chapter 36
Aunt Hye-seo stroked my head and said I had talent. It wasn’t my imagination — I had really moved the droplets of water.
“At this rate, I think you meet the first condition….”
There were two conditions to awaken as a shaman.
One was a natural environment that matched your element.
Aunt said that being greeted in a safe, comfortable place wasn’t very effective. You needed to be thrown into nature that nearly rages around you. She said I had probably fulfilled that condition while climbing the snowy mountain.
“It was only four days, though?”
“It depends on how you take it.”
I recalled the four days I’d spent on the snowy peak.
Even in summer the weather was fickle; the higher we climbed the colder it got, and water was everywhere.
The damp chill that pinched the nose at dawn, the frost on the ground turning back into dew in the morning.
Water that was colder than an ice block, pale breaths in the air, rain, fog like clouds, and snow on the summit sparkling painfully bright in the sunlight.
Never before had the presence of water felt so vivid.
“The second condition isn’t bad either.”
The second condition to awaken as a shaman was another shaman.
No matter how much power you have, if you don’t recognize that power you can’t use it.
So you needed a guide — a shaman who could lead a beginner. By being near the power real shamans used and getting stimulated by it, you could feel the sleeping power inside yourself.
Because of that, shaman children were usually born where many shamans gathered.
After Aunt Hye-seo’s explanation, I realized I’d been living in an environment very unfavorable for a shaman’s awakening until now.
I’d grown up as a pampered child in a respectable family.
In summer I’d been next to a fan, in winter leaned against a warm ondol floor — there’d been no chance of being thrown into harsh nature.
Even within the Hyeon household, apart from Aunt Hye-seo and Grandpa San, there were almost no shamans I’d ever met.
No wonder no one noticed my talent even if it existed.
“You were lucky.”
Still, even in those poor conditions the foundation for my awakening as a shaman had been laid.
“I guess meeting the shamans the Baek family sent often kept stimulating your power.”
It had begun with a letter from Sobaek Mountain.
Because that young tiger wanted to contact me, I met the shamans of the Baek family.
Every three or four days. We kept in touch regularly; I chatted with them and got snacks.
No one would have guessed that frequent letter exchanges would come back to benefit me like this.
Aunt also pointed to the bracelet on my wrist.
“This helped too. It’s good to carry an object imbued with shamanic power. But where did you get this bracelet? A simple protective charm is on it, but something stuck to it like…what’s this smell of sticking magic…?”
“Sobaek Mountain gave it to me!”
“….Is that so. I hope some stranger with ill intent isn’t attached to our niece. This charm smells oddly persistent.”
“It’ll be fine. He looked at our child just like Do-yi did.”
“So you mean he’s only good to our niece, huh.”
Anyway, I’d been confirmed to have talent as a shaman; the only thing left was for it to fully bloom.
The method to make a power bloom was ridiculously simple.
“Take a walk around the village and greet people.”
“That’s all?”
“Shamans like cute things. They go wild for children. They’re sensitive to aesthetics—if someone as cute as our Hyeon wanders around, they’ll fidget and want to do something for her.”
She said I just needed to let the Rang shamans coo over me and, while they fussed, casually ask them to show me their shamanic skills.
According to my current state, that would be enough.
But it was already late today, so I decided to walk around the village and greet people tomorrow.
“See you tomorrow.”
After saying goodbye to Aunt Hye-seo and patting my chubby younger cousin’s sleeping belly one more time, we returned to Grandpa San’s house.
After eating my fill of dinner, the next morning I got up.
“Phew.”
I slapped my cheeks lightly and went out with my mother and father.
Though I was a canid, I was a visiting relative of the Rang tribe from my mother’s hometown. Wolves are part of the dog family, so I blended in without feeling out of place, and it wasn’t hard to exchange greetings with the gray-tribe people.
“She’s the chieftain’s granddaughter!”
“Waaaah!”
There were occasional baby-wolf ambushes, but I didn’t get swept away.
“Hey, Insuk! This one isn’t as sturdy as you are!”
Thanks to the tall woman who’d lifted me up yesterday.
She was really tall — how tall is she? The Rang woman with ash-gray hair tied high was handsome and cool.
“My name is Nopsae.”
“Because you’re tall, you’re Nopsae?”
“Haha! Cute. It actually means northeast wind. My mother’s from the coast.”
She said she’d been born mixed and was weak as a child, and she held me up high. It felt like flying.
“You want to see the village? I’ll help. Yeram! I’ll take your baby!”
Then Nopsae shouted like a villain and ran off.
My mother only gave a nervous smile and didn’t stop her, so she must be a naturally fun person.
“Hyeon! Our girl!”
Only my father was surprised.
There were many shamans in this village. They popped out everywhere we went. When they saw me in Nopsae’s arms they suddenly cried out.
“You kidnapped the baby after all!”
