The morning at the Hero's Sect had changed.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump-.
The sound of hammers echoed even before the sun had risen above the fortress walls.
Especially to the west of the Main Hall.
It was a spot that had been left vacant and overgrown with weeds after the Iron God Gang disappeared.
Now, twelve pillars stood there.
Four sturdy men, with ropes slung to raise a crossbeam, were matching their breaths, while another person next to them hammered in wedges without rest.
"One, two!"
"Lift!"
The ropes tensed, and the crossbeam slowly began to rise.
This wasn't the only place.
Behind the Training Ground, sixteen barracks were being erected in neat rows, and the sound of footsteps moving between them was constant.
Beyond that, a stone wall was also being extended.
The stone wall was only half-finished.
From inside the wall, the faint sound of a whetstone sharpening a blade could be heard.
Scrape-.
Scrape-.
Before, such sounds had never overlapped like this.
On the Training Ground, the noise had started much earlier.
"Your backs! Straighten your backs! If you collapse, you die! Do you understand? The strong live, and the weak will die!"
Hoae's shouts echoed over the wall.
A rough, tireless voice.
In front of him stood three lines of men holding wooden swords.
The front line was perfectly synchronized.
The tips of their swords stopped at the same height, their feet landed in the same spots, and their breathing was well-matched.
They were the members of the Hero's Sect.
The second and third lines were different.
Their sword movements were erratic, and their footwork was constantly out of sync.
Next to someone who had just managed to get into position, another would drop their sword.
"Again!"
Hoae's wooden sword cut through the air.
A sturdy man in the third line flinched and corrected his posture.
They were the defeated soldiers from the Vast Heaven's branch families and sects.
They were the ones who had been cut, sliced, and slaughtered by the Rakshasa Monks, pushed back until they barely reached Colorful Lake, and managed to survive.
They naturally had nowhere else to go, but the Training Ground of the Hero's Sect was wide open to them.
At one end, away from the lines, Seok Gyeong was drawing his sword alone.
He wasn't following Hoae's commands.
He moved with his own breath, at his own pace.
He was repeating a single trajectory dozens of times.
No one spoke to him, Seok Gyeong looked at no one, and Hoae didn't pay him any mind.
He knew well that Seok Gyeong could—no, that only alone could he—carve his own path, the path of martial arts.
Rattle, rattle-.
The wheels of a cart scraped against the stone ground as it passed in front of the Main Hall.
It was carrying not lumber, but rice.
With more people, the amount of food needed had also increased.
And.
There was one pair of eyes looking down on it all.
The roof of the Main Hall, the highest point in the Hero's Sect.
Dong Bongsu stood right in the middle of it.
"..."
He silently surveyed the entire Hero's Sect and then the whole of the River Capital for a long time before stepping down from the roof.
Step, step.
He slowly walked past the construction area.
The smell of sawdust wafted between the pillars, and amidst the sounds of men moving materials, someone could be heard calling out measurements.
In front of the barracks area, Jin Hagyeong was visible.
He was squatting next to an injured man, personally wrapping his bandages.
Hearing the footsteps, his head turned toward Dong Bongsu.
His back bent in an excessively deep bow.
The meaning was obvious without asking.
Dong Bongsu gave a slight nod of his chin and walked past.
He could feel the presence of the man straightening his back only a long while later.
The Main Hall.
Upon entering, Jeon Rahwa was already seated.
Piles of letters and documents were stacked like a mountain on the table, and next to them lay a brush with its ink still wet.
She looked up at the sound of his footsteps and immediately pushed a teacup toward him.
"You're late?"
"The roof was nice."
"That damned roof. Why don't you just set up a house with the roof?"
"Now you're even jealous of a roof?"
"...Are you crazy? And besides, there has to be something to be jealous of in the first place, right?"
Pfft-.
Dong Bongsu chuckled lightly and, instead of answering, picked up the cup and took a sip.
At that, Jeon Rahwa sighed and unfolded a letter.
"The construction will be finished up to the west side in ten days. We have enough lumber, but we're short on stone, so I've opened a route with the Branch Leader of the Bae Dal-pae. We should be fine from the next shipment."
"Huh? Did I order that?"
"You didn't."
"Then why did you do it?"
"You were going to order it anyway, right?"
Grin.
Dong Bongsu, no, Kim Rae-won smiled.
"You know me well."
"That's a compliment, right?"
"Yeah, a compliment."
"I'm telling you in advance... don't pat my head."
Kim Rae-won's hand immediately came up.
As a natural consequence, Jeon Rahwa's hair was mercilessly ruffled.
"...Ah, really!"
Though she grumbled, her hand moved smoothly as she turned over the letters.
