Chapter 42
“What? You already finished it?”
Professor Goo paused with his tea halfway to his lips.
His eyes went wide.
“I-is that really true?”
“Yes.”
I pulled the gourd from inside my clothes and gave it a light shake.
It was the gourd I had finished engraving overnight by adapting Si-yun’s spell formula.
“In just one night....”
Professor Goo trailed off, staring fixedly at the gourd.
He seemed unable to believe it.
“Hahaha....”
Then he suddenly laughed.
“Honestly, Master Craftsman, you keep surprising people over and over.”
His hand trembled slightly as he set down his teacup.
“It’s a dead-end technique. Even the most renowned sealing scholars could devote their entire lives to it and never so much as touch it.”
“And you finished it in just one night....”
He shook his head.
Si-yun, sitting beside him, looked equally dazed.
She probably hadn’t expected her own spell to be reborn as something like this.
Still, it was too soon to be surprised.
I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes yet.
“I just finished my own work as well, so I’d like to test it. Is there any way to do that?”
To test it properly, I’d need a cursed spirit with enough lingering will to manifest a spirit body.
But they said they didn’t even have the sealing technique for creatures like that in the first place.
...Looks like it won’t be easy to get one.
Just as I was thinking that,
“There is a good way.”
Professor Goo stood up from his seat.
“Follow me.”
*
On the way out of the research building, as we crossed campus,
I suddenly got curious and asked,
“So why did all the seals suddenly come undone?”
“Well....”
Professor Goo, walking ahead, scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“It’s still under investigation by the bureau, so I don’t know the details myself.”
He lowered his voice a little.
“Seems like someone tampered with them on purpose.”
...Hmm.
Come to think of it.
There was no way that many seals had all broken at once on the same day by coincidence.
Still, it wasn’t really my business.
I gave a casual nod.
As we exchanged a few more words,
“We’re here. This way.”
In the middle of an area surrounded by old-fashioned halls.
It was a broad training ground made by packing down the earth.
Students were practicing something here and there with animals in tow.
*
This, I was told, was the practical training ground for the spirit husbandry department.
Far off, students were each doing something with their own beasts.
Since it was the spirit husbandry department,
I thought they’d be taming some decent-looking familiars or something.
...Not as impressive as I expected.
Dogs. Monkeys. Cows.
They were all the kind of animals you’d see on some rural farm.
There were a few unusual ones too, like raccoon dogs, wildcats, and eagles.
Somehow, they all had a very rustic feel.
...Maybe because this is Korea.
Ah, if this were some witchcraft university in Africa, they’d probably have at least a cheetah or a lion.
Where had all those cool-looking familiars Dokkaebibul had bragged about gone?
Things like giant centipedes or imugi.
Social media really can’t be trusted.
...Still, this was probably the tutorial zone of the occult world.
Maybe they were like starter familiars?
Anyway, what a disappointment.
As I was looking around with a very indifferent expression,
“These guys here are also in the process of becoming spirit beasts.”
Professor Goo pointed at the chicken coop in front of us.
I peeked inside.
...They just looked like ordinary chickens.
“As you know, when lingering will grows too strong, it can forge a body of its own.”
Like a vengeful ghost gaining a spirit body.
“This thing called a spirit beast is similar, if you think about it.”
Professor Goo adjusted his glasses.
“If you keep feeding a beast spiritual power, its body gradually changes into spiritual power.”
...So.
As spirit-beastification progresses, the things that make up the body are gradually replaced by spiritual power.
And when that replacement goes all the way and it becomes a complete spirit beast,
its body becomes nothing but a mass of spiritual power.
In other words, it becomes a spirit body.
Hmm.
I slightly loosened the suppressing seal and gathered spiritual power around my eyes.
Then the beasts in the cages began to look different.
Things that looked perfectly normal on the outside were, on closer inspection, already about half converted and shimmering with spiritual power.
...Their bodies really are turning into spiritual power.
Awakening, huh.
I’d heard about it from Dokkaebibul.
If you raise a familiar all the way into a spirit beast, it finally “awakens” after its last molt.
The problem was that this awakening was basically pure luck.
No matter how carefully you raised one, when you opened it up, you often got a low-tier one.
Only once in a while would you hit the jackpot.
In other words,
...it was like a gacha pull.
“Then I guess we’ll need one that’s already finished its final molt to test it.”
Professor Goo nodded at my words.
“Yes. There should be a few like that in this department. I’ll go bring the professor in charge for a moment.”
With that, Professor Goo stepped away.
......
Far away, students were still busy practicing with their familiars.
On one side of the wide open lot, only Si-yun and I were left standing there.
Just as a brief silence settled in,
Cock-a-doodle-doo—cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck—
Suddenly, one of the chicken coops shook noisily.
