Chapter 16: Passed the test on the first day

“Whew, I really underestimated you guys. I’ll prepare something even better for tomorrow.”

Dongo, steeling himself for no reason, reached out his hand over the path they had just crossed.

Once.

As if drawing a picture, he moved his hand, and the path that had seemed like it had been struck by disaster returned to its original state.

It was the Sanctuary’s restoration ability.

Shouldn’t they be more amazed by this than the fact that the traps didn’t work?

Yet Dongo’s eyes showed no hint of emotion.

‘A world where things like this become normal, huh.’

This was the world of those at the peak of an ability-filled society.

Feeling the gap anew,

“Let’s go back.”

Taehoo stood up, watching Dongo walk ahead.

He offered his hand to Muncheol, who was about to get up and follow, and Muncheol didn’t refuse it.

They made it down from the summit more easily than Taehoo, but exhaustion was the same for everyone.

The first day of training ended just like that. Really, crossing the traps once a day was all there was to this test.

‘A simple yet difficult test…’

Now, Ba’al’s words about how systematic this test was started to make sense.

[Yeah, who am I? I’ve reigned as a Constellation for long enough—do you think I wouldn’t notice that?]

If only he wouldn’t add those useless comments, it’d be easier to sympathize.

‘Even if it gets a bit harder from here, it shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid.’

With that thought, exactly one month passed.

Leaving behind Dongo, who was about to die from frustration, they completed the test.

“You already passed your test? You cleared it on the first day?”

Hunter Namjin was surprised as he received Dongo’s final report.

No matter how fast, he’d expected it would take a month to clear, and half a year to master the footwork.

Even if the vessel was ready, using it was a different matter altogether.

“You’re not the type to prepare traps carelessly…”

Knowing Dongo’s personality better than anyone, Namjin didn’t doubt that for a second.

“Kehaha! If that’s true, you must’ve felt quite wronged.”

Namjin laughed heartily, regretting that he’d missed out on an entertaining spectacle.

“Even if Muncheol learned the improved version from the Lord of Rakshasas…”

With a deep sigh,

“But Young Master… He looked like someone who already saw through the traps.”

What surprised Dongo was exactly that. He’d observed the two as they crossed the traps without missing a thing.

Muncheol responded with improvisation, but Taehoo clearly understood the terrain, predicted the locations of traps, and moved accordingly.

That’s why, even before learning the footwork, he succeeded in breaking through, achieving results in just a month.

But still—

How?

Dongo was a master who had reached the peak himself.

No one would set up traps so sloppily that anyone could see through them.

Noticing one or two would be impressive, but Taehoo identified all of them and moved accordingly.

‘How does a thirteen-year-old have that kind of judgment…’

With that thought, Dongo shot a sidelong glance at Namjin.

“Don’t tell me…”

He knew Namjin wasn’t that kind of person, but the situation was so unrealistic that he doubted him for a moment.

Namjin immediately caught on and hardened his expression.

“You know better than anyone that I’m not that easy to fool in these matters.”

It was an undeniable statement.

Dongo’s doubts were only possible because of their relationship. He immediately bowed his head.

“I apologize.”

“It’s fine. This is the kind of situation where it’s understandable. I get where you’re coming from.”

Dongo bowed deeply again, apologetic.

‘Didn’t he say he’d never had that kind of venom in him his whole life, but it suddenly appeared during the qualification exam?’

Namjin recalled what his son had said before giving Taehoo dog meat.

Just as experience isn’t meaningless, emotions and judgment don’t accumulate so easily.

Spirit and discernment that didn’t suit a thirteen-year-old. Willpower.

“Well then, maybe it’s time to leave him with Rakshasa for a while.”

Namjin had no choice but to accept Dongo’s suggestion in the end.

To move on to a test more suited to the Young Master’s level.

‘First, I should have a talk with him.’

Dongo left, satisfied with the answer he’d gotten, while Namjin waited for the night to deepen.

A night when the Sanctuary was bathed in full moonlight.

The burning candle flickered in the wind, then soon settled down.

Taehoo slept soundly under the faint candlelight.

He had achieved something that startled even Dongo, so the exhaustion was immense.

From a month of tightened muscles, he sometimes let out moans as if his body was screaming.

‘Heh, he’s actually pretty cute when he sleeps.’

The man who had snuck into Taehoo’s room and made the candle flicker—Namjin—looked down quietly at Taehoo.

‘He looks his age, and it’s not so bad.’

That thought passed through him for a moment.

But he quickly erased such feelings. He had never allowed himself such weakness.

Namjin quietly brought his hand to Taehoo’s lips.

Namjin’s wavering shadow gradually swallowed Taehoo. Just before his hand could fully cover Taehoo’s mouth—

“…!”

Taehoo’s eyes snapped open as he felt his breath being cut off.

Thanks to his instincts from his days as a stray, he was able to react quickly.

‘Namjin?’

Taehoo confirmed the identity of the one blocking him.

Namjin silently brought a finger to his own lips.

Then glanced sidelong at Muncheol, who was sleeping nearby.

‘He wants me to go outside.’

Taehoo silently got up as Namjin intended.

He threw on some clothes to block the night wind and stepped outside.

The moon was beautiful that night. Even in the Sanctuary, crickets chirped busily.

After walking for a while,

Namjin stopped in front of the Cliff Taehoo had first climbed to enter the summit.

It was an open space where the night sky was best seen.

With the moonlight at his back, Namjin turned around.

