CHAPTER: Chapter 11
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Chapter 11
"So you are the glutton who traded all of his Instruction Tokens away for food?"
At that provocative question, Uncheon did not avoid her gaze. Instead, he looked at her as though puzzled and asked in return,
"What concern is it of yours what I use my Instruction Tokens for?"
"...!"
Yayul Hui's face stiffened for an instant at the cold retort she had not expected.
With a brief, awkward cough, she forced sharpness back into her voice.
"Hmph! So they called you a vessel fit to bear a blade. Yet instead of spending your Instruction Tokens on training, all you do is waste food? I had thought that if you learned martial arts, I would personally shatter that shallow confidence of yours... How dull."
At her answer, a faint sneer touched Uncheon's lips.
As though he were looking at a childish girl throwing a tantrum.
'So she is the daughter of that demonic cultist who protested to the instructor that day. It seems she never truly accepted it.'
Uncheon was not the sort to be baited by such provocation.
"There will be an evaluation in Hidden Demon Cave before long, so you may judge my skill then. Until that time, stop concerning yourself with me."
It was a merciless reply.
As the cherished daughter of the Mad Wind Yayul Family, one of the Twelve Guardian Families of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Yayul Hui had been treated like a jewel all her life. This was the first time anyone had ever dismissed her so completely.
"...You! I showed an interest in you, and now you think you are something special? How insolent!"
Just as Yayul Hui was about to lash out again in anger at having been ignored, Uncheon spoke first.
"You and I are different. Since birth, people like you have eaten the fruit others brought before you and cultivated your inner energy in comfort."
It had been the same back in Gonryun.
While the great sects and martial families expanded their influence with money gathered from all corners of the world, Gonryun, on the frontier, had provided its own food, herbs, and everything else with its own hands.
If anything, the fact that one could obtain such things here so easily with Instruction Tokens was astonishing to him.
"Before one can cultivate a field, one must first break the earth. The only reason that seems foolish to you is because you have never built anything from bare ground."
"...What could you possibly know? Since childhood, I trained in martial arts and struggled to be acknowledged by my family. Do you have any idea how hard I—"
"And are you any different from me in that regard?"
Yayul Hui, who had been about to protest, found herself unconsciously sweeping her gaze over Uncheon's body once more.
If the body was the soil, his was barren ground.
He was not merely gaunt. He looked so frail that one could have believed him a sick man.
'Now that I see him up close... his condition is truly absurd. With a body like this... he endured the cliff and dealt with those wretches from the Sagal Muk Family?'
At that moment, Yuha, who had been watching, cut in with a sly smile.
"Hoh, now this is interesting. The young lady of the famed Yayul Family showing such interest in a mere cadet?"
The pitch-black silk martial robe he wore stood out starkly among the shabby training garments around him.
The ease and refinement ingrained in his bearing made it easy to guess the background from which he came.
"If word of this spreads through Hidden Demon Cave, everyone will think you have fallen quite deeply for that fellow."
At those words, Yayul Hui turned a murderous glare on Yuha.
"Hmph. I merely wanted to see whether he truly had the makings to challenge the instructor. He might become my rival."
"Hoh? So the great Mad Wind Yayul Family thinks that highly of a single captured cadet?"
"..."
Yuha casually accepted Yayul Hui's glare and merely shrugged.
"My apologies. The truth is, I also have some business of my own here."
Then he turned his head toward Uncheon.
"If you do not mind, I would like to observe Head Instructor Ma Chung's lesson."
Uncheon glanced toward Head Instructor Ma Chung.
The corners of the man's mouth had unconsciously begun to rise before he hurriedly forced them back into a solemn expression.
'It seems Head Instructor Ma Chung is pleased to have attracted the cadets' interest.'
He was not about to display the martial arts of Gonryun here, so there was no real problem.
Even so, Uncheon had no intention of agreeing so easily.
"Two observers, then. In that case, I will charge half of a day's lesson fee. One Instruction Token will suffice."