What is it now?
Inside the cage holding several birds,
one of them was thrashing around like crazy.
Cluck-cluck-cluck—
Then,
Flap!
It kicked off the wire mesh and sprang out of the cage.
And then immediately,
“Eek!”
It charged at Si-yun.
“W-wait! Why are you coming at me—”
Cluck-cluck-cluck—peck peck!
“Ow! N-not the head!”
The chicken pecked at Si-yun’s head mercilessly.
She covered her head with both arms and stumbled backward in a panic.
Flap—
“Hiiik!”
Before long, it flew up and started wildly pecking at Si-yun’s shoulders and chest.
“W-where are you pecking! W-wait! Not there...!”
Si-yun clutched her collar, her face bright red.
One by one, the buttons on her blouse came undone precariously, and through the disheveled opening—
...Hmm.
I casually averted my eyes.
This won’t do.
“Get over here.”
I reached out and snatched it by the nape of the neck.
Then I let a little spiritual power flow out.
...And then.
Cluck, cluck....
The thing that had been raging just a second ago went limp like a lie.
Cluck-cluck-cluck... cluck....
It trembled violently, its pupils quaking.
...Now it’s calmed down a bit.
“......”
“......”
Before I knew it, I came to my senses.
Si-yun was staring straight at me, her face red as a beet, while still clutching her collar.
Messy hair, flushed cheeks.
“...Y-you saw it?”
“...No.”
“......”
“...Not at all.”
Si-yun hastily fastened her buttons and hung her head.
...No need to be that embarrassed.
Pretending not to know anything, I turned my eyes back to the chicken in my hand.
Just then, Professor Goo came back with someone in tow.
It was a middle-aged man with a kindly face and a completely bald head.
He tilted his head when he saw us.
“...Did something happen?”
“No.”
I calmly put the chicken back into the coop.
“Nothing at all.”
Beside me, Si-yun coughed awkwardly, her face still red.
Professor Goo introduced the man.
He said he was the professor in charge of the spirit husbandry department.
“Well... as of now, there aren’t any subjects that have completed full spirit-body conversion.”
The spirit husbandry professor looked troubled.
“We just sent all the awakened ones up to the bureau for rank assessment a little while ago.”
Hmm. Then what now?
“Oh, right.”
The spirit husbandry professor continued as if he had suddenly remembered something.
“It’s not owned by the school, but among the familiars students are raising, there is one that’s in the middle of its molt.”
Then he waved toward the other side.
“Hey, Jisu! Bring that one over here for a second!”
“Yes, Professor!”
A female student hurried over from the other side.
Cradling something carefully in her arms.
Then she bowed politely to Professor Goo and the spirit husbandry professor.
“And this is...”
When she saw me, her pupils trembled slightly.
“M-Master Craftsman Do...?”
...Lately, everywhere I went, I seemed to get this same reaction.
“You said this one was in the final stage of molting, right? It’s not finished yet?”
“Y-yes!”
Looking at what she was holding.
...It’s a chicken too.
Another chicken.
By the way, did they really need to raise creatures like that and carry them around?
They didn’t seem like they’d be much help in a fight.
“Let’s see how far along it is.”
He gave the student a look.
“Yes!”
The student gently stroked the chicken perched on her arm.
“There, there, good boy. Our Bongi.”
Then she gathered spiritual power at her fingertips and slowly began to feed it in.
Then,
Fwoooosh—!
It spread its wings wide, and its entire body was suddenly engulfed in blue flames.
...Oh.
That’s badass.
This is actually pretty cool.
I take back what I said earlier about it looking useless.
That alone was enough to pass on style points.
“This one was born with an affinity for fire—”
The spirit husbandry professor added with a pleased smile.
“And Jisu here happens to be a student who handles fire-attribute spiritual power, so she kept feeding it that and raising it steadily.”
“Spirit fowls that wrap themselves in an attribute like this are usually quite difficult to raise. She did a very good job.”
The spirit husbandry professor muttered, stroking his chin.
“Hmm. Just a little more now.”
On closer inspection, only the tip of its left wing still remained in the ordinary shape of a chicken.
“...Its molt still isn’t fully done.”
It was cool, though.
But if it wasn’t a complete spirit body, it was meaningless for testing.
“That’s a pity. It has to be a complete one.”
When I said that,
“Ah! I think it might be able to do it if I just push a little more...! Just a moment.”
The student hurriedly drew up even more spiritual power.
At that moment, the spirit fowl’s flames wavered precariously.
“W-wait, Jisu. It’s still unstable, so if you do that—”
Right when the spirit husbandry professor tried to stop her.
[Kkyaaaak—]
The spirit fowl suddenly let out a piercing scream.
