Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 215: Rebirth and Transformation (1)

‘Ugh... so this is what it feels like to be electrocuted by a strong current?’

When I opened my eyes, the familiar ceiling of the residence assigned to me by the Kunlun Sect came into view.

Retracing my memories, the last thing I remembered was hugging Cho.

I must have lost consciousness from the residual electrical charge still lingering in Cho’s body.

‘Sister Seol and Hwa-eun must have brought me back here.’

Drip, drip.

Saaa...

The surroundings were already bright, and judging by the sound of rain still falling outside, it was clearly morning.

As I turned my head, the first thing I saw was Cho’s bright, moonlit eyes glistening with concern.

Cho, who had been trembling his antennae anxiously by my side, immediately perked them up like a startled squirrel the moment our eyes met.

Choruru! 『Dad!』

Cho’s voice rang out in my head.

The way he called me Dad echoed in my mind.

As if trying to inform the others that I had woken up, Cho let out another chirp.

And right away, I heard voices even more familiar than the ceiling of Kunlun.

Sister Seol and Hwa-eun.

“Tong-ah! Are you okay? Do you remember what happened?! You passed out!”

“The energy of the thunderbolt passed through you. Are you alright, Soheum?”

My body felt a little numb, but when I moved my fingers into a fist, my senses slowly began to return.

I closed my eyes once and then opened them again, answering their questions.

“I think I’m alright.”

Both of them let out a deep sigh of relief.

They must have been seriously worried, thinking I was badly injured.

“There’s nothing strange anywhere?”

“Yes, I feel a little dazed, but I’m recovering.”

“The Kunlun elder said you weren’t seriously hurt, but thunderbolts are unpredictable, so you should still be careful.”

It seemed that ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) while I was unconscious, the elder from the Kunlun Sect’s medical hall had examined me.

I couldn’t help but wonder what they said after seeing me collapse again.

‘They probably cursed me in their mind.’

As I considered that possibility, the two of them continued their concerned questioning.

“That’s right, Soheum. If you feel even the slightest bit off, you have to tell us.”

“There’s nothing unusual anywhere?”

They both seemed extremely worried, but honestly, I knew more about electricity than the Kunlun elder, so there was no need for concern.

Getting electrocuted could cause irregular heartbeats or nerve damage, but I hadn’t been shocked severely enough for any long-term aftereffects.

There were no lingering signs of the lightning strike in my body, and as we talked, my senses gradually returned to normal.

“I don’t think anything is wrong, so you don’t have to worry.”

Choruru... 『Dad, I’m sorry...』

At that moment—

Cho suddenly buried his face in my chest, apologizing.

He must have felt guilty for not listening to me and coming down late.

But my injuries weren’t his fault.

It was just an accident.

“It’s okay, Cho. It wasn’t your fault. It was just something unexpected that happened.”

I gently stroked his head as I continued.

“But more importantly, are you hurt anywhere?”

Cho! 『Nope!』

I had to check just in case Cho had been injured by the lightning.

But his answer was confident—he was completely fine.

Even to my eyes, there wasn’t a single scratch on him.

His chitinous shell gleamed as vibrantly as ever, a dazzling emerald green just like yesterday.

‘Well, reality doesn’t always follow the logic of games or comics. Water is a good conductor of electricity, after all.’

Honestly, when Cho was struck by lightning, I had assumed the worst.

Since the water attribute was typically the weakest against lightning.

Of course, this wasn’t an absolute rule, but in fantasy settings, games, and comics, elemental relationships were usually portrayed that way.

Fire was weak against water.

Water was weak against lightning.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

But Cho’s water attribute awakening had clearly granted him immunity to lightning as well.

Normally, water-element creatures were vulnerable to lightning due to extreme conditions, but despite taking a direct hit, Cho was completely unharmed.

‘Wait a minute... could it be? A double attribute?!’

As I examined Cho closely, a sudden thought struck me.

Could it be possible?

