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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 6: Chapter One - Childhood (5)

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The next morning, in the yard of the thatched cottage.

Ma Il-seok stood with his arms crossed as he spoke to Mok Ri-won.

"...I won't apologize. I still believe there was no better way to make you understand your peculiarity."

His tone was as stiff as ever.

Still, there was a warmth in his expression that had clearly not been there before.

There was a reason for it.

The night before, he too had overheard the conversation between the two from afar.

Ma Il-seok was a man who valued the greater good.

He also valued righteousness and decency.

That was why he could not be cruel to a child who wept after realizing something was wrong with his own nature.

"But I promise you this. If you do not forget your wish to become a martial hero, I will stake my name on helping you."

Of course, Mok Ri-won could not have known any of that.

He simply smiled as he answered.

Now that he had finally faced his dream in earnest, the child could smile even in the face of hardship.

"Yes! Please take care of me!"

Mok Seon-o watched the two with a pleased expression.

'Good.'

A relationship he had feared might go astray was taking the shape he had dreamed of, and joy filled his heart.

He had a younger brother and a disciple.

And he was there with them.

Certain that the child would grow into a martial hero, Mok Seon-o rose and spoke.

"Now, Won. The time has come."

"Yes?"

"Weren't you upset that this master of yours had not taught you inner energy?"

Mok Ri-won's eyes widened.

His mouth slowly fell open.

Mok Seon-o continued.

"To be honest, there was something that worried me, so I could not begin your training right away. It is related to your nature as well."

Mok Ri-won flinched.

Mok Seon-o placed a hand on his shoulder and continued in his usual gentle voice.

"It is about your constitution. Will you hear me out?"

He was smiling, but there was worry behind it.

There was tension there as well.

Seeing that expression on his master's face, Mok Ri-won realized that what he was about to hear was very serious.

"Yes...!"

With a face as tense as his master's, he listened closely.

* * *

Extreme Demon Physique.

A constitution meant solely for learning demonic arts, and the constitution possessed by the most vicious demonic practitioner in martial-world history.

Mok Ri-won was deeply shocked when he learned that his body had such a constitution.

Yet there was one fortunate thing.

Mok Ri-won was no longer a child fragile enough to be crushed by such news. Nor would he despair simply because the weapon he possessed was wicked.

"Master."

"Yes."

"...Even so, I can still become a martial hero, right?"

Mok Ri-won asked.

A sudden sense of gratitude rose in Mok Seon-o's heart.

He was immensely proud that the child had not despaired, but looked straight at him instead.

"I guarantee it."

"Then that's enough!"

Mok Ri-won smiled brightly.

Watching him, Ma Il-seok wrinkled his nose before stepping forward.

"Though the Extreme Demon Physique is a constitution for demonic arts, that does not mean you cannot learn orthodox arts."

Everyone's attention turned to Ma Il-seok.

Holding his head high, Ma Il-seok looked directly down at Mok Ri-won and continued.

"Whether your blood channels are inverted, or the inner energy you cultivate flows violently and clouds your mind, those are problems you can overcome through your own will. There is only one thing you need to keep in mind!"

Ma Il-seok uncrossed his arms.

Then he clenched a fist and struck his chest with a thump.

"Overcome those things, and master the nature that tests you. Live up to the name my brother gave you."

Mok Ri-won.

Mok, after Mok Seon-o's surname.

Ri-won, from ri, meaning to govern, and won, meaning origin.

Mok Ri-won knew the meaning behind his name. He was to become a child who governed his own origin.

He looked at Mok Seon-o.

Mok Seon-o smiled and nodded.

"...Yes. I'll do it."

Mok Ri-won steeled his resolve once more.

* * *

Training was grueling.

Unlike the first day, Mok Seon-o did not guide him. As Mok Ri-won circulated his inner energy through his own efforts alone, problems began to surface.

Mok Ri-won's body had been made for demonic arts.

The Heavenly Slaughter Star he bore was also a star filled with killing intent.

The inner energy formed from those two things carried such savage force that it seemed ready to devour even his body.

He could not hope to complete a Small Heavenly Circuit.

