Chapter 161
Jinseong's appearance without the rags was shabby.
The flickering firelight cast a strange atmosphere on Jinseong, but his attire seemed too light to be suitable for fighting. At best, he wore thin leather clothes only slightly better than being naked, and his thin physique could hardly be called 'trained' even as a polite lie.
He looked far from being a warrior capable of holding his own, and barely passable as a soldier to be commanded by others.
Although he held a golden spear in his hand, and its tip was very sharp, it was no more than a toothpick compared to the wild boar.
Just looking at the body that had now swollen to far exceed the size of a house, it was doubtful whether a single spear could inflict any meaningful damage. Moreover, the wild boar's tusks were larger and longer than the lances used by medieval knights, and the saliva dripping from its mouth, full of impurity, looked ominous enough to rot a person's body with just a slight touch.
It wasn't just the difference between David and Goliath, but the difference between an ant and a human.
But Jinseong, despite his infinitely shabby appearance compared to the wild boar.
Despite his utterly pitiful physique, he raised his spear pretending to be brave and shouted:
"Here I will be reborn through trial and prove my humanity! Mother Moon! Bestow your light upon this metal carrying Father Sun's light and protect me!"
Jinseong wasn't wearing anything special.
He didn't have the clothes plastered with all sorts of sorcery and symbols that he used to wear when working as a mercenary, nor did he have the reinforced exoskeleton worn by mercenaries who fight using their bodies. He didn't have the iron-reinforced suit worn by mercenary mages, nor the carbon fiber protective gear that all mercenaries essentially wear.
He was only wearing leather clothes that could cover his body and leather combat boots.
But Jinseong didn't harbor fear.
Despite his armament being no different from being naked against the wild boar in front of him, he showed no fear at all.
"Father Sun bestowed light and forests grew in the world, Mother Moon bestowed darkness and beasts began to appear in the forests!"
The only thing he feared was repeating the shabby end he had experienced in the past and future.
"Now, in this space of grace you have bestowed upon me, I proceed with the trial I must rightfully undergo! Light of the Sun, Darkness of the Moon! Bestow your protection upon me here!"
Because the wild boar in front of him was meant to be the first step towards transcendence.
Jinseong raised the golden spear high and aimed at the wild boar.
Then, twisting his waist, he threw the spear into the air.
Whoosh-!
Although it was hard to say the momentum was explosive due to his lack of muscle, perhaps thanks to the experience accumulated while wandering battlefields, the spear flew towards the wild boar in a plausible trajectory.
The flying spear shone in the moonlight, emitting a faint, enchanting golden light and drawing a golden arch, and finally reached its target.
Thud!
Squeeeeeal-!
The spear stuck into the seemingly tough body of the wild boar.
It pierced through the seemingly tough hair as if passing through swaying seaweed, and through the seemingly tough skin as if stabbing a jellyfish washed up on shore with a knife.
The wild boar, with the toothpick stuck in its body, twisted its body as if in pain, screaming, and eventually stood up on its pillar-like legs and began to rampage.
Boom-!
Boooom!
The wild boar rolled around, raising dust, and as if angered by the pain, it rolled its eyes back and charged in all directions, smashing everything in sight.
The skeletal trees standing guard were uprooted with a cracking sound and flew far away, and the houses that were already no better than ruins now became unrecognizable in form. And in the process, the unfortunate evil spirits and demons standing in the wild boar's path of charge burst apart with death throes like roe deer hit by a car.
It was truly a hair-raising sight.
But strangely, even while smashing everything around, the wild boar didn't approach Jinseong.
As if it couldn't recognize Jinseong's presence.
Jinseong quietly watched the wild boar's rampage, then knelt down and shouted, stretching his arms as if worshipping the sky:
"Mother Moon! Conceal my body with darkness!"
Then he poured the salt he had placed on the A-frame carrier onto the ground.
As the salt covered the ground, Jinseong trampled on it and repeatedly mixed it with soil to make the color turbid, and only when the salt was mixed with soil particles and its original color could no longer be found did he grab a handful and scatter it in the air.
"Father Sun! Help me prove my bravery!"
The soil particles and salt scattered in the air soared high and then came down to the ground.
But in the process, as if someone had intervened, the soil and salt began to separate like magnets repelling each other with the same poles. And the separated soil and salt began to clump together with their own kind.
Soil with soil.
Salt with salt.
Thus, what was dark soil when scattered in the air became clumps of soil and salt when it came down.
Jinseong grabbed the salt clumps that fell to the ground and threw them into the pile of charcoal.
Whoosh!
Then the gently burning flame soared high into the sky as if it had absorbed oil, and Jinseong quietly watched until the flame distorted the darkness and seemed to reach the moon. And when he thought the time he wanted had come, he stood up abruptly and picked up the A-frame carrier.
He untied all the cloth tied to the A-frame carrier and threw it towards the fire.
Boom!
As the A-frame carrier touched the bonfire, charcoal powder containing sparks scattered in all directions with a thunderous sound, and the flame that had soared high into the sky seemed to hesitate for a moment and reduced its size.
But soon, as if realizing what it had to do, it began to change shape.
The pillar of flame that had soared high into the sky gathered into one point to form a shape similar to a ball, and as it gradually shrank and shrank, it created a shape like a furnace made of fire.
