Chapter 37
“Then I'll have to start making it now.”
Gu Do-gyeom mulled over those words for a long time.
He had spent his entire life buried in scholarship.
He'd never once posted a single line on a ghost-flame board, and he had no interest at all in talk like how much someone else's artifact sold for.
Even so, he couldn't possibly not know the name 'Do-hwang.'
Whenever the professors gathered for meals, that was all they ever talked about.
Rechargeable spirit stone.
When he first heard that rumor, even he had honestly been left speechless.
That was why.
The impossible task of making a sealing artifact that could imprison a being with a spirit body—the sort of problem any sealing scholar dreams of once before ultimately giving up.
He'd put in the request with the mindset of grabbing at a straw.
He naturally thought there was no way it'd work.
So if they rejected him, he planned to at least show the research he'd built up over the years and try to get a little advice.
But then.
“…….”
Start making it now?
Right here?
For a moment, he thought it was a joke.
Something that might or might not be possible even after years of work—he was going to start researching it here and whip it up on the spot.
How could that possibly make sense?
‘…Did I misunderstand something?’
Perhaps he didn't mean that quarantine-zone matter at all, but just that he'd offer advice on his research once?
While he was wandering through that possibility in his head.
“However, there is one condition.”
Gulp.
Gu Do-gyeom swallowed dryly without realizing it.
“The materials stored at this school, I mean. Please let me access them.”
“…….”
“Books or anything else is fine. If possible, I'd like to see the sealing artifacts in person.”
“Ah... yes. Of course.”
In spite of his confusion, what that boy asked for was.
Such a trivial request it was ridiculous to even call it a condition.
***
“This is the Sealing Vault.”
Basement of the Sealing Studies Hall.
The place he arrived at under Gu Do-gyeom's guidance was a spacious, museum-like area.
A ceiling lost in the distance and rows of glass cases.
All kinds of sealing artifacts were displayed there.
A jar plastered with faded talismans, a mirror wrapped tightly in iron chains, an old doll tied with a red cord.
They were all objects that would make anyone feel sick just looking at them.
Well, maybe he'd gotten used to them now, because they didn't really impress him.
There was a huge variety, and the quantity was enormous.
“By domestic standards, it's probably the largest sealing collection in the country.”
Gu Do-gyeom shrugged, as if he felt a quiet sense of pride.
‘Hmm.’
Dohyun slowly walked between the display cases.
At first, he'd planned to start by reading books on sealing.
But then he thought about it—weren't books in this sorcery field usually crammed wall to wall with hanja?
Not only were they hard to read, but their explanations were as unfriendly as could be; just thinking about them made his head start to ache.
‘As expected, looking at them directly is the fastest.’
Besides, he was confident when it came to deciphering formulas.
Dohyun stopped in front of the nearest display case.
Then he slightly loosened the suppression seal and gathered spiritual power around his eyes.
The formula engraved on the jar beyond the glass came into view.
Tiny circuits flowed densely over the outer surface.
Talismans and knots—all of it tangled together to form a single circuit.
It was binding the whole jar tightly like a chain.
‘...They really set a net around it.’
A barrier wrapped around the surface to keep whatever was inside from escaping.
The principle was simple.
It was just a circuit wrapped around a subspace to stop it from leaking.
‘Nothing special.’
Dohyun moved one step to the side and looked at the next display case.
This one held a round wooden tub.
It gave off a reddish glow, somehow looking unlike ordinary wood.
“What is this?”
“Ah, that one is.”
Gu Do-gyeom stepped over to his side.
“It's a sealing artifact for trapping water ghosts. They're so heavy with yin energy that normal artifacts won't hold them.”
“You have to make the inside from peach wood, which is strong in yang energy, and coat the outside with clay and fire it before you can seal them at all.”
‘Hmm.’
Even while listening to Gu Do-gyeom's explanation, Dohyun was already reading beyond it.
In the first place, when you look closely at every natural thing in the world, each one has its own circuit engraved into it.
The grain, as Dohyun called it.
This is what creates a material's inherent properties.
Along the surface of the clay wrapped around the outside, a grid-like circuit had been naturally etched.
