After their frantic game of cat and mouse concluded, Yujin and Kalaisha sat before Buldrokk, quietly sipping milk.
Earlier, Kalaisha had been trying to swat Yujin with blasts of compressed air, while Yujin somehow evaded every single one. Their chaotic sprint across the courtyard only came to a halt when Buldrokk slammed his chain-tethered iron ball into the ground, causing a tremor that silenced them both. Now, Yujin had come to seek advice.
"So, you've come to ask for my guidance regarding the trial?"
"You make it sound like I traveled far; the library is right there. I just wanted to hear from someone who's already cleared it."
"I cannot give you any 'good' advice."
Buldrokk spoke simply. His survival had been a result of his innate, monstrous constitution. As he continued to explain, Yujin's expression turned flat. There were no hidden secrets or special techniques—Buldrokk had just endured until his body adapted. That was how the Wendigo had cleared his gate.
"…That feels like a scam."
"Wow, you really are a freak of nature, Buldrokk," Kalaisha muttered. She knew of the trial but hadn't heard the specifics. Yujin looked genuinely envious of the giant's ability to just tank through such a trial with raw biology.
"If I possess the body, then you possess something else entirely, Yujin."
"Me? Like what?"
"Indeed." Buldrokk leveled his gaze at him. Yujin had a strength that set him apart—a talent that neither the average man nor even the gifted could easily claim.
"I have something like that...?"
Seeing Yujin's genuine confusion, Buldrokk realized this was probably how others felt when they looked at him.
"Kalaisha, try it."
"…Try what?"
"What you are best at. Do it now."
Kalaisha caught his drift. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she snapped her fingers. Instantly, two pellets of compressed air whistled toward their targets.
"Whoa!?"
"Ugh."
The invisible projectiles, launched without warning, were aimed at their foreheads. They were weak—nothing more than an aerial flick—but Buldrokk took it head-on while Yujin simply tilted his head to let the pellet fly past.
"…Wait a second."
Kalaisha snapped her fingers again. More pellets flew; Yujin tilted his head again, dodging effortlessly.
"Why are you still hitting me?!" Buldrokk growled, rubbing his reddened forehead.
"That's not the point right now!" Kalaisha ignored him, snapping her fingers repeatedly in a rapid-fire barrage. Yet, not a single one hit Yujin.
"How are you dodging those!?"
There was no telegraphing. No visible projectile. No sound. Kalaisha's pellets were made of nothing but pure, compressed wind. Yet Yujin evaded them as if they were as slow as drifting leaves.
During their chase earlier, she hadn't noticed because everything was so frantic, but she realized now: she hadn't landed a single hit on him the entire time.
Buldrokk watched Kalaisha's futile efforts with a stoic face, then turned his focus to the boy.
"This is your gift. An absurd talent that arguably exceeds even my own physical strength."
"Wait! Before that—how?! What are you even looking at to dodge these?" Kalaisha demanded.
Yujin scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Instinct?"
"…Instinct? You're telling me you dodged all of those based on a gut feeling!?"
Forgetting their conversation from earlier that morning, Kalaisha looked like her pride was wounded. She whipped up a gale that momentarily lifted Yujin into the air, but the moment the support vanished, he regained his balance mid-fall and landed gracefully on his feet.
"You absolute freaks of nature," Kalaisha muttered, looking defeated.
Something akin to a "hyper-sense" resided within Yujin's body.
"That is what sets you apart," Buldrokk noted. "A body can be forged to its limit through training. But your senses? They cannot be taught. That is something beyond mere effort."
"I appreciate the compliment, but does that mean you have no actual advice for the trial?"
"If I passed by relying on my body, then you should try relying on your senses."
"Hmm... I don't quite have the hang of it yet."
Yujin, who had never considered his reflexes to be anything special, stared up at the blue sky. He tried to circulate his Arts and concentrate his mind simultaneously.
Drip.
Kalaisha, who had been chatting with Buldrokk about Yujin's regimen, turned around and gasped. Yujin was standing there with blood streaming from his nose.
"Yujin!"