Simply releasing the inner energy from his dantian made his entire body feel as though it were being torn apart. His heart pounded wildly, battering at his thoughts.

All Mok Ri-won could do was grit his teeth and endure until the inner energy came under his control.

"Won, you can do this."

Mok Seon-o encouraged him.

"Endure. If you truly wish to be a martial hero, you cannot fall over something like this."

Ma Il-seok urged him on.

About two weeks passed like that.

Then came the day when circulating his inner energy no longer hurt.

The day he completed a Small Heavenly Circuit through his own strength.

For the first time in his life, Mok Ri-won saw Mok Seon-o cry.

"Well done..."

Mok Seon-o pulled Mok Ri-won into an embrace.

Mok Ri-won stood there with a dazed expression.

His master's tears, and the burning warmth in the voice that reached him with them, did not feel real at all.

For a moment, he hesitated. Then, only belatedly realizing he had succeeded in controlling his inner energy, Mok Ri-won began to cry with an expression just like his master's.

"I did it...!"

There was a peculiar warmth in the sight of master and disciple embracing each other.

Ma Il-seok's lips kept twitching upward as he watched. Then he cleared his throat and approached them.

"Excellent."

Mok Ri-won's body jolted.

It was the first time Ma Il-seok had ever praised him.

When Mok Ri-won raised his head, he saw Ma Il-seok smiling crookedly.

"You have done something worthy of praise, so I should give you a fitting gift."

Ma Il-seok took a book from his robes.

Then he handed it to Mok Ri-won.

Mok Ri-won's eyes grew wide.

'Tales of Martial Heroes...'

It was a book Mok Ri-won knew.

No, more precisely, one he had heard of.

It was the very book Mok Seon-o had promised to show him on the night he first confronted his peculiarity.

"Congratulations. You are now Second-Rate."

Second-Rate.

The realm at which one could finally be called a true martial artist.

The realm at which one could truly set foot upon the path of a martial hero.

Mok Ri-won gradually felt it becoming real.

His heart bounced wildly in his chest.

A blush bloomed across his face.

Burning with ticklish excitement, Mok Ri-won looked back and forth between Mok Seon-o and Ma Il-seok, unsure what to do. Then he burst into laughter and shouted,

"Thank you!"

* * *

『Tell all the Central Plains that the most vicious evil has come to punish you.

Tell them that a devil crawling up from the depths of hell has come to drag you down.

Sinner who coveted another's wealth, keep nothing in your arms.

Sinner who harmed another's family, keep no one at your side.

Sinner who coveted another's affection, you shall receive a hundredfold punishment for the sins you committed.

They say poison is overcome with poison, and heat with heat.

Then evil can only be overcome with evil.

I will become the most vicious demonic practitioner and sweep away the evil of the Central Plains.

Sinners of the Central Plains, look upon me in fear.

I am the man who will stand above every evil deed in this world and become the devil that punishes them. Thus, I shall be called the Demon Hero.』

Snap.

In the room dimly lit by an oil lamp, Mok Ri-won closed the book with a flushed face.

'The Demon Hero...!'

A martial hero who became the most terrifying devil to punish the wicked.

Having read every part of the story concerning him, Mok Ri-won's body trembled with excitement.

'So cool!'

Cool.

Mok Ri-won thought there was no other way to describe such a story.

He closed his eyes.

Then he imagined himself as an adult, standing in the middle of a field with all sorts of sinister-looking sinners standing tensely before him.

When he drew his sword, their faces turned pale.

When he moved with dazzling footwork, they screamed.

Before the sinners who wiped away their tears and fell to their knees, he spoke.

"Fear me! I am the Demon Hero, a devil of hell who will punish you!"

Mok Ri-won's body trembled.

Smiling to himself beneath the blankets, he could no longer lie still. He abruptly rose and looked toward the door.

'I need to train!'

He wanted to become a master quickly and head out into the martial world.

Like the Demon Hero from Tales of Martial Heroes, he wanted to punish evildoers and make a name for himself.

On tiptoe, Mok Ri-won slipped out from beneath the blankets and carefully opened the door.

He peered outside through the crack.

No one was there.

If he went out now, he could train.

