The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who had been standing far away, vanished from my sight in a flash. At the same time, a sweet peach fragrance wafted from behind me.
“As I heard, you do possess a power somewhat excessive for a human to have, but that is fine. I, too, was originally a stone monkey. Haha!”
In the blink of an eye, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was behind me, and I thought his laughter was quite pleasant to hear.
Because of the benevolence contained in every word he spoke, it was actually difficult to answer easily.
So only after briefly organizing my thoughts did I turn around. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven had an old pipe in his mouth.
‘So that’s where the peach scent is coming from.’
The sweet peach fragrance kept scattering from the pipe.
“It is my first time meeting you. My name is Lee Wonwoo.”
Was there no such thing as a perfect habit? Surprisingly, polite speech came out immediately toward the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven looked at me and wore a benevolent smile.
“The Heavenly Hound, the Thunderbird, and the horse head’s special abilities. They are all good powers.”
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven had long since seen through me with his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.
But did I hear that wrong?
“By...... horse head, you mean Kubanda, right?”
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven was hard to pin down. Right now, he looked as if he were recalling the distant past.
“What else would I call a horse head if not a horse head? Haha!”
It was an advanced move of gently and warmly telling someone to go to hell. In any case, it seemed the title “horse head” was accepted even in the divine realm.
I became a little more accustomed to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s atmosphere.
“Great Sage Equaling Heaven, you said you heard about me from Lord Virudhaka. Do you have some connection with him?”
It was close to personal curiosity.
“Great Sage Equaling Heaven...... It has been a long time since I was called that. First, let us sit. There is plenty of time.”
“Yes!”
It had been a long time since he was called that? But who exactly had plenty of time?
Still, I could not bring myself to say that it was almost bedtime, so I tried to sit on the ground.
“As-You-Will, unfold.”
At the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s short words, the old staff he had been leaning on spread wide.
‘So that was the As-You-Will Staff.’
At the same time, the flattened As-You-Will Staff violently scooped up my body and adjusted my height.
‘Why is it so rough?’
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven drew deeply from his pipe.
“The title Great Sage Equaling Heaven was buried together with the past. These days, I am called the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Still, I am glad to hear it, so call me as you please.”
Smoke leaked out whenever he spoke.
The scattering smoke made me aware that this moment was reality, but ironically, it created a hazy atmosphere.
Because it was the perfect moment to sink into sentiment like that, I steeled my mind even more.
‘He said Victorious Fighting Buddha, right?’
If the name were explained simply, it meant a Buddha who loved fighting and always won.
It made me wonder anew whether there were Buddhas like this, but judging by his unique atmosphere, he did seem to be a Buddha.
“Yes, I understand.”
“And as for my connection with Virudhaka, how should I put it? When I approach, Virudhaka avoids the place, and when I speak to him, he immediately washes his ears. That kind of relationship.”
No matter how kindly I tried to think about it, this was definitely enmity.
“......Then how did you hear about me?”
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven replied in a tone that asked why I was asking something so obvious.
“Because I happened to hear the horse head reporting, found it interesting, and came all the way here to see you.”
For him to have heard such a private conversation when they were apparently on terms where even exchanging words was difficult meant......
“You eavesdropped. Ah, I’m sorry.”
I made a slip of the tongue in that instant, but fortunately, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was benevolent.
“I think of it as having reached my ears. Haha!”
It seemed certain that leaving out the Buddha part was correct. It might be presumptuous of me, but this was definitely a mistake.
“Well now, a flying insect.”
Whoosh-BOOM!
A fierce wind surged from the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s lightly swung hand gesture. Even though I was beside him, my bangs flew wildly.
This strange chill.
‘I almost died just now, didn’t I?’
Judging by his actions, I felt that whoever gave him that name could be held accountable, whether or not that overstepped my place.
This was a death line.
“......Still, the human realm is pleasant.”
It was close to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven talking to himself. Seeing him like this, he also seemed to have come out on vacation while coming to see me.
Silence flowed between us for a moment, but rather than awkward, it felt warm because of the peach scent.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven cut away the silence and revealed his true colors.
“By any chance, do you also have talent in fighting?”
It was not much of a question. However, now that I had taken one step onto the path of a Hero, it was a fairly heavy fastball.
‘Talent......’
Naturally, my clash with Instructor Wagner came to mind. Because it was the first fight of my life.
“I think I have some.”
Since I had not yet had a proper fight, I answered that way while taking into account the unusual aspects I had thanks to my home environment.
‘I should’ve said I don’t.’
I regretted it in that instant.
Unlike before, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s face now held a smile that anyone could see was mischievous.
‘He’s talking with his eyes. Is this a Daoist Art too?’
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, currently looking at me, was strongly insisting that I do something right away.
At first, I felt reluctant. But looking at it another way, I thought this was a rare opportunity.
‘Maybe I can receive advice.’
Because the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s martial power was something no one could ignore.
To begin with, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had come with interest in me, so I also had the expectation that perhaps some scraps might fall my way.
‘Then I should immerse myself to some extent.’
I judged that rather than doing something roughly into empty air, it would be better to embody an opponent, even if only in my mind.
“......”
When I let out a long sigh, coincidentally, that damned guy appeared while squeezing his muscles.
***
If someone asked why I had specifically thought of Jio, it would not be difficult to answer. Rather, I would have to think about which part to mention first.
When I was young, Mom had said this to me.
-Wonwoo, you have to control your anger well. Sometimes, it can be a dangerous power.
It meant that among human emotions, anger was one of the most powerful, but also a force capable of hurting oneself.
At the memory spreading warmly through me, I formed a faint smile.
‘That’s my mom, all right. She doesn’t tell me to suppress anger.’
