Full Force Enlightenment
Taeheo, unable to continue speaking for a long while, rubbed his furrowed brow.
"Like using a lever to fling a stone... If the wooden sword wasn't just a practice blade but one crafted by a master smith..."
As Taeheo muttered to himself, Ryeon could only stare at him with wide eyes.
Taeheo Jin-in's Enlightenment
Current Luck Value: 13/120 (▲2)
Chewing over the words anxiously yet amazed, Taeheo Jin-in fidgeted with his lips before hurriedly asking,
"Then, did you position your swing anticipating where the swords would meet?"
"Pardon? Oh, yes. Like a valley in a mountain range along the sword path."
"A valley?"
"Well, following the form you showed earlier..."
Ryeon moved her arm in place of a sword. A soft breeze scattered along her limb.
"Right at this precise moment, aligning the blade just so—and channeling the inner energy riding the sword path, lifting it up like drawing water from a well."
"...Isn't it difficult to handle someone else's inner energy? Especially since Yeopun's mastery of Yeopun is still shallow—it's barely inner energy, more like raw force unleashed."
"That's because he put his full force into it, perfectly..."
"Full force, perfectly..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Though she'd been steadily building stamina with Grandfather Danmok Cheon-gi, sparring openly in front of others was a first. Despite pretending to be calm, tension had left her whole body aching. And midway through, the back-and-forth with Taeheo—that was the real debate—had parched her throat.
Even with sips of tea in between.
While Jang ssi, her wet nurse, fussed over compresses and snacks, two boys peeked around the door.
Ryeon, sprawled limply, perked up at once.
"Hwaryun, Bi."
"Nui!"
Danmok Bi whined and threw himself at her.
"What did you two get up to today?"
At Ryeon's question, Danmok Bi rattled off his day: running around all morning, studying letters hard to catch up to his sister, bickering with Hwaryun despite the teasing. He drifted off to sleep before she could even pat his head a few times.
As Ryeon slipped off the bed to tuck a quilt over Danmok Bi, Hwaryun stood behind her, scanning the room once.
Then he stared at Ryeon, narrowing his spread hand like gauging thin paper and peering at her through the gap.
"W-what?"
"You've gotten so... skinny in a day."
"That's an exaggeration, U Hwaryun."
"U... Hwaryun?"
"Oops."
Ryeon clapped a hand over her mouth, but Hwaryun looked genuinely puzzled and curious. As if wondering where this sudden "U" surname had come from.
"No, it's nothing, really. Just something I was mulling over alone..."
"What were you thinking to suddenly make me U Hwaryun?"
Ryeon flushed with embarrassment and guilt, mumbling awkwardly,
"The other day, Uncle and I composed a poem together."
"Oh. When Pharmacy Master was thrilled about a genius in our house."
"Don't remind me. I'm mortified. Uncle thinks I'm a genius just for breathing."
"Anyway, what poem did you compose? You wouldn't even tell me back then, said it was embarrassing."
Her face burning crimson, Ryeon buried it in her sleeve to cool off before murmuring,
"Wolyeong buyong jeol yeo (Moonshadow lotus blooms piled high)... Sojo uya dae u rae (Desolate rainy night awaits the rain)..."
Lotus blooming beneath the moon's shadow, clouds drifting slowly in between—
A lonely night of falling rain, waiting for that awaited rain to come.
"...Waiting for rain on a rainy night?"
"Exactly! The rain you're waiting for isn't the one already falling... It's about knowing clearly what you truly want amid all the world's offerings... No, that's not the point."
As Ryeon turned beet red with shame, Hwaryun pondered the poem.
"That 'u' in 'sojo uya'?"
The rain of the lonely rainy night.
"No, you fool! The 'u' in the awaited rain."
"Hm."
Hwaryun had only his given name now. No parents, no surname—just a name. He was meant to catch the Cult Leader's eye in Machun-gyo and become Cheon Hwaryun, but if he stayed away, even that would vanish.
So giving him a new surname felt right. Wondering what might suit, her eyes fell on the "u" from her poem, and she'd toyed with it silently...
"Ah, um... People don't use that character as a surname, do they? Anyway, it was just my private thought."
"I like it."
"Huh?"
Ryeon tilted her head.
"U Hwaryun. I like it."
The boy said so, folding his eyes in a soft laugh. The tear mole at the corner of his left eye danced lightly.
As Ryeon blinked in wide-eyed surprise, the door opened and Jang ssi bustled in.
Jang ssi settled Ryeon on the long bench, massaging her limbs and offering cooled tea ready to drink. Hwaryun watched quietly from the side.
Yeopun kept touching the scrape on his cheek, kneeling as he replayed the spar in his mind.
He'd only dueled Ryeon once; afterward, it was nonstop debate between Taeheo Jin-in and Danmok Ryeon, leaving no room for him.
I came to help, or so I said...
Danmok Ryeon had special circumstances, barely months into sword training. Facing another clan's sword would build experience, even if lacking. Taeheo had said he'd learn too.
But the match ended in a blur, and whether he'd helped was unclear.
Could the loser even receive aid? Probably not.
How did she parry my wooden sword?
At first, he couldn't believe the outcome. Taeheo saw him as successor material for sect leader—such talent—yet he lost decisively to a frail girl.
Humiliation burned; he wanted to storm off. Peers he'd beaten acted unfazed, so he'd thought defeat meant nothing.
Wrong. He couldn't accept it, but the splintered wooden sword proved it, and Danmok Ryeon's words sealed it. Every one.
How?
His inner energy mid-spar wasn't grand sword qi—just feeble force scattered like shaking snow.
How had the girl gathered and returned it?
Yeopun recalled their talk.
Like using a lever?
The small girl's words were oddly apt, a feeling hovering just out of reach.
Align precisely, control the force? But the inner energy—how?
She'd explained that too.
—Full force....
Yeopun slumped, face crumpling.
Full force. Yes, pour it all in. But shame kept him from asking how.
He knew she wasn't hiding it. That was simply all there was to say.
Full force?
Suddenly, Yeopun straightened.
Full force. With everything. Precisely, at the exact point and moment—with everything.
From his seat, Yeopun slowly moved his arm. His sleeve rippled in rhythm.
Early dawn. Ryeon stretched languidly, fanning herself lazily.
With more visitors to the estate, there was plenty to purify—a bonus.
As she sent spiritual energy into the air, ink bloomed across her fan like writing, and her eyes went wide.
Taeheo's Enlightenment 2
Yeopun's Learning 3
Current Luck Value: 17/120 (▲5)
Luck had jumped overnight. What on earth had those two been up to all night...?
And she soon found out.
There they were, in the distance.
Both looked hollow-eyed from all-night training, yet their gazes burned bright.
We just talked swordsmanship... Mere words, and Yeopun boosted his Yunryong Daepal Style? Taeheo Jin-in even advanced his heart art?
Ryeon pondered seriously.
Talent is needed to receive, too.