The Hero Returns

* * *

One year had passed by.

Su-hyeun was sitting in a lotus position. He did this not only for the good it caused to one’s body but also to improve his concentration. He learned all about this while living with the Bull Demon King, and it had become the most comfortable position for him since then.

Shu-wut, shu-wuwu—

Clouds moved around Su-hyeun’s vicinity.

It was the Somersault cloud.

Thick clouds rising like fog covered the surroundings. They eventually blanketed the mountainside, and everything became so hazy that it was almost impossible to see.

—Even now, the consumption of energy is too great.

The Somersault cloud spoke, and Su-hyeun wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and focused.

For the past year, he had been stuck in a certain time frame. Su-hyeun had been refining the methods of controlling both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf.

He needed to master these two divine artifacts through the Sage Arts. They helped greatly in raising the overall proficiency level of the discipline itself.

“Command the clouds personally…,” he reminded himself.

Su-hyeun focused his attention on controlling the Somersault cloud. It had become a part of him. He wasn’t sure exactly when it started happening, but the cloud would engage him in a conversation every so often.

The cloud would usually remind him to try not to control it through his energy, but to rely instead in the forces found in nature.

‘I can feel it.’

Su-hyeun succeeded in spreading the ‘fog’ all around this expansive mountainside. Right at that moment, Su-hyeun began to lose his sense of where exactly his body was.

He felt as if this massive fog was part of him as well.

‘This is…this is the Somersault cloud.’

The Somersault cloud was the cloud of the beginning. It was also another type of ‘authority’ that he was given.

At first, Su-hyeun simply thought of it as another ability that allowed him to command the clouds and summon lightning bolts. Maybe he took the Somersault cloud as yet another item or skill rather than the ‘cloud of the beginning’ or the ‘living divine artifact’.

But as he gradually got more familiar with it and his understanding deepened, he realized what kind of an entity the Somersault cloud actually was.

—The first cloud to be created in the beginning…the proof of godhood and the living divine artifact…

The Somersault cloud revealed to Su-hyeun when he first asked what or who it was.

He had forgotten about the bit of it being the ‘first cloud to be created in the beginning’. Moreover, he had not fully understood neither claims of ‘proof of godhood’ nor the ‘living divine artifact’. He solely focused on the abilities it offered. That’s all.

But now that he got this far, it felt as if he finally understood one-tenth of what those statements meant.

‘This is the proof of godhood.’

The godhood signified the ‘qualification’ to become a god, and the Somersault cloud was part of nature. The authority to control the nature’s power as if it was part of his own body was basically the Somersault cloud in a nutshell.

The Somersault cloud was the ‘authority’ that possessed an ego but had no physical form.

‘It seems like I have figured it out just a little bit.’

Bang!

Su-hyeun opened his eyes the moment he heard a noise coming directly at him.

A massive shadow cast over the hazy fog from beyond, and many smaller shadows were standing around it as well.

Su-hyeun’s brows furrowed, and then he spoke irritably, “So noisy.”

“Guruk, gururuk…,” the reply came to him, although it sounded rather scared.

His entire summons, including the Ouroboros and the Chief Gatekeeper, instantly stopped moving when they heard him sounding annoyed. They were trained well.

Miru was flying around the world at the moment. Thankfully, the red dragon and the other summons were under his control, and the Broken Sandglass’s effects applied to them as well.

‘I’m still not sure whether I should be happy or not about these guys gaining some ego after the application rate has gone up…’

He was also diligently raising the ‘Dead Summoning’ skill’s proficiency. Normally, he didn’t need to utilize this skill, but, while staying in this place, he left them summoned all the time.

As his proficiency improved, so did the application rate. Prince Nezha, for instance, had regained about half of his original appearance by now.

However, their curiosity and consciousness had improved gradually as well. Thus, when no particular orders were issued, they would often do what pleased them.

Just like now…

He ordered them not to go too far, but they ended up causing a ruckus in the surrounding area after messing around among themselves for a while.

He figured that allowing them some degree of freedom would greatly improve their proficiency, so he didn’t restrict them from doing what they like. However, he certainly could not accept them causing a commotion, which disrupted his concentration.

“In any case, at this point, I’m happy with the Somersault cloud,” he commented.

It took him a year to get to this stage—improving proficiencies for the Somersault cloud, the Necromancer trait, and also the Dead Summoning.

He reached the goal he had set for the period of one year. He felt like his degree of understanding in the Sage Arts had deepened while learning to control the Somersault cloud better.

‘Next up is…’

Su-hyeun stood up and unsheathed his sword.

‘…the Palm Leaf.’

He slowly waved the Palm Leaf Sword around and roused some wind. At first, the wind was gentle. But he continued to swing the weapon to his heart’s content until a strong typhoon emerged, wreaking havoc.

* * *

A year and a half had passed.

The Palm Leaf proved harder to control than the Somersault cloud.

It was as if trying to tame an enraged bull. Suppressing and restricting the Palm Leaf’s powers was extremely difficult. Even by injecting a little bit of strength into it, Su-hyeun felt like waving a hiltless, blunt iron rod.

Even so, he was getting used to the sensation. There was an unexpected advantage from all his concerted effort to better control the Palm Leaf.

[Basic Breathing Technique]

* Grade: —

* Category: Active (activation type)

* The Sage Arts’ basic breathing technique: While maintaining the breathing technique, the magical energy consumption will decrease by 45%.

* Proficiency: 71.21%

* Depending on the proficiency, the magical energy concentration will improve.

[Sage Arts]

* Grade: —

* Category: Passive

* It is a type of discipline created by Taoist gods. It improves the magical energy’s purity. One can also acquire related skills. A unique ability will manifest with the improvement in the proficiency.

