Hyunwoo stood still, chest rising and falling as the last echoes of his aura faded from the walls. His hands trembled slightly—not from fatigue, but from the overwhelming possibilities swirling in his head.
"Physical enhancement... worked." He flexed his arm, feeling the way the crimson aura sank into his muscles, reinforcing them far beyond his normal limits.
"Defense... worked too. It's sturdier, more flexible than my normal aura."
His mind spun, ideas crashing into each other like sparks.
What if I combined this with my copy skill?
Hyunwoo's eyes widened. "Wait... with physical enhancement, I can enhance the abilities I copy. That means the limitations of my copy—" he grinned, realization hitting him—"also increase."
Images flashed in his head: Ruby darting across the battlefield, leaving behind a trail of petals. Jisoo's movements, blurring with an elegance he had never been able to imitate.
"I couldn't copy them before... because of their Semblance. It wasn't just speed. It was something beyond me." He clenched his fists.
"But... if I can push my body with this aura—if I can enhance my speed to the extreme—"
His eyes shone, filled with revelation.
Hyunwoo lowered into a stance, legs bent, shoulders relaxed. He took a long breath, remembering the rhythm of Ruby's Petal Burst: the way her body scattered like petals, reappearing in flashes of movement that seemed impossible for normal humans.
He condensed the blood-red aura, forcing it to coil tightly around his legs and feet. The pressure built up, a heat flooding his muscles, a faint crimson shimmer dancing across the floor beneath him.
"Alright... let's see if I can do it."
He launched forward.
The ground cracked under the sudden force, and in an instant his body blurred, his form trailing streaks of crimson light. For the briefest moment, he wasn't running—he was bursting, like Ruby's semblance, scattering forward faster than his eyes could adjust.
He skidded to a stop, panting, but grinning like a madman.
"I did it... Not perfectly, but—" he looked at his hands, trembling from the aftershock of aura strain—"I'm close."
Just as the grin spread across his face, Hyunwoo's aura flickered violently before vanishing altogether. The sudden emptiness left him staggering, chest heaving.
"...damn." He muttered, feeling the sweat roll down his temple. His eyes darted to the faint crack etched into the floor from his launch. "That was just one move, and it drained everything."
He clenched his fists.
"The distance... one hundred meters, at best. That's my maximum reach." He replayed it in his mind, how the burst had carried him forward and then sputtered out like a dying flame. "Which means I can only pull this off briefly—maybe long enough to catch an enemy off guard. Nothing more."
He dropped onto a nearby bench, forcing himself to wait. The recovery was grueling, far slower than his usual aura. Even after what felt like an eternity, his reserves only trickled back—not even half of his usual strength.
"...Not even full, huh?" he whispered, staring at the faint red shimmer returning to his skin. "But it's enough for the next test."
Hyunwoo raised his hand. The memory of the infirmary flashed—how, without thinking, he had lifted the cup with nothing but will. He tightened his focus, crimson aura weaving around his fingertips, condensing until it shimmered in the air like threads.
The bench beside him rattled. Slowly, with deliberate effort, it lifted into the air, trembling in his grasp of invisible force.
His jaw clenched. Sweat dotted his forehead as he pressed the aura harder, forcing the weight higher. The bench hovered a meter off the ground before crashing back down with a loud thud.
"Tch... that's the limit already?" He frowned. "No, I need to push more."
His eyes scanned the room until they landed on a stack of metal weights in the corner. He extended his hand again, aura tendrils wrapping the closest plate. It lifted with ease. Another plate, then another—until the strain became unbearable.
The air around him buzzed with pressure, the crimson aura distorting the edges of his vision. Finally, with a growl, Hyunwoo managed to lift nearly his own body weight's worth of plates into the air—before they all came crashing down, rattling the floor.
Breathing hard, he dropped to one knee.
"So that's my current limit..." He let out a rough laugh, half-exhausted, half-thrilled. "This... this is telekinesis for real. Strong enough to matter."
Hyunwoo wiped the sweat from his brow, his breath finally steadying. His eyes wandered toward the corner where his weapon rested. Slowly, he reached over and pulled the spear into his lap, fingers tracing its familiar grooves and scars.
"...You've been with me since the beginning." He muttered. "Let's see if you can move without me now."
Planting the shaft upright on the floor, Hyunwoo closed his eyes, letting crimson threads of aura snake out from his hand and coil around the spear. The weight was lighter than the metal plates, but what he wanted wasn't strength—it was control.
