The Nature of Desire
Mana. First, Rumeorn gave Eclipse a simple explanation of how to handle mana. “To manipulate mana, you must first sense it and hold a strong desire within yourself. The stronger your desire, the more readily mana will yield to you.”
“So if I think of what I want, mana will respond?”
“Exactly. Of course, most Guardian Stars are summoned to Earth from worlds where mana already exists, but in your case it’s the first time… so I have no choice but to teach you the way I awakened mana in my original world.”
“Understood.”
Eclipse focused his mind and sharpened his senses to their limit. From the blue currents spreading around him, a refreshing clarity gradually emerged. At the same time, he could feel an overwhelming torrent of power surging through.
This is the power called mana. It’s incredible.
Eclipse could see the mana. Having grown familiar with various kinds of mana while living with Yusoha and experiencing the Hwanryeong Grand Tournament, sensing it came easily to him. But he could not bend the mana swirling around him to his will.
He recalled what Rumeorn had just said. That mana would respond only if he held a clear desire.
What I desire…
What Eclipse wanted most was arrogance. He wanted to live with an arrogant bearing, never swayed by others, and to enforce his own will even if it meant crushing those around him. Yet because he had not even defined what arrogance truly meant, he could not clearly identify what he desired.
I don’t even know what I want.
Since he could not clearly recognize his own desires, Eclipse shook his head. He could still sense the mana around him, but in the end he could not move it.
“It’s not working.”
“…Hm. Not working?”
“That’s right. I could sense the mana, but I couldn’t manipulate it.”
“Do you know the reason?”
“It’s simple. I don’t clearly know what I desire.”
“…So your desire was lacking.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that happened in my world too. There were quite a few people who succeeded in sensing mana but couldn’t manipulate it because they had nothing they truly desired. Never thought I’d meet someone like that in this world.”
“…I see.”
When Eclipse showed clear disappointment, Rumeorn shook his head.
“Still, be glad you could sense it at all. That’s only possible because you’re a Guardian Star. Ordinary people who aren’t Awakened or Guardian Stars can’t even sense mana.”
Eclipse tilted his head at Rumeorn’s words. “Ordinary people can’t manipulate mana at all?”
Rumeorn nodded. “It’s not just that they can’t manipulate it. They can’t even sense it, even when they see processed mana with their own eyes and desperately wish they could use it themselves.”
“…Why is that?”
“I don’t know the details. How could I know everything? The reason ordinary people can neither sense nor manipulate mana remains unknown.”
“Then Awakened were originally ordinary people too. How were they able to manipulate mana?”
“That, I don’t know either.”
“…Understood.”
“Anyway, sensing mana today is enough. Let’s stop here. And you should think more clearly about what you truly desire.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Feeling the mana swirling around him, Eclipse began to quietly ponder what he wanted.
After confirming that Eclipse had sensed mana, Rumeorn immediately turned his attention to Yusoha. Since she had already awakened everything related to mana, there was no need for complicated explanations. He simply told her what kinds of phenomena she could cause once she became skilled at handling metal. For example, like this.
Yusoha swallowed without realizing it. The ground around them had shaken violently at a single gesture from Rumeorn.
“This is something you can do right away too. I don’t need to explain how, do I?”
“…No.”
She would control the metallic minerals mixed in the earth with her mana and move the ground itself. The moment Rumeorn withdrew his mana, Yusoha grasped the principle at once. She focused her mind and moved her mana. The metallic minerals within the earth began to stir in response to her power.
“…So this is how it’s done.”
“Correct. Well done.”
“Whose granddaughter do you think I am?”
“Heh heh. True enough. Now, shall we try making an alloy next?”
Rumeorn began teaching her, one by one, all the things he had wanted to show Yusoha. Only then did she truly realize what kind of potential she possessed. She wasn’t limited to creating simple iron. She could create alloys too. There were probably endless possibilities she had yet to discover.
To think I’ve been wasting an ability like this all this time.
It was impossible not to feel regret. Sensing the disappointment on her face, Rumeorn smiled quietly and said,
“Don’t be too disappointed. Even if I had taught you back then, you wouldn’t have been able to do any of it.”
