Bido stood holding the sword in both hands.
The cave was quiet.
The embers were still burning low,
and their light brushed the blade, forming a hazy line.
At least on the surface,
nothing happened.
Even so, Bido could not loosen her grip.
She felt as though the moment she let go, something would begin in earnest.
Sweat seeped into her palms.
Bido drew in a breath,
but it did not sink all the way down, catching somewhere in the middle of her chest.
Muryeong stood before her without a word.
He was not looking at Bido’s hands,
but at her eyes.
As if, before the sword,
he meant to confirm the person.
“Like when you fight.”
Muryeong opened his mouth.
His voice was short and low.
“Let your Idrin flow.”
Bido raised her head for an instant.
Like when she fought.
What those words brought to mind
was not the tip of a blade, but the inside of her body.
The sensation of power being drawn up.
And every time that happened,
the foreignness that flowed in from the sword.
Bido’s fingers stiffened ever so slightly.
“...Now?”
“Yes, now.”
Muryeong did not retreat a single step.
“You’re not using power.”
He cut his words short.
“Just let it flow.”
Bido swallowed.
Muryeong’s gaze dropped to the sword, then rose again.
“Toward the sword.”
He paused for a moment, as if choosing his words.
“Don’t draw it into yourself. Think of sending it flowing toward the sword.”
Bido did not answer.
Instead,
she closed her eyes very slowly.
The weight in her hands suddenly became distinct.
And apart from that weight,
an inexplicable “presence” pressed against her fingertips.
Muryeong spoke again.
“Slowly.”
Regulating her breathing,
Bido sent her awareness down into her body.
It was the same as during battle.
Along a familiar path,
Idrin began to flow slowly.
From her heart,
the current spread out into her limbs.
It was a sensation she had repeated countless times.
But this time was different.
Before the power even rose,
another sensation touched her first.
It was neither cold,
nor hot.
She could clearly feel it inside her body,
yet it did not feel like a part of her body.
As if it had already been there, it quietly blended in.
Bido’s breath shortened.
This isn’t me drawing it in.
The moment that thought occurred to her,
the sensation became clearer.
It’s coming in.
As Idrin flowed,
something seeped through that current.
It did not clash with her own power,
nor did it push it away.
Instead, it blended in with it very naturally.
Bido clenched her teeth.
She tried to concentrate.
And Muryeong’s words came back to her.
Send it flowing toward the sword.
Bido tried to change the direction of the flow.
The image of turning the power that had risen from inside her body
back through her hands and into the sword.
At that moment,
the sword responded.
It was faint.
But it was certain.
From the fingertips holding the sword,
something like an exceedingly thin ripple spread.
There was no sound,
no light,
but Bido could feel it.
The sensation that followed grew even clearer.
The point where her Idrin
and the power flowing in from the sword met.
That boundary began to blur.
How far was her own power,
and from where did the sword’s power begin?
It gradually became difficult for Bido to distinguish.
Her breathing quickened.
And her heartbeat grew a little faster.
Despite that,
she felt as though something was being put in order.
As if the scattered sensations were gathering into one.
As if,
gears that had not fit together had meshed for a brief moment.
‘...Is it working?’
The thought flashed through her mind.
There was still no sound,
and still no visible change.
Bido still did not open her eyes.
If she lost this sensation now,
she felt as though she would never be able to return to it.
The flow within her body was gradually being maintained.
The power that had flowed in from the sword and her own Idrin
were not fully one, but overlapped like a thin layer.
It was unstable,
but it did not collapse.
It was then.
The air inside the cave changed ever so slightly.
The embers flickered once.
Though no wind had blown,
the flame tilted to the side before returning to its place.
Mendel was the first to raise her head.
“...Just now.”
Her words did not continue.
Her gaze had naturally turned toward Bido.
Muryeong did not move.
He merely watched Bido’s face carefully.
Not her hands, nor her weapon, but her face.
Bido had not yet sensed the change.
The sensation that began at her fingertips traveled up her arm.
Not toward the hand holding the sword,
but toward her own body.
The inside of her chest turned cool.
It felt as though something that should have gone back remained there as it was.
A slight stinging spread around Bido’s eyes.
Before she could even recognize what the sensation was,
Mendel drew in a sharp breath.
“...Around her eyes.”
Muryeong’s eyes narrowed further.
Around Bido’s eyes,
a faint red aura was spreading.
It looked like blood vessels,
and also as though something were pushing up from beneath the skin.
It was extremely subtle,
but it was a definite change.
