#251
Ganghwan Realm (3)
“Hmm, so you’re saying there’s no map or anything like that?”
“Yes, yes! As you can see, a small mountain hideout like ours can’t afford something like that, nor do we really need one. We have a rough sketch that marks nearby mountain paths and village locations, but honestly, it’s more like a shabby doodle than a map. Yeeh…”
The bandit chief, Hwanglim Cha-ju, who had taken root in Yanghyeongsan, kept bowing while discreetly wiping off the cold sweat from his brow.
He was facing a youthful, handsome young man who appeared to be much younger than himself, yet he didn’t hold even a hint of condescension in his heart.
In the martial world where it wasn’t rare for those who seemed ordinary—like the woman or even a mere child not yet fifteen—to achieve remarkable levels of skill, being a bandit was indeed a precarious profession.
Unlike those ruffians who sit by a small mountain path, picking up pennies, anyone capable of establishing a mountain hideout, even in a small area, had to have some martial arts skills.
Let alone now, in a time of national turmoil with the collapse of a ruling nation and regional warlords and various military factions constantly vying for power.
It was no surprise that Gongpal was just barely scraping by at a level of martial prowess that could be considered elite…
‘Monsters? …No, is that a celestial being? Damn, what kind of freak storm is this all of a sudden!’
The young man before him was an unfathomable presence that even he could not venture to gauge.
When his subordinates first brought this pale-faced scholar, he thought they might have captured some precious offspring from a noble family in pursuit of ransom.
Although the attire he wore resembled a robe, the material and stitching were distinctly out of the ordinary.
‘Damn it, I should’ve realized when I saw his eyes and ears. Those damn fools! If he was that kind of monster, they should have told me sooner!’
He mistakenly dismissed the unusual looks of the pale scholar, thinking he might just be an oddity among scholars.
So before even properly listening to his men, he decided to assert his dignity as a chief and acted forcefully…
Chills…
Just after that.
The moment his gaze met the apathetic star-like pupils filled with boredom, he tasted a fear he had never even imagined before.
‘Crap, not that memory again…’
Gongpal, who was bowing respectfully before Harris, lightly brushed the goosebumps on his arm.
A chill ran through him, as if all the creatures of heaven and earth were staring daggers at him.
He had spent his life in the embrace of nature, living alongside the mountains, yet at that moment, the forest he had considered home felt as hostile as a predator’s den.
And the situation following that moment was precisely where he stood now.
“Hmm… Honnam Province, is that right? And the war is still ongoing.”
Harris, sitting on the beast-skin-covered chair that belonged to Gongpal, murmured to himself.
Despite his smooth voice like that of a jade rolling, to Gongpal, it sounded akin to the words of the king of the underworld.
Afterward, he had to wrack his brain alongside his subordinates for quite some time to provide the information Harris wanted.
‘I should have moved elsewhere sooner!’
Until that force of nature, practically a disaster, was suitably satisfied and decided to leave.
*
Hoo-whoosh—
An outline gliding through the sky as if it were a bird.
Harris, having gathered enough necessary information, set back on the road.
‘It’s been over ten years since that last information came through, hasn’t it? The situation seems more serious than what I initially researched.’
It was already known that the empire ruling this land had collapsed and wars had begun in various regions, but now, that chaos had solidified over more than a decade, resulting in a serious deterioration of public safety.
From provincial-level squabbles to fights at the county level, warfare continued unabated.
‘Honnam Province is no exception.’
Fortunately, large-scale wars weren’t as frequent these days compared to the initial outbreaks.
With the situation somewhat static, minor skirmishes fueled by mutual encroachment on each other’s territories were now the norm.
Among them, the biggest forces in Honnam Province were General Won-gang’s military faction, centered around Dongjeong Lake, the numerically-based alliance Dongjeong Shipe18 (洞庭十八寨), and the representative of the local Correct Faction, Hyungsan Pa (衡山派).
‘They said various smaller factions joined together based on their interests. I can only wonder how disastrous it must be for the gathering of rogues to take one of those spots.’
That was something he could confirm directly.
…Yes, right now, Harris was making his way toward Dongjeong Lake, the dwelling of Dongjeong Shipe18.
There wasn’t a significant reason to choose that destination.
Simply put— it was the closest place.
‘How long will I mess around at the outskirts when I don’t have much time? I’ll charge at the big guys first, and if needed, I’ll just take whatever I need!’
After all, Dongjeong Shipe18 was a den of thieves, so he didn’t feel guilty about it at all.
They must have forcibly collected tributes based on their strength, and if they got looted in return, they wouldn’t have anyone to complain to.
‘Casting the power of a spirit who exists in another dimension doesn’t seem to diminish too much. It must be thanks to the 5 million-point Dimension Barrier Mitigation, right?’
Plus, although Harris’s condition wasn’t 100 percent perfect, it was still far better than what he initially expected.
Perhaps due to being farther from the World Tree, the lethargy that had long filled his insides was fading somewhat.
‘Oh? Found another one.’
As he glided through the sky for a while.
Harris sensed a presence at the edge of his awareness and turned toward it, descending toward the ground.
Hwiwoo—
What entered his sight was a shallow natural cave nestled within a cliff crevice.
A location so cracked and uneven that it wouldn’t be easily noticed unless one looked carefully.
Once he landed there, he casually reached out—.
Grabbing the stem of a plant, he yanked it out smoothly.
Just like that, without any resistance, a root shaped like a human being emerged cleanly, with not a speck of dirt on it.
