Chapter 69 - A Dream of Embracing a Woman (2)
Enkrid had a dream.
There was a field of flowers and a woman.
"I'll be staying for a while, so just know that."
She was a woman of mysterious charm.
Even though Enkrid wasn't the type to pay attention to women, she seemed unlikely to be easily forgotten.
The dream was chaotic.
It shifted from a field of flowers to a black river, then a ferryman appeared, followed by the woman, and suddenly, a panther showed up.
'What are you doing here?'
He thought to himself, but the panther shook its head, then, perhaps in annoyance, turned its head sharply away.
It was so cute that Enkrid couldn't resist scratching the panther's head with a finger.
Grrr.
The lake panther was said to be a wild beast, but in moments like this, it was more like a cat.
It made a contented purring noise.
The sound was endearing, even to Enkrid.
Then, for a brief moment, his eyes opened, but it was hard to tell whether this was a dream or reality.
In front of him, the woman from the flower field and the black river was in his arms.
And she was naked.
When he blinked, the woman was gone, and he saw the leopard's head instead.
It seemed like it had been a dream after all.
'But it still feels…'
The heavy feeling from holding something remained.
The scent and warmth, something he couldn't get from a small panther, lingered, making it feel even stranger.
'This dream felt too real.'
He was drifting back to sleep, and this time, he didn't fight it.
When he woke up in the morning, the panther, which never left his arms before he was awake, was nowhere to be found.
"Panther... Esther."
Enkrid was about to call out casually when he remembered the name he had come up with in his sleep.
Then, from the side, he saw the lake panther standing upright, moving.
It was perfectly hidden in the shadow of the lodging, hard to spot unless you looked closely.
It had eyes like a lake and fur as dark as ebony.
It stepped lightly, clicking its claws on the ground, then sat down in a rather aloof manner.
It sat on the leather mat Enkrid had set up for it in a corner of the lodging.
Naturally, it was heated leather.
'I've gone from being comfortably well-off to living in luxury.'
Even the panther was now grooming its claws on heated leather.
Whether it had been placed there by Big Eyes or Rem, there was dried meat laid out.
The panther lazily chopped the meat with its claws and began chewing it.
But something felt empty.
Was it because the little creature that had kept him warm in his arms was no longer there?
Or was it because the dream had felt too real?
He felt like he could even draw the woman from the dream in detail, though his drawing skills were terrible.
But the memory was vivid enough.
'She was beautiful.'
Her beauty was exceptional.
As impressive as the fairy commander, who boasted the beauty of a non-human.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
"I had a dream, and it stayed so vividly in my mind."
Esther looked at Enkrid, and the panther's gaze was strange.
When she spoke her name in the dream, it might have left a stronger impression than she had thought.
If he had weaker willpower, it could have even caused mental stress.
So, what should she do now?
Should she figure out how to handle it while in panther form?
The panther looked serious.
"What kind of dream was it?"
Rem asked, still curled up on the heated leather mat.
"Are you a caterpillar?"
"Correct. I'm a caterpillar. A caterpillar with a big mouth. So, feed me breakfast, or this weak little caterpillar will starve to death."
This guy was definitely bat shit crazy.
Enkrid let Rem's words go in one ear and out the other.
He was the type who could handle that.
"So, what kind of dream was it?"
Rem asked again.
Enkrid scratched his chin and answered.
"It was a strange dream."
"Strange?"
Rem tilted his head.
Since only his head was visible, all his expressions were conveyed through his face and head.
It was a skill, if anything.
"I saw a naked woman."
"Ugh! Choke, choke!"
'Hmm?'
Enkrid's eyes turned toward the panther.
The panther seemed to be choking, probably because a piece of dried meat had gotten caught in its throat.
"Esther?"
The panther didn't respond, keeping its head down, ignoring him.
It was the same panther who radiated mystery from its entire body when they first met.
A beast among beasts, the owner of the Green Pearl.
A panther with eyes like a lake, the lake panther.
Now, this beast was lying down on the floor, salivating and coughing.
"Ugh!"
At this rate, he wondered if it was going to die.
"I've never seen a panther choke on dried meat before, but was she pretty?"
She was very beautiful.
But Enkrid didn't answer.
What was the point?
It had been just a dream.
"Are you too slow because of the winter, Rem?"
Enkrid stood up and began to move.
Once he was standing, he realized there wasn't a spot on his body that didn't hurt.
Moving was painful.
But if he stayed still, his body would just deteriorate further.
He knew this from experience.
Not that he needed training.
In the past, he would have been too eager and pushed his body harder, but he had learned that would only damage him more.
Now he knew to avoid that.
He wasn't in a rush anymore.
'Rest is also part of training.'
That was something he had heard from countless swordsmanship masters.
If he loosened up today, tomorrow would be easier.
The Monk exercises he learned from Audin were enough to do that.
"So, was she pretty?"
"What's the point? It was just a dream."
He gave a vague response and left.
It was cold again today.
His whole body hurt, but he started stretching.
His mind wasn't busy.
In fact, after rolling around in training, things became clearer.
It had always been a question.
'What should I do next?'
For those with talent, those called geniuses, the path seemed to open up whether they wanted it or not.
Finding what was needed, what was lacking, was also a form of talent.
