Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 360

Chapter 360
From the very beginning, Seol, Bing, and Dong were unclassified new species.
New species are always like unscratched lottery tickets—brimming with possibility—and even though these three weren’t on par with the Ten Great Venomous Beasts, it didn’t take long at all to channel energy into them.

After the span of a single meal, about half an hour, I had my hand resting on Bing’s head, transferring energy into him. Soon, he was completely full, and a resisting force began to push my hand back, blocking any more energy from going in.
Compared to how long it took with the others, this was remarkably fast.
‘Could it be because his size is so small?’
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a sensation like two identical magnetic poles repelling each other occurred, and my hand lifted slightly on its own before dropping away from Bing’s body.

He seemed fully energized, so I opened my eyes, looked at him, and asked,
“Bing, do you feel anything different?”
I always asked this question, yet none of the little ones had ever reported feeling anything before.
I asked more out of habit than expectation—but this time, a reply came that I hadn’t anticipated.
No, it was the very response I had been yearning to hear.
He said he felt something.
-Kuuuwooooo! 『Father, I can feel power welling up inside my body!』
Bing, my one and only son, let out a mighty roar.
It was an adorable cry that sounded like a small beast’s growl.
“R-Really!?”
This was the first time anyone had said they felt anything.
And to say he felt power rising within—my heart started hammering in my chest. At the same moment, Hwa-eun, hearing my surprised exclamation, quickly asked from next to me.
“What did Bing say, So-ryong?”
“He says he feels power surging up within him.”
“Power surging up?”
At my words, Hwa-eun’s eyes grew perfectly round.
Bing’s answer suggested an extraordinary ability might be manifesting.
And most likely an active one, at that.
When a passive trait awakened, no one could ever tell what it was, but a sensation of surging power—it had to be something major.
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed Hwa-eun’s hand.
Hwa-eun gripped my hand just as tightly in return.
This was a moment to witness our child’s development; we couldn’t help the nervous sweat or the need to hold onto each other.
It felt like watching a child’s very first kindergarten performance.
‘Not that I’ve ever actually been to one, but this must be what it’s like.’
While I was tightly holding Hwa-eun’s hand, our eyes fixed on Bing standing on Cheongwol’s back, it happened.
Bing started to inflate his body to make himself look bigger.
Much like a fat-tailed gecko does when threatened, using its thick tail to appear more imposing.
Usually, puffing up means rising on the toes, expanding the body, and curling the tail over the back.
But Bing’s back didn’t just swell—it kept arching upward, curving like a shrimp’s body.
He had said power was surging, and it certainly seemed that way.
Bing’s back rose higher and higher, until the moment his toes were almost lifting off of Cheongwol’s shell—
-Crack, crack-crack.
A crisp, twisting sound came from Bing’s spine, and at the same time, a line of sharp, icy horns began to sprout in a neat row from his nose all the way to the tip of his tail.
“What is this!?”
“Horns, So-ryong! Horns are growing! And they’re made of ice!”
Yes—horns.
Just as Hwa-eun said, these weren’t ordinary horns, but ones forged from pure, freezing ice.
Like icicles forming on rooftop edges in the deepest winter, they emerged in a line from Bing’s nose to his tail.
And not just a single row.
One line of ice horns grew along his spine, and then, angling outward on each side of his body, another line appeared on each flank—three lines in total.
Razor-sharp, frigid horns, giving off a visible chill, arranged in perfect order.
When I lightly brushed one with my finger, a biting cold that seemed to slice to the bone stabbed into my fingertips, leaving my hand numb.
‘Gyaaaaaah!’
I screamed inside my head at the sight of the ice thorns and the piercing frost they emitted.
The primary fighting method of the Seolbing Stone Lizards—the species of Seol, Bing, and Dong—was a headbutt.
A hardened body and savage physical strength were their trademarks, and with horns like these, anything they charged would, at the very least, be killed on impact.
They would be impaled clean through by these freezing, sharp-pointed horns.
‘A thorn trait!’
In the online games I used to enjoy, abilities that damaged an attacker on contact were usually called “thorn skills.”
They caused injury merely by being touched—reflecting damage back onto the opponent.
