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“Everything.”

The turtle laughed upon hearing my aspirations.

It wasn’t a proud laugh at all.

More like a sneer. Or a laugh of disbelief.

A laugh close to that.

“You’re overflowing with confidence. But tell me, do you really think that’s possible?”

“Whether it’s possible or not is not important. There’s something I heard from an old man I know. Do you know what it is?”

“What is it?”

“Make the impossible possible. That’s the one saying I like from that ignorant old man.”

“…”

There’s nothing that can’t be done.

It has to be made possible.

Whatever it takes, it must be accomplished.

That was the life I had to lead now.

So.

“Please tell me. I have to do everything I can.”

“…”

The turtle stared at me blankly in response to my nonchalant words.

You’re not going to say I can’t do it now, right? I felt a sudden wave of anxiety, but I decided to wait.

At that moment,

“You,”

the turtle spoke.

“What do you think sorcery is?”

Sorcery. The moment that word touched my lips, my eyes twitched slightly.

‘They also refer to it as sorcery, huh.’

This is the first time the turtle has brought up the topic of sorcery.

Actually, this is the first time the word sorcery has come up.

Hearing that, I felt somewhat puzzled.

‘Is sorcery not a term used only in the Central Plains?’

Or perhaps, the language here sounds like that of the Central Plains.

‘Is it possible that the turtle’s words sound different to me right now?’

Maybe that’s the case.

I hadn’t understood a single thing that happened here with my common sense.

‘Moreover.’

The essence of sorcery itself was a question.

‘They said sorcery is the power brought by dragons.’

In the distant past, it was said to be the power left behind by dragons.

But this turtle didn’t give off any dragon vibes at all.

Yet, it seemed confident when it came to sorcery.

‘Could it be that sorcery itself is not the power of a dragon…?’

Perhaps the dragon itself is closer to the power it brought. That thought crossed my mind.

Having reached that point, I focused on the question the turtle asked me.

‘What do you think sorcery is?’

I pondered.

What is sorcery? This was the topic I had just contemplated.

“It’s alteration.”

“Alteration?”

The turtle reacted upon hearing my answer.

“Alteration, you say…? Why do you think that?”

“Well, it just feels that way to me.”

Revealing what seems false as truth.

Creating and altering scenes that one wouldn’t typically think possible.

Isn’t that what sorcery is?

‘It certainly seems so right now.’

The current situation.

Suddenly standing in the fields.

The fact that the tea house had disappeared to begin with.

The powers the turtle had shown me so far.

All of it was alteration, and I needed that power.

‘Especially to use Heavenly Demon Technique.’

The power to achieve the impossible.

There’s nothing I need more than this.

Combining and rubbing two martial arts together. Something that would have originally been unimaginable.

Sorcery made that strangeness and anomaly possible.

However.

‘It’s not perfect.’

No matter how many attempts I made, it wasn’t perfect. There were theoretical aspects I didn’t understand.

The knowledge I had was shallow and lacking.

‘This is not enough.’

Wretchedly inadequate.

To achieve what I desired, it needed to be deeper and higher.

Should I perhaps train in such personal power as a martial artist?

I had pondered that thought before.

‘Get a grip.’

Since when had I only been a martial artist?

Martial arts is a means to achieve a goal.

Perhaps there are those who find enlightenment and value in that.

‘But not me.’

I am not a martial artist.

That’s something only people like the Pejon can say.

And I know that even better now.

I was not a martial artist.

Moreover, it didn’t matter if I wasn’t.

‘I must do everything I can.’

Getting hung up on such trifling matters would lead to nothing.

I had too much to protect.

There was much I needed to do.

And now, this place was for that.

“Alteration… That’s not a bad answer.”

“Does that mean it’s not the correct answer?”

“Hmm.”

The turtle moves its staff in response to my question.

As its tip sways, something in the void moves as if waves are flowing.

“I’ll fix that part first.”

“Excuse me?”

Thud. As the staff lightly struck the ground.

Whoooosh-!!

The wind blew, and the fields began to tremble.

Simultaneously, petals bloomed everywhere.

Flowers weren’t there, yet somehow, petals filled the sky.

At that moment.

“There are no right answers in sorcery.”

The turtle continued as it looked at me.

“If you thought of it as alteration, then that’s correct too. If later, you think differently, that’s also correct.”

“…”

It was a vague statement.

No right answers?

“Then… what should I pursue?”

What should I aim for and move towards?

Questions arose in my mind.

If a martial artist simply looks at a realm or pursues enlightenment.

Then what should one pursue about sorcery?

It would be very ambiguous to just see it as alteration.

I asked for clarification, but.

“Find it out yourself. You must find your own pursuit.”

“…”

I frowned. Find it myself, huh?

It wouldn’t be good if I had to find more things to pursue here. That was troublesome.

The only good news was.

“What I’m going to teach you now will not tell you the path but will help you choose the path you want to take.”

So, the turtle would indeed teach me sorcery.

“Show me the ring.”

“The ring?”

“Yes, the ring.”

A ring…

‘Is it that which is bound to my heart?’

The thing wrapped around my heart.

That seems to be what it means.

“…How do I show that to you?”

How do I even do that?

I asked out of confusion.

“…Huh?”

This time, the turtle seemed a bit flustered.

“How do you show me that…? You’ve never done that before, have you?”

“Yes.”

“…”

The turtle stared at me for a moment before sighing and moving its staff.

