wasn't a shikshin. Shikshin involved commanding pre-contracted spirits. But that was yeong-ryeok itself.
'Easy to mistake at a glance.'
It took a form so convincingly like a shikshin. And manifesting yeong-ryeok into shape was exceedingly rare—let alone controlling it directly. In the modern era of developed spells, it was primitive. Paradoxically, that primitiveness made it brutally hard. Easier for a modern person to start a fire with bare hands, by several magnitudes.
'What kind of nonsense is this...'
Even masterfully cloaking oneself in yeong-ryeok like an aura earned elite status.
'But maintaining it as a distinct, solid form?'
Compared to just pulling yeong-ryeok out and holding it, this was dozens of times harder—no, insane.
Like giving a kid clay to play with, only for them to sculpt marble into David.
'And last time, I mistook that for heart manifestation because...'
As Pi Yu-jun's eyes fixed on Do-gyeol—
The chat treated Do-gyeol like a total madman, shaking their heads in awe.
"Do-gyeol, what was that just now?"
Yun Ga-eun asked with wide bunny eyes as he returned to his seat.
"Just yeong-ryeok reinforcement practice?"
Do-gyeol shrugged it off casually. Yun Ga-eun blinked.
She'd seen it against sorcerers too, but was it this level? No way. Could he have improved that much in such a short time? Also no.
'For that to be possible...'
She nodded faintly.
'Do-gyeol's definitely a recommended enrollee.'
The brief commotion passed. All the kids finished their practice.
"Good work, everyone."
Pi Yu-jun clapped once to draw attention. His gaze flicked briefly over Do-gyeol.
"From today's practice, looks like tomorrow's lesson should cover heart power."
"More theory?"
"Where did our practical go?"
The kids groaned like zombies. But Do-gyeol's eyes lit up differently.
'Yes! Learn something useful!'
Baek Seo-rin, who'd been closely observing him, deeply agreed with Pi Yu-jun's words.
*
On the way out after class ended, Baek Seo-rin blocked Do-gyeol's path.
"About that talk we said we'd have later—how about now?"
"Oh? Sure."
Do-gyeol and Baek Seo-rin moved to a quiet vending machine rest area.
Baek Seo-rin pulled two sports drinks from the machine and tossed one to Do-gyeol.
"Accidentally got two, so drink one."
"You sneaky bastard, you're a good one."
Do-gyeol cracked it open without hesitation, grinning. Baek Seo-rin chuckled softly.
"How are you so simple?"
Do-gyeol chugged his drink. Baek Seo-rin crossed her legs and got to the point.
"What I wanted to ask last time was about that yeong-ryeok materialization you showed."
"Oh, the pillar-munching thing?"
"You have no clue how insane that level is."
Baek Seo-rin stared straight at him.
"Not even I—or Kang Hak—could pull off materialization like yours. That requires control on a whole other plane."
Do-gyeol's lips spread in a smug grin.
"That big a deal?"
Baek Seo-rin sighed at his cockiness—to emphasize she wasn't joking.
"I'm dead serious. But that was just my impression right after the team battle. The real reason I wanted to talk alone is something else."
"Something else?"
"Yeah. After the team battle, I kept mulling over that yeong-ryeok form you pulled out—it shocked me."
'She must've reviewed it pretty thoroughly.'
Do-gyeol thought as he sipped his drink.
"And I vaguely realized it then, but seeing it again today in the Yeonmu-jang confirmed it."
"Confirmed what?"
Baek Seo-rin's gaze sharpened.
"That your yeong-ryeok is mixed with heart power. You know that yourself?"
"Heart power?"
"Didn't know, huh. Guess I can't ask what I was curious about then."
Baek Seo-rin sighed softly.
"What really surprised me wasn't just the heart power mixed in your yeong-ryeok. It's the direction."
"Direction?"
"Yeah. There wasn't a speck of emotion toward others in your heart power. Pure curiosity, directed solely inward."
A profound assessment Do-gyeol couldn't quite grasp yet.
"Why's that surprising?"
"Heart power's a double-edged sword. It can swallow your sense of self if you're not careful."
"Sense of self?"
"Yeah. Where do you think Kang Hak's destructive output comes from? Or that fiery, arrogant personality."
Baek Seo-rin's expression grew even more serious.
"That's why my family chose cursed tools to minimize heart power consumption."
Do-gyeol scratched his head.
"So what's this heart power exactly?"
Baek Seo-rin smiled evasively.
"Your homeroom teacher said he'd cover it in tomorrow's class. Hear it from him."
Even the chat shut up and refused to chime in.
"Argh, teasing and cutting off—who does that?"
"Can't wait till tomorrow?"
Do-gyeol waved dismissively at the chat. Meanwhile, Baek Seo-rin stood, thrusting something at him abruptly.
"Drink this too."
A fresh, unopened can of sports drink. She'd said it was an accident getting two, but she hadn't touched hers.
"......?"
Baek Seo-rin chuckled at Do-gyeol's blank upward gaze. She grabbed his hand firmly, pressing the cold can into it.
"See you tomorrow."
She flashed that sly smile again. Then walked off without looking back.