So, Bing’s new trait was unmistakably thorn-based.
And not just any thorns—ice thorns!
“Incredible, So-ryong. It’s so impressive! Ice horns!”
Hwa-eun cried out in admiration at Bing’s transformation.
Right then, the deck door burst open, and Sister Seol appeared, looking at us with wide, somewhat wounded eyes as she yelled,
“What is this! You started without me! You should have called for me!”
Oh, no.
I had totally forgotten about Sister Seol.
We otakus lose our minds over evolution scenes like this, after all.
This was basically a betrayal of a fellow enthusiast.
I hurried over, pulled Sister Seol to where we were, and began explaining what had happened—adding a little extra flavor for good measure.
“Sister Seol, please understand. This happened while Hyang was in a mood, and it slipped our minds.”
“Hyang was sulking?”
“That’s right. It all began yesterday with Cheongyu Sojeo. She woke up again last night! And then I found out! So I was looking after the kids… and then Hyang got all upset! So…”
‘Hyang, I’m sorry your father is throwing you under the bus a little.’
After giving a rough explanation that Hyang’s sulking was the reason for our distraction, Sister Seol half-heartedly accepted it.
“If Hyang was in a mood, I suppose it can’t be helped… but still, I’m a little hurt…”
Though she wasn’t completely pacified, we seated Sister Seol between Hwa-eun and me in the prime viewing spot, and then I wiggled my finger.
Letting her know the show wasn’t over.
The recital—no, the trait awakening celebration—had only just begun.
Given how little energy Bing required, I thought we could likely awaken the traits of Seol, Bing, and Dong all in one day.
Of course, they might all end up with the same trait since they were the same species—but I chose to keep that possibility to myself.
If Sister Seol went into a full sulk, it would be troublesome.
‘It’s a tactful silence. Yes.’
“It’s not finished yet, Sister Seol. Since it didn’t use much energy, I believe we can manage all three today.”
“Oh! Truly!?”
“Yes, the energy required was surprisingly little. About the same as one Dakyeong. So, we’re just getting started. Two more to go.”
“Understood! Then hurry!”
“Wait a moment. I should first check if Bing has any other capabilities.”
It might not be just about the ice thorns growing—he could have additional functions.
I asked Bing.
Could he do anything else with the thorns?
“Bing, can you do anything more with them?”
-Kku-kku. 『Well… I think… I might be able to shoot them.』
“Shoot them!?”
Good heavens.
He could fire the thorns!
I swiftly retrieved one of the wooden training dummies the hyungs used for combat practice and set it up near the railing.
Then I instructed Bing to try shooting a thorn.
“Go ahead and try, Bing.”
-Kkuu! Understood, Father!
-Shoo, shoo, shoo.
At my request, Bing immediately aimed his tail toward the railing and launched the ice thorns.
The ice that had previously grown from his nose now shot out from his tail, sinking deep into the wooden dummy.
-Kwaddddeudeuk.
The instant the thorns hit, ice exploded outward like a blooming flower.
Starting from the points of impact, the freezing cold radiated out, covering an area about a foot across.
By the time all the thorns had struck, the entire wooden dummy was sheathed in ice.
“A-Amazing, Bing!”
“Bing, you’re incredible. Auntie is truly in awe.”
The power was considerable.
However, the fired ice thorns did not grow back.
That part was somewhat disappointing, but still, if he fought using the thorns normally and then launched them as a final attack, it would be more than sufficient.
After heaping praise on Bing, I immediately moved on to awakening Seol’s trait.
“Bing is such a tough guy! A truly mighty trait! Now, for Seol.”
-Kkuu. 『Yes, Father.』
While Hwa-eun and Sister Seol were petting Bing, I put my hand on Seol’s head and started transferring energy to him.
Slowly and carefully.
My heart was pounding like I was scratching off a lottery ticket.
Even though Cho and Bini had begun the same as Cheon Pan O-Gong, they eventually evolved into completely different beings with distinct traits.
But Seol, Bing, and Dong were of the same species.
Their genders and ages were slightly different, so they might develop the same trait—or perhaps not.
‘Please, let it be a different trait. Please.’
