It's been almost a month since I updated this? Ah, put those pitchforks and torches down! I have reasons, honest!

I had quite a bit of trouble getting this chapter to flow properly. I kept trying to skip the mild political intrigue so I could go back to the RPG mechanics and monsters. But I couldn't do that, so… yeah. Tell me if you find a plot hole; I wrote this a few paragraphs per day, so I'm bound to have some sort of disjointedness in the narrative.

Also, I might've forgotten to say this last chapter, Jee-Han's definition of a nephilim is wrong. I figured it'd be more in character for him to take his definition from a videogame (DmC), rather than the actual bible. Props to Abel Sephaos to pointing this out in a Review. No props for the rest of you.

Chronostorm: Item drops that boost his stats? You mean like skill books and equipment? Yeah, if I create an enemy with an unusual ability, I'll plan on at least giving a chance for a skill book teaching their ability to drop. And I've already given him some nice drops, like the shield and duster. He's probably not going to get the Chunbumoon skills though, mostly because they were ridiculously overpowered in my opinion. If Jee-Han got them, he would need to take equally ridiculous risks to have a sense of drama or tension in the story.

SighDuck: I'll be sure to check it out, though half the reason I play Diablo III is so I can disintegrate demons with my Wizard's red laser of death.

Arafell: Yeah, Jee-Han's a bit (a lot) of a glass cannon, but that's mostly because he doesn't have the staggeringly large number of passive skills normal tanks have. Keep in mind, though, that right now he's really nothing more than a regular guy with the ability to manipulate mana. Not significantly faster, tougher, or stronger.

Abel Sephaos: I'm locking the use of mana to create solid objects (except simple stuff like ropes) instead of explosives behind 50 INT, at least. Jee-Han was trying to create sticky mana to add to any bombs he made, not just to run up walls. But, yeah, if he needed to climb something, he could use mana claws. Or try to rocketjump with [Shining Finger] and hope he doesn't die. Or use the [Mana Rope] like, well, a rope. Or many other ideas.

Standing on water is almost impossible. Hovering so it looks like you're standing on water is pretty doable, if unnecessarily flamboyant.

Double jumping would be more mana-intensive, in my opinion, than just flying, though it does allow for easier changes in direction. As for mana rubbing against more mana and causing friction… it would depend on whether it's dense enough to be 'physical'. Basically, if Jee-Han created a [Shining Finger] on both hands and rubbed them, it would be dense enough for friction. But they're so unstable they'd explode, killing him.

Finally, any mana construct, unless it's literally perfect, leaks a bit of mana into its surroundings that other constructs can absorb. But it's generally such a small amount that it makes no difference to the construct's lifetime.

dudedorey: He hasn't attempted it yet for two reasons. First, he has no idea how to start; in my experience (5 minutes on google), books on bow-making don't really start with the basics. Second, he hasn't had a really pressing need to do so and many other things to take his attention. He'll probably just suck it up and buy one while making arrows on the side.

Cricycle: … How did you guess? In all seriousness, with my extensive two months extra experience writing, I recognize that I shouldn't have extended Jee-Han's refusal to talk to Sun-Il. It was really nothing more than a way to superficially differentiate my fanfic from canon. I would alter it, but I highly doubt anyone other than new readers would care. If people do clamor for a change, I'll abandon this story and cannibalize the parts for a rewrite.

It's only been about 2 weeks since the start of the story, I would say. I'll try to label timeskips or the passage of time more clearly.

Yeah, WIS is useful, more useful than Jee-Han thinks it is. However, at this point, the only things it would really help is grinding efficiency. If he can't defeat an enemy with a full MP bar, then it's unlikely that whatever he gets back from the MP Regen will tip the balance. While WIS gets a large powerup at 50, Jee-Han doesn't know about the special perks you get for boosting a stat to 50. He will once INT gets up there.

Navn Ukjent: Putting the stats up every time is mostly for me, so I can just glance up at it if I reference it later on, rather than pulling up the separate document containing it. Most of this isn't talking aloud; it's first person narration. I can count on one hand how many times Jee-Han talks to himself. Finally, avoiding origami is twofold: not only does he not want to be 'artsy', he also has several other, more practical potential creations. Creations that are guaranteed to improve [Crafting] and other useful crafting skills, instead of making a skill like [Artistry]. Which is what origami would actually do.

Azuth: That's probably what he'd do if he was trying to create a defensive skill. He hasn't yet, but he will soon.

TheUnheeded: It depends on how flexible you want the rope to be. Making ropes stronger also makes them much heavier and less flexible. Making a chain stronger only increases the weight and slightly decreases how much it can bend. Chains are also much harder to damage than a rope.

Thanks to all who reviewed!

