The Medical Hall.
A place where all kinds of medicinal ingredients are prepared, it is like the heart of the Dang Clan.
Dang Eun-bi had devoted herself to both poison and medicine, so she had practically lived in the Medical Hall since childhood. Now her skills had improved considerably, and she had taken on a variety of responsibilities.
What she was doing now was one of them.
She carefully trimmed medicinal herbs shaped like tree roots or placed seeds into a small mortar and ground them into powder.
Then, after a final check to ensure there were no defects in quality, she labeled them and stored them away.
As she worked smoothly through her tasks, a stray thought crossed Dang Eun-bi’s mind.
I miscalculated yesterday.
She had overlooked the fact that Kim Ho possessed poison resistance and used a rather mild poison, which turned out to be a mistake.
On top of that, she had unnecessarily doubted her own skills and even ended up ingesting the poison herself.
After laughing until her stomach hurt, she had to endure a harsh scolding from her older brothers.
Dang Eun-bi clenched her fist.
I can’t let it end like this.
She too possessed the Dang Clan’s characteristic persistence.
Her determination to defeat Kim Ho burned even more fiercely.
What kind of poison should I use…?
It had to be strong enough to break through his resistance, yet not lethal.
She wanted to mess with him, not harm him.
And how should I administer the poison…?
Ideally, no one would notice that she was the one who did it.
The next best outcome would be getting caught but still succeeding.
Since her brothers and Dang Gyu-young were always nearby, she would probably have to lean toward the latter.
Just as Dang Eun-bi was deep in thought, pondering over her plans,
A presence approached from behind, accompanied by an aged voice.
“Eun-bi, could you come here for a moment?”
There stood an old woman dressed in deep green robes.
She was the head of the Medical Hall, and to Dang Eun-bi, she was both a master and like a grandmother.
At once, she stopped her work, and soon the two sat facing each other and began to talk.
“You did something rather reckless yesterday.”
“Ah… yes… I’m reflecting on it…”
Dang Eun-bi lowered her head deeply.
After all, there was no way she could have avoided the notice of the elders with her level of skill.
They must have been watching everything from beginning to end.
She had expected the scolding to continue for a while, but the head of the Medical Hall said something unexpected.
“The Council of Elders has spoken. They say it would be best for you to make up for your failure. After all, it reflects poorly on the Dang Clan’s reputation.”
Using poison was considered cowardly and shameful.
However, something even more shameful by several times was when the poison you used failed to work.
It brought no benefit at all, only losses.
Once one resolved to use poison, achieving at least some result was the mindset of the Dang Clan.
Soon, the head of the Medical Hall handed her something carefully wrapped in paper.
“Go on, open it.”
“……”
Dang Eun-bi did as she was told, and the moment she checked its contents, her eyes widened.
It was a very fine powder, a mixture of brown, white, and black.
“…It’s Auxiliary Poison Powder.”
Just as the name implied, a powder that aids poison.
When mixed in during administration, it allowed the poison to infiltrate the target’s body in the most effective way, as if it were alive.
Even poisons that normally wouldn’t work could become effective when combined with this, greatly increasing both potency and success rate.
However, Dang Eun-bi felt puzzled and asked,
“Is it really okay to use something like this here?”
The ingredients for the Auxiliary Poison Powder were rare, and its preparation was difficult, so even across the entire Dang Clan, there wasn’t much of it.
Unless it was for defeating a lifelong enemy, wasn’t it too wasteful to use it just to play a prank on a mere guest?
The head of the Medical Hall seemed to think similarly but also appeared to understand the Council’s perspective as she spoke her thoughts.
“As you know, martial artists live and die by their pride and honor. When you look back later, they’re all rather meaningless things. Perhaps this is just one of those cases.”
“……”
From Dang Eun-bi’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad proposal.
She had already planned to proceed with the “Defeat the Evil Kim Ho Operation” anyway.
With Auxiliary Poison Powder, she wouldn’t need to use a dangerous poison to achieve results, which greatly expanded her options.
Even so, she felt a bit of hesitation because the Council’s intentions were obvious.
“They’re trying to use me as a test subject.”
Kim Ho had openly revealed that he possessed poison resistance.
However, the exact extent of that resistance was unclear, so their intention was to use Dang Eun-bi to assess it before taking more serious action.
At the same time, they likely intended to take advantage of her connection with Dang Gyu-young.
If another clan member were to interfere and get caught, it wouldn’t be easy to smooth things over. But if it was Dang Eun-bi, even if she were discovered, it could be dismissed as a childish prank.
Just like yesterday.
The head of the Medical Hall slowly nodded.
“Your guess is likely correct. It pains me to even bring this up.”
“……”
“If you’re unwilling, don’t force yourself. This old woman will deal with those stubborn elders.”
Dang Eun-bi fell into brief contemplation.
Although the Medical Hall held considerable influence within the clan, refusing a request from the Council of Elders would inevitably lead to political disadvantages.
Moreover, taking the lead in testing poison wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
She was, at most, administering poison half in jest and half out of mischief, whereas the Council wanted to drive Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho’s group out of the clan.
If they failed to properly gauge his poison resistance, there was a chance they might go too far in pursuit of that goal.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better for him to get lightly punished within reasonable limits rather than be seriously harmed?
Soon, Dang Eun-bi finished rationalizing her decision.
I’ll let myself be used just this once.
