Chapter: 942
The palm of my hand, where the skin was torn, was hastily bandaged. I had stolen the bandages that Seol-yeong had brought.
Looking at the remaining pain, it seemed like it would take some time to get better.
‘It did stop the bleeding, but it really didn’t help all that much.’
I could see blood soaking into the bandage. Even though I had clearly stopped the bleeding through a blood transfusion, blood was still oozing out.
Was the wound really that deep?
I could see a bit of bone peeking out, but considering my physical condition, the healing was definitely sluggish.
‘What kind of material is this?’
Did just touching it cause it to end up like this?
What would have happened if I had told him to use this?
I don’t know, but I doubt it would have turned out well.
However, there was one question lingering in my mind.
‘Does this happen even if you surround yourself with a river?’
When we shook hands earlier, I hadn’t even thought about using any force. I suddenly wondered if there would have been a difference if I had used my strength when I shook hands.
‘Should I try it?’
I was curious and wanted to test it out, but the fear of potentially getting hurt held me back.
I wished nothing would happen, but…
‘I need to use my body now.’
I had to handle my physical condition with care, so I couldn’t afford to gamble rashly.
“Hmm.”
I moved my hands around.
I felt some pain, but there was no trouble moving. It would have been fine if I said I wouldn’t use this hand at all.
‘At this level…’
I had roughly figured out how much strength control I needed.
So…
‘Shall we head out slowly?’
Stretching my body slightly, I looked back. Cheonma was staring at my hand.
“What are you staring at?”
Upon seeing this, I bluntly asked. Cheonma met my gaze, now looking into my eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“What if I say I’m not?”
“…”
It seemed Cheonma was taken aback by my unexpected question, as their eyes went wide. It appeared this thought hadn’t crossed their mind.
With a sigh, I replied.
“…I’m fine, so just forget about it.”
“Okay.”
Cheonma nodded as if satisfied with my response.
Did they want this…?
I clicked my tongue and turned my head back again.
The sun still had a long way to set.
I glanced at the sky before starting to walk.
Cheonma naturally trailed behind me.
Should I tell them not to come? I briefly pondered it but decided against saying anything.
After all, they weren’t the type to listen to my instructions anyway.
Right now, there were more pressing matters than Cheonma.
‘Should I take Gubong with me?’
I debated it for a moment but decided not to take him for the time being.
He didn’t seem to be in a suitable mental state to bring along.
‘This time, moving quickly alone seems better.’
While considering my plan, I didn’t need Gubong immediately.
I moved forward with that in mind.
At that moment…
Kiing-!!
I focused on my heart and moved the ring.
The thread spread finely and wrapped around my body.
So translucent that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, yet my body unmistakably felt the foreign energy.
It felt like my soul was being overlapped.
When I fully felt this sensation…
Sslurp.
As if something had taken root in my soul, my body began to change as well.
A tail and ears sprouted from me.
The same ones the turtle had created.
‘Hmm.’
I nodded while lightly touching them.
‘Not bad.’
This was better than last time.
While it wasn’t up to the turtle’s level, I could tell it was an improvement compared to my first attempt.
After checking for any issues in my body, I called out to Cheonma.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Come here.”
At my words, Cheonma quietly approached me.
If this guy had to follow, I couldn’t just drag them along.
Since I had my own things to do, I immediately reached out towards Cheonma’s chest.
“…”
My fingertips hesitated just before making contact.
The memory of this morning flashed back in my mind.
“… Sigh.”
I hesitated due to the sensation I had felt at that time.
“…?”
Cheonma looked at me quizzically, but seeing this, I just decided to extend my hand.
My palm rested just below their collarbone.
I used my energy to sprinkle a thread over Cheonma’s body.
Saaaah…
I tried to overlay my soul with the same technique I had used on my body.
Pffft—!
‘Hmm?’
I frowned at the peculiar feeling that something was off.
‘What’s going on?’
The magical thread extended but ultimately fell apart.
It should have wrapped around their entire body, but it was unable to properly do so.
Should I say it collapsed before even reaching the soul? Or should I say it faded before even touching it?
No matter how I expressed it, it was clear that my magic wasn’t reaching Cheonma.
‘…This.’
What on earth was happening?
Is it because I’m trying to cast a spell on someone other than myself?
That could be possible.
‘…But that doesn’t seem right.’
