Han-Ho was awake at five AM on Friday.
Not because the alarm went off at five AM.
Because he had been thinking about the ambient cleaning technique since three fifty one PM the previous day and had reached a point in the thinking where the only useful next step was to try it.
He got up.
Made tea.
Sat on the floor near the wall.
Put his hand in the air.
The glow activated.
Read.
Even in Seoul. Even in the apartment. There was faint ley line energy here. Not strong. Not the structured distributed energy of the Kingdom of Solenne. But present. The boundary permeability from the Dragon Vein activation had allowed trace ley line energy to bleed through even in the Mapo-gu district.
He read it.
The contamination in the trace energy was very faint here. Almost zero. The Dragon Vein activation had raised the ambient mana quality on Earth and the clean mana was suppressing the ley line contamination at the trace level.
But the energy structure was readable.
He could feel the ley line energy moving.
Not underground like Dragon Veins.
Through everything simultaneously.
Omnidirectional.
Like humidity in the air. Everywhere at once.
He held his hand still.
Felt the flow.
The flow was how it was different from Dragon Veins.
Dragon Vein cleaning had been about following channels. Underground channels. He had pressed his hand to the surface and followed the channel structure inward.
Ley line energy did not have channels in the same sense.
It had currents.
Weaker and stronger areas of flow but not defined channels. More like ocean currents than river channels. Directional but not contained.
To clean it ambient he needed to enter the flow.
Not press against a surface.
Not follow a channel.
Enter.
Become part of the current and clean from within it.
He held his hand in the air and felt the trace ley line energy moving through his fingers.
Through his hand.
Through his arm.
He had been clean his entire life.
Whatever clean meant for him specifically.
The old man had said: yours is clean the way something has always been clean is clean. Not achieved. Just what you are.
He was clean.
The ley line energy flowing through his hand was contaminated.
What happened when contaminated energy flowed through something completely clean.
He waited to find out.
Nothing dramatic.
No explosion of light.
No sudden power surge.
Just the contamination in the trace ley line energy that was flowing through his hand and coming out the other side slightly cleaner.
Very slightly.
The difference was measurable only because he had been reading energy through surfaces for ten years and had developed a sensitivity that went beyond what any instrument could detect.
But it was there.
The energy flowing through his hand was cleaning.
Not because he was doing anything specific.
Just because it was flowing through him and he was clean and clean things make the things that flow through them cleaner.
He sat with this for twenty minutes.
Feeling the trace contamination reducing incrementally.
Very slowly.
Very slightly.
He made a note.
Ambient cleaning: passive method confirmed. Clean energy flowing through me acts as a filter. Contamination reduces as ley line energy passes through. Rate: very slow at trace level. At full contamination level in fantasy world the rate would be different. Unknown how different. Scaling question. Need to assess in fantasy world environment. Filing.
He filed it.
Looked at his hand.
At the trace ley line energy moving through it.
Still slightly contaminated.
But less than before.
He had been sitting here for twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes to slightly reduce trace contamination in a basement apartment in Mapo-gu.
The fantasy world had twenty thousand years of full contamination distributed through an entire world.
The scaling question was significant.
The old man woke at five thirty AM.
He had been in the center of the floor in whatever state the old man entered at night that was not sleep but functioned similarly.
He opened his sky-before-dawn eyes.
Looked at Han-Ho.
At Han-Ho sitting against the wall with his hand in the air and a faint glow around it.
The old man was still.
He read what Han-Ho was doing through his ten thousand years of Dragon Vein sensitivity.
He understood what he was reading.
He sat with it for a long time.
At six AM he said:
"Han-Ho."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"You have been doing this for an hour."
"Yes."
"The passive ambient method."
"Yes."
"The contamination in the trace ley line energy in this room."
"Yes."
"It is measurably reduced."
"Slightly yes," said Han-Ho.
"In one hour."
"Yes."
The old man looked at Han-Ho's hand.
"The scaling question," said the old man.
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"You are thinking about it."
"I have been thinking about it since three fifty one PM yesterday," said Han-Ho.
"And."
Han-Ho lowered his hand.
Made notes.
"At the passive rate," said Han-Ho. "In this room with trace contamination. One hour to slightly reduce it. The fantasy world has twenty thousand years of full contamination distributed through an entire world." He looked at the note. "The passive method alone would take—" He paused. "Longer than I have available on Thursday afternoons."
"Yes," said the old man.
"The passive method is real," said Han-Ho. "It works. But the rate is insufficient for the scale of the problem."
"You need an active method," said the old man.
"Yes," said Han-Ho. "The passive method establishes that ambient cleaning is possible. The active method needs to scale it."
"How."
Han-Ho was quiet.
He had been thinking about this since five AM.
The answer kept arriving at the same place.
"The Dragon Vein cleaning," said Han-Ho. "Was active surface contact. The ley line trace cleaning just now was passive ambient flow. The difference is—" He thought. "The difference is intentionality. When I clean a surface I intend the cleaning. The skill activates with intent. The passive method has no intent. The energy just flows through and I am clean and the energy becomes slightly cleaner."
"Yes," said the old man.
"The active ambient method would require—" Han-Ho looked at his hand. "Intending the cleaning. In all directions simultaneously. Not at a surface. At the energy itself. In every direction at once."
The old man looked at him.
"You have never cleaned in all directions simultaneously," said the old man.
"No," said Han-Ho. "I have always cleaned at a surface. One direction. Contact point."