It was the handiwork of someone who had everything already organized in her head.
"Hoae has been running the training since dawn, so a system is taking shape."
"But?"
He put down his cup.
"They're not our people yet."
"Who?"
"Most of the people participating in the training."
"Ah, the people from Vast Heaven?"
"Yes."
"..."
"Will it work?"
"What?"
"Them becoming people of our Hero's Sect."
"You said you're running them through it every day, right?"
"Yes? Is that... all the basis you have?"
"If the Sect Leader says it, it's the basis."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. What a great line of reasoning."
As Kim Rae-won, he took another sip of tea and continued speaking while looking at the defeated soldiers outside the window.
"Those people have nowhere to go, they eat with us, sleep with us, and train with us... Won't they eventually join us?"
"I wonder. Will it go that smoothly? They're people from the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, after all."
"Well, whether they do or not, that's their problem to figure out."
"Yes, that's true."
Then for a while, Jeon Rahwa's beautiful lips opened and closed several times.
It wasn't that she had nothing to say, but that she had too much to say and couldn't choose a single thing.
In the end, she turned a page of a letter and changed the subject.
"Did you hear that Trigram Master Yan and Trigram Master Myo have been watching Warrior Seok train from a distance all this time?"
"Ah? They haven't left yet?"
Jeon Rahwa smiled.
"Yes, both of them haven't gone back yet and are just eating our food."
"Well, I guess that's their way of earning their keep. Let them be."
"Yes. Oh, and a message came from Branch Leader Bae this morning. It's about the current trends and situation in the Jianghu, but I haven't opened it yet."
"Leave that too. I'll look at it later."
Jeon Rahwa pushed one letter to the edge of the table.
With that, her report was over.
It was quiet for a moment.
Jeon Rahwa was moving her hands as if organizing the letters, but Dong Bongsu knew very well that she had picked up the same letter for the second time.
Then, finally, Jeon Rahwa let out a long sigh, looked at him straight, and opened her mouth.
"...You."
"Yeah."
"I'm just curious."
"Yeah. Say it. Stop hesitating."
"...How can I become as strong as you?"
The hand on the letter had stopped.
That day, when the mountain split and the sky was dyed with color.
Jeon Rahwa had also been standing under that light.
Dong Bongsu put down his cup.
"You have to eat a lot of food."
"Ah, don't joke around... I'm serious."
"I am being serious."
Jeon Rahwa looked up.
The expression on Kim Rae-won's face was, as always, a roguish smile.
But Jeon Rahwa knew there was something behind it, even if she couldn't grasp it.
"Eat a lot, sleep well, and work hard. You know all that by now, don't you?"
"...That's something you say to a child."
"The things you say to a child are the truest, you know?"
Jeon Rahwa pouted.
But she didn't deny it.
Dong Bongsu pretended to scratch his temple and said.
"What are you going to do if you get stronger?"
Jeon Rahwa smiled.
The corners of her mouth went up, but her eyes didn't curve.
"I'm the milestone, aren't I? Yours."
"..."
"If I'm a hero's milestone, I have to become more hero-like."
"Well, I'm no hero. But let's say that's true... what is being hero-like?"
"Heroic..."
Her words broke off once.
The hand holding the letter paused for a very brief moment.
"Heroically... I will take revenge."
"..."
"Because I already have more than enough of a great cause."
Dong Bongsu, no, Kim Rae-won didn't answer.
Because he knew all too well what she meant.
He just picked up his cup again and took a sip of the now-cold tea.
Dong Bongsu remained seated silently for a while, not getting up.
Jeon Rahwa also didn't feel the need to leave.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached and stopped outside.
"Next time... be sure to tell me properly."
"Alright. Because my great cause is you."
"..."
Jeon Rahwa blushed slightly and exited through the back door.
Dong Bongsu looked toward the door without putting down his teacup.
He had been waiting for a while, but the presence outside the door repeatedly took one step forward and one step back.
After this happened several times, Dong Bongsu spoke.
"Come in."
The presence stopped, and soon the door opened.
It was Jin Hagyeong.
The one-armed swordsman hesitated once more at the threshold before finally stepping inside.
"Have a seat."
Dong Bongsu indicated the seat across from him with his chin.
Jin Hagyeong's shoulder was raised on one side as he sat down.
His body must still remember the weight of the missing arm.
"...There is one thing I must ask, Sect Leader."
"Speak."
"I wish to send a message to the Main Sect."
"..."
"I feel I must report the fate of the two hundred."
"Why do you ask me for permission for that?"
Jin Hagyeong's eyes flickered up once.
"To be honest, I... don't know. Perhaps it's because the weight of our benefactor's grace is too heavy... or perhaps our hearts are deceitful."