Fwoooooosh.
Blue flames roared fiercely in the air.
Feathers burst out from its head, and the flames swelled several times over in an instant.
At last, the final molt was complete.
“I-it’s done!”
But then.
[Kwee...?]
...Something was off.
The one that had been calm just moments ago suddenly started rolling its eyes wildly.
It looked startled by the sudden physical change.
Fwoosh—
[Kweeeek—!]
The spirit fowl spat fire from its beak and shot into the sky like a mad thing.
“B-Bongi?! What are you doing? Come down!”
Every flap of its wings sent blue flames scattering everywhere.
Wherever the sparks landed, the ground was scorched black.
The other animals practicing nearby panicked and went wild, and the students scattered screaming.
“Eek!”
“Watch out! Watch out!”
In an instant, it turned into chaos.
“Oh no, that one’s seriously agitated!”
But the spirit husbandry professor’s expression stiffened as he looked up at the spirit fowl.
“Th-that’s... semi-special grade...!”
So the rank only gets decided after awakening.
Of all things, it looked like he’d ended up with something incredible.
The spirit husbandry professor hurriedly pulled a lasso from his waist.
He loaded it with spiritual power and hurled it into the air.
Swish—
The rope lengthened and instantly wrapped around the spirit fowl’s body.
[Kweeeeeek.]
It struggled and screamed.
As expected of a veteran, his skill at handling spiritual power was on another level.
The spirit husbandry professor gritted his teeth and pulled on the rope.
He poured spiritual power into the rope and went straight into a tug-of-war.
However.
Crk.
A strange sound came from the rope in the professor’s grip.
I glanced at the rope.
...Oh no, that’s bad.
Inside the rope, one of the circuits that prevented attribute erosion had snapped.
It seemed the ritual tool was too old to withstand the two energies at once.
Sure enough,
Fwoooosh—
The lasso that had bound it was instantly engulfed in flames.
Thud.
It burned through helplessly.
“...Can’t be helped.”
I took the gourd out of my chest.
Perfect timing.
I was going to test it anyway.
I pulled out the stopper and pointed the gourd’s mouth at the spirit fowl.
Then I let spiritual power flow through.
Vwoooom—
Spiritual power shot out from the gourd’s opening and instantly bound the spirit fowl’s body.
[Kwek—]
It writhed in a desperate struggle.
The wave of spiritual power gripping the spirit fowl slowly probed through its body.
The wave rippled as it swept through every nook and cranny.
Searching for the cord linking soul and body.
At last.
Tap.
The sensation of touching something.
...Found it.
Srrk.
The wave of spiritual power gently wrapped around that cord.
Now!
I immediately surged spiritual power into it.
I yanked the wrapped spiritual power with a short, sharp pull.
KWAACK—snap.
The cord linking soul and body was severed in an instant.
Fwoooosh—
Once the supporting cord vanished, the fierce flames quickly died down.
And then.
Swoooooosh.
The yellow soul that slipped free from the body was sucked into the gourd.
The spirit body, now stripped of its soul,
shrrr....
drifted silently down to the ground like burned ash.
Brrr— brrr—
The gourd vibrated wildly in my hand.
...Oh.
A shiver ran through me.
This one feels even better.
It was electrifying.
And there was the thrill, almost like a minigame, of injecting spiritual power at just the right moment to find the soul-thread.
Mm-hm.
Very nice. Excellent.
“Th-this...!”
The spirit husbandry professor approached from behind.
“How...! How on earth did you suck in a spirit beast?!”
“And a semi-special grade at that...!”
He stared intently at the gourd in my hand.
Well, it was understandable that he’d be shocked.
I gave the gourd a light shake.
I could feel the spirit fowl calmly stirring inside.
“...B-Bongi?”
Meanwhile, that student was looking blankly at the spot where it had disappeared.
She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Oh, right.
She’d be shocked.
I should let it out again.
I pulled out the stopper again and tilted the gourd lightly.
Srrrk.
The yellow soul flowed back out of the gourd.
Slowly, a spirit body began to be shaped into the form of a chicken.
Soft feathers sprouted, and two little feet touched the ground.
Soon enough.
The spirit fowl, returned to normal,
tilted its head and looked around as if nothing had happened.
Cluck... cock-a-doodle...?
“B-Bongi!”
The student ran up with tears in her eyes and hugged it.
Heh.
Smiling lightly, I turned to Professor Goo.
“Professor.”
I tipped the gourd toward him.
“It seems it’s finished.”
“......”
“......”
When I looked back.
Professor Goo, the spirit husbandry professor, Si-yun, and the other students alike.
They were all staring blankly back and forth between me and the gourd, mouths hanging open.
Well, this was more than enough to count as a successful test.