A child.
No matter how intelligent and gifted with outstanding comprehension they were, being young was an enormous trait.
In particular, the weakness that came from a gap in experience could prove all the more fatal the more developed a child’s comprehension was.
Namgung Yeon knew.
He knew how enormous that difference was.
And he also knew how different the results born from that difference could be.
Namgung Hwayeon.
His younger sister, and a woman symbolized by a bat.
That did not mean she was simply a bad girl.
“Why did you come?”
“I came because I have something to ask, Brother.”
“Speak comfortably. You do not seem to have any respect anyway.”
“…….”
Eyes that looked at her without any emotion.
It was a kind of gaze she was seeing for the first time, so Namgung Hwayeon answered in a voice that trembled despite herself.
“Th-then I will. You were definitely suffering from severed meridians...... how did you recover?”
“I have no obligation to answer that. It is not the situation you suspect, so do not worry.”
“What situation do you think I suspect......?”
Namgung Yeon took one step closer.
The moment the bodyguard tried to step forward to protect Namgung Hwayeon, her brother’s mouth opened first.
“Surely I would not harm my younger sister.”
“…….”
“Step back and do not interfere. If you act insolently one more time-.”
“My apologies.”
When those bottomless-pit eyes turned toward him, the bodyguard was pressed down by his presence and lowered his head.
Namgung Hwayeon tried to say something, but before she could even move her lips, Namgung Yeon’s words came out first.
“If you mean to ask your brother a question, show the courtesy befitting it, little sister.”
“…….”
“Mother did care for me as an invalid, but it was not thanks to her that I rose from bed.”
“R-really?”
Namgung Hwayeon looked genuinely surprised, and Namgung Yeon smiled and nodded.
She wanted to be recognized wherever she went.
She also had an intense desire to survive.
She knew well how to blend in wherever she went, but it was impossible for her to earn deep trust.
Just like the ordinary martial artists of the Tang Clan.
Assassins from the Tang Clan had all met such ends.
Because of their distinctive nature, like snakes and bats.
Hwayeon was one of the children who had inherited that Tang Clan blood most strongly.
“So you would be better off using that time to take better care of your group members.”
“…….”
“Still, it seems this is the first time blood kin have had a proper conversation, so I will give you a gift.”
Namgung Hwayeon could not understand.
At times, it seemed as though he was not listening to her at all, and yet he had already grasped what she intended.
Was this what it meant to know without someone having to spell it out?
RATTLE.
Before she knew it, her hand had stretched out on its own, and something rolled into it.
“What is this......?”
“If something happens, throw it toward the sky.”
“What kind of scheme is this all of a sudden?”
“It seems all your questions have been resolved, so go back now.”
“Wait-.”
Namgung Yeon disappeared into the detached residence without listening to her answer.
Hoho, who had been watching blankly, also bowed and swiftly disappeared after Namgung Yeon.
Having gained nothing, Namgung Hwayeon stared blankly at her palm.
“What is this......?”
A pure white pill was rolling around in her palm.
Sniff, sniff.
When she smelled it, it did not seem to be a medicinal pill.
The scent of fine flour and a faint smell of gunpowder rose gently from it.
She frowned and roughly stuffed away what her brother had given her.
“Let’s go.”
In the end, her visit ended without any harvest.
If she had to mention one thing, it was that Brother Yeon was an even scarier person than she had thought.
She realized this was absolutely not a level Brother Jin could ever look down on.
‘Hmm…… what should I do?’
Her mind continued to turn in complicated circles.
***
The next day.
After taking several measures during the time he had left, Namgung Yeon headed to the huge training field.
Prickling gazes poured over him without pause.
So many people were looking at him that his face almost itched.
Thinking this might be the last time, he examined their faces and saw quite a few people who remained in his memory.
However, he could not meet the eyes of those who greeted him for long.
Because their faces overlapped with the sight of them dying, conjuring horrific hallucinations.
‘For now, I should focus only on what I have to do.’
It did not matter what they whispered.
That he did not return greetings, or that it showed he had no experience dealing with people…….
Words like that could be heard.
He would face all of them someday anyway, so it was fine.
The distrust and complaints of the present were things he could endure as much as needed.
He knew that, to them, trust was not something granted as mere courtesy.
That was why Namgung Yeon could stand in the training field as though nothing was wrong.
“…….”
“…….”
And he could face the prickling gazes directed at him.
If the people passing by merely spoke ill of him, this was a place full of genuine hostility.
That hostility shot at him like arrows, as though gnawing away at his mind.
Even so, Namgung Yeon stood calmly in his place.
A familiar face approached him.
Namgung Jin.
The older brother who had been turned away at his door.
An ill-fated flood dragon who had tried to become a dragon that illuminated the world alone, only to fall in the end.
“You. How the hell did you become this strong?”
“Did you not hear? I thought Hwayeon would tell you.”
“…….”
Namgung Jin’s head snapped around.
Namgung Hwayeon.
She had gone to see this bastard first?
Then why had she not said a word?
Namgung Jin ground his teeth and opened his mouth.
“Even when I asked Mother, she only gave me the same answer. That she had merely cared for you with devotion.”
“That is correct.”
