After finishing my conversation with Noya, I descended back to the town.

It was still not past noon.

The streets remained crowded, and the liveliness persisted.

I had felt the same at Yahwol Palace—this place had an oddly bright atmosphere.

Zhongyuan was also full of energy, but there, it felt rushed and heated. In contrast, this place carried a certain sense of ease.

What was different?

What exactly set it apart from Zhongyuan?

It felt like there was more to it than simply being a different world.

Curious, I looked around as I walked.

"Hmm."

Of course, simply observing wouldn’t reveal an answer.

No, to be honest, I wasn’t looking for an answer in the first place.

I was just watching because it felt peaceful.

That gentle tranquility was pleasant to see.

"They really put a lot of effort into this."

What had Noya said? That this place had been built over a hundred years ago?

For something created in just a century, it was astonishingly well-made.

As I quietly observed—

"Huh?"

I felt a gaze from somewhere.

Being watched was nothing unusual, but this time, something was different.

Narrowing my eyes, I followed the direction of the gaze.

Normally, I wouldn't have paid it much attention since it was just someone staring.

But—

"What is this?"

This time, there was emotion behind it.

And it wasn’t a pleasant one.

I traced the gaze to its source.

"Those people..."

I found the cause in the direction I was looking.

Among the unique-looking people of Mount Hua, there was a particularly small group.

The dwarf folk I had encountered at the forge before.

They looked at me with unease and fear.

With wariness. With resentment.

"Ah."

Only then did I realize why they were looking at me that way.

"It’s because of that incident."

The event that happened at the forge.

The situation that unfolded when I met the person in charge.

When I touched the glove he was wearing, my palm melted away. And when I revealed myself as a dragon, I felt the way their gazes changed.

That must have spread and spread until it reached them.

"So the rumors reached them too."

The children seemed indifferent, but the elders surrounding them were the problem.

Their determination not to let me get close was crystal clear.

What had they said before? That they had been persecuted and enslaved by dragons?

"..."

Recalling that, I made a slight motion as if ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ to step toward them.

"Heeek—!"

"Kh...!"

Immediately, they pushed the children behind them and displayed hostility.

Seeing that, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

With that level of reaction, there was no point in trying anything now.

"Not the right time."

In terms of my plans, I did need their help—specifically, the strength of the blacksmiths.

But at the moment, there was no good way to approach the situation. And I had other things to do, so I turned away for now.

It was a little disappointing to be looked at like that when I hadn’t done anything.

But—

"I’m used to it."

Being despised was nothing new to me, so it didn’t really bother me.

Besides—

"In the end..."

Whether they liked it or not,

I was going to use them.

So it didn’t matter if they saw me in a bad light.

And if I had to put it bluntly—

"I can just act the same way toward them."

So it was fine.

With that thought, I headed toward the teahouse where the turtle should be.

********************

After wandering around the town for a bit, I finally arrived at the turtle’s teahouse.

But—

“...What the hell?”

The sight in front of me left me dumbfounded.

And it was no wonder.

"Where is it?"

The teahouse that was supposed to be here had completely vanished.

Not even a trace remained.

It was as if it had never existed in the first place.

“...Ha."

Unbelievable.

What kind of nonsense was this? My face twisted in disbelief.

How could something just disappear like that? And why were there no traces?

It was utterly baffling.

"...Am I losing my mind?"

That seemed like the only explanation. Because this was something that shouldn’t be possible.

But—

"Doesn’t seem like it."

Unfortunately, I wasn’t crazy.

I still had too much to do to be losing my mind.

So I silently stared at the empty space where the teahouse had been.

"Someone’s playing tricks."

It had to be the turtle’s doing.

With that certainty in mind, I focused my eyes.

Wooong—!

A surge of power welled up in my heart, and heat rose to my eyes.

I activated my Heart Eye.

My vision trembled slightly as a reaction occurred.

The more I used Heart Eye, and the more familiar I became with them, the more I realized something.

That was—

"Every object contains energy."

No matter what it was, every single thing had energy imbued within it.

Heart Eye weren’t just about predicting movements and finding openings in an opponent.

They allowed me to observe the energy itself and perceive it faster than others.

That was probably the fundamental principle behind Paejon’s creation of Heart Eye.

"...Seriously, he was insane."

How the hell did he come up with something like this?

Both Tua Pacheonmu and Heart Eye—

The more I learned about Paejon, the more of an enigma he became.

"Anyway."

Every single person who had ever taught me was a monster.

Whether it was Shin Noya or Paejon, they were all the same.

Thanks to that, no matter how strong I became, arrogance wouldn’t be an issue.

Was that supposed to be a good thing?

"Not sure if I should be grateful for that."

But that was secondary.

With Heart Eye still active, I silently observed my surroundings.

Not just the trees, but the rocks, the pebbles—

Even the plum blossoms fluttering in the sky.

Each tiny object was imbued with energy.

While the amount varied depending on its size, the faint shimmering along the edges was undeniable.

I observed quietly before turning my gaze forward.

"It’s there."

I could see it.

Right in front of me.

The seemingly empty air shimmered with energy.

Judging by its form, it was definitely a house.

"Hmm."

Closing my eyes, I let out a breath.

