Chapter 16
The spirit mentioned something about a unique skill and Jaehwang just responded to by nodding his head.
Jaehwang got up from his chair and jumped back on his feet. The energy was another skill he trained for since he was young. He always wondered how to change it and turn it like what he saw earlier.
[Energy]
Cheuu…
He felt the energy that he couldn’t feel before overflowing throughout his body. It felt like his skin has been ripped off and was replaced by a better one. They also poured out of his limbs and gave him a slight spin before it went back to his body.
‘This is a lot of energy.’
Hunters would sometimes depend on this energy and would train them along with their physical abilities evenly. The hunters that had a lot of this energy could pass through rank B but they would usually stay at rank C.
It was a common knowledge that the ones who learned to control this power would be able to progress much faster.
‘I’ll use my father’s breathing method to help control and control the energy.’
He remembered that he didn’t like his father before, the accident just served as a wake-up call and made him realize that he loved him as much as his loved his mother.
He never liked the traditions and practices that his father drilled into him as a kid but he decided to stay at the cabin for a little longer anyway. He remained undecided if he still liked them or not but he chose to remain here as the only successor left to protect their heritage.
But… He was also now living a new life all because of his ancestors’ sacrifice.
Jaehwang tried to think of a way to resolve it in his head. This was something that couldn’t just be easily fixed. He tried to think about the kindness from his ancestors’ hearts and a way he could somehow pay them back.
He then recalled what happened in his dream and recollected the fragments of his ancestor’s hopes and dreams. They said that they wanted to be set free. They all worked hard so their pain and suffering would end. That was all they wanted.
‘Freedom…’
Jaehwang gave it some more thought. His descendants wanted to be free and they were all relying on Jaehwang to offer his helping hand.
‘I have to be strong so I could set them free.’
Jaehwang then stood up from his seat.
-Something’s different about you.
The spirit felt that something changed inside of him.
-No…Nothing happened. I’m still the same.
-I could feel a lot of energy coming from you.
‘And I guess I don’t actually hate my ancestors.’
***
The cold dawn wind blew throughout the mountain and reached every corner of his surroundings.
‘Ah…’
Jaehwang stopped walking and stared into the small window projecting in front of him.
The lowest skill that he had was [Tiger Hunter] and he could keep it for up to 30 seconds.
’10 seconds have been used…’
10 seconds was quite a lot in terms of combat. According to his calculations, 50 to 150 seconds should be his limit and escaping while he had more time would be great. But he also understood that there have been a few cases where he wouldn’t have that luxury.
He went to the mountains and brought all of his tiger-hunting arrows with him.
He knew that his level was low, but he understood that he could get stronger. The duration of his skill increases along with his mental strength as he leveled up. He was level one and was currently sitting at the bottom of the rankings. He was slowly getting anxious about the monsters that he would face but his life and his ancestors’ freedom depended on it. He almost died when he ran into that third tier monster and he didn’t want something like that to happen again.
That was his first reason. The second reason was that he came here because he had a unique skill called tiger hunter which he wanted to try out for himself. As strong as it might be, a unique skill could also be one’s downfall. He/she could get the skill with just one word but there would also be a chance that it would not be a good thing. Jaehwang’s goal was not to shorten his battles, it was more about finding a fatal weak point and striking it as soon as possible.
And there was another reason that was similar to that one.
Jaehwang grabbed his bow and readied his arrow instructions. He placed the arrow on the string and a window showed up projecting the details about the arrow.
[Unique Arrow] [Arrow Barrage] [Guided Arrow] [Enhanced Arrow]
The information was there to make things easier.
He could even just touch the arrow and see all the information about it… He had to get used to using his skills and finding out how they worked since he only just got them.He was relieved that he didn’t need to practice casting them.
This would be the first time that he would be training with his new skills. He calmed his heart as he slowly readied the arrow instructions. He took a deep breath and the name of the skill showed up in his head.
‘It’s a unique… arrow.’
