After swearing by the goddess’ name, Chi-Woo felt a strange energy envelop his body. It was as if a whirlwind had formed inside him and was sucking him inwards. 

“!”

When he opened his eyes again, Chi-Woo realized that his body was soaked in sweat, and he was running out of breath. 

“Fuuu…” While heaving, Chi-Woo delved into the sensations whirling around his whole body. It was the sensation he hadn’t been able to decipher before. When he looked up, there was a message hovering in the air.

[User Choi Chi-Woo’s contract with the goddess of scales, La Bella, is established.]

[Class is updated.]

[La Bella grants her blessing.]

[User Choi Chi-Woo’s potential abilities respond to La Bella’s blessing.]

[Physical Attribute ‘Exorcism’ is created.]

<User Information>

1. Name & Rank: Chi-Woo (EX)

4. Class: Exorcist

<Physical Attributes>

[Strength D]

[Durability D]

[Agility D]

[Stamina D]

[Mental Fortitude C]

[Exorcism E]

‘Exorcism?’ It was a familiar yet unfamiliar term. Chi-Woo thought ‘Mana’ or ‘Divinity’ would be created among his physical attributes like other heroes, but he got ‘Exorcism’ instead.

[If you were an ordinary hero, you would have only gotten a message that you had accepted the blessing of the god you are forming a contract with.]

Mimi interjected. 

[But for you, you got an additional message.]

The extra line stated that his potential abilities had responded to La Bella’s blessing, which, Mimi proceeded to explain, would usually result in the creation of a ‘Divinity’ attribute, but it had transformed into a unique attribute called ‘Exorcism’ instead. 

‘Is that good?’

[Since it is the will of a god, I can’t judge whether it’s good or bad. Coming from a god like La Bella, though, I’m certain it’s a net positive for you. Moreover, she could be granting you what you’ve wished for.]

‘My Wish?’ Chi-Woo whispered and read the attribute’s explanation in detail.

[Exorcism E] – power used purely for vanquishing darkness. The user’s original abilities responded to La Bella’s blessing and formed this new ability with his earnest pleas and wishes. Different from standard mana or divinity, it exercises absolute dominance over forces of the evil or dark type. The user can’t yet tap into the ability’s full capacity at the current level.

‘The user’s earnest pleas and wishes…’ After reading the description, Chi-Woo could understand it a little better. Ever since coming to Liber, Chi-Woo had displayed complete dominance over spirits. Even in his user information, the Four Tiger Sword’s description had stated that no spirit outside of actual gods could escape his spiritual powers. In short, Chi-Woo could inflict effective blows on even a demi-god, as long as his target was a spiritual being. The problem was when he was dealing with non-spiritual beings. If his opponent changed into a material form, Chi-Woo’s attacks would lose their effectiveness dramatically or even hit rock bottom.  After all, Chi-Woo hadn’t been able to do anything about the monsters at the Evalya Mountain, and he had been helpless facing the monster on the upper floor. 

Thus, Chi-Woo had sometimes wished and wondered how it would be if his physical abilities were on par with his spiritual abilities. La Bella’s blessing had granted him his wish in this regard. By no means could Chi-Woo display the same level of power in both physical and spiritual skills now, but with the creation of this new attribute, it was now made possible. His Exorcism should’ve started at F, but under the influence of Golden Ratio, it had ranked up to E. He didn’t yet surpass his species’ limits, but there was no denying that he had opened up a path to do so. It was a humble beginning to something truly great.

‘Some day…’ He may be able to improve upon it and form a new, matching ability of his desire. Chi-Woo gripped his fist tightly and strengthened his resolve.

[…What?]

Opposite to his response, Mimi gasped, stunned by the description of Exorcism. It could be interpreted as Chi-Woo always having the upper hand when dealing with an evil existence, which wouldn’t be a wrong read, but what specifically stood out to Mimi in this description were the words ‘full capacity’. 

— The user can’t yet tap into the ability’s full capacity at the current level.

This attribute was only currently at an E rank, but it already allowed Chi-Woo to have the upper hand when dealing with evil beings. As the attribute ranked up and its capacity grew, his power would dominate not just the evils, but a greater range of beings in order to establish La Bella’s vision of perfect neutrality. However, La Bella established no clear definition for what was good and evil, and anyone could be seen as ‘evil’ by Chi-Woo’s judgement alone. Even though the situation on Liber was dire, what if there came a day when ‘the good’ became the dominating force in the world, and thus ruined the perfect balance? Would Chi-Woo point his sword at the natives on Liber and the angels from the Celestial Realm in La Bella’s name?