A structure that could tightly bind water qi, like building an earth dike to block a waterway.
The principle of blocking water qi with earth.
The five-elements mutual-overcoming principle he'd read about in the apprentice diary.
More specifically, the principle of earth overcoming water.
In a way, it was only natural.
If a vessel leaks water, wouldn't you just fill the inside with earth?
A faint smile curved at Dohyun's lips.
‘So the grain of the material used to hold each attribute is different, too.’
The materials used for each sealing artifact differed depending on the thing they were meant to hold.
Because each material had a different circuit engraved into it.
The more he looked, the more fun it became.
As he kept scanning one display case after another, Dohyun's gaze stopped in one place.
In a corner of the display stand.
A small jar that seemed like nothing special.
Something was wavering above its mouth.
‘……Hm? What is this?’
Black wisps were rising from the formula sealing the mouth.
*
Meanwhile, Gu Do-gyeom was only more and more puzzled.
‘Is this really enough?’
He had clearly said he'd make it from now on.
Then naturally, Gu Do-gyeom had thought he would first look through his research materials.
He'd said he wanted to look around the Sealing Vault.
Yet he'd already been standing there blankly for quite some time, just staring at the display cases.
Was there some hidden meaning to it?
“If you need, I can take one out of the display case for you.”
“No, that's fine.”
‘Hmm.’
Then Gu Do-gyeom's eyes fell on the small gourd hanging from Dohyun's waist.
That thing that supposedly swallowed a Grade 2 spirit whole without any weakening.
Honestly, he wanted it.
What kind of formula was inside it? How was it built so that was even possible?
He wanted to hold it up in both hands and examine it right away.
‘…No, that wouldn't do.’
Gu Do-gyeom quietly averted his eyes.
There was nothing ruder than trying to pry into a sealing artifact's innards from its maker.
It was practically the same as asking him to hand over the vision he'd spent his whole life refining.
Instead, he brought up something that had only just come to mind.
“Come to think of it, I owe you my thanks.”
“…….”
“Since Master Do handled the matter I was supposed to deal with today, I'll ask the school for separate compensation.”
“Y-yes…….”
Dohyun replied halfheartedly, keeping his eyes fixed on the display case.
‘...As expected, he's on a different level.’
Gu Do-gyeom admired him inwardly.
Just calmly acting like it was nothing after capturing a Grade 2 spirit with his own hands—unless you were an absolute big-hearted man, that wasn't possible.
Of course, Dohyun himself was simply absorbed in the fun of reading the spellwork before him.
‘What is that?’
The small jar that had been bothering him since a moment ago.
The spellwork sealing its mouth.
It was shrinking little by little, as if being burned away.
‘...Oh? In that case…’
That was the moment.
Gu Do-gyeom's face stiffened too.
He was, after all, an authority on sealing studies.
He, too, had only belatedly noticed the faint tremor as the sealed formula twisted and distorted.
“Master, it's dangerous!”
Gu Do-gyeom hurriedly grabbed Dohyun's arm and yanked him back.
Just then.
Crash―!
The jar shattered as if it had burst from the inside, smashing the display case glass.
And then.
―Kikikikikikik.
A pitch-black mass surged upward.
A bloodshot-eyed shape twisted wildly in the air.
It was a vengeful spirit.
“...What the hell.”
Gu Do-gyeom's face turned deathly pale.
“Master! Step back!”
He quickly released the suppression seal.
Then he pulled a flute from his sleeve.
Bringing it to his lips, he blew a long note.
―Wheeeeee.
Spiritual energy poured into the sound of the flute.
The spiritual energy riding the sound waves mercilessly hammered the vengeful spirit in midair.
[Kieeeek― Kweeeek―!]
The thing writhed in apparent pain.
Dohyun watched it quietly.
‘...Is this the weakening technique?’
But.
‘...This won't be easy.’
The vengeful spirit only kept coalescing and scattering, and its energy didn't seem to weaken easily.
Judging by how much core power that thing had, it looked like this would take quite a while.
He'd been told to stay still.
