With a bow in hand, Noyan rode a mile away by the riverside, seeking a creak to cross the river. He suspected that the beast beyond was injured, judging by its pain-ridden howls. In such a state, it was probably seeking water from the river.
Not having much time, Noyan quickly began thinking for a plan. As the faint, pale green glow from the 'pendant' nestled against his chest, he felt an inexplicable fear at the thought that he was literally taking in poison with every moment.
"Greenglow… I had only heard of its legends. How can it be in mother's possession? I really don't understand…" Noyan muttered. Then, suddenly, he slapped his cheeks and focused.
"I definitely don't want to be a cripple like that Arman, these wild beasts are dengerous. I must be careful!" He thought.
"I have hunted boars, deers, rabbits and even the mountain dogs before. But this is different, this time I have no time to set traps, or gauge my location or do anything else." Noyan had a huge headache.
"My head is dizzy from this damn poison, and I'm feeling weaker with every passing moment," he muttered in silence. Then, sighing, he decided, "A single opportunity, I can't let it go. Otherwise, I'm dead meat. Can't let the direwolf get near..."
Noyan's terrible physical condition was a big problem as he was not confident that he could shoot his target from far away. Therefore, he would be forced to hide relatively close to the wolf and finish the job with a single arrow. However, this was not ideal at all. Wolves were clever predators, and Noyan was certain that an injured direwolf would be doubly cautious.
Finalizing his plan, Noyan's gaze became resolute. Without wasting any more time, he looked at his partner, the dark horse, and patted its belly, "Go!" He commanded. The horse neighed; it was also traumatized from the experience at the riverbank earlier; however, it did not rebel. Fortunately, the ring Lady Naran had given him was working perfectly, as the effects of 'Greenglow' were only tormenting Noyan, who was in its direct proximity.
The dark horse snuggled to Noyan, showing its affection, and only left after Noyan shooed it away resolutely. The horse was very intelligent, as if it knew that Noyan was going to hunt; it disappeared silently into the deeper foliage.
Noyan saw his partner go away and smiled satisfyingly. Now, he did not have to worry about anything and could focus on the task at hand.
Noyan's body was starting to feel very hot, as if his skin would soon melt. Gritting his teeth, Noyan walked slowly toward his destination—a tall tree not far from the banks.
Walking with difficulty, Noyan suddenly stumbled; his vision turning groggy, body getting hotter. As the first ray of sunshine pierced through the horizon, Noyan could see his skin becoming abnormally red. "Fuck! What kind of dogshit thing is this?!" He exclaimed in terror.
Feeling a sense of urgency like never before, Noyan gripped his heart and somehow reached the tree, then immediately collapsed on the ground.
Leaning on the tree's trunk, Noyan finally caught his breath—and then coughed violently. "Shit, shit!" Noyan panicked momentarily; his breathing was getting more and more difficult, and instinctively, he felt that the wolf would arrive very soon. In short, if he fainted here, he would die, and very miserably at that. For a moment, Noyan thought of throwing the 'pendant' away but instantly refuted the idea, "Motherfucker! I'm not afraid of death. You want to kill me?! Let's see how you kill me today!" He spat stubbornly.
Closing his eyes, Noyan used the technique of Mind's Eye and peaked into his inner world. Noyan felt as if his body was like a beehive full of holes with all the honey inside spilling out slowly. He could "see" thousands and thousands of small, microscopic particles attacking his body and breaking away the structure of his cells like a sand castle collapsing in on itself.
Seeing this, Noyan's expression turned ugly. Afterall, had never felt anything like this before.
Noyan had plenty of experience in taking control of his inner faculties, resisting the attacks of deadly poisons, and expelling them from his body, but this was completely different. It was like some strange sorcery and not a poison. Then again, thinking of the object he was wearing around his neck, Noyan knew that it was not poison. "They say that Greenglow is the blessing from the Northern Emperor... What a bullshit blessing!" He spat out in frustration.
The threat of the wolf was looming in the air. And even if the wolf didn't kill him, the damn 'blessing' would take his life miserably. Noyan furiously steered his will and commanded his body. Like a general at war, he began a battle inside his own body, on a microscopic, cellular level.
What Noyan was doing was actually unprecedented. If the old accentrics of the Tower of Apostles saw this scene, they would salivate out of greed and treat Noyan like a precious treasure—or an experiment subject. Noyan, of course, had no idea how significant what he had learned was.
Despite his best efforts, Noyan only managed to buy some time. Smiling bitterly, he quickly climbed the tree. He then lay on a suitable branch from which he could comfortably get a full view of the river.