Whoosh.
The flame sent its snake-tongue-like tips inward as if even the heat escaping outward was precious. The tips of the flame that should move outward headed towards the A-frame carrier, and the A-frame carrier began to glow red as it was entangled in thin threads made of thin fire.
Hisss.
Then, with a sound like a snake, the heated A-frame carrier began to melt.
The molten iron carrying a bright red light flowed down as it was, and slowly flowed outward following the guidance of the flame.
The molten iron, containing charcoal and dust, flowed out of the flame in a straight line, and as if someone had intervened, it cooled instantly and formed the shape of a long spear. And when it reached a length similar to the golden spear Jinseong had thrown earlier, it broke off, creating a sharp tip.
It looked like a spear being made in a factory made of flames.
Jinseong grasped the air as if pulling the darkness wrapped around his body, and made a gesture as if covering his body with an invisible cloth. Then he made a few empty gestures, drawing out coldness from his finger bones.
And when his hand became very cold, he picked up the spear that had fallen to the ground.
Hiss!
The spear, still not fully cooled, made a chilling sound as soon as it touched Jinseong's hand, trying to burn his hand.
"Great Father Sun! You have bestowed upon me a hard and sharp weapon! I shall show you bravery as brilliant as the shine this weapon holds!"
Jinseong shouted like that and threw the spear at the wild boar again.
Whoosh!
Unlike before, the spear flew drawing a silver trajectory and stuck into the head of the rampaging wild boar.
Squeeeeeal-!
The wild boar, in the midst of its frenzy, screamed as the spear deeply pierced its head.
It made a sound that tore the eardrums and resonated with the soul as if asking for understanding of its pain, and as if unable to bear the pain, it rolled its enormous body around, devastating the village.
And Jinseong quietly watched the pain of the wild boar made from the cursed object.
Like a hunter hunting a beast.
Like a warrior trying to completely cut off the prey's breath.
And while watching like that, whenever a spear was pulled out from the flame, he unhesitatingly grasped it and threw it at the wild boar.
"With stone containing light!"
The spear from the flame stuck into the wild boar, drawing a silver trajectory.
"With Father Sun's protection!"
Every time Jinseong's hand moved, a spear stuck into the wild boar's body.
In the head.
In the belly.
In the legs.
In the neck.
"With a spear containing flame!"
As if trying to make a porcupine by throwing spears, Jinseong's hand moved incessantly, and each time, the wild boar rolled around, screaming in agony.
And...
"Here and now, I prove my bravery!"
Finally, the end came.
The enormous wild boar stretched out its limbs with its body laid out, and stuck out its tongue full of saliva that polluted the ground.
Its eyes full of impurity rolled back and lost focus, and its hair that had been like thorns lost its strength and drooped. And its skin became flabby, and it poured out the impurity flowing in its body onto the ground, using the wounds where the spears had pierced as outlets.
Thus, the wild boar.
The impure cursed object Jinseong had created.
Completed its role excellently.
As the wild boar fell, Jinseong urgently ran to the bonfire and grabbed a large piece of charcoal.
Hiss!
Jinseong, holding the burning charcoal, ran towards the fallen wild boar.
Then he threw the charcoal from a certain distance.
Thud!
The charcoal, flying while containing flames, hit the wild boar's head and fell to the ground.
And...
Whoosh!
With a sound like a monster howling, fire caught.
It moved using the impurity flowing from the wild boar as fuel, and gradually increased its size by consuming the fallen wild boar's carcass bit by bit.
The flame greedily enveloped the wild boar as if trying to devour an offering to the gods, and as if one shouldn't dare to look at what's being offered to the gods, it contained a dark color, completely hiding the form of the cursed object.
Jinseong, looking at this, knelt down and shouted:
"I have proven my bravery!"
Then the moon fixed in the sky shone its light upon him.
It shone a pale light on him like a spotlight on an actor, and began to change Jinseong's body touched by that light.
Although the change wasn't noticeable.
It was what Jinseong had been waiting for more than anything else.
Sss-
The cozy coldness created by the moonlight caressed Jinseong's skin once and then seeped into it, deep inside.
The coldness that seeped inside like that swam through Jinseong's body, resolving the imbalance he had.
The bones that had hardened containing the coldness originating from Lake Baikal gradually became soft as they mixed with the coldness contained in the moonlight, and the bones that seemed like they would shatter into pieces if touched gained an elasticity stronger than metal, bending but not breaking.
Moreover, their structure became dense, allowing them to easily withstand impacts, and even if damaged by impact, they could instantly return to their original shape using coldness as energy.
And as this structure formed, the imbalance contained in the body began to harmonize with the flame contained in the body, and the formless flame and formless coldness flowed together, creating a shape where they moved holding each other's tails.
It was truly free-spirited yet its nature resembled nature.
It didn't try to stay in one place like the dantian created by martial artists, but its speed of response to his will was comparable to qi.
It wasn't as efficient as magic power that makes its dwelling in the heart and moves through blood vessels, but there was clear moderation in its free-spiritedness.
The imbalance has been resolved.
Jinseong could realize that yin and yang had dwelled in his body and formed the shape of taiji.