I Became the Only Reptile in the Community

Chapter 28

—–CROW—– 

“Krrrrrr!”

It was a side of Cheong I’d never seen before.  Her beautiful eyes, usually filled with a variety of emotions, now held only a burning killing intent.  Her every breath, every movement, every twitch of her muscles, screamed her intent to *hunt* me.

‘So all this time, it was just playing around?’

Just how many times had Cheong and I fought?  We’d scuffled so often, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was once a day.  But this was the first time she had been *this* angry.  Not even on the day we met had she been this enraged.

“-S-Should we stop them?!”

Just like me, Silphy was flustered by Cheong’s ferocious display, nervously fidgeting.  It was understandable.  Knowing that I had transformed into an Imugi and that the skin on the ground was my shed husk, she must have realized this fight was based on a misunderstanding.

‘And stop them…’

If only it were that easy.  I really didn’t want to fight her in this state.

“[Impossible.]”

But it was impossible.  I told Silphy bluntly.  Cheong had already shut down her mind and ears.  She was so worked up, she wouldn’t listen to anyone, not even Silphy.  How could we possibly stop her?

*Whoosh*

‘Fast.’

A white blur flashed before my eyes.  If I hadn’t jerked my head back, Cheong’s claws would have ripped into my face.

“[But slow.]”

Fast, yet slow.  A contradictory statement.  But as I dodged Cheong’s attacks, I realized this contradiction perfectly described what I was experiencing.

She *was* fast.  As fast as Silphy, the wind spirit, whose speed was unmatched.

But she was also slow.  Her attacks seemed slow to me, allowing me to dodge them all.

*Whoosh*

“-El! Look out!”

‘When did she…?’

But sometimes, she would make these strangely unpredictable movements.  Like now.  I had just dodged her attack, and she had clearly landed beside me.  But now she was in front of me again, launching another attack.  It was like she had teleported.

But my sharpened senses, enhanced by becoming an Imugi, told me the truth.  Cheong hadn’t used mana; she had achieved this feat with pure physical ability.

“[What a terrifying body.]”

And now, having learned from her previous attack, she was using both paws in an X-shaped attack.  What talent.

*Whoosh*

But I was an Imugi, a high-ranking sacred beast, even with the penalty of low durability.

*Whirr*

“Krrr?!”

“-Huh?!”

Invisible wind bound Cheong.  Recognizing the user of this power, Cheong glared at Silphy, baring her fangs.  Her expression clearly threatened Silphy if she didn’t remove the wind.  Silphy, seemingly having something to say, frantically waved her hands.

“-I-It wasn’t me!”

“Krrr?”

Then who was it?

I chuckled at Cheong’s question.

“[It was me.]”

“-El?! How…?”

“[You haven’t forgotten what’s needed to create a Yeouiju, have you?]”

The five elements formed the foundation of a Yeouiju, with wind and lightning shaping its form.  And what I had just used was wind.

But Silphy’s expression remained troubled.

“-But an Imugi can’t wield the power of a Yeouiju.”

Her question was valid.  Only dragons could wield the power of a Yeouiju, not Imugi.

“[That’s because it’s not the Yeouiju’s power.]”

The power I used wasn’t from the Yeouiju itself.  It was the residual energy left over from its creation.  If you asked how I still had energy left over, I’d say I was incredibly lucky.

Normally, all the absorbed energy would be used in creating the Yeouiju.  But a problem had occurred during my transformation.  While my body had changed, I had become smaller than a typical Imugi.  The Yeouiju had adjusted its power output to match my smaller size, and the excess energy had been absorbed into my body.

“-…What are you talking about?”

“[So, while my Yeouiju is smaller than a normal one, I can wield its power to some extent because I absorbed the excess energy.]”

That was the gist of it.

“-But isn’t that a bad thing? It might be fine now, but a smaller Yeouiju means you’ll have less power than others later on.”

“[Not really.]”