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Dialog Cheat Sheet

Emphasis

Game Text if centered

[Activating game ability]

SHOUTING

Cutting someone o- short

*sound effect*

Written word if centered

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Okay, there's the place. A large, old-fashioned manor/dojo sitting on top of a hill. With a long staircase leading up to it. Very long. Very, very long. Oh so long.

The things I do for my friends.

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Holy shit, how long did it take to climb up here?

I desperately panted and gulped down lungfuls of oxygen. Even with frequent stops up here, I ran out of breath. Unfortunately, I couldn't open the Inventory so I couldn't check the time. I wonder if I'm late?

I suppose it doesn't really matter. Now, how do I open the gigantic, intricately carved wooden gate…

They have an electronic doorbell?! With an intercom attachment?! Holy fuck, how much arguing had to go on for Sun-Il's grandfather to allow this? The Chunbumoon, from what I remember of our limited interactions, is practically a clan of technophobes. Sun-Il's the equivalent of a radical dissident and he has only the barest idea of what 'an internet' is.

I guess I should ring the bell to let them know I'm here.

"What is your business?"

Okay, I see all the unsociable assholes are manning… whatever this intercom-thing connects to. Some kind of microphone, I imagine. Should I snark at them? Why yes, yes I should.

"To see my enemies driven before me and to hear the lamentations of their women."

… Sue me, I like the quote enough to paraphrase.

"He said you'd more than likely do something like that."

Sun-Il told them about my occasional childishness? Well, whatever, the gate's opened automatically, probably due to some kind of rope and pulley system rather than a motor. Where am I supposed to go, anyway, now that the gate's open to this ridiculously open green field? Nobody gave me any directions and I've only been here a couple times.

"Han Jee-Han? Follow me."

Jesus fuck, who was that!? I spun around to face a young-looking man wearing a plain white tee and shorts. An initiate or something? Fucking stealthy, though. I guess he'll lead me to Sun-Il and whoever else is with him.

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The initiate whose name I didn't ask for took me to the main training area, I think. It was the largest building in the area, located at the rough center of the compound (I estimate), and just screamed importance.

I waved off the helpful stranger before turning back to the Japanese-looking doors. I think they were called shogi? No wait, that's Japanese chess. Well, they were sliding doors with a piece of paper stuck in the middle, I know that much.

How do I open these? There's no handle, no indentation, not even a spot discolored by frequent handling. Unless the Chunbumoon know durability spells, they just recently replaced this door. Damn my luck. Or is it LUK?

Do I just hook my fingers on the frame?

… Apparently I do. What a fucking weird design.

The area beyond the door was some kind of darkness. Like, pitch darkness that the outside lights couldn't penetrate into past a meter or so. A simple concrete floor finished off the décor, as far as I could see.

Is this some sort of permanent Illusion Barrier? Because that's a rather unnatural darkness, one that I imagine would provoke a nasty response from Gaia.

I suppose there's only one way to find out.

I stepped into the building and… nothing. At all. Not even a tingle from [Energy Sensing]. Maybe it's farther in?

I took a step further into the building. And then I took another. And another. And another. You get the picture. However, the farther I went into the building, the lighter it got. Around the 12th step, it grew illuminated enough that I could see the long line of pillars leading from the door to… somewhere. The other side of the building, maybe?

It was at about my 25th step that something happened.

You have entered an Instant Dungeon.

Ah, there's that warning tingle. So I was right, I am in an Illusion Barrier.

You have entered Chunbumoon's Wind Rain Cloud Triad Zone.

Wow, that's a clunky name. Then again, all eastern names are like this as far as I'm aware. And who knows, maybe if you're raised on this stuff it seems impressive. To me, however, it's eerily reminiscent of a dick-measuring contest, with the dicks replaced by grandiose titles.

Not having the Wind God technique lowers your stats by 10%

Not having the Rain God technique lowers your stats by 10%

Not having the Cloud God technique lowers your stats by 10%

… So what the Ability's telling me is that I'm boned if I fight here. Well, I wasn't planning on doing so anyway, so this is just more incentive.

"Jee-Han!" A voice rang out through the darkness.

Naturally, I jumped a bit and searched the area furiously for any sign of the unknown individual. Then the actual sound percolated into my head, triggering a well-known feeling of irritation.

"Sun-Il, you ass. Where the fuck are you?"

I got the distinct impression he was struggling to contain a snigger. Why this would be funny, I have no idea.

"Repetition won't make me spontaneously turn into a donkey. And we're up on these poles," I heard him call, I think.

On the poles? Really? How would you get up there?

Magic. Right, I forgot the Chunbumoon were a clan of magicians and martial artists a la Ranma 1/2.