“Ha. There is a limit to how far you can lie. You suffered from severed meridians. And yet...... does it make any sense that you became this strong without outside help?”
“What is it you want to say? It surely cannot be something childish like jealousy.”
“You bastard-!”
Namgung Jin roughly grabbed Namgung Yeon by the collar and pulled.
As he pulled, he was shocked inside.
This was a bastard he had expected to be dragged along like a flimsy sheet of paper, yet when had he become this……
‘He is heavy. What the hell is this bastard?’
With blazing eyes, he looked at his younger brother, Namgung Yeon.
The surrounding martial artists began to approach to stop them, but Namgung Yeon’s movement was a little faster.
He placed his hand on the wrist gripping his collar and carefully loosened it.
CRACK—.
However, the strength contained in that touch was a monstrous force impossible to imagine from a weak younger brother.
The Heavenly Talent Spirit Pill.
And the Five-Colored Draught Pill.
This was a body that had consumed those two peerless secret medicines.
Furthermore, he had absorbed the energy of the Demonic Spirit Sword and eaten Hundred Poisons Pills like snacks.
And the Dragon-Suppressing Shackles.
Through a divine object that slowly corrected his bones and muscles and changed them into something solid, Namgung Yeon had to some degree completed a body faithful to martial arts.
“If you were rude to Mother, reflect on it. Surely you did not commit rudeness merely because she paid a little more attention to her sick younger son.”
“Brother Jin! Please stop. The instructors will be here soon.”
“You…….”
Namgung Yeon’s gaze sank even deeper.
Within those deep, dark eyes, a single strand of light crept up.
Seeing that light, Namgung Jin felt this.
The eyes of a colossal beast rising from the abyss.
Something immense, opening its enormous maw wide as it rose from the deep sea to the surface.
How extreme would the fear of a human be, knowing that something enormous was writhing beneath his feet?
“…….”
At that, Namgung Jin closed his mouth for an instant.
Because the overwhelming fear left him unable to say anything at all.
Only when someone gently tugged him by the elbow did he return to his senses.
“Grow well over these two years. And…… you know training is not everything.”
“If you come visit next time, I will gladly welcome you.”
“…….”
Namgung Jin turned sharply and returned to his place.
Everyone watched the two of them with astonished eyes.
In particular, the gazes of Namgung’s blood kin toward Namgung Yeon began to change.
From a younger brother, an older brother, a brother they had no interest in at all, to a competitor they had to be conscious of.
Their gazes gradually began to change.
And then.
“Have you packed all your luggage?”
“…….”
“You may bring more than you think you need, so pack more if you wish.”
“…….”
He spoke while looking around at his group members, but no answer came back.
They were thoroughly steeped in resentment.
Namgung Yeon looked at the venom-filled eyes.
Namgung Jinjin.
‘It seems his father gave him a harsh time.’
This one came first.
“Has everyone gathered?”
“Yes, sir-!”
“Then each group will move out under the instructor in charge!”
The two years of training had just begun.
***
Time was gold.
Everyone else hurried toward their training grounds.
That was probably because reaching the training grounds in the mountains would take as long as a week of travel.
However, Namgung Yeon’s group still had not departed.
“When are we leaving?”
“Group Leader, what is all that luggage?”
Command belonged entirely to the group leader.
Like it or not, they had to follow the group leader’s orders for now.
They did not know what would happen after this, but at least for one month, Namgung Yeon was the king of Third Group.
And yet, the group leader who was supposed to lead his group was only blankly waiting for something.
On top of that, what was all that luggage?
Originally, it was said that for training, one ought to take only a few personal belongings.
What was the mindset of a martial artist?
To cleanse one’s state of mind and ascend toward strength without greed.
‘That is precisely the mindset of a martial artist.’
And yet, what was Namgung Yeon’s attitude?
He could not understand it at all.
So just as Namgung Jinjin was about to say something-.
“They have arrived-!”
The clatter of hooves rang out.
The sound of wheels rolling could also be heard.
When they turned their eyes, they saw huge carriages crossing the clan grounds and arriving all the way at the training field.
What was all that?
The group members’ mouths fell open.
“We have arrived, my lord!”
“You came. Help me load the luggage.”
“Goodness, of course!”
Namgung Yeon looked at the coachman hurrying down and discreetly handed him something.
JINGLE.
A very pleasant sound rang out.
There was probably no one who did not know what it was.
This place was a prestigious clan.
A place called Great Namgung.
The coachmen respectfully accepted the small pouch.
Naturally, the group members were horrified.
“Goodness, thank you!”
“I leave it to you.”
“Of course! After you are taking such good care of us.”
“Those people will be coming with me as well. Is there enough room?”
The coachman nodded like mad.
Of course.
Aye, absolutely!
“Is this not a seat for honored personages? I have made sure your backsides will not hurt.”
“Well done.”
“What in the world is this…….”
The instructor, who had been watching that absurd scene, muttered.
The remaining officials also stared with their mouths hanging open at Namgung Yeon’s eccentric behavior.
Namgung Yeon lightly climbed into the carriage and looked around.
“Will you ride too, Instructor?”
“…….”
The instructor’s face reddened, unable to bring himself to say no.