"What?! For merely observing, you expect us to pay you an Instruction Token, not even the Head Instructor?"
Yayul Hui immediately protested at Uncheon's proposal.
"You have made yourselves extra baggage hanging off my lesson time, have you not? If you dislike it, then ask Head Instructor Ma Chung for instruction separately."
"..."
Uncheon had a point.
Neither Yayul Hui nor Yuha was truly interested in Head Instructor Ma Chung's lesson. Their interest lay with Uncheon.
Both of them had already learned plenty within their respective families and had reached the First Rate level.
The head instructors might be seasoned experts among the First Rate, but they were still in the same realm. There was no reason for either of them to cling desperately to the teachings of each individual instructor.
"Well played."
Yuha chuckled and readily held out an Instruction Token.
"Here. I shall pay Yayul Hui's share as well."
After handing over the Instruction Token, Yuha stepped closer to Uncheon and properly introduced himself.
"I am Yuha. And your name?"
At that question, Uncheon's gaze sank for an instant.
In the orphan's memories, there had not even been a name.
Nor did he wish to lose his identity beneath another one.
Once he had made up his mind, he answered in a low voice.
"Uncheon."
A brief silence flowed through the corridor.
Yuha repeated the name to himself inwardly.
'...Uncheon. Uncheon.'
Decades ago, there had been a legendary swordsman who had stood alone against the main force of the Demonic Cult.
The last First Sword of Gonryun.
It was the same name as the man he had once seen in old records.
The body of the swordsman who had driven back the Demonic Cult's main force with a single sword had never been found in the end.
'What an interesting coincidence.'
Unlike Yuha, Yayul Hui seemed to draw no particular impression from the name.
She merely nodded and repeated it to herself.
The contempt in her eyes had already vanished, and in its place curiosity had begun to coil.
Once the situation settled, Ma Chung spoke with a satisfied smile.
"To the training hall, brats. If you wish to observe, follow."
***
The air in the Third Training Hall was cool.
Yayul Hui and Yuha took places in opposite corners, leaving some distance between them.
"Now then, let us begin the lesson!"
Ma Chung stood at the center of the hall and faced Uncheon.
Expectation gleamed in his eyes.
'...Heh heh. If the brat shows results, those two watching will be tempted by my lessons as well.'
Uncheon was no longer the insolent brat who had toyed with him.
He had become an investment.
"Blood Wind Leg is a devastating leg art. And an unorthodox one as well. Most masters use either their hands or the weapons they wield as their primary arms."
Ma Chung cleared his throat grandly and began his explanation with as much dignity as he could muster.
"Therefore, to learn leg arts is the same as gaining one more weapon that others do not possess."
Uncheon nodded as he listened.
"Of course, that comes with its own weakness. Once one leg is committed to attack, it becomes that much easier to lose balance. That is why a practitioner of leg arts must temper the lower body until he can keep his center even on a single leg."
Having given a brief explanation of his martial art, Ma Chung immediately issued an order to Uncheon.
"So first, I shall see how well your lower body can endure! Take the horse stance!"
The perfect posture formed at once in Uncheon's mind.
He assumed it without hesitation.
But his body betrayed his will.
'As expected... a body fit only for the rubbish heap.'
Though the stance itself was flawless, his bony legs quickly began to tremble.
Cold sweat poured from his brow like rain.
'The stance is perfect... To have such posture ingrained in the body, his lower half should have been thoroughly trained. Then what is this discord?'
By the time the drops of sweat gathered at the tip of Uncheon's chin had begun forming a small puddle on the floor, Ma Chung finally gave the order.
"Enough! You have reached your limit already? Not just your lower body, your entire body is pitifully frail! From now on, every lesson will begin after foundational conditioning."
Uncheon swayed where he stood, but his gaze did not waver in the slightest.
"When learning forms, it is effective to drive the body to its limit first and strip away old habits. So do not take issue with it."
Uncheon gave a small nod, as though that much were only natural.
