Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 45

Weapon-Eating Bastard – 45

It was around the time I first reached the 3rd level of magic.

The reason I couldn’t use Aura Skills back then was due to a lack of Magic Circuit control to change the form or nature of the Aura.

Using only the magic control of Cheokma, I couldn’t grasp all the usages of ancient magic.

However, after obtaining Manbyeon from Mujin, that problem was solved.

Manbyeon was the epitome of movements using Mujin.

It could extract the incantations of magic that changed with each movement, and eventually succeeded in fitting together the missing puzzle pieces.

After that, I created Aura Skills with my aunt.

Aura Skill, Lightning, was the beginning.

A wide-range striking Aura Skill that maximized destructive power.

Even I was surprised by its might when I unleashed it myself.

I created several other Aura Skills after that, but not many.

Aura Skill was the essence of magic, a technique that some even called the ultimate.

If such a technique could be created overnight, martial arts manuals would be utterly useless.

In the midst of all this, I found a clue to Aura Skills through one opportunity.

“Aunt. Promise me one thing.”

“What promise? Hurry up and speak, it’s cold.”

“Don’t get excited after seeing it. Listen to me after everything is over. And… don’t take up the training ground floor just because you don’t like it. The caretaker told me to stop breaking the flagstones recently, you know?”

“Alright!”

“You really mustn’t break them. We have to pay for it now.”

“The problem is that the training ground floor is too soft! Stop being noisy and show me quickly!”

At my words, my aunt frowned, her beautiful brow furrowed.

The flagstones in this training ground were so hard that they wouldn’t break even with the imbued magic of warriors.

I couldn’t understand how she broke them with just a kick without any magic.

“Then I’ll show you. You have to keep your promise.”

I took a stance with my sword pointed forward.

“Huh? Are you going to use Mujin? What’s going on?”

“I need to use Mujin to unleash the technique.”

My aunt’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the jet-black blade in my hand.

She already knew about Mujin, so she wasn’t particularly surprised.

Woong-.

Mujin transformed into a Western longsword, different from Eastern swords.

And its appearance was that of the masterpiece-level sword, Effenberg, which I had received from my seventh brother not long ago.

“I’ll start.”

Hoo-.

The moment I invoked magic, the surrounding air began to gather around my body.

Lee Gyeong-hwa noticed the Aura mixed in with the artificial wind blowing in the training ground.

‘Sakhwang, isn’t it?’

Strong Qi Art, Sakhwang [a powerful technique focusing on concentrated energy].

It was an Aura Skill that came out while creating Lightning.

If Lightning was a technique that increased destructive power, Sakhwang was a technique for one-on-one combat.

A technique that maximized cutting power through changes in the nature of Aura.

Instead, its stability was low, so it couldn’t be extended to a long distance, but its power at close range was tremendous.

“That’s just Sakhwang. What’s different… Ugh! Why is it so cold all of a sudden!”

Lee Gyeong-hwa shuddered for a moment.

Jjeok-.

Then, she was startled to see the ice fragments that had formed at her feet.

Those ice fragments were created the moment they touched the Aura emanating from her nephew.

‘Elemental power…? Is that guy imbuing elemental power now? Even the difficult-to-handle cold energy?’

How?

That was impossible.

Elemental power was known to be possible only by learning magic in a direction suitable for it.

“Hup!”

Ignoring my aunt’s astonished expression, I took a short breath and swung my sword down.

Kwaaaang!

The moment Mujin was swung, a sharp, cold Aura swept violently across 3 meters in front.

“Oh, oh!”

Lee Gyeong-hwa was startled and jumped up.

“What, what did you do! Sakhwang doesn’t summon cold energy!”

My aunt rushed over and grabbed my collar.

“Tell me! What did you do! What did you find out?!”

“Ugh! Y, you said you wouldn’t get excited! I understand, so let go of this for a moment….”

I felt like my head was ringing because she was grabbing my collar and shaking me mercilessly.

My aunt’s eyes gleamed fiercely.

“Tell me quickly! What was it? You used elemental power, right!”

My aunt couldn’t control her excitement as if she had met a mortal enemy or a life-or-death opponent.

“Aunt! Please calm down for a moment. Don’t you remember what you promised?”

“I’m doing this because I’m frustrated! Tell me quickly!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“The floor! Aunt! The floor!”

Jjeok-.

Eventually, an eerie sound echoed on the floor.

Only then did my aunt flinch and regain her senses.

“Oh, m, sorry. Hehe. I guess we need to use something better for this floor. What a cheap thing….”

My aunt kicked the cracked floor awkwardly with her foot.

Woojik-.

Another large crack was drawn across the floor with that weak kick.

“…….”

My aunt stood awkwardly with her hands behind her back.

“Hehe.”

And gave a rather awkward smile.

* * *

Two weapons received from my seventh brother.

A masterpiece-level sword, Effenberg.

A masterpiece-level katana, Judo.

Among them, the first time I used Black Qi was with Effenberg.

Effenberg was a sword that possessed the ability to emit Yin energy [passive, cold energy] on its own.

