The quest had finally begun in earnest. It was synonymous with the start of his training.
Taehoo stood before the Heavenly Lake again the next day.
His face reflected on the clear water like a mirror, wearing an expression full of deep thoughts.
‘What exactly is this Sanctuary?’
How could such a place exist in the middle of Korea? That had been his first question when he set foot in the forest. Such thoughts continued to plague him.
‘The word “Sanctuary” itself must be the hint.’
He had even asked Namjin about it the day before. But Namjin had been reluctant to answer, saying he’d find out in due time.
[Sanctuary? I know it’s something used by those with many Followers, but I’m not exactly sure myself.]
He’d asked Ba’al too, but that was the only answer he got.
At this point, wasn’t Ba’al’s memory practically selective amnesia?
[What?]
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Ba’al snapped at him without fail.
No, he was just curious if Ba’al was awake.
As Taehoo thought that, [Followers wielding a Constellation’s… If this were Hell, you’d be…!] Ba’al was about to start up his usual “Back in my day” routine, but Taehoo stubbornly ignored him.
At least he wouldn’t get bored even if he were stranded on a deserted island.
[Yeah, you should be thankful. Strictly speaking, if you hadn’t Regresed, you wouldn’t have even gotten this chance. It’s all thanks to me, you know.]
Well, he wasn’t wrong. It was thanks to Ba’al.
But—
‘I’m the one who has to seize this opportunity.’
Gratitude could come later.
Taehoo dove into the Heavenly Lake. Like plunging into a pool on a summer day, he entered the water every single day.
Every day.
He went a little deeper with each passing day and encountered new creatures.
The first stage, near the surface, had just a single creature called a Piranha, but things were different below that.
In some areas, two or three different creatures coexisted.
Some even had limbs, as if they’d given up on being fish entirely.
Fish heads with muscle clinging to them… Best not to think about it.
Taehoo cut them down without hesitation, not caring what they were. Then he simply ate them.
The deeper the creature, the better the effect. His stats rose at a steep pace.
‘Now I see why humans are considered ecological destroyers.’
Thinking it was good for his body, he kept eating without end.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
As his stats increased, so did his level.
Time continued to flow like that. Taehoo’s trips into the Heavenly Lake piled up, his breathing technique grew familiar, and he could last longer underwater as a result.
Every moment he spent underwater was a massacre. His sword danced.
[Behind you! Now to the side! Again, the front!]
With Ba’al’s assistance, Taehoo’s growth speed was truly extraordinary.
A year passed quickly, and a second year was added in a flash.
During that time, the lake literally ran red with blood.
He slaughtered so many of the lake’s fish that it seemed like the once-blue water had tinged red.
[The creatures living in the Heavenly Lake are seriously tough. They won’t go extinct from this. Actually, you could say the ecosystem in the Heavenly Lake is extremely well-structured.]
With Ba’al’s opinion added, Taehoo carried out his actions with even less hesitation.
‘Well, I’m not the first to undergo this training.’
Anyone who set foot in the lake must have gone through a similar process.
The ecosystem of the Heavenly Lake was sturdy enough to withstand such ordeals.
Taehoo continued going deeper and deeper, repeating the descent.
Eventually, he reached the depths where even sunlight could not reach.
His once-small frame, now infused with Mana, had grown to nearly 170cm at the age of thirteen.
On top of that, his body was packed with solid muscle, honed by underwater training.
The density of his muscles was incomparable to other kids his age.
With such a high concentration of Mana in his body, the density of his Aura was also tremendous.
Moreover, Taehoo’s Aura was special, so its effects were even more pronounced.
Around that point, Taehoo discovered more advantages to the Heavenly Lake.
‘Maybe it’s the influence of Mana, but while I feel pressure on my body, it’s not overwhelming.’
In other words, training in the Heavenly Lake didn’t hinder his physiological growth.
Considering that excessive training could stunt a child’s growth, this was a huge advantage.
‘Today, I’ll see the deepest part of the Heavenly Lake.’
Taehoo thought as he continued moving through the water.
Finding the deepest terrain had been quite a struggle.
After all, he was groping through pitch-black depths with nothing but his body.
He bumped into countless walls and faced creatures that could only be described as Deep Sea Fish.
Each time, he fought fiercely.
The creatures that lived here were at the very top of the food chain, even among the denizens of this place.
They didn’t die easily.
If fighting multiple opponents in stages had become familiar, then battles in the deep sea were close combat duels.
‘So this is what it means to build a vessel.’
He built his body in the high-pressure water, fought the creatures living there, and learned the basics of combat.
The expression “building a vessel” was truly fitting.
Step by step, as if facing masters at each level, he finally found the deepest place.
With Mana-enhanced vision, Taehoo stared into the depths as he descended.
Then, on his way down, he discovered something astonishing.
‘What’s that?’
At the deepest point, where there should be no light, a glow was leaking out!
‘There’s something there.’
Convinced, Taehoo moved toward the source of the light.
At the end of it—
Amidst a current as dark as ink, he found a presence radiating its existence.
Taehoo knew instinctively.
That creature was the ruler of this lake.
There, in a spot that could only be described as belonging to a dragon of the waters, was an aquatic dragon.
Aquatic dragon.
No other words fit better. The creature shone alone in the dark water, as if to flaunt its status.
That’s why Taehoo could see its appearance so clearly.
Its body was over five meters long, covered in scales, and exuded a blade-like aura from every inch.
Two horns sprouted from its head, whiskers trailed from its mouth, and its eyes glowed red.
‘Anyone would believe it’s a monster.’