Dong Bongsu smiled.
Outwardly and inwardly.
"Send it as you wish."
"...Thank you, Sect Leader."
"There's no need to thank me. And."
"..."
"People are creatures who live by following their hearts."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Kim Rae-won fiddled with the cold cup.
"In any case, if you send a message, it seems the people from Vast Heaven will come to get you."
"..."
"When will you leave?"
It was quiet.
Jin Hagyeong's gaze swept over the table.
The pile of letters that Jeon Rahwa had organized.
The brush with dried ink.
The things that daily life here has built up.
"...I still don't know."
It was an honest answer.
Kim Rae-won didn't smile.
It was a face that held neither a roguish grin nor the dignity of a Sect Leader.
"Well, as I just said, if you don't have to go, you don't have to. If that's the direction your heart takes you."
Jin Hagyeong's gaze rose straight up and met his eyes strongly.
"What is that supposed to..."
"Exactly as it sounds. We have enough food here."
Jin Hagyeong took a breath in, then out.
That was the end of it.
His head bowed deeply.
The weight of it was different from his bow in front of the barracks earlier.
Kim Rae-won didn't answer.
He only fiddled with the empty cup.
Jin Hagyeong stood up.
The sound of his footsteps as he opened the door and left had none of the hesitation it had when he entered.
Dong Bongsu's gaze fell on the empty cup.
Whether they stayed or left.'
For now, it will be up to Vast Heaven's will.'
The letter Jin Hagyeong was sending would be nothing more than a single dot on the picture Vast Heaven was already painting.
Having them all join the [Guild Window] at once was a very positive sign, but it was still too early to judge and act rashly.
Click.
He opened the System Window.
First, to organize the things he had been putting off.
▣ Hero Stats
◆ Hero History: 56
◆ Rank: ★★ First-Rate (50~99)
◆ Fame: 47
◆ Infamy: 0 '56'
He hadn't touched it since returning from Colorful Lake.
It was the value that had risen all at once after dealing with the Rakshasa Monk Corps and the cultivator.
Click.
He switched to the Quest Window.
▣ Completed Quests
[Guild] Threshold of Growth
└─ ✅ Complete (Guild Member Cap +25, Guild EXP +300)
[Sudden] Rakshasa of Slaughter
└─ ✅ Complete (2/2)
Click.
The Skill Window.
▣ Skill List
≪Owned Skills≫
• 『Faith Arrow Lv.1』
• 『Hero's Aura Lv.1』
• 『Shield of Faith Lv.2』
≪Traits≫
• 『Faith Sight』
• 『Faith Weight』
≪Unlockable Skill≫
• 『Faith Judgment Lv.1』 『Y/N』
• 『Hero's Blessing Lv.1』 『Y/N』
Two lines were floating side by side.
Click.
『Faith Judgment Lv.1』
[Advanced Magic] [Area] [Holy Attribute]
― When the hearts of those who believe in the hero gather, that faith descends as a judgment from the heavens. The more believers there are, the heavier the judgment becomes. Rains down sacred light, condensed from the faith in the hero, to inflict Holy attribute damage on all enemies within range. Damage increases in proportion to the number of people who believe in the caster. One person's faith is but a single ray of light, but the faith of a hundred becomes the sun.
Mana Cost: 150 MP
Cast Time: 3 seconds
Cooldown: 300 seconds
Effect Range: 50m radius around the caster
Base Damage: 100 (+ Faith Bonus): Damage multiplier based on Trust +10~50% (cumulative): Additional damage to Unorthodox/Demonic type enemies × 200%: Casting is canceled upon being hit
And also.
Click.
『Hero's Blessing Lv.1』
[Advanced Magic] [Area] [Healing] [Holy Attribute]
― A hero's touch must reach the wounded. Bestow a warm light upon all those you wish to protect. Converts the hero's faith into light to restore the health of all allies within range. The amount of healing increases in proportion to the number of people who believe in the caster, and simultaneously purges status effects (poison, bleeding, energy exhaustion, etc.). It is a miracle unique to a hero, granting the strength to not fall even in the midst of a battlefield.
Mana Cost: 120 MP
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Cooldown: 180 seconds
Effect Range: 30m radius around the caster
Base Healing: 150 HP (+Faith Bonus): Healing multiplier based on Trust × 1.3 (stackable): Purges 1 status effect (Poison, Bleeding, Energy Exhaustion, Internal Injury, etc.): Unable to move while casting, casting is canceled upon being hit
An area-of-effect attack skill to wipe out a large number of enemies?
Or a wide-area healing skill to heal multiple allies?
Dong Bongsu didn't take long to make his decision.
Click.
The 'Y' for one of the two was pressed.