Only then did Bido open her eyes.
Her vision wavered for a moment.
She was not dizzy.
Instead,
it felt as though her focus was settling one beat late.
“Lord Muryeong.”
Bido’s voice was no different from usual.
“Am I... all right right now?”
Before the question had even ended,
a throb rose once again from inside the corners of her eyes.
This time, it was not a mere sting.
It was the sensation of something trying to take its place beneath her skin.
Muryeong opened his mouth for the first time.
“For now, maintain your focus.”
The words were brief and composed.
“Not yet.”
Those words were not reassurance.
They were closer to a report on her condition: she had not yet crossed the line.
Bido clenched her teeth.
She did not let go of her focus.
No—she could not let go.
Inside Bido’s body,
the sensation that something not her own had begun to remain, little by little, was growing clearer.
Bido’s breathing slowly became even.
The breath that had been caught inside her chest until a moment ago
descended little by little.
The trembling in her fingertips also gradually subsided.
The sensation of holding the sword was still distinct,
but it no longer surged in.
The flow within her body was being put in order.
The power flowing in from the sword still existed,
but it no longer collided violently.
It simply followed the current of her Idrin,
interlocking with it at regular intervals.
Bido carefully exhaled.
“I think... it’s probably working.”
Rather than certainty,
her tone was closer to a report meant to confirm her condition.
Only then did Mendel relax the tension in her shoulders.
“...It’s stabilized.”
Her voice was not completely relieved.
But it was clearly different from just moments before.
Muryeong gave no answer.
He was still looking in turn at Bido’s face, her hands,
and the sword.
There was no judgment in that gaze, but calculation.
A brief silence flowed by.
Then it happened.
A faint sensation spread from the sword once again.
The air inside the cave suddenly grew heavy.
When they breathed in,
it took effort for no reason at all.
Mendel instinctively stepped back.
“...This is—”
She could not finish speaking.
The energy spreading from the sword was different from before.
It did not ride the flow of Idrin.
Regardless of Bido’s will,
it spread into the space around them.
It felt as though something were asserting its existence.
Bido’s eyes widened.
“Lord Muryeong.”
Her voice trembled ever so slightly.
“Something... is different now.”
Before those words could end,
a cool sensation surged up again from inside Bido’s body.
This time, it was not her chest but her face.
The area around her eyes burned hot.
The sensation of something pushing up from beneath the skin.
It was clearer than before,
and far more active.
Muryeong’s expression hardened for the first time.
“...Bido.”
His voice sank low as he called her name.
At that moment,
another gaze moved from within the cave.
“That’s enough.”
It was Rangnan’s voice.
It was not loud.
But it was clearer than any other words.
As soon as Rangnan’s voice fell,
Muryeong immediately stretched out his hand.
“Stop.”
Bido did not hesitate.
She let go of the flow she had been holding.
The sensation filling her body was severed.
The energy spreading from the sword subsided one beat later,
and the air inside the cave slowly returned to its place.
Bido drew in a deep breath.
This time, it sank all the way down.
The heat around her eyes slowly cooled.
The sensation that had been writhing beneath her skin
also vanished as if retreating.
Rangnan approached.
He looked once at Bido’s face,
then once at the hand holding the sword.
It was a very brief check.
“Just now.”
Rangnan spoke.
“Do not forget what you felt.”
Bido raised her head.
Rangnan’s gaze turned to the sword.
Bido nodded silently.
Even without an explanation,
she knew what sensation those words were pointing to.
“And do not be swept away.”
Rangnan’s voice was low, but composed.
“The moment you forget that, this leaves your hands.”
Muryeong added briefly from the side.
“That is why you must not do it alone.”
It was more of a condition than a prohibition.
“You will only do it where I can watch.”
Bido looked down at the sword for a moment,
then lowered her head.
“...Yes, I understand.”
The way she slung the sword onto her back again was careful.
It was not an attempt to avoid it.
Rather,
it was a pace that seemed to trace back over the sensation from just now.
Rangnan said no more.
This was not the end.
And for a while, no one spoke as they watched her.
It was time spent waiting for Bido’s breathing to settle completely.
The sword was quiet again,
but the sensation from a moment ago still remained inside her body.
Rangnan was the first to speak.
“Now let’s move.”
Rangnan said.
The words were brief and simple.
“We’re going to Schia.”
The decision was made on the spot.
There was no time to prepare,
nor any room to hesitate.
Bido nodded.
“Ah... understood...”
Feeling the sensation still lingering in the shoulder bearing the sword,
she set her stance.