Dududuk…
He pulled the arrow back on the red string and aimed. He shot it without making any mistakes and it was sent flying.
‘Isn’t this amazing?’
That’s what someone would ask if they were there to witness it. He had no trouble with casting his skills but he still had to aim correctly. It would almost be impossible to see a target more than 200 meters away. It would be even more difficult to land a bullseye if he wouldn’t take the time to aim. He had to use and coordinate with his eyes as well as his hands.
He also had to consider the wind that blew around him. If he took a shot at the wrong time there would be a chance that his arrow would get redirected somewhere else by the wind. He then smiled. satisfied that the arrow followed in the direction he shot it.
Pisisik…
And with that, the secret skill finished its duration as all of its time had been used up. He sighed as he placed everything in order once again. He then thought,
‘Maybe I do need some practice.’
He knew how to shoot and he understood how the skill worked but he was not used to it just yet. He wanted to learn more about it and how it could be used in used in a few other ways.
He thought that it would be simple but he was still only a beginner, not an expert. And even though he had something that he could call his talent, he was having a hard time. He was not so versatile in terms of his skills so he had to learn how to properly use it…
The skill time limit was inevitable. He now had the most valuable unique skill that he could think of. But no he somehow needs to get rid of the limit so that he could have a better practice.
-We have a long way to go. All we can do is practice.
-Good idea.
***
He ended his practice, ate his breakfast, changed his clothes and then put on his backpack. He reached for his hat and pulled it down over his face to get ready and go down to the mountain village. He then heard the voice of the spirit inside him.
-Oh you’re finally going to a place where other humans live?
-Yes. I have to buy groceries and I have to go and put the money that my granddad gave me in the bank…
He never worried a lot about his groceries when he lived in the city. But now he had to calculate everything since he could only afford to go down every now and then. He had to figure out what he needed and buy only the necessities and not only food.
People usually say they would like to live on the mountain but they only say that because they have never experienced it. It would be impossible for some of them to leave all of their convenient things behind.
He went down the mountain and into his granddad’s house. He saw that no one was home and proceeded to buy his groceries. And after that he went to the bus stop and took the village bus to get to the town.
-It doesn’t seem so bad here, I can hear some music, great music.
The spirit kept mumbling.
-Keep it down
-Why!
He couldn’t hear anything so he started to get mad and the mumbling soon stopped.
‘I’m just tired.’
He felt tired about having a whole different person inside his head. Jaehwang was not the type to show his anger and always kept everything to himself. These past two years had not been the best, he could keep a conversation going but talking to a spirit in his head was the weirdest thing ever. He barely knew her. And although he found her to be cool and all, she could be annoying when she rambles on.
Whirring
The bus came to a stop up. Jaehwang got on the bus and went on his way to the market. It was the biggest market in this small town and it was filled with lots of people. He bought rice, meat, and other things from the market adding up about $30.
He finished his shopping spree and then wondered why he couldn’t just get his things delivered.
It was common knowledge that he could ask for delivery when he needed more than what he had planned. There was a chance that they couldn’t deliver that far up in the mountain so he asked an employee at the shop to check.
The employee answered back in a rude tone.
“Yes we do offer that kind of service but do you think we would deliver that far up the mountain? No.”
The employee was a muscular looking guy. Jaehwang got mad at his rude answer so he replied in the same way.
“But didn’t it used to deliver that far?”
The employee then started to get angry and raised his voice.
“If you want to be annoying about it then fine! Go find the employee from then and ask him. But we don’t deliver there now.”
The employee went back to work and Jaehwang just awkwardly scratches his head. Obviously that employee from then was no longer there and maybe just lives around the neighborhood now. They probably don’t deliver that far anymore.
“It’s no big deal.”
Since there would be no deliveries, he thought that he would just have to keep taking the bus to the town. His energy improved but it could still reach its limit. He then heard the voice of the spirit again.
A spirit is very useful 1, The end.