At Gaon’s words, Kerhen’s eyes flashed.
The way he spoke left no doubt.
It was definitely Gaon.
“I-Is it really you, hyung-nim?”
“Yeah, you punk.”
“Where on earth have you been all this time?”
Kerhen asked Gaon.
There were more than just one or two things he was curious about.
But the biggest question was where he had been for the past several decades.
“Hmm…”
Gaon let out a low hum as he walked over to Kerhen.
He pulled up a nearby chair, sat down, and began his story.
“Fifty years ago, while I was researching a magic circle, a demon world invasion occurred, and the demonic energy twisted the circle. When I opened my eyes, fifty-one years had passed.”
Of course, he mixed in a bit of falsehood this time as well.
He didn’t mention anything about the time-reversal magic circle.
Not because he didn’t trust Kerhen.
But because knowing it could put him in danger.
“And then…”
Gaon went on to tell everything that had happened after arriving in the future.
“You met Lumi and Kazan? What a coincidence!”
“Why did you send those two to the Nail Kingdom?”
This time, Gaon asked.
Lumi and Kazan had gone to the Nail Kingdom on Kerhen’s orders to prevent a war.
Why had Kerhen tried to stop it?
“For the Varta Kingdom, obviously! You should be thanking me, hyung-nim! If it weren’t for me, the Varta Kingdom would have fallen long ago! The wars I’ve prevented aren’t just one or two!”
Kerhen answered Gaon’s question with a smug shrug.
“Thanks.”
“Hmph, saying thanks isn’t like you at all, hyung-nim! Could it be…”
Kerhen shot him a suspicious look, and Gaon chuckled.
Kerhen laughed along and changed the subject.
“But how did you get so young? Did you drink an elixir or something?”
“Side effect of the magic circle, plus the effects of a new cultivation method.”
“A new cultivation method? You don’t mean you switched methods?”
“Yeah.”
“The Varta cultivation method is one of the best on the continent, isn’t it?”
“It is, but it has its limits.”
Kerhen was speechless.
The Varta cultivation method was among the finest on the continent.
Yet it had limits?
With an expression of disbelief, Kerhen asked Gaon.
“You didn’t… give up magic, did you?”
The Varta method was specialized for the path of magic.
If he had decided to walk the path of martial arts or shamanism instead?
Switching methods wouldn’t be strange.
“No way.”
“Then what cultivation method did you learn?”
Kerhen was curious.
What method had he abandoned the supreme Varta cultivation method—the best for mages—and started practicing instead?
“The Pacheon Mind Method.”
“The Pacheon Mind Method?”
“Yeah, the Pacheon Mind Method.”
“You mean the one from that crazy human who claimed to be from the Central Plains?”
“Yep.”
Gaon recalled Kerhen’s relationship with Cheon Muhyuk and grinned.
“But isn’t the Pacheon Mind Method specialized for the martial path?”
“Everyone thought so—including that guy Muhyuk.”
After that, Gaon continued chatting with Kerhen, shifting topics as they went.
And through it, Gaon learned a great deal.
The reason Kerhen had come here, the true nature of the golden barrier, and more.
The most surprising of all was that Kerhen had crossed the wall.
“You became a swordmaster?”
“I use a hammer, so technically it’s hammer master!”
Gaon said nothing.
It wasn’t because of the wordplay between swordmaster and hammer master.
How…
The aura emanating from Kerhen was indeed immense.
In mage terms, it was comparable to the 8th Circle.
But Gaon hadn’t thought Kerhen would cross the wall.
And for good reason—crossing the wall on the martial path meant being able to wield aura.
Aura wasn’t something one could handle just by having a lot of energy.
Enlightenment was required.
Gaon knew.
He knew how pitiful Kerhen’s talent had been.
A once-in-a-generation genius in fields like alchemy and blacksmithing, but when it came to martial arts, he wasn’t just dull—he had no talent at all.
Yet he had crossed the wall?
Could it be the elixir’s effect?
No matter how he looked at it, there was only one answer.
The elixir.
He must have gained not just lifespan and energy from the elixir, but talent as well.
That was the only way the current situation made sense.
And as if he had read Gaon’s thoughts—
“Heh heh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you look so surprised. You’re probably shocked that I can wield aura now. Haha!”
Kerhen said with a sly chuckle.
“As you’ve probably guessed, it’s all thanks to the elixir! Things I couldn’t understand before suddenly made sense after I took it.”
Just as expected.
Kerhen had gained talent through the elixir.
…Is there any left?
Gaon was curious.
Kerhen, who had possessed not even a speck of talent, had become a master.
Then what would happen if he himself took the elixir?
“Of course!”
Kerhen exclaimed, eyes gleaming.
“There isn’t any.”
Gaon silently furrowed his brow.
Kerhen flinched and quickly added.
“I failed so many times, and the ingredients are what they are—so only enough for me came out. If I make it again, I think I could produce more, though…”
“You can make it again?”
“If I have the ingredients.”
“What are they?”
“Even for you, hyung-nim, it’ll be tough. They’re really hard to obtain…”
“Tell me.”
“Will you really get them for me?”
Kerhen erased the playfulness from his face and asked seriously.
Gaon answered just as seriously.
“If I can.”
“Uh…”
Kerhen let out a sigh and fell into thought.
After a while, he finished thinking.
“First, I need two 8-star demon stones. One infused with mana, one with demonic energy.”
“……!”