Because the energy within me resonated with the Yeouiju, gradually increasing its power.  An Imugi accumulated power within the Yeouiju to become a dragon.  Naturally, there was a limit to how much power could be stored.  And a Yeouiju that could store more power increased the chances of becoming a dragon.  But the size of the vessel containing the power was limited.  And once a Yeouiju was created, its size was typically fixed.  That’s why Silphy looked so worried.

But I was an exception.  The energy within me, unlike the Yeouiju, could grow.  Even as we spoke, the energy within me was growing stronger.

“-So, you’re saying you can wield the power of a dragon even though you’re an Imugi?  And you won’t lack power when you ascend the Deungnyongmun?”

“[I still lack the power for that… but given time, it will be possible.  And I won’t fail to become a dragon due to lack of power.]”

Honestly, I had just discovered this myself.  Faced with Cheong’s killing intent, my body had instinctively offered a solution: use the remaining energy.

“-But if you use that power, you have to replenish it, right?”

“[That’s right.]”

I had used the power, so I had to replenish it.  My power was designed to shine brighter later on.  Let’s say the power I currently possessed increased by 1.  But once I reached a certain threshold, the increase would become 2.  And then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and so on.  The rate of increase would grow exponentially.

And the threshold was determined by how much power was accumulated within my Yeouiju.  I suspected that the stronger the Yeouiju, the greater the rate of increase, due to the resonance between the energy within me and the Yeouiju.

“-Uh, so the wind holding Cheong…”

“[I’m using every last bit of my power to maintain it.]”

If I used any more power, I wouldn’t be able to control the wind for a while.  Silphy’s face paled, and she quickly moved her hands.

“-T-Then I’ll take over!”

“[No, there’s no need for that anymore.]”

*Thump.*

I released the wind, freeing Cheong.  Silphy, worried that Cheong would attack me again, gathered her power, but Cheong’s subsequent actions made it clear that her worry was unfounded.

*Knead, knead.*

“Myaa?”

“[Yes, you finally recognize me.]”

Cheong carefully placed her paws on me and started kneading.  The same paws that had tried to tear me apart were now gently massaging me, as if afraid of hurting me.  I understood her feelings and chuckled.

“[You’re a little slow on the uptake.]”

“Myaa! Myangmyang!”

Cheong protested, saying she had seen me with my back split open, thinking I was dead.

“[That was just my shed skin. A remnant of my past, discarded to achieve my current form.]”

“Myang? Myamang!”

“[Hmm? I don’t mind, but…]”

Cheong suddenly asked for my shed skin, and I agreed.  I didn’t know why she wanted it, but I didn’t need it.  I did, however, tell her not to eat it like she had my tail.  Even for her, eating my shed skin was a bit much.

“-Huh?”

As we returned to our usual playful interactions, Silphy, still stunned, pointed at us.

“[Why are you so surprised?”]

“-But you two were just trying to kill each other! And now you’re suddenly making up?”

“[There’s no reason to fight now that she recognizes me.]”

This wasn’t the first time this had happened.  Why was she acting like an amateur?  Silphy unconsciously nodded.  She had lived with us, albeit for a shorter time than Cheong, so she should be used to this by now.

“Myang! Myamang!”

“-Hmm? You want me to preserve this without damaging it?”

Cheong handed my shed skin to Silphy, asking her to preserve it so it wouldn’t rot or decay.  I wondered if that was possible with wind, but Silphy snapped her fingers, creating a translucent sphere of wind around the skin.

“-This should keep it in its current state indefinitely.”

“[I didn’t know wind could do that.]”

“-Now that you can control wind too, would you like me to teach you?”

I was more than happy to learn.  But having exhausted most of my energy restraining Cheong, I would have to postpone the practical lessons.

“[Let’s go back.]”

Now that everything was settled, it was time to go home.

—–CROW—–

“…You’re late.”

“[Who are you?]”

“-Who are you?”

“Myang?”

Who was this scarred man?

—–CROW—– 

[T/N: some of you mentioned some error in the previous chapters so I will check them out when I get some free time and these chapters are translated days ago that why you may face the same errors but I will keep in mind when I’m translating new chapters]