A/N: First of all, a happy new years to everyone! *Bows* Now, i'll explain why I've been missing for so long. Actually i was contemplating whether i should or not but I decided you the readers should know. Not too long ago, I suddenly had heart failure. Due to that, I've been in and out of the hospital quite a bit. Thankfully, my heart has been improving alot and I'm slowly getting back to being healthy. Adding on to that work, I just haven't had time to write. Now that all of the hospital stuff is mostly done though, I finally do have time to get back at this and plan to furiously push forward with this story, writing a chp once every two to three days. Also in apology, I plan to write another chp and post it tonight. Once again I apologize for the long wait and I hope you all enjoy the chp!

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Inside a small broken down cottage in the mountains, there was a female who was sitting down. In front of her was a man that was laying down, asleep. If people saw the scene, they would immediately believe that the two were a married couple, as the woman gazed at the man’s peaceful face as he slept. These two were exactly Dal and Yong Hwa, who had finally escaped from their pursuers and hid.

Dal couldn’t help but inwardly admit that Yong Hwa was quite handsome. Still, she wasn’t really paying attention to his face. In her mind, the words of the monk continued to echo and she pondered what she should do next.

After contemplating over it for quite a while, she shook her head and tried to clear her mind of it. No matter how much she thought of it, no answer would come, so she decided to push the matter for later on. Instead, she began to think of what happened earlier.

’Just what happened earlier? How can snow appear out of nowhere like that? More importantly, why did it feel as time slowed down? Was i just imagining things?’

While those thoughts ran through her mind, another feminine voice rang.

’That was a domain.’

When Dal heard what the voice said, her expression changed into one of shock.

’Eh?! A domain? Bool Shin, are you sure? I thought one could only set a domain if their beast soul was like you, a child of High Gods, and if they reached the level of one with the soul? There’s no way that such a young guy could reach that level already!’

It wasn’t that surprising that Dal was so shocked. Domain, a high level skill that had a pre-requisite that one needed a dual element beast soul and reach the level of one with soul. Even though Dal was a genius that many considered to be seen only once in a thousand years, she had yet to reach the level of one with the soul.

In this world, instead of ranking skill levels, one’s strength was assessed by the strength of their soul. The rankings were as thus:

One with the body.

One with the mind.

One with the soul.

One with the earth.

One with the sky.

One with the heavens.

Just to reach the level of one with the body, an average person would take five years of training. A person would considered a genius if it only took them a decade to train their soul to the level of one with the mind. Dal herself was in the late stages of one with the mind. Still, her beast soul Bool Shin was saying that the person before her had reached a higher level than herself?

Dal never had been arrogant and thought that she was above everyone else. Still, she also firmly believed that no one was better than herself at the same time. That was the reason she was so shocked. It usually took people over three decades of training to reach the level of one with the soul, if they reached it at all.

Still, even though soul levels was important to one’s strength, it didn’t determine the winner of a fight as one’s skills were equally as important. In her clan that was renown to have the strongest sword techniques, only her father and Geum surpassed her.

While those thoughts raced through her mind, Bool Shin replied.

’There is no mistake about it. That was definitely a Domain… and a very particular one that I know too well….’

‘Do you know the beast soul that dwells in this guy then, Bool Shin?’

‘Oh, I know that beast all too well. It was my bitter rival, after all.’

‘Eh?’

As the two were communicating, a knocking sound rang out at the door of the cottage. Startled, Dal immediately focused on her surrounding and ran to the side of the door, ready to take action if anyone entered. Just as she was about to summon her rapier though, a familiar voice rang out.

“Lady Dal, are you here?”

“Ah! Geum ah!”

When she heard Geum’s voice, Dal’s sharp expression changed to relief and she opened the door.Geum immediately went into the room and closed the door. Afterwards, he looked at Dal and let a sigh of relief out when he saw that she had no injuries.

When he noticed Yong Hwa laying on the ground, however, his expression slightly twitched.

“My lady, I thought that we were only going to save those people. Why did you bring him here?”

“Ah, this guy was drugged by those warriors and passed out. I can’t just leave him unconscious in the mountain, right?”

“...”

When Geum heard what she said, he began to stare at her. Dal, on the other hand, playfully let her tongue out. They both knew that she could have easily just found a safe location and dropped him off there. After staring at her playful expression for a few more moments, Geum relented and let a sigh out.

“Haa… anyways we need to leave this area soon, my lady. We should hurry up and wake this fellow up so we can leave.”

Knowing Dal’s personality, he knew that she wouldn’t just leave him alone in his unconscious state.

“Hehe, let’s just wait a while, Geum ah. He’s been drugged and only been asleep for a couple of hours, after all.”

“But my lady….”

“Anyways, did your rescue of that girl go successfully? Did you find anything out?”

“Even though I was able to rescue her, I was not able to find out much, except that they do indeed seem to be from a force of the kingdom, my lady.”

“How was her skill level?”

“It wasn’t bad, my lady. I feel as though she’s specialized in intelligence gathering instead of fighting, however. How about this guy, my lady? Were you able to find anything out?”

“No, He was already drugged by the time I reached him. Regarding his skills, I didn’t see much, but it seems as though he has very fast reflexes. He reacted to an enemy approaching even before I did and slew him. Also, he has a domain…..:”

“What?!”

