Looking a little flushed with excitement at the fact that Kwon Oh-Jin had asked for her help, Isabella tugged on his arm. “Then, let’s head straight to the training facility.”

“Right now?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Yes. You need to start training this thing called Sacred Ground Deployment as soon as possible, don’t you?”

“Well, that’s true... but are you really okay?”

Isabella had only just been released after being kidnapped by Mobius. Even if she wasn’t physically injured, the mental shock was probably significant. No matter how urgent the training was, dragging someone who had just been kidnapped to the training facility felt wrong.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt anywhere.”

“I don’t mind either.” Cassia flashed a seductive smile and slipped her arm around Kwon Oh-Jin’s free arm, opposite from the one Isabella was holding.

“No, Isabella might be fine, but you shouldn’t push yourself, Cassia.”

Cassia had literally just suffered near-fatal internal injuries. Even if he had treated her with the Stigma of Aquarius, that was just a temporary fix. Her wounds weren’t fully healed.

“Oh my, it’s alright. Thanks to your treatment, Lord Oh-Jin, my internal injuries are somewhat better now.”

“Somewhat, but not completely.”

“Hehe. Still, I’m in much better condition than I was when I fought you earlier.” Cassia shrugged with a relaxed smile as if to say he didn’t need to worry.

“Hmm...” After a moment of thinking, Kwon Oh-Jin nodded slightly. “Instead of sparring today, let’s try something else.”

The purpose of this training was to get accustomed to handling a Sacred Ground. He could practice that in many ways without sparring.

“Something else?” Cassia asked.

“Come to the living room first.”

He already had a method in mind.

“We’re not going to the training facility?”

“Yeah, this method doesn’t require going that far.”

Cocking their heads in confusion, Isabella and Cassia followed Kwon Oh-Jin into the living room. Standing in the center of the spacious room, he took both of their hands. He could feel the different textures of their touch through his palms.

“This is...” Cassia said.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Isabella asked.

Their stance looked less like training and more like some kind of children’s ring-around-the-rosy game.

However, Kwon Oh-Jin looked serious as he faced the bewildered sisters.

“From here, I’ll deploy the Sacred Ground. When I do, the two of you will channel your mana into it and forcefully break through.”

A Sacred Ground was essentially a personal domain created by amplifying a Stigma’s power. By nature, it was basically a barrier that blocked external forces from coming in. As he had witnessed in his fight against Enceladus, a Sacred Ground wasn’t a perfect barrier.

It breaks if you pour enough mana into it.

Sakaki and Lee Shin-Hyuk couldn’t generate enough mana to pierce a Sacred Ground, but Song Ha-Eun had. Even without a Celestial’s blessing, she had shattered Enceladus’s Sacred Ground with pure mana alone.

If Song Ha-Eun could do it, then Isabella and Cassia certainly could too, especially in a controlled setting like this outside of battle. With their hands joined, breaking through would be even simpler.

I need to figure out how much mana I can endure first.

Kwon Oh-Jin had envisioned a simple training method. Like tempering steel by hammering it repeatedly, he would strengthen his Sacred Ground by letting them smash through it with mana. Then, he would rebuild it again and again. Similar to tearing and repairing muscle fibers to make them stronger in strength training.

Honestly, I don’t even know if this reckless method will work.

He couldn’t be certain that breaking and remaking his Sacred Ground would make it stronger. At the same time, he hadn’t just randomly thought of this approach.

If a Sacred Ground is a barrier that amplifies the Stigma’s power...

The more mana from other Stigmas corroded it, the more violently it would react to preserve its nature. In comparison, it was like pouring water into boiling oil. Even outside of Sacred Grounds, the clash between different Stigmas often produced explosive reactions.

Of course, there are exceptions like Water Affinity, where the power of Stigmas harmonizes...

That was unique to the Black Heaven’s ability to fuse different Stigmas. Normally, different Stigmas fiercely rejected one another just as a single Awakener couldn’t possess two Stigmas.

And with a Sacred Ground, that rejection would be even harsher.

A Sacred Ground was the ultimate amplification of one’s Stigma, so the repulsion would be much stronger than ordinary Stigma clashes. That intense resistance would, in turn, reinforce the Sacred Ground itself.

It’s kinda like the difference between a beast raised in a zoo and one that’s fought for survival in the wild.

Either way, he could only prove his theory through practice.

Looking at the two women nodding, Kwon Oh-Jin slowly drew out the Black Heaven’s power.

Sacred Ground Deployment.

He summoned his most familiar Stigma, the one that had brought him this far, the Stigma of Lyra. A soft silver radiance enveloped him as the Stigma of Lyra’s Sacred Ground expanded.

“Phew.”

The Sacred Ground was only about five centimeters from his skin, a very small domain, but that was the maximum Kwon Oh-Jin could expand as of now.

This won’t cut it.

This thin Sacred Ground only amplified his Stigma’s power by a little and provided minimal protection, nothing more.

Closing his eyes, he recalled the Dragon Palace that Enceladus had created. The sudden surge of tsunamis pouring out from empty air, the colossal palace rising from the sea, and armies numbering in the thousands...

