By Zephyria 
Boulder, having finished his grand explanation, placed his hand on the back of the golem’s neck and chanted a formula.
The golem fumbled with its body and assumed the lotus position. I suppressed the urge to gag again.
Mage Boulder called me in a bright, cheerful voice. “Alright then, Young Master Ernhardt! Please perform Jin Gi Do In!”
I didn’t have the slightest desire to touch that grotesque thing. I took a step forward and then half a step back. I could understand the Ciaran children’s feelings of not wanting to go near something because it was disgusting, like it had worms. I realized now that even if it didn’t cause me great harm, I would get goosebumps just by being near something that looked disgusting and horrific.
As I hesitated and didn’t approach, Maelo Sanson burst into laughter again. I glanced at him with a resentful look, then forced myself to compose my thoughts. Douglas Mustang’s worried expression made me feel ashamed.
“…Forcing Young Master Ernhardt to do something he doesn’t want to do is a breach of contract, after all…”
“Huh? No, it’s not harmful to my body! I’m just performing Jin Gi Do In on a human model! This is tyranny! It’s outrageous!”
“…You see.”
“But the child dislikes it so much.”
“…No, I can do it.”
Being treated like a child right before my eyes sent a chill down my spine. Yes, what childish behavior was this? It was not right to avoid Boulder’s custom-made golem, which he had painstakingly created over days, simply because of its grotesque appearance.
I squeezed my eyes shut and stood behind the golem. It felt awkward to sit in the lotus position behind it, but I could do it. What terrible things were there in the world besides this? I took several deep breaths to clear my mind. Up close, I could see the golem’s insides churning, making it better to just close my eyes.
I placed both hands on the golem’s back. The texture was too similar to human skin, which made me shiver. Gasp, I swallowed a breath. My hands had unconsciously pulled away from the golem’s back. I was desperate to shake off the sensation left on my hands.
Douglas looked at me as if I were something pitiful and precious, coaxing me like one would a small, young animal. “Young Master Ernhardt, if you really can’t do it, it’s okay to say so.”
“…No.”
Maelo Sanson’s shoulders shook as he stifled his laughter against the wall. Seeing that, I knew I was doing something truly ridiculous. I took a deep breath and reached out again. No matter how bizarre the situation, starting Circulating Qi brought about a pure heart, which was the Way of Namgung. As I raised my internal energy and slowly performed the Microcosmic Orbit, my turbulent mind settled. I pushed energy into the golem through my palm center. A bright, blue light began to spread from the golem’s back. It wasn’t the faint blue light from when the golem first activated, but a clear color, as if I were sitting in Namgung’s martial arts training ground.
Even though I knew the golem was not a living creature, my heart fluttered. No matter how excellent a martial artist’s Eye Technique was, one could not see inside a person’s body like this. It was also why Maelo Sanson, a martial artist of Hwagyeong, could not see or doubt my Dantian. Although I knew the internal energy of the Great Expansive Divine Skill of Azure Sky circulated in blue light, seeing it with my own eyes was a mystical experience. Boulder might have placed blue, glowing formulas on the golem’s acupoints, but the fact that I could see the familiar light again with my own eyes helped me suppress the revolting feeling.
I used the Energy Accumulation Method, which is not normally used for Jin Gi Do In, to circulate the energy. Since it was not a living creature, I did not worry about harming it and circulated the Qi through acupoints that ordinary people could not penetrate. I completed two cycles and regulated the energy. I took a deep breath and steadied my breathing. The golem, after completing Jin Gi Do In, no longer glowed blue, but it no longer felt as disgusting as it did at first.
“Excellent! Perfect! It’s been recorded properly!”
…It was a delusion. When Boulder began to pull out the depleted Mana Stones from the golem’s ten fingers, I covered my face with both hands again. I didn’t want to see it, and I didn’t want to think about it. Boulder replaced the golem’s Mana Stones and chanted something. The golem began to circulate Qi on its own. The Qi the golem drew in was very weak, but as it repeated the movements exactly as I had taught it, blue light twinkled like a cluster of stars. As I watched the sight through my fingers, Boulder added an explanation in a cheerful voice. In the midst of the chaos, a report was placed in my hand.
“The first Circulating Qi Golem is now programmed to operate continuously until it draws in Mana and creates a Dantian! It’s truly genius that it uses part of the drawn-in Mana to recharge the Mana Stones, so you don’t have to replace them! It can circulate Qi infinitely, and if there’s a risk of explosion, it’s designed to sound a loud bell!”
