#32 The Circumstances Are a Bit Complicated
Rumblerrrr— the sky rumbled darkly. Ominous thunderclouds flashed, illuminating the barren wasteland.
Huff... huff... Theo panted raggedly, squeezing out his last reserves of demonic energy. The mana hole in his heart spewed forth dark mana, but it soon reached its limit. Piles of bones littered the ground in every direction.
And then, the final familiar beast fell to that monster.
Crackle! The familiar shattered into bone fragments and collapsed to the ground.
Rumblerrrr—! Boom! Lightning flashed once more, lighting up the wasteland. Standing there was a man cloaked in pitch-black darkness.
"Theo Itilurg Gamigin." The man's voice was gloomy yet clear. Theo felt his heart clench under the overwhelming pressure.
He knew the man's name. With a voice on the verge of breaking, Theo murmured,
[Baal...]
Overwhelming power. Theo had been utterly crushed by the existence known as Baal. His precious familiars were all smashed to pieces, and the massive castle—symbol of his family—lay half in ruins.
Rumblerrrr— Far in the distance, he could see the enormous castle crumbling down. Baal simply stared at it blankly. An eerily refined demonic energy swirled around his entire body.
[I... I said I just wanted to live quietly...?] At Theo's words, Baal smirked. He extended his hand toward the ruined castle in the distance.
Shhhk— Something pitch-black flew into Baal's hand. With cold eyes, he approached Theo.
What the hell is that?
Baal slowly placed his hand over Theo's heart.
"I'm going to a higher world. For that... I need the power of the specters from the Demonic Sea."
[A... higher world...? Demonic Sea...?]
Baal's eyes met Theo's. An abyss. They held a deep, bottomless abyss. Just looking into them filled him with a despair that threatened to suck his entire body in.
Shiver, shiver. Theo trembled uncontrollably without realizing it.
[Wh-what... what does that mean...?]
"Become fertilizer for that path."
Shrieeeek! Theo's demonic energy was sucked into Baal in an instant.
[N-no!]
Theo used every ounce of strength he had left to wrench himself free. He had to run. That guy was a madman.
......
[Ugh...]
When Theo opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair of diamond-like eyes. Lick, lick, lick. It was Seol-a. She was licking his cheek nonstop, wagging her tail. The intent in her eyes was crystal clear.
'Why aren't you making food anymore?'
It was like she was asking why he wasn't producing more demonic energy. He almost snapped that she'd eaten it all, but held back.
[Uh...?]
Only then did he notice the morning sunlight streaming in through the window. His heart was pounding abnormally fast. His teeth chattered and his body shook without his control.
[Ha... that fucking dream.]
Relief finally washed over him as he let out a long sigh. 'Baal...' That really was a madman. Theo much preferred this place.
At that moment, the door opened and Kang-ho walked in. He stood there with a coffee mug, staring down at Theo.
'Yeah. Compared to that, she's an angel.' Theo thanked his lucky stars with a smile. At least compared to the monster from the demon realm, this monster was tame.
"Why are you smiling?"
[......It's nothing.]
"Don't lick that. It's dirty." Seol-a had been licking Theo's cheek nonstop but turned her gaze to Kang-ho.
Nang!
Theo got up roughly, tidying his bedding. He folded the blanket on the worn mattress beside the bed neatly and put it in the wardrobe.
Then.
Click! Something fell from his pocket. It was a fist-sized bone fragment.
"What's that?"
[Uh...]
As Kang-ho asked, Theo picked it up hesitantly. It was half a skull, split in two. Theo stared at it intently before answering.
[The bone of my most precious familiar.]
"......"
Longing filled those eyes. Kang-ho nodded at the sight.
"I see."
Everyone has their circumstances. Kang-ho decided not to pry further and took a sip of his coffee.
[It was once my father.]
Pffft! He spat out his coffee.
[I miss it.]
Kang-ho coughed, setting down his mug. He wondered if that was a demon's way of showing affection.
.........
Life in Cheorwon was ordinary and peaceful. After a simple breakfast, Kang-ho headed to the orchard.
Bzzz, bzzz— Bees buzzed here and there. Spotting Kang-ho, Johanna flew over in a hurry.
[Absolute One! Absolute One! These bees are working so well!]
"Yeah?"
He'd released the pet bees Theo had raised—including the Queen Bee—into the orchard. Gone was their ferocious attack style from the raid dungeon; now they dutifully pollinated the flowers.
[Yes! Look over there!]
"Hm?"
At a glance, he could see the Ability Fruit grove blooming profusely.
[The flowers bloomed so fast! We might even harvest a second crop!]