Lo and behold, everyone was perched on those pillar-things I noticed earlier, with Sun-Il standing right above me. I call them pillar-things because they are in no way integral to the structure's stability.

"Why the hell are you up there? Does your clan have some kind of avian ancestry?"

It's a valid question.

"First we're asses, now we're birds. Make up your mind, would you?" He said calmly. Remarkably calmly, especially considering how stressed he sounded over the phone. Is this banter his way of relaxing?

What an odd duck Sun-Il is.

"If I might interrupt," A deep, rumbling voice cut through our conversation, "There are more important matters to discuss."

Okay, who's that? Another random Chunbumoon type, it appears. Weird. Alright, why're all these people here? I mean, I've never even seen half of these people. Which is saying a lot; if I've seen the other half of them, what with my extremely rare visits here, then they must either be so worthless that they're always running around on errands, or so important that I couldn't avoid seeing them.

... On second thought, that wasn't much of an argument.

"Indeed we do," Yet another voice spoke into the darkness, "I was not aware that you hadn't told the Chunbumoon of your Ability."

Wha… I had to do that? What is this, the Superhuman Registration Act? Who was that, anyway?

… Upon reflection, I'm pretty sure that voice was Agent K himself. Man, they're, like, over 10 meters up. I can't see their faces and the acoustics of this place are so shitty I can barely tell where the voices come from. I could only guess where Sun-Il and Agent K were because of their unique styles (green hair and a black suit, respectively).

Anyway, everyone (except me, of course) were standing on those damn poles. What seemed to be everyone considered influential in the Chunbumoon clan were standing on my left and Agent K was perched on my right, facing the Chunbumoon army.

"Why am I here, again? Sun-Il only told me to get here as fast as possible," Left unsaid was how late it was and how much study time was being interrupted.

"Ah, I might've forgotten to mention that it's considered suspicious if an Ability User comes into Chunbumoon territory and doesn't identify themselves. So… yeah," Sun-Il called down (I think. Damn these poles) with a hint of apology in his tone.

"While it is considered bad form," Hey, I recognize that tone's mix of disapproval and antiquity, "The more pressing concern is how your Ability remained unknown, Han."

Sun-Il's grandfather! What's his name… I dunno. I guess I'll just refer to him as Gramps until I remember his name.

I reached behind my head and chuckled nervously.

"Ah, sorry. I figured that you didn't need to know about it. Y'know, privacy and shit."

A couple coughs rang out through the building.

"While we would like to know of all Ability Users in our territory, we realize it's unfeasible," Gramps responded, "But not knowing your Ability, even though it could potentially be a Shinin class, reflects unfavorably on our competence. Especially if one of our own was not only your best friend, but aware of your status as an Ability User."

Shinin class? What the fuck is that? Hmm… well, it's most likely some sort of classification for an Ability, either for the Ability's strength or the ability's general scope. I would guess that it measures power, since the fact my Ability's a Shinin class is cause for worry and surveillance. Though, if it's just a classification of scope and said scope is naturally powerful, like reality warping, that could be a source of concern. I suppose I can just wrangle an answer out of Sun-Il later.

Should I tell them? Well, I obviously need to tell them something; they're not only Sun-Il's clan (not family, I'm sure they're not all related), but the Chunbumoon also seem to be a major player in Abyss, even if only locally. If Agent K, described as powerful, is talking to them and Ability Users are expected to report to them; that's a sign of being, well, influential.

Getting back on track, should I give them accurate information? Well, my [Deception]'s below LVL 10, so I probably couldn't make something up. And it would cause problems if what I tell them conflicts with anything else I say or do. But I'm not fond of the idea of giving away personal information to people I don't know and trust implicitly. Half-truths?

"… Right. I suppose I can say something about my Ability," I said grudgingly, "Basically, it's split into two parts. I can improve myself by assigning points to various statistics, such as INT and STR. I get these points from accomplishing feats and killing monsters. I also have an Inventory that allows me to carry large items without worrying about being encumbered."

There we go. Short, simple, leaving out a bit of information in case they decide to 'exterminate' me. It's probably paranoid, but I've read about too many authoritarian organizations to let the Chunbumoon (who, to be fair, seem pretty nice so far, if a bit stodgy) know everything about my capabilities. Plus, they don't have any idea about videogames or the basics of RPG mechanics; most of what I could say would go over their heads. Judging by Gramps' expression, some of my simplified explanation already did.

"I… see. Hwan Sung-Gon, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to postpone our discussion," Gramps ended the conversation about something I wasn't here for.

I blinked and stared at him. He was really going to cut off his get-together with Agent K just for me? That's… that's… they're gone.

I blinked and they disappeared. How powerful are these people?!

"Jee-Han?"

"GWAH!"

I coolly and silently rotated to face Sun-Il and Gramps.

