Maybe I didn’t expect to grasp my father’s teachings so quickly.
Father, it’s time to start. I want to walk freely along the lakeside with you, but we have to ride the current. We have to ride the rapid current and fall below the waterfall. The enemy we may have to face could be out there in the middle of the vast ocean, battling a typhoon alone. Father, please send me to the sea.
“Do not neglect the training that releases your energy. The more you do, the longer your life will be.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
I will create more numbers than my father. I must, because it is necessary.
“This time, close your eyes and feel my energy.”
I closed my eyes and released my prayer, feeling my father’s prayer.
Just like my prayer found the tiger, I felt my father’s prayer.
Slowly. Very slowly.
I meticulously absorbed and observed each strand of energy that spread around my father.
My mouth slowly opened.
“Father? What is this?”
Father stood in the middle of a spider’s web. Dozens of threads extended in all directions centered around him. The energy that extended far beyond my reach.
If someone were to secretly approach father, they would have to avoid those spider webs, which was impossible.
That damn fire weapon won against father, who reached this level? How on earth?
I really didn’t want to, but once again, I couldn’t help but be in awe of him.
***
That night.
“My ultimate move is this.”
What Hyuknang took out from his pocket was alcohol. It was father’s favorite alcohol.
I took out a clean glass that was well-packaged and poured the alcohol into it.
“Good.”
“It’s too strong for me.”
Actually, I liked alcohol and drank it well. As I searched for the right ingredients throughout my life, I started to drink a glass or two whenever things got tough. I just said it was strong because I didn’t need to show off my drinking capacity to my father. If I drank all night, father would fall first.
“There’s no miner who complains about the alcohol being too strong.”
“What if I can’t drink alcohol well? It’s not the poison in the drink, but the poison in the mind.”
“Poison of the mind?”
Father laughed and asked about the poison of the mind.
“Can you kill me to survive?”
After a short pause, I answered.
“No. How can a child kill their parents?”
Honestly, this was also a lie. If I had enough reason to kill, I could kill father. Today was the first time we had a proper conversation, so how could it be more precious than my own life?
This time, I asked.
“Can you kill me, father?”
“If thinking about that becomes a concern, you should not carelessly mention the poison of the mind.”
I felt it in father’s gaze. That he could kill me without hesitation for even a moment.
“Then I should learn how to drink poison.”
Father looked at me with a strange look when I made a disgusted expression after drinking the alcohol.
That night, I sat alone and practiced the energy release that my father had taught me.
“This is fun.”
Now I could release my energy quite fast, sending it far away with the wind.
My energy roamed and explored within the darkness of night. This was such an exhilarating act.
“There’s a tree here, and there’s a rock below….”
I could even feel the movements of the small insects crawling there.
I sent my energy elsewhere. The more I trained, the faster my energy moved.
My rapidly searching energy suddenly stopped. Something unfamiliar passed through it.
“What is it?”
I withdrew my energy and passed it through that place again.
But the strange energy from before had disappeared.
I opened my eyes and stared at that spot. I couldn’t feel any trace within the darkness.
“What was that? There was definitely something there.”
At that moment, father, who was lying down, was looking at me.
“Aren’t you asleep?”
“Why were you staring over there?”
“I felt something there.”
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