But even so, it'd probably be better to help.
Dohyun loosened the gourd hanging from his waist and took it in his hand.
Then he grabbed the cord around its neck and started undoing the knot.
“No, you can't!”
Gu Do-gyeom shouted in shock.
That was only natural.
A sealing gourd was originally something meant to hold one thing at a time.
‘There should be a Black Mountain spirit in there. Did he forget!’
If he pulled out the stopper, the thing sealed inside would be released, and if he tried to force two of them in, the artifact would just burst apart.
“That—!”
But before he could stop him.
Pop!
Dohyun pulled out the stopper and casually held the gourd out toward the vengeful spirit.
But then.
Swoooosh!
Instead of the already-trapped thing coming out, the spirit was sucked whole into the gourd.
“…….”
Gu Do-gyeom froze in place, mouth hanging open.
‘...It's real.’
Honestly, just the fact that he'd captured a Grade 2 Black Mountain spirit without any weakening was already unbelievable.
But instead of weakening it, he was putting two of them into one gourd.
Was that thing an E-grade artifact too?
‘Wait... didn't he say he made it yesterday?’
How on earth―
‘...Crazy. What the hell is this, really.’
Meanwhile, Dohyun was simply pleased.
‘Nice. Caught another one.’
Brrr— Brrr—
The gourd vibrated wildly in his hand.
‘This thing... feels surprisingly good in the hand.’
For some reason, it felt like it might become addictive.
In fact, he had realized one thing while making it yesterday.
The existing gourd seemed to have a structure that could only hold one thing.
That said, hanging gourds all over himself would look pretty awkward.
So he'd built a trap structure into the inside of the mouth.
Easy to enter, impossible to get out once inside.
Dohyun pressed the stopper back in and wrapped the cord around the gourd's neck once more, tying it shut.
Clack.
The gourd that had been thrashing moments ago went quiet as if it were a lie.
“…….”
Gu Do-gyeom still looked dazed.
‘...What is he doing, just standing there with his mouth open.’
“When I looked closely just now, the spellwork was loosening little by little.”
Dohyun asked, pointing at the broken jar.
“Does this sort of thing happen often?”
“……If an artifact gets old, it's not unheard of. But it's very rare.”
As he answered, Gu Do-gyeom's face suddenly darkened.
“...Actually, during practice earlier, one broke loose too, so I was on my way back after dealing with that.”
That was when it happened.
A chill ran down his spine―
Gu Do-gyeom sensed something ominous.
‘Is this outside?’
Dohyun's expression changed slightly too. He seemed to sense something as well.
Dohyun slowly turned his head and looked at him.
“By any chance, are there other sealing artifacts here with spirits sealed inside?”
“…….”
“It doesn't look like there'd only be one or two.”
Gu Do-gyeom flinched.
Come to think of it, just how many spirits had been sealed in this school?
For practice use, for each professor's own research, and even ones entrusted to the school by outsiders.
They were practically scattered all over campus.
“Could all these energies be...?”
Gu Do-gyeom's face went white.
The moment he hurried out of the Sealing Vault with Dohyun and was just about to step out of the building,
“Kyaaah―!”
Someone screamed.
Students were running in every direction, and far off between the buildings, black shapes flickered.
It wasn't just one or two.
It was everywhere.
[Weeeeeng―]
Sirens then rang out across the entire campus.
[Students, please move immediately to the nearest evacuation shelter. Once again, we repeat—]
Released spirits were pouring out all at once across the campus.
Jiiing―
Gu Do-gyeom's phone rang loudly.
“Oh, yeah. I just saw it too.”
“...Yeah, I already brought out a bunch of gourds. The west gate? There's a professor there, right? Then I'll head to the training grounds first.”
After ending the call, Gu Do-gyeom turned to Dohyun for a moment.
“Master, please evacuate. Looks like things have gotten a bit serious.”
“…….”
However, the master didn't answer and only looked at the rampaging spirits far away.
“Master?”
Had he seen wrong?
For some reason, it looked like the corner of his mouth had lifted slightly.
“No.”
He lightly shook the gourd.
“I'm going too.”