The Reason Rules Exist - 7
The secret realm they had visited before had lost its red aura once its trial was cleared. Even stepping through the gaping stone gate, there was no entering the realm itself — that far side of the world. When the Sword Saint later went to investigate, she explained that the realm was merely lying dormant while it rebuilt itself, and that once enough natural qi had gathered, it would reveal its power once more.
Sa Yun stole a glance at the Sword Saint. In her eyes lay the same wonder she had shown before that realm — and, mingled with it, a faint melancholy.
Master...
The rims of her master's eyes were growing softly damp. In matters of martial arts there was no one more trustworthy, yet in everything else Na Yerin was hopelessly awkward and endearingly clumsy — and so the master Sa Yun adored stood gazing at the secret realm, plainly sketching the past behind her eyes. The pain she had been made to endure. The blood that had stained her hands.
Ryu Hyeon seemed to sense it too, for she offered their master not a single word.
How long did that silence hold? At last the Sword Saint pointed toward the realm and spoke, her voice a shade subdued.
"It does not appear to be dangerous."
"Is that so?"
"Mm. The aura feels quite familiar."
Ryu Hyeon could sense nothing of the sort herself — but when one's master said it, there was no choosing not to believe. And so she gave Sa Yun's back a light tap.
"Would you like to try? Or else—"
"Ah — I'll do it."
Sa Yun walked over lightly, and the moment she stood before the secret realm, the same phenomenon as before unfolded. The red aura. The instant it wrapped around her, the realm let out its voice, exactly as it had before.
— Who art thou?
"A disciple of Hongseong Gate. I am called Sa Yun."
At the same moment, a thread of the red aura drifted loose and settled over Ryu Hyeon.
— Who art thou?
"I am Ryu Hyeon, a disciple of Hongseong Gate."
And then, the last of them. When the red aura settled upon the Sword Saint—
— Who art thou?
The Sword Saint did not answer. Not for a long moment. Her lips moved soundlessly, as though the words had caught in her throat, and only under the watching eyes of Sa Yun and Ryu Hyeon did she finally force them out, as if spitting them up.
"...I am Na Yerin, the Sword Saint, Sect Leader of Hongseong Gate."
Unlike her usual self, the Sword Saint spoke with a faintly cowed voice. Ryu Hyeon and Sa Yun exchanged puzzled looks — why would she act this way? But the Sword Saint only kept staring at the secret realm, stony and silent.
Tension — or perhaps it was fear. While the two of them stood astonished at a side of her they had never once seen—
— Kuuung...!!
The gate of the secret realm ground open. Beyond it lay the far side of the world. As the trial ground took shape, Ryu Hyeon turned to the Sword Saint.
"Shall we enter?"
"I should like the other disciples to experience it as well. Given how the last realm slumbered after but a single clear..."
If this was the secret realm left to Hongseong Gate, then it was only right that Hongseong's disciples should walk it. Last time could be excused as circumstance — but not this.
Yet the Sword Saint did not finish her sentence. She only gazed gently at Sa Yun.
"Oh — of course I don't mind!"
Even the Sect Leader herself had not known this realm existed. The one who had revealed it was the mysterious 'Uncle' — and that Uncle had sent his letter to Sa Yun. Suppose he had revealed the realm's location for Hongseong Gate's sake; then a letter to the sect would have sufficed. Yet he had addressed it to Sa Yun alone, which could only mean he wished for her to experience this realm. And so, however much the place was the work of Hongseong's ancestors, the right to decide plainly rested with her.
"Thank you."
The Sword Saint smiled at Sa Yun, who had not wavered a hair's breadth. Then came the stroking — and as those snow-white hands smoothed her ash-grey hair, Sa Yun found herself beaming before she knew it.
Not a single disciple was absent from the midnight assembly. Having heard the circumstances, every one of them said they wished to experience Hongseong Gate's secret realm, and every one of them met the requirements.
"By the way, Eldest Senior Sister — is it really all right for this many of us to enter at once? It seems like it would make the trial far too easy."
"On the contrary — in a secret realm, the difficulty often climbs the more people enter. And if there's a formation involved, the larger the group, the greater the harm."
Ryu Hyeon, veteran of secret realms, explained in Hong Ryeon's stead. As the first-timers among the disciples marveled, the Sword Saint added a word of her own.