"Mind explaining what just happened? 'Cause I've got no fucking clue."

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"So let me get this straight."

Gramps, Sun-Il, and I were standing together in what appeared to be a spare, single room building located off the meeting location. A few boxes were scattered haphazardly on the wooden floor and a single bulb illuminated the place.

"Hwan Sung-Gon," Wow, it's harder to say his proper name than I thought, "Met with you to assuage any concerns about his… something. You refuse to tell me what."

The duo nodded solemnly. And in synch, too.

"In this meeting, he casually mentioned my status as an Ability User. You noticed Sun-Il didn't seem surprised, unlike yourself, and he caved under your questioning," I continued, shooting a glare at Sun-Il.

He shrugged and offered an apologetic grin.

"Finally," I concluded, "You decided the best course of action would be to get Sun-Il to call me here at, what, 10:00 at night? Just to answer questions? A really asshole thing to do, by the way."

Gramps frowned and opened his mouth before I cut him off.

"Hold on, my rant's not done, yet," I took a deep breath and plowed on, raising my voice, "First off, I demand to know what you and Agent K were discussing! My name came up in it! Also, what the fuck's a Shinin class?! How come you need to know about Ability Users in your territory!? Who do you work for!? Why is Sun-Il's hair green?! What's the eleventh secret spice!?"

I was shouting in his face by the end, gripping onto his gi/coat thing.

… Upon reflection, I might've gotten a bit excessive in my questioning. Just a bit, though. And I'm tired; being tired makes me loopy. I can't be held accountable for my actions.

Gramps seemed to shrug, easily dislodging me in the process.

"Well, you made a valid point somewhere in there, I think. By Agent K, I assume you mean Hwan Sung-Gon?" At my nod he continued, "He simply explained his reasons for appearing in our territory. He then asked us to reinforce the idea of not entering his Illusion Barriers, assuming we had knowledge of your status."

Okay, that was… not informative at all. I don't really have a way of politely requesting the information and I doubt impolite requests would be granted.

"Mmkay, so what's 'Shinin' mean?"

Gramps sighed and rubbed small circles around his temples. It projected an almost scary amount of exasperation. He's amazingly good at nonverbal expressions of emotion.

"A Shinin class," Wow, that rolled off his tongue with an air of reverence, almost, "is the most powerful class of Ability. There are no records of anyone possessing such an Ability. And it seems to have stayed that way, fortunately."

Ow. That hurt me, like, real deep, y'know? Ah god, I just imitated Rai. Or Raijin, depending on which game you were introduced to first.

"'Kay. So… all you wanted from me was to explain my Ability?"

The old man nodded.

"We cool?"

There's that sound again. What could create such a small sound filled with such despair and anguish?

"Yes. We are 'cool'."

Oh yeah, him.

Gramps, with great dignity I might add, strode dramatically out of the storage building. I can't pinpoint how exactly he moved with both dignity and drama, but I assure you he did. Maybe he possesses [Kinetic Elocution] LVL 100?

And thus, a greenhead and an impossibly handsome, talented god amongst men were left alone in a small, isolated building. And such a situation didn't lead to anything sexy.

"Hey, Sun-Il," I spoke up, "Why did your grandfather not seem to know I had an Ability at all?"

He jumped a bit and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, it's quite simple, really," He grinned, "I didn't tell him. After you confided in me, I thought that, as the clan heir, I could withhold this information if I thought the risks were outweighed by the benefits. And I think you not being possibly harassed and bothered is worth being unprepared in case you turn Chaotic Evil and decide to massacre the city."

Aw, that's… surprising, actually. Sun-Il is almost ridiculously devoted to his clan. I don't think he would choose me over everyone in the Chunbumoon, but it appears he's willing to trust me enough to keep my secrets from them. Until he gave it all away by not reacting properly.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it, even if it failed utterly. I appreciate this so much that I'm willing to buy you any meal at any restaurant, so long as it's below 50,000 won and doesn't cut into study time."

Sun-Il's grin just widened as he nodded. He does that a lot.

"Right, can I go home now? It's midnight and I exhausted myself creating new Skills," this might come as a shock to those who aren't fantasy fanatics, but massively destructive skills tend to also tire the user.

"Sure. Come on, I'll lead you out."

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After bidding goodbye to the pastoral nightmare that is the Chunbumoon's compound (seriously, why do they need a dozen meters of lawn in-between structures?) I returned home.

Now, should I study?

Hah, fuck no. It's almost, what, 1:30 in the morning? Then again, I'm already guaranteed to be useless tomorrow in school. So… I should get a bit done? Ah, but it's difficult to remember things you study when tired. Not impossible, though.

Screw it, where's that Chemistry book?