Wooong—!

The flow of energy dissipated as I deactivated Heart Eye.

And then—

Whoooosh!!

Instead of channeling the energy into my vision, I redirected it into my fist.

Zzzzt.

A sharp pain surged through my arm.

The rings of Nine Flames Firewheel rapidly expanded and spun wildly, their force intertwining with the violent nature of Tua Pacheonmu.

I enveloped them in my will, preventing the energy from detonating.

At the same time, threads of spellcraft wove around it, reinforcing the containment.

The compressed explosive force generated by friction—

I gathered it into my fist.

Rumble.

The intense vibration shook my bones.

My veins bulged, but I forcibly controlled my body, steadying my stance.

Still, my posture was a mess.

Even so, just as I hunched my shoulders to unleash a strike—

"Stop—!"

Something burst out of the empty air.

It was the turtle.

"You insane bastard! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!"

He was so shocked that even his usually hidden eyes were visible.

The pupils, usually concealed by his thick brows, were as round as Go stones.

"Oh."

I released the energy I had been holding back.

In that instant—

Kuaaaaaah—!!!

A massive gust of wind exploded from my body.

As the energy I had been suppressing dissipated instead of being discharged as an attack, the resulting wind pressure tore through the surroundings.

"Ugh!"

The turtle staggered against the blast, barely managing to steady himself with his staff.

When the wind finally settled, his voice boomed in fury.

"You bastard, what were you trying to do just now?"

Tilting my head, I answered.

"You weren’t coming out, so I figured I’d make some noise to draw you out."

"Noise? Noise?!"

His face scrunched up in disbelief.

"What kind of lunatic makes noise like that?!"

"Well... you came out, didn’t you?"

Seriously, who told him to hide?

From what I could tell, he was deliberately concealing something.

And I wasn’t in the mood to bother finding a way to unravel it properly.

So I figured I’d just blow it away entirely.

I had even planned to use this as an opportunity to practice Cheonma Divine Art.

But before I could fire, the turtle had burst out in a panic.

"Judging by his reaction... would things have gone terribly wrong if I had actually fired?"

If he rushed out before I even launched the attack, it meant he hadn’t prepared any defenses strong enough to withstand it.

"You’re completely out of your mind. What the hell were you about to use?"

"I’ve been practicing something recently."

"...Practicing?"

"Yeah. It feels pretty useful, but I can’t use it often, so I’m getting used to it."

"You’re getting used to something like that? Do you even understand what you were trying to do just now?"

"Uh... something pretty great?"

"...I’m going to lose my mind."

The turtle shook his head, exasperation dripping from his voice.

What was his problem now?

"Is there some kind of issue?"

"Issue? Of course, there’s an issue. What you were trying to do just now defies natural law."

"Oh..."

It defies natural law?

Was it really that abnormal?

"One of those things alone is already absurd, and you tried to combine four? Have you completely lost it?"

"Well... I need to do it this way, or I won’t get the effect I want."

I had to create friction to amplify the power.

I had to endure until the moment of release, which meant reinforcing my mind with willpower.

And to prevent it from shattering, I had to bind it with spellcraft.

The turtle opened his mouth as if to argue, but—

"If you keep doing this, not just your body, but even your soul—"

He suddenly clamped his mouth shut.

It was clear he wanted to say more but was holding himself back.

"...Forget it. Just come inside for now."

"Now I can go in?"

"...If I say no, you’ll just blow everything away. What choice do I have?"

"Then, excuse me."

With confidence, I stepped toward where the turtle stood.

He still looked displeased, but I ignored it.

The moment I passed him—

The turtle’s teahouse suddenly appeared before my eyes.

As expected, it was all part of a spell.

Seeing the familiar sight, I nodded and said,

"You don’t have to serve me tea." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I wasn’t planning to, you brat."

Tsk. Tsk.

Clicking his tongue, the turtle walked ahead.

He pulled a chair over and sat down, so I took a seat across from him.

"...So what do you want this time?"

"You remember what you told me last time?"

"Last time?"

"Yeah. You said that when I truly needed you, I should come find you."

"..."

His thick eyebrows twitched, as if recalling his own words.

"It shouldn’t be time for that yet."

"I don’t know when that time is supposed to be. But I need you now, Elder. I need to get myself in order."

"In order?"

The turtle gave me a puzzled look.

Meeting his gaze, I calmly replied,

"Yeah. I need to prepare myself. I have to go see my mother, and I can’t go like this."

"Your mother? You’re going to see your mother here?"

"Yeah."

"Where exactly is your mother? And what’s with this sudden preparation...?"

"They say my mother is the ruler of this world."

"...What?"

The turtle’s eyes widened in shock.

Ah, well, widened was relative.

They were just a little bigger than Go stones now.

"No way..."

He stammered briefly, then fell into silence.

His thoughts seemed to race, his mind processing something.

And then—

"...I see."

He finally nodded, as if understanding.

His expression, however, looked strangely worn and desolate.

"So that’s why... That’s why it all makes sense."

"Elder?"

"You..."

The turtle looked at me.

"You’re the child of a Yohou (Demonic Fox)."

In that instant—

Rumble—!!

The very space around us trembled violently.