957 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Chapter 957: The Most Exceptional Companion in the World "So, everything, huh." Hearing my grand ambition, the turtle chuckled. It was certainly not a laughter of admiration. If anything, it was a mockery. Perhaps even a chuckle of disbelief. That was certainly closer to it. "You're brimming with confidence. But do you truly believe that's feasible?" "Whether it's possible or not isn't important. There's an old man's saying I know. Want to hear it?" "What is it?" "Make the impossible possible. It's one of the few sayings of an ignorant old man that actually resonates with me." "..." There is no such thing as impossible. You have to make it possible. Whatever was necessary needed to be done. That was the life I had to lead now. So, "Please teach me. I have to do everything I can." "..." With those calm words, the turtle gazed at me with an equally stoic expression. Surely he's not going to say it's impossible now, is he? I felt a bit anxious but still decided to wait. Then, "What do you." The turtle spoke. "Think of sorcery as?" Sorcery. Hearing the word unsettled me a bit. 'So they call it sorcery too, huh.' This was probably the first time the turtle directly mentioned sorcery. To be precise, it was the first time the word itself was used. I found it somewhat curious. 'Sorcery isn't a term exclusive to the Central Plains, is it?' Or perhaps, it's like how the language here sounds like the language of the Central Plains to me. 'Is the turtle's speech sounding different to me now?' That might be the case. Among the things that happen here, none made sense according to my conventional wisdom. 'Moreover.' There was something mysterious about sorcery itself. 'I heard sorcery was power brought by the dragon.' In ancient times, it was said to be the power left by dragons. The turtle, no matter how much I looked at it, did not exude a dragon's aura. Yet seemed confident about sorcery. 'Rather than sorcery being the dragon's power…' Could it be that even the dragon brought this power from elsewhere? Such a thought crossed my mind. Having contemplated this much, I focused on the turtle's question. 'What does sorcery mean to me?' I pondered. What is sorcery? This was a question I had already considered before. "It's transformation." "Transformation?" The turtle reacted to my answer. "Transformation…? Why do you think so?" "I'm not sure. It just felt that way." It presents a false image as truth. Creating sights and changes that are beyond common imagination. Isn't that what sorcery might be? 'Just look at the current situation.' The present circumstances. Standing suddenly in a field. The fact that the teahouse disappeared in the first place. The powers the turtle has displayed so far. All of that was transformation, and I needed that power. 'Especially to wield the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.' There's nothing more necessary than being able to do the impossible. Combining and clashing two martial arts. Something that couldn't be imagined before. Sorcery made that dissociation and anomaly possible. Yet. 'It's not perfect.' Even with constant attempts, it's not perfect. I'm clueless about the theoretical aspects. My knowledge is shallow and inadequate. 'This won't do.' It's woefully lacking. To achieve what I want, I need to delve deeper and reach higher. Should I, as a martial artist, really rely on such esoteric power? I've pondered on that, but. 'Don't be ridiculous.' When was I ever just a martial artist? Martial skills are merely a means to an end. Some may find enlightenment and value there. 'But not me.' I am not a martial artist. Such a title is for those like Paejon. I now know better. I wasn't a martial artist. Furthermore, it didn't matter if I wasn't one. 'I have to do everything I can.' Hesitating over trivial matters won't achieve anything. I had much to protect. Much to do. And now, this was the place for such things. "Transformation... It's not a bad answer." "Are you saying it's not the correct answer?" "Hmm." To my question, the turtle moved his staff. As it oscillated, something rippled in the air as if water were moving. "First, let's correct that part." "Pardon?" With a light tap of the staff on the ground. Whoosh—!! The wind blew, causing the field to stir. Simultaneously, petals bloomed in abundance. Though there were no flowers, the sky was suddenly filled with petals. At that moment. "There is no right answer in sorcery." The turtle looked at me and continued speaking. "If you thought it was transformation, then that's also a correct answer. If you think differently in the future, that's also correct." "..." It was a vague statement. No right answer? "Then... What should I pursue?" What should one aim for? I wondered. If a martial artist strives for a certain state or realization. What should sorcery aim for? To pursue transformation alone seems ambiguous to me. So I asked. "That's something you must find for yourself. Even what one aims for must be discovered independently." "..." I frowned. Telling me to find out on my own. It's troublesome if more things to figure out pile up here. The only consolation was. "What I will teach you from now on is not to show you the path but to help you choose your own path." The turtle would indeed teach me about sorcery. "Show me the core." "The core?" "Yes, the core." The core... 'Is it referring to what's bound to my heart?' The thing coiled around my heart. It seems to refer to that. "...How am I supposed to show that?" How do I even do that? Perplexed, I asked. "...Huh?" This time, the turtle seemed taken aback. "Never tried it before? Truly?" the turtle asked incredulously. "Yes," I admitted. The turtle sighed while looking at me for a brief moment and then moved his staff. Suddenly, A faint hum resonated. A series of rings appeared around the staff. Eight in total, glowing with a soft yellow hue encircled the staff. I fixed my gaze upon them, trying to decipher how it was done. 