A day passed since Seri was taken.

When I woke up, I got ready to go out into the woods to train, but before I could leave, the others stopped me.

“Yun, where are you going?”

Hana held the tip of my sleeve with an anxious expression. 

Hyunwoo stood up behind Hana with his sword in his hand and Minho was next to him with a frown on his face. He was still upset that I gave Hyunwoo the wooden sword.

“I’m going to find some food for us and... train.”

Hana looked at me and the wooden sword in my hand in disbelief.  

“…Yun, I didn’t know you did martial arts… no, that’s not important right now. What good will training do in this situation? It’s not like we can… fight our way out of this forest.”

“…I know… It just helps me clear my mind.”

“…”

Hana looked at me silently, unable to understand. 

The truth was, that more than anything else, I wanted to train as much as I could in this forest. 

Eventually, I would have to go to the human world for food, but once I left, I would never get back the chance to absorb the abundant ki that this place had.

Realizing that my mind was set, the others decided to follow me into the forest.

When we arrived at an open field, I began swinging my sword while Minho and Hana sat down and watched.

Swish! Swoosh! Swish!

“!!!”

Minho and Hana opened their mouths in surprise.

This was their first time seeing my Mu.

While I continued to swing my sword, I glanced to my right.

Hyunwoo was a few meters away from me, swinging the wooden sword that I had given him.

Once in a while, he would look my way and watch my movements.

He was watching the way I moved my arms, my feet, and my waist.

‘He’s trying to learn my Mu…’

I felt an unexplainable emotion. 

Although I wasn’t teaching him directly, he was able to fix his movements little by little by watching me. 

I no longer felt any anger or hate towards him for bullying me in the past, but I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for my past self.

“Yun! Teach me how to do that!”

I flinched when I noticed that Minho had stood up and walked up to me.

His eyes were burning with a yearning to learn. 

“…”

I dropped the tip of my sword to the ground and found myself hesitating to answer.

‘What’s wrong with me…?’

I looked into Minho’s eyes, and saw his older self. The strongest Muin in the world. The one with endless potential… Someone who would eventually cut even the heavens.

That’s when I realized my feelings. I was gripping my fist so hard, the nails dug into my skin. I was overwhelmed with shame.

‘I see… I’ve been avoiding it…’

My jealousy towards Minho’s talent… was holding me back from teaching him.

“Yun…?”

Minho called out to me, realizing something was wrong. I quickly shook my head of my thoughts, and handed him my wooden sword. 

“Take this. I’ll show you how to use it.”

“…Thank you, Yun!”

‘Don’t thank me, Minho… I’m sorry.’

I silently appologized to Minho in my heart, and taught him the basic movements that he showed me in my second life.

Swish! Swoosh! Swish!

“Is this how you do it?”

“…”

“…!”

“!!!”

It only took Minho a moment to perfect the movements that I had practiced all of my second life to master. 

I nodded my head and started teaching him a different skill. One that was more difficult… that even I hadn’t mastered yet. All I could do for him, was repeat the words that Minho had told me in my second life.

Hana was speechless in front of Minho’s great talent and Hyunwoo looked down at his wooden sword in deep thought.

While Minho practiced on his own, I sat down with my feet crossed and my eyes closed. I started absorbing the ki in the air and slowly added it to my dan. 

When I opened by eyes, I let out a deep breath, and Minho walked towards me.

“Yun, What were doing just now? I felt something… strange around you.”

“!!!”

I widened my eyes in surprise. He hadn’t learned the breathing technique yet, but was already able to feel the movement of ki in the air. 

I explained to him the technique, and he listened carefully.

“This world is filled with an energy called Ki, and it circulates around us and builds up inside living things. Through a breathing technique, we’re able to absorb the ki into our body and have it flow in through our veins. In order to use ki, you have to create a dan inside your stomach. Think of compressing the ki as you circulate it in your body, until you feel a small amount, about the size of a seed, stabilize without dispersi….”

I stopped my words midway from shock. I could feel the ki around Minho moving slightly towards his body. 

And he was doing it while standing!

The two of us sat down and circulated Ki until night came.

When Minho and I opened our eyes from our meditation, we went back with the others. 

I stopped us along the way to pick up fruits and the others no longer seemed surprised by my luck.

When we arrived back at the cave, Hyunwoo stopped me.

“Yun, you can have this back.”

I turned around and Hyunwoo was holding out his wooden sword. 

“Why?”

“…”

Hyunwoo turned his head and looked at Minho, and then back at me.

“You saw it too didn’t you? Minho’s…. Talent.”

I nodded by head. No one would know better than I did.

“When I saw him using the sword, it made me realize… I’ll never be able to catch up to his talent. No matter what I do, it’ll never be enough.”

“…but if you train, it’ll still make you stronger.”

“You must have realized it as well. Getting stronger won’t be enough to survive in this world. I have to find… something that can make me the strongest.”

“…”

“I advise you to do the same.”

I took back the sword from Hyunwoo and he joined the others to eat.

I gripped tightly on the sword.

Hyunwoo was right. He has a potential to become the strongest in something. That’s why he was taken out of the forest by the mysterious man, Gaeros.

‘But I… I’m not talented in anything.’

I looked up at the night sky and at the bright moon.

‘So it doesn’t matter what I choose to do. I’ll keep doing what I love.’

—-

Night fell on us soon after we finished eating and the Minho passed out early. I could tell he was exhausted from training all day.

Hyunwoo sat with his back against the wall and had his eyes closed. Hana lied down on the ground and seemed to be asleep but I knew they were both awake. 

I sat upright and covered my body with Ki. 

It wasn’t long before the air grew cold and ice covered the walls of the cave.

The ice crept over my feet and over my torso, but suddenly slowed down when it reached my stomach. I felt a drop of sweat drip down the side of my head, which seemed impossible in the cold. 

It was only possible because compared to the outside, my body was boiling with heat. The ki and spirit energy that I was circulating with all my concentration, was melting the ice. 

However, the power of the ice was too great. Even with all my strength, the most I could do was slow it down. 

Murmur murmur murmur 

Mutter mutter mutter

While I focused, I heard the whispers of the ghosts and saw their white floating figures appear from thin air. 

Flinch!

When one of the ghosts turned its head towards me, it flinched. It didn’t have any eyes, just two black holes on its head. 

It floated towards me and it tilted its head confused as it examined my body.

When Vasir appeared, the ghost finally turned around and went back to him. It whispered something in his ear. 

Whisper whisper whisper

Then, instead of walking towards Hana like I had expected… he started walking towards me.

When he stopped a foot away from me, I looked up and saw a glimpse of his black eyes through his long hair. 

I felt a chill down my spine. His eyes looked emotionless, but at the same time, full of pain. If he wasn’t holding back his presense… the pain I would have felt, would have been thousands of times more painful than when I looked at Ikor or Hayul. The being before me… was the embodiment of pain itself.

[How can a mortal understand death?]

His voice rang in my head and shook my soul.