This creature was the end of the Heavenly Lake.
The aquatic dragon simply stared at Taehoo as he observed it.
‘How is this creature related to splitting the water in half?’
There was nothing he could glean from the current information. All he could do was face it.
[That’s not a foe you can take lightly. Be careful.]
Ba’al’s warning echoed in his head.
But Taehoo had already realized that the moment he saw the creature.
Still, he couldn’t back down after coming this far.
Taehoo naturally wrapped his sword in Aura, as if breathing. Almost as if that was the signal—
Simultaneously,
KRUOOOAAAH!
The aquatic dragon’s roar pierced Taehoo’s ears.
It was a sound filled with raw emotions—vengeance, resentment, fury.
The once-calm creature now glared at Taehoo like he was a mortal enemy.
[What’s this? You two know each other or something?]
Of course not. But the emotions radiating from the aquatic dragon were so intense, it almost made him think so.
‘Why?’
It was a natural question.
Either way, he had to face it.
Questions could come later.
The only two sources of light in the deep sea clashed.
One was the Heavenly Lake’s apex predator, and the other was the Black and White Aura coexisting in Taehoo’s blade.
“Puhah!”
Taehoo surfaced, gasping for breath.
The mountaintop wasn’t exactly easy to breathe on, but it was nothing compared to underwater.
Free from the sensation of weights pressing on his whole body, he sprawled out on the ground.
‘I never thought I could win as soon as I met it, but…’
The aquatic dragon’s strength far exceeded even those expectations.
As proof, Taehoo’s body was covered in wounds, large and small.
The Mana of the Heavenly Lake seeped into his skin, stopping the bleeding. Had he made even the slightest mistake, some of those wounds could have been fatal.
[I never understood why even Constellations trained in this water, but… Now I get it after seeing the aquatic dragon.]
Ba’al continued, sounding like he finally understood.
[If the creatures in the human realm that have absorbed Mana are this strong, the Heavenly Lake of the heavens must be unimaginable.]
Ba’al speculated that the very fabric of the ecosystem would be different.
‘If even Ba’al acknowledges it, it must be something.’
[It’s only “unimaginable” at your level. If I, the number one-ranked demon, stepped in, even the Heavenly Lake of the heavens would be…]
Ba’al was about to start rambling again when—
“Judging by your state, you met it, didn’t you?”
Chiu, who had quietly approached, spoke to Taehoo.
Over the past two years, he’d given Taehoo advice here and there.
“You knew about it, didn’t you?”
“Of course! I still remember the day I met that thing! The real trial of the Heavenly Lake begins when you encounter it!”
With the time they’d spent together, even Chiu’s initial seriousness had faded away.
“Then, do you know why it went berserk after seeing my Aura?”
Taehoo asked Chiu what he was curious about.
“How many times do you think that creature has been killed by humans using Aura? Or rather, how many times has it received wounds close to death?”
Chiu asked as if it were nothing.
What? Could it be that aquatic dragon had been around since even grandfather’s time?
No one had ever succeeded in killing it. Not even my Lord. It’s not that my Lord didn’t kill it because he couldn’t, but…
As if he’d read Taehoo’s thoughts, Chiu continued.
Chiu’s Lord referred to Namjin.
In summary, the aquatic dragon had suffered countless mortal wounds at the hands of the Sword God Family’s members since Namjin’s era.
The last part of Chiu’s words lingered in Taehoo’s mind.
[No wonder it gets that angry just seeing Aura.]
Taehoo couldn’t help but agree.
Chiu checked Taehoo’s condition and, as if he had no intention of saying more, left.
He left.
He left.
‘So this is as much of a hint as I get.’
It didn’t matter. He had Ba’al, and he had time.
‘From today, I’ll focus solely on defeating that creature.’
He added another resolve to his heart.
‘I’ll find out why, even though they could have killed it, they didn’t…’
He intended to look at things from the same perspective as Namjin had.
[You think you can do it?]
Ba’al asked.
‘Why not? I’ve got you.’
It might have been impossible to even share the same perspective alone. But with Ba’al, some things became possible.
From then on, Taehoo reduced his trips into the Heavenly Lake.
Instead, he increased his training sessions with Ba’al.
He honed his Aura to a higher purity than before. He practiced swordsmanship, received Ba’al’s critiques.
Every time he reached a new level through such training, he entered the Heavenly Lake.
He faced the aquatic dragon, and fought again and again.
On the fifth attempt,
‘Each of its scales holds an aura as sharp as a blade.’
He discovered the secret behind the creature’s overwhelming sharpness.
On the seventeenth attempt,
‘It can even use a breath attack. It draws on the Heavenly Lake’s Mana, and it takes about three seconds to charge…’
He found a gap in its attacks.
On the twentieth attempt,
‘While it charges its breath for three seconds, it attacks with its scales and defends with its tail.’
The aquatic dragon had found a way to cover that gap.
With each attempt, he discovered a new pattern.
He suffered countless defeats at the aquatic dragon’s hands, but became familiar with all of its attacks.
Taehoo memorized every pattern he observed. The strength to counter them came from his training with Ba’al.
‘Why didn’t they kill it?’
[That’s not something I can figure out, either.]
Even with Ba’al’s knowledge, he couldn’t find the answer.
Since the goal was to split the Heavenly Lake itself, it wasn’t something he had to overthink.
Time passed like that.
Half a year went by, and Taehoo’s number of attempts to defeat the aquatic dragon surpassed fifty.
‘I think I’m finally starting to get it.’
Taehoo was closing in on the answer.