As soon as I received Effenberg, I used Black Qi to read the weapon’s memories.

And as soon as I read the memories, I felt a sense of emptiness.

‘…Is this the end?’

All I could read from Effenberg was the scene of the blacksmith forging the sword and the scene of my seventh brother receiving the sword.

I asked my seventh brother.

-I’m amazed you knew. That’s right. Effenberg was forged very recently, less than a month ago. Except for me swinging it a few times for performance testing, no one had ever wielded it.

I received such an answer.

Effenberg was one of the very few masterpiece-level weapons that had been forged recently.

I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t read any special memories, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

I immediately absorbed Effenberg.

Perhaps because there were no special memories imbued in it, the amount of magic absorbed was not large.

Still, it was a distinctly different amount of magic than the standard or mediocre weapons I had absorbed so far.

‘I thought that would be the end of it.’

That incident happened during training.

While training to change the form of Mujin in various ways to practice Manbyeon, I unconsciously formed Mujin into the shape of Effenberg and controlled magic.

At that moment, the Aura that emanated from Mujin possessed a cold chill.

It reproduced the ability that Effenberg possessed exactly.

“Could it be that Mujin made that possible?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wait a minute. What on earth is Mujin? I assumed it was just a celestial-grade weapon, but it didn’t have the ability to change the nature of Aura, did it?”

“I thought so too.”

But I was mistaken.

I recalled the time when I completed Cheokma and obtained new memories of Mujin.

The man who constantly changed the nature of Aura above Mujin while training.

Perhaps the ability of Mujin was not just to change its form.

Unleashing the abilities of absorbed weapons was also one of Mujin’s hidden powers that I didn’t know about.

‘I copied the forms of other famous weapons after this, but I couldn’t manifest the abilities of those weapons.’

I fiddled with the handle of Mujin in the shape of Effenberg.

‘I can only think of it as the influence of Black Qi.’

There are still ambiguous parts about this new power of Mujin.

But what is certain is that this is a new ability of Mujin, and that Black Qi had some influence.

“Heo….”

My aunt had a truly confused expression. Then, she asked with a firm expression.

“Then what is it? Can you use all the abilities of the weapon you changed with Mujin?”

“That’s not true. Some kind of condition is required.”

“Then can you use it without having to make the form of Effenberg?”

“I don’t know now… but if I adapt, I think it will be possible.”

Right now, it is only possible by having the form of Effenberg.

But the man in my memory did not require such a process.

Surely, I will be able to do that too.

“…Anyway, it’s amazing. Cold energy. The power seems to be a little weaker than unleashing pure magic, though.”

My aunt said with a meaningful smile.

“I’ve come up with something interesting. Let’s go to the lab right now.”

“Good. That’s why I showed it to you.”

I smiled and put Mujin back into the form of a ring and wore it.

* * *

The direct descendants of the Soongmoo Lee family gathered in Baek Hwa-yeon’s room at her call.

Except for the children who were out on family business, there were four people gathered in Baek Hwa-yeon’s room.

The fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

Of course, the ninth Lee Cheol, the bastard, was excluded.

The sixth Lee Seol-ah waited for a long time in front of the courtyard of the main building where Baek Hwa-yeon resided, and then found Lee Jae-hak and ran to him in one breath.

“Hey, what are we going to do?”

Lee Jae-hak frowned.

“Tsk, ‘we’? It’s just you. Don’t associate me with you after you failed and ran away under the pretext of a mission. Didn’t you know this would happen?”

“Yo, you, were you already called?”

“Yes, I received a light scolding and it was over. It will be a little different for you, though.”

As soon as Lee Seol-ah heard the news that the Sungmoo Training Hall incident had failed, she was terrified and received an emergency mission and went on a dispatch.

And as soon as she returned, Baek Hwa-yeon summoned the children who were in the family.

“He, hey. P, please take my side. You were involved too….”

“…Deal with it yourself. I don’t know why I should take responsibility for what you did.”

Lee Seol-ah, who was trembling, and Lee Jae-hak, who had a cold expression, eventually entered the main building together.

As soon as Lee Seol-ah and Lee Jae-hak entered the inner quarters, they felt the chill of midwinter.

Clearly, they had entered a room where the heating system was working properly, but a coldness like a winter wind filled the air.

“You’ve come.”

Baek Hwa-yeon, who was standing in front of the fourth and eighth, walked towards Lee Seol-ah.

And.

Slap-.

Lee Seol-ah’s neck was bent.

A red handprint appeared on her cheek, and Lee Seol-ah’s eyes widened, not comprehending what had just happened.

“Mo, mother.”

“Don’t even call me mother. I’ve never raised a loser like you.”

Baek Hwa-yeon looked down at her daughter coldly and scoffed.

“Mo, mother! This time, it’s my, my fault. But I didn’t run away, I just had a mission….”

“Shut up.”

Thud-.

A heavy pressure fell on the room at Baek Hwa-yeon’s one word.

Lee Seol-ah couldn’t withstand the pressure and knelt down.

