Healing Castle | TXT Fantasy Novel ft. BTS

24 - Taehyun

Topaz's training regime accelerates due to the recent attack.

Instead of practicing their new abilities for hours per day, TOMORROW X TOGETHER participates in mock fights and lessons from sunrise to sunset. They also attend meetings meant for Resistance members in the upper ranks, and an elder in the force lectures them on the history of the Black Mage and their organization. For a couple weeks, they live off of canned food and try to get some sleep even with the fear of facing a bunch of rabid cats in the morning.

Taehyun senses the mood of their team shift to tight unease. Every member is confused on whether to continue trusting their sunbaenim to help them. They can't do such a monumental task alone, and even the Resistance members admit they are almost powerless in the human world.

But BTS hasn't reached out to them, and he supposes it'll be impossible--they're hiding out in a castle in another dimension, one that feels bright and vibrant and strange.

When Taehyun gets a rare off hour from training with his team, he asks for permission to wander the castle grounds. The castle is made from the same even stone as underground, cut so precisely that Taehyun wonders whether magic was involved. The ceilings are so high, Taehyun can barely make out the light fixtures above. The hallways are lined with thick, red carpet accented with gold lining. Tapestries cover broad portions of the walls, and wide windows open up to a flower garden and picnic area.

As he walks, Taehyun is met with strange stares from the guards in the Maple World, who all look human--except all their proportions are symmetric.

He passes paintings that display the history of the Maple World. He stops at one that catches his eye, and a guard taps his shoulder and grunts. "Don't you think of stealing that one, earthling. It was painted by Grendel the Really Old."

Grendel the Really Old is the magician instructor in Elinia, the starting point for all aspiring mages. Taehyun looks at the painting again, the effortless brush strokes displaying a landscape of towering trees and a navy blue sky.

For a moment, he can forget about the impossible mission. He thinks of the magic of MapleStory, of what Grendel would think of a boy like him receiving magic and having to defend a world with his four friends. He wonders if Grendel knows of him now, cheering Taehyun on within the enchanted walls of the Magic Library.

After his tours, Taehyun spends a lot of time in the practice room. The place, strangely enough, is built like the hot sauna, with brick walls and wooden floors all scuffed from the intense drills.

Taehyun gets a good control on his magic, summoning magic bolts and weaving them in and out of his line of sight. He even experiments with higher level abilities, mainly an ice bolt that shoots out a couple meters in front of him and a fire arrow that pierces just as strongly as Soobin's enchanted one.

When his members and Topaz are present, Taehyun practices keeping in formation. Yeonjun and Huening Kai take the front line, taking aim at the shadows Topaz can form from his rogue skill set. At the same time, Soobin and Taehyun fire from the back line. Beomgyu has the permission to either fire with the artillery or move closer and use his brawler skills to pulverize the shadows with his knuckles.

"Don't hit each other! Soobin, you fired too close to Yeonjun's head."

"What are you doing, Kai? You can't take on that many enemies at once."

"Stop it, everyone! You can't just aim anywhere. The Black Mage has vital points as well, and they're the same as ours!"

Topaz's shouts remind Taehyun of their intense dance practices in BigHit. This is completely different, of course, actually having targets that might as well be living. Topaz's shadows are the same height and depth as a person, and Taehyun feels as though his magic is actually causing harm to a being in an alternate world.

No matter, he continues. He finds a rhythm in his magic. Energy bolt. Fire arrow. Ice beam. He's reminded of the magical moments in MapleStory, where his dream of becoming a wizard began.

Oh, and this feels much better than performing a magic trick.

"Enough for the day!" Topaz calls out.

Finally, the shadows fade to light, and his team members collapse onto the wooden floor of the dojo. Taehyun joins them, falling next to a Soobin who is hyperventilating like a giant, exhausted bunny.

"Dinner should be ready in the halls," Topaz says. He leaves quickly. As expected, years of experience training as a rogue has made him more than agile.

"I want to go to the gardens," Beomgyu says, but their instructor is already gone. "Let's have a picnic. I heard the chefs are making something fancy. Pork ribs?"

Taehyun senses a bit of the humor returning to the boy who's usually always laughing, or bantering loudly. "Don't we need permission? We aren't exactly royal guests here."

"Well we might as well be," Beomgyu says. "I heard from one of the Resistance fighters that rumors of us spreading around the continent. Soon we'll be known as heroes, like the real ones who fought against the Black Mage ages ago."

Taehyun smiles, and he holds it steady as he doesn't want to remind Beomgyu that the heroes who fought against the Mage sacrificed their lives to lock him away. He steadies his breath despite hours of workout. "Well, maybe we can go to the gardens. And maybe travel around the outskirts of Henesys if we're lucky?"

"Do you think we'll get lucky and see a cute mushroom monster?" Huening Kai says. The younger boy was lying completely on his back, totally drained, but his excitement flourished in an instant. Taehyun is about to inform Kai that there is no such thing as a cute monster, but Kai continues before he can interrupt. "Anyway, BTS' concert is in three weeks. We have that much time to prepare. And so I'm with Beomgyu--we should try to convince Topaz that we deserve to explore some of the world."

Taehyun nods, forcing his mind to find the positive, steering away from the constant doubt about whether the concert is distracting them from a more important task. "We're in the Castle. The safest place that exists for people like us. But now that we're stronger, I guess we can go around a bit."

"Yeah, before we feel like prisoners," Yeonjun says. "Do you think they have good ramyeon here?"

All of them laugh. Taehyun knew in the back of his head this moment would come--their hope would return as long as they stick together, as long as they're five.

"I saw a lake nearby, " Soobin says, but then he lets out a strained laugh. "Well, maybe that isn't a good idea--I'm not so sure how strong lake monsters are."

Taehyun brightens at the team's spirits. He puts on his biggest thinking cap, looking at their situation like a big puzzle that can be solved by manipulating one piece at a time.

"We deserve some rest. And well, look at it this way. Say the Black Mage can't find us down here. That means he doesn't see us as a threat anymore. He's relaxing while we're becoming the strongest fighters we can be. That means we'll have the advantage the next time we come into contact.

"Also... with BTS, I know everyone is hurting. But maybe they need help. The Black Mage could be targeting them as well. Who knows what kind of manipulation the Mage is capable of? Namjoon and Suga could be forced to become allies even after resisting."

"That's what I said before," Huening Kai says. "That gives me hope, strangely."

"I was listening," Taehyun goes on. "Now let's go eat dinner before Topaz gets back in here and orders us to fling twenty more arrows and daggers."

His wit earns a chuckle from the guys, and they stand together to head to the dining hall. He steals one last look at Beomgyu. Since they arrived at the castle, he looked disturbed, jittering at the smallest sounds. Beomgyu often bit the inside of his lip, and his eyes wouldn't meet his no matter how hard Taehyun stared.

But now, Beomgyu stretches his hands high and wiggles his body like a chipmunk. Maybe their journey is finally changing directions.

A/N: Are you team Beomgyu or team Taehyun? let me know, and thank you for reading :).