'What was the flow like?' A peculiar sensation arose in my body. As I focused, nothing around me was visible apart from the turtle's staff and the rings above it. The odd sensation and flow I felt when those rings appeared. I continued to observe keenly. Thump. I focused my energy around my heart. “…It’s not so difficult. Just channel your energy…” Swoosh. "It's done." With a flash of light, rings formed in my hand. Unlike the turtle's, my rings glowed blue. Four rings, wrapping around my arm. "So, that's how it's done." I said, amazed that it came so easily. Why hadn't I realized this sooner? Conveying my sensations to the turtle, I remarked, "…" The turtle, speechless for a moment, looked back and forth between my arm and me, his expression quite bizarre. “...Damn it.” "Sorry?" “…Never mind. I've half given up." Did I do something wrong? It seemed like the correct response, judging by how he reacted. I moved my left hand around. The rings swayed with my arm but didn't jingle or rattle. As the turtle continued to observe my rings, he remarked, "Four rings, not bad." "Is it okay?" "Yes, they seem of good quality. You've done quite well, it seems." "I didn’t really try that hard." "If you say so, how long did it take? A decade or so…?" "Let's see… less than a year, actually." "…Oh, I see." The turtle, who was in the middle of saying something, accepted it. Was it just my imagination, or was he about to say something else? "Now, these things no longer surprise me. It's fine at this level." "Elder?" "Enough. You asked for everything, but for now, what do you need most?" What I need most. The moment I heard that, I responded without hesitation. "Power to suppress what's about to explode and prevent it from bursting." It was related to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Controlling and stabilizing the power that was about to explode from friction. I thought that sorcery might offer assistance with that, so I asked the turtle. “Hmm…. Power to prevent an explosion.” For a moment, the turtle seemed deeply contemplative as he pondered the matter. Then, after a pause, "I know what you wish for. It's what you intended to use earlier, isn't it?" "Correct." The power I had been intending to use in the turtle's teahouse. It seemed the turtle remembered. "If that's the case." Thunk. Once more, the turtle lightly tapped his staff on the ground. From the air, two books materialized. One floated in front of the turtle and the other flew towards me. Clasping it firmly, the turtle spoke. "What you will learn from now on is something called Fulfillment (滿化)." "Fulfillment?" "Yes. It's the power to maintain form without altering it." With a flutter. Without even moving, the book opened itself on its own and stopped at a certain page. Upon seeing it, I knit my brows. The text was densely packed. Moreover, it seemed to be in a language unfamiliar to me. Yet. 'I can read it?' I could read it. Though I had no idea what language it was, I understood it strangely well. While I was quietly observing it, "You won't be told twice, so it would be wise to concentrate." The turtle's voice reached my ears. "Don't worry. Even if you don't understand, you'll grasp it. It's a particularly complex topic, after all." The turtle confidently explained, and then he began to elucidate the contents of the book. I, anxious about the difficulty, started to listen closely. **************************** Time passed, and as the sun began to set, allowing the twilight to emerge, “Oh…” I let out a soft exclamation of admiration. The reason being. ‘So, this is how it’s done.’ After the turtle's lessons concluded, I began to sense a change within my heart that hadn't been there before. The strands of sorcery emanating from me had become stronger and significantly more numerous. It seemed they would hold for a longer duration once bound. It felt like I was still quite far from fully utilizing it, but even the change itself was satisfying. "As expected…." Deciding to come and learn was the right choice. The material was indeed complex and the lessons intricate, but this achievement felt worthwhile. With a grin, I remarked to the turtle, "Though difficult, it's manageable. Is it because the teaching was so good?" Feeling good, I added a bit of flattery. The turtle, however, did not react. What’s going on? "Elder?" I cautiously called out to him. At that moment, “...Damn it all…” "Huh?" "Damned brat…." The turtle's voice came out rough and slightly irritated. Did I hear wrong? As I considered calling out to him again, he erupted. “…Eld…” “You… damned…!” Bang! The turtle, yelling angrily, slammed his staff into the ground. "You've got to be kidding!" "Sorry…?" "Something that should be at least understandable to a person!" "Elder, w-why are you suddenly…." "Half a day? Haaalf a daaaay? Even after being swatted, it took me a year. Haalf a daay!?" "Calm down, please. Let's calm…." "Calm my foot! Get out! I don't want to see you, leave!" "What do you mean leave? I’ve only learned one thing—." Whoosh—!! The air trembled, and suddenly an immense pressure bore down on me. Before I knew it, I found myself outside the teahouse. Trying to comprehend the situation, I felt as if I should express my disbelief. "What the…?" He suddenly got angry by himself and threw me out. "…What just happened?" In this bizarre situation, I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the turtle's teahouse. Meanwhile, the four rings on my hand had now increased to five, glowing brightly. 3 Comments 3.1 / 81 Hideto 2024.10.17 23:12 Report Haha, it's more like sorcery rather than martial arts, like something from Heavenly Demon Divine Art! 0 hwawol72 2024.10.22 20:00 Report Seems like you've got a talent that's as crazy as it gets, haha! 0 Yeon Woo 2024.10.29 15:52 Report The elder got sulky. 0 Comments can only be posted by logged-in members. 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