Chapter 10. Dream Awakening (10)

Woo-Moon did it slowly at first. As he pushed and pulled the handle, the flames in the forge became stronger. He then operated the bellows more quickly, making the fire rage. As soon as the air went in, the flames grew bigger. He couldn’t help but feel hot.

‘This is fun.’

Woo-Moon's eyes shone like those of a child who had just found a toy. The fire’s intensity changing as he pushed and pulled the bellows’ handle amazed him so much that he no longer cared about Min-Sang's advice and just put more and more strength into it.

The fire became larger and fiercer, heating up both the forge and the entire blacksmith’s shop.

"Huh?"

Min-Sang had been looking at Woo-Moon in contempt, but this sight made him jump in surprise. Soon, however, he regained his usual sneer.

‘Right. Song Woo-Moon probably got his strength from his father, that guy is famous for his strength. But you need much more than strength for smithing. If he keeps working the bellows like that without technique or skill, he won't be able to endure the entire process.’

Just like everyone else, he was aware of Woo-Moon’s family circumstances. Of course, what people didn’t know was that with Woo-Moon’s qi cultivation, simply manning the bellows was far from enough to make him pass out from fatigue.

As if to prove himself, Woo-Moon continued to blow air vigorously. The heat in the forge grew greater and greater.

‘What the heck is up with this guy? He’s just using his strength with no skill whatsoever, so why isn’t he getting tired?’

Min-Sang was surprised. Despite his belief that Woo-Moon would get tired and stop soon, the man just continued to work the bellows as if he had unlimited strength.

White flames began to burst out one by one from the forge.

"What are you doing? Do you really think you can heat up the metal after you blow the flames everywhere like that? You have to gather all the flames in that part,” Min-Sang told Woo-Moon, pointing at the forge. "What made you think using the bellows is all about strength?”

Listening to Min-Sang’s advice, Woo-Moon tried his best to steer the fire in his desired direction, but it wasn’t as easy as he had thought. Eventually, Woo-Moon let go and stepped back.

"I don't know how to do it. Show me."

"Hmph! I told you to just give up. I’ll do it once, and you’re free to do whatever you want after that."

Since he had no work to do, Min-Sang wanted to rest, not teach Woo-Moon. Hence, he hoped Woo-Moon would soon reach his limits and give up.

Min-Sang held the bellows' handle and skillfully manipulated it. He exerted way more strength than Woo-Moon, yet he managed to keep the flames blazing in a single spot, rarely changing locations.

Woo-Moon carefully watched how Min-Sang moved the bellows’ handle, observing intently when Min-Sang put more power and when he used a softer touch, when he worked hard and when he paused a little. Watching the fire and Min-Sang's movements at the same time, Woo-Moon memorized all of his movements.

Woo-Moon’s intense focus remained even as sweat dripped down Min-Sang's face.

"Now try again, man. If you can't do this properly, then just go home. If you can't even blow the bellows, forget about making a sword.”

Maintaining concentration, Woo-Moon went to the forge and grabbed the bellows’ handle. When he pushed it, air went into the forge, strengthening the fire further. He pulled and pushed again.

As Woo-Moon repeated these movements, Min-Sang watched from behind, snorting in disdain. However, as he watched, his expression gradually changed.

"Huh?"

At first, Woo-Moon had seemed incapable of controlling the fire properly, but at some point, he had actually started to show a bit of skill, though he was still nowhere as good as Min-Sang.

Noticing Min-Sang’s surprise from afar, Mr. Choo checked on Woo-Moon, wondering what was going on.

‘Huh? Is it really his first time using the bellows?’

Working the bellows was, in principle, the easiest thing to do in blacksmithing. All the beginner needed was strength. It was hard to keep the flames up consistently at first, but no matter how stupid they were, they were able to do it in a few years.

However, using the bellows proficiently was something else altogether, let alone doing it after only a few attempts. Yet, Woo-Moon was already doing just that. More importantly, Woo-Moon's eyes were burning with intense determination.

In Woo-Moon’s head, Min-Sang's way of handling the bellows earlier repeated without pause, each repetition showing more detail than the previous one.

Having maintained an extreme level of concentration on the landscape painting for so long and having continuously trained his mind, he was now better than anyone else in the world at remembering what he had seen and embodying those movements accordingly.

Time passed by, just like that.

When Woo-Moon stopped and looked back, Min-Sang tried to hide his surprise. "Well, using the bellows is a blacksmith’s easiest task. Even I did that much in a day."

Mr. Choo’s eyes widened at Min-Sang's bragging. Looking at Woo-Moon, he said, "That’s enough bellows work. Would you like to try using the hammer?"

Woo-Moon's face brightened up. Learning new things was fun.

"Yes! Please teach me!"

"Alright, come back tomorrow morning. It’s almost dinner time. Shouldn't you help at the inn?"

"Ah! I didn’t notice the time... Yes, thank you!"

Before Woo-Moon knew it, the sun was already setting. He hurriedly said goodbye to Mr. Choo and ran toward the inn.

As he did, he heard Min-Sang shouting behind him.

"Don't come tomorrow! Hammering isn’t easy! You should just give up!"

Woo-Moon simply ignored him.

