Seed

The academy, now in the throes of winter vacation, felt strangely deserted. The buildings, usually teeming with students and faculty during the semester, were now eerily empty.

The youthful exuberance of the academy’s students, hailed as the best on the continent and usually dedicated to their studies and training, had vanished.

Only a handful of students, those with nowhere else to go or with special circumstances, remained at the academy during the break.

Even the capital’s streets were quieter, leading to many buildings undergoing renovations or repainting. This was also why the academy’s cafeteria was temporarily closed for internal construction for about three days.

In contrast to the academy’s tranquil atmosphere, the area in front of the island hideout beyond the wardrobe was buzzing with activity.

“Hmm….”

I glanced at Kane, who was stroking his chin with a thoughtful expression. He must have visited a salon while I was away, as his previously shaggy long hair was now neatly trimmed.

Aria probably had something to do with it. She always disliked Kane’s messy hair. Kane, on the other hand, had left it alone because it was a pain….

And despite his naturally lean build, he still looked sickly, even with his dark circles having faded.

If you put Kane between me and Lacar and asked who the Alchemy Department member was, even someone with no eye for detail could point him out. Tall, handsome, and nerdy. That was Aria’s assessment of Kane.

“How is it, do you think it’s ready?”

I asked, finding myself filled with anticipation once more. Kane pursed his lips and stared intently into the oven before swiftly plunging the oven shovel inside.

What emerged from the oven, thanks to Kane’s efforts, was a wood-fired pizza.

Having embarked on a new life, Kane seemed determined to live the opposite of his previous existence. Unlike before, when he loathed doing anything himself, he now had a higher tendency to just do things. The cheetah, after a long rest, had finally started running.

He wanted to make wood-fired pizza, which he saw in a cookbook, for the club members after the vacation, so he even built a wood-fired oven in front of the hideout while I was away and started baking homemade pizzas.

As I swallowed my saliva at the pizza, which smelled of tomato sauce and delicious cheese, Kane, who had been observing the pizza, suddenly cried out as if screaming.

“N, no…! This isn’t it!!!”

“YAH- you crazy bastard! Cut it out already!”

I couldn’t help but curse at Kane’s action of throwing the pizza on the ground again. It was already the fifth time he had thrown a pizza on the ground for the insane reason that he wasn’t satisfied with it, as if he were a pottery master.

Lunchtime had passed, and it was almost time to prepare dinner. At this point, cursing was practically self-defense.

Despite my vehement annoyance, Kane’s eyes shone with passion.

“It has to be crispy like a cracker without burning the crust, just like in the book! This is too hard! Just wait a little longer. I’ll make you the perfect pizza. Failure is the mother of success!”

With that, Kane began preparing the dough again. He probably hadn’t even eaten breakfast, but his determination to make the ‘perfect pizza’ seemed to be making him forget his hunger.

It was nice that my usually lazy friend had become passionate, but I didn’t want him to become such a crazy bastard. Wasn’t this too extreme of a change?

Kane definitely needed Aria. If Aria were here, she would have grabbed Kane’s hair and corrected him the moment he threw the pizza on the ground.

I thought that only Aria could pinpoint the middle ground between passion and laziness.

I couldn’t stand the hunger any longer, as I had skipped breakfast because I overslept.

I quietly got up from my chair and was about to sneak back to the hideout to eat the food I had stored in the dimensional warehouse when the bell installed on the wall rang loudly, indicating that someone had come to the club room.

Annoyed by the sudden visitor, I sighed, put the cake I had taken out back into the dimensional warehouse, and crossed over the wardrobe.

No sooner had I opened the door than a large hand grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the club room.

“Well, you must be ready to go to the North!”

My master, still showing off his impressive muscles beneath his clothes today. I asked, bewildered by Lykan’s sudden words.

“Suddenly…?”

“Suddenly? It’s your fault for coming back later than planned. Even if we leave now, we’re already four days behind schedule.”

I scratched my head at Lykan’s blunt words. I had told Lykan in advance that I would be away for about three days before going to the Valley of Death, but due to unexpected variables, the penalty for continuing the battle was triggered, causing the schedule to be pushed back significantly.

“And Raellan wrote in a letter that the promise you made with the Perlkus Family Head didn’t seem so important to you.”

I groaned involuntarily at Lykan’s words. It was obvious how troublesome it would be if Raellan, who was known as the Mad Strategist, treated me hostilely.

“Ugh… I’m sorry. An unexpected accident happened… I didn’t mean to break the promise.”

Lykan smiled broadly at my apology.

“I know that my disciple isn’t the kind of goddamn bastard who takes promises lightly.”

Lykan patted my shoulder with his large hand, a reassuring expression on his face. I felt my whole body shake from the impact. Somehow, I felt an unspoken pressure in that touch, telling me not to break any more promises in the future.

