Chapter 127
“‘If ten out of fifty were found by me, would Your Highness believe it?’”
Without hesitation, he nodded.
There was no reason to doubt me.
What could I gain by tricking him like that?
With that in mind…
“Let’s put the small stuff aside for now. Do you happen to know how to use these characters?”
Naturally, this was the part I was most curious about.
But like with Ming-An, I didn’t have high expectations, since the characters—called the Yeomra Characters—were said to be handled only by Yeomra himself.
Yet, an unexpected answer came.
“‘As you might have guessed, the only person who knows exactly how to use the Yeomra Characters is the Great King Yeomra himself. However—’”
“However?”
“‘Though they cannot use the Yeomra Characters directly, there are a few who can speculate about their principles.’”
“That means?”
“‘You, Your Highness, are extremely fortunate.’”
There was only one possible meaning to that.
Shahen—he was referring to himself.
He elaborated further.
“‘Of course, this is just speculation based on observing the Great King Yeomra use the characters from afar, so it’s not exact. The Yeomra Characters are a power no one can wield directly. In that sense, Your Highness has potential.’”
“I have potential?”
“‘Not only have you memorized the characters, but you also wrote them down in front of me.’”
I tilted my head.
It had been difficult enough just to memorize them, but I didn’t realize it was such a big deal.
Perhaps reading my thoughts, Shahen added:
“‘Even the underworld messengers cannot memorize the Yeomra Characters for more than a day. And no one, except the Great King Yeomra, can recite or write the characters at all. That’s why they even use a special method when bringing the characters to the Great King. And yet, you managed to do exactly that.’”
If what Shahen said was true, I finally understood why they were called the Yeomra Characters.
With such restrictions, they truly seemed like they were prepared specifically for Yeomra.
“‘Do you now understand why I thought Your Highness might be the Great King Yeomra’s hidden child?’”
Shahen’s eyes still seemed to hope for a dramatic revelation, but I shook my head.
“No, Shahen. It’s not what you think.”
The characters I wrote were indeed shaped like the Yeomra Characters he knew.
But within them, instead of the inherent mystical power of the characters, my own divine energy and will were far stronger.
They were holding tightly onto the Yeomra Characters that were still trying to escape.
Even hearing this, Shahen smiled.
“‘Do you really think Your Highness could hold the Yeomra Characters so easily through trickery?’”
“Well, I can’t say for sure about others.”
“‘Then allow me to be certain for you. My answer is: impossible.’”
Hearing his certainty, my thoughts began to lean toward his view.
Yet I still felt half in doubt.
“‘We’ll know the exact truth once we test it. Now, I’ll explain my speculation on how the Yeomra Characters’ power might be used.’”
“Fine. We’ll see once we try.”
I nodded, and Shahen began explaining his theory.
“‘In fact, the Yeomra Characters themselves do not contain immense power in each individual character, despite their mystical appearance.’”
“‘When someone without permission tries to memorize them, the characters do not attack the person—they either destroy themselves or flee. This is the proof.’”
“‘So, to truly unleash the hidden power of the characters, a method to amplify their weak inherent power is required. I call this method “combination.”’”
The method called “combination” seemed simple at first glance, but in practice it was far from easy.
“‘Your Highness’ will is crucial. You may use divine power. Based on that, you dismantle and reconstruct the characters to forge a single seal (印, In). This newly formed seal then becomes the vessel to contain the characters’ power.’”
A seal (In).
Though called a combination, it was essentially a process of creating an entirely new power.
I focused my gaze on the empty space.
The ten violet characters I had written remained floating there.
“‘Perfect. Just the thing to test.’”
I looked at them and asked Shahen:
“Do you know any pre-set combinations of these characters?”
Shahen shook his head.
“‘As I mentioned, underworld messengers cannot memorize the Yeomra Characters for more than a day, so they do not know which characters form which combination. However—’”
“However?”
“‘When the desired combination is unknown, there is a rough method you can use.’”
“How?”
“‘It’s simple. Tell the characters what you desperately wish for, and then observe their response.’”