"This time, I shall teach you the forms and mnemonic formula of Blood Wind Leg."
As Ma Chung's lips moved, his words entered Uncheon's ears directly through Voice Transmission.
[Carry wind in the first step, and blood in the second. Let the waist serve as the axis of rotation, but let the culmination of the centrifugal force burst from the tip of the foot....]
It was a short formula, but one that contained the essence.
Uncheon had already seen the movements for himself.
The moment he heard the formula, every motion and every flow of qi in Blood Wind Leg took shape in his mind like a painted scroll.
'Ho... it truly is not a bad leg art. The claim that it can look toward the Peak Realm is no empty boast.'
Once the transmission of the formula ended, Ma Chung asked, "Shall I repeat it a few more times?"
"I have memorized it all."
"...Your memory is remarkable as well."
Ma Chung had already witnessed Uncheon's monstrous talent with his own eyes.
'What a monster.'
After nodding, he moved on at once to the demonstration.
"Now I shall show you. Recall the formula I just transmitted and watch carefully!"
WHOOSH—
His leg tore through the air with the sound of thunder.
"This is the first form of Blood Wind Leg, Wind-Thunder Kick! Use the waist as the axis and lash the leg like lightning!"
As she watched the lesson, Yayul Hui muttered to herself, "That boy... what in the world is he thinking? He clearly chose a wooden saber and a wooden sword, and yet he is receiving instruction in leg arts?"
She seemed utterly absorbed in Uncheon's movements, studying him with sharp eyes.
"He can scarcely afford even a single Instruction Token for lesson fees..."
Without realizing it, her true thoughts slipped out as a murmur.
Yuha smiled with interest.
'As expected... she is quite interested.'
Whether Yayul Hui whispered or not, Uncheon paid her no heed.
He merely watched Ma Chung's form once and then followed it exactly.
SWISH—
As expected, his body could not fully keep up, so the power was lacking.
Yet the principle contained within the move was reproduced perfectly.
He had already heard the formula as well.
Not only Ma Chung, but even Yuha and Yayul Hui, who were watching, widened their eyes.
"As expected! Not bad at all. Then the next form is Heavenward Wind Kick, which follows directly after. As its name suggests, it is a leg art like the wind surging into the heavens."
Ma Chung displayed a more advanced linked form, but once again Uncheon followed the movement perfectly without difficulty.
Watching him, Yayul Hui unconsciously murmured,
"...Impossible! He copied the form exactly after seeing it only once?"
The wit he had shown during the examinations had already been astonishing, but the caliber of the talent he had just displayed was on an entirely different level.
At that moment, Uncheon, breathing heavily, asked Ma Chung a question.
"Head Instructor. When transitioning from the first form, Wind-Thunder Kick, into the second form, Heavenward Wind Kick, the shift in the center of gravity and the linkage do not seem natural. Was that intentional?"
"...How could you possibly know that?"
Ma Chung's face filled with shock.
It was a chronic flaw within his own martial art.
And yet this brat, who had barely learned martial arts at all, had perceived it with perfect accuracy.
A cold line of sweat ran down his back. He could no longer look upon Uncheon lightly.
'If I take this lightly, my own limits will be laid bare. Still... this brat's talent is the real thing!'
The fire of zeal blazed in Ma Chung's eyes.
"...K-Khm. You saw correctly! I intended to explain that after you had learned all the forms...."
Instead of teaching the forms one by one, Ma Chung ended up explaining the linkage of the entire sequence before he finally won Uncheon's understanding.
'Damn it all! To think he would strip the entirety of Blood Wind Leg bare in a single day....'
***
"...It is only the first day, so we will end here for now. Tomorrow, we will proceed with even greater intensity!"
Just then, Senior Head Instructor Yajin, who had been watching from the darkness, appeared soundlessly and stood before Uncheon.
The moment he emerged as though seeping out of the shadows, Ma Chung's face hardened.