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"Pencils down, class. You'll receive the quiz grades within three days. And read chapter 36 in you textbooks for the finals."

Ah, finally. My brain was fried during that. Fucking Chunbumoon and their security concerns. Next time, I'll tell them to go and shove their concerns up their-

"You look like shit."

- nostrils. Ah, there's that positive feedback I dearly love and sorely missed, so much so that I forgot to be startled.

"And you look like a partially-shaved ent. I guess we both have our problems."

I sensed rather than felt Sun-Il's pout as he took the seat next to me.

"Hey, Sun-Il," I interrupted whatever he was going to say, "Is there some kind of time dilation in an Illusion Barrier?"

Gah! You didn't need to punch me, jackass.

"Don't look at me like that, you know what you did."

I grunted and shifted in my seat slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position to nurse my wounded arm in.

"Actually, I don't. Anyway, I was just curious. Too tired to focus on lessons, you know?"

He sighed and started scribbling on a piece of scrap paper. From my desk, too.

"Hey, you doing anything today? There's something I could use your help with. I'll cover dinner charges today and next time, even," Enticing him's the key to achieving a relaxing jaunt down the haunted apartment.

Oi, don't just go away so abruptly! Rude. Very rude. What's on that paper, anyway?

Jeez, don't get mad at me for being better at the game than you. Though most zones enclosed in a barrier don't stop the clock, certain special events generate a zone that freezes time while you're in it

Wha… is this an encoded answer to my question? Anything to protect the Masquerade, I guess. Lessee, I would assume that this is saying that most Illusion Barriers don't change the flow of time. But certain ones do? Special ones, I would think, ones that probably cost a lot of resources to create and maintain. But do they actually take no time by the perception of someone outside? That would be… overpowered, to say the least. So, no, I think they would merely increase the dilation effect, with more powerful Illusion Barriers achieving a more ideal ratio of time inside to time outside.

That's my guess, anyway. I'm probably totally off base about this, but what the hell, right? Now, where's Sun-Il… nowhere to be found, great.

Since it appears Sun-Il isn't going down the rabbit hole with me, I guess I'll just create those couple skills that've been percolating in my mind through that quiz instead. After school, of course. Don't want to provoke the teacher, do we?

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Goody, goody. How'd you know I wanted extra homework tonight, Agent K?

I stretched my arms over my head, feeling the air bubbles in each vertebrae pop under the stress. Remarkably relaxing, let me tell you.

"So where're we going, captain?"

GWA! FUCKING SHIT-COVERED- Sun-Il. That fucking scare-whore.

"You're stronger, faster, and better-trained than I am, but I swear to god that I'll shatter your fucking teeth next time you do that," I think I injected an impressive amount of venom in that snarl.

"Wow, if that's the kind of reception I'm going to get before helping you with something…"

I wound up and threw a haymaker (I think) at his arm. Unfortunately, judging by how much my hand hurt afterwards and his VIT score, I'm in more pain than he is. The greenhead still rubbed his 'wound', though he didn't budge an inch.

"You know what you did. Anyway, I assumed your 'walking away without a word' thing was a no for the outing."

Sun-Il blinked and looked away from me for a moment, lost in thought.

"… Oh yeah, I forgot to answer, didn't I? Sorry about that."

I have no words other than 'jackass'.

"I accept your apology," I said dully, "Anyway, why don't you have to do anything with your clan today? You've been going there after school way more often recently."

Sun-Il held up a lone finger as a mischievous expression found its way to his face, "Now that… is a secret."

"I'm not a flat-chested mage," When I saw him open his mouth I hastily interjected, "With reddish hair, anyway."

GAH! What the hell is wrong with you man?! That's the second time you've hit me today!

"You know what you did, I think; I'm not exactly sure right now, due to how much this has been happening. Unless you're secretly a masochist."

Wha… I'm not a masochist. I've never given any indication I'm a masochist. I despise pain. It's why I fight with magic, mostly. Well, that and I have no real martial arts training. It might be a betrayal of my stereotype, but I'm an adamant nonconformist. So I like to think, anyway.

Getting back on track, I glared at Sun-Il through the glare of the sunlit street.

"Is this about the Masquerade?"

The ass blinked at me before realization dawned.

"Oh yeah, that's your term for it. So yeah, that was about the 'Masquerade'," He grinned at me.

... So oblique references that could be misconstrued as dealing with a game are punishment-worthy? I'm getting more and more of a clichéd hidden, mystical culture feel from this Abyss society.

Well, whatever. Skill creation time.

"Hold up for a second, would you?" Ignoring Sun-Il's quizzical expression, I held a hand up, "[ID Create]."

Empty, please.

"What're you… oh, didn't you mention creating some Skills earlier?"

