To get used to it.
It was hard to do. The first one that he got used to was his voice. He couldn't say anything. No screams, shouts, anything. Anything that he could make with his mouth was gone.
That wasn't really a big penalty however. There was only Sogo that Sungmin met frequently, and Sogo also had the same penalty. Therefore, Sogo helped Sungmin get used to the penalty faster.
The silent conversations. It wasn't great, but it wasn't hard to get used to.
But the other ones were different.
The weight that Sungmin was feeling was getting heavier. Especially after learning Shadowless, the weight carried his body down.
Shadowless was a speed technique.
Therefore, the weight that Sungmin had as a penalty became a huge problem for him. The technique in specific required a lot of skill, so it was harder for Sungmin.
'If you want to move faster, the weight keeps you down.'
That's where he was stuck. He couldn't get fast enough even if he followed the cultivation manual. He needed the strength and speed to overcome that.
'Thinking is easy.'
Thinking was always easy. Reality was not.
If the weight was holding Sungmin back, the taste and dream penalty was completely breaking Sungmin. Food wasn't good at all, and sleep wasn't a time of rest anymore. No, the taste penalty was probably better than his dream penalty.
He was afraid of sleeping. Sungmin begged everyday, to not let it be night, to not get tired.
But he always slept. His body tired out after swinging his spear so many times. And then… he slept like death.
And then he would wake up from his nightmare. Screaming a silent scream, he would sit up near the fire. He would sleep then wake up again.
"Crazy kid."
That was a thing that he heard a lot since he came to the mountain. He stopped and looked at Scarlet.
He was wondering why she was here, but it seemed as if Sogo brought her here. He glanced at Sogo beside Scarlet, but Sogo didn't give an explanation.
"Why are you mute people looking at each other. You date?"
Scarlet grumbled as she came over. Sungmin put down the spear and picked up his branch. Scarlet's face wrinkled at that.
"Don't ask. I'll tell you everything. Ah, Really! Why did you become mute? It's hard to speak."
Scarlet grumbled as she scratched her head.
"Sogo. This mute girl. She came a few days before and begged for a while. To help you."
Scarlet spit out towards Sogo. Sungmin, surprised, looked at Sogo.
"I'll teach you some magic."
Scarlet went closer to Sungmin. The stench grew as she came closer.
"You should be happy. Magic isn't the easiest thing to use… but this world makes it easier."
Sungmin tried not to be bothered by the stench. She was grumbling, but Sungmin understood.
He was going to learn magic.
Sungmin never had any relationship with magic. If he wanted to, he might have learned few of the weakest spells, but to a mercenary like him, martial arts was always better.
Scarlet Resir. She wasn't the great now, but in 10 years, she would be a master magician who would create the Resir branch of magic. This was a great opportunity for him.
"Look at this kid."
Scarlet pouted her lips.
"Hey! I said. It's only a few types of magic. I'm not telling you everything. I live off of this. I can't tell you this for free. This isn't free. Sogo, that mute girl is going to pay for it."
[Payment?]
Sungmin put down letters on the ground.
"It's nothing. Sogo is going to help me if I need help without any questions."
It was nothing. That was like a one time slave contract. Sungmin looked at Sogo. She didn't have any emotions.
"I heard about you. You crazy kid. Getting two more penalties. Really…crazy. You're foolish when you're stupid. That's you, kid."
Scarlet laughed.
"I'll teach you 4 types of magic. Mental cleaning. You… have nightmares? Don't think that they're just that. They might harm your mental state. Mental cleaning helps for that…It'll only be like an emergency aid for you though."
She pulled out a magic scroll from her pocket.
"Strength and Haste. Generic buff magic. Give strength and make your body faster. THe last one is Fatigue Recovery. It helps recovery stress."
Sungmin got 4 scrolls of magic. Sungmin blinked a few times and looked down.
Those scrolls were very important to Sungmin right now. Mental cleaning. It would help Sungmin's mind from nightmares.
Strength and Haste. These would relieve the stress given by his weight penalty. It wouldn't be a perfect solution, however. The weight penalty was getting harsher everyday.
"Remember this. Magic isn't a panacea."
Scarlet warned.
"It's comfortable, but it's not a panacea. Strength and Haste may help the body, but your body will have to take the burden of it. Same for the other spells. If you use it too much, your body suffers."
Scarlet shut her mouth. After a brief silence, Scarlet let out a small sigh.
"…Well. If you were intelligent enough to keep your body healthy, you wouldn't have taken those penalties. Anyway, it will help. In holding out at least."
Scarlet said that and went back to her resting place. Sungmin read the scrolls and added them to his skill list.
Then Sogo appeared. Sungmin put away the scrolls and looked up at her.
[Teacher. Because you're a nice person, you did this all for me?]
[Yes.]
Sogo said confidently. It was the expected answer, but it felt bad to hear it. Sungmin looked at her.
[It's my problem. Why?]
[You're not friendly with Scarlet. But I am. So I can ask.]
It was a simple answer. And it was the truth. If Sungmin tried to ask Scarlet, she wouldn't have responded to it. The reason why he was able to learn magic was because Sogo knew Scarlet and Sogo had the ability to help out Scarlet.
[Relationship are important. If I see… you seem to be afraid of relationships. Or no. You don't seem like you trust people.]
It was direct. Sungmin made a surprised face and looked at Sogo. Sogo laughed as if she knew it all along.
[It's not bad to be careful. But if you're too careful… you can't have relationships. You can't live alone.]
That made Sungmin feel many things. The past Sungmin…
Had no companions. Had no friend. He didn't trust. No Classes. He was a cynical guy who wanted to survive. He lived like that for 13 years. He died alone.
But this life.
He had relationships with Hans and Jack. It could have just been because of his talent, but they cared for Sungmin. Lula helped him as well. Wijihoyun was always there for him.
And from Sogo as well.
People couldn't live alone. Relationship were important. That was true. But was being careful bad? What was bad about not wanting to be betrayed. Sungmin's mind swirled in confusion. His experiences were colliding together.
[That must have been a hard word for you.]
Sogo wrote down on the ground.
[Don't think about it too much. You and I are two different people. My words can't always be right. We're different."
Sogo erased the words she wrote before.
[It must be the first time using magic? Try it.]
Sungmin nodded and thought about magic in his head.
In this world, like martial arts, magic was easy to perform.
However, it depended on the person as well to increase the magic levels.
'You use your inner strength.'
His inner strength rumbled. Sungmin tried to use mental cleaning first. He could feel his head becoming clear and lighter.
And then the fatigue recovery. The fatigue made his heavy body lighter. HIs stress from lack of sleep all disappeared.
'If you use it too much, it hurts the body…'
But this was the best way for now. Sungmin made a refreshed expression as he stared at Sogo. He wanted to try the other ones, but first he wanted to thank Sogo.
[Thank you. Teacher.]
Sungmin wrote it down and bowed his head. Sogo scratched her cheek at that.
[Just remember this. I just think it's moral to help people. Don't forget it. ]
Sogo wrote.
[So it's like this. When you receive help from someone, even if you can't do anything for them now, just keep it in your mind. Grudges… I won't say to throw them away. If that was true, why would people learn martial arts. I'm a nice person, but I don't forget grudges easily. I don't forget kindness definitely.[
Sungmin nodded. He could understand Sogo's logic.
Sungmin would not forget the kindness that Sogo showed him.
'Even after 8 years.'
In 8 years, Sogo would die to Wijihoyun.
Sungmin wanted to stop that