"One must also think of the rewards. In the worst of cases, I am told, parties have turned their blades upon one another in the final chamber over the spoils. And so the common practice is to keep your numbers moderate and bring only those you trust."
"Huh? Really? Then isn't it dangerous for all of us to go in together...?"
"But with Hong Ryeon and Ryu Hyeon accompanying you, and this being Hongseong Gate's own realm... I doubt mere numbers will bring any harm. Still, before we enter, there is a matter on which I would ask your understanding."
The Sword Saint set Sa Yun forward and recounted once more how they had come to discover this realm. Those already in the know simply nodded along, but the rest were hearing it for the first time, and they turned astonished eyes upon her. Under her senior sisters' concentrated gazes, Sa Yun's face flushed crimson in an instant.
"That is why — whatever reward this realm holds — I wish for Sa Yun to have it. If any of you sees a problem in that, speak now."
No one did. Hong Ryeon grinned and nodded; Ryu Hyeon stole a glance at Sa Yun, remembering what she had once said.
In Hongseong Gate, no one begrudged the youngest her growth. More than that — if the realm's location had been confided to Sa Yun, it had been confided for her sake; the letter must have been sent in hope that she would claim its reward. To covet another's portion was the very thing that strayed from righteousness. And if this could make Sa Yun stronger, was that not a joy in itself?
And so every disciple accepted the Sword Saint's proposal with a smile.
At the sight, something tightened deep in Sa Yun's chest. Her eyes burned hot; her hands trembled. When she bowed her head with a small, hitching sob, the Sword Saint reached out and stroked her hair.
"Now then — in you go."
"A-aren't you coming in with us, Master?"
"Someone must remain behind... I suppose that is a Sect Leader's duty."
Hong Ryeon studied the Sword Saint's face with worry, but the Sword Saint only offered her a faint smile. To Hong Ryeon, it looked like a smile worn by force — a mask over some buried sorrow.
Inside, the realm felt much like the one they had walked before. The one difference was that the aura it exuded ran a shade stronger than last time.
"Stay alert."
Leading them all, Hong Ryeon sharpened her vigilance. Even a realm made for Hongseong Gate was not therefore harmless.
Pressing on, they reached the first chamber — and there Hong Ryeon wore a wry smile. Unlike last time, the room stretched long and narrow, like a corridor. But the holes pocking its walls looked suspicious, and the patterns etched into floor and ceiling demanded careful attention.
"Hm..."
One look was enough for Hong Ryeon to know what the chamber was for.
"Star Flow Steps for the footing — and those patterns overhead mean we're to layer in Star Burst Kick as we go."
At those words alone, the disciples seemed to grasp how the chamber was to be crossed. Star Burst Kick — an offense-minded form from the first half of the Hongseong Divine Art. If the last realm had tested their mastery of Star Flow Steps itself, this one tested whether they could put it to use; the two techniques paired so well that they were often chained together in practice.
"I'll take the lead."
Hong Ryeon loosened her limbs and took her first step of Star Flow Steps. That instant, slender iron rods came springing from the holes in the walls. They flew fast enough that a single hit would have stung badly; the moment she slipped past one on Star Flow Steps' footwork, another came darting out. Anyone who had not internalized the technique would have been battered senseless by those rods.
"Hup!"
But for Hong Ryeon, Star Flow Steps was something she could unfold with her eyes shut. She evaded the rods with room to spare, kicked aside even the great cudgel dropping from above with Star Burst Kick, and crossed the chamber without breaking a sweat. Standing at its far end, she waved to the remaining disciples.
"There. See?"
And so the midnight training began.
As expected, the realm proved much like the last — as though it meant to measure how thoroughly they had mastered the Hongseong Divine Art. A test, and a challenge. Even walking ground they already knew, the disciples of Hongseong Gate voiced no complaint. Nor was there reason to, for in the very act of reconfirming the old lessons, a few of them had won small enlightenments. Modest insights, granted — the kind that came from reworking the first-half forms and bending them to new purpose. But Hong Ryeon and the disciples alike knew well that growth was built from precisely such things, layer upon layer. It had been an abrupt midnight expedition, but they were carrying plenty away from it.