* Proficiency: 21.81%

* The proficiency for the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf is +15%.

Su-hyeun had no idea on how to improve the Sage Arts’ proficiency.

The Bull Demon King wasn’t around to guide him, and he didn’t have any mentors to give him pointers about the Sage Arts. As such, all he could do was stick to what the Bull Demon King had told him before, which was to meditate and strengthen his mind to refine the Sage Arts.

That’s why he decided to improve the Somersault cloud’s and the Palm Leaf’s proficiencies. He thought that learning to freely wield them was the fastest method to become stronger.

But a happy variation appeared in an unexpected place.

‘The opposite of that idea was also a possibility.’

Mastering the Sage Arts would make it easier to wield both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf. However, the reverse of that was him working hard on freely wielding both the divine artifacts caused the Sage Arts’ proficiency to increase naturally as well.

Su-hyeun had confirmed his status for the first time in the past two and a half years, and he was quite satisfied by this sudden change. On the other hand, he was also somewhat puzzled by it, too.

‘But what exactly had changed about me?’

Su-hyeun had been hoping for an improvement in the Sage Arts’ proficiency. He figured that maybe he would actually reach the realm of the gods once the proficiency reached the 100% mark.

But even after it had significant improvements, he could not really tell what had changed about him. The only thing that did change was the numerical value.

‘The proficiency has increased by more than 10%, too…’

Su-hyeun scratched his head.

“I don’t get it,” he muttered, annoyed and frustrated at the same time.

With the change not in proportion to the numerical value, his body did not seem to have undergone changes. Su-hyeun could only smack his lips in frustration.

He wondered if he was being too ambitious.

‘But being ambitious is a positive trait… Too ambitious?’

He had already gotten so much better in controlling both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf, anyway. The proficiency for the Dead Summoning had improved, and the scope of the Necromancer trait’s usage had expanded as well.

His rate of growth reached the original target he had set for himself.

“Let’s not get impatient here…,” he reminded himself.

Su-hyeun recalled once more the Bull Demon King’s advice to be patient. He remembered that nothing good or worth having would come out of things done in haste.

* * *

More time went by.

Su-hyeun had only a day left.

‘Has it been three years already?’

He hardly noticed it. How should he go about spending this one day, though?

He had been thinking about this for a while, but he couldn’t really think of anything. There was still much that he could do or accomplish in one day.

After contemplating some more, Su-hyeun finally managed to come up with something ‘special’.

“Everyone, go back,” Su-hyeun ordered all the summoned creatures.

Shu-wuwu—

For the past three years, Su-hyeun had the grunts and cries of the summons for company. Miru had not much to do anyway, so it slept most of the time. It had grown bigger as a result.

Su-hyeun had Miru return as well. Then, he made his move. He searched for the most scenic location in the surroundings.

He found a grassy plain with a nice view and the sun overhead. Then he lay on the ground. He felt the cool, gentle breeze.

The wind shouldn’t blow in this kind of world, however. Yet it did.

—You worked hard.

The Palm Leaf had brought that wind, complimenting Su-hyeun.

‘Thank you very much.’

Su-hyeun lay down and used his hands as pillows.

‘Worked hard, it said,’ Su-hyeun repeated, feeling good about himself.

That was the first thing the Palm Leaf said in the past three years.

For some reason, hearing those words from the Palm Leaf had put his mind at ease. He felt that he really did work diligently and that he deserved anything good that would come out of this.

The breeze tickled his cheeks.

Even the grass on his back felt comfortable and inviting. Although it was not as comfortable as an actual bed, no presidential suite could top its atmosphere and spectacular view.

‘This is great.’

The final day ought to be special. It was to…

‘That’s right.’

…to stop worrying altogether and take a long break.

‘I really worked hard after all, didn’t I?’

Three years… No, I still had one more day. Not exactly three years yet.

In any case…

‘As for the remaining day, I don’t want to bother with anything.’

Stuck in a time frame where nothing moved… As such, it was truly a quiet world, too.

At first, he found it rather unnatural. But now that he started to ease up, he began to ponder that rather than lonely and isolated, everything seemed so peaceful and still.

In other words, it all depended on his state of mind.

‘How long has it been since I was like this?’ Su-hyeun recalled.

To go somewhere far away without anybody to disturb his peaceful sleep as the wind gently caressed him…

It might seem way too simplistic, but this was how Su-hyeun wanted to spend his last day.

Shu-ru-ruk—

Su-hyeun closed his eyes. In less than a minute, he fell into a slumber.

[The Sage Arts’ proficiency has increased by 10%.]

A system message popped up, but Su-hyeun didn’t get to see it.

In his hazy, dreamy state, he briefly wondered if something happened. But he chose not to care. He didn’t bother to check, thinking that he could always look into it later when he woke up. For the time being, he didn’t want to be interrupted by anything else.

Eventually, the period of three years afforded by the Broken Sandglass came to an end, and…

Whoosh!

The wind began to blow once more. However, the Palm Leaf did not cause this wind.

The clouds overhead moved, and the sunrays touched Su-hyeun’s face.

Once again, time moved forward.

And right at that moment…

Wu-wuong, buzz—

The world’s aura started to gather around Su-hyeun. It was silent and swift.

Even then, Su-hyeun did not wake up. He was in deep sleep. His mind and body was finally able to get its much-needed rest.

[Magic count has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Stamina has increased by 1.]

[Reflex has increased by 2.]

[Death Aura has increased by 25.]

[Strength has increased by 1.]

[Strength stat has reached 100 points.]

[Your body has taken a step beyond the boundaries of man.]

[You have acquired the qualification of godhood.]