Episode 12
Part 5. Leaving Stormhold (1)
Another six months had passed.
March 12, 1790. In the Kingdom of Mittel, stretching out beneath Stormhold Castle, spring was slowly approaching. Jin was set to leave Stormhold after celebrating his tenth birthday in half a year.
Murakan had confidently bet 100 apple pies that Luna wouldn’t reveal his existence to the family—and indeed, Luna kept him a secret.
But Jin didn’t get a single apple pie, because he, too, had bet on Luna keeping quiet.
The past six months had been quiet and dull for the knights and servants guarding Stormhold, but for Jin, it was a fleeting time of growth, like the wind.
“I’m sick of it. Really sick of it,” Murakan said, sticking his tongue out as he stared at Jin.
“Not only did you cut your magic transfer time from ten minutes to five seconds in just a year, but now, after only six months, you can open your mana as easily as breathing. Even seeing it with my own eyes, I find it hard to believe.”
Jin had completed the magic transfer technique in one year, instead of the two years Murakan had predicted. And during the six months since Luna left, he had mastered mana opening.
He had successfully controlled his progress. But it wasn’t just about pacing himself.
In his past life, he had rushed through the five-star rank in just three short years, leaving no time for proper training like this. Starting at the late age of twenty-five, he had no choice but to speed through.
But now, moving his magic slowly and repeatedly felt like entering a whole new realm. Like how the scenery changes when you walk instead of run.
“You’ve always been like this since I met you, Yubeol,” Murakan said with a smirk.
Meanwhile, Jin had begun practicing mana opening right after Luna left.
Though it was already easy for him, like magic transfer, the six months had been excellent review. He realized that his fundamentals had been quite shaky in his past life.
“Consider yourself lucky this is Stormhold, kid. If you were at the Bimant Empire Academy, they’d probably hate you for being so damn lucky.”
Jin had heard that from his “master” several times in his past life.
‘I wonder what my master is doing now. Probably still sniffling and blowing his nose.’
Suddenly, the face of the mage who first awakened Jin’s talent for magic came to mind. That mage was two years younger than Jin.
‘And yet, he was seven-star, aiming for eight. There are just too many naturally gifted people in this world. I can’t let myself be swayed—I have to keep pushing, never missing a thing.’
Jin shrugged and smiled.
“So, starting today, I’m really learning spirit energy opening?”
“Yeah. Let me know when you finish copying the grimoire.”
“Murakan, aren’t you paying enough attention to me? I finished copying the grimoire a week ago.”
Jin had completed copying the other family’s grimoire, which was only allowed for knights, excluding unnecessary parts.
He still couldn’t fully understand the grimoire, but the notes would prove invaluable as his swordsmanship improved.
Now, before leaving Stormhold, all that remained was mastering ‘spirit energy opening.’
When Murakan first mentioned spirit energy opening, he hadn’t expected to start serious training at Stormhold.
He’d only said it to fire up Jin’s enthusiasm, but now, until Jin left Stormhold, Murakan was destined to be at his beck and call.
“Right, right. It’s not that I’m ignoring you. Let’s get started.”
Murakan’s voice took on a serious tone as he sat Jin down properly.
“Let me warn you—spirit energy opening can’t be mastered quickly like before.”
“I understand.”
“So don’t rush. It’s a fundamental and essential skill. I’ll show you first.”
Whoosh!
Before he finished speaking, a black aura rose like smoke around Murakan.
It was spirit energy. If mist only blurred vision, Murakan’s spirit energy was so deep and dark it seemed to swallow light itself.
Jin had never seen such an aura since their first formal meeting.
‘It looks much denser and heavier than my own spirit energy.’
He focused intently on the dancing spirit energy.
It felt as if the energies were beckoning him to come closer. He almost reached out instinctively.
“The color of the power is different, but it’s almost the same as when you open your mana, right?”
“Yeah. It looks much more mysterious, though.”
“When mages open their mana, they connect their own magic to the natural magic around them. What did I say you were aiming for with that?”
“Faster mana recovery and stronger magic.”
“Right. You use nature’s power to replenish your depleted mana and boost the strength of your next spell. Spirit energy opening is the same, but with some differences.”
“What kind of differences?”
“Spirit energy opening doesn’t connect your power to nature. It connects nature to you.”
“Nature… to me?”
It was a hard concept to grasp.
Human aura and mana are like rivers.
Rivers always flow toward the sea. And a river is never bigger than the sea—it’s just a branch of the ocean stretching inland.
Spirit energy was the opposite.
“Shadow.”
Murakan scattered the spirit energy partially covering his body with his hand.
“Spirit energy ultimately derives from shadows. So, where do those shadows begin?”
A simple, short question—but one filled with divine mystery.
“From Solderet, I suppose.”
