Chapter 5

“Hwi, pay your respects. She is Lady Elara, the one who saved your life.”

After my father said that, I took a step closer to Lady Elara, gave her a fist and palm salute, and bowed deeply.

“Thank you for saving my life, Lady Elara. I am Cheon Hwi, the son of Cheon Hyeon-Seok and Baek Ji-Hye. I don’t know what I can do to repay this debt, but I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

“It’s nothing big. You can thank your luck for that. I just happened to be nearby when that happened.”

Lady Elara said as she took a sip of the tea that had been served to her.

“Hmm… this ‘tea’ is exquisite. I really like it. Any chance I can buy it?”

Lady Elara asked my father, who was standing beside me. It seemed that she really liked tea because even with all the rice wine being served at the banquet, there was no alcohol on her table.

“Buy it? Please, we already owe you too much. I will arrange a few packs for you as a gift.”

My mother, who was still holding my arm, replied to her.

“Well, I won’t refuse a gift.”

The tea she meant was called Huoshan Huangya. It was a high-quality tea grown in Huoshan, Anhui, which was often sent to the imperial palace as a tribute.

As we were chatting, the star of tonight’s banquet finally arrived.

Cheon Seolhwa calmly walked into the banquet hall. She wore a white robe with dark blue trim, the colour that was only reserved for the main family. Behind her were her parents, my uncle, Cheon Seong-Ho, and her mother, Yoon Hwa-Yeon. They both wore robes with the main family’s colours as well.

Now that Cheon Seolhwa had become the heir of the Cheon Clan, she and her parents were now part of the main family. In my uncle’s case, though, he had just returned to being a member of the main family after my father became the patriarch. He had automatically become a member of the branch family after my father succeeded to the position.

They walked towards us, or rather, towards my father, then stopped and gave him a fist and palm salute.

“I’m sorry we were late, Patriarch. The preparations took longer than expected.”

“It’s fine, and stop calling me Patriarch, brother. You make me feel distant.”

My uncle, Cheon Seong-Ho, turned his attention to me after that.

“Are you okay now, Hwi?”

“I am fine, uncle. Thanks to Lady Elara’s treatment, I have fully recovered.”

“I see.”

My uncle turned towards Lady Elara and gave her a fist and palm salute.

“I am Cheon Seong-Ho, Cheon Hwi’s uncle. Thank you for saving my nephew’s life, Lady Elara.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. How many times will you guys thank me in just one day?”

Lady Elara brushed it off while still drinking her tea.

“I’m glad you’re fine now, Hwi.”

My aunt, Yoon Hwa-Yeon, said. Her bell-like voice was very nice to hear as usual.

“Thank you for your concern, dear aunt.”

My aunt stared at me for a bit before she spoke again.

“The last time we met like this was during a banquet a year ago, right, Hwi? You’ve grown taller now, and I see you have started to grow as a dashing young man.”

“Haha, thank you, aunt. You look beautiful as usual too. Honestly, you look more like a sister than an aunt because you still look young.”

“My my… You sure can talk smooth now.”

My aunt started squeezing my cheek playfully. She looked pleased with my compliments. Well, it’s not just empty compliments. She did look like someone in her early twenties even though she’s in her mid-thirties. How can she still look so young? I feel like my uncle used all the luck in his life to marry a woman like Aunt Hwa-Yeon.

My uncle suddenly wrapped his arm around my neck from behind.

“Hwi, you brat. Are you trying to seduce my wife in front of me?”

He said jokingly.

Wait, he’s joking, right? He’s smiling, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

And his arm around my neck is getting a bit tight.

This old man, did he seriously get jealous of a twelve-year-old kid?

“Stop it, dear.”

Aunt Hwa-Yeon stopped my uncle by pulling his ear.

I looked at my mother, who had been quiet ever since Cheon Seolhwa and her parents entered the hall. It seemed my aunt noticed that too, so she turned towards my mother and greeted her.

“It’s been a while since we last met like this too, Lady Baek. We didn’t have a chance to speak during the duel. Have you been well?”

My mother just stared at her with clear displeasure on her face.

“I’m fine.”

She answered curtly and turned on her heels, returning to her seat. My father, who saw how his wife acted, could only sigh.

“I’m sorry, sister-in-law. It seems my wife still can’t accept the result of the duel.”

“Pay it no mind, Patriarch. As a mother, I can somewhat understand how she feels about this.”

I turned to Seolhwa, who had never said a word since her arrival. She kept staring at me, her eyes seeming as disinterested as usual, but I could see a trace of worry in them.

Looking at her like that, I just smiled at her and patted her head.

“I’m fine. It’s not your fault in the first place.”

She just stood still while I patted her head, then nodded.

“Well, then. Let’s not stand around here and take our seats.”

…

The banquet went on, everyone drinking and eating and making merry. My mother still didn’t talk much, just sitting there quietly while sipping her tea.

I sat by my father’s left side, sandwiched between my father and Lady Elara. I turned my head toward Lady Elara, who was enjoying the roasted duck while sipping rice wine now.

“Are the food and rice wine to your liking, Lady Elara?”

I asked her to start a conversation.

“Hmm! The roast duck is crispy on the outside, but the meat is tender, juicy, and savory, and the rice wine is not too strong and smooth with a hint of sweetness. It’s the best!”

“I see, I’m glad you enjoyed them.”

“Right, Lady Elara, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm? Sure, ask me anything.”

She said while still eating her roast duck. She didn’t use chopsticks and instead used cutlery she had brought with her, something that looked like a metal spoon but unlike a spoon, the end was split into several sharp points. She used it to pick up pieces of the roasted duck and put them into her mouth.

“I heard about how you saved me from Physician Hong. That you tapped your staff to the ground and then a big circle with intricate patterns appeared, and then I was healed. Can you explain that?”

Hearing that question, she grinned at me.

“Hmm? Curious, are you?”

“I also heard from Physician Hong that you said what happened to me was because I was using… Mana, was it? While my body wasn’t prepared yet.”

I looked her in the eyes.

“What is mana? How do I use it?”

She stopped eating and stared at me.

“Hmm… Mana is a type of energy that we mages use.”

“Mages?”

“Simply put, if martial artists are using inner energy, we mages are using mana.”

“What is mana?”

“Mana is the energy of nature. We mages absorb the raw energy we call Ether from our surroundings and accumulate it in our hearts.”

“In the heart…”

I put my hand on my chest.

Certainly, the energy I used in the final attack was the energy stored in my chest. The energy I always felt when I trained my inner energy circulation and accumulated in my heart.

“Then, was what happened to me because I used mana incorrectly?”

“That’s right.”

She took another sip of her rice wine.

“To use mana properly, the first thing you need to do is modify your heart and blood vessels in a process we call coating.”

“Basically, you need to coat your heart using the mana you have accumulated. Then, after your heart is properly coated, you need to coat your blood vessels too because they are the pathways mana uses to travel through your body.”

“Can’t I just use my meridians as the pathway and my dantian as a place to accumulate mana?”

Lady Elara leaned back on the backrest and crossed her arms.

“Hmm… I’m not familiar with dantian and meridians, as in the west we don’t use them. But, as far as I know, mana can only be accumulated in the heart. It’s also because the part of the human body where mana naturally settles is the heart.”

She glanced at me.

“Even you, without knowing anything about mana or how to absorb it, stored mana in your heart.”

I went quiet.

Then, before I was about to ask her something, she asked me.

“Kid, how about becoming my disciple?”