I nodded absentmindedly as I contemplated how exactly to go about this. I can't believe it took me this long to think up [Energy Barrier] and [Energy Boost]. Basic skills, the both of them. Well, whatever. I guess I should start with [Energy Boost].

Anyway, I was actually inspired to do this from Sasuke's modification of tree-walking from Naruto. Or was that bad fanfiction? Whichever it was from, he did that little hop using nothing but chakra, so why can't I do the same think with mana? And if he can launch himself over a foot up using that presumably ad-hoc method, then I should be able to use it to propel myself quite the horizontal distance.

I lifted up a foot and continued to ignore Sun-Il's curious stares. The best thing to do would be to copy what I did for [Energy Burst]'s creation, only applied to my foot.

Now how exactly did I make [Energy Burst]?

…

It was a failed attempt at making another attack, I think. So… maybe instead of recreating such a luck-based situation, I could just force a large amount of mana to my sole, then push it out in a hopefully nonexplosive manner? Yeah, there's no way that could end in horribly-disfiguring injuries. I have a bunch of consumables in my Inventory, after all. No, wait, I used them up healing from creating [Shining Finger], didn't I? Damn. I could just buy street food to heal up, then.

Alright, so use a modified SOP to begin with.

A bluish glow started leaking out of my shoe to form a thin cloud. I think I might've dimly heard a gasp-like noise, but that could've easily been my imagination.

That's enough, I think; I'm not making an attack. Next would be to concentrate the mana around the balls and heel of my foot.

The cloud coalesced into flattened discs/ovaloids near those points, small specks of dark blue forming in their centers and tiny, wispy trails swirling off the rest of the mass.

More compression. I don't want to do all the work expanding the mana construct.

The trails halted their lazy movements before jumping back to the main masses. The bodies themselves shrank to the size of an American penny, a nimbus of dark blue surrounding a pinprick of white.

… I'll just absorb a bit of that mana. This is starting to feel a bit dangerous to detonate near my feet.

Thankfully, the white was replaced by a less-worrisome dark blue. It's weird how the denser my mana becomes, the darker it gets. Then it suddenly, almost instantly, jumps from near black to white once I cross an arbitrary-seeming boundary in density. It even becomes tinted violet if I push it further, a la [Shining Finger]. I would say it's emitting higher energy light the more I cram in an area, but why would it get darker to a point?

Gah, I'm in the middle of something here.

Fortunately, my lapse in concentration didn't seem to affect the mana, at least to both my visual and magical senses.

Okay, so I would guess the best thing to do would be to let my foot touch the ground and see if I can keep it from blowing up until I give the say-so.

Gingerly, my shoe drifted lower and lower until it hovered just high enough to avoid touching the mana to the asphalt. I guess this is the real do-or-die time, am I right.

… I'm more nervous now than I was creating [Shining Finger]. Why is that?

Gulp.

My foot finally impacted the ground (a bit too firmly, in my opinion) and… nothing happened. Oh sure, I could feel the mana trying to break free, but an almost minor mental pressure quelled it. It was much harder trying to control the [Heavy Spiraling Energy Bolt]. That INT must be doing something right.

Okay, so I'll just get in a running position, like a sprinter. Even if I can't control the blast as much as I would want, I'll at least get a push in the right direction.

Okay, Operation: To the Stars is a go. I am cleared for launch.

The mana, released from my mental confinement, seemed to explode outward, propelling me forward like a shot out of a cannon. That's what I'd like to have happened, at least. Actually, I got maybe a whiff of smoke and an inch of distance. Disappointing, I know. Dammit.

What would you like to name your Skill?

... Holy fuck-balls, that worked?! Hah, my Ability is amazing. Now, what to call it… oh yeah, I already had a name, didn't I?

"Energy Boost."

Is [Energy Boost] acceptable?

Yeah, that's what I said. Now, on to the next Skill.

"What the fuck was that?"

WHA- oh right, Sun-Il. What's he so worked up over?

"Was… was that your Ability?"

It's actually kind of amusing to see his expression. It's a melting pot of anger, confusion, and numb shock, each element surfacing in varying proportions.

"Yeah," I decided to answer the poor Chunbumoon heir, "that was my Ability. You didn't see the screens?"

He shook his head before regaining his composure.

"Sorry, man," He offered a small, apologetic grin, "It's just… weird, you know? I mean, I've know you were a Natural Ability User for several days, but seeing it in action… It doesn't help that this is a completely different way of manipulating energy when compared to ki."

I raised an eyebrow, Spock style, and he hastened to elaborate.

"Ki's a completely different beast to whatever the hell it was you were using."

Might as well interject here, "It was mana, by the way."