[This is too—]

Dangerous. No, it went beyond dangerous and entered the territory of insanity. It wasn’t a power that a single being should possess, let alone permitted to a normal human. Of course, Mimi knew that it would be difficult, extremely difficult for Chi-Woo to reach a stage where he could harness enough power to make such an impact. And raising his exorcism attribute to S rank alone wouldn’t be enough. He would need another ability that could support it for Exorcism to truly shine. Then, however, Mimi realized that Chi-Woo had recently undergone a physical awakening.

[Ah, that’s right…! That’s why ‘Core of Balance’ was given to you…!]

Mimi finally realized that La Bella had already set up a central system inside Chi-Woo’s body that would allow him to evolve pre-existing abilities and form new ones.

‘What is it?’ Chi-Woo asked Mimi.

[…No, it’s nothing.]

Mimi didn’t voice her thoughts. She decided that it wasn’t a power that he needed to know about yet, and Chi-Woo was too busy focusing on the new energy whirling around him. After observing his external body for a while, he found the source of the energy.

‘My heart.’ It was where the Core of Balance was located. Every time his heart beat, energy poured out and circulated like blood. It didn’t take long for Chi-Woo to figure out how he should utilize his newfound power. As he focused on his hand, the energy naturally gathered there as if it had read his mind.

‘It’s my will.’ The energy responded to his will and moved like it was part of his body, as easy as breathing through his nose and lips or moving his feet.

‘Let’s see.’ Chi-Woo tentatively threw a punch.

Bang!

He flinched in response. He’d triggered an explosion even though he had hit nothing but air, and he could feel a strong repelling force against his fist.

‘Wow…’ Chi-Woo looked down at his tingling fist and opened his mouth. He just awakened his powers, but they responded to his will as smoothly as water. He soon got the hang of it. Although it had its unique characteristics, the energy essentially amplified his physical abilities. With the experience, Chi-Woo now understood how Ru Amuh had moved in ways that surpassed ordinary humans.

However, the effectiveness of physical abilities depended on the person using them. ‘With this power, I don’t have to be afraid of the mutants anymore. But I’m still not perfectly used to it.’ He had to master this unfamiliar power as fast as possible, and there was only one method to achieve this goal. 

‘Let’s go!’ Of course, getting real practice was the answer. Chi-Woo was pumped up as he quickly went up to the upper floor. He was going to train again and again.

*     *     *

“Yeyeyeye!” Chi-Woo shouted in excitement while running. Even though he was just running straight, the monster couldn’t catch up to him. The distance between him and the monster also kept increasing as he put energy on both of his legs while running. 

“Hat!” Every time he stomped his feet hard on the ground, he flew a few meters upwards. He even tried running in zig-zag—something he would have never even attempted before. The mud monster was completely flabbergasted. Before, it had already been furious that Chi-Woo kept narrowly avoiding his reach, but now, he was moving even further away by using a special ability. Chi-Woo ran and jumped like a crazy man for a while and suddenly felt fatigued.

‘It really is great, but…’ Chi-Woo overextended himself after exhibiting physical capabilities beyond his normal means. Chi-Woo decided to stop for today and turned around to head down, skipping and leaping continuously in doing so. He suddenly recalled a past memory.

[Yes, if we follow your pace. But we’ll arrive there soon with my speed. ]

When Chi-Woo had first arrived at the Celestial Realm under Giant Fist’s guidance, he had been shocked by Giant Fist’s speed as he passed through the clouds. ‘I realized it now. Giant Fist was also using his power to run like…’

Chi-Woo’s good mood sank as he thought of Giant Fist. He became so sullen that he stopped right before the last floor without realizing it. When he realized his mistake, he was a leap away from the safety zone, but the mud monster had caught up to him by pushing itself to the limit in his moment of distraction.

“Ah!” The mud monster rushed towards Chi-Woo with all its power, and Chi-Woo rushed back at almost the same time. 

“Woah, that was dangerous.” The mud monster had narrowly missed him and crashed to the lower floor. Chi-Woo had spaced out in the middle of a battle, and the moment of carelessness almost cost him his life. 

[Isn’t it an escape rather than a battle?]

‘Anyway.’ Chi-Woo dismissed Mimi’s rebuttal and furrowed his brows. “What the heck? What’s happened to it?”

The monster was in agony; it was frantically rolling and moving as if it was crazy. If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, it seemed the monster was letting out smoke all over as mud melted off its body. Chi-Woo looked down with a perplexed expression and realized something. 