Gaon’s eyes flashed at Kerhen’s words.
8-star demon stones?
He hadn’t even considered it.
The silver lining was that he already had an 8-star stone infused with demonic energy.
Where am I supposed to get one infused with mana…
He only needed the mana-infused 8-star stone.
Just as he thought that, Kerhen continued.
“I already have one mana-infused 8-star stone, so I just need the one with demonic energy.”
“Really?”
Gaon smiled brightly and replied.
At Gaon’s reaction, Kerhen put on a look of disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“…You have it?”
Gaon nodded and pulled an 8-star demon stone from his pouch.
One overflowing with demonic energy.
“Huh.”
Kerhen let out a stunned exclamation.
“Where on earth did you get this?”
“I told you earlier. A rift to the demon world opened near the kingdom. A count crossed over, so I killed it, and this came out.”
“A c-count? It wasn’t a 7-star rift, was it?”
“Yeah, it was 7-star.”
“You eliminated a 7-star demon world rift by yourself?”
“Yeah, why?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Kerhen hesitated before answering.
If it’s hyung-nim, it’s possible.
Killing a demon count or single-handedly closing a 7-star rift—both were things Gaon could certainly do.
“But is the stone all you need?”
“No, of course not. There’s a more important ingredient than the stones.”
“…What is it?”
Gaon paused for a moment before asking.
Something more important than 8-star stones?
Surely not a 9-star stone?
“A dragon heart.”
“A dragon heart?”
“Yes. One brimming with energy would be ideal, but it doesn’t have to be. Even an empty shell is fine. The more mana bands it has, the better.”
“Oh.”
Gaon nodded as if he understood.
Then he stopped nodding and asked.
“Just the dragon heart? What about the rest?”
“I have everything else. Since you have the 8-star stone, hyung-nim, we only need the dragon heart…”
Kerhen trailed off with a bitter smile.
“As you know, dragon hearts are impossible to obtain now. No matter how strong you are, hyung-nim, you mustn’t go to Dragonia!”
“Hm.”
At the mention of Dragonia, Gaon let out a low hum.
Dragonia, the sacred land of dragons.
For reasons unknown, all dragons were currently gathered there.
And everyone who had gone to Dragonia to meet the dragons had met their death.
Because of that, Dragonia had become one of the five forbidden zones.
I need to find Master.
The problem was that Gaon’s master, Perbeng, was likely in Dragonia as well.
Given that everyone who approached Dragonia had died, there was a high chance Gaon would be attacked by the dragons too.
Something’s going on.
There had to be a reason the dragons were gathered like this.
What could it be?
And why were they killing everyone who approached?
Lost in thought, Gaon spoke.
“So as long as I have the dragon heart, that’s it?”
“Right.”
Kerhen nodded.
“Then I can make it.”
“…Pardon?”
At Gaon’s words, Kerhen asked with a look that said, What do you mean?
And just like with the 8-star stone, he asked with disbelief.
“…You don’t mean you have one?”
Gaon didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached into his pouch and pulled it out.
An empty dragon heart.
“Are you really going alone, hyung-nim?”
“Do you want to come along?”
Gaon asked in return.
Kerhen shook his head.
“No. I wouldn’t be much help anyway.”
Kerhen’s foundation was mana.
In other words, his strength was greatly reduced in demonic-energy-dominant regions.
And the areas Gaon would be active in from now on were demonic-energy-dominant.
“Plus, I have the tasks you asked me to do.”
On top of that, Kerhen had two jobs to handle at Gaon’s request.
The first was to drive out the demons from Coexistence Zone 15 with full force.
Originally, Kerhen had the power to clean up Zone 15 by himself.
But doing so would draw attention, potentially revealing his identity or prompting the demons to pour in more forces.
That was why he had hidden his strength.
He couldn’t stay in Zone 15 forever.
But now there was no need for that.
Because Gaon had appeared.
The second task was producing the elixir.
There were two ingredients missing for the elixir.
An 8-star demon stone infused with demonic energy, and a dragon heart.
Yet Gaon had both.
All the necessary ingredients for the elixir were now gathered.
“You said it would take about thirty days?”
Gaon asked.
“Yes, thirty days should be more than enough.”
It hadn’t been a fluke success.
It came after countless attempts.
With his abundant experience now, the chance of failure was near zero.
“Then I’ll be back in thirty days at the latest. I just go to the grand workshop, right?”
“Yes. With the identification plaque I gave you, you should be able to come straight to my workshop.”
“Alright, see you later.”
“Yes, see you later! Be careful!”
“You be careful too. Don’t go charging into demonic regions just because the cleanup went well.”
“If you weren’t here, maybe—but now that I know you are, I’ll take care of myself. Thanks for worrying, haha.”
Kerhen laughed heartily.
Gaon smiled brightly in return.
With those smiles as their farewell, Gaon cast Teleport and vanished.
Left alone, Kerhen gazed at the spot where Gaon had disappeared and thought to himself.
He’s not 8th Circle.
Kerhen had asked Gaon about his realm.
Gaon had simply smiled without answering.
Having spent a long time with Gaon, Kerhen could tell.
Gaon was not 8th Circle.
He’s probably not even 7th Circle.
The power Gaon had shown was far beyond 7th Circle.
Then the only thing left is…!
Kerhen swallowed hard.
Not 7th Circle, not 8th Circle.
That left only one possibility.
“Has he entered the 9th Circle?”