He nodded and continued, "Yeah, mana seems to be almost entirely opposite of ki. Ki is tied intrinsically to the body, and it doesn't like to be shaped outside of the natural actions of your body. But it's extremely powerful when compared to other energies, so I'm told. That amount of stuff you so casually slapped on your foot would've probably blown it off if I tried the same trick using ki. What was it you were trying to do, anyway?"

Interesting… so ki and mana aren't two different names for the same thing. Huh, what?

"I asked what you were doing."

Oh. That's an easy question to answer, at least.

"My bad. I was creating a speed technique by giving myself a little explosion whenever I take a step. It seems to have worked, too."

Sun-Il looked a bit unnerved by that. Was it the explosion bit?

"Ah, not really an explosion. More of a 'boost', if you will."

His face seemed to relax at that as he spoke up again, "Sound a bit like our Footwork Technique. Only that's actually just improving the leg's ability to propel a person by selectively channeling ki to different muscles and bones depending on which portions need more resistance to structural stresses or improved contractile functions at differing sections of their stride. Completely different from what you were doing."

… Wow. I know I rip on Sun-Il's intelligence sometimes, but that's a remarkably wordy alternative for 'we use ki to makes our legs stronger and sometimes change where the ki goes in the leg'.

What, you thought I wouldn't follow that? Please, I could've done the same even when my INT was still 12.

Now, what else was I doing… Oh yeah, the other Skill, [Energy Barrier]. 'Cause calling it an [Energy Shield] is so passé.

So, the only way I can think of would be to flood the air in front of me in mana, then shape it into a crude rectangle to catch dangerous things. Used in conjunction with my kite and duster, an attack would need to do a shit-ton of damage (more than 120) to get through to my actual health bar.

Nice, am I right?

I held out a hand and watched with bored curiosity as the smoke-like mana leaked out of my skin to hang in midair. It actually looked a bit more impressive than y other Skill creation efforts.

…

Okay, that's enough. I cut the flow of mana to my hand, but retained a firm grip on the floating nimbus. Now to shape it into a rectangle.

A bit of sweat beaded on my brow as the cloudy mass slowly, achingly slowly, flattened out into a rough oval hanging about a foot in front of me. Close enough, I suppose.

Better concentrate it a bit more, I think. Not to the point of white mana, but enough to hopefully catch an attack. Why no white mana, you ask? White mana's explosive, it seems. And explosives do not a good shield make.

This time, the construct didn't seem to do anything. Oh no you fucking don't. You're definitely me and I might be you, I'm just the better, more handsome part. Do what I say or I'll force you to bend to my will.

A sweat drop started to sting my eye, but I ignored it in favor of glaring even more fiercely at the cloud. Finally, grudgingly, haltingly, the hovering mana shrank a couple inches in width and height. Goddamn, the farther the mana gets from my body, the more difficult is seems to be to manipulate. Fucking compact further!

This time the construct started shivering and warping. Another command to knock it off, you fucker resolved the issue, though. It seemed to sigh and give in, squashing itself down to my demands until it seemed to hit a brick wall. The oval, now a bit smaller than I'd like at only half a meter across, hung like an oddly-shaped storm cloud in the street. I'm not letting up on the pressure now, though. Not after all the mental strain I went through to get it there. I don't even care about the marble-sized white core suspended underneath layers and layers of mana.

"Mind punching that for me, Sun-Il?"

I think he might've opened his mouth for a question but shut it when he noticed the strain on my face. He hesitantly curled his hand in a fist and brushed it against the cloud.

"Is this a shield of some kind? Because it's not really stopping my hand from going through it. Or is the white part supposed to stop the attack? I'm honestly confused here."

Fuck. Fucking goddamn shitty mana and my lack of knowledge in using it.

I let the cloud dissipate in the air, the white core making a small 'pop' to scatter the rest of it far and wide.

Fuck.

Sigh. Can't win them all, I guess. And look on the bright side, I managed to make one of my wanted skills. That's good, right?

For the third time, fuck.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Omake: What Could've Been

So, Sun-Il wants me to come over to his house at might for a secret meeting? Is this… Okay, wow, I didn't expect this from him. It thought he was straight! It's not like I think less of him for this revelation, but… I just can't be that for him and it's best to end this gracefully so no one's feelings are hurt.

What can I do to dissuade him? I mean, I can't just say no, that would make things awkward. I need to make him decide to call this off.

Hmm…

My love of manga might save me yet again!

xxXXxx

Okay, here's the place. Ugh, this costume doesn't breathe at all. Still, it's necessary for the ruse to work. And who knows, this might even be fun!

xxXXxx

Jae-Minh was bored out of his mind. Who the hell wanted to be on gate guard duty when something interesting was gong on in the main hall?

"Ah, so exciting! I wonder when the Heir's guest is going to arrive?"