A true Sacred Ground could reshape not just the terrain, but the entire surroundings with the power of the stars.

To obtain power truly worthy of a Celestial that mocked the very laws of physics, he needed to expand his Sacred Ground to a much wider area.

“Alright then, let’s get started,” he said.

“Alright.”

“All we need to do is channel mana into it, right?”

Through their clasped hands, Cassia and Isabella’s mana flowed into him.

Woong!

The Sacred Ground around Kwon Oh-Jin flared violently, repelling their mana.

“Incredible...” Cassia expressed admiration as her mana bounced away like it had struck an immovable wall.

How could a human deploy a Sacred Ground? She had seen it once before when Kwon Oh-Jin fought Mobius, but seeing it up close was on another level.

“Just because it’s a Sacred Ground doesn’t mean it’s invincible.” Cassia’s eyes gleamed.

She poured out more mana into him. As if unwilling to be outdone, Isabella also pressed even more mana into Kwon Oh-Jin through their joined hands.

“Agh!”

Their mana stormed into him. One side felt like an enormous serpent, and the other felt like hundreds of thousands of leeches were clinging onto his skin.

“Haa, haa!” Kwon Oh-Jin focused as much as he could to maintain the Sacred Ground under the mana flood.

Crack! Cracckkkk!

The silver light enveloping him wavered violently. Then, it broke apart as the two women’s mana punched through. Their mana flooded inside like enemy soldiers storming through a breached wall, tearing through Kwon Oh-Jin.

“Kugh!” Agonizing pain seared through him.

His mana circuits felt like twisting apart, and his nose began to bleed.

“Mr. Oh-Jin!”

“A-Are you alright?!”

The two quickly withdrew their mana.

Gasping raggedly, he collapsed onto the floor. “Haa, haa!”

The backlash of his Sacred Ground being forcefully broken was far harsher than he had expected.

Well, it makes sense.

It was like being inside a house while Isabella and Cassia swung giant hammers at it. When the house collapsed, he would naturally take the shock inside.

Knowing he possessed Water Affinity as a healing skill, Isabella dashed toward the bathroom. “W-Wait! I’ll bring water right away!”

“No. It’s okay.”

“What do you mean?! You’re still bleeding—!”

“Water Affinity can’t heal internal injuries anyway.”

Sure, dumping massive amounts of water on himself could help somewhat. However, such an amount wasn’t available in an ordinary home.

“Haaa.” Steadying his raging mana, Kwon Oh-Jin used the Sacred Ground Deployment again.

Woong!

A silver light cloaked him once again, glowing brightly.

It’s working.

He could feel that his Sacred Ground had grown sturdier than before.

And its range has grown, even if it’s a little.

The corners of his lips rose. Now that he knew it worked, the next step was obvious.

“Do it again, please.”

Cassia frowned and glared at him. “Are you out of your mind?”

He had just collapsed, bleeding from his nose, and he wanted to do it again?

“It’s an order, Cassia.”

At that word, Cassia twitched. With a tense look, she bit her lip and glanced at Isabella as if asking for backup.

Isabella shook her head as if to tell her to give up. “When Mr. Oh-Jin sets his mind on something, nothing we say will change it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll get used to it soon.” Sighing, Isabella stepped forward and took his hand again.

Cassia also clasped his other hand as if she had no choice.

“Can’t we at least reduce the amount of mana toward you by a little?”

“Then there would be no point in training.”

They had to use enough mana to pierce his Sacred Ground.

“Please,” he said.

“Haaa...”

“You really are as stubborn as they say.”

Both women sighed deeply and frowned as if they had a headache.

“Could you move in a little closer to me, though?” he asked.

“Like this?”

“A little closer.”

“Uh... m-my chest is pressing against you.”

“It’s easier to transfer mana this way.”

Since the Stigma that stored their mana was engraved just above their left chest, pressing closer together allowed mana to flow more efficiently with less energy and greater effect.

Cassia and Isabella each wrapped around Kwon Oh-Jin’s arms, pressing in tightly.

“Then... I’ll begin,” Isabella said.

“If it gets too much, please tell us, Lord Oh-Jin.”

And so, the training to expand his Sacred Ground began again.

***

“Ugh... That damn mutt made me drink way too much.” Song Ha-Eun scrunched her nose at the thick smell of alcohol clinging to her as she scratched her head.

What had started as a simple drink with Vega to kill boredom while Kwon Oh-Jin was out had spiraled out of control once Riarc showed up.

Why was Cassia in our house, anyway?

Brushing off the uneasy feeling rising inside her, she stood at the front door. As soon as she opened it, the heavy metallic stench of blood hit her nose.

“O-Oh-Jin!” Song Ha-Eun’s face instantly went pale.

Had Cassia done something?

She rushed into the living room. There, she saw Oh-Jin wedged tightly between the two sisters. They clung to his arms like hamburger buns and gasped for breath as blood streamed nonstop from his nose.

“Haa, haa!”

Song Ha-Eun’s expression twisted into something dangerously fierce. “Oh, you little shits.”