“…Yes.”
“And now that you know, isn’t that enough?”
Yusoha nodded silently. When Rumeorn finally finished all his explanations, she could only wear a slightly dazed expression. The amount of information had been staggeringly vast. But it also meant she could now do so much more, so Yusoha felt genuine joy.
“By the way, Grandfather.”
In the car heading back to Seoul, Yusoha spoke to Yu Hyeok, who sat in the back seat.
“What is it?”
“If you’re attending the upcoming banquet… I suppose I have to go too, right?”
“Of course. If you skip it again they’ll make a fuss. Honestly, it’s been quite a while since you last went. It’s about time you showed your face.”
“…Seriously. Why does the Association always do these annoying things? All the guilds get together and it’s nothing but fighting anyway.”
“Exactly. There are too many things I don’t like about it.”
“Dear. You can’t flip the whole place upside down again.”
“I’ll try to behave myself this time, so don’t worry.”
“Grandfather.”
“Hm?”
“Will Taehwa be attending this time too?”
“…I hear they are. All five major guilds have expressed their intention to attend.”
“Hmm.”
Yusoha let out a strange little hum. “Then Seo Eun-ah will be there too.”
“…I suppose so.”
Seo Eun-ah. The successor of Taehwa Guild, one of the five most powerful guilds in Korea. She was the woman who had looked down on Yusoha for not having a Guardian Star and thoroughly shattered her pride. Unlike Han Chaeyeon of Jeokwol, who was simply a rival, Seo Eun-ah harbored clear malice toward her and constantly triggered Yusoha’s twisted inferiority complex. The news that she would attend made Yusoha feel strangely pleased.
At first she had been unenthusiastic about the Korean Awakened Association hosting a banquet, but now that Taehwa was coming, she was almost grateful to the Association. A chance to wipe away all her past humiliations had arrived.
“Granddaughter.”
“I should apologize to Grandmother in advance. It looks like I’ll be turning this banquet upside down.”
“…Well. Kids will be kids. What I don’t like is when an old man like your grandfather causes a scene.”
“Still…”
“It’s fine. Hasn’t that child, Seo Eun-ah, looked down on you all this time? We stayed out of it because it would have been ridiculous for us to intervene in your affairs… but this time, crush her arrogance completely.”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do. I’ll give her an unforgettable memory.”
“Ah. Yeah. There’s a girl I don’t get along with.”
“Is it necessary? I learned how to handle mana from Grandmother, and I learned swordsmanship from you… I don’t think you need to get involved.”
“That’s more than enough.”
Thinking that pleasant things kept happening lately, Yusoha broke into a bright, radiant smile.
The daughter and successor of Taehwa Guild’s current chairman, Seo Eun-ah stared at the banquet invitation with a heavily distorted expression.
“Damn it.”
She hated the idea of attending this gathering with a passion. The reason was simple. It was because of Yusoha’s Guardian Star, who had revealed himself at the Hwanryeong Grand Tournament.
When the Guardian Star named Eclipse had defeated Shin Seongmin and sent a shudder through every spectator, Seo Eun-ah had fallen into despair. The fact that she could no longer humiliate Yusoha weighed heavily on her feet. The thought of having to watch that girl hold her head high again filled her with unbearable resentment.
“Why did it have to be her?”
Why had such a powerful Guardian Star been summoned by a girl like that?
Just as Yusoha harbored a twisted inferiority complex, so did Seo Eun-ah. She had been jealous of everything Yusoha possessed. Jealous enough to want to tear her down. It had been fortunate that Yusoha had no Guardian Star. If she had, Seo Eun-ah would never have been able to belittle her.
But now Yusoha had become someone she could no longer look down on. Her Guardian Star was a monster who had single-handedly defeated both Shin Seongmin and Adein.
It was sad. It was infuriating. It was agonizing.
Feeling all sorts of unpleasant emotions, Seo Eun-ah genuinely wanted to say she would not attend the banquet, but she could not. Because this time, high-ranking members from every guild that had been absent until now had decided to attend. If she skipped it, the gossip would follow her for years.
In the end, Seo Eun-ah could only twist her face even more bitterly.