Jin-Ho, apparently. Why the hell were they friends, again?

Jae-Minh didn't jump when the intercom crackled to life, but he did shift slightly to make out what was being said through the static. Damn Leader and his hatered of modern conveniences. Not that Jae-Minh had anything against Leader.

"- Jee-Han!"

That… was the name of the Heir's guest, wasn't it?

"Ooh, ooh!" Jin-Ho jumped in his seat excitedly and pointed at the speaker. How childish, "That's the guy!"

Well, that solved that. Now to let the guest in and get back to 'guarding' the compound of the most powerful martial arts clan in the area, no matter what the Yunhonmoon said.

xxXXxx

Sun-Il was worried. Very worried. Not only had he been caught lying to the clan (though he didn't think lies of omission counted), but his promised explanation failed to show up as of yet. Any information given by his friend, Jee-Han would be given much more weight simply because it came from the horse's mouth (he learned that expression over a year ago thanks to an American movie Jee-Han forced him to watch). He, on the other hand, had already 'lied' to the clan.

Not to mention he wasn't sure how much Jee-Han would be willing to share. Jee-Han was a paranoid asshole sometimes, and Sun-Il didn't wasn't to be on the end of his temper, supernatural toughness or no. Petty didn't even begin to cover a pissed-off Jee-Han. Especially when he had a legitimate reason for his anger.

What was that creak?

Sun-Il discretely turned to see the door open slightly and a shadowy figure walk through. Ah, there he was! A bit bulkier than he remembered, though. Some sort of coat, perhaps?

Oh…

Oh god. He was pissed-off and decided to make his displeasure known, apparently.

"Maybe he won't completely ruin my reputation if I just sit up here and ignore him?" He thought miserably.

xxXXxx

Right, this costume took over three days to sew together. Couldn't even use it for the cosplay event I was going to go to, but whatever. Now it's not a wasted effort! I'm not even that pissed off at him now, though I wonder why he chose to have me escorted here. Why not his room, instead?

Oh…

Oh god. People. Is he one of those people that gets off on being watched? Right, now I'm mad at him again. Wait, maybe they're all going to… join in?

Shudder.

That crowd's mostly men. There's, like, three women in that mass of 50 people. Not my ideal gender ration by a long shot.

Let's get this party started, then. Just need to wait for an appropriate line.

…

Any time now, Gramps.

"Who are you?"

YES! I'll even ignore the condescending tone!

"Thank you for asking!" Traditionally flamboyant greeting gesture with wide arms.

"I am the best of the best and an evildoer's worst nightmare!" False martial arts pose I remember from The Matrix.

"Children idolize me," Hop to the right three times on one foot.

"Men envy me," To the left on one foot, also three times.

"And women love me!" Jump in place, landing in a wide stance with my hands on my hips.

"For I am THE GALLANT JEE-HAN!" And the finisher: Do a little backflip (over a month of dedicated training) and discretely drop a stack of hastily-printed booklets from the Inventory, landing on said stack.

"And," I paused to let the brace themselves, "as such, I grant you all free copies of Icha-Icha Paradise: Nights in Seoul! Rejoice, for nirvana has come!"

Another little dance off the pile, featuring a series of dirty gestures seamlessly blended with spastic foot and hand movements.

Let's see Sun-Il justify his yaoi-tastic desires to himself now!

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

So… yeah. I'm ending it here so I can give this to you now instead of tomorrow night. Almost 7,000 words, 6,000 of which are actually story related.

Anyway, what'd you think of Sun-Il's little mini-lecture on the Footwork Technique? Not only did I want to challenge whatever false impressions I might've accidentally given about Sun-Il's intelligence, I also wanted to show that Jee-Han does think of him as a friend and equal, he just doesn't always show it properly.

A little bit on the pseudo-physics I'm applying to mana, though I'll leave it to you to decide what exactly I'm saying. Though I want to make it clear: Jee-Han and Sun-Il are using completely different forms of energy at this point. MP might be a composite of all the various types of energy needed to cast spells, but Jee-Han's only using the basic 'mana' form right now.

And please tell me what you think of the little bit of politicking I did in the beginning. It's not much, I know, but Jee-Han's a bit player right now and is probably going to stay that way for a long time. I wanted to give enough information that savvy readers would kind of know what's going on, but at the same time make it clear that Jee-Han has no idea what's happening outside of what bits he's given and what he can puzzle out (not very much).

Finally, the Omake. I figured it'd be as good a place as any to practice third person narration. And play with Crack!Jee-Han for legitimate reasons. Well, partially legitimate.

Tell me how I did. And, if you can, specific criticisms and suggestions on improving it. 'it' including the rest of the story, not just the Omake.