“That’s not true!”
Nopsae protested loudly, but the shamans didn’t believe her.
“Where did such a cute child come from? From the foot of the mountain? That’s a crime!”
“You rascals, really! She’s the chieftain’s granddaughter!”
“Oh, the chieftain’s granddaughter? Then you really didn’t kidnap her.”
The shamans’ faces softened.
What kind of person was Nopsae to them, and what sort of being was my mountain-grandmother? I held my curiosity back and greeted them.
“Hello! I’m Hyun Hyeon.”
“She speaks so clearly.”
“Hi little one, I’m Nunbyul.”
When I greeted them, the shamans welcomed me kindly. They wore red feather ornaments like Aunt Hye-seo and Grandpa San — it seemed to signify shamans in this tribe.
“The child’s gentle and pretty.”
“Nopsae’s holding her looks scary.”
“I want to carry and swing her, but the chieftain’s scary so I won’t.”
“See?”
Nunbyul clicked her tongue and smiled at me, then showed me some shamanic power.
She lightly swung her arm and snowflakes froze and spread around. It was beautiful. When I poked it with my fingertip I felt a tingling sensation.
“Huh?”
“Why?”
“This child seems to have a talent for shamanic power?”
“Really?”
“It looks like water affinity. I have the same affinity so it’s easy for me to tell. Here, little one. How about this?”
A stream of water swirled brilliantly in front of my eyes. When I touched it, I felt something similar to before.
Using a little more force, it seemed to bend at my will.
“Oh my, the baby’s a shaman prodigy!”
“Do more, more!”
Excited, the shamans swarmed over me and showed all sorts of tricks.
That day I had to glitter like fireworks, surrounded by shamanic displays, until my parents came to collect me.
What did Nopsae do?
“Wow! Hyeon is really pretty!”
Seeing everything sparkle, she just clapped and said I was pretty.
Maybe the shamanic fireworks had an effect, because that night, while wandering around in puppy form, I awakened some power. When I pushed down with my front and hind legs, watery footprints formed on the stone floor.
Since the awakening came earlier than expected, my mother took me to see Aunt Hye-seo first thing the next morning.
“Already awakened?”
“Our child is a genius.”
Aunt Hye-seo was a little stunned at my mother’s confident claim. I was embarrassed and covered my face with my front paws.
My little cousin, who had been staring at me, copied me and covered her face with her paws too. She didn’t know the meaning, but it looked fun, so she mimicked me.
“Now that it’s like this, let’s train.”
Aunt rose after handing the baby wolf to my uncle.
“Waaah! Gwaeeng!”
The baby wolf squirmed and cried, but Aunt turned away with a cold face. She said sometimes you have to know how to be separated from your mother.
We left the sound of a loud baby wolf crying behind and went to the clearing behind Aunt’s house.
“This is where I mostly practice shamanism.”
Behind Aunt’s house was a small clearing.
Outside the clearing the slope fell gently, so whatever we did wouldn’t harm the village.
“Shall we try?”
Following Aunt’s lesson, I started by making droplets.
First, making small droplets. Then bigger droplets.
Though clumsy, I managed to follow everything.
“Water affinity magic is as useful as fire magic. If you learn it, it helps with securing drinking water and has a lot of practical uses. But its applications are difficult, so you must solidly learn the basics.”
“Woof!”
“Next time it’ll be faster to ask the Baek family for help. They have many shamans and a structured way of teaching.”
I nodded vigorously and made droplets again.
Round and round.
I couldn’t believe I’d made a droplet the size of a marble. Even seeing it over and over, I couldn’t trust it.
And somehow I felt I might be able to grow it even larger.
Like my own strength.
I didn’t try immediately. I shifted into human form and consulted Aunt. Could I try using my Haetae trait?
Aunt listened with interest and told me to go ahead. If something went wrong she’d handle it.
So I thought.
What would be a particularly nasty crime that doesn’t exist in this world?
One crime flashed through my head as I pondered deeply.
Voice phishing!
Anger surged up and I felt power rise with it. While molding the droplet like that, I realized something had gone wrong.
“Huh?”
Not a droplet but a huge something had risen into the air.
Splashing and swaying.
A watery shadow covering the clearing opened holes in the sky with yellow and blue energy.
Whooaaa—
Like the air going out of a balloon, the water I’d made poured through the holes Aunt Hye-seo had created. The water ran down the gentle slope like a small waterfall.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence hung over the clearing, and a small, oblivious rainbow arched over the cascading water.
In simple terms, the Haetae ability was like a faucet.
Turn it a little and it’s fine. Turn it a lot and it’s dangerous.
“Our niece.”
“Yes.”
“No shamanic practice when you’re angry.”
“Yes……”
When Aunt Hye-seo warned me not to twist the faucet together with the tap when my head spins, I nodded obediently.
