Home/I Became the Heiress of a Top-Tier Guild /ch68

Chapter 68

"I did it!"

A gentle stream of water flowed from the faucet.

It was just the right strength—not too strong, not too weak.

"Good. Now try closing it."

Sol-a focused and slowly turned the faucet handle.

Kreeeak.

As the handle turned, the stream of water thinned.

All the noises that had been swirling around her faded away, like lowering the volume on a speaker.

While the energy was active, not only sound but also her senses of smell and touch became sharper and clearer.

It felt like her senses had been amplified several times over.

"You're doing well. Now you need to practice until this process becomes as natural as breathing."

"How do I do that? Daddy, don't you imagine this at all?"

"Of course. Any Awakened can do it. So you need to practice a lot, right?"

Geum Seong-hwan said with a soft smile.

He was right. Yes... I need to practice a lot.

Sol-a scratched her head.

How could she control this massive power unconsciously, without even imagining it?

She recalled the things she'd learned to do naturally over time.

From walking and running, to writing, reading, and speaking, to mastering chopsticks that were once clumsy, to riding a two-wheeled bike and zooming around.

All actions learned so long ago she couldn't even remember when, now second nature.

'Let's keep repeating until my body learns it.'

No need to be scared.

Hadn't she already gotten through the hardest first step?

"I'll try again."

Sol-a took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

Retracing her memory... she visualized the aquarium with the faucet.

The water, holding a transparent blue light as if a lamp was lit, sat calmly inside the glass tank.

This vast aquarium was her energy.

She turned the handle, and a gentle stream of water flowed out.

So far, a natural success.

A stream flowing at just the right strength.

Suddenly, Sol-a wanted to touch the flowing water.

What would its temperature be? From the look of it, it seemed so cold it was forbidding.

Eventually, Sol-a reached out her palm toward the stream.

Water filled her hands and began to overflow.

'Ugh, it's cold!'

The water, cold enough to make her shiver from the inside, gradually turned lukewarm, then warm, and soon became hot enough to burn.

"Ow, hot!!"

Startled, Sol-a shook the water from her hands.

And her tightly shut eyes flew open automatically.

Losing her balance, Sol-a fell backward with a thud.

Her heart pounded.

A clear, cloudless sky was visible.

'When did it get this late?'

The sun that had been below the mountain was now high in the sky.

Shielding her eyes from the glare, Sol-a raised her arm.

"Stay focused, Sol-a."

Geum Seong-hwan said, looking down at her.

"You should always keep your energy contained when you're not using it."

Geum Seong-hwan felt his own weakened energy as he spoke.

Whenever Sol-a released her energy, he could physically feel his own power being suppressed or amplified.

As he'd felt during Sol-a's awakening, the child's ability could toy with even his S-rank power like a plaything.

Fortunately, since her energy wasn't fully opened yet, it was still at a level Geum Seong-hwan could manage.

The problem would come when Sol-a eventually gained full control of her power.

Hunters all over the world wouldn't sit still when it came to Sol-a's ability.

'They'll all be restless, wanting to raid dungeons with Sol-a.'

Just thinking about it gave him a stiff neck.

"Those who approach with ill intentions will all be... by my hand..."

"Huh? What did you say, Daddy?"

Sol-a, who was adjusting her posture to focus on training again, asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Our daughter, fighting!"

Geum Seong-hwan unclenched his fist, which had been so tight the veins on his hand bulged, and smiled, waving his hand.

Su Ji-hyun and he often referred to Sol-a's ability as [Ability Control] .

This [Ability Control] was overwhelming to be simply classified as a support-type ability.

Calling it 'support' felt inadequate, since she could control other Awakened's powers.

"Hmm."

Sol-a seemed to immerse herself in training again, but soon fell back again.

Geum Seong-hwan sat beside her and helped her up.

"Not going well?"

Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

Geum Seong-hwan's cauldron-lid-sized hand brushed aside Sol-a's disheveled bangs.

"The water was too hot. It felt like it was telling me not to come near."

Geum Seong-hwan asked, surprised.

"The water was hot? You touched the power?"

"Yeah. Was I not supposed to?"

"...No, that's not it."

Geum Seong-hwan touched his chin, pondering, and then met Sol-a's eyes.

"Usually, you can't touch your power. Not until you materialize it into your ability."

And thinking it might be difficult for Sol-a, he added an explanation.

"Sol-a, if you imagine eating an apple, can you taste it in your mouth?"

No. Sol-a shook her head.

"It's the same with energy. I used the aquarium analogy for training, but just like the imagined apple, it doesn't actually exist. In reality, energy isn't water, and it isn't anything. Normally, you shouldn't feel any sensation from touching it."

Power, energy, has no form and is abstract, even in imagination.

Sol-a looked down at her empty hands.

"But the feeling was vivid."

The sensation of the water touching her felt real.

Her palms still stung.

"This might be a bit complicated, but many Awakened can feel their own power, but they can't interact with it in its energy form, only through their manifested ability."

Like the air we breathe, energy is invisible and intangible.

"It's probably related to the nature of your ability, Sol-a. You have a specialized affinity for energy."

Geum Seong-hwan's large hand covered Sol-a's.

Sol-a looked up and met his eyes.

"Were you scared?"

"Not that... but it felt a bit like my kindergarten friends."

Sol-a recalled the prickly first impressions of the children, who were like wild animals.

Thinking of it that way, she felt determined to get friendly with her power somehow.

"If that's the case, I'm glad. Do you know what an Awakened should never do?"

"What?"

"Fear their own power, and be afraid of it. Having power and being consumed by it are completely different things."

There was nothing more tragic than power becoming one's identity.

"It's not that, I just didn't know it, so I'm shy."

"Becoming friends with it?"

"Yeah. Just wait. I'm going to get properly friendly this time."

Sol-a said, huffing.

Geum Seong-hwan let out a low laugh.

"Then let's try again."

"Just let me stretch for a bit."

Sol-a stood up from her long sitting position and stretched her stiff body.

Stretching from her legs to her waist, arms, and neck, she felt her mind clear.

She sat down again, straightening her back.

If she could touch energy because of her ability's nature... she wondered what it would be like to experience it properly.

'Then shall I think of it a bit differently?'

This time, not an aquarium...

It's a pond.

Then, appearing before Sol-a in the pitch-black darkness was a round, still pond... no, a lake?

'There's a huge waterfall, right?'

Sol-a looked up at the water cascading refreshingly from the cliff.

It was a waterfall so tall she had to crane her neck back, as if she might fall over, just to see the top.

'This much is Sol-a's energy...'

The waterfall was crashing down fiercely, as if throwing a tantrum for daring to try to confine it in such a tiny aquarium.

'It was never something to be solved with a faucet in the first place.'

A hollow laugh escaped her.

Without anyone telling her, she could tell.

That the energy Sol-a possessed was infinite.

'Now I understand why this guy was so prickly.'

The lake's surface sparkled as if sprinkled with gem dust.

Sol-a cautiously approached and stood at the water's edge.

Then she knelt down and looked at her reflection in the water.

Sol-a's black hair and amber eyes were reflected as clearly as in a mirror.

'Now I have to handle this...'

Her fingertips and palms carefully touched the water's surface.

'It's lukewarm.'

At a temperature as pleasant as her own body heat, she splashed and played with her hands.

The water splashed up and then pulled Sol-a in.

'Again?!'

Splash.

Her body was submerged in the water in an instant.

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