“Hmm?”
“Um…”
Dalbi, sitting on my lap, tilted her head.
Spirits are spirits; even if it was done by Ranista, Dalbi won’t die from just one punch.
Ranista stopped and furrowed his brow. He clenched and unclenched his fist, lost in thought. I observed his actions in silence.
His face was too menacing, making it intimidating to speak. It was a moment before Ranista, who seemed lost in thought for a while, finally moved.
“Do as I do.”
Ranista assumed a meditative posture.
I followed suit, imitating the guy while he meditated.
He straightened his waist, closed his eyes, and naturally lowered his head. Additionally, his left palm faced upward, and his right palm faced downward. It was an uncomfortable posture, but strangely, it also felt ‘comfortable.’
“Maintain this position.”
It felt cool amid the pain, as if undergoing hydrotherapy. It was a contradictory sensation.
“Hmm.”
Dalbi arrived and sat between my legs as I meditated.
Like a bird nesting comfortably, Dalbi sat crouched.
At that moment, I felt a strange sensation between my legs.
For the first time in my life (both present and past), I experienced a peculiar and astonishing sensation. I opened my eyes in surprise.
Then, Ranista’s voice resounded with a commanding tone.
“Continue!”
I quickly closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the peculiar sensation that had stopped was felt once more. It was strange. A warm sensation felt from within the body. Although the sensation was clear, it was something formless passing through the body.
It felt like warm water, maybe air. The surprising thing was feeling it from inside the body. It’s natural for cold wind to be blocked by the skin. But at that moment, I felt as if the wind was passing through the skin and enveloping the inside of my body.
Truly bizarre. Earthworms crawled beneath the ground. The sky was blue. It was natural, yet it became unnatural. I peeked beneath the ground. I also ascended to the sky. My body sat quietly on the training ground. However, I felt an unparalleled sense of freedom. The feeling of liberation was ecstatic. Perhaps, the body and senses might not be essential after all.
“No, I don’t even know what this is.”
Ranista expressed irritation.
“The plan went awry, but…”
Having taken me as his disciple, Ranista tried to teach me martial arts for his own dedication.
But seeing his current state, something seemed wrong.
“This method is something new that even I don’t know.”
It was a method unknown to the best in the world, so it was unsettling, but I had no choice but to trust his judgment.
“A natural geomancer is different from a post-training geomancer shaped through innate talent or practice.”
It started again. Nonsensical talk known only to martial artists.
“A natural geomancer cannot be cultivated by humans. The energy of nature follows principles and naturally fades away without accumulating. However, the damn masters realized how to implant a tiny bit of energy in the dissipating natural geomancy. Truly useless and pathetic. Thus, those who become fresh beings are extremely rare, and even those fresh beings never surpassed me in front of me. However, there was only one thing as admirable as the purity of energy.”
Ranista seemed to have no choice but to use this method. Although I learned powerful internal martial arts from the best in the world in the past few months, I didn’t even realize the existence of ‘internal energy,’ let alone accumulate it. But if the strange sensation I just felt was natural geomancy (earth divination), it meant that this method was effective.
“From now on, sleep is a luxury for you.”
“What?”
“At the right time, adopt the meditation posture taught by those masters. Laziness is useless. Execute it diligently every day, just like those masters. Let’s see what the peculiar entities called ‘Spirts’ do to your body.”
“If it succeeds, will I become stronger?”
“A fresh body manipulating an artless martial art. It’s like a fucking joke. Becoming stronger, you say? Whether you become an unheard-of loser or a damn bastard with infinite power using natural geomancy as your internal energy, who the hell knows?”
Ranista seemed extremely, extremely angry.
Today’s training was over.
There was an unexpected gain… if it could be called that.
I returned to the room and once again assumed the’master’s posture.’ However, I couldn’t feel the strange wind enveloping my body as it did just now. If the method wasn’t wrong, it might be because this power is not easily accumulated, as Ranista said. I’ll try again tomorrow morning.
The success of this method is thanks to Dalbi’s help.
“Dalbi.”
Let’s assume that natural geomancy is electricity.
Dalbi is a charger.
Moreover, she is a universal charger with a jack that can charge even an antique phone.
It’s difficult to fill even 1% of the battery, but what’s important is that it ‘gets filled.’
I am progressing.
* * *
For the past few days, I’ve discovered something.
The posture of the Dosha (a yoga posture) that Ranista taught me had the greatest effect in the early hours of the morning.
Taking the Dosha posture just before dawn, I concentrated, and then I experienced a strange sensation, like the wind tickling my body. When I opened my eyes after no longer feeling it, several hours had passed.
During the day, there was no apparent effect. I slept for two hours and meditated for four hours. However, I wasn’t tired due to lack of sleep. Instead, after meditation, my body felt light, and my mind became clear. However, there was no sense of inner power.