Noyan held his bow in a 'ready' posture with an arrow lodged loosely on the string—ready to stretch and fire at a moment's notice.
As he waited for the prey to arrive, Noyan had a rare free time, though very limited. In this time, he observed the battle raging inside him. Still, he could not find a way to stop the avalanche of his failing health.
Noyan had lost all hope; even if he had secured a spot for now, he was certain that he wouldn't be able to aim in his condition. And this was why he had chosen to camp at a tree in the first place, so that if he failed to dispatch the prey in one shot, he would not be immediately hunted down. Of course, this was not a long-term solution, and the problem at hand needed to be solved as soon as possible.
Suddenly, Noyan squinted. Various oisons usually targeted certain parts of the body. But Greenglow was a magical ore, and the invisible 'poison' it emitted seemed to target the very building blocks of one's body and existence—especially the intertwined, zig-zagging structure inside the cells; Noyan recalled—this was called a gene, a carrier of one's ancestral memories.
While pondering about this, suddenly, Noyan's eyes widened. He remembered something his mother had talked about—Why is it that only a few people can walk upon the martial path and not others? What is the hidden factor behind it?
Repeating this question inwardly, Noyan vaguely seemed to grasp something. Going deeper, his gaze stalled at the pale green glow. Once, Torgana had told him about this thing and its significance. She had talked about the "Pilgrimage" to the Holy Land. Noyan also recalled the story of the Northern Emperor, the first person who succeeded in uniting the Plains, and it seemed that his success was deeply correlated with the discovery of Greenglow.
Connecting the dots vaguely, Noyan had a crazy answer in his mind. It was so crazy that even he couldn't believe it. But he had to try once, for his own sake. He couldn't find another way either, so he had to take this crazy gamble.
Thinking about this, Noyan's mouth salavated. If what he had guessed was true, then his current misery was, a rare opportunity to gain status and power. He couldn't miss this chance his mother had laid before him. This was, of course, on the condition that his crazy gamble would work out; otherwise, death awaited him.
Grinning, Noyan immediately began to work. From the outside, he was sitting lightly on a tree branch, camouflaged by the tree canopy, holding a bow in a ready position like a statue, a statue that was also grinning strangely. But who could have thought what unimaginable things were going on in this 'inner world'?
Noyan's entire being became unprecedentedly focused. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Noyan had never been this focused in his entire life before.
Like a fish swimming deeper and deeper into the ocean, Noyan began exploring his genes, which were under tumultuous attack throughout his body. He could see that the Greenglow was breaking away the intertwining structure in various parts, and his body was not able to effectively repair it. Going deeper into this structure, Noyan could feel enormous strain on his mind, as if hundreds of elephants were jumping at once in his head.
Even though his mother had warned him against exploring deeper, Noyan could not care less at such a juncture. If he failed, he would die anyway, so what was stopping him? Thinking like this, Noyan 'swam' even deeper, eventually reaching a place he had never been before.
Noyan noticed something unusual. Dangerous green particles had penetrated deep into the structure, drawn towards a faint glimmer resembling a tiny star in the abyss. This glimmer emanated an ancient aura of dignity and subtle suppression. As Noyan observed, he was astonished to see the green particles become animated, seemingly excited, as they rushed towards the glimmer. In an instant, the particles were absorbed without a ripple.
Seeing this, Noyan's soul jolted with jubilation. Momentarily, he lost himself and couldn't control his curiosity; he sought to approach the glimmer, but no matter how much his senses went forward, it seemed not enough—almost like a mirage in a desert.
Squinting his burning 'eyes', Noyan boldly looked straight at the glimmer. As the glimmer seemed to pulsate from time to time, Noyan managed to sneak a peek, and the moment his gaze landed, suddenly, the inner world exploded. The last thing he saw was what looked like a sigil—carved into his inner world!
Forcefully thrown out of his inner world, Noyan heard countless screams going off in his head; simultaneously, he heard those high-pitched screams call out in unison, "Impudent!"
Noyan, who was calmly sitting on the tree a moment ago, screamed miserably while holding his head; blood spilled out of his nose and eyes as he directly fell from the tree and landed in the dense foliage along with his bow and other belongings.
Noyan had a splitting headache; he didn't know what had happened suddenly, but he vaguely felt that he had come across some sort of taboo. In this moment, Noyan's entire worldview had been flipped on its head. He could not believe the reality, it felt like a dream. But the pain coursing through his body was proof that this was reality.
As Noyan stood up with great difficulty, a deep, bloodthirsty howl sounded from nearby. Eyes widening, Noyan cursed under his breath in endless frustration, "Fuck!"