“Don’t worry. Did you think this master would just sit still? I made up an excuse that I couldn’t leave the academy because of the new professor recruitment issue.”

I nodded in genuine relief at Lykan’s response.

“Shall we leave right away, then?”

“Yes, the sooner the better. You want to acquire the Mu-hyung of the main family as soon as possible, don’t you? Even if winter vacation is long, it will feel short once you start training.”

I had prepared essential supplies and clothes in the dimensional warehouse for times like these. I told Lykan to wait for a moment, then returned to the island beyond the wardrobe to tell Kane that I was going to the North.

Kane, who was kneading dough, looked disappointed when he heard my words.

“Well, it’s a shame you can’t have pizza today, but when you come back, I’ll make sure you get to eat the perfect pizza.”

“…I’ll look forward to it.”

After saying goodbye to Kane, I headed straight to the portal station with Lykan. Thanks to Lykan’s reservation, we were able to arrive at the Nord City portal station right away.

Inside the carriage heading to the Perlkus Family, I took out some food from the dimensional warehouse to appease my hunger. But Lykan immediately reached out and stopped me from bringing the cake to my mouth.

“Are you already thinking of filling your stomach when we’re going to have dinner together when we arrive? Let me tell you, it’s not polite to talk with your fork and knife still in your hands. It’s rude.”

Lykan, unaware that I hadn’t eaten a single meal today, looked at me with a pathetic expression.

It was awkward to explain, and as Lykan said, I might have a hard time later if I filled my stomach with cake now. Especially in front of Raellan, it was best not to give him any reason to find fault.

As I put the poor cake, which had once again failed to fulfill its role as food, back into the dimensional warehouse, Lykan slightly raised the corners of his mouth with a satisfied expression.

It was probably satisfaction that I had accepted his warning without complaint. Lykan wasn’t one to demand authority, but he was the type to care a lot about the roles of master and disciple. He was fulfilling his role as a master to that extent, so there was no reason to be dissatisfied.

Since we needed something to talk about on the way anyway, and I had been curious about it for a while, I waited for the right timing and opened my mouth.

“How different is the Mu-hyung I learned from the Mu-hyung of the main family?”

At my words, Lykan stroked his chin and thought for a moment before giving a sinister smile.

“The first stage of the Mu-hyung Breathing you’ll learn this time won’t actually be that much different in terms of power from the Mu-hyung you’ve already learned.”

“What?!”

I shouted involuntarily at the unexpected words. I had assumed that if I acquired the Mu-hyung of the main family, I would naturally become several times stronger than before.

Lykan, realizing what kind of expectations I had, narrowed his eyes.

“You thought that if you just acquired the Mu-hyung of the main family, you would become several times stronger again this time.”

I realized that Lykan was angry at the lower tone than usual. It seemed that the idea of becoming stronger instantly with Mu-hyung felt arrogant to Lykan, who was a traditional physical type focused on training.

Lykan, with a vein popping out on his forehead, glared at me and said.

“If you’re thinking of learning Mu-hyung with such a weak mindset, you should give it up. It’s not good for you either. Turn the carriage around right now.”

As Lykan reached out to open the small window connected to the coachman, I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“…I’m sorry, Master-nim. I was being arrogant.”

As I bowed my head and apologized sincerely, Lykan, who had been breathing roughly for a moment, let out a deep sigh. Fortunately, the magic word ‘Master-nim’ had suppressed Lykan’s anger once again.

“…The Mu-hyung you learned and the first stage of the Mu-hyung of the main family are not that different when compared in terms of power. That’s because the first stage is nothing more than a foundation for the next stage.”

“Is the power of the first stage of Mu-hyung just a foundation? Even the current Mu-hyung is exerting tremendous power?”

At my question, Lykan stared at my face silently for a moment. His eyes were wary, as if he was concerned that I was only greedy for strength.

“…The simple difference in power between the first and second stages of the Mu-hyung of the main family will be several times greater.”

At those words, my eyes lit up involuntarily. Even with the current Mu-hyung, I could use several times the power for a short time. If I could become several times stronger than that, I couldn’t help but be greedy.

“The reason why I say the first stage is a foundation is because the second stage of Mu-hyung puts a tremendous strain on the heart. It concentrates the operation of magic power on the entire blood vessel leading to the heart. So, the first stage of Mu-hyung is largely aimed at training the passage itself through repeated use. It’s to prevent the heart from bursting with vast amounts of magic power.”

Lykan was answering my questions, but he was still wary of my obsession with strength.

I nodded nonchalantly and put on a nonchalant expression at Lykan’s gaze, but I felt an unknown greed taking root deep in my heart.