Chapter 99: How to Be Seen as a Man (4)

Eunyoung Noona took me to a private training facility located in the basement of her house.

As expected of a facility she built back when she was still an S-class Hunter, her private training facility had outer walls made of quite durable materials.

Yet, the walls still bore various signs of cuts and damage.

Most of them were likely the results of the training left behind by S-class Hunter Kang Eunyoung and A-class Hunter Kang Hye-eun.

“First, try holding a sword, okay?”

“Yes.”

Following Eunyoung Noona’s words, I picked up the sword and took a stance just like I usually do when swinging it.

Before officially enrolling in Hunter Awakening High School, I recalled exactly what she taught me.

“Alright, your outward stance looks fine, so then we should start with how to sense your inner energy first.”

“How to sense my inner energy?”

“Yeah, how to sense your inner energy.”

Saying that, Eunyoung Noona took out an old greatsword from the storage and held it, striking the same pose as me, showing me how.

Before long, a purple aura began to flare around her body.

“Whoa…”

Even though she retired over a decade ago, seeing Eunyoung Noona’s still robust energy made admiration naturally spill from my lips.

“Inner energy is essentially vital energy and magic power. With green as the baseline, the closer it is to purple, the more it takes on the properties of vital energy, and the closer it is to red, the more it takes on the properties of magic power. You know this much, right?”

“Yes, I learned that at school before.”

“The closer it is to vital energy, the easier it is to enhance physical abilities or process it into pure inner energy, while the closer it is to magic power, the easier it becomes to convert it into magic and form circuits.”

Come to think of it, Cha Yuri always had red magic power shimmering around her body every time she used magic.

Thinking about it now, that red magic power meant she was closest to being a mage who could use pure magic power.

Do Sihee used blue inner energy as arcane arrows while simultaneously enhancing her physical abilities, meaning she wielded a power close to a hybrid form.

Looking at it that way, the purple inner energy that appeared around Eunyoung Noona showed just how strong a Hunter she was as a swordmaster.

“First, I need to check the inner energy you use, Taekyung, so can you try releasing some?”

I’ve never actually done it before.

Back in high school, during the class on sensing inner energy, I remembered trying a few times, but nothing, not even a tiny bit, would come out, and the sessions would end like that countless times.

“How do I do it?”

“It’s simple. Grip the sword, and imagine the sensation of swinging it.”

“The sensation of gripping the sword and swinging it…”

“Once you feel like your inner energy is rising, focus your mind and try to maintain it for as long as possible.”

“Okay.”

Naturally, the moment I swung my sword at the White Slime I hunted most recently came to mind.

I recalled that moment, gripping the sword tightly as I faced the White Slime.

“Whoa…”

Immediately, I felt a sensation of something burning around me, and it was definitely a very different feeling from my high school classes.

So now I just need to maintain this state…

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“…Taekyung?”

“Yes.”

“Are you still not getting the hang of drawing out your inner energy? Should I… ah, should this Ahjumma teach you again?”

“…What?”

Confused by her sudden words, I stopped focusing and returned to my original stance. Eunyoung Noona wore a slightly troubled expression.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t seem to be releasing any inner energy for over 10 minutes, so I thought maybe I was overstepping?”

“What? I’ve been releasing inner energy for a while now?”

“R-really…?”

“Yes.”

I was sure my vision was shimmering and I felt something leaving my body, so I thought I was releasing it properly.

Maybe I wasn’t following along correctly.

“C-can you try it one more time?”

“Okay.”

Wondering if the lack of a strong impression was the cause, this time I imagined the most intense battle I felt I had experienced.

Among the recent battles, the most precarious one was undoubtedly the one against the Treralodon in the abandoned city.

Right after I had connected with Do Sihee, I strongly recalled the memory of facing that guy who appeared.

Leaping into the air, twisting my body to swing the sword, and finally throwing it to pierce its eye directly.

Even though it had been over a month, it remained a highly impressive memory, so the scene that came to mind was even clearer than when I faced the White Slime.

Thanks to that, inner energy was being released more powerfully around my body, and I could feel it throughout my entire body.

“I’m releasing it now.”

“Uh… r-really?”

“Yes.”

“……”

For some reason, she didn’t seem to fully believe what I was saying. She quietly approached me, who was supposedly releasing energy.

“Taekyung, I’m sorry, but from what I can see, you have a constitution with no inner energy…”

As she spoke without words, grabbing my shoulder to say something.

“…Huh?”

She let out a voice of doubt and suddenly tightened her grip on my shoulder.