In any case, setting aside Jio’s old-man way of speaking, he was a muscle fanatic and a high monk reciting sermons.
‘This is way too effective, isn’t it?’
Perhaps because heat was rising to my head, it itched terribly, and my temples throbbed.
Without hesitation, I rotated my right foot, which had been planted on the ground. Remembering how the instructor had used my Attraction, I likewise entrusted my body to rotational force.
‘Urgh......!’
Muscles I had never used in my life screamed.
Crack!
The rotational force briefly remained in my waist, then continued into my back.
I stubbornly gathered the force that seemed ready to leave my body at any moment. Then, as if swinging a sickle, I swung toward “Jio’s” chin.
PAANG-!
It was not a sound made by my mouth, so I could tell it had a fair amount of force.
“Did you see......?”
Tap.
At some point, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had approached and tapped my shoulder.
“A technique that not only shakes the brain, but causes a loss of consciousness......”
“Ah, really?”
It was a moment when I felt the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s martial power keenly.
Because even though Jio should not have been visible to him, he had grasped it in detail.
That, too, was surprising, but the truly surprising part was elsewhere.
‘But causing a loss of consciousness? Was it that dangerous?’
That was why, even after pulling it off rather stylishly myself, I asked the Great Sage Equaling Heaven again.
‘......Mom?’
Because I had copied Mom.
Whenever Dad was heavily drunk and staggered around, Mom would without fail put Dad to sleep in this way.
‘Hmm, he did sleep soundly.’
I could confidently say the effect put sleeping pills to shame.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven brushed his short nose with his index finger. Since he seemed to be thinking, I waited for his next words.
“By any chance...... did you see that and imitate it?”
This was starting to become frightening. While the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was grasping me, I had grasped nothing from him.
‘I can’t let my guard down.’
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven smiled broadly, wrapped his arm around my neck, and copied me.
“Let us see.”
His tone was close to someone looking for a spoon.
‘A rock......?’
However, at the same time as the illusion of a gigantic boulder flying beside me, my breathing became uncomfortable.
“......?”
It was strange. There should have been air in the atmosphere, yet why did it feel as if I were underwater?
‘It’s too quiet.’
Also, the noise around me vanished, making it feel as if I had been placed in outer space. That time did not last long.
KABOOOM!
A moment late, an enormous explosion shook heaven and earth. The clouds floating in the sky were torn to shreds. The mountains, rivers, grass, and trees lying in its path were mercilessly crushed.
‘Was that a vacuum......?’
At the same time, my breathing returned smoothly. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven looked completely satisfied.
“Somewhere out there, there is an interesting fellow named Heracles. Perhaps the one you copied may also possess the qualification to become a demigod like him.”
“Ah...... yes.”
From my perspective, I could only feel uneasy.
‘What did I just hear?’
Because Mom had just received the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s stamp of approval.
“Still, for something you only saw and copied, it was not bad. You can be said to have fine martial talent. And you have not neglected your usual training either.”
“So I had martial talent.”
Martial talent, put simply, was just talent for fighting.
“I cannot tell whether you truly do not know or are pretending not to know. You are difficult to pin down. Still, do not worry. I generally like that sort of personality.”
In a short time, numerous misunderstandings were piling up.
‘Have I ever trained?’
No, I had not. I had never even seriously done basic push-ups.
So even though the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had praised me highly, I could not be happy.
‘I ended up lying.’
Because without meaning to, I had deceived him.
“It seems I have made a good friend. I am naturally quite unreserved, so do not feel burdened.”
“Sure, then.”
“......?”
The truth was, when talking with the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, I had felt as if a thorn had been stuck in my throat for a while now.
It seemed it was because I had been doing something I did not usually do. In other words, I had been using polite speech.
A truly refreshing sense of relief drove away my guilt over lying.
‘Why? You’re the one who said we’re friends.’
And if a dignified being like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven told me to do it, I had to do it. As a mere human, if I was told to jump, I had to jump.
“......Ahem. In any case, since this too is fate, I was thinking of treating it as a brief vacation and staying with you. What do you think?”
There was no need to think about it.
“It’s not that I think it won’t work. It’s that I think only that absolutely can’t happen.”
I was not jumping to conclusions. To be honest, right now I was in a situation similar to hugging a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
‘He changed the terrain with nothing but one punch.’
This place was a death line. Moreover, if things went wrong, he seemed capable of laundering a Divine Beast into a magical beast.
So much so that his mere presence erased even my thought of asking what was happening up above.
“Hmm...... That is unfortunate. In truth, I found it interesting that I could give Authority to a human, so I intended to spend time with you and then give it to you. A fairly decent red Authority-.”
“If that was the case, you should’ve said so earlier.”
It was not that I lacked principles. I was merely carrying out the request of the dignified being called the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
“Hah hah hah! Still, if I remain in this form, it will be burdensome for you, so I suppose I must transform into something and stay quiet.”
“You weren’t planning to?”
“......The more I speak with you, the more you remind me of Tripitaka.”
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven soon raised his index finger and muttered in a language I could not understand.
‘Is this a Daoist Art?’
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven was known to be skilled not only in martial power, but also in Daoist Arts. To the point that he could copy anything after seeing it once.
Slowly, an intense fragrance, as if crushing sweet peach flesh, covered the area.
“Ah, and for your reference, I like fighting.”
With those words as the last, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was wrapped in smoke and disappeared. At the same time, my wrist felt obstructed.
“Surprisingly modest, isn’t it?”
A miniature version of the Golden Headband was fastened around my wrist like a bracelet.
Since the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was skilled in transformation arts as well, this should have been easy for him.
But the Golden Headband was...... something used to forcibly control the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, wasn’t it?
More important than that was the thing I had heard in passing.
The red Authority.
That was stimulating my curiosity.