“That’s three now. This one is better than the previous two combined, isn’t it?”
Harris nodded in satisfaction as he examined it.
This root was a so-called spirit herb, a mysterious herbal plant filled with ‘energy’, the vital essence flowing in this world.
‘Is this the famed human-shaped ginseng? How intriguing. The root really does look like a human!’
Thanks to the characteristic of energy being light and free yet infinitely dense when it bundles based on a particular instance, many creatures in the Ganghwan Realm possessed an excessive amount of natural energy.
These were things rarely seen in Auterica, where the foundation was based on somewhat heavier and stickier mana.
This human-shaped ginseng, despite being a plant, had a spirit of its own that could conceal its energy, but for Harris, the high elf who felt the surrounding nature like his own body, locating such things was as easy as pie.
Even after filtering out those that seemed somewhat ambiguous, he already had three at hand that he deemed acceptable by his standards.
‘It’s not an actual spirit mountain, so the energy contained within isn’t that extraordinary.’
Even so, just gathering these from a mere passing location was no small feat.
If he truly set out to sweep through the notable spirit mountains in various regions, just how many would he gather…?
‘Hmm, I’ll have to remember this and implement it whenever I find the time.’
Everything he collected would greatly influence his growth.
Afterward, summoning the wind spirit Pascal to wrap himself in a whirlwind, he took a quick look at the ridge of the mountain nearby and then soared into the sky, speeding northward.
Whoosh—!
“Gaaak?! Th-those are…”
Thud!
And at that moment, the mountain ridge where Harris’s gaze settled.
An herbalist happened to catch sight of him, falling on his backside with his mouth agape.
He had heard of the extraordinary tales regarding the martial artists and their prowess, but not even those exaggerated stories included a figure freely soaring through the sky as if commanding the winds.
What’s more, that didn’t look like a martial artist at all…
“C-celestial being? No, a spirit!”
Having vanished too quickly to confirm, he certainly remembered one detail vividly: the dazzling golden light surrounding the head of that being.
As if the sun itself had descended to earth.
“…This isn’t the time for this!”
The herbalist rushed with urgency to the place where the celestial being had ascended, thoroughly searching the surroundings.
That earlier sighting was surely a sign bestowed by the celestial being.
“Ah!”
Then he found several roots of herbal plants that had grown around, affected by the energy of the human-shaped ginseng that Harris had deemed ‘below acceptable’ and had passed by.
He promptly knelt, prostrating himself in gratitude.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Heavenly deities! With this, I can… finally save that child… Krgh!”
An herbalist, desperately climbing dangerous mountains to save his child, had managed to attain valuable herbs after a few years of dwindling efficacy of the medicine collected, providing him with a ray of hope.
With this, not only would he be able to afford costly medicinal expenses, but he could also treat his family to hearty meat soup.
‘Arrived— Indeed, is this Dongjeong Lake? It feels like an ocean rather than a lake.’
Thus, unbeknownst to him, word began to spread of the celestial being who roamed the skies, donned with a golden halo.
*
When the decision was made to send Harris to the Ganghwan Realm.
At first, he found himself in a dilemma over how to conceal his unusual appearance.
‘The magical equipment brought from the other world might not work in another dimension filled with a different type of energy than what existed on Earth.’
It became common knowledge that magical equipment amassed by the wealthy in preparation for transportation was actually useless once they arrived in the new world.
If he wasn’t using a power that directly belonged to him, it meant there was no way to hide his true form.
‘And Harris, as a spirit archer, lacks that kind of ability.’
So how about wearing a mask?
However, that wouldn’t conceal the dazzling star-like eyes unique to him.
Despite the many frustrations, he couldn’t find a fitting solution.
While grappling with such thoughts, a sudden question crossed his mind.
‘Why? Is there really a need to go through all this trouble to hide myself?’
Harris was a transcended powerhouse, a master in the realm of the current dimension.
Based on preliminary investigations, very few—only about ten— that had reached such a level existed among the secluded experts in the current martial realm.
In such circumstances… why should he shrink away and cover himself?
‘No need for that! If I have a unique appearance, what can they do about it?’
Thus, he decided to act as boldly as he does now.
He prepared a martial arts-style attire that was easy to procure even on Earth, but that was just a minimal show of effort.
Hwiwoo—
Crash!
“Kyaah! S-save me…!”
Yet now, as he looked back, the reality was that perhaps finding a way to hide his appearance was a better decision.
This peculiar look combined with the unique spirit magic made him a bit conspicuous…
“Waaah—! A monster! A monster has invaded!”
“S-stop it! You idiots! How long will you just scream—! Cough!*”
“Eek! H-how are we supposed to fight that?! We can’t even get close!”
“I-I pray to the Amitabha… o-evil monster! Depart at once!”
…The reactions from those encountering him were much more violent than he anticipated.
Growl—
Crackle—!
A colossal storm whipped around Harris, creating a dense cloud cover in the sky.
Lightning sparked and crackled around him.
To anyone who looked, he seemed like nothing less than the great demon themselves, conjuring wind and rain.
‘No, it isn’t just my appearance…?’
Thinking about it, it seemed likely if anyone wielding such power suddenly crashed into their home, the response would be the same, regardless of their appearance.
‘Well, what’s done is done.’
Shrugging lightly, Harris redirected his attention to his target.
This was an area within Dongjeong Shipe18, the base of the Eoryong Clan.
It would become the first offering in his grand adventure through the martial world.