If he was this unscathed, then maybe—

Maybe he had awakened not just the water attribute, but also lightning.

“Cho, do you feel anything unusual? Like, do your antennae spark with electricity, or do you sense lightning energy flowing through your body?”

Chorurung?

“Cho can shoot lightning?!”

“That would be amazing! Cho, give it a try!”

Hwa-eun and Sister Seol’s eyes widened with anticipation as they turned to Cho.

Excited by the thought, Cho crouched low, focusing his energy just as he had before.

Chorurururung! Chorur!

He inhaled deeply, straining his little body—

But even with his antennae fully extended, nothing happened.

Chorurung? 『It’s not working?』

Cho tilted his head at me in confusion.

His little face was absolutely adorable.

“Hmm. So it’s a no?”

“Ah, that’s a bit disappointing.”

I had hoped for a double attribute of water and lightning, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

He wasn’t able to produce or control electricity.

But still, gaining lightning resistance along with his water affinity was already impressive.

With lightning resistance, he could fly freely even in stormy weather, just like he had last night.

That alone was more than enough.

Satisfied with that thought, I let go of my greed and asked Cho instead,

“So, Cho, was it fun flying through the rainy night sky?”

Forget attributes and affinities.

As long as Cho had a good first experience flying in the rain, that was enough for me.

Cho responded to my question with a happy burst of emotion, sending a warm feeling straight to my heart.

Cho! Chorurung! 『Yes! It was so much fun!』

“Well then, that’s all that matters.”

***

As I patted Bini’s head, feeling the happiness he was radiating from his joyful experience flying through the rainy night sky, a sudden red glow rose beside me.

A warning signal.

Hyang’s red head, brimming with fiery rage, surged up alongside it.

Choruru! Chorurururu! 『Dad, don’t you have something to talk about with me?』

“...Huh?!”

I had been thrilled about Cho awakening his water attribute, but now that my mind had cleared, I was met with Hyang’s fury.

She had figured out that I had awakened Cho and Bini’s abilities first while she was left behind.

She must have overheard Hwa-eun and Sister Seol explaining to the Kunlun elder why I had collapsed.

Chorurururu!

Hyang scolded me, accusing me of breaking my promise so soon after making it. And to make matters worse, I had even reinforced the abilities of the other two before her.

She was still a young one, having only recently evolved, and we had agreed to wait a bit longer to see what effects it might have before awakening her abilities together.

But instead, I had done it without her.

In the end, I became a debt-ridden wish granter once again.

Hyang added another hundred wishes to her tally.

‘...She’s not gonna charge me interest on this, right?’

***

From the next day onward, I was thrown into intense mental training.

Thanks to Cho awakening a passive skill, our training efficiency skyrocketed.

Cho himself didn’t undergo any obvious changes, but he was able to channel some energy into the sky once.

I had thought that since he had already awakened a passive ability, it wouldn’t work again, but apparently, injecting energy into him made him feel stronger.

After another exhausting day of mental training, I had just laid down, about to rest, when I heard a voice from outside.

“So-Sohyeop, it’s me, Taeheo.”

Taeheo’s voice called out from outside.

‘Ah... so much for resting in peace.’

Why did it have to be today, of all days, that so many visitors came?

Earlier, Lord Gyu-seong’s youth association had already stopped by, and now this?

As I sat up with a frown, Hwa-eun, looking concerned, called out toward the door.

“Taeheo Daehyeop, So-ryong isn’t feeling well right now. Is it something urgent?”

There was a brief hesitation before a slightly troubled voice responded.

“...Well, I’ve brought the Grandmaster with me. Is So-Sohyeop truly unwell?”

“...What?!”

The Grandmaster of Kunlun had come to visit?

Aside from my initial greeting upon arrival, I had never once met the Grandmaster of Kunlun in person.

At Taeheo’s words, Hwa-eun, looking more flustered than even Taeheo, turned to me and frantically motioned for me to get up. Then, she quickly responded toward the door.