When Geum heard the word domain, he wasn’t able to help but be startled. Even though he didn’t have a dual element beast himself, he was all too familiar about what a domain meant. A long time ago, when he was studying about dual elements beasts so that he could protect Dal better, he came about the information and recalled how envious he was. Still, for this man in front of them to be like his lady, and also to reach such a high soul level while so young….

The two stayed silent as they were momentarily lost in their own thoughts. During that time, Geum also decided to sit beside his lady and wait. Only after the two had stayed silent for a couple hours, did Geum finally break the silence.

“My lady, we really do need to head back soon. The clan leader has made contact with one of his friends and made accommodations for us at the Millennium Inn. He told me that we should rest there for a week and that he will be personally coming also.”

“I know, but…”

When Geum saw Dal’s reluctance, he loosened a sigh before a katana appeared in his hand.

“Geum ah, why did…Ah! what are you doing!”

Just as Dal was going to ask him why he summoned his soul weapon, Geum had already begun to thrust the katana down toward Yong Hwa’s face. Just as the sword made it halfway to his face though, Yong Hwa’s eyes immediately opened and he rolled to the side, effectively dodging the thrust. After rolling once, he hastily got up to one knee and looked alertly at both Dal and Geum.

“Who are you two?! Why did you attack me?”

“He’s awake now, my lady. We can go now.”

“Eh….”

When Dal saw Yong Hwa’s sudden movements, a dull expression as though she couldn’t believe what just happened appeared on her face. Geum, on the other hand, acted as though everything was normal and as if nothing happened. Seeing the two, a confused expression appeared on Yong Hwa’s face. He wasn’t able to comprehend what the situation was like at all.

“Oi, you bastards! I asked who you two were!”

Even though he wasn’t able to comprehend what was happening, he was still genuinely angered about how that guy had tried to stab him through his head. When Dall heard him call them bastards though, her expression darkened.

“Hey! Did your parents teach you to curse at your saviors?!”

Yong Hwa’s expression quickly changed from anger to confusion when he heard what Dal said.

“Saviors? Huh? Just what’s going. Actually where am I?”

“Haa…. I saw you on the mountains surrounded by some thugs so out of my kind intentions I decided to help you. Hmph, if I knew this was how you would repay me…”

While Dal was speaking, Yong Hwa began to recall that he had indeed been saved earlier and how, when his savior’s hat flew off, long hair did fall out, making him think it was a female. Still, his vision had been blurry so he wasn’t able to see her face at that time. After he remembered that, the confused expression slowly disappeared and he got up from his alert position before he bowed in appreciation to Dal.

“Thank you for saving my life. I apologize for what happened earlier, I was just woken up suddenly and was confused about the situation. Still, why did that guy just try to stab me right now?”

When Yong Hwa shifted his gaze toward the man beside Dal, Geum just shrugged his shoulders and lightly replied.

“Eh, I was just trying to wake you up as we need to leave.”

Even though Yong Hwa believed that his temper was quite good, a vein popped up on his forehead when he heard Geum’s response.

“Hey! Couldn’t you use more subtler means of waking me up?! Like shaking me slightly or even pouring water on my face or something?!?! What if I didn’t wake up and really got stabbed, huh?!”

“I couldn’t be bothered to use those methods. This one was quickest, after all.”

“You bastard!”

When he saw Geum’s indifferent expressions, Yong Hwa really wanted to stand up and go over and beat the guy up. Dal’s eyes weren’t able to hide the amusement she found in the situation. After letting it go on for a little, she finally broke it up.

“Eh hem…. what do you say about us starting this over again by introducing ourselves. My name’s Dal. This bloke beside me is Geum. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Yong Hwa. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure is mine. Anyways, what are you planning on doing next?”

“Um…. I’m planning on going back to Saewol… but I’m not exactly sure where we are right now...if you would be able kind enough to take me to the Millennium Inn, I’m sure my uncle would be very grateful and would accommodate the two of you…”

When Dal and Geum heard what Yong Hwa said, the two couldn’t contain the hint of surprise that appeared on their face momentarily. After they looked at each other for a second, Dal finally replied with a curious tone.

“Why would we do that for? How can I trust someone who curses at his own saviors?”

“Eh, miss Dal…. about that, I really am sorry and ask for your forgiveness. Like I said, I was out of it and really was not clear about the situation…”

Seeing Yong Hwa’s panicked expression, Dal’s eyes sparkled. When Geum saw her eyes sparkling, he inwardly shook his head as he knew that whenever his lady’s eyes sparkled like that, she was up to no good whatsoever.

“Hu hu hu…. Alright, I understand the situation. We will take you to the Millennium Inn.”

“Thank you, miss Dal.”

“However, I was taught by my father to not trust those who curse at their beneficiary. Geum ah, you still got that rope, right?”

“Eh?”

When Yong Hwa heard Dal say that they would take him to the inn, he loosened a sigh of relief and bowed in thanks to her. Just as he was bowing though, her next sentence surprised him and he raised his head in confusion. As he looked up though, he finally saw the mischievous smile on Dal’s face and Geum who had already pulled out some rope and was already slowly approaching him with a evil grin on his face.

“Huh? Oi, wha- what are planning to do?!”