Remembering the turtle’s spellcasting, it didn’t seem like this would be the case.
Thus…
‘It must mean Cheonma is the problem.’
Cheonma—they must possess something that my magic cannot affect.
‘… Hmmm.’
Does this mean the spell won’t work? No, I’ve seen the turtle succeed, so it can’t be that straightforward.
Then…
‘Does that mean there’s another method?’
There’s bound to be a difference in the way spells are cast.
The current method I was using just wasn’t right. Perhaps a different approach would yield results.
With that thought, I focused.
The energy dissipated before reaching its end.
So I attempted to infuse more energy into it.
“Saaa…”
‘It’s still the same.’
Even adding extra power didn’t slow down the thread’s disappearance speed.
That meant it wasn’t about the quantity.
I adjusted the angle.
If a straight line was the issue, then maybe a diagonal line would work. When that didn’t work, I even tried curling it into a circle.
‘That doesn’t work either.’
No luck.
Yet, through repeated attempts, I learned one thing.
‘There’s a certain distance.’
The thread would travel but dissolve at a certain point.
It was as if it was burning in flames.
‘Flames?’
Burning in flames? I squinted, feeling there was something to this concept.
Whsssh-!
I infused a change into my energy.
Instead of merely increasing the quantity, I made it denser this time.
Increasing the density rather than just the volume.
Since adding energy hadn’t altered its size, I aimed to make it stronger.
How could I achieve that?
The thought process didn’t last long.
If it were martial arts, it would be filled with questions, but when it came to magic, solutions presented themselves quickly.
This time was no different.
‘Just do it casually.’
If I wanted it done, I could get it done.
If I desired it, it could be possible.
If I aimed to do it, while challenging, it wasn’t impossible.
‘Tight as can be.’
Not a single gap should exist—make it neat.
It required a fair bit of concentration, but it wasn’t overly complicated.
Wasn’t it just about filling the space with density?
I didn’t think it was too difficult.
‘Done.’
Not long after, I sensed that the quality of the thread I was casting had intensified compared to before.
I extended it, repeating what I had done earlier.
Cheeaanng—!!!
‘Oh.’
Surprisingly, the reaction was different from before.
I reached the point of dissolution, but the thread didn’t disappear.
It wasn’t disappearing completely.
Though there was pressure pushing to break the thread, unlike last time, it didn’t vanish immediately.
It felt sustainable.
However, it wouldn’t last long.
If I faltered or hesitated even slightly, everything would go south.
My instincts were making that abundantly clear.
Whishhhh—it wrapped around Cheonma’s body like a tight coil.
Boom!!
The thread burned away.
With all my strength, I managed to encase them somehow, though regrettably, I couldn’t penetrate to their soul.
‘Is this my limit?’
Trying to push further would be pure greed.
If I didn’t stop, it would just be excessive ambition.
Tsk.
With a brief click of my tongue, I intertwined the threads to complete the spell.
Then…
Paaah—!
Cheonma’s form briefly flickered, and then deep purple puppy ears shot out from her head.
“Oh.”
Cheonma’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she prodded at her new ears.
Unlike the previous time when only the tail had sprung out, this time, it was just the ears appearing.
Cheonma was so overjoyed, she kept fondling her ears.
“Hey… If you touch that too much, it might come off…!”
Gahhh-!
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over me as my body began to sway.
I barely managed to steady myself, using my lower body strength to prevent a collapse.
“Huh.”
A chuckle escaped my lips. Sweat beaded at my chin as I rubbed it with my hand.
‘Look at this?’
I hadn’t assumed it’d be too strenuous, but it felt like I was mistaken.
It didn’t seem to be physical fatigue.
‘… It feels like my insides are jumbled up?’
Should I say I was squeezed dry?
I felt like I had pulled out every last bit of strength I had.
‘Am I feeling fatigued from the density being so compact?’
Well, that would make sense.
Even using the same energy, the fatigue level changes dramatically with strong compressions and rotations in martial arts.
I figured this was likely connected to that.
“Hah.”
I took a moment to catch my breath and stood upright.
Though there was clear mental fatigue, my physical status was okay.
A short rest would sort me out.
Thinking this, I turned to Cheonma.
“… Let’s go for now.”
“Okay.”
There was no point dragging my feet any further, so we needed to move.
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