“That I have a constitution with no inner energy, Eunyoung Noona?”

“Just, just a moment. Stay like that for a second.”

“Huh?”

“I need to check something.”

“Okay…”

Saying that, she kept her hand on my shoulder and focused intently, then… her expression changed to one of realization, and she removed her hand.

“Taekyung.”

“Yes.”

“Even from my perspective, this is the first time I’ve seen something like this, but can you listen for a moment?”

“Please tell me, Eunyoung Noona.”

Her expression showed that even she wasn’t entirely sure, and she didn’t seem to have the time to care about me calling her Eunyoung Noona.

Finally, she cautiously made a speculative statement.

“Taekyung, your inner energy, it seems to be colorless.”

“Colorless? Not like white?”

“Yes, colorless. It has no color at all.”

…Colorless inner energy? Does something like that actually exist?

Her strange theory, which I had never heard before, left me just as puzzled.

“What is colorless inner energy?”

“Well… I don’t know that either.”

“What?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen this color of inner energy, colorless inner energy.”

As an S-class Hunter, she must have had considerable practical experience, and having been active for a long time, she must have met far more people than I have. For her to say she didn’t know something…

Naturally, it was knowledge I had no clue about either.

‘Esila, do you know what it is?’

“I’ve found the closest information regarding colorless inner energy, but I expect it will likely be meaningless.”

‘Just tell me what it is first.’

“Title: Yo, what kind of ability do you think colorless inner energy would grant?

Content: If it’s colorless, doesn’t that mean all colors are mixed? So, like, wielding a sword or shield while using magic simultaneously? Totally possible?

Comment 1: Bullshit.

Comment 2: What crap. Why not say you can use healing, summoning, everything?

Comment 3: Ignore the troll.”

‘Esila?’

“I have found approximately 7,200 similar documents. Would you like to continue listening?”

‘No, that’s fine. Good work.’

Since the most useful information Esila found was from an attention-seeking post on a community site, there was no point in continuing.

I dismissed the rest, telling her I was sorry for making her do something pointless.

“If it were white, I could at least speculate that it’s related to holy power, but colorless….”

“Still, is it certain that I have inner energy?”

“Yes, that seems correct for now. At first, I thought you had no inner energy at all, but feeling the inner energy directly in my hand confirms that’s not the case.”

Saying that, Eunyoung Noona brought her hand to her chin and pondered for a moment.

She then asked me the next question with a slightly worried tone.

“Besides me, who else knows that you, Taekyung, have awakened?”

“Well, there’s Hye-eun, and one, two…”

Cha Yuri and Do Sihee already know, and I don’t think I told Han Min-ah about my awakened abilities specifically.

…Well, she’ll find out soon enough anyway, so I guess I can include her.

Choi Hwayoung doesn’t seem to fully trust me yet, so if I exclude her, the women I’ve been intimate with so far would make four.

“Including you and me, that makes six people.”

“That’s more than I thought…”

Her voice, laced with concern for me, deepened slightly.

To reassure her, I quickly offered what were less excuses and more explanations.

“It’ll probably be fine. Two of them were people I met while they were active under pseudonyms as Hunters. And one person I’ve known since before awakening as a Hunter, so they’ll probably keep the secret.”

“Active under pseudonyms…? Wouldn’t the guild administrators know that, then?”

“Actually, around the time I gained my awakened abilities, I also acquired an artifact that can hide my identity.”

“……”

“So, it’s likely that my being a man hasn’t been discovered.”

“Right, you’re not the type to lie to this Ahjumma.”

Slightly relieved, she continued with her advice.

“If possible, don’t let anyone know that your inner energy is colorless. It’s such a rare case that it would likely cause a huge controversy.”

“Even if my being a man isn’t discovered?”

“Of course, why are you asking? Still, unlike black or white energy, the fact that it doesn’t have a visible color is fortunate, at least. If someone were to ask you, Taekyung, about the color of your inner energy, it would be better to pretend you have no inner energy at all.”

“…Understood.”

It feels like the more I learn about my abilities, the more things I have to hide.

When will the day come when I can be proud, even with the title of a male Awakened being?

I hope that day comes soon, whenever it may be.

“Anyway, now that we’ve confirmed you have vital energy, Taekyung, let’s move on to the next step. Since it’s colorless, we’re not sure if it’s vital energy or magic power, but we might still be able to figure out what kind of characteristics your inner energy has, right?”

“Yes. Please take good care of me, Eunyoung Noona.”

“Stop using that title already…”

Every time I say it, she blushes like that, so how could I possibly stop?