“Don’t test my patience. What you did was run away. Something that should never be done as a Soongmoo Lee family member, something that I can never tolerate as my child.”

Lee Seol-ah, who had been staring blankly at the ground, suddenly…

Lee Seol-ah hurriedly raised her head.

“But…!”

“Are you even going to make excuses?”

Lee Seol-ah held her breath at her cold mother’s gaze.

And soon lowered her head to look at the floor.

At first, it was injustice.

And soon that injustice turned into twisted anger.

‘It’s all… because of that bastard!’

Lee Seol-ah looked up at Baek Hwa-yeon with rebellious eyes.

“…You can take responsibility now! That bastard. You can crush that bastard right now!”

Baek Hwa-yeon sneered.

“You really don’t know anything. If that were possible, I wouldn’t be oppressing you so much.”

“Yes…?”

Lee Seol-ah’s eyes were filled with doubt.

“It’s the head of the family’s order. That bastard is leaving for Cheonwisan [Heavenly Dragon Mountain] for a year.”

“Cheon, Cheonwisan.”

The family’s sacred mountain. And a place to stop by for certification before leaving for the Warrior’s Journey [a traditional pilgrimage for martial artists].

How can the youngest, who is only a student, go there?

“If you hadn’t run away and tried to make up for this failure, I don’t know, but you missed even that. You have tarnished the faces of all the direct descendants with this one incident. Not only did you lose to a bastard, but you also ran away.”

Baek Hwa-yeon, who looked at Lee Seol-ah, who was kneeling, with a pathetic look, turned her head to the other children.

“Keep your mind straight.”

With each word Baek Hwa-yeon uttered, the already chilly atmosphere became even colder.

“If you show me such a loser again… then it won’t end with such a ridiculous slap.”

Baek Hwa-yeon left the room after saying those words.

“Hic, Keuheuk-.”

Lee Seol-ah couldn’t control her body trembling with anger and gritted her teeth and trembled.

Lee Jae-hak looked alternately at the door Baek Hwa-yeon had left and Lee Seol-ah, who was trembling.

‘Mother is also cruel.’

Lee Seol-ah has definitely developed animosity towards the youngest because of this incident.

In front of the other siblings, even in the presence of the eighth, who is much younger than herself, she was slapped and forced to kneel.

This proud woman will be obsessed with making up for this incident.

Baek Hwa-yeon used this opportunity to bring out the dirty emotions inside Lee Seol-ah.

‘But, really….’

Lee Jae-hak thought about Lee Seol-ah and Lee Cheol.

Who is more valuable?

Which side should I put more effort into investing in?

Clearly, Lee Seol-ah had more to offer and show.

But why? Lee Jae-hak’s heart continued to lean towards the youngest.

No matter how much age difference and ability difference there is, it doesn’t seem like that sly half-brother will be pushed back by this ridiculous woman.

‘It’ll be fun.’

Lee Jae-hak smiled subtly.

He was looking forward to Lee Cheol’s return in a year.

* * *

The day to enter Cheonwisan is two days away.

Originally, it would be enough not to leave in a hurry, but because there are things to do, I moved it up a day.

The nanny was packing my luggage and stopped talking, perhaps flustered.

“Herbal medicine books, iron pots… even medicinal tools. Why are you taking these things?”

The things I was taking were being prepared separately in boxes.

It was just an entry into the mountain for training, but the box was full of all sorts of miscellaneous things.

“There’s a use for everything. I’ll tell you later.”

I asked the nanny to get me a few things I had in mind.

‘Cheonwisan is a sacred mountain. The exchange point of the dragon veins [ley lines of spiritual energy] that connect the continent, the southern tip, and even Japan in the east. Not only magic herbs but also elixirs can grow.’

In Jeokcheongdo, I baked the soil and made it myself, and even the equipment was so crude that I could only make half-baked medicines.

There was no need to do that this time.

I packed everything from medicine smokers, medicine pots, medicine makers, and medicine efficacy cycles to all sorts of precision tools.

“It seems like the preparations are all done. Make sure it’s sent to Cheonwisan on time through the transportation tomorrow. So that I can receive it around the time I arrive at Cheonwisan.”

“I understand. But Young Master, why are you suddenly visiting the family’s ancestral mountain?”

The Soongmoo Lee family’s ancestral mountain. Soongmoosan.

A small mountain located near the northern danger zone.

It was a graveyard where ancestors who had devoted themselves to the Soongmoo Lee family and past heads of the family were buried.

The reason I was leaving a day early before going to Cheonwisan was to visit that place.

“It’s my first outing, so I’m going to start by paying my respects to the family’s spirits.”

I smiled lightly and slowly headed to the weapon display in the room.

I opened the door of the display case, which I hadn’t opened for a long time, and took out the sword that was there.

Black Night.

A flat, ancient sword with an unknown material.

“What’s gotten into you that you haven’t even taken it out for a while?”

“Well, it’s a sword related to the ancestors, so I thought I’d take it with me when I visit the grave.”