Chapter 5

Clumsy First Step

“Wow.”

When he arrived at the house, Il-hyun took the ether core out of his bag and examined it.

It was a cube of bright light, only slightly larger than the one he took before.

It was an enchanting wonder in his eyes and a mouthwatering view for his mouth.

He stared at the core on his hand like a man who hasn’t eaten all day stares at a delicious meatball.

“After absorbing this, will the remaining ability be revealed?” he said out loud.

He squeezed the core tightly.

“Wow!”

The core cracked.

Ether poured out from the broken core, and Il-hyun swallowed it all hurriedly.

The debris from the broken core fell over the floor. It was done in seconds.

Il-hyun took a deep breath and licked his lips.

“There is a reward for doing something crazy,” he laughed.

He reached out and tried to transform the floor.

As his hand hung in the air, the floor below it rose slightly.

His ability was less powerful if he does not directly touch the object, but he’s now, he’s able to transform objects from a distance.

I think my physical ability is better, and it’s easier to express my ability. However…

Il-hyun closed his eyes and concentrated.

He thought of a creature to be summoned and tried to use his power to shape it.

It’s different from Transformation, where he simply changes the form of an existing object.

Now, he creates the object out of nowhere.

It’s like creating a new life.

His ability slowly began to manifest, and a dim form of a small man began to take shape.

He knew he couldn’t summon something huge right now with his lack of power, so he aimed for a smaller goal.

The form of a small man kept flickering until suddenly, it disappeared completely.

“Ah, damn it!” Il-hyun yelled and let out a big, heavy sigh.

The Summoning ability he had hoped for was still not awakened.

It was hard not to be disappointed.

“It’s hard to create something, but then again, nothing is easy,” he said as he sat down on the sofa.

If the Transformation ability was just changing the shape of an object, Summoning seems to be everything from conception, to sketching, to coloring…

Wait, then what if I draw the sketch in advance?

Il-hyun began to search for things in the house. He was looking for solid objects.

A toolbox stuck in the corner caught his eye. He pulled a hammer out of it.

He used his Transformation ability.

The rubber handle fell off the hammer; the shape of its head changed, and gradually, the image he wanted began to appear.

Two wings were formed, and the hammer’s head turned into a little head with eyes and a beak.

It had been difficult for him to summon a man’s figure, so this was the image he chose this time.

A statue of a small bird made out of a hammer settled on his hand.

Il-hyun focused harder on the statue, harder than when he was simply transforming it.

He poured out his ability on it.

Suddenly, the statue’s eyes blinked, and its wings shook!

Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru!

“Oh, I’m surprised! It was really successful…” Il-hyun laughed.

The pigeon flew around the living room with its iron wings fluttering.

He was filled with joy as he stared at it until it went down and broke a glass on his table.

“Stop! Come here!” he beckoned at the iron bird.

The pigeon then stopped wandering around and quickly jumped onto his right wrist.

Il-hyun couldn’t help but smile at the pigeon’s behavior.

“So, right now, I have to use the Transformation ability first… but… can I make falcons?”

He excitedly took another tool from the box and tried to make a falcon, but it came out as weird-looking, bigger pigeon.

“This is too ugly. I still need to practice more because it’s not good enough.”

It was not how he imagined the Summoning ability would be, but it would have to do for now.

At least, he can now bring creatures to life.

He was only successful because he had the Transformation ability, but he was still lacking.

However, he knew that as he becomes more proficient, and as he absorbs more ether, he would be able to maximize the Summoning ability.

There was nothing to worry about for now.

He was more excited about having created a living creature.

I have never heard of anyone with this kind of ability.

The pigeon on his wrist spread out its wings and extended its chest as if trying to show off.

Il-hyun looked at it proudly.

But it definitely requires more power than Transformation. Wait, is it possible to fix my weapon problems with the Transformation ability?

Il-hyun recalled the incident with the Forn.

He did not even scratch the monster. He can’t keep going to sites bringing small knives.

Il-hyun stood up and began to collect all the steel items in the house.

From kitchen knives to pots, chopsticks, and awls – all the miscellaneous items were collected and transformed.

He combined the metal items together, and they clanked loudly as he did so.

Il-hyun frowned in concentration as he gave strength to the pile of steel items.

“Ugh!” he exhaled loudly as he finished it.

In front of him, there was a stainless-steel sword with a silvery appearance. It looked crude but strong.

Bang!

Il-hyun lifted the sword and swung it. He tried to hit it with his hand, and it didn’t bend at all. It seems like it was fine.

He hoped that he could inflict fatal injuries to low-level monsters with this.

Of course, nothing would be better than having an AT sword. This sword that he made was also difficult to conceal, unlike the fruit-cutting knife.

Gradually, Il-hyun noticed that his eyes were drooping.

“I feel like I’ve spent up all my power today.”

It was a long day. He fell on the bed and drifted off.

The summoned dove soon lost focus in its eyes, and its body fell slowly, as Il-hyun slept.

A serious incident broke out in Seoul as Il-hyun lay sleeping.

* * *

The next day, he was up early and ready to go out in no time after watching the breaking news.

He could not stay at home any longer.

“This is too upsetting,” Il-hyun murmured as he browsed the Internet through his cell phone.

At dawn, a gate opened in the city center.

It was normal for monsters to rush out in huge numbers when a gate opens.

Hours before that happens, special forces controlled the site and evacuated the citizens.

Awakeners dispatched by the government or by the private companies deal with the monsters until the gate disappears.

It was the standard protocol, and every city or country responds to gate situations this way.

But what happened in Seoul was different.

It was a Surprise Gate.

It is said that an F-ranked Surprise Gate is more frightening that a normal B-rank gate.

Surprise Gates are impossible to foresee, and as such, could not be handled with the standard protocol.

These gates deal more damage than normal ones, and since such a gate appeared in Seoul, there may be a lot of people affected.

It was not far from where he lived.

Fortunately, the majority of the monsters have been defeated by the government and the Awakeners, but four undiscovered monsters are still hiding in the area.

All four are E-class monsters. Although it was not a high-level monster, a normal person would not be able to face it.

It was an emergency.

Schools and businesses around the area have been ordered closure.

There were a lot of people on the Internet criticizing the incompetence of the authorities.

In reality, it was impossible to predict and prevent a Surprise Gate, but the general public found it difficult to understand.

There were casualties.

This fact alone worsens the situation greatly.

“17 casualties, three people dead? This is bad…” Il-hyun shook his head.

If it happened in another country, the damage and casualties would have been more.

Somehow, it was almost fortunate that it happened in Korea – narrow lands, citizens with high gate-safety knowledge, and overwhelmingly high proportions of Awakeners. These factors ensure that the whole city would not be decimated.

Still, it was upsetting to suffer casualties.

Il-hyun quickly shoved things into his bag and left the house.

The long sword he made yesterday was hard to carry, and he couldn’t walk around holding it.

He separated it into three parts before putting it at the bottom of the bag.

When I get to the scene, I’ll just combine them again together, he thought.

He ran out of the house and immediately hailed a taxi.

“Please, would you go to Ilyeon-dong?”

“Are you crazy? There are monsters there right now!” the taxi driver looked shocked.

“It doesn’t matter… No, just drop me off somewhere near then.” Il-hyun sat in the back seat and looked into his phone.

He read in an article that there was no progress yet on the missing monsters.

Even government detectives with sensory abilities were having trouble tracking them.

Hmm…

Considering that, it would be unlikely for him to find the monsters hiding.

He had to do it differently.

Il-hyun took something out of his bag.

It was a piece of brown wood that has been broken off old furniture.