“Not ‘I suppose.’ Every shadow in this world was clearly born from Solderet’s wind. Solderet is the master of all shadows, and you are his sole contractor.”
Murakan’s voice grew firm as he continued.
“That means you can become the master of all shadows in the world.”
To pull countless streams of ‘shadows’ toward oneself—their source, their ocean.
That was spirit energy opening.
Murakan’s spirit energy began forming small whirlpools, each slightly larger than a plum. In an instant, thousands gathered, creating dazzling, intricate patterns.
“Watch closely what’s about to happen.”
Jin sharpened his senses, observing Murakan. The moment spirit energy opening transformed him seemed to stretch endlessly.
‘What the—!’
As the transformation became visible, Jin swallowed hard.
Behind Murakan, a glass tube.
Near the tube, candlesticks and torches.
Their shadows, cast low in the dark basement, flowed like long streams, surging into Murakan’s whirlpools. Jin instinctively turned to look behind him—shadows from the bookshelves were doing the same.
Dizziness hit him.
An extreme sense of dissonance he’d never experienced before consumed his body. His clenched fists felt damp with sweat, and he almost stepped back.
Was it an illusion?
Jin snapped back to his senses. No, it wasn’t an illusion—it was a misconception. The shadows of the objects were definitely moving toward Murakan.
Like ghosts.
The overwhelming presence radiating from Murakan, slowly soaked in darkness, made every hair on Jin’s body stand on end.
It was as if there was nothing in the world Murakan couldn’t kill.
And instinctively, Jin realized he couldn’t let that presence crush him. If Murakan was right, the ones to fear were the shadows themselves.
That dark, terrifying power…
He would be the one wielding it.
As the fear faded from Jin’s eyes, Murakan smiled.
“Indeed, fitting behavior for a contractor of a thousand years.”
Ssshhh…
The thousands of shadow whirlpools stopped moving. The long streams of shadows returned slowly to their places.
After that intense revelation, the scene felt incredibly calm and peaceful to Jin.
As if night had ended. Or a festival had come to a close.
The fallen shadows had all returned to their places.
Jin was sweating profusely but pulled off his shirt stuck to his chest, wearing a refreshed expression.
“How was it?”
“Awesome.”
“Is that all? You just showed me Murakan’s ultimate move.”
“It felt like the day and night of this basement changed just as you wished.”
Jin’s quick comment seemed to please Murakan, who nodded.
“Day and night, huh? It’s been a while since I heard that. People have always liked to associate spirit energy users with words like that—‘lords of the night,’ or ‘creators of darkness at noon.’ Kind of childish, though.”
“Yeah, pretty childish.”
“Right? And ‘lord of the night’ is a bit… misleading. Humans called me that about two thousand years ago. Haha, thinking about it, it’s not entirely wrong.”
What kind of crude joke is this crazy dragon making in front of a kid?
Jin swallowed the words and chuckled.
“Anyway, do you get the feeling? Honestly, it’s not much different from applying mana opening, so I figured you’d understand.”
“I definitely get it. Give me an hour, and I think I can do the same.”
“This little guy’s getting cocky again? Like I said, spirit energy opening can’t be mastered quickly…”
“I know that too. What I meant was, you can open your spiritual energy, but you can’t produce the exact same power and effect as you do. Even a basic spirit strike is on a whole different level when performed by a master compared to a beginner, right?”
“Exactly! That’s why I said opening your spiritual energy is both the beginning and the end.”
“So then, what level would you say what Murakan just showed us is?”
“Intermediate. Or maybe just a bit above intermediate.”
Intermediate?
Jin was certain that even if the archmages of Ziphl demonstrated a nine-star spell, it wouldn’t surpass the spiritual energy release he’d just witnessed.
Murakan hadn’t destroyed anything outright using his spiritual energy, nor had he directly displayed overwhelming power. But even without seeing it firsthand, the superiority of spiritual energy as a force was undeniable.
“When you reach the peak and fully master spiritual energy release, it becomes possible to annihilate an entire army of a million in an instant. When a living being’s shadow disappears, it means death is imminent.”
Crash!
Suddenly, a couple of candlesticks hanging in the hallway snapped and fell to the floor.
“And when an object’s shadow disappears, it means destruction.”
Jin stared blankly at the fallen candlesticks, unable to hide his shock.
“…Seriously, damn it! I was trying to control my strength so I wouldn’t break anything. Why the hell did the candlesticks fall? Now I have to fix this before we leave. So annoying.”
Crack, crack!
It wasn’t just the candlesticks that were damaged. Large cracks were spreading across the stone base of the glass case where Murakan had been sleeping.
“Damn it.”
Murakan sighed, rubbing his forehead. While waiting for Jin to find the basement, he’d finally found something to do.