Then.

Whooooosh.

Something emerged from the staff.

It was a ring. Eight light yellow rings floated around the staff.

I focused on those eight rings surrounding the staff.

What just happened?

‘What was the flow like?’

A strange sensation emerged in my body.

As I tried to focus, everything around me faded away.

The only thing visible was the turtle’s staff and the rings floating above it.

That sense of strangeness and flow I felt when it was shown to me.

As I was vividly caught up in that moment.

Thud.

I exerted strength into my heart.

“…It’s not difficult. Your energy….”

Swish.

“…Move…”

“It’s done.”

Light shone, and a ring appeared in my hand.

Unlike the turtle, it was a blue ring.

Four rings wrapped around my arm like that.

“So this is how it’s done.”

It’s easier than I thought. Why didn’t I know this?

As I began to absorb the sensation, I spoke to the turtle.

“…”

The turtle, for some odd reason, seemed speechless, looking strangely at my arm and then back at me.

“…You’re something.”

“Excuse me?”

“…Never mind. I’ve half-given up now.”

What’s this? Wasn’t this how it’s supposed to be?

But judging by the reaction, it seemed like my answer was correct.

I moved my left hand here and there.

The rings followed my arm but didn’t clink or anything.

As the turtle stared at my rings, it spoke.

“Four, huh. Not bad.”

“Is it okay?”

“Yeah, the quality seems good. From the looks of it, it seems you’ve worked hard.”

“I didn’t work that hard.”

“How long did it take? At least ten years….”

“Well, I guess it didn’t take more than a year.”

“…Oh, is that so?”

The turtle seemed to ponder for a moment before accepting it. Did it think I was mistaken about what it was about to say?

“Okay, I’ve gotten used to it now. This much is fine.”

“Elder?”

“Enough. Anyway, since it’s four, let’s set that aside. You asked for everything, but for now, what do you need the most?”

The most necessary thing.

As soon as I heard that, I answered right away.

“The power that covers and stops what is about to explode.”

It was about the Heavenly Demon Technique.

The power to control the force that wants to explode due to friction and to maintain stability.

I thought maybe sorcery could help with that. I asked the turtle.

“Hmm… the power to prevent it from exploding.”

The turtle seemed to contemplate for a moment, seeming to think deeply.

And then, a moment passed.

“I understand what you want. You’re trying to use it for what you wanted to show me earlier, right?”

“Correct.”

That power I wanted to use in the turtle’s tea house.

It seems the turtle remembered that.

“…Then.”

Thud.

The turtle struck the ground with its staff again lightly. Suddenly, books popped out of thin air.

There were two in total.

One floated in front of the turtle, and the other flew towards me.

Smack! As soon as I caught the book, the turtle said.

“What you’re going to learn from now on is called Transformation.”

“Transformation?”

“Right. The power to maintain a shape without changing it.”

Flutter.

The book opened by itself without my hand moving, and it flipped until it suddenly stopped at a certain page.

Seeing that, I frowned. The text was densely packed.

Moreover, there were letters that I had no idea about.

Yet.

‘Wait, I can read this?’

I could read it. Strangely, even though I didn’t recognize the language, I could understand it.

As I was silently observing it.

“I won’t tell you twice, so it’s better to concentrate.”

The turtle’s voice echoed.

“Don’t worry. Even if you don’t understand, you will. This is quite difficult content, after all.”

The turtle said confidently, and then proceeded to explain about the book.

I had some worry due to its difficulty, but I started to attentively listen.

*

As time passed, the sun gradually began to set, marking the time for twilight.

“Oh….”

I let out a strange sound of admiration. The reason being.

‘So this is how it was done.’

After the turtle’s teachings had completed, I felt a change in my heart that had never been there before.

The threads of sorcery that were emitted became much stronger and more numerous.

With this, it seemed I could hold out longer when tied.

Although it still felt a long way from properly utilizing it, I was satisfied with the transformation that had occurred.

“Indeed….”

Coming to learn was a worthwhile decision.

Although the content was certainly difficult and the teachings complex, something like this was worth it.

With a smile creeping up, I spoke to the turtle.

“It’s definitely challenging, but it’s worth a shot. Is it because the teachings are good?”

Feeling good, I attempted a bit of flattery, but the turtle had no response.

What’s this?

“Elder?”

I cautiously called out to the turtle.

At that moment.

“…You rotten….”

“Huh?”

“…You rotten fool….”

A rough voice unexpectedly came from the turtle.

Did I mishear that?

As I prepared to call the turtle again.

“…Elder!” “You damn…!”

Bang!

The turtle yelled wildly and slammed the staff he was holding down onto the ground.

“Know your limits when you do something!”

“Excuse me…?”

“A half a day? Half of a daaaaay? I took a year getting beaten up! Half a daaaaay!?”

“P-Please calm down. Just take a moment to…”

“Calm down? What the heck! Get out! I don’t want to see your face!”

“No, why should I leave? I’ve barely learned one thing-.”

Whoooosh-!!

The air shook, and suddenly, pressure poured onto my body.

By the time I recognized what was happening, I had already been thrown out of the tea house.

I had to assess the situation while wearing a dumbfounded expression.

“What the…?”

What just happened? He suddenly got so angry and kicked me out.

“…What’s up with this?”

I stared blankly at the absurd situation in front of the turtle’s tea house.

At that moment, the four rings in my hand had increased to five and were shining noticeably.

 

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