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Chapter 7: The Awakening

“Swoosh…”

The wind brushed lightly against my body, sending a shiver through me. I slowly lifted my eyelids, feeling the sensations around me.

“…Ugh.”

I staggered to rise, shaking off the haze clouding my mind.

I tried to regain my focus, but oddly enough, it wasn’t easy.

I gathered my energy.

Wooong-!

As energy coursed through me, I thankfully snapped back to full awareness. I opened my eyes completely, feeling my senses sharp.

“Cough. Spit.”

I cleared my throat and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

How did I end up like this?

As I probed my memory, fragments rushed back to me.

“Ah-!”

I recalled being with Yarang just moments before.

When I opened my eyes, I was being carried by Yarang to somewhere unknown.

After that, I couldn’t remember much, as I was thrown into an unfamiliar space.

And then…

“Fruit.”

I had recklessly swallowed some strange fruit. It had been shocking. But the bigger issue was…

“I lost consciousness again.”

Whether it was due to the fruit, an unrecognizable energy enveloped me. Then, I fainted once more.

And now, I was regaining my senses.

Turning my head and glancing around, I thought, “What the?”

As I surveyed my surroundings, my eyes narrowed. The place Yarang had just taken me was utterly unfamiliar, yet…

“This place…”

It felt strangely familiar.

“Didn’t I faint here?”

It was none other than the site where I collapsed after escaping Yakwol.

With my memory firing back, I could recall this much.

“Why am I here?”

I had definitely followed Yarang somewhere, yet here I was instead.

“…Did I dream or something?”

Could that experience I felt truly have been a dream?

No, I quickly dismissed the idea. How could a dream be so vivid?

Then…

“Did she leave me here again?”

Could it be that Yarang carried me back here and just left me?

That thought flashed through my mind.

If it wasn’t a dream, that was the only remaining possibility.

“What is this?”

If that’s the case, what was her intention? To have me eat that strange fruit, knock me out, and leave me lying around here?

“…I can’t figure it out.”

The deeper I thought about Yarang’s intentions, the more perplexing they became.

“Huff…”

Taking a deep breath, I tried to compose myself.

Not knowing what I had eaten, I wanted to see what condition I was in.

“Hmm?”

As I inspected my body, my eyes widened.

“Why is this happening?”

It was bewildering. I began to move my body around to check again.

Still the same.

“What the heck?”

Why was this?

“…My body feels fine?”

Not only had my deep internal injuries healed, but even the minor cuts I had sustained felt like they were gone.

What about my energy?

“Even if it’s not all the way back, more than half has recovered, right?”

Even my nearly depleted energy seemed to be more than halfway restored.

What was going on here?

“What is this…”

How did my condition become so pristine? It left me utterly baffled.

Could it be…

“Was it because of that fruit?”

Could it really be that eating that mysterious fruit caused all this? It was the only explanation that seemed to fit.

“Oh man…”

It wasn’t bad news. Considering the time I could save by being in such good condition, it was actually quite fortunate.

“Why though?”

Why had such a good fortune happened?

Why had Yarang created such a situation? That was the fundamental question gnawing at me.

“Why on earth?”

Did Yarang know? That I would end up like this after eating the fruit?

If she did and still made me eat it…

“…Do you actually remember?”

Did she have some recollection of the Divine Sword or something? That thought clung to the edge of my mind.

“Tsk…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

I bit my tongue and tried to push the thought away.

“Not yet.”

I mustn’t waver. Setting Yarang aside for now…

Aside from my body recovering and my energy increasing,

“There could still be something wrong.”

There might still be other issues with my body. First, I needed to confirm that.

“Has Noya returned to the Hwasan Sect…?”

I wondered if the great Shin Noya had made it back as planned. I momentarily pondered this as I started to move my feet.

First, I had to return to the Hwasan Sect, so with a burst of strength, I leapt into the air.

Whoosh—!!!

“…!!!”

I soared into the sky, swallowing my breath.

“What the hell…?”

I had leapt much higher than expected.

The power of my jump, and the speed at which I shot upwards, felt utterly different.

The very air of Mankye was thick with energy, which had always heightened my strength, but…

“It’s never been this intense, right?”

It hadn’t been this powerful before. Yet something had drastically changed.

Caught off guard by the sudden surge within me, I lost control and plummeted back to the ground.

Boom—!!!

Dust erupted as I landed heavily.

“…Bleh.”

I spit out the dirt that had filled my mouth and clenched my fists a few times.

“Hah…”

What is going on? My body was overflowing with energy. Compared to usual, I felt almost twice as strong.

“How could this possibly—?”

It didn’t seem like my realm had risen. My vessel had certainly not expanded, either.