A shadow was cast over Namjin’s face, making it hard to read his expression. Taehoo spoke first.

“What’s going on all of a sudden? I thought you’d gone off for some training for a month.”

A light question.

“This is the first time we’re talking face-to-face like this.”

That thought suddenly came to Namjin’s mind.

Taehoo looked momentarily puzzled, then soon,

Namjin erased his sentiment and went straight to the question he wanted to ask.

“Taehoo, where does your sword point?”

It was not a light question at all.

Where does your venom point? That was the question behind the question.

‘I should have asked this before accepting you as a disciple.’

‘Venom’ was that dangerous.

A sheer Cliff at night with no one around. If the answer was bad, it was the perfect place to throw someone off.

Taehoo knew that too.

“It’s a sudden question… but it’s a fitting place for it.”

Taehoo straightened his posture, pushing away the last traces of sleep.

‘I figured a moment like this would come someday.’

He’d expected it, so he was calm.

Even to himself, his current self didn’t suit a thirteen-year-old child.

“Everyone who’s watched you lately says the same thing. You have venom. Even when you ate dog meat.”

Namjin hadn’t been interested in Taehoo just because he’d calmly eaten dog meat years ago.

‘I saw the face he made at Namgung while eating it.’

That was the moment he was captivated by his grandson.

And so—

He had raised him that way and, after Taehoo’s regression, forced that attitude upon him.

He asked the one he’d raised: how do you have such venom, and where does it point? Who is it for?

Namjin knew better than anyone the power of emotion.

It could make a person strong, but if misused, it could lead to irreversible consequences.

That’s why it was called ‘venom.’

‘I can guess what you’re really asking.’

Taehoo read the intent behind Namjin’s question and, as if confirming that answer—

[Special Quest has arrived!]

A message popped up.

‘A Special Quest?’

Taehoo opened the Quest window, puzzled.

[Poisonous Pursuit]

Description – A man close to the sword deity. Namjin. He knows better than anyone how much the venom of emotion can change a person. That’s why he’s curious about your heart! Answer him in his way! Respond! And open his heart!

Clear Condition – Answer Namjin’s question in his way.

Reward – Bonus Stat Points +5, Title: Half-God’s Disciple

‘Grandfather’s way, huh.’

It was a line that made him pause.

And more.

‘Somehow, I think I know who gave me this Quest.’

It must have been the Sword Deity.

It showed just how much the Constellation cherished Namjin as his follower.

If you could guess which Constellation issued the Quest, that’s why it was called Special.

Could he have a relationship like this with Ba’al someday, too? That thought crossed his mind.

‘You always point me where I need to go.’

Just like when he severed the peaks of heaven and earth. No, even before that.

-If only you’d found me a little sooner.

That was what the ruined man had said to Taehoo in his previous life.

Those words had been a great comfort to him when he’d become a stray.

Even if he was a dethroned Half-God, those words made him feel acknowledged as a member of the family.

That’s why he decided to get the sacred relic and prove he wasn’t worthless trash that could be thrown away by the clan.

He believed those words, and after returning, decided to become Namjin’s disciple. That’s how he found his direction.

When he resolved to become Namjin’s disciple after his regression—this was the debt on his heart.

So, to repay that—

‘I have to know why you ended up that way in your previous life.’

That was Taehoo’s hidden, true intention.

“If you want my answer…”

Taehoo gripped the Fallen Flower Sword in his hand.

Namjin’s way. The way of a Half-God close to the sword deity.

Taehoo thought that meant crossing swords.

“Please draw your sword. I’ll give it everything I have.”

Namjin smiled faintly at Taehoo. Proof that he was pleased with his grandson’s action.

He had always trusted the sword over words.

That’s why, on birthdays, he crossed swords before talking with his son.

‘Somehow, my grandson understands me better than my grown son does.’

With that fleeting thought, Namjin drew his sword.

This was not to show Taehoo, but his actual weapon.

“You’d better answer well.”

From the moment their swords clashed, lies wouldn’t work.

Depending on the answer, Namjin was fully prepared to cut Taehoo down.

“Don’t worry.”

Taehoo, for his part, didn’t seem to care about that at all and took his stance.

Black and White Aura wrapped around him, split down the middle.

‘I thought so the first time I saw it—it really is a unique Aura.’

Aura reflects its owner.

So is that neither black nor white, neither good nor evil?

Even if he crossed swords, Namjin wouldn’t be able to know for sure.

He too drew out his Aura.

Blood-red Mana crawled out, coating his sword.

He drew out just enough power to take Taehoo’s blow.

‘Hoo…’

Taehoo steadied his breathing.

Believing the method he’d chosen was the right one, he poured Mana into his sword.

Half the blade seemed to disappear into darkness.

In contrast, the white Aura swelled larger than ever before.

‘Here I go.’

Taehoo kicked off the ground with all his might.

Even if he went all out, there probably wouldn’t be a scratch, but just by clashing, he would gain something.

That would be the lesson.

[Skill ‘Single Stroke Severance’ is activating!]

The skill called ‘Yeon’ now connected the threads of fate.

Taehoo’s sword, bathed in moonlight, came crashing down.

Kwaaaaaang!

It was Taehoo’s first answer to Namjin’s question—a single strike.

And soon,

Kwaaaaaang!

The second strike rushed toward Namjin.

‘Not yet… one more…’

The first told where the venom was pointed, the second to whom it was directed.

The last, the third.

The words he would put into that were clear.