And so, all of them in high spirits, they arrived at the final chamber—
— Grrrrr...!!
There, true to form, waited the realm's master: the Sonachal. This time, though, something was different. The Sonachal of last time had borne wounds all over its body; this one carried not a single scar. Watching the demon beast — free now to fight at full strength — Hong Ryeon slid a glance toward Sa Yun.
Could she truly do it?
"Think you can manage?"
"Yes."
Hong Ryeon chuckled at her nod.
"The rest of you, stand by... Sa Yun. Any trouble with your sword?"
At that, Sa Yun glanced down at her blade. Old — worn thin with years. Worse, her battle with the Fire Tiger had strained it until it might snap at any moment. Hong Ryeon had since bought her a new sword, but Sa Yun had yielded it to Yu Hui, who had fought the Fire Tiger at her side. No doubt Hong Ryeon mentioned the sword now out of that lingering guilt.
"Ahaha... Senior Sister Yu Hui's sword was even older than mine. We had no idea when it might snap... so of course it was right that she took it. Well then — I'm off!"
There was no fear in her step.
"Will she be all right?"
"She'll be fine."
The instant the Sonachal came into view, Sa Yun's sword was already moving. Swift, sharp strokes. Not only did she send out and draw back her inner power at will; her footwork, fist art, and palm art wove together in such harmony that facing the Sonachal hardly seemed to trouble her at all.
"A child who found her own path at the very threshold of demonic corruption. If so, then something on this level is no problem at all."
Had the spirit elixir she'd been given not raised her inner power besides? So there was nothing to do but watch. With smiles on their faces, that is.
The Sonachal was strong. But not so strong that it could not be faced — for already, before Sa Yun, there was the starlight.
With one step, the starlight's care was with her.
With two, the starlight revealed itself.
With three, the starlight bade her grow strong.
With four, the starlight lit the road ahead.
As long as that starlight — the light that showed her where she must go — burned vivid within her, the Sonachal held no terror for Sa Yun.
— Kyaaaaak!!
Amid a horrific roar, the Sonachal — one arm already sheared away — drove a kick at her. But Star Flow Steps carried her gently clear of the blow, and Meteor Fist cracked the beast's thick hide. The sword stroke that followed sheared off another of its arms.
— Kiik... kiik...!!
Even against the venom of hatred the Sonachal spewed, the Hongseong Divine Art did not stir. To be swept away by another's hatred is to lose one's self — and the star that shone upon her was far, far too bright for that. And so she lifted her sword—
— Swish!!
The final blow. The blade came down hard as a falling bolt of lightning, and within it rode a red aura — faint, almost imperceptible, yet unmistakable — that let it cleave clean through even the Sonachal's thick hide.
"Hooo..."
Even with the form's power lending her strength, manifesting sword qi was no small feat. Feeling her dantian drain hollow, Sa Yun retreated a step — and Hong Ryeon flashed her a grin.
"So the insight you won when you broke free of that demonic corruption — it's serving you well, huh? Sword qi already."
"It's all thanks to you, Master — and to my senior sisters."
And thanks to Uncle, too.
Sa Yun chewed the words over inside her mouth, letting none of them escape.
"Good. Well done."
Hong Ryeon gave her shoulder a couple of hearty pats, then led her toward the chamber where the reward awaited. A great chest stood there. Sa Yun gazed at it a moment, then gently lifted the lid — and gently took up what lay within.
A sword.
A longsword sleeping in a scabbard of azure-storm wood, black as the darkest night. Sa Yun curled her fingers lightly around the grip; the leather fit snug against her palm, and the feel of it was good. And when, slowly, the blade that had slumbered in its azure-storm scabbard came into view—
"Well, that's a novelty. A weapon out of a secret realm that isn't some rare treasure?"
It was no special blade. Just an ordinary sword — plain to the point of looking a touch crude. It bore not even a sword name, the inscription basic to any truly precious weapon. Beside the spirit elixir they had won last time, it looked meager indeed; Hong Ryeon examined it, marveled at the oddity, and handed it back — and Sa Yun cradled the sword tenderly against her chest.
"Even so — it's a treasure to me."
Because he—
because Uncle had wished it into her hands.
And so, that day, one more treasure joined Sa Yun's keeping — and the light she carried within burned a little brighter.