Christmas Eve (3)
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Seung-ho was attacked several times as he followed the flock of Garuda up the mountain.
However, since the Garudas are on the retreat, their attacks were not that strong and barely scratched Seung-ho.
Then, he drove them to the place where he first found their excrement and loose feathers.
It was a place surrounded by huge rocks. The Garudas realized they were cornered and decided to fight for their lives, attacking viciously.
It was Young-ho who asked Seung-ho to intervene. Seung-ho was excited about slaughtering the Garudas, and the guild members were fascinated by his image as he tore the birds one by one.
Finally, each of the Garudas was killed, except for one, who somehow managed to escape even with a broken wing and one leg cut off.
Seung-ho let it go. It won’t be able to cause trouble in the future, and would likely die from its injuries, too.
Then…
“Oh, ahwa!”
Seung-ho put his palms on his forehead and began shaking his head. At Young-ho’s request, he taught the guild members of how to control their mana better, but it wasn’t going well.
“How do you fly like that?!”
He taught them how to release pure magical powers, and the members began flying.
However, they are flying out of control, crashing in different directions.
The first guild member to attempt it had used too much mana and broke his legs. He has already been brought out of the gate for treatment.
The rest of the personnel, with his guidance, eventually succeeded in flying, albeit without control.
The guild members bombarded him with questions.
“How do you release impure magical power outside while wearing pure magical power on your body?”
“How do you separate the mana into two?”
“How do you control the duration when the impure magic explodes?”
Seung-ho thought about it, but he could only give one answer. “Well…”
Magic was difficult to explain in words because it had to be experienced with one’s own senses.
Seung-ho survived beyond the gate by using mana in countless ways until controlling the level, and the details of the mana became a habit, not a conscious effort.
He continued. “…when cutting nails put magical power in the nail clippers; put them on your soles when driving, use them when cooking. Anyone can freely do anything with mana.”
That was all the advice he could give. They have to learn on their own.
Seung-ho watched the guild members jumping all over the place for a long time, shaking his head.
Then, he saw someone who seemed to have potential.
He turned to Young-ho.
“Who’s that man over there?”
“Who… Ah! Yu-hwa! Come here!”
The man outstretched his arms towards the direction of Seung-ho and Young-ho, and focused on his hands.
Then, he began kicking the air forward, slowly, maintaining focus on his hands.
Finally, he landed on the ground near Young-ho.
“Captain… you called me?”
Despite the cool, windy weather, the man was covered in sweat.
Yu-hwa felt good while in the air and wanted to keep the sensation longer, but he couldn’t ignore the captain’s call.
Meanwhile, Seung-ho looked at him with interested eyes.
“Yu-hwa!” Young-ho spoke. “How did you kick in the air in a row?”
“Uh… well?”
Seung-ho can’t help but laugh as he watched the young man struggle to answer Young-ho.
Anyone could be a hunter simply by eating mana stones. The ability to handle mana, however, is a talent.
Seung-ho started to teach some simple techniques to Yu-hwa as he intends to get him out of his current position.
As they go on, he started to show him more difficult skills and felt glad that Yu-hwa seemed to learn them quickly.
“Now, this time, contain your mana in a double-helix at the starting point, then apply a rotational force and shoot.”
Kiyiiiii-
“I call this…” Seung-ho said as he bore a hole through rock without crushing it, “a drill.”
“Wow, that wasn’t that good of a name,” Yu-hwa remarked.
Seung-ho pretended not to hear him.
“Then, if you put impure magic after your drill…”
Klag!
The rock became gravel and scattered in different directions.
“Did you see that?” Seung-ho said. “Try it.”
However, Yu-hwa simply shrugged and didn’t show any signs of moving from his seat.
“I’m running out of horsepower,” he said.
“What?” Seung-ho was stunned.
“Not everyone has an over 20,000 rating, you know.”
Seung-ho couldn’t believe it. Earlier, Yu-hwa stayed in the air for a very short direction; he has also done very simple techniques that required weak power. How could he run out?
“Aren’t you an A-class?” he asked him.
“Yes. To be precise, I got promoted to A earlier this month.”
The minimum hunter class allowed entry to 3rd-level gates is A.
“I also fought earlier, you know,” Yu-hwa added, looking defensive.
“You’re a little awesome,” Seung-ho said sharply.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Yu-hwa lay on the ground to rest.
Seung-ho shook his head and approached Young-ho. Young-ho was also trying to fly. He’s able to stay in the air, but not enough skills to change directions.
Young-ho was about to jump again when he heard Seung-ho call him from behind.
“Captain…”
“Yes?”
“Did we take all but one mana stones?”
“Yes. We have eleven. Here are three, your share.”
“Oh – five will go to the Association?”
Young-ho smiled bitterly as he gave Seung-ho three mana stones. Their contract was signed with a 30:30:40 condition.
With 11 top quality mana stones, he divided them into 3/3/4, and the one extra will be sold to the Association as well. The income from the extra stone will be distributed to the guild members.
“Well… they would get about half of what we have, but we’re satisfied. There are no fatalities, and it’s not usual to get this huge sum of money in one day. If you could come with us again on a 3rd-level gate in Northeast Asia…”
Seung-ho was deep in thought as he jumbled the mana stones in his pocket.
Even with a top-quality mana stone, the increase he’ll get from eating it will be very small. He wondered if he’d rather develop Yu-hwa with his share.
However, he thought of something different. He took all three stones out of his pocket and consumed them all at once.
Then, he responded to Young-ho. “I’ll have a meeting with the Association, please give me their share, and I’ll bring it to them instead.”
Young-ho nodded before giving Seung-ho five mana stones more.
Since the Association will use the mana stones they’ll receive to develop hunters, Seung-ho decided to develop Yu-hwa instead with them.
“Stand up,” he told Yu-hwa, who was still on the ground.
“I don’t really have the energy…”
Yu-hwa showed no signs of moving. His matted hair was all over the ground. Seung-ho’s glare was on him, and he closed his eyes to avoid him, but eventually, he was pressured to stand up.
“What do you want me to do?” Yu-hwa cried out.”
Seung-ho gestured with his chin to a huge rock. Yu-hwa followed him behind it.
“I have to make you grow,” Seung-ho said in a serious mood.
“What? I’m already all grown up.”
As Seung-ho heard that remark, he seriously wondered whether he’s going to give him the stones or take them back into his pocket.
* * *
“An ambassador?”
Drax thought Kanyu’s words were absurd.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“A 3rd-class gate has occurred in Korea, and it is said that for the first time, Iris has handled a gate that high-grade.”
Drax eyes flashed angrily at Kanyu’s words.
“Is he there?”
“I think so.”
Drax began tapping the desk with his fingertips impatiently. It was difficult to guess why Seung-ho would work in secret.
“Did you find out why he’s doing that?”
“It is said that his parents think it’s terrible for him to work with gates. If you need…”
“No.”
Drax cut him off.
Kanyu shrugged and continued with a different topic. “Regarding the vice-president’s visit…”
“Iris Guild.”
Drax cut him off again. Kanyu nodded.
“I will watch them carefully.”
Drax got up from his chair and approached the window.
Clearly, it was a sign that the conversation was over. Kanyu bowed down and left the room.
Drax couldn’t sleep. He watched the stars disappear one by one until dawn, staring from his window.