Yajin swept his gaze over Uncheon's condition from head to toe, then said in a cold voice,
"Head Instructor Ma Chung, you have drained the brat of all his strength."
"Th-that is..."
Ma Chung was about to stammer out an excuse when a faint smile curled at Yajin's lips.
"I am not reproaching you. Well done."
After leaving behind that brief praise, Yajin turned his eyes to Uncheon, who still swayed on his feet.
"You are in exactly the right condition to receive my lesson. When the body's strength is exhausted and only spirit and instinct remain, the senses of an assassin awaken at last."
His voice was as cold as ice, but—
"What do you say? Shall I test your talent as an assassin?"
At that proposal, Yayul Hui's eyes widened.
Another lesson, immediately after he had been worked until his legs trembled.
To anyone at all, it was sheer madness.
Yet a faint smile rose instead on Uncheon's lips.
"I will gladly accept."
"Hmph. Good."
Yajin nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Ah, for the record, I do not permit observation during my lessons. Only Cadet Uncheon will follow me."
In an instant, the main figures vanished from the training hall.
Head Instructor Ma Chung soon departed as well, and before long, only Yayul Hui and Yuha remained.
It was Yayul Hui who broke the silence.
Feigning indifference, she asked in a curt tone, "Why did you observe Head Instructor Ma Chung's lesson? It did not look all that remarkable."
At her question, Yuha shrugged and replied, "It was not because of the instructor. I am interested in Uncheon. And the same is true of you, is it not?"
"...Hmph. What nonsense are you spouting?"
Yayul Hui answered coldly and turned her head away, but inwardly she was full of questions about Uncheon.
'He is still absurdly weak... and yet, without even Instruction Tokens, he has already drawn the interest of two head instructors....'
A playful light flickered in Yuha's eyes, as though he had read her thoughts.
"If you are that curious, why not ask him directly? Ask how he managed to seize the hearts of two head instructors without so much as a single Instruction Token to his name."
"I have no interest in petty tricks! I am leaving!"
Struck squarely in her weak spot, Yayul Hui whirled around and strode out of the training hall almost as though fleeing.
Left alone, Yuha's gaze was no longer playful.
To him, Hidden Demon Cave had already been like a vast go board gone stagnant and rotten, as though victory and defeat had long since been decided.
And yet just now, an unforeseen stone had been placed at the very center of that dead board.
A single move that could overturn everything and begin a new game.
"Uncheon... could he be the Hidden Dragon that will overturn this stagnant Hidden Demon Cave—no, the Cult itself?"
***
Senior Head Instructor Yajin led Uncheon toward a massive iron door that was ordinarily kept tightly shut.
"This is a special training ground meant to hone the senses."
As the iron door opened, absolute darkness that permitted not even a single shaft of light swallowed them whole.
A space wholly severed from the world.
Yajin's voice, having already melted a step ahead into the darkness, struck the walls and echoed back with chilling clarity.
"This is the first trial. Reach the far end without making a sound. If you have truly stolen my Shadowless Step, then you should be able to do it."
Uncheon carefully steadied his breathing and took a step forward.
Though his body had been drained by the lesson with Ma Chung, his five senses had instead been honed as sharply as a blade.
Rustle—
Something brushed against the tips of his toes.
'...Dry leaves?'
As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, the leaves scattered across the floor and the small bells began to emerge faintly into view.
At that very moment—
WHISH!
With the sound came the faintest thread of air brushing the fine hairs on his cheek.
'Killing intent!'
Rather than dodging the object flying toward him, Uncheon reached out straight into its trajectory.
THWACK—
His hand cleaved through the air and seized something with perfect precision.
What he felt in his grasp was the hard texture of wood.
"...Hah!"
For the first time, astonishment colored Yajin's voice in the darkness.
"Your eyes cannot even have fully adjusted to the darkness yet. And instead of merely dodging... you actually caught the wooden pellet I threw?"
In that pitch-black darkness, Yajin's breathing slipped out of rhythm by the faintest degree.
"You... what kind of creature are you?"
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