As anticipated, it took about thirty minutes—one meal’s time—to fully charge him with energy. After I stepped back and opened my eyes, before I could even ask if he felt anything, something began to occur.
Because Seol had once lost his tail in a bad molt, he lacked the bony structure in his tail that Bing had, but from that regrown, fleshy tail, a light started to shine.
The newly restored, plump tail began to glimmer like a lantern with a soft blue radiance.
“Oh! It’s shining!”
“It really is. It’s sparkling.”
“A blue light!”
The shimmering light started to flicker faster, and when the flashing ceased and the whole tail shone with a steady glow, Seol raised his tail and shot a beam of light at the wooden dummy.
-Flash!
‘A laser!? Gyaaaaah!’
An astonished cry escaped me at the breathtaking sight.
The beam of light he fired looked exactly like a laser.
-Kwadeudeuk.
The direct hit from the beam struck the wooden dummy squarely, instantly transforming it into an ice sculpture.
It seemed the attack consumed energy and could only be used three times.
With each shot, the light grew dimmer. After the brightness faded, no more beams were fired, and after a brief pause, the subsequent frozen rays hit the dummy, converting the ice sculpture into a solid pillar of ice.
“That’s an ice blast, isn’t it?”
“Unbelievable, shooting an ice blast! That’s practically using internal energy!”
To me, it resembled a laser, but to Sister Seol and Hwa-eun, it appeared to be a blast of energy imbued with cold.
“Only three shots, Seol?”
-Kkukkkuu. 『Yes, Father. Three appears to be my maximum.』
“Even so, it’s fantastic!”
Three shots were still tremendous.
It was a beam of freezing energy, after all.
I tousled Seol’s head and praised him generously, and just then, Dong scrambled onto Seol’s head, nudging my hand away as he chirped,
-Kkyut! Kkyugyut! 『Grandpa, my turn too!』
He wanted his turn as well.
Perhaps he was envious because his mother and father had awakened such impressive traits.
What an adorable little fellow.
I recall hearing that while children are darling, grandchildren are even more treasured.
Since you aren’t responsible for raising them yourself, you can simply lavish them with affection—they feel even more precious.
That’s precisely how I felt about Dong.
I didn’t have the concerns of raising him—his parents would handle that—so I could love him without any reservations.
Gently scratching his tiny chin, I nodded and said,
“Alright, Grandpa will help you too. Come here.”
Because he was so small, I set him on the back of my hand, then placed my hand on his head and began to channel energy into him.
And then—I lost all sense of time. My awareness faded away without my even realizing it.

***
When I came to, my surroundings were familiar.
‘That ceiling again.’
It was dark, utterly black, but softly lit by Night Pearls set into the ceiling.
The underground secret chamber.
The place where the Five Gates stood.
“It can’t be, did one of the Gates open?”
Cheongyu Sojeo had mentioned this was part of the growth process, but I never expected an actual Gate to open.
Immediately, I clenched my fists and shouted out loud,
“Gyaaaah! Excellent!”
I had been anxious that it would take an eternity to develop the kids—but now it had happened so swiftly.
Now, I could practice the snake-style martial arts Cheongyu Sojeo taught me.
Thrilled, I got to my feet and looked around.
I checked to see if anything was different from last time.
“There are still five gates. Seeing Cho, Hyang, and Bini carved on the ceiling, it seems that whenever a creature opens a gate, they get inscribed up there. But wait—if I opened one, shouldn’t there only be four left?”
Something odd caught my attention as I glanced around.
Since I had opened one gate, there ought to have been four remaining—but there were still five.
It appeared that each time a creature opened a gate, they were etched onto the ceiling, but this was definitely strange.
I moved closer to the gates to examine them.
The first gate featured the lizards: Seol, Bing, and Dong.
The second gate displayed the snake: Cheongyu Sojeo.
The third gate showed the scorpion: Cheongwol.
The fourth gate depicted the toad: Hwayang.
And the last gate…
“No way!?”
When I saw the final gate, I was utterly stunned.
Because engraved on that last gate was not a venomous beast—but Hwa-eun herself.
“This… I never could have imagined this!”
It was a situation that went far beyond anything I had ever expected.