It was simply that my strength had increased.

“Can that even happen?”

Is it possible to get stronger without the realm increasing?

Questions flooded my mind. The scale of my doubts was staggering.

The more I thought, the more confused I became.

This meant…

“…I need to find someone who has answers.”

I had to seek out someone who knew about this, and there was only one person I had in mind.

*

“Fwooosh—!!!”

Boom—!!!

I cut through the wind and hit the ground.

Flames flickered and danced as I regained my footing in the air.

“Oof…”

My legs felt numb.

With my speed increased, controlling my body became incredibly difficult.

Thanks to that, I hadn’t been able to roll properly, and my body absorbed all the impact.

“My bones are rattling, dammit…”

The jolt was intense, and my legs hurt considerably.

I gritted my teeth as I lumbered forward.

Shifting my footing, I pulled a bottle from my robe and gave it a few taps.

It was none other than Turtle Shell Powder.

After dusting off the powder from my body, I felt…

Wooong-!

A sensation like something piercing through me coursed through my surroundings, and I arrived in the specific region of the Hwasan Sect.

Feeling more familiar now.

Returning to the Hwasan Sect, the air was different. Unlike Mankye, the atmosphere here closely resembled the Central Plains.

The sky, once adorned with the Scarlet Aurora, had transformed into an ordinary night sky that conformed to my expectations.

I gazed at the rising moon as I attempted to maneuver.

“First, to find Noya…”

I needed to head to where Shin Noya would likely be. As I resolved this, I tried to leap once more.

Zwoop.

“…!”

I instinctively reacted to a sensation that brushed past me.

Swoosh—!!

Crackcrackcrack—!!!

With a ferocious rush, something zipped past me. Instantly, a brutal pressure swept through, felling dozens of trees nearby.

“What!?”

An ambush? Cold sweat dripped down my back. If I had been just a moment slower, I would have faced serious danger.

Who the hell was throwing attacks like this?

As I was raising my energy to deal with whatever was coming…

“Huh? What’s going on?”

A familiar voice broke through, and suddenly, someone appeared before me.

It was Shin Noya.

“…What are you doing here?”

“…Noya?”

Shin Noya stood before me, gripping his sword tightly. Upon confirming the energy emanating from it, I furrowed my brows.

“Did you just release sword energy at me, Noya?”

No wonder it felt deathly ominous. It was Noya’s blade, after all.

“Noya, have you lost your mind? If I’d been even a slightly thicker Skinned, I might have been cut in half.”

Come on, joke’s aside. This was no play; I was genuinely endangered.

Had I been a second late, some part of me would’ve been severed completely.

To toss such an attack at me, I glared at Noya in disbelief.

“No…”

To my surprise, Noya looked at me with an innocent expression.

“I think there’s something strange that has entered our premises, so I rushed here… But why the hell are you here?”

“…Something strange? What do you mean?”

That seemed a bit exaggerated. I’d seen him only a few times. So what was he going on about? Glancing warily, I narrowed my eyes as Noya reciprocated with a frown.

“Kid. What the hell has happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“What? You seriously don’t know? You’re practically bursting with presence right now.”

“…”

I tilted my head at Noya’s words.

“Showing presence? That can’t be right.”

‘Aren’t I good at hiding it?’

Though my vessel had grown and my realm had risen, when I opened my abilities or encountered any upsurge, I habitually managed to conceal my presence. Especially when in this area, I focused on keeping it low.

“No, what did you do to become like this in just half a day?”

Noya seemed to think I was openly displaying my presence.

Had my energy increased, my strength enhanced, and thus my presence was affected?

What the heck had changed so drastically?

Quickly, I centered my energy. Just like when controlling my strength, I used my normal reserves to dampen my presence.

It felt like energy was gradually condensing back into my body.

‘So it’s true, after all.’

I originally couldn’t push it down any further, but now it felt like it was sinking easily.

Yet as I assuredly hunkered down my presence…

“Forget the presence. What in the world’s with that appearance?”

Noya remarked again, gazing at me.

“Appearance?”

What was it this time? What could possibly be wrong that he kept nagging? I looked at Noya, only to see him shining his sword directly at me.

The gleaming blade reflected my face.

“…Huh?”

I widened my eyes at the sight.

“What the heck? Why do I look like this?”

I had transformed in some way.

Though my blue eyes remained, the vertical slit pupils seemed more prominent, and my fangs protruded strangely.

Furthermore…

My nails appeared as if someone had sharpened them.

I looked like a beast.

No, more precisely…

“…Moon Night Clan?”

I resembled the Beast Humans I had seen here before.

I had completely transformed into a figure resembling the Moon Night Clan.

 

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