“…A bell?”
“It would use its vocal cords to make a sound, right? Because it has vocal cords.”
“…Ah.”
“In any case, the Circulating Qi Golem No. 1 will test whether a regular Mage, using the same method as Young Master Ernhardt, can create a Dantian through repeated Circulating Qi. The maximum period will be one month. For a person, Circulating Qi, which is possible for about 3 hours a day, will be done 24 hours non-stop, so one month can be substituted for eight months.”
I looked at the golem sitting in the lotus position in the middle of Douglas’s professor’s office.
“…For a month, here?”
“Yes? Of course. You can’t move or touch it while it’s performing Circulating Qi.”
“No.”
The thought of having to avoid this dreadful thing for a month, with it sitting in the middle of the professor’s office, was so absurd that my jaw dropped. Douglas, as always, smiled gently and nodded.
“Mages are all like this. I’m fine.”
“… ”
I blankly watched Maelo Sanson bump his forehead against the wall, laughing. I realized anew that Edwin Kiadris was a more sensible person than this. Though I had forgotten until now, I resolved to check on him occasionally to ensure he wouldn’t become like Mage Boulder.
❖ ❖ ❖
Wednesday. Throughout the beginner swordsmanship class, Maelo Sanson kept making eye contact with me and smiling, drawing suspicious glances from other students. Shayden and Benjamin asked what had happened, and I replied that nothing had. They both went to Maelo without hesitation, heard the story, and burst into laughter. When the children asked out of curiosity, I promised to go see that grotesque thing with Douglas’s permission next time. Secretly, I felt it was unfair for me alone to have such a harrowing experience, so I gladly agreed.
During Imperial Genealogy class, I observed Professor Calypse Agrigent closely. He looked healthy, as if his recent severe illness had been a lie. My heart had been worried about him, so I felt satisfied and attended the class. After class, I headed to the stables to attend the lecture on the praise of fine horses. I had ample time since I came straight from Imperial Genealogy class, but Benjamin was already there, brushing the horses’ manes. Some of the horses still feared Benjamin, but Victor, the one Benjamin paid the most attention to, no longer flinched in his presence. Instead, he acted like royalty, tilting his head this way and that, demanding to be brushed here and there. When Victor casually lifted a foreleg and placed it on Benjamin’s hand, Benjamin didn’t seem bothered or weighed down, and gently scraped away the tangled hay with a brush from the top of his sturdy leg down to the hoof. I couldn’t help but laugh in amazement.
“When did you start doing this?”
“I finished lunch early, so I came a bit ahead of time.”
“Wow… Victor is glowing, truly glowing.”
Shayden exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. Even to my eyes, the horse, which Benjamin had spent over an hour grooming, looked sleek and well-maintained. Benjamin beamed with pride as if he had received the praise, and I complimented the horse’s appearance multiple times, calling it magnificent and handsome. Benjamin, who had always fled from animals that disliked him without knowing why, smiled meekly and said it was all thanks to me.
Since more than half of the semester had passed, not only Benjamin but most students taking the riding class had become adept at handling horses. Professor Biban Otif supervised the saddling and bridling for safety, but riding through the vast fields next to the stables to enjoy the scenery was more than sufficient. So, today’s class involved the students riding their assigned horses out into the fields.
The clear autumn sky was cloudless. The lush green grass covering the gentle hills within the academy rustled like dry leaves as it brushed against the horses’ legs. The reeds encircling the hills, heavy with their fluffy blossoms, swayed their heads. The children, laughing innocently, led their horses this way and that. The horses, with the children laughing behind them, walked slowly, sniffed the autumn flowers that bloomed in season, or playfully refused to move forward, nibbling on the fresh grass. My horse walked leisurely, gazing at the distant sky. I, too, looked in the same direction as the horse and gently stroked its fine mane. Hearing the horse’s soft whinny made me smile in return. These were hands that had once slaughtered fierce beasts. I couldn’t believe the peace I felt now, gently stroking and caring for such a gentle and beautiful creature. When my stroking hand stopped, the horse carrying me began to move forward again. With every clip-clop of its hooves, the overgrown grass was flattened.
From a distance, I saw Benjamin embracing a horse’s neck and murmuring something pleadingly. I also saw Shayden, skillfully handling his horse and galloping around, showing off his equestrian skills to his peers. Some children dismounted and walked alongside their horses, while others raced back and forth with their horses, cheering. I held the reins and guided my horse toward the children. The cold air that rushed into my lungs made my tongue tingle, and saliva gathered on my tongue.