~

Woo-Moon began helping his dad as soon as he arrived, and when night fell, he left the house and grabbed a wooden sword he had made himself. It was certainly not a work of art, but still, it was made of the hardest birch tree among the ones near the house.

‘I’ll practice sword techniques instead of footwork today. It should be more fun.’

He had seen the Gentle Celestial Sword in his dream, and his heart was already pounding at the thought of actually practicing it. Of course, he was afraid of the sword exploding like before, but his expectations were high enough to suppress that fear.

Woo-Moon soon arrived at his usual training grounds. Holding his wooden sword, he swung it through the air once, then just stared at it, captivated by the beauty of his own sword. For quite a while, he remained motionless, with his gaze fixed on the sword.

He liked it. Perhaps wielding a sword and breathing with it was his fate.

Woo-Moon just stood blankly, forgetting the passage of time. An hour passed just like that.

Then, he woke up from his reverie and tried the technique he had used before: Raging Storm.

His qi began to circulate as he concentrated. It rose and rotated ever so naturally, according to the principles of the Forbidden Divine Art; his shoulders, elbows, and hands followed the movements it required.

Raging Wind generated unpredictable, destructive energy; Heavy Rain created a dense black net of sword qi that expanded in all directions. Just as he had imbued the two techniques into his wooden sword and was about to merge them into one, severe pain enveloped his arm. Though he had been doing just fine up until that point, he failed to execute Raging Storm.

"Ugh! What’s wrong with me?”

Woo-Moon once again cleared his mind and tried to do the technique. However, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t reach the same level of proficiency he had shown during his duel against Jin Won-Myeong the other day.

By the time dawn broke, he had tried to use Raging Storm hundreds of times, but he had never once succeeded.

Woo-Moon realized the reason just as he saw the morning sun rising.

The two techniques didn’t fuse into one. He couldn’t execute each technique perfectly by itself, and those imperfections meant that the two techniques clashed with each other.

'... Both Raging Wind and Heavy Storm need to be done perfectly, don’t they? For some reason, I think that's how they’re supposed to be used.’

After spending all night frowning, Woo-Moon now smiled, even though he still couldn't perform Raging Storm. He had finally found a way.

‘I’ll practice Raging Wind and Heavy Rain individually from now on.’

The day passed by quickly. As the night fell, Woo-Moon picked up his sword again, this time standing in a field, the crickets of bugs surrounding him.

The moment the Raging Wind’s image came into his mind, the wooden sword came to life. It swung sideways, executing an extremely powerful and destructive slash. Its following movements were unpredictable, and it irregularly jerked in different directions.

‘As expected, I can actually use Raging Wind!’

Of course, his execution wasn’t satisfactory, but the important thing was that he was able to use the technique, imperfect though it was.

Woo-Moon smiled. Then, he calmly lifted his wooden sword again and swung downward. One sword shadow split into two, two into four, four into eight... The countless sword shadows branched out, forming a net.

Heavy Rain didn’t show any destructive and unpredictable movements like Raging Wind, but its sword shadows covered such a large area and were so many that it didn’t need such unpredictability.

Woo-Moon then thought of attempting some other techniques of the Gentle Celestial Sword.

"Huh?"

He abruptly stopped, feeling both surprised and flustered. "Why can't I remember? I can't think of other techniques at all, except for Raging Storm."

He had learned the Gentle Celestial Sword after falling into that dream and staring at the landscape painting for quite a long time. It had many techniques, Raging Storm was just one of them, but for some reason, he couldn’t recall any of the others. His mind was a sea of white, as if he was lost in a mist.

The Gentle Celestial Sword hid in a fog so terrible he couldn’t see it no matter how much he focused his vision. It only showed the two techniques he already knew, Raging Wind and Heavy Rain, while the rest were hidden in the fog.

Woo-Moon agonizingly racked his brain, chasing after the Gentle Celestial Sword in his mind as if playing tag. However, the other techniques never appeared.

"I can't help it."

He gave up, but he didn't feel too bad. What he had learned and seen in the landscape painting reverie was the truth and he had no doubt about that. As long as he believed in it, someday, the Gentle Celestial Sword would surely reappear before him.

"I should perfect these two techniques for the time being."

There was still time left until five o’clock, so Woo-Moon practiced the two techniques to perfection.

* * *

After returning home, Woo-Moon cultivated for a while, worked out, slept for a bit, then headed to the stream. He then returned to the inn with two buckets full of water suspended in a yoke.

They needed water for many tasks, including cooking, drinking, bathing, and so on, so they needed quite the amount. Usually, Dae-Woong or Mak Sam, the only waiter in the inn, would fetch it, but the latter had just taken some days off from the inn to go to his hometown.

Yesterday, Woo-Moon had decided to do the task himself, but, instead of just one trip, he needed to do it twice or thrice in a row. It was more boring than he thought.

‘I shouldn’t be wasting my time fetching water. I can do it more efficiently.’

Making up his mind, he immediately thought of what to do. It was still too early for anyone to be up and about. As he walked along the street, his gait changed, and he started shuffling his feet and moving quickly from side to side.

If anyone had been watching him, they would have been shocked. Woo-Moon’s figure was blurry, almost as if there was fog surrounding him as he moved.

Woo-Moon was using the Divine Phantasm Step, the very footwork technique that he had learned from Jin Won-Myeong.