But what about those who don't have talent?
They try this and that.
That's where the time gets spent.
The starting line is different.
That's why a good teacher is necessary.
A teacher who can point out what's lacking is always like a treasure.
This time, the fairy commander had helped with some of that.
Now, the rest needed to be filled by someone else.
"Audin."
In the morning, Audin would come out.
Cold?
He wasn't the type to worry about such things.
Was it any wonder they called him the praying bear?
Surely, it wasn't just because of his massive frame.
"Yes, Brother, it's a fine day, isn't it?"
A biting wind howled between the two.
The Border Guard stood in the far north of the Pen-Hanil continent—an especially cold region even within its frigid boundaries.
The overcast sky made the morning appear mottled and dull, though such details hardly mattered to Audin.
He was the type of man who greeted each day as it came—rain, shine, or snow.
Granted, he never went so far as to wish anyone a good morning when snow was falling.
"It is," Enkrid replied.
What difference did the weather make?
Actually, it was a good day.
Any day spent learning something new was a good day.
"Teach me wrestling."
Enkrid was always the same—direct and unwavering.
He pursued his goals with a clear purpose and relentless determination.
That was why he'd built such strong bonds with his squad members over time.
Audin tilted his head in curiosity.
This man—this squad leader—was truly unique.
Watching Enkrid's skills improve noticeably in just a few days made Audin wonder what kind of fortune drove such progress.
To Audin, Enkrid was like a blazing flame, burning so brightly that it consumed everything around it, perhaps even unaware of its own destruction.
But that flame also provided warmth and light to those in its presence.
When Audin first joined the squad, he had been at a low point—disillusioned, nearly defeated.
And then he met Enkrid for the first time.
"What are you doing?"
It was their first encounter.
Enkrid had been swinging a crude club outside the barracks—not just any club, but a makeshift one bound from three waterlogged logs tied together with string.
"Strength training," Enkrid replied.
Swinging something heavy didn't necessarily guarantee strength gains.
If anything, it risked injury.
Audin figured Enkrid would give up after a few days.
But he didn't.
Enkrid's persistence was unwavering.
Whether on the battlefield, during guard duty, in the rain, or under snow, he carved out time to swing his sword.
Audin thought back to the man he had been then—two words sufficed - utterly broken.
One day, his curiosity got the better of him.
"Why do you do this every day, even though your skills are lacking?"
"They'll improve eventually," Enkrid answered, his expression calm.
He simply resumed his training, unbothered by the question.
Watching him, Audin felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
How is he like this?
What drives him?
What faith sustains him?
It wasn't religion.
Effort was a talent in itself, but without a foundation to build on, even effort wouldn't last.
Yet Enkrid defied that logic.
He was someone betrayed daily by his own efforts, yet he kept moving forward, one step at a time.
Who are you?
Audin began observing his squad leader more closely.
In doing so, he realized how trivial his own despair had been.
Faith isn't something you give with the expectation of a reward.
That day, Audin resumed his prayers.
"Brother, you'll destroy your joints at this rate," he said, beginning to offer advice on Enkrid's training regimen.
Audin had a keen eye for human bodies, honed through tireless observation and effort.
Some compared him to Frogs, who were naturally gifted talent appraisers.
While Frogs identified innate potential, Audin could gauge the condition and training of the human body with precision.
What he saw in Enkrid confirmed that this man faced greater physical challenges than most.
His skeletal frame and muscle quality were far from ideal for a warrior.
But giving up?
That wasn't who Enkrid was.
"You'll need to build your body first. Are you ready for that?" Audin asked, the cold wind still biting at them.
Since the day he resumed praying, Audin had decided every morning was a good one—except when it snowed.
"Of course."
"It's going to hurt."
"That's fine." Dying would be worse, Enkrid thought.
"It'll be painful," Audin emphasized.
"No problem."
It wouldn't hurt more than being stabbed and dying on a battlefield.
"What I'm about to teach isn't just some monk's calisthenics. It's a technique I developed—the Isolation Technique."
The ominous name didn't deter Enkrid.
If he was going to learn, he wanted to learn it properly.
"The Isolation Technique," Audin explained, " involves training both the mind and body. Ready?"
"Ready," Enkrid nodded.
And so it began.
***
A low groan escaped Enkrid's lips as he struggled with the excruciating exercises Audin put him through.
"This is just the start, Brother," Audin said calmly.
Enkrid began to wonder if Audin worshipped some kind of demon.
The initial stretches were deceptively simple—just loosening the body, or so Audin claimed.
But soon, Enkrid found himself in contorted positions that felt like his muscles were being torn apart.
"Relax and press your heels to your hips," Audin instructed, pushing down on Enkrid's legs with an iron grip.
"Imagine dying twice," Audin added.
Enkrid already was.
The training continued relentlessly, with Enkrid enduring wave after wave of pain.
"Your limits are clear to me, Brother," Audin remarked.
Why do you know my limits better than I do? Enkrid thought bitterly.
But despite everything, he smiled.
Because even amidst the agony, he felt a glimmer of hope—an expectation of growth.
A month passed, and the changes in Enkrid's body became undeniable.
Though the initial agony had nearly broken him, the progress was worth it.
And so, the flame continued to burn, brighter and steadier than ever.