Mok Ri-won left the room and put on his shoes.

Afraid that his master might wake, he carefully moved away from the cottage.

He made his way to the stream.

Mok Ri-won drew in a breath and began releasing the inner energy in his dantian.

He held nothing more than a small tree branch.

Within him roiled savage inner energy, now cowed only enough for him to struggle against it.

Closing his eyes, Mok Ri-won swung his sword.

Whoosh.

He began clumsily imitating the sword dance of Mok Seon-o that remained in his mind.

Under the moonlight, the sword dance of a young boy who had finally learned the path he must walk continued.

"That impatient brat."

At the quiet stream, not far from where Mok Ri-won performed his sword dance, Ma Il-seok clicked his tongue.

Mok Seon-o smiled at his attitude.

"Isn't it good that he has passion?"

"Why do you insist on seeing the world so brightly?"

"And you only see it crookedly."

Ma Il-seok frowned.

Mok Seon-o watched Mok Ri-won with a soft smile and murmured,

"Isn't he admirable?"

"What is?"

"How he keeps getting back up without giving up."

Mok Seon-o's black eyes were filled with the boy.

The corners of his mouth curved in complete satisfaction at the sight before him.

"One who can rise and strive like that is the one who truly becomes a martial hero."

* * *

Time passed quickly for Mok Ri-won.

At his side as he grew each day were two masters, one book, and a wooden sword worn smooth by his hands.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

His sword dance continued beneath the moonlight.

Mok Ri-won had grown another handspan taller.

Now ten years old, he was continuing his nightly training without missing a day when he suddenly felt something strange.

'My inner energy...'

It was trying to leave his body.

No, more precisely, it was trying to connect somewhere else.

Hum.

His sword dance did not stop.

Mok Ri-won knew what this strange phenomenon foretold.

"Ah..."

A low sigh escaped him, and a smile formed on his lips.

His movements carried even greater strength.

Joy filled him.

The ticklish sensation grew stronger.

As he continued his sword dance, filled with nothing but delight, Mok Ri-won realized it.

'So this is it.'

Swish!

He had finally reached the realm where he could carry qi beyond his body and into his sword.

He had reached the realm the martial world called First-Rate.

* * *

More time passed.

Mok Ri-won's sword dance continued.

The boy who had danced with his sword beside the stream, taking the moon as his companion, had become a young man with a masculine frame.

His features remained delicate.

His skin was pale, and his eyelashes long.

He looked more beautiful than handsome, yet his tall, lean body was unmistakably that of a man.

Whoosh.

The wooden sword he had once swung had become an iron sword.

The sword dance that had once been clumsy now drew beautiful lines.

As Mok Ri-won continued the sword dance, made more refined by the passing years, he suddenly stopped.

He opened the eyes he had kept closed and looked up at the moon and the stars that adorned the sky around it.

'...Bright.'

Though the world slept, the sky alone remained bright.

The softly gleaming heavenly bodies cast their steadfast light, ensuring the night would not be lonely.

Mok Ri-won raised his sword high into the sky.

Smiling softly, he moved its tip, connecting star to star.

Then he recited the formula of the Star-Linking Divine Technique.

He pictured the path that linked the constellations, himself standing beneath that path, and the stream before him reflecting the night sky.

Whoosh.

The movements of his sword tip, drawing one line after another, became a single sword path.

Another sword path rose upon it.

The sword that bound heaven, earth, and himself together as a constellation began to pulse.

His inner energy pulsed in turn.

Mok Ri-won soothed the unpleasant companion he had wrestled with for so long and set it upon the path he had created.

Saaah.

The wind rose.

Mok Ri-won's movements stopped.

"I did it."

Laughing broadly, Mok Ri-won ended his sword dance.

Then he looked at the tip of his sword.

Something floated above it.

A strange wave of qi, black as the night sky yet giving off a chilling radiance.

It looked exactly like the eyes of the master he loved so dearly.

Mok Ri-won knew what this ink-dark light was called.

'Sword Qi Injures the Person.'

The eighteen-year-old Mok Ri-won had entered the ranks of the Peak Realm while performing his sword dance beneath the night sky.

Footnotes:

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