On the other hand, I discovered an unexpected effect. Using the Heavenly Sky Eye resulted in side effects. I felt a throbbing headache as if a spear were piercing my brain, along with a rush of blood throughout my body and dizziness. If I exerted desperate patience, like when I killed the black wolf, I could endure to some extent, but crossing the limit would surely lead to death.
But ever since I gathered the essence of Natural Geography into my body, I felt a very subtle difference. I had been using Heavenly Sky Eye for decades, and although the relief from pain was extremely subtle, and it was just a bit less severe motion sickness, I had never experienced such a case before. It was definitely having an impact.
It was a week later.
Today, as usual, after finishing the dawn meditation, I practiced martial arts with Ranista in the training ground. His methods were gradually becoming more systematic. After the martial arts demonstration, I followed him and practiced. Ranista would watch my posture, correct it, and point out what was wrong. Up to this point, it could be considered ordinary training.
However, when it came to manifesting energy, without fail, I would be struck down, and Ranista would angrily transition to’real’ combat practice.
“…Should I pick up a weapon?”
Once again, I failed to manifest my inner power. I instinctively acted on my own in the face of Ranista’s increasingly rigid expression. I transformed the Ramelsta into a staff, fetched an iron rod from the weapon rack, and handed it to him. However, Ranista just grimaced without saying anything. Sensing something unusual, I, who had quickly noticed, felt a chill running down my spine.
What kind of nonsense would he come up with this time?
Alright, bring it on.
Refine through collision.
When it came to training in martial arts that I couldn’t understand, practical exercises were better than futile training.
“I see.”
That’s when Ranista moved. I swung the Ramelsta confidently.
Thud!
A solid and dense sensation transmitted to my palm, as if I had struck a rock.
Despite me being the one who attacked first, I was greatly bewildered. Ranista did not avoid it. In fact, fear surged through me at the realization that my staff had struck his head with the first effective hit. Why didn’t he dodge?
Even after being hit in the head, Ranista, without caring, spoke to me.
“You were confined to a mold.”
That’s when it happened. He laughed heartily, revealing what brought him joy.
Hahaha!
When is the scariest moment for a crazy person?
It’s not when they’re serious or angry.
It’s when they act without reason.
Refine through collision.
That’s what I thought.
But refining isn’t being torn apart by a lion.
His laughter felt like the roar of a lion devouring its prey.
“Ra-ranista? Master?”
It was when I staggered back in fear of an unknown and indescribable fear.
Haha!
Lannista said.
“I’ve realized.”
“What… do you mean?”
“You were trapped in the mold.”
That’s when he smiled exuberantly.
Fix the habit of interrupting.
Ranista interrupted my words.
Then, looking straight into my eyes, he nodded and began to explain.
“Your eyes hinder the advancement of martial arts.”
My Heavenly Sky Eye? That can’t be.
I’ve endured all this time because of this one eye.
It was the power of this eye that made it easy to grasp the form of martial arts.
“Even naming it the eyes of the transcendent might be an understatement. Therefore, with such a small mind and energy, with a weak body like a chicken’s leg, you already possess the eyes of the transcendent. Your eyes alone represent the culmination of disharmony and the product of chaos.”
“In simple terms, it’s amazing, right?”
Ranista’s eyes sparkled.
I waited silently, staring at his mouth. It seemed like he had finished speaking.
“Continue, Professor.”
Ranista continued his explanation.
“However, who am I? Even the distinguished Dae Sungjo of Sori Temple gave up. I have been tirelessly pondering. But in the end, I too was confined to the framework of ‘martial arts.'”
His expression brightened.
“The answer was simple: instead of training martial arts to discipline the mind and body, train the mind and body and learn martial arts.”
I almost stopped talking for a moment.
‘Damn, isn’t that the same thing?’
“What should I do now?”
“You don’t need training. Just learning to handle weapons should be quick, so one hour a day is sufficient.”
“Then…”
“It’s real combat.”
“Real combat? Wasn’t what I’ve been doing so far real combat?”
“No, that was just some foolishness.”
Ranista said firmly.
“Enough.”
I opened my eyes when Ranista gave permission.
It was dark just a moment ago during the dawn, but now it’s already bright.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The morning bell rang.
The morning bell rings only after two hours.
Ranista asked.
“How long was I doing this?”
“Half a day has passed.”
“No way.”
Dalbi yawned and got up from her nest.
“What kind of martial art is this? Inner power training?”
“No, it’s not inner power training. It’s just…”
Ranista looked at me with a displeased expression.
“It’s just a means to gather natural energy. It’s not only difficult to accumulate in a single thread, but it scatters and runs away. Damn, are you trying to become a god of fresh energy?”
