Urban Vagabond: Reload

A few days ago.

“...May I make one suggestion?”

“Huh?” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Shin Kangheon, who’d been watching the lingering embers the Golden Winged Bird left behind, looked up in flustered surprise at the Glacier Priestess, who had suddenly approached and spoken to him.

“Do you know you were born with talent for blazing-yang martial arts?”

“In the Five Elements affinity test, fire came out the highest, I guess...”

Shin Kangheon answered with a slightly dazed expression, but the Glacier Priestess shook her head as if that didn’t even begin to cover it.

“I can say this with certainty—you’re the most outstanding I’ve ever seen since entering the Sun and Moon Gate. ...You might even be better than Jang Jinmyeong was in his youth.”

“Really?”

Shin Kangheon’s eyes went wide as he asked again like he couldn’t believe it, and everyone else looked equally stunned.

I quietly agreed to myself.

Not for nothing he got called Flameblade Shin Kangheon.

In my previous life, Shin Kangheon ruled as Korea’s number-one saber under that alias.

His fire affinity alone was talent that held up not just in Korea, but in the world.

And from what I knew, he reached that height even while only learning a blazing-yang internal method that was, frankly, ordinary.

If Shin Kangheon had trained with a truly proper blazing-yang internal method...

Just a moment ago, the lingering embers the Golden Winged Bird left behind had moved like they were dancing, following Shin Kangheon’s hand.

Without any special formulas or techniques for controlling flames—he’d been handling fire with pure instinct and sense.

Don’t tell me...?

In that instant, I could tell what the Glacier Priestess was about to suggest to Shin Kangheon.

Sure enough.

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve learned a blazing-yang internal method yet. Would you accept the Sun and Moon Gate’s Blazing-Yang Art?”

If Jang Jinmyeong were still alive, Shin Kangheon’s talent would’ve made him feel inferior.

It was so overwhelming it pushed the Glacier Priestess to the point of breaking her sect’s unspoken rules.

“Uh... so you’re trying to recruit me into the Sun and Moon Gate right now?”

Shin Kangheon scratched the back of his head with an awkward look.

Which sect he would enter was something he was still discussing with his uncle.

And right now, his heart was leaning heavily toward the Martial Alliance.

At his reaction, the Glacier Priestess gave a bitter smile.

“In the situation my sect is in, I can’t shamelessly do that. I mean only this—if you want, I’ll pass down the Blazing-Yang Art itself.”

“...What? Why?”

It was an obvious question.

No sect taught its martial arts to someone who wasn’t their disciple.

At the very least, they’d need to form a master-disciple bond, or register him under some kind of external branch.

But the Glacier Priestess said neither was necessary.

“I’m making this offer because it would be a waste to let your talent rot. There’s no other purpose, so you can put your mind at ease.”

“...”

Normally, it would’ve been impossible from the start.

The Sun and Moon Gate’s blazing-yang faction martial artists would’ve fought her tooth and nail.

But now, after crushing Jang Jinmyeong and his trusted men with both strength and justification, the Glacier Priestess held power no one in the sect could touch.

That was why she could make an offer this radical.

“To be honest, I don’t know blazing-yang martial arts very well. I can’t teach the Blazing-Yang Art personally—I can only pass along the formulas. And even then... only the internal-method portion.”

She continued, recalling the fact that Shin Kangheon had endured three techniques from the Martial Alliance Leader and passed the first-rate license exam.

“Still... that should be enough for you.”

If Shin Kangheon’s saber art had been properly supported by a blazing-yang internal method, there might’ve been three people who passed the pinnacle-expert test—not just two.

“Kangheon. It seems a great stroke of fortune has come to you.”

Choi Geon, who had been listening, lightly patted Shin Kangheon’s shoulder.

He also knew exactly how extraordinary Shin Kangheon’s talent was.

But he’d always regretted how much Shin Kangheon relied on raw physical ability and instinct, and how thin his internal-method foundation was.

If he found an exceptional internal method to support his external techniques, it would be like giving wings to a tiger.

“...You’re really just going to pass it down? No price, no deal?”

Shin Kangheon knew how enormous this was.

That was why he couldn’t believe it, and why he had to ask again and again.

The Glacier Priestess smiled faintly and nodded.

“But you must not pass the Blazing-Yang Art to anyone else. And if I could ask for one thing...”

At the word ask, Shin Kangheon swallowed hard.

He was sure she was about to demand something difficult.

But on the Glacier Priestess’s exhausted face, a calm smile spread.

“If, in the future, you see Sun and Moon Gate disciples being unfairly oppressed... don’t pretend you didn’t see it. Help them. I think that will be enough.”

That was her only request.

Shin Kangheon didn’t agonize over it for long.

With a confident grin, he thumped his chest and said,

“I’m a heroic swordsman. If someone’s being wronged, there’s no way I’d look at it and pretend I didn’t.”

And so Shin Kangheon received the Blazing-Yang Art, one of the foremost blazing-yang martial arts in the Korean martial world.

“Heh heh heh! Just you wait, you lunatic! I’ll learn it fast and knock you down first!”

“Do what you want.”

To me, it looked like the Glacier Priestess was investing in Shin Kangheon’s future.

Doing a favor for a rising talent with a high chance of becoming a top expert someday, and building a good relationship early—

That was bound to pay back in one way or another later.

Of course, it could’ve been pure goodwill without any calculation at all.

“If you want, you too could take the Profound Yin Art...”

But it didn’t feel smart to assume she was that innocent.

It felt like she was trying to mark me too.

“I’m fine. I don’t even have time to fully focus on what I’m already training.”

I politely refused the Glacier Priestess’s offer.

