The street remained strangely quiet long after Baek Sunho and his men disappeared around the corner.

  For several breaths no one seemed willing to move. The market road had slowly begun returning to life, yet the energy that usually filled the lower district was missing. Merchants stood beside their carts pretending to rearrange their wares while their eyes kept drifting toward the center of the road. Servants walking past hurried their steps, whispering to one another as they moved farther away. Even the beggars who usually lounged against the nearby walls had grown silent, their attention fixed on the young boy still standing where the confrontation had taken place.

  Three of the men Chunma had beaten earlier remained scattered across the stone road.

  One of them had managed to sit upright, though he still held his ribs tightly with one arm, breathing through clenched teeth. Another leaned against the wall with a pale face, clearly unwilling to stand until the pain settled. None of them dared to approach Chunma again. Their earlier arrogance had vanished completely, replaced by the uneasy awareness that something about the boy they had tried to bully no longer made sense.

  Chunma ignored them.

  His gaze remained fixed on the street where Baek Sunho had disappeared.

  The faint pressure of Nyros had long since faded, yet the memory of it lingered unpleasantly in his muscles. His legs still felt heavy in a way that irritated him deeply. The weakness of this body had been exposed in the worst possible way. Under the weight of that aura his breath had tightened, his muscles had trembled, and for a brief moment his knees had nearly bent beneath him.

  That alone was enough to sour his mood.

  This body is far too fragile.

  The thought was not bitter.

  It was simply a fact.

  Min finally spoke from behind him.

  “What… was that?”

  His voice came out rough and uncertain, as though he still had not fully processed what had happened.

  Chunma glanced back at him.

  “You saw it.”

  Min shook his head slowly. His eyes remained wide, still filled with the lingering fear that had gripped the crowd when the crimson aura appeared.

  “No,” he said quietly. “I mean… that was a Resonant.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you didn’t kneel.”

  “No.”

  Min stared at him for several seconds as if hoping Chunma would suddenly reveal that the entire situation had been a misunderstanding.

  “You know people die for less than that,” he said carefully.

  Chunma shrugged slightly.

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  “People die for many things.”

  Min opened his mouth as if to argue, then stopped himself. There was no point continuing the conversation. Whatever explanation he might have hoped for clearly was not coming.

  Around them the crowd slowly began to disperse.

  Word had already begun to spread.

  A beggar boy had beaten several men tied to the Hwang household. A second group had arrived to settle the matter. A Resonant had appeared in the street.

  And the beggar had remained standing.

  Stories like that did not stay quiet for long.

  Chunma noticed the glances being thrown his way as people passed. Some were curious. Others were uneasy. A few carried the wary look of people who preferred not to stand too close to trouble.

  He ignored them all.

  Fear and curiosity were both useful things.

  From the doorway of the Beggar Sect shelter, a familiar voice spoke.

  “So that was the disturbance.”

  Chunma turned slightly.

  Elder Han stood at the entrance of the shelter, his thin figure leaning lightly against his wooden staff. The old man had not raised his voice, yet the sound carried clearly across the street. His sharp eyes swept calmly across the scene before settling on Chunma.

  He had clearly been watching for some time.

  Elder Han walked slowly forward, his staff tapping lightly against the stone with each step. When he reached the edge of the street he paused and looked down at the injured men still scattered across the road before lifting his gaze back to Chunma.

  “You caused quite a scene.”

  Chunma shrugged.

  “They insisted.”

  Elder Han studied him quietly.

  “I heard a Resonant appeared.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you remained standing.”

  Chunma glanced briefly at his legs before answering.

  “For the moment.”

  The old man’s expression did not change, but something in his eyes sharpened slightly. “Nyros pressure is not something ordinary people withstand easily,” he said calmly. “Even many initiates struggle under it the first time they experience it.”

  Chunma said nothing.

  Elder Han tapped his staff lightly against the ground.

  “And yet you stood.”

  Chunma tilted his head slightly.

  “Should I have done otherwise?”

  The old man allowed himself a faint smile.

  “That depends on whether you prefer living quietly.”

  Min groaned softly behind them.

  “That sounds bad.”

  “It is,” Elder Han replied without looking back at him.

  The old man’s attention returned to Chunma.

  “You understand what happens next, don’t you?”

  Chunma looked once more down the street where Baek Sunho had vanished earlier.

  “The Hwang household will not forget.”

  “No,” Elder Han agreed calmly. “They won’t.”

  He paused briefly before continuing.

  “You embarrassed them publicly. That alone would have been enough to cause trouble. Now you have done something worse.”

  Chunma raised an eyebrow.

  “What?”

  “You showed them that you are not afraid.”

  The words hung quietly in the air.

  Men like Hwang Jinhyuk did not tolerate defiance well, especially when it came from someone as insignificant as a beggar.

  Min shifted nervously.

  “So… what happens now?”

  Elder Han answered without hesitation.

  “Now they decide whether he is worth removing.”

  Min paled slightly.

  “That sounds even worse.”

  Chunma looked up toward the faint golden particles drifting lazily through the afternoon air. They were still there, just as they had been earlier that morning, invisible to most people yet strangely obvious once he focused his attention on them.

  Resonance.

  He inhaled slowly.

  The particles trembled faintly.

  Min noticed the movement again and frowned.

  “You’re doing that breathing thing.”

  “Yes.”

  “What does it do?”

  Chunma exhaled slowly, watching the particles scatter slightly before drifting back together again.

  “I’m figuring that out.”

  Min rubbed the back of his head uneasily.

  “That seems dangerous.”

  Chunma smiled faintly.

  “Everything useful usually is.”

  Elder Han observed the exchange quietly.

  Then he spoke again.

  “If you intend to survive what you have started today,” the old man said calmly, “you will need to understand that power quickly.”

  Chunma nodded once.

  “I know.”

  The elder studied him for several seconds longer before turning back toward the shelter.

  “Good,” he said as he began walking away. “Because the next time the Hwang household sends someone, they will not come merely to observe.”

  Min let out a long, miserable sigh.

  “That’s comforting.”

  Chunma watched the drifting golden particles for another moment.

  Then a faint smile touched his lips.

  No.

  It really wasn’t comforting at all.

  But it was finally becoming interesting