Expressing your desire and observing the reaction.
Shahen’s advice was simple, yet it contained the entire solution.
I closed my eyes and thought.
What could I wish for most desperately right now?
I suddenly remembered how jealous I had been of Shahen flying through the skies.
If I could fly like him, passing through that huge gap would be effortless.
It wasn’t a desperate wish, but it was certain that I wanted it.
Even that small wish was enough for my will to reach the ten characters floating in the air.
Buzz!
Three of the ten characters responded to my will.
One weakly, one moderately, one strongly.
I couldn’t read the characters, so I had no idea what they represented.
But one thing was clear.
“‘These are the materials for the vessel.’”
Then the remaining seven characters could be used to form the vessel.
I focused on the seven inactive characters first.
Step one: forming the vessel.
I extended my divine energy and began uniting the seven characters into a single shape.
After a violent resistance, the seven characters disassembled into fragments of light.
I wove the fragments into a hollow, empty form.
This was the vessel.
Step two: inserting the materials.
I drew the three responsive characters to the center of the vessel.
Their resistance was far stronger than when forming the vessel, but I projected my will even more strongly onto them.
Finally, the three characters surrendered to my will, emitting light and transforming into a brilliant nebula, resting inside the hollow vessel.
Step three: completing the seal.
The vessel containing the nebula wobbled unstably.
When the light finally stabilized, before me appeared a perfect pattern of interlocking rings rotating in unison.
A crystallization of the floating characters.
I named it.
“Since it began with the wish to fly, I’ll call it the ‘Seal of Levitation (浮遊之印).’”
I reached toward the completed seal.
It responded to my will, slowly approaching and sinking into my chest.
The glowing pattern seemed to burn briefly like a hot brand on my skin before melting entirely inside.
Only a faint warmth remained, signaling that new power had entered me.
I unleashed that power.
And then I realized.
The force that had been suppressing me was gone.
Whoosh.
My body lifted from the ground silently, like a feather.
A span… another span.
Finally, rising higher than the building, I could no longer contain my overwhelming emotions.
How much I had envied Shahen flying freely through the skies!
Flying with a sword was one thing, but standing in midair as a human body was an entirely different sensation.
But the thrill was brief.
I soon realized the limits of the power.
“This isn’t what I imagined.”
My body floated in the air, but moving felt awkward and sluggish, like struggling underwater.
Even stepping forward required my full concentration.
Flying freely like Shahen was far out of reach.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
As I awkwardly mimicked walking in midair and descended to the ground, I felt the faint warmth on my chest disperse like smoke.
The seal had vanished.
“So it disappears after a single use…”
Shahen, who had approached beside me, smiled and spoke.
“‘The seal’s power vanishes immediately after being used. To use the same power again, you must forge a new seal, just like you did.’”
At first, I wondered if this power was really that amazing.
After all, a force that only Yeomra could use, yet here I was floundering in midair.
Shahen, perhaps reading my thoughts, continued:
“‘You likely feel it’s insufficient because the vessel contains only three characters. To hold more characters, you must enlarge the vessel. Ultimately, the number of characters it can contain determines the strength and duration of the seal’s power. Of course, this is only my speculation.’”
I nodded.
Shahen’s explanation made perfect sense.
At the same time, I realized one point he had misguessed.
“‘It’s not just the number of characters that matters. What truly matters is how strongly the characters in the vessel respond to my will.’”
I had felt this when sending my will to the ten characters.
They responded differently, some stronger, some weaker.
Each character resonated better with certain wishes.
“‘There’s a reason for the difference.’”
If I wanted, I could test it immediately.
I could reduce the number of characters in the vessel from three to two to check.
But that would wait for later.
I didn’t intend to hide anything from Shahen, but someone was approaching.
Moments later, someone dropped from the sky.
Thunk!
At the same time, a voice rang out.
“‘How did this get here?’”
The figure froze in shock at the massive stele in the courtyard.
It was Choo Hae-yeon, who had disappeared when returning from the residence of King Jaho.