Panicked, she pulled out a handkerchief and began to wipe the blood away, but Yujin didn't even look at her. His gaze seemed to be focused on something far beyond the courtyard. The capillaries in his eyes burst, and blood continued to leak.
Seeing this, Buldrokk suddenly lunged forward, swinging a heavy fist.
However.
Yujin, still sitting on the bench, shifted his weight just enough to let the fist pass harmlessly by his ear. Buldrokk's eyes narrowed. He planted a hand on the ground, spun his massive frame, and delivered a low, sweeping kick.
"Kalaisha, now!"
"Huh!?"
Caught off guard, Kalaisha nonetheless reacted instinctively to Buldrokk's command. As Buldrokk swung his leg, she sent a crushing wave of wind from multiple directions that left Yujin no room to dodge.
"Oof."
He dodged the kick, but the air pressure from the four-way blast caught him square in the chest. Yujin was sent tumbling across the dirt.
Buldrokk frowned at the boy. "You... just now..."
"Wow. Damn. What did I just see?"
Though Yujin was covered in dust, his eyes were shining with excitement.
Buldrokk had tried to forcibly break Yujin's focus because his aura had become unstable, but the experience was different from when they had sparred by the Master's order. Back then, Buldrokk felt he could eventually reach him.
Just now? He felt as if Yujin was untouchable.
"How should I describe it..."
For a split second, as he concentrated his Arts, the world had lost its color. It had become a monochromatic, grayscale landscape.
"What exactly did you see?" Buldrokk asked, genuinely curious.
Yujin stood up, brushing off his clothes. "The future? No, I'm not sure. But I saw it. I could predict it. It just... appeared."
Before, Yujin had relied on telegraphing—watching Buldrokk's muscles and stance to dodge. But just now, he had felt the intent. He knew exactly where he had to be. And he knew exactly where he would have struck if he'd had his sword.
"Ow, wait. Why do my eyes sting so much?"
The moment he tried to recall the imagery, his strength vanished. His eyes burned with a sharp pain, and he collapsed back onto the ground.
"Uuuugh..."
Seeing Yujin sprawled out like a wrung-out rag, both Kalaisha and Buldrokk let out a sigh. This was why Buldrokk had intervened; he knew that using such a sense without being adapted to it would tear the boy's body apart.
"Seriously... and I thought Buldrokk was impressive enough," Kalaisha said, shaking her head. Buldrokk nodded in agreement.
"I didn't expect to meet someone even more abnormal than myself."
Kalaisha was still looking at Yujin with a lingering worry, her fingers still clutching the bloodied handkerchief. Buldrokk noticed the slight shift in her demeanor.
"…You have a difficult road ahead of you," the giant muttered.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Nothing. If you don't realize it yourself, there's no point in explaining."
Buldrokk had heard the conversation between the two earlier that morning. He had been training, but he'd kept his ears open. He realized that while Yujin was no storybook hero, he was a human being determined to walk an impossible path for the sake of his ideals. He hadn't expected to find such a person in the backalleys of Kazdel.
"Uwaaaah..."
His profound thoughts vanished as he looked down at the pathetic-looking boy on the ground. Buldrokk stepped forward.
"Yujin. Remember what I told you?"
"Which... part...?"
"That a body can be forged to its limit through training."
"What?"
Buldrokk, whose expression rarely changed, gave a small smile. Yujin felt a sudden spike of dread.
"Follow me. The path is already set. I am going to forge you to your absolute limit."
"Wait, hey, stop. I'm already training with the Master—"
"All the more reason to do more. Training is meant to be grueling. If it is not difficult, it is not training."
If Yujin's body was to house those senses and endure the Master's Decay, it had to be remade. Buldrokk was determined to see it through, which meant Hell was about to open for the boy.
"Ha... ha... fine. Then if we're building stamina, Kalaisha should join—"
Looking for a partner in his suffering, Yujin turned around, only to find nothing but a cold breeze where Kalaisha had been standing a second ago.
"Now, let us go. I shall plan your schedule for the day."
"Aaaargh...!"
Swallowing his tears, Yujin was dragged away by the collar of his shirt, Buldrokk towing him like a sack of grain.