With a slow exhale, he released his grip.
The spear wobbled, lifted shakily into the air, and then steadied.
Hyunwoo's eyes sharpened.
"Good... now move."
The spear floated forward a few feet before stuttering mid-air and dipping down. He reinforced the aura, forcing it back up, then willed it to spin. The shaft rotated clumsily, the tip swaying dangerously close to the wall.
"Not smooth enough," he hissed, tightening his focus.
The aura around his hands glowed brighter, and suddenly the spear darted forward, faster this time—then arced back toward him like a thrown javelin. He ducked, catching it just before the blade grazed his cheek.
Clang!
The spear landed in his palm, heavy but alive with the echo of his aura. Hyunwoo grinned despite the sting in his arms.
"...So I can make it move, but it's sloppy. Like forcing a muscle I've never used before."
He set the spear floating again, this time trying shorter, sharper movements—forward thrusts, quick spins, a sharp pull back to his side. Each command cost him concentration, his aura flickering as the weapon strained against invisible strings.
Finally, after a burst of rapid maneuvers, the aura snapped, and the spear dropped with a dull thud onto the floor.
Hyunwoo hunched over, panting, but a fire lit in his eyes.
"Mobility's there. It's just... stamina. Control. If I can refine this..." He smirked, gripping the spear tightly. "...I'll fight with it even when I'm disarmed. No one will expect that."
Hyunwoo collapsed back against the wall, sweat running down his temples, chest heaving. His aura flickered faintly around his skin before dimming out, like embers dying after a storm.
"Damn... if I keep forcing it, I'll burn myself out." He muttered, dragging the spear closer and setting it across his lap. His muscles ached, but the real exhaustion was inside—his aura reserves scraping the bottom.
So he waited.
Minutes bled into an hour. His breathing slowed, the fire in his body simmering back to a steady rhythm. He closed his eyes, letting the crimson-green glow refill him, drop by drop, like a cup collecting rain.
When he finally opened his eyes again, the exhaustion was still there, but beneath it was a steady hum of energy. Not full—but enough.
"...One last time." Hyunwoo stood, gripping his spear. His gaze sharpened. "This time... all of it together."
He drew in a deep breath and let his aura flare out, red streaks interwoven with green until his body shimmered with light. His skin hardened, the familiar defensive shell wrapping around him. At the same time, he forced the crimson strands into his muscles, amplifying their strength and speed until his body felt like it was humming with electricity.
"Defense, enhancement..." he muttered. "Now—mobility."
The spear left his hand, floating beside him like an extension of his will. He clenched his jaw and focused harder, forcing it into smooth, sharp maneuvers. Thrust. Spin. Pull back. Thrust again. Faster, sharper—until the weapon blurred in midair.
Then, with a deep inhale, he condensed aura into his legs, recalling Ruby's Petal Burst.
"Speed."
He vanished in a crimson-green flash, reappearing a hundred meters away—where his spear was already waiting, guided by his telekinesis. He caught it mid-sprint, twisting into a strike.
"...One last experiment."
He drew the aura not just into his muscles or skin this time, but into his arm—forcing the energy to coil and swirl around it. The glow pulsed, growing denser, sharper, until it wrapped both his arm and spear like a second skin.
"Defense. Enhancement. Telekinesis. Speed..." His voice lowered, more to himself than anyone else. "Now—impact."
He pulled his arm back, feet digging into the ground. The air seemed to vibrate with the pressure gathering at the tip of the spear, the red-green energy spiraling tighter and tighter until the weapon trembled as if alive.
Then—he hurled it.
The throw ripped through the air like thunder, the aura detonating outward in a trail of light. For a moment, it wasn't just a spear. It was a crimson comet, a streak of destruction that tore straight across the room.
BOOOOM!
The weapon slammed into the far wall with a force that shook the entire chamber. Dust exploded outward, cracks spiderwebbed across the stone, and the spear embedded itself deep, humming with residual energy.
Hyunwoo stood frozen, chest heaving, his arm tingling from the release. Slowly, he let his aura flicker down, staring at the weapon across the room.
"...That... was something else."
He extended his hand, pulling the spear back with telekinesis. It tore free from the wall and flew back to him, landing heavy in his grip.
His lips curved into a tired grin.
"If I can master that... then even legends like Gae Bolg won't feel out of reach."
The aura flickered again, weaker this time, reminding him of his limit. He sighed, dragging the spear to his side.
"But for now... that's enough. I'll break myself if I keep pushing."