The lower floor was a safety zone since it was where La Bella’s paradise lay. The mud monster had never crossed into the area. No matter how hard it’d been chasing Chi-Woo, it always stopped and turned around once Chi-Woo reached the lower floor. Chi-Woo had been extremely fortunate this time.

‘I’ve actually been aiming for this.’

[You got lucky.]

Mimi dismissed Chi-Woo’s false claim.

[Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while.]

‘No. I really planned this.’

[Ha…yeah right. Anyway, good job.]

Even though Chi-Woo hadn’t planned for this to happen, all was well as long as it ended well. Even though Mimi thought there was a chance that Chi-Woo could beat the monster after making a contract with La Bella, it was better to be safe. 

[Will you be able to move saf…?]

Mimi spoke in relief but trailed off with increasing confusion. Chi-Woo, who had been quietly watching the monster scream and slowly die, suddenly walked up to the mud monster, which was melting like ice cream. He grabbed it and lifted it up before heading back up again.

[User Choi Chi-Woo?]

Without replying to Mimi, Chi-Woo went up and let go of the mud monster. The smoke quickly died down, and its frantic movements slowly stopped.

[?]

Mimi expressed her confusion.

[???????]

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out his intentions; she sent a stronger sense of confusion to him. The mud monster was also confused despite being happy about its unexpected survival. It was so startled that it didn’t even try attacking Chi-Woo when he was standing right in front of it.

“Don't misunderstand me. I didn’t save you because I like you.” Chi-Woo looked down at the squirming mud monster. “I don’t want to beat you by luck.” Chi-Woo wanted to beat the mud monster by pure skill. 

“I felt humiliated because of you.” When the monster failed to recover, Chi-Woo softly added, “But I’m sure you feel the same way.” Despite its lingering confusion, the monster seemed to agree with Chi-Woo, and it vehemently expressed its feeling.

“I’ll be leaving this place soon.” Chi-Woo folded his arms when it seemed like the monster understood him. “Catch me.” His expression turned solemn. “Catch me with everything on the line and with everything you have, and kill me if you can!” The monster flinched. 

“I’ll also try my best to run away from you to survive.” The monster looked up intently at Chi-Woo. They had faced each other several times, and now that things were coming to an end, Chi-Woo silently challenged it to a duel with his eyes—They were to fight head-on with their pride on the line.

 “Go.” Chi-Woo pointed at the opposite side with his chin. “Eat well, sleep well, and get a lot of rest. And then fight me in your best condition.”

The monster remained silent, but soon after, it quietly raised its body. And then surprisingly, it followed Chi-Woo’s words and stumbled away. It looked a bit dazed.

On the other hand, Mimi, who had watched the whole incident unfold, was unable to contain her anger. 

[User…Choi Chi-Wooo…?] 

‘You know, I…’ Chi-Woo watched the monster move far away from him and turned around as it had. ‘Honestly, I’m not afraid of that monster anymore.’ He jumped down and continued his thought, ‘I don’t hate or detest it.’

Chi-Woo walked step by step to the sanctuary and looked back once more. He threw a sad glance at the mud monster.  ‘Instead, I feel a little bit grateful…’

[You crazy bastard!]

Mimi immediately scolded him.

[Are you crazy? Are you for real? Answer me. User Choi Chi-Wooooooo!]

Mimi’s reaction was understandable. Chi-Woo could have seized this luck and escaped the mud monster without any danger or conflict, but instead, he decided to return the situation to its original state. 

‘Ah, why? Honestly, don’t you also think that I’m strong enough to face it now?’

[Even so!]

Mimi felt like she was going to choke while yelling at him, so she decided to read his thoughts first. She needed to figure out his thought process. What she read rendered her speechless.

[What, what…]

Ever since Chi-Woo came to the cave, he had been growing significantly, which was triggered by the first time he faced the monster head-on without getting scared. And since then, Chi-Woo had been receiving daily messages about his growth. And that was the problem. While running away from the monster, Chi-Woo cultivated his mental and physical abilities as well as awakened various abilities, which filled him with delight. After continuously progressing through real fights, it became impossible for ordinary battles without real danger to satisfy him. 

In other words, Chi-Woo considered the monster of ancient legends as a great training tool for him. Of course, to give him credit, he really had improved significantly since the time the sight of the monster rushing up to him left him paralyzed in fear.

[Aghhhh…!]

Mimi wasn’t sure if she should be delighted or sad that Chi-Woo was willing—no, even happy to face dangerous situations if it meant that he could grow. She didn’t know how to feel anymore.