The worker bees were outperforming expectations. First, Kang-ho checked the spots where he'd planted the Bi-olga roots and World Tree fruit.
Sprout, sprout. Two tiny shoots had already emerged.
'Fast.'
He'd quartered the World Tree fruit and planted two pieces. For sprouts to appear already meant the growth rate was better than expected.
Kang-ho pulled a rice cake from his pocket. It was similar to the one he'd given Seol-a, but much brighter in color. The one Seol-a ate had overly potent effects, so this was diluted for the fairies.
"Eat this."
[Oh, oh my...]
Johanna clasped her hands together, overcome with emotion, tears streaming down her face.
[You made this... for me?]
"......"
Kang-ho blew his nose and pulled out another rice cake.
"This one's... for the fairies."
[Thank you so, so much, Absolute One!]
Johanna received it reverently and cautiously brought it to her lips.
Shimmer! The rice cake melted away like snow.
Soon, light began emanating from her entire body.
Whoosh!
[Aaaah!]
A surge of refreshing mana boiled within Johanna. Her appearance changed. Her hair became long, flowing blonde locks, and she grew half a head taller. Her wings sparkled longer and more lushly, her eyelashes twice as long.
[Hah, hah, hah!]
Mana filled her body completely.
[I can't hold it, Absolute One...!]
With an excited face, Johanna cried out,
[There's too much power!]
She shot up into the sky, scattering fairy energy everywhere. Kang-ho nodded as he watched.
'Good effect.'
[Kyahahahahaha!]
Johanna flew around like a maniac. Hearing her crazed laughter, Kang-ho reconsidered.
'Maybe a bit too much.'
First, he headed to the corner of the orchard and opened the iron shed.
Creeeak— Inside the dusty shed were various tools: sandbags sized for arms and legs, vests, bracelets, and more.
'Haven't pulled these out in a while.'
Kang-ho grinned.
* * *
As he left the orchard, he saw Seol-a chasing Theo's heels from afar.
[Hey, kid, I told you there's no more food... You're stirring up bad memories, so back off...]
Theo grumbled, spinning in circles before tossing a stick aside.
Nang! Seol-a happily dashed after it, grabbed it in her mouth, and returned to Theo. After handing it back, she stared at him intently—then chomp! bit his ankle.
[Aigoo, I'm going insane.]
Thud! A loud noise drew their eyes to Kang-ho.
[What's that?]
"Training tools."
Krreung— Around then, Furball returned from his stroll, butt wiggling, only to freeze in place.
Krrung... His eyes rolled wildly. Pupil earthquake.
Slowly, Furball backed away.
"Don't worry, Furball. It's for your little sister."
Krreung! Furball's face brightened. He shot a pitying glance at Seol-a, who wagged her two tails obliviously, unaware of the trials ahead.
It was then.
"Hm?"
Kang-ho spotted a figure running toward them from afar. Slowly, but steadily. A man approaching at a constant pace.
A smile tugged at Kang-ho's lips.
"Took him two days."
[Persistent guy.]
Theo nodded, glancing that way too.
The man drew closer.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."
It was King, drenched in sweat like he'd collapse any second. Tongue lolling, he panted heavily as he ran toward Kang-ho's cabin.
Thump— But he couldn't clear the fence.
"Whoa!"
Kang-ho nodded as King tumbled. He walked over slowly to check his condition.
"No mana used?"
"N-no, I didn't."
"Figured."
He clearly hadn't slept a wink. An Awakener's body was inherently powerful—far beyond human limits, superhuman. Normal bodies break past their thresholds; Awakeners grow stronger the more you push them.
There was no shortcut to reaching the body's limits. First, you had to get used to the sensation.
Kang-ho himself had mostly run back in the day, 50 years ago when he started training.
"Hic, hic, hiiik... hic..."
Kang-ho lifted the gasping King with a smile.
"You've got a sturdy body."
"Th-thank you."
"Good job. Rest."
King panted for a bit before closing his eyes. Soon.
Snooore—
He started snoring. Kang-ho carried him inside effortlessly and laid him on the bed. He pulled out his smartphone.
Checking current events had become a recent hobby. Browsing around, one headline caught his eye.
Pyro? Kang-ho racked his brain. S-Rank #1, Pyro from one of the Four Great Sects, Lebadon Guild. Lebadon was a traditional magic powerhouse, renowned for producing top-tier magic ability users consistently.
Kang-ho pondered, then opened the group chat.
Kang-ho smirked and typed.
Don't get along? Kang-ho thought for a moment before adding,
He was with them? Snooore— Kang-ho stared down at the soundly sleeping King, snoring loudly.