Chapter 24
Jaehwang asked his final question. The spirit didn’t need to do much to make him stronger because that was his only goal. His plan was to gain power as fast as possible and as she said, she could grant that wish.
-You have to become stronger.
-But how?
He shortly asked and she then answered.
-I can’t explain it. That’s another promise I’ve made. But if I could tell you one thing, the seal’s restriction has been broken. The place where our descendants had lived wasn’t easy to attract. We couldn’t risk halting the duties that your ancestors had piled only for it to be neglected again.
Jaehwang took a deep breath and closed his eyes after he heard the spirit’s vague answer. He knew in the back of his mind that his ancestors were the reason why she couldn’t explain everything. It felt like a can of worms that he could never think about opening.
-Okay. I’m ready.
-Got it.For a few days…
Swoosh…
Jaehwang finished talking and the spirit faded into the same white energy as before and it exploded. It then gathered together to take the form of an adult woman. She appeared in front of him with a smile on her face and she placed her hand over his head.
“Has business started?”
“?”
At the end of the day, Jaehwang went into the center of the main room and sat down. It was a very solemn situation but on the other hand, there were all kinds of boxes stacked that destroyed the mood.
“Don’t get distracted”
“Okay.”
This would strongly suggest that he cheated his way to power, he struggled to recollect his focus but he did his best to meditate as the time moved on. He had hoped in his heart that nothing bad would happen because there was nothing that he could do except believe that he would do so much better with this help.
“When you want to finish then just say stop. But remember, after using this spell one time then you can’t use it again for a year…”
“Got it.”
Jaehwang answered and the spirit stood in front of him and again put her hand on his head. A white bow and arrow suddenly showed up in front of the two of them. Jaehwang then unintentionally closed his eyes with his heart pounding fast. He felt that he was at the peak of the active energy flowing through him.
The spirit was very beautiful but it wasn’t originally a woman unless some kind of compromise happened. He didn’t notice but Jaehwang unpurposely called it ‘she’ and that was what it came to be.
“Done.”
He opened his eyes as soon as he heard the voice of the spirit. He then saw that nothing had changed and he was still sitting in the same place as before. He turned his head around and towards the spirit where he noticed that something felt different. The stack of snacks that were piled up on the side of the room was gone.
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
Jaehwang walked out of the door of the main room.
“Wow…”
He said while looking outside.
“There’s a guard blocking the door but you can still get through.”
After she said that Jaehwang tried to open the door from the outside.
“Ah…”
His hand couldn’t grip it. It felt like a torn picture was sticking to his hand. It was a picture full of life.
“Is this the prison of time and space?”
“Yes. Is there anything else you need?”
“No…This is good.”
A place like this was really good for training. If this magic was only possible to cast once a year then it was probably worth it. He smiled thinking that the Prison of Time and space was so much better than he imagined.
Swoeug…
A familiar arrow bag appeared in front of him. It was filled with his usual arrows from his archery room. It was an average standard arrow that had gotten fixed. It had to be no more than 40 pounds at the most. It was something that he couldn’t touch now.
Tap…
The spirit unexpectedly showed up beside Jaehwang.
“How does this work?”
The spirit pointed her hand upwards and answered.
“When you think, something happens.”
Jaehwang then got busy thinking. He made an arrow appear in his head. He looked a bit surprised with a hint of satisfaction. The spirit folded her arms and shook her head.
“You’re adjusting fast.”
“Thanks.”
“Hmm.. what… Okay. If possible, even if I’m conscious, I could try to make food, clothes and a shelter appear? Then it’ll be easy for me to endure this place for longer. Even when I break out of here later, it should be easy to adjust to reality again… And…”
The spirit waved her hand and interrupted him before he was able to finish what he was saying.
“…I’ll be going now.”
“Oh… Thanks.”
“I’ve already given you lots of advice.”
“Yes, a lot. Thank you very much”
He then responded by mirroring her actions with an annoyed expression. The spirit just laughed back and disappeared into thin air. Jaehwang then took the time to look around the space where he stood as he gave out a sigh. He knew that time was of essence and he couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste With that, he pulled the string of his bow and aimed his arrow.
“Amazing.”
Jaehwang sat down a few minutes later and closed his eyes. The spirit then reappeared by his side.
“That is quite possible with a few simple talents.”
The spirit had led him into the prison and helped him make him a bow. She eventually got worried and started thinking about his well being and that made her come back. She then picked up where they left off and explained to him that what he just did was not as easy at it looked. It was easy to say that he could just think of it and it would appear but she remembered how she failed the same task so many times. She stressed the fact that she had practiced magic for a very long time to achieve her current level of skill.
“You have to train your body to believe and reach the limit with concentration… And lastly, you have to mentally combine everything together… That’s all I can say.”
He kept his eyes shut as he thought about what the spirit had said. The spirit then went away to eat a snack.
“Should I start now?”
***
Ding…DDing…Dingding…
Click
-Hello
-Yes, hello?
-Jaehwang?
-Ah.. ah.. yes, it’s me, granddad. Hello?
-Hi. Why haven’t you come over when you were down the mountain?
-Ah, well… I’ve been feeling a bit tired so I just came back up.
-I see. I started to get worried when you didn’t come that day.
-I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t thinking. Did the monster situation go better?
-Well… Yea. The hunter leader seemed to be very curious about you. But besides that, everything was great.
-That’s good.
-Haha…Well. So when are you going to come down?
Jaehwang’s voice sounded a bit hesitant while he answered his question.
-About that… I don’t even know. It’s just, I keep holding it off because…
-Huh? What do you mean?
Jaehwang’s voice once again hesitated at Mr. Song’s question.
-Never mind, It’s nothing. If something serious happens then I’ll come down.
-Ah. Okay. I see. Come down at least once.
-Okay.
He then hung up the phone.
“Even this is… So difficult…”
He hung up the phone and put it on the table that the spirit made with her magic. He then found himself lying on the floor with a blanket. A few hours had passed by and the day came to an end. In the prison of time and space, time moved faster than real time itself.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it.”
The spirit tried to wake up Jaehwang after 12 hours.
The more time that he spent inside the prison, the more he felt his consciousness begin to act strangely. Bt Jaehwang could not let that happen. The situation wasn’t so bad at the moment she started to act differently. If something did happen then it could be bad for Jaehwang. But his willpower had transcended the normal level of imagination. Losing his mind was not the worst thing that could happen and it was his soul that he needed to look after. He then turned around to look back.
“It doesn’t seem that bad but…”
She went back inside of him to wake him up but his face was still unchanged. It was like nothing happened and he didn’t fall into the prison of time and space in the first place. He started to see some illusions but just paid it no mind. He knew that something would eventually happen but he convinced himself that it won’t be that bad. This was the first time that he consciously felt hungry but that feeling soon passed away and was forgotten about.
The place had a desire to possess humans that had been there for a long time. When someone tried to endure it, that was where it started and their consciousness would start to have an imbalance.
“Don’t wake me up next time.”
The spirit said to herself after trying to go back inside him. Jaehwang’s eyes then immediately opened.
“What…”
Jaehwang then looked around the room with blank eyes and felt a pain in his stomach as he heard it growling. He just blankly stared at it but then the spirit appeared and pointed him outside.
“Let’s hurry and go.”
“Oh… Okay.”
He looked down at his stomach and slowly nodded his head. He tiredly got up and left through the main entrance.
“Wasn’t it hard?”
The spirit whispered to herself.
The Prison of Time and Space… 2, The end.