She then took the Assist Poison Powder and said,
“I’ll give it a try. But please tell them not to expect too much.”
***
We exchanged fierce blows with the Dang Twin Heroes for quite a while.
As a result,
[The rank of ‘Movement Command’ has increased. (F → E)]
▷ Ignores 1 rank of all forced movement resistance of the target.
▷ Every 3 minutes, additional penetration increases from 1 → 2 ranks
Since I had only recently learned it, the growth rate was fairly fast.
The high level of my opponents, who were constantly pushing me back, probably played a part as well.
Soon, the Dang twins raised their hands to stop us.
“That’s enough.”
“Let’s take a short break here.”
Then they gathered up all the iron pellets and coins that had been scattering in every direction at once.
We also readily retrieved our weapons and took a break together.
Dang Il-bi and Dang Han-bi spoke in turns.
“Last night, we spoke out of turn.”
“Even if you’re still young, you’re heroes affiliated with Dragon Slayer Academy.”
“Didn’t we say things like it was only natural for you to lose, and that it wouldn’t be embarrassing?”
They were two experts in the mid-A rank.
They must have expected to quickly subdue two second-years and a freshly graduated pair just entering A rank.
However, we managed to gain a slight advantage early on, and even after being pushed onto the defensive once the probing phase ended, we held out tenaciously.
So they acknowledged that they had underestimated us and offered an apology.
I replied in a gentle tone.
“That’s understandable. I learned a lot. And I’m sure I’ll continue to learn more.”
The two of them grew a bit bashful again.
“Ahem… Looking at you, you’ve got quite the knack for polishing your own image.”
“We learned a lot as well.”
“The way you handled your skills and traits was impressive.”
“We were caught off guard more than once.”
Not only did I time [Ghost Dance] appropriately, but Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in even deflected effective hits with [Distortion].
Since its cooldown is a full day, they probably won’t be able to use it again today.
Dang Han-bi’s gaze turned toward the Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot.
“Especially that pot. It had absurd defensive power. What kind of item is it?”
“It’s treasure number one.”
Seo Ye-in replied with sparkling eyes.
That didn’t seem like what he was asking.
Dang Il-bi, for his part, was sending me an intense look.
“I didn’t expect to fail to land a single effective hit on you.”
“I was just providing support from a safe position. Noona handled all the offense and defense.”
“Even so, those weren’t movements you’d expect from a mere student.”
At that, Dang Gyu-young who had been listening in added a comment.
“I couldn’t hit him either. He dodges way too well.”
“I see. Then I’ll make it my goal to land at least one hit next time.”
Dang Il-bi, and even Dang Han-bi along with him, burned with fighting spirit.
It seemed I would have to move around even more busily from now on.
I casually changed the subject.
“By the way, if the two of you are this skilled, the overall strength of the Dang family must be even more impressive.”
“That’s not really the case.”
Unexpectedly, the two shook their heads and spoke in turns.
“You should think of us as exceptions.”
“There are only a handful across the entire clan who can match us.”
“And it’s been a very long time since an S-rank expert has appeared.”
So there are about five or six A-rank fighters, give or take.
And even among them, there would be differences in skill.
I asked another question.
“Then who is the strongest among you?”
The Dang twins hesitated for a moment.
After exchanging looks, they answered.
“It’s known that the head of the family and the head of the council of elders are evenly matched.”
“Though we can’t be sure how it is now.”
“It’s been quite a while since the two last faced each other.”
The head of the council of elders…
I recalled the old man who had been seated near the place of honor at last night’s banquet.
Overall, he had maintained a calm demeanor, but when our eyes met just once, I felt a presence like a venomous snake eyeing its prey.
He seemed quite formidable as well.
Still, Father Qyu seems stronger.
It was only a rough estimate, but the head of the Dang family seemed to be nearing the peak of A-rank.
If my guess was correct, it wouldn’t be surprising if he crossed into S-rank at any time.
The question is when the opportunity will come.
S-rank lies in the realm of enlightenment.
Enlightenment is a highly abstract concept. So much so that if there are a hundred people, there are a hundred different forms of it.
That’s because it is built upon one’s life so far, one’s relationships with others, and the martial power one has accumulated.
When playing <Dragon Slayer Academy> as a game and raising heroes, I mainly used two methods.
Either I mindlessly repeated the grind, hoping at least one attempt would succeed.
Or I provided a powerful experience connected to the elements mentioned above.
For example, Carmilla who was my 1,000th S-rank hero had the keywords “vampire” and “darkness”.
So I went as far as slaying a Black Dragon, then turned its blood into a gem and had her absorb it.
Thanks to that, it worked in a single try.
But that was when it was just a game.
Now I was inside the world of the game.
Real, living people are bound to be more complex than mere characters, so the process of enlightenment would be just as complicated.
And I’ve never even met the elder before.
I don’t know what kind of life he has lived, and even if I asked, there’s no way he would tell me.
That makes it difficult to even suggest a direction.
For now, it seemed there was nothing I could do.
Soon, Dang Il-bi and Dang Han-bi brushed themselves off and stood up.
“That should be enough rest.”
“Shall we go another round?”
“Get ready.”
At that moment, sensing someone’s presence, we all turned our heads at the same time.
It was Dang Eun-bi, approaching with a tray holding several teacups.
As everyone’s attention focused on her, she gave a small smile and spoke.
“I brought some tea. Have some before you continue.”
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