"Can you do it," said the old man.
Han-Ho raised his hand.
Activated Stain Removal.
The glow started.
Warm. Golden.
He felt the ley line energy in the room.
The trace flow moving through everything.
He tried to extend the cleaning intent in all directions simultaneously.
Not at the floor.
Not at the wall.
At everything.
At the energy itself.
The glow changed.
Not dramatically.
Just slightly.
From the warm focused point-source glow of contact cleaning to something slightly more diffuse.
More present.
The trace ley line contamination in the room reduced.
Not slightly.
Noticeably.
In four seconds.
Han-Ho looked at his hand.
Made a note.
Active ambient method: confirmed. Extending cleaning intent to all directions simultaneously rather than at a contact surface. Glow becomes diffuse rather than point-source. Contamination reduction rate: significantly higher than passive method. Four seconds for noticeable reduction in apartment trace level. Fantasy world assessment needed for full contamination level rate. Filing.
He filed it.
Looked at the room.
At the trace contamination that was now measurably lower.
Moru was awake.
Had been awake since five thirty.
Had been watching since five thirty.
"Master," said Moru.
"Yes."
"You just cleaned the air."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"The entire room simultaneously."
"Yes."
"Without touching any surface."
"Yes."
"In four seconds."
"Yes."
Moru was quiet for a moment.
"Master," said Moru.
"What."
"In ten thousand years of dimensional existence," said Moru. "I have encountered many forms of power. Many techniques. Many abilities developed by many beings across many worlds." He paused. "I have never seen anything like what you just did."
Han-Ho made a note.
Moru assessment: active ambient method unprecedented in ten thousand years of dimensional existence. Filing.
"Thank you Moru," said Han-Ho.
"You filed it," said Moru.
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"You filed my assessment of your unprecedented ability."
"It is relevant data," said Han-Ho.
Moru looked at him.
Looked at the old man.
The old man was looking at Han-Ho with the expression he had at Busan Station.
The expression of something that has been making things complicated for ten thousand years and keeps encountering the simplicity underneath.
"Old man," said Han-Ho.
"Yes," said the old man.
"The Friday route starts at seven."
"Yes," said the old man.
"I have an hour and a half before I need to leave."
"Yes," said the old man.
"The active ambient method needs more development before Thursday," said Han-Ho. "I want to practice it this morning before the route."
"Yes," said the old man.
"Can you monitor the ley line trace levels while I practice," said Han-Ho. "Your Dragon Vein sensitivity can detect the ley line energy in this room. If the reduction rate changes you will notice before my instruments would."
"Yes," said the old man.
"Thank you," said Han-Ho.
He raised his hand again.
The glow became diffuse.
The active ambient cleaning activated.
The old man monitored.
They worked in the Friday morning quiet of the apartment.
Outside Seoul was waking up.
In the apartment something new was being developed.
Not dramatically.
Not explosively.
Just a man practicing a technique at five forty seven AM because Thursday afternoons were coming and the ley lines needed cleaning and that was the job.
At six thirty Min-Seo woke up on the middle couch section.
Opened his eyes.
Looked at the apartment.
At Han-Ho against the wall with his hand raised and a diffuse golden glow extending from it in all directions.
At the old man in the center of the floor monitoring with complete focused attention.
At Moru on the couch corner watching with ancient red eyes.
At the trace ley line contamination in the apartment which was measurably lower than it had been when he went to sleep.
Min-Seo sat up.
Looked at all of it.
"Han-Ho," said Min-Seo.
"Yes," said Han-Ho, not lowering his hand.
"What are you doing."
"Practicing the active ambient cleaning technique."
"At five forty seven AM."
"I started at five forty seven yes."
"It is now six thirty."
"Yes."
"You have been practicing for forty three minutes."
"Yes."
"Before the Friday route."
"The route starts at seven," said Han-Ho. "I have thirty minutes remaining."
Min-Seo looked at the diffuse glow.
At the old man monitoring.
At Moru watching.
"Is it working," said Min-Seo.
"Yes," said the old man.
"The trace contamination in this room," said the old man. "Has reduced by approximately sixty percent since five forty seven AM."
"Sixty percent," said Min-Seo.
"Yes," said the old man. "The rate has been improving consistently as his technique develops. The first four seconds of the session reduced it by a measurable but small amount. By the end of the session—" He paused. "The rate is significantly higher than when he started."
"How much higher," said Min-Seo.
"Approximately forty times higher than the initial passive method," said the old man.
Min-Seo looked at Han-Ho.
At the hand.
At the glow.
At the forty-times-improvement ambient cleaning technique that Han-Ho had developed between five AM and six thirty AM on a Friday morning before the route.
"I Re-Awakened twice," said Min-Seo.
"I know," said Han-Ho, still not lowering his hand.
"Twice."
"I know Min-Seo."
"TWICE—"
"Min-Seo," said Han-Ho.
"Yes."
"Make tea," said Han-Ho. "I need to finish the session before the route."
Min-Seo looked at him.
Looked at the glow.
Made tea.
The old man continued monitoring.
Moru watched.
River woke up at the sound of the kettle.
"The kettle," said River.
"Yes," said Min-Seo.
"Extraordinary," said River.
"Yes," said Min-Seo. "Everything is."
He handed Han-Ho the tea.
Han-Ho took it without looking.
Drank it without lowering his hand.
The glow continued.
The contamination continued reducing.
Forty times the initial rate and still improving.
Some Friday mornings were just like this.