I already had the Five Elements Divine Art.

“Hm. Right. You wouldn’t need it.”

As if she’d expected that, the Glacier Priestess nodded without hesitation.

*****

And now.

“Shin Kangheon the Fireman Upgrade! Burn, flames of hell!”

FWOOSH!

A flame sprang to life at Shin Kangheon’s fingertip.

Despite the grandiose shout, it was only about the size of a candle flame—more than enough, though, to square off against a Golden Winged Bird that was only as big as a hand.

PYAAAK!

Apricot spewed flame from its beak and charged Shin Kangheon bravely.

As a Great Anomaly, its firepower was nothing to sneeze at—its output was about on par with a lighter, not just a spark.

“This little thing’s got some bite! To match me, Shin Kangheon, in firepower! But Flame-Man Shin Kangheon never retreats, no matter how hot it gets!”

PYAAAK! PYAAK-PYAAK!

Flame and flame tangled in midair, and then Shin Kangheon’s finger and Apricot’s beak collided—tap tap tap—over and over.

Watching their fierce “battle,” Hwang Suksu and Kim Bokja gave their assessment.

“Unbelievable. They’re playing around like idiots.”

“I think their mental ages are a perfect match.”

Meanwhile, I used the chance while Apricot was busy wrestling Shin Kangheon and sat down cross-legged beside the mother Golden Winged Bird’s inner core.

“Hoooo...”

Just letting the pure fire energy flowing out of the inner core wash over my body helped the Five Elements Divine Art more than I expected.

I’ll build my fire energy slowly, without forcing it.

Right now, my internal energy was packed in my lower abdomen, centered on water and metal.

The other three forces—fire, wood, and earth—were still barely there.

And I was planning to raise fire first.

Rather than getting greedy right away, I need to keep my internal and external balance. Give my lower abdomen and my pathways time to widen and strengthen.

Watching Jang Jinmyeong’s end had drilled something into me.

If I got blinded by achievement, I could become that, too.

The hunger to become stronger than any martial artist in the world... and the impatience that naturally followed from it—this was a chance to clamp down on it.

Because I decided I’m not walking alone anymore.

Right then, Shin Kangheon and Apricot’s tussling fight was also nearing its end.

“Uraaaah!”

PYAAAK!

After learning the Five Elements Divine Art, I’d started seeing the forces of the five elements cycling through all things.

FWOOSH...!

Every time Shin Kangheon’s flame touched Apricot’s flame while they played, Apricot’s energy seeped into Shin Kangheon’s body little by little.

And the more that happened, the more Shin Kangheon’s fire energy strengthened and activated—I could see it.

Is the Blazing-Yang Art normally this fast to advance?

At first, I misunderstood.

But apparently, for most people, it took months just to produce a candle-sized flame.

In other words, Shin Kangheon’s innate affinity and the Golden Winged Bird’s flame had combined, creating a growth rate that broke common sense.

And watching it, a smile crept onto my lips.

At minimum, he’ll surpass the Flameblade Shin Kangheon I knew.

Shin Kangheon must’ve sensed it instinctively too—why else would he keep bickering with Apricot every day, using it as practice to handle energy?

Different from my method, but still the same goal: raising his Blazing-Yang Art quickly and safely.

“Apricot’s a real lucky charm. There’s no separate need for a living elixir.”

PYAAAK?

At my pleased mutter, Apricot flinched, its feathers bristling.

And Shin Kangheon didn’t miss the opening—he shot his hand out and snatched Apricot up.

“Wahaha! Today’s hierarchy battle is my victory! Admit it and bow your beak, you chestnut-sized chick!”

PYAAAK!

Apricot struggled like it was furious, but Shin Kangheon, exercising the winner’s privilege, started petting the loser’s soft down with both hands.

“Hey. You psycho.”

That was when I finally soaked up enough of the inner core’s energy and stood, loosening my neck from side to side.

“Huh? What now?”

Shin Kangheon, grinning as he scratched scratch scratch at the belly of the exhausted Apricot sprawled out on the floor, looked up at me.

“Stop tormenting the little one. Want to have a hierarchy battle with me too?”

Of course Shin Kangheon didn’t refuse.

He sprang up like he’d been waiting, drawing his saber.

“Heh. You’ll regret it. Today, Shin Kangheon is running at one-hundred-fifty percent condition.”

“Only that? You’ll need two-hundred percent just to barely hang with me.”

“You’re dead today!”

The two of us clashed at once, sword and saber colliding.

Since we were indoors, we didn’t use internal energy—but even with external technique alone, vicious sword-wind and saber-wind whipped through the room.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

I wanted the current Shin Kangheon to become far stronger than Flameblade Shin Kangheon ever was.

Because I needed a rival—someone who’d keep stimulating me, keep me tense, keep me improving.

For the same reason, I wanted Song Junho of the Supreme Pole Sword Gate, and Yang Hayun too, to become stronger.

That way I can beat all of them and have the fun of becoming the best.

And it wasn’t just them.

I wanted to fight and defeat every master in the Korean martial world who already had a name.

Because I had to crush every powerhouse at home and become the top dog before I could step onto the world stage with my head held high.

“...This is youth.”

That was my muttered line, a grin rising on its own with the heat of the moment.

Hwang Suksu, who had been working outside and came rushing back, heard it—and let out a shriek.

“You call that youth?! Don’t you idiots start brawling in someone else’s shop! Find somewhere else and get out, now—!”

Kim Bokja had long since backed away, hugging Apricot tightly.

“They’re at it again. Apricot, you can’t get influenced by idiots like that, okay?”

PYAAAK!

And honestly, I was already planning to find a proper crew hideout soon.

I needed it for what I was going to do next.