“Please, come in. He can at least have a conversation.”

Since the Master of Kunlun himself had come, we couldn’t exactly refuse him at the door.

R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.

Following Hwa-eun’s prompting, I quickly got up and prepared to receive our guest.

The door opened, and Taeheo stepped inside, accompanied by a middle-aged man.

Though his actual age seemed to be in the late forties or fifties, his white hair contrasted sharply against his black beard, giving him a strikingly unique appearance.

This was Ji Hyeon, the Twin Swords of Kunlun, and the Grandmaster of the Kunlun Sect.

“It has been a while, So-Sohyeop.”

He was renowned for wielding Kunlun’s secret technique, the Yang Sword Art, as dual blades—a feat few could manage alone.

‘Dual swords, huh? That’s seriously cool.’

“It’s been a while, Grandmaster. What brings you to such a humble place? No, wait—I don’t mean that Kunlun is humble, I just—”

Crap.

This wasn’t even my house, and I had just called it “humble.”

As I flailed, trying to fix my words, Ji Hyeon smiled and spoke.

“Haha, I understand what you meant. It’s fine.”

Then, his expression turned more serious as he asked,

“I heard you’ve recovered, but you still seem unwell. Are you alright?”

“Oh, I just overdid it during training...”

“You should be careful. You only just recovered.”

“My apologies. The Kunlun elders took great care of me...”

Honestly, I felt bad.

They had healed me once, only for me to come back injured again.

It was the pinnacle of being a nuisance.

As I bowed my head in apology, Ji Hyeon simply smiled.

“No need for that. The young ones rarely sit still for long. Haha.”

The last time I met him, I had been too nervous, but now I realized he wasn’t as stiff as I had thought.

However, as I awkwardly smiled, Ji Hyeon’s face suddenly turned serious again.

“I came here today because I owe you an apology. As the Master of Kunlun, I feel responsible for the incident that occurred under our roof.”

Kunlun had been struggling with this issue for months, and I had solved it for them.

Yet, in the process, I had been injured due to matters involving the Tang Clan.

He was apologizing for failing to prevent such an incident from happening to a guest under his protection.

Then, he bowed his head toward me in a formal martial salute.

The sudden apology caught me completely off guard.

“Uh, well... I mean...”

To be honest, this wasn’t Kunlun’s fault.

It wasn’t their grudge; it was the Tang Clan’s problem, and I had gotten caught in the middle.

Seeing my awkward reaction, Hwa-eun quickly sent me a telepathic message.

[Ensuring the safety of guests is an unspoken rule in Murim, So-ryong.]

‘Oh... that makes sense.’

I supposed it was like hosting a guest in your home—if they got injured while staying with you, it would be embarrassing and problematic.

I was too tired to argue the point, so I decided to simply accept his apology.

“No need to apologize. I wasn’t seriously injured, and thanks to Kunlun’s disciples, I was saved in time.”

Of course, it was Hyang who had really handled everything, but well... sometimes, it was better to just be diplomatic.

Ji Hyeon nodded with a gentle smile, seemingly reassured by my response.

Then, he reached into his robe and pulled something out, extending it toward me.

“I appreciate your understanding. But I also came personally for this.”

What he handed me was a dark wooden box.

As I examined it, I realized I had never seen this particular box before.

‘A gift of apology?’

Tilting my head in curiosity, I hesitated before asking,

“What is this?”

“Open it and see. We prepared the box, but the item inside... I believe it is something you’re already familiar with.”

“?”

Something I already knew?

With a puzzled expression, I unlatched the wooden box and lifted the lid—

And as soon as I saw what was inside, my eyes widened.

It was exactly what Ji Hyeon had said.

An item I knew well.

Even before I could say anything, Hyang let out a sharp warning sound.

Chorurururur! 『Bad energy!』

Of course.

Because inside the box...

Was an artificial Neidan from the Five Venoms Sect—the very one we had extracted from Pung-hyeol.

‘Wait... why is this here?!’