Nano Machine c 21 to 30

 Chapter 21 Chapter 21: You brought it on yourself (3) As the day went on, students of the 8th group had to deal with two major figures cautiously. Chun Mukeum from the Loyal Clan was furiously focusing on Chun Yeowun, and that made it awkward for everyone because Yeowun ignoring it. And it wasn’t only him who felt the tension. The Left Guardian, Lee Hameng, was also watching them. ‘Two candidates for the heir in the same group… interesting.’ He didn’t come out to watch the training; he was here today to see Chun Yeowun. The 8th group was performing as expected since it was the only group with two black tagged students. The only unexpected thing was Chun Yeowun’s internal energy. ‘He has more than what I expected him to have.’ Chun Yeowun had nothing just two weeks ago, but it was weird that he had become more powerful than Jahyun, a member of the Loyal Clan. He knew Submeng had taught him, but even then the internal energy was inexplicable. With the Black Dragon Ball, he should have close to twenty or barely thirty years worth of internal energy, but the energy reflection that Chun Yeowun released on Jahyun meant that he had over thirty years worth of internal energy. Even if Submeng helped Yeowun absorb the ball, that was too much. ‘Did he absorb all the energy from the ball? Then it’s his own talent, not that drunkard who helped him… heh. So does have the blood then?’ Hameng didn’t think Submeng had taught him well, so he then got up and left the area. When te afternoon practice was over, all the students crowded into the large cafeteria to eat dinner together. Chun Yeowun welcomed this as he had been eating rice soup for two weeks. The 2nd stage required teamwork and thus they were also required to eat together. “Oh! It’s chicken!” Chicken meat marinated with soy sauce was placed on the table. One of the perks of being a student was that they were provided an unlimited amount of food. As the students calmly waited with their chopsticks placed on the table, one of the instructors shouted, “You may eat!” “Mado!” The students replied loudly and began gorging down the food. Chun Yeowun smiled at the taste of chicken meat. He was sick and tired of two weeks of rice soup, and as he ate, he felt Chun Mukuem glaring at him the entire time. He wasn’t sure why the Loyal Clan hated him so much. ‘You better eat up now since you won’t be eating well starting tomorrow.’ Chun Yeowun also had a deep hatred rooted within him toward the six clans. His anger still gushed out of him whenever he thought of his mother who was poisoned to death. ‘You dare trample on the weak? Now I will trample on you.’ He had to bow because he was weak before, but it was different now. When dinner time was over, a bell rang and everyone stopped to placed their chopsticks on the bowls. Chun Yeowun also glanced at the others and copied them to wait. “Dinner is finished!” “Mado!” Students shouted in response and began leaving the cafeteria in lines. As they gathered back on the training ground in lines, Instructor Impeng dismissed his 8th group. “You are dismissed for today. Everyone except for the 80th cadet, you are dismissed!” “Dismissed!” Everyone left other than Jahyun who frowned as he waited. Chun Yeowun scoffed at Jahyun who followed Instructor Impeng and headed for the dorm. The dorm building was on the left side of the main building. It was divided into five sections, and each section had two floors. The lower floor was for the boys and the upper floor was for the girls. There was a total of ten rooms on each floor, and each room had a maximum of twenty beds. Therefore, each group could take one room to sleep in. That was how everything was divided until the third section, and at the beginning of the fourth section, everyone got their own personal rooms after passing the third test. The fifth section was where the instructors lived. Chun Yeowun was in room #8. “Hey-hey. Where do you think you’re going?” An annoying voice came from behind as Chun Yeowun tried to enter the room. He didn’t hear the voice directly, but he was able to guess who it was. As he turned, Chun Mukeum was glaring him with his arms crossed. Behind him were six cadets who acted like his cronies within the 8th group. ‘Does he want to be on top of everyone anywhere he goes?’ All the princes and princesses of the six clans were known for being raised with the utmost care and respect. They never had to do anything on their own as they always had servants. For example, Chun Wonryou, the princess of the Lust Clan, did the same thing. She was the group leader, but when group time was over and it was free period, she still had about ten cadets following her like her subjects. Students soon gathered as they saw the rumored 7th prince having a standoff with Chun Mukeum of the Loyal Clan. ‘Heh, I’ll show you.’ Mukeum liked this situation as he wanted to embarrass Yeowun in front of everyone. “Peasant boy. Was it nice to be locked up in the medical room like a coward?” Chun Yeowun’s eyes turned cold. Mukeum liked how Yeowun was triggered by his choice of words and continued, “Why? You don’t like that word? Pea-” “Are you talking ill of the Lord?” “What?” “If I am a peasant, you must be mean that the Lord is a peasant.” Mukeum then had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He was only thinking of Yeowun’s mother, but when Yeowun mentioned the Lord, his words got stuck in his throat. “Are you so noble that you can even talk poorly of the Lord himself?” “I-I never said…” All of the students here were loyal to the Lord. Whether they were a member of the six clans or children of the Lord, they had to choose their words wisely. The students around them were silent. “The Loyal clansmen are idiots.” Chun Wonryou scoffed as she watched. It was foolish to see him getting word-played by a boy like Chun Yeowun. ‘Fool. Still clinging onto the peasant boy?’ And Chun Kungwun who was from the Sword Clan, also shook his head while he stopped to see what was going on. “Ugh…!” Chun Mukeum’s face turned red. He was going to embarrass Yeowun, but he was getting embarrassed instead! “You bastard. I will bust your face with…UGH!” Everyone turned silent. Yeowun’s fist struck Mukeum’s face before he could even finish, and blood gushed out from Mukeum’s nose. “With what? What were you trying to say?” “AAAAAAAH!!!!” Mukeum then tried to unleash the Loyal Clan’s martial arts starting with the Loyal Demon Fist Formation, but Chun Yeowun began running. Everyone who was watching never thought that Yeowun would attempt to flee. “AAAARGH! Get him!” “Y-yes, sir!” Students who were behind Mukeum began to run toward Yeowun who was running toward the forest behind the dorm building. Mukeum also used his running skill to follow. And unlike the other students who were watching excitedly, Chun Wonryou and Chun Kungwun looked at Yeowun as if he were weird. The six students who followed Yeowun were shocked. They knew Yeowun did not have any internal energy, but they still couldn’t catch up to him. “Why is he so fast?!” They couldn’t get him, but the Yeowun wasn’t getting away either. The 203rd cadet then thought, ‘Is he luring us?’ He thought for a second as Yeowun seemed to be maintaining a certain distance while running. “What are you doing?!” “Huh?” Mukeum swept the blood from his nose and shot past them. He had to catch Yeowun and destroy his bones so that he could feel better. Yeowun glanced back and stopped. “Damn, bastard. Are you done running?!” Mukeum clenched his fist and walked up. Yeowun answered with a smirk, “Running? Hah, I brought you here.” “What?” “I don’t want the others to see it yet.” And with that, Yeowun’s body bounced like a spring and he struck Mukeum down with his palm. It was almost an ambush, but Mukeum was ready with his internal energy all over his body. Thus, Mukeum brought up his two fists and blocked Yeowun’s palm. Mukeum was pushed back two steps, but his eyes shook with shock. “You.. you… how did you learn such martial arts?!” He didn’t think about any of the details until now, but Chun Mukeum was now shocked to see the power behind Yeowun’s internal energy attack. Chapter 22 Chapter 22: You brought it on yourself (4) Chun Yeowun’s attack was not a light one. It was so powerful that Chun Mukeum had defended with seven levels of energy, but he was still pushed back two steps. ‘His power is not weak.’ Mukeum thought Yeowun was a piece of cake, but it was not as he had expected. ‘Now is the time!’ Chun Yeowun then unleashed the second formation of the Butterfly Blade Dance. A quick attack of the blade was completed through the powerful spinning move originally made to defend, but it also proved to be effective when in close range as an attack. He didn’t have any weapons in his hands, but he wielded internal energy in his right hand to make it work like a blade. “Prince! Be careful!” One of the boys out of the six students shouted as they got down. Mukeum used his running skill to run three steps back to dodge the attack. ‘He dodged it?’ Yeowun became surprised as he thought that this was going to be the final blow. Mukeum then jumped out and attacked Yeowun’s chest. It was the third formation of the Loyal Demon Fist. “Ugh!” He had taken a strike from the counterattack, but he dodged the second attack by pulling his upper body back. However, that wasn’t the end. Mukeum then jabbed Yeowun’s right shoulder with his elbow. Yeowun quickly brought his wrist up to defend, but the attack from the elbow had more power. Yeowun was pushed back about four steps. ‘I still lack internal energy.’ Mukeum had entered the academy with twenty years worth of energy, and with the Black Dragon Ball, he increased the amount of energy he had. ‘But I can take it.” Mukeum had taken many kinds of medicines since he was young, so his absorption rate of the Black Dragon Ball wasn’t as high. Moreover, his quick temper also made him absorb less. ‘I should give him no time to counter it.’ Yeowun then unleashed agile blade attacks and his hand chop left a trace that looked like a butterfly flying through in the air as it attacked Mukeum’s right shoulder. “How can he use such martial arts?!” The six students blankly watched Yeowun. They knew he had acquired one of the finest martial arts just by looking at it. If they knew it was the Butterfly Blade Dance that Submeng used, they would have been so shocked. “You are above my expectations.” Mukeum spoke in astonishment and dodged Yeowun’s attack while getting closer. His fist skills were powerful but he also focused on being flexible, which allowed him to move flexibly and Mukeum kicked Yeowun’s left side. “UGH!” Yeowun was thrown to the right from the kick. He had learned about basic martial arts but he had not learned a landing skill yet. So, he had to roll on the ground before crudely getting up. ‘I didn’t expect a kick.’ He was shocked. The kick got him on the head, so it made him feel dizzy. When he couldn’t find his balance, Mukeum felt relieved. “I was surprised at such fine blade art, but you still are a newbie.” Yeowun frowned. Mukeum had found out that Yeowun was still very new to martial arts just after a few exchanges. ‘He has the basic movements down, but he does not know how to react to attacks.’ Chun Mukeum was hot-tempered, but he was still a talented individual who was trained in various teachings. He had many experiences since various teachers had taught him. Martial arts required real-life experience so that the user would know when or what to use under different circumstances. “Well well. You still have a long ways to go.” ‘I underestimated him. What should I do?’ Chun Yeowun became nervous. His head was filled with various formations of the Butterfly Blade Dance, but he didn’t have the experience to choose what to use. “I’ll look into how you learned martial arts after I crush you.” Mukeum then charged in toward Yeowun. At that moment, Yeowun was frantically trying to make a decision. ‘What should I do? What do I need to use?’ And it was then that Nano’s voice came to him. [Sensing danger from hostile entity. Activating Augmented Reality on the user’s sight to deal with the incoming danger. Activating battle tutorial to start defensive mode.] Yeowun’s eyes shook quickly while it shined with small light particles. “DIE!” Mukeum’s fists attacked and Chun Yeowun tapped to move to the side and punch Mukeum’s chin. “ARGH!” Mukeum had not expected an attack, so his head was turned to the side. The fist didn’t have any internal energy, but the attack on the chin made him feel dizzy and made him lose his balance. ‘W-what? This isn’t the blade skill!’ He would have passed out if the fist had internal energy. Mukeum then used his running skill to distance himself. “What?! His movement changed!” Even the students were shocked. They thought Mukeum would finish him with the attack, but this made the situation uncertain. In Yeowun’s eyes, everything was very different now. ‘What is this?’ [Augmented Reality has been activated to guide Master through the battle tutorial to react to the hostile entity.] Yeowun was seeing all kinds of lines and writings over what he was seeing. Even just now, when Mukeum’s attack almost got him, he saw footsteps composed with lights and writing that told him to follow it. Yeowun followed it, allowing him to dodge the attack and then a white arrow appeared on Mukeum’s chin with a fist sign, so he followed it. [There was no direction, so boxing, one of the martial arts recorded in the program, was applied temporarily for this tutorial.] ‘Tutorial?’ [It means guidance.] ‘You ordered to tell me what to do?’ [I analyzed the hostile entity’s movements to the 0.01 scale and came up with the result.] ‘I don’t know what you are saying. So, what I just did is a… boxing?’ [Boxing is one of embedded martial arts in the program and…] ‘It’s okay. If you are using boxing as the tutorial, can you apply it with the Butterfly Blade Dance?’ [The analysis and transfer of Butterfly Blade Dance is complete, so it is possible. Will you apply it?] ‘Yeah.’ [Changing tutorial mode to Butterfly Blade Dance.] While Chun Yeowun stood still to talk with Nano, Mukeum got up from his dizziness and shouted angrily. “You even learned how to use fist techniques?! You sure hid a lot like a thief! But it won’t work anymore!” Mukeum then charged in again with tens of fists. Yeowun saw the fists coming at him along with the directions on where it was all coming from. ‘I can see where he’s attacking!’ Chun Yeowun smiled. He then followed the steps to dodge the attacks. ‘What! He dodged everything?’ It was hard to believe that Yeowun who could barely react to the attacks before was now dodging everything. It wasn’t only that — Yeowun then attacked back with a powerful blade attack. “W-what?!” Mukeum quickly turned to defend, but he could only defend two attacks. Yeowun’s hands flew in like a butterfly and soon got him on the right shoulder. “UGH!” Mukeum felt strong pain and blood came up through his throat. If it was an attack with a real blade, he would have been cut down. ‘How can he use such an attack?’ Yeowun did not have more internal energy than Mukeum, but his attack skill was that of like an experienced warrior. It was all possible because Yeowun’s movements were the exact copy of Submeng’s movements. Mukeum then felt his legs losing energy from the damage. He then came up with the memory. ‘Mukeum. If you do well, the Lord… your father’s attention will come back from that dirty b*tch and back to me.’ ‘It’s all because of you! It’s all because you are weak!’ ‘If only that dirty bitch hadn’t appeared!’ Mukeum’s mother, Lady Ja, married the Lord Chun Yujong through an arranged marriage. It was a marriage from the oath of the six clans, but Lady Ja loved the Lord. She did all she could to win the Lord’s attention, but she was never loved back. The Lord’s attention was only on the girl slave at the Lord’s palace. ‘It’s not me. It’s all you. It’s all because of YOU!’ The last memory he had of his mother was Lady Ja choking his own son while sobbing madly. ‘Why am I having that memory again?!’ As that memory came back to him, he learned to hate only one person. Mukeum gritted his teeth with hatred and threw his fist at Yeowun’s face. “You think I will lose to a peasant like you?!” Yeowun easily dodged the attack by tilting his head and although he tried to strike Mukeum’s forehead, he changed his mind and grabbed his opponent’s wrist to pin him down. “UGH!” Mukeum felt severe pain from the back of his head, and his head became red with veins popping out from his neck to his forehead. “You dare… I can’t lose to a peasant like you! How!” Mukeum shouted angrily, but Yeowun looked down coldly at him and said, “You brought it on yourself.” Chapter 23 Chapter 23: The second test (1) Chun Mukeum, the prince from the Loyal Clan. His loss shocked the six students beyond belief. The boy who had no internal energy just two weeks ago now had a martial arts skill that easily exceeded theirs. “Why? You want a piece of me too?” Chun Yeowun threatened the students and they all shook their head in unison. Yeowun just defeated Mukeum, whom all six of them combined couldn’t beat. “Then take him with you.” The six students ran up and grabbed Mukeum. Although Mukeum lost to Yeowun, they were still fearful of the Loyal Clan. ‘If I gain my own forces, will they fear me like that too?’ Yeowun thought as he looked at those students. Mukeum was lying down because of his pain and he was also embarrassed about being helped, so he shouted angrily as he pushed the students away. “Let me go! I’ll walk myself.” “But Prince!” “DON’T! Make me say it twice.” Students then let go of Mukeum and he shouted at Yeowun, “Why aren’t you finishing me?!” Mukeum hated Chun Yeowun, but he knew Chun Yeowun had the same amount of hate since he was always in danger ever since he was young. However, Yeowun decided to not kill Mukeum by changing his chop to just pinning him down, and that made Mukeum feel like he was being sympathized. Yeowun answered, “If the second test was not a group test, I would have crushed your head already.” The six students became pale. It was an acceptable reason but Mukeum still couldn’t understand. “Bah! A peasant with your reasons.” “If you keep on going with your jabbering, I might just crush your head.” “Then do it! You bastard!” “Hah.” Yeowun looked at Mukeum with a disgusted expression and made his way back to the dorm. While he was on his way back, he didn’t look all that happy. ‘I can’t ignore the experience.’ He was able to fight well with Nano’s help, but he realized he lacked experience. If it wasn’t for Nano, he might have lost. ‘It will take time for me to gain experience and those six clans will not let me gain experience easily. Therefore, I need to know how to utilize what I have first.’ Knowing about the battle tutorial would have helped him if he knew that before the fight. ‘Nano.’ [Yes, Master.] ‘How many skills did I use from what you currently have?’ Nano kept showing him new abilities, but it was all due to the fact that Nano was only reacting to emergencies. [Checking user data. Currently, Master has used 3% of the Nano Machine ability.] Chun Yeowun was only interested in martial arts so his usage was bound to be low. Nano’s basic program was so vast that if all of it was used, it was enough to turn this age upside down. Nonetheless, most of it was locked in the program anyway, but Nano did not tell Chun Yeowun of this. ‘Three percent?’ [Yes, Master.] ‘I only used so little?’ [Official records indicate that most users utilize 30% of the Nano Machine on average.] ‘I’m sure there will be a lot of useful abilities.’ Chun Yeowun then realized he had not been using the Nano Machine to its fullest potential. ‘Tell me about all your abilities.’ [Understood. Transferring detailed user manual regarding the 7th generation Nano Machine to the brain. Will you accept?] ‘Yeah.’ [It will accompany the transfer of the English language education program for better understanding. Will you accept?] ‘Is it the language that you sometimes use?’ [That is correct, Master.] ‘Yeah, okay.’ Nano then began transferring the information into Yeowun’s brain. It took quite some time since there was a lot of information, and when it was complete, Yeowun did not feel nauseous or sick anymore. It seemed like his brain had now adjusted to the information transfer. He was only a little bit dizzy. As the dizziness faded, Yeowun began to go through what the Nano Machine could do. ‘Can you do all these things?’ It was beyond his imagination. There were multiple ways to help Yeowun fill the gaps for his lack of experience. One of them was the repeated simulation ability. ‘So I can simulate battling others in augmented reality?’ Yeowun was now able to understand the English words and other futuristic words. [Yes, but it requires the analysis of the opponent’s movements.] ‘Can I use Chun Mukeum’s movements?’ [There is a lack of information for the basic motion, but creating an avatar based on the previous battle record is possible.] It wasn’t perfect but it was still better than nothing. ‘Okay. Let’s try it then.’ Yeowun then changed direction and went to a remote area with no one around. It was free time until nightfall, so he decided to train with Nano’s simulation. [Activating Augmented Reality. Creating an avatar for battle simulation.] Nano’s voice came and a light appeared in his eyes to turn into Chun Mukeum. “Whoa.” Yeowun became astonished. This Chun Mukeum was the avatar that only he could see. [Adjusting the simulation information. Please set the damage percentage that avatar can inflict on the user.] ‘Damage percentage?’ [If you want it same as reality, you can set it to 100%, but you can set it lower to lessen the impact.] ‘I see. Then let’s set it to 100%.’ He thought it wouldn’t be too painful since it was still a fake. Yeowun realized the hard way that he had made a foolish choice. [Beginning the simulation.] Chun Mukeum’s avatar then smirked and yelled. [Peasant! Let’s fight!] “What?!” Chun Yeowun was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect the avatar to copy even the speech. He knew the avatar was fake, but it still felt irritating. ‘I guess I can crush his head this time then!’ Chun Yeowun then attacked and Mukeum’s avatar attacked him back. It was the same attack that he encountered before. Yeowun thought of how he dodged it due with Nano’s tutorial and sidestepped it to follow up with a Butterfly Blade Dance Attack. And at that instant… [You think such a puny attack will work?] Chun Mukeum’s avatar shouted and twisted his body weirdly to dodge it. Then he kicked Yeowun’s stomach. “UGH!” Chun Yeowun fell with the strong pain in his stomach. He didn’t realize it would give him such real pain. “Ugh… how can it be this painful?!” Chun Yeowun winced and Nano answered, [Nano Machine replicated the same amount of pain reception that Master felt earlier.] “Dammit.” It was foolish to set the damage percentage to 100%. [Will you change the percentage?] “…No. Leave it!” Yeowun refused. He came to believe that such pain would make him weary of every move even if all of this was fake. [Peasant! Come and get me!] Mukeum taunted him with his fingers. Yeowun then charged at the avatar with his blade skill. Chapter 24 Chapter 24: The second test (2) Late at night, Yeowun finished training with the Augmented Reality simulation and was on his way back to the dorm. He was exhausted from the four hours of training. Nano healed his wounds right away, but it still made him tired. ‘I only won once out of the fifteen duels.’ Yeowun sighed. Without the battle tutorial, the first duel was over after five exchanges. ‘Crush his head? I was so foolish.’ Nano’s voice rang in the embarrassed Yeowun’s ears. [Your ability will increase as you gain experience. Master’s choice of movement and right skill will increase as you progress.] He had lost six times straight in the beginning, but he began to react to Mukeum’s attack starting from the seventh duel. Yeowun was able to launch counterattacks that Mukeum’s avatar could not react to starting with the tenth duel. And on the last one, he was able to win after thirty exchanges. ‘But it was only a victory with Mukeum using only three of his attack skills.’ Chun Mukeum’s avatar had limited actions because Yeowun did not have all of the data, but it still was hard to defeat Mukeum. This made Yeowun even more eager to train. ‘Whew. I will defeat that avatar easily in a few days!’ [Understood, Master.] It was Yeowun’s first goal, but there was a piece of information that Yeowun did not know. Chun Mukeum’s avatar was created with what Yeowun had experienced in the real battle, but Avatar Mukeum had full knowledge of what martial arts skills that Yeowun could use. This meant that if Yeowun achieved victory over the avatar that knew all of his movements and never got exhausted, that was a great feat already. As he returned to the 8th group’s room, people fell silent. ‘He’s here!’ ‘He doesn’t even have any wounds!’ It was apparent that the other students had heard about what happened. It was enough to let the students know where Chun Yeowun stood in power. However, they were still afraid of the Loyal Clan’s power over the Cult itself, so they didn’t dare to walk up to Yeowun and speak to him. As Yeowun walked down the middle toward his bed, the students opened the way for him to walk past. This was a different feeling from the day he entered the academy when people looked at him with disgust or sympathy. ‘Is this what it feels like to have power?’ He just had defeated one of the princes, but it made such a big difference that it almost made Yeowun laugh out loud. ‘Where’s my bed?’ Yeowun glanced around to find his bed, and someone came running to him. It was the 23rd cadet, with a blue cloth over his head. He politely pointed at the bed with both hands and guided Yeowun. “Your bed is here, Prince.” “Oh.” The 23rd cadet was acting as if he were Yeowun’s servant. The other students became confused. ‘What? What is he doing?’ Most students were confused, but for the 23rd cadet, this was his chance to take the risk. He was beaten in front of everyone for his failure and the promise to look after his clan was gone. ‘Bastard!’ Chun Mukeum kept on saying that he was going to wipe out the 23rd cadet’s clan when he got out of the academy, making the cadet even more angry. When he saw Mukeum appear four hours ago with wounds, he made his decision. ‘If I’m going to die, I’ll just take the risk.’ He then decided to stay on Chun Yeowun’s side for the competition of the heir to the throne. And with that decision, he was now thought of Yeowun as his master. “You aren’t like what you were before.” Chun Yeowun knew that the 23rd cadet had changed after they met in the medical room. He wasn’t just fearful of Yeowun now. “Do you want something from me?” Yeowun asked. The 23rd cadet hesitated for a second, but he soon knelt down with one leg and gathered his both hands in respect and said, “I, 23rd cadet Hu Bong, will serve you as my master!” Students murmured among themselves in shock and Yeowun was also surprised. He always thought he wanted a force for himself, but he didn’t think it would happen so early. “You want me to be your master?” “I am sorry about my rudeness in the medical room. Please take me as your servant and let me serve you as my master!” Yeowun then began thinking. Unlike the Guard Jang who was sent to protect him by the Lord’s order, seeing Hu Bong who wanted to become his servant willingly fired something up within him. ‘Please! Please!’ Hu Bong looked up at Yeowun and he grinned and nodded. Hu Bong then bowed with his head down on the ground in excitement. “Thank you! I will serve you forever!” And it was then— “HAH! I didn’t expect to see such crap!” It was Chun Mukeum. He came back together with Jahyun who had finished his additional training. “You insect. How dare you pledge loyalty to a peasant?!” Jahyun was tired, but he frowned and spat angrily at Hu Bong. This scared Hu Bong and he began to shake. However, he didn’t move his head and only looked at Yeowun, and therefore Yeowun made a decision. Yeowun’s head turned slowly toward Jahyun. “You dare speak ill of my servant?” “What?” Yeowun’s cold voice shocked Jahyun. If it was the Yeowun he knew, Jahyun would have charged to attack right away, but he had already heard that Mukeum lost accidentally. “It is you who is the insect that follows someone’s tail around.” “W-what did you say?” “What’s with the stuttering? Are you afraid?” Yeowun taunted and Jahyun became angry. “Peasant!” Jahyun then jumped to attack at Yeowun. However, Yeowun twisted his top torso to dodge and struck the back of Jahyun’s neck. “ARGH!” Jahyun’s eyes rolled back and he passed out. His attack, the basic fist skill of Loyal Clan, was what he had been practicing the entire evening that allowed him to do this. “He’s nothing compared to the avatar.” Yeowun mumbled and Hu Bong looked at him with shock and admiration. ‘Ah! My decision wasn’t wrong!’ He had his doubts, but watching Yeowun put the subject of another prince in his place with that one attack made his doubt disappear. “What? You want to fight me again?” Yeowun looked at Mukeum who was glaring at him at the entrance. However, Mukeum did not react as expected. “…Hmph. You enjoy what you have for now. Nothing will change.” Mukeum then ignored Yeowun and went over to his bed and laid down. ‘Did Chun Mukeum just ignore him?’ ‘Impossible!’ Mukeum’s action astonished all the students. Mukeum was known for his violent nature, but he just avoided fighting Yeowun. And beginning with this, the 8th group dorm had changed. The students began showing interest in Chun Yeowun. They didn’t act like Hu Bong, but they now began to question things with ‘maybe’ in their heads. Soon, it was the day of the second test. Every student gathered at the training ground, ready with their real swords and iron shields. Chapter 25 Chapter 25: The second test (3) The second test was a battle between group formations. They had to compete with each other through the twelve formations that they had trained. It required each individual’s cooperation and the leader’s accurate decisions. “I have taught you enough. It’s all up to you now. Is that clear?!” “Mado!” Each instructor gave their final words to their respective groups. Beginning a few days ago, each group was led by their group leaders to practice the formations. Instructors were not that involved in the latter part of the training. “Before we go onto the next test, we will choose who to fight through the lottery.” Left Guardian Lee Hameng spoke on the stage. “As I explained earlier, First to fourth, fifth to eighth, ninth to twentieth… four groups will pick from the lottery to choose which group to compete against.” He explained how the test was going to progress three days ago already. As the leaders got up onto the stage, students began to mumble to themselves. “The leaders of the second and third group changed!” “They changed too!” The second and third groups had changed leaders. Other than Chun Muyeon from the Wise Clan in the first group, and the 72nd cadet in the fourth group, the second and third groups had different group leaders. “Hmph. Two only?” Hameng, however, didn’t look surprised. Soon, the battle was decided between the four groups. [First versus third. Second versus fourth.] “Whoaaaaa!” The first and fourth group shouted excitedly. As it had been decided, Hameng shouted, “Next! Leaders from the fifth to eighth group, please come up!” The leaders of each group quickly came up onto the stage. People mumbled as the two groups had also exchanged leaders. The eighth group also had a different leader. ‘Oh?’ Hameng looked intrigued. He thought the leader of the 8th group wouldn’t have changed since it was Prince Chun Mukeum, but it had changed to an unexpected individual. ‘Chun Yeowun!’ It was the black tag #7, Chun Yeowun. And the leader of the fifth group, Chun Wonryou of the Lust Clan was also shocked by this change. ‘I warned him so much! Fool!’ She cursed at Mukeum. On the other hand, Yeowun couldn’t believe what had happened. He didn’t think he would be chosen as the leader just up until last night. Last night, near the end of afternoon training, many groups left to practice for the upcoming test. Some groups did not do it since they were concerned that the other groups would peek at their tactics, and the 8th group was one of such groups. Chun Mukeum, who did not lack in potential as the group leader, already decided on the tactics and dismissed his group early. “Chun Mukeum!” And when Mukeum was going to train his martial arts in a remote area, someone called him. “Oh, it’s you.” It was Chun Wonryou from the Lust Clan. Mukeum tried to walk past her, but Wonryoy quickly hustled over, blocking his way. “What are you doing?” “I called you. Can you at least stop to ask why?” Unlike Chun Yeowun, the princes of six clans knew each other and interacted with one another quite often. “What. What do you want to say?” “Ugh, you and your arrogance.” Chun Wonryou sighed and Mukeum responded grumpily. “I thought you said the Loyal Clan is stupid?” He still remembered the day he faced Yeowun at the entrance to the dorm. “Hah… sure, okay. I’ll make this short. Listen up.” She didn’t like how Mukeum was acting, but she thought she needed to say it and pulled up her sleeves to show the linen wrapped around her arm. Mukeum asked, “Did you get hurt?” AS far as Mukeum knew, no one else could hurt her other than the princes from the six clans. “Yeah. Yesterday.” “Yesterday?” “I was training alone and someone ambushed me.” “You? Ambushed? Who in the right mind would do such a thing?” Chun Wonryou was weaker than the princes from the six clans, but she was still much more powerful than any of the other students at the academy. “The attacker covered their face. I don’t know who it is.” “Whatever. So you were hurt by some puny coward?” “…I warned you. I never lowered my guard.” She was in the middle of her training, so she was well ready. Yet, the attacker was equal to or perhaps more powerful than the princes of the six clans. “So, you were hurt so you’re telling me to be careful?” “If the attacker came for me, they might attack you too. We are in the same competing group.” Mukeum frowned. “You know that the four groups will compete with each other, right?” “Yeah.” “We can always choose the lottery with all of the groups. Why do you think we are limited to four groups?” “What are you talking about?” “Gosh. Try thinking for once. If you narrow it down to four groups, then you can guess which group you might be fighting against!” Mukeum then thought for a second and said, “…You mean that by spilling information, the academy is forcing each group to attack another group leader?” “Well, you really are stupid. Yeah. If the leader is out of formation, it will be hard for that group to compete.” Chun Wonryou guessed that Lee Hameng had intentionally shared the information, thus making the groups attempt to attack another group leader. And her guess came true when she was attacked the other night. “Well, tomorrow’s the day of the test, so don’t take the chance to go train alone. I don’t want to see any princes getting expelled after the second test and bring shame to us all.” She could have ignored it, but she came to warn him for old time’s sake. Mukeum nodded. And when she left, Mukeum heeded her warning and took Jahyun with him to practice. Near midnight, Chun Yeowun finished his simulation training and was on the way back. ‘Ugh, I still have a lot more to go.’ Unlike what he was saying, he now had the ability to defeat the avatar about 60% of the time. He hadn’t yet reached his goal to win easily, but he was now more used to using his blade skills. When he was going down to head back, he heard the sounds of a fight breaking out. “UGH!” After hearing the short scream, he ran toward the source. When he got there, there was one figure slumped down on the ground and another one fighting someone else off. It was too dark in the forest to make out who was who. ‘Nano. Turn on night vision mode.’ [Activating night vision mode on the user’s sight.] The light exposure on Yeowun’s eyes increased immediately and he was able to see everything clearly. ‘Chun Mukeum?’ The one who was being attacked while barely fending the attacker off with wounds was Chun Mukeum. He was fighting a masked man, but the man looked very powerful. He was pressing onto Mukeum with a powerful attack. “DAMMIT!” Mukeum’s right leg was injured, but he was holding off quite well. However, it was just a matter of time. As expected, Mukeum tried to take several steps back, but he fell down after losing energy in his leg. “UGH!” The man then charged to stab Mukeum’s left leg and Yeowun shouted, “STOP!” He didn’t like Mukeum, but he couldn’t bear to lose the group leader the day before the test and charged in. The man then stopped and swung the sword at Yeowun. However, Yeowun could see everything clearly so he got down to avoid the sword and struck the masked man’s stomach with his blade skill. After he touched the stomach, the masked man quickly retreated to put some distance between them. Yeowun became surprised. ‘He retreated the moment I touched him.’ It was hard to guess who powerful the man was. The man narrowed his eyes as he glared at Chun Yeowun and turned away to flee. Chun Yeowun thought of chasing after him, but gave up. Mukeum was on the ground, and another student was also on the ground with blood dripping down from the head. “Hey, are you okay?” “Peasant? Dammit… how did I get attacked by some masked man!” ‘Should I just leave him here?’ Yeowun shook away his thoughts and helped Chun Mukeum and the other student quickly return to the dorm. Students of the 8th group fell silent with serious expressions as they saw their leader and another member with critical al wounds. The student whose head was bleeding was Jahyun. As he wiped the blood off Jahyun’s head, he asked Nano, ‘Is he okay?’ [Scanning the wounded entity.] The doctor was out of the office right now, so he could only rely on Nano. [Found cut made from a sword. 4cm in length, 2mm in depth. Requires cleaning of the wound and sewing of the cut.] Contrary to his concern, the wound wasn’t all that bad. The problem was with Chun Mukeum. “Hah.. hah… dammit!” He was holding onto his right thigh as blood poured out. His face was also pale from losing too much blood. “Call an instructor!” “Y-yes, sir!” Hu Bong quickly ran out of the room at Yeowun’s order. Soon, an instructor came and began treating Mukeum’s wound, but it was pretty bad. “…He won’t be able to walk for a while.” The students’ expressions turned grim. Chun Wonryou’s warning had become a reality. Chapter 26 Chapter 26: Eye for an eye (1) Mukeum was taken out by instructor for further treatment. Yeowun called out to the instructor since there was another wounded student, but the instructor was busy tending to Mukeum. Yeowun then picked Jahyun up and followed the instructor out. “Where did he go?” The instructor was already on his way to the main building. Yeowun quickly used his running skill to catch up to him. The instructor, however, seemed to be expecting Yeowun. “Instructor. The 80th cadet is also hurt.” “I know.” “Huh?” “I knew someone would get him and follow me.” The instructor just said that he purposely left Jahyun back there. Yeowun then asked, “Did you make me come after you?” “Well, you are not stupid.” It was a yes. “What is the reason for that, sir?” “Reason? Nothing special. Your group especially made it seem like the entire test was already doomed.” Something was weird about what the instructor was saying. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that. Give him to me.” The instructor hoisted Jahyun over his shoulder and told Yeowun to return. “You know a cadet can’t be outside the dorms at night, right?” “…Understood, sir.” Chun Yeowun turned to go back but the instructor spoke to him from behind. “Well, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Then the instructor went into the building with two cadets over his shoulders. Yeowun then thought about what the instructor had said to him. As he entered the room, he realized something. ‘What said… especially. So other groups had the same thing happen to them?’ He then realized what the instructor meant. Unlike Mukeum, Chun Yeowun did not know what was happening nor did he understand the intent behind letting them know about the test three days prior. ‘Attacking the group leader will makes be easy to deal with. If the other groups experienced the same attack, they would’ve all realized this.’ Chun Yeowun then came to a conclusion about what happened. ‘So this was why the four groups were destined to fight each other.’ Everything had been intentional from the beginning to condone covert attacks. ‘No wonder it was weird that it was so simple.’ This was the academy of the Demonic Cult, not the academy of some justice-oriented clan. Pushing for noble teamwork was weird, and this was the reason behind it all. Chun Yeowun then realized the truth. ‘So, they want us to act like true cultists. Good. Then I don’t need to be tied down to the rules.’ Yeowun casually walked into the room. After hearing the instructor’s words, members of the 8th group were all depressed. Yeowun sighed, “How long are you going to sulk for after losing our leader?” “W-what are you talking about!” One of the cadets that followed Mukeum shouted back. All the students then turned to Yeowun. “We should be busy choosing a new leader and thinking of a new strategy for tomorrow’s test. We shouldn’t just sit around and do nothing.” Nobody could find the words to respond. Yeowun was right. They felt stupid for thinking they had already lost after losing their leader. One of the students asked, “Then who will be our leader?” They all knew about the formations, but only the leader had the experience of leading the entire group. In addition, the leader’s responsibility for the eighteen students other than Mukeum and Jahyun was something that none of the students wanted to take. Hu Bong got up and proposed, “Why don’t you think we have a leader? My master, Chun Yeowun, is here to lead you.” The students were flabbergasted. They thought they didn’t have a leader at first, but they realized that maybe Yeowun could take the place. Silence fell and one of the students raised his hand. “I, 38th cadet Lee Chan, agree to the idea.” “M-me too!” It was the start. And soon, most of them agreed to elect Chun Yeowun as the leader. The six cadets who followed Mukeum had to agree because of everyone else, and Chun Yeowun asked the group to confirm their decision. “Is everyone on the same page with me being the new leader?” They answered yes and Chun Yeowun shared what he thought when he was being trained. They then spent the night coming up with a new plan. At midnight, when everyone was asleep, someone left the 8th group’s dorm and walked somewhere silently. He had covered his face with black clothes. ‘Nano, night vision mode.’ [Activating night vision on the user’s sight.] It was Chun Yeowun. Why was he walking around when everyone else was asleep? Chun Yeowun then stopped at the entrance of one room. It was the 7th group room. There was an opening to the door of the room, and Yeowun looked over it. ‘Is there someone that’s not asleep here?’ [Scanning the interior of the room.] Yeowun’s eyes swept across the room and the light ran from left to right. [All twenty entities inside the room are all asleep.] Nano’s voice confirmed that the people inside were sleeping. Yeowun carefully opened the door and walked in. ‘Finally, everyone’s asleep.’ Yeowun had been out throughout the night, checking on the students of other rooms to see if they were asleep. ‘Nano, is the one who attacked Mukeum in this room?’ Yeowun knew Nano memorized everything he saw. [No match in this room.] The 7th group did not have the attacker either. But Yeowun did not leave the room. ‘I see. Well, it doesn’t matter.’ Yeowun then began walking over to the bed and began pressing every student’s blood point. And when he was done working on all the students except the last bed, he walked over to the group leader. And when he got near the bed, the leader’s eyes flashed open. ‘What?!’ Unlike the other students, the leader slept lightly and he was strong, so he had woken up from the sound. “YOU- nngh….” However, his blood point was pressed on before he could react. Chun Yeowun was shocked but he was able to quickly put him down. He sighed with relief and took out the long needle from his pocket. ‘Well, I know you didn’t do this, but I’m sorry.’ Yeowun then poked the needle in 7th group leader Ko King’s thigh, foot, and a few muscle points. When he woke up, he wouldn’t be able to walk for a few days. ‘We’re done here. Let’s move onto the next.’ Chun Yeowun’s target wasn’t just one room. It wasn’t for revenge, but he was going to find the attacker and get payback. He also was going to act on the second test’s hidden goal, so Yeowun then moved to the fifth room. Unlike the 7th and 8th where entire group consisted of boys, the fifth group had two girl cadets; one of them was the leader, Chun Wonryou. Chun Yeowun then realized she was upstairs and gave up. ‘Then… the culprit must be in the sixth group.’ If it was to hurt Mukeum, then it must have been one of the leaders. Yeowun then thought the leader of the 6th group might be the guilty party and walked to the sixth room. Nano scanned the room. [A total of 16 students are all asleep.] ‘Sixteen?’ Chun Yeowun frowned. The sixth group had a total of twenty students and three of them were girls. If there were only sixteen inside, then it meant that one person was missing. Yeowun then walked in and checked on each student. He couldn’t find the leader. ‘What?’ Yeowun scanned everyone, but none of them matched the attacker. It was suspicious that the leader was missing. Yeowun then shook his head and looked at other students. ‘…Well, there are more ways to skin a cat, right?’ He then grinned and began pressing the blood points of all the students. And this was what happened until Chun Yeowun was up on stage for the lottery. Lee Hameng was truly astonished. If Chun Yeowun was the leader, it meant that Chun Mukeum was injured by someone here. ‘They understood my test then. I guess this year’s academy is a success.’ Hameng then asked the leaders, “Are you all done?” All the leaders shouted, “Mado!” “Good. I know you all have prepared fair and square for this test. Good luck.” ‘Fair and square?’ All the leaders seemed to feel uncomfortable. As the leaders stepped down and gave the paper they pulled out to the instructors, one student was glaring at the other leaders. It was leader of the sixth group, 108th cadet Ha Ilming. Chun Yeowun then ordered Nano. ‘Nano, scan him.’ Wherever Ha Ilming went, half of his group was limping with pale faces. Yeowun felt satisfied knowing that he had achieved his goal. [Scan complete. Entity Ha Ilming matches the attacker profile.] Chapter 27 Chapter 27: Eye for an eye (2) Chun Yeowun smiled after finding the attacker. As for Ha Ilming, he didn’t feel so good. He was the only individual leader who wasn’t a prince of the six clans or a member of a high-ranking clan. When he heard the information about the four groups fighting against each other, he came up with an idea to easily pass the test. ‘If I get rid of the leaders, then it will be a piece of cake.’ All groups were given the same formation training, so naturally, they were equal in power. Therefore, Ha Ilming began ambushing the leaders each night. He attacked two of the princes and the princess. After exchanging a few attacks with Chun Wonryou, he thought he could easily injure her. However, there was one thing he didn’t know. Chun Wonryou’s musical wave energy which could spread through allowed her to hear what was going on. After the first failure, he went after Chun Mukeum. After ambushing with enough preparation, he was able to injure Mukeum. He tried to take him out completely, but an intruder made him fall back. However, he thought injuring Mukeum’s leg was enough. He then tried to attack the next leader, but he couldn’t as the damage from the previous attack didn’t allow him to do it. ‘I thought I got away.’ He thought he had dodged the attack from the intruder, but he actually didn’t wasn’t. The attack cracked his ribs so he had to stay on the roof at midnight to heal himself, and it was then that it happened. ‘What bastard did such a thing!’ He didn’t think that someone would attack the entire group at night. He figured it was weird when his entire group wouldn’t wake up and he realized that they had all been put to sleep with blood points, which was bone-chilling. When he woke up everyone, he then realized half of his group couldn’t walk because of their thighs, feet, and muscles.. ‘Why the leg? OH!’ Ha Ilming then realized that it was payback for what he did. ‘How dare…’ It was likely that the culprit was in the 8th group. And when he saw Chun Yeowun coming up on stage, he became confused. ‘Him…? The rumored seventh prince? It can’t be him…’ How could a man with no internal energy just three weeks ago do such a thing? There had to be someone hiding within the 8th group who was more powerful like himself. Ha Ilming’s goal was clear. ‘I will find the culprit and destroy his leg!’ And the result of the lottery was decided. [Fifth versus eighth. Sixth versus seventh.] Members of the 7th group sighed in relief. They had to change leaders because of last night’s incident and they wanted to avoid the fifth group that had Chun Wonryou as the leader. “We’re lucky.” “The 6th group is worse than us.” “Maybe we will go up!” Ha Ilming wanted to fight the 8th group to get his revenge, but this result only made him angrier. ‘Just wait…’ And for the 8th group, they weren’t all that thrilled. They were up against a group that had taken no losses at all. ‘Hmph. All that was for nothing then,’ Chun Yeowun thought. This was very unlucky. He decided to never go gambling and looked at Chun Wonryou. ‘Lust Clan.’ Chun Wonryou was the sixth in rank to the throne. Mukeum was in the same group so there was no other way, but Yeowun had to defeat her right at the start. Although she was not the strongest of the heirs, the problem was that she was known for her leadership capabilities. ‘It doesn’t matter. I have to defeat all of them sooner or later,’ Yeowun assured himself. And with every battle decided, Hameng shouted with the beginning of the test. “First set of groups, come to the middle of the training ground!” “Mado!’ For the first battle, the 1st and 3rp group got onto the training ground and looked at each other. Unlike the 3rd group who was tense, the 1st group seemed like they were certain of their victory. ‘Chun Muyeon.’ Yeowun knew the name also. He was first in line for the throne, and he was known for being the closest heir. Without considering the fact that he was from the Wise Clan, or the most powerful clan among the six clans, he was known for his power, wisdom, and character. As both groups got ready, Hameng shouted, “The group that overpowers other wins. Begin!” “Mado!” And then the test began. Both groups charged toward each other. ‘Huh?’ It was the first formation battle, but both groups didn’t change their formation and charged with their shields up. At this rate, they were just going to clash against each other to push the other out. It was understandable for the 3rd group since their leader had changed, but it was too simple for a man like Chun Muyeon to have come up with such a plan. “Whoaaaa!” Right before they collided with each other, Chun Muyun hollered, “From the right, THIRD FORMATION!” The right flank of the formation sped up and the form changed. Hameng was astonished. “Oh? Diagonal strike here?” The 1st group charged diagonally and the 3rd group couldn’t even react to them as it was too fast. When they collided, the left side of the third group was pushed back and soon enough, the last row at the far right began falling too. “Ugh! Don’t push!” “Waaaaah!” Soon, they all got pushed back. “Get up! You have to get up!” The new 3rd group leader shouted, but they couldn’t get up. At that time, first group leader Chun Muyeon thrust his sword into the third group leader’s shoulder. “ARGH!” Muyeon spoke to him with a cold voice. “You lost. Surrender.” “Nnngh…!” It was too late. There was no going back as the entire formation had crumbled. “…I surrender.” And that was it. The understanding and the quick decision by Chun Muyeon had brought victory to the first group. Hameng stood up and shouted, “Congratulations on the victory! I announce the 1st group’s passing of the second test!” Students mumbled and looked at the first group with envy. Yeowun, however, was thinking about something deeply. Soon, the second pair came up. “Begin!” It was the battle between the 2nd and 4th group. Both groups watched what happened prior, so they didn’t charge in recklessly. After a few formation changes, the winner was decided as expected. “Congratulations to the fourth group for their victory!” “The 2nd group did their best even though their leader changed, but they still lost.” ‘As expected. They are the same.’ While everyone was focused on the results, Yeowun was glad that he had guessed right. The losers had to leave the training ground with grim faces and the winners shouted with joy. Hameng shouted, “Next pair, come up!” It was the fifth versus eighth. Yeowun looked at his anxious group members. ‘They are discouraged. This isn’t good.’ Yeowun then took a deep breath and turned to them. “Are you afraid?” “?” “Me too. I know all of you are concerned that our leader has changed. But if we don’t win here, we will be expelled from the academy. I do not want that. I want to climb higher.” Everyone turned to Yeowun. Yeowun was talking to them with the same perspective of being a student. “But I am also angry. I do not want to lose to someone who attacked our leader so that we would fail!” Sometimes, anger was the best medicine for nervousness. And at Yeowun’s words, his group members started becoming angry. “If you share my thoughts, we cannot fail here! I won’t say anymore. Let’s win this!” Chun Yeowun’s choice wasn’t wrong. At his words, the students began to grow eager for battle. They now had forgotten their fears and concerns. “Let’s win!” The 8th group went up to the stage and Hameng wondered, ‘Can he rally the group too?’ It was unexpected. He didn’t think much of Yeowun as a replacement and he didn’t believe Yeowun had what it took to do such a thing. However, it didn’t mean that he was going to win either. ‘Let’s see if he’s a cat or tiger cub.’ Hameng then gave the start signal. “Whoever overpowers other group wins. BEGIN!” “Mado!!” Chapter 28 Chapter 28: Eye for an eye (3) The leader of the 5th group, Chun Wonryou, glared at Chun Yeowun. ‘Ugh.’ This wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to defeat the 8th group led by Chun Mukeum and prove that she had the potential to be the next leader, but the current 8th group was led by Chun Yeowun who was too weak and had a bad background. It wasn’t enough to prove her potential. ‘You do not belong there.’ She didn’t feel that hostile against Yeowun like the Loyal or Poison Clans, but she too considered Yeowun to be peasant blood. ‘You should blame your mother for putting you in such a spot.’ She knew the hardships that Yeowun had faced while growing up. ‘Your peasant blood doesn’t belong in the competition for the throne. I will put an end to it right here. It will be better for your unfortunate life.’ Chun Wonryou then decided to finish Chun Yeowun here and now. When the test began, the 5th group began charging in. Yeowun then talked to Nano in his head. ‘Nano, activate Augmented Reality. Activate the formation tutorial.’ Yeowun then started seeing the lines and writings in his sight. He had already registered the twelve formations into Nano’s program. Members of the 8th group became nervous as Yeowun did not give them any orders while the 5th group was charging straight at them. “Not yet!” Yeowun shouted to his members. And when the 5th group reached a certain distance, Chun Wonryou shouted, “Number two!” The 5th group then began changing their formation. Yeowun then thought, ‘Spear formation?’ Yeowun then saw the lines analyzing their movements which turned into writing before they even completed the formation [Opponent is changing into the spear formation.] They were forming an arrow with Chun Wonryou at the front. This was effective when the leader had the strength; they could penetrate the enemy’s defenses through brute force. ‘It’s as expected.’ The tutorial began to show him how to react to the attack. [For the perfect defense, there is the defensive formation. Success rate: 100%. For a counterattack, fishnet formation can be used. Defense success rate: 60%, counterattack success rate: 90%.] Augmented Reality gave him two choices. The first one was the safer choice, but Yeowun took the second one. “We will go as planned for the first! Number six!” Wonryou raised her eyebrows as she guessed the formation. As she had guessed, the 8th group quickly changed into the fishnet formation. ‘How dare he!’ Unlike the spear formation which guaranteed penetration, the fishnet formation was an attack formation that was created to defend at the front with support from behind. However, this also required the leader at the forefront to be powerful. “Fishnet formation here?” Hameng also couldn’t understand this. That required the leader to handle the opposing formation’s leader. Hameng knew Submeng had taught him, but that was too reckless. ‘Maybe I thought too highly of him.’ He shook his head, and this thought was shared by all the students. ‘Such a foolish choice!’ Nobody thought Chun Yeowun would be able to handle Chun Wonryou. Yet, none of the members of the 8th group thought twice about Yeowun’s decision. “How dare a peasant like you think of fighting me!” Chun Wonryou clashed head-on against Yeowun who wielded internal energy on the shield. People were surprised by what came after. They thought the 8th group led by Yeowun would be put down the moment when they clashed, but they were holding off. ‘They blocked them!’ Everyone was shocked. However, the one who was the most shocked was Chun Wonryo. ‘W-what?!’ Her attack was being pushed back. She had over thirty-five years worth of internal energy. Even if Chun Yeowun had acquired that much internal energy from the Black Dragon Ball, it should not have been enough to fend off Wonryou. ‘Whew… it’s as expected.’ Yeowun felt sweat rolling down his forehead. Unlike Wonryou’s assumption, Yeowun actually only had thirty years worth of internal energy. ‘It’s stingy.’ He was a bit weaker in internal energy, but his muscle cells were at Submeng’s level, and that allowed him to hold his ground. Yeowun then took a step forward. His lack of internal energy let the attack wave pass through the shield, but he also had a way to deal with this. [Regenerating bodily damage from hostile energy force coming through the shield.] Nano moved quickly to heal Yeowun. Wonryou was shocked. ‘What has he done?!’ She then realized she had to change the formation or else her group would be destroyed. She shouted, “Retreat! Number one!” Her group then took a few steps back and Wonryou also brought up her shield before hopping back. Number one was the basic formation of two lines. ‘It’s our chance!’ Yeowun looked around to plan his next move. [Opponent has changed formations. Corner them through the Sparrow’s Wing formation and subdue the opponent through the circle formation. Success rate: 90%.] With Nano’s voice, Yeowun shouted at his members. “Change! Number three!” They began spreading out. Wonryou smiled. She realized Yeowun was changing the formation by using the numbers. The third formation was the four-line formation. ‘Fool. You think what the first group used will work against me?’ She figured she managed to find out what Yeowun intended on using, and thus she shouted toward her students. “Number six!” Number six was the fishnet formation. It would allow her to cut right through the middle of the four-line formation. Her group then began to form a fish. ‘It’s over now!’ She sent the power to her sword. She didn’t know what Yeowun did, but she didn’t think he would have gotten this much stronger so quickly. ‘If I corner him alone, I will kill him!’ However, her plan didn’t work. Soon enough, they couldn’t hide their shock. “W-what?!!” “It’s not the four-line formation!” The 8th group had spread themselves into the Sparrow’s Wing formation to corner them in. They were now being cornered in the semi-circle. ‘What? What is going on?!’ Even Wonryou was shocked by the situation. Yeowun just shouted number three, but the formation was different. Before she could get back to her senses, Yeowun shouted again. “Number two!” “What?!” Chun Wonryou’s pretty face contorted at number two. Number two was the spearhead formation, but it was not a good formation to shift to from the Sparrow’s Wing formation. ‘He’s not forming the circle formation? What is… no!’ Chun Wonryou’s eyes almost popped out. Unlike her first thought, the 8th group was changing into another formation that she hadn’t guessed. ‘W-wait…’ She then saw Yeowun grinning at her with a smirk. “AAAAHHHHHH!” She screamed as her face turned red, realizing the secret behind this. Yeowun had given backward numbers to the formation while the other groups kept the same number. ‘He shouted the regular number to fool me!’ For the first formation, the 8th group used regular numbers. But from the second formation on, they changed the system. The 8th group was now closing in from the circle formation, and the 5th group was cornered. ‘No… how can I…’ With no way out, there were no way for them to win this either. Yet, Wonryou couldn’t accept the result. The students in the 5th group fell into despair. They all began dropping their shields after realizing they had lost. “What are you doing! Why are you putting your shields down!” Wonryou shouted at her members. She couldn’t bear to lose against Yeowun whom she thought had no place against her. She had to win against Yeowun easily to compete with the others. ‘They will laugh at me! Everyone will laugh at me!’ She then lost control and charged at Yeowun. “DIE!!!!!!” Wonryou unleashed the Lust Can’s unique skill, Sword Energy Wave, trying to kill her target. And what happened next shocked all the students yet again. Chun Yeowun threw down his shield and jumped up, unleashing his Butterfly Blade Dance at his enemy. Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Secret books of the Academy library (1) Submeng’s blade skill mesmerized people who saw the traces that it left. “DIE!” Chun Wonryou’s attack lost its unique smooth flow due to her anger and brute force. Yeowun’s sword crashed into her attack and shot past her cheek and arm. ‘The last attack move isn’t complete because it’s not a blade.’ He had to use a blade for it to work, but this was only a training sword so he couldn’t use the skill perfectly. However, it was perfect until then. Something dropped to the ground. Blood began to pour out from the cut area, and Chun Wonryou’s face turned pale as her eyes trembled. “Kyyyaaaaaaah!” Her scream filled the training ground. It was her right arm that had fallen down. It was same for most martial artists, but for the Lust Clan, the right arm was like a treasure that could not be replaced. “AAAAAAAAAAH! My arm! My arm!!!” She screamed as she grabbed her arm on the ground, not thinking about stopping the bleeding. It was so sudden that everyone stared blankly before they returned to their senses. The instructor of the 5th group quickly ran up, grabbed the cut arm, and pressed on Wonryou’s blood point. He then took off his clothes to wrap it around her arm to stop the bleeding. It had only been three weeks, but the Instructor Wuchil glared at Yeowun who had injured his student so horribly and looked away. Within the Demonic Academy where the strong took everything, Yeowun had done nothing wrong. “Whoa…” Lee Hameng was dumbfounded. He knew Right Guardian Submeng’s blade skill better than anyone else and what Yeowun did was the perfect copy of Submeng himself, if not considering the experience and the internal energy. ‘Drunkard… what have you done?’ He had created a masterpiece out of nowhere in just two weeks. Hameng thought Yeowun would not have such luck at the beginning of the second test, but he was wrong. ‘No. It’s not Submeng.’ He would have thought it was Submeng if Yeowun was just powerful in martial arts, but he had passed the second test so easily. He overpowered Wonryou in using formation tactics, and Hameng liked how aggressive Yeowun was in dealing with his enemies. ‘…Maybe I should’ve taken him in as my apprentice before Submeng did.’ The result came as regret for Hameng. But he was the Chief of the academy, and Submeng was already Yeowun’s teacher. Hameng got up and shouted, “Congratulations to the 8th group on their victory.” “Whoaaaaaa!” Members of the 8th group shouted with joy. ‘I passed the second test. Whew…’ Chun Yeowun also realized it by hearing his members shouting in joy. “Go back down now.” They returned to their position with joy. The victory of the 8th group didn’t only give Chun Yeowun happiness. ‘Chun Yeowun.’ ‘He was hiding his skill.’ ‘The peasant dares to defeat the Lust Clan?’ ‘…I should pay attention to him.’ Chun Yeowun’s ability had now been revealed to everyone within the academy. Now, all the students from the high-ranked clans and princes began focusing on him. And as for Chun Jongsum who hated Yeowun as much as Mukeum, he began planning ahead. The test began again as the next set of groups was ready. As they walked forward, Yeowun felt a faint sensation of hostility and turned around. It was Ha Ilming who was glaring at him. ‘Now you know?’ Yeowun smiled and Ha Ilming scowled. ‘You!’ Ha Ilming didn’t think Yeowun was the culprit until the test progressed further. After seeing Yeowun attack Wonryou, he became certain that it was Yeowun. He couldn’t miss it as he had been attacked by Yeowun the other night. ‘Bastard!’ He couldn’t do anything since they were in the middle of the test and he had to finish the test first. “Hehehe…’ The 7th group was beyond excited to see half the members of the 6th group limping up onto the stage. This was going to be an easy victory. ‘Attacking all the members? Whoever did it is very aggressive.’ Hameng also was intrigued to see such a thing. He had never seen an attack on this many students before. “Begin!” The 7th group began charging in with a charging formation. “Six!” It was the fishnet formation. The 7th group moved quickly to get into formation, but the 6th group did not move. Ha Ilming looked back at his members and seethed, “You all should thank me eternally.” What did that mean? Ha Ilming then flashed his sword up and shouted. “Spear formation!” “Spear formation!” The 6th group members moved slowly to change formation and the leader of the 7th group, Wujun, scoffed. “Hah! What a fool. Telling us what formation they’re using?” And the formation was indeed the spear formation which was weak against the fishnet formation as seen from the battle with the 8th group. ‘What a noble sacrifice for your members, huh?’ Wujun thought as he and his group charged in. And when they were about to collide… “Goodbye!” Wujun threw his shield out with the internal energy, but Ha Ilming threw his shield on the ground and grabbed on his sword with two hands. ‘What?’ Ha Ilming’s two arms then began to expand and he swung his sword from the bottom up. “Dammit!” Wujun brought down his shield to the bottom, but the shield was crushed and thrown up. Wujun looked up at his shield with shock and Ha Ilming’s powerful thrust came for his chest. “URGH!” The sword penetrated Wujun’s chest. Blood poured out from his mouth and he couldn’t even speak. “Ugh!” Ha Ilming then focused the internal energy in his leg and shouted, “PUSH!” His group members then began putting the shield in front and started moving. Ha Ilming then used Wujun like a shield to push forward. “ARGH!” The 7th group began to move back frantically. This result was completely different from all the other groups. Every student who was watching became dumbfounded and Hameng almost burst out in laughter. ‘Hahaha! What kind of battle is this?’ This result was achieved through just one person’s strength. Hameng was curious as to how Ha Ilming would pass the test with his wounded group, and this was beyond expectation. ‘This year’s academy is exciting.’ Hameng then got up and shouted, “Congratulations…” The 6th group shouted with joy. And as they were filled with joy, Ha Ilming glanced at Wujun before he turned to look at Yeowun who was watching. His expression was saying this: ‘You’re next.’ Yeowun then realized that he had created an annoying enemy. The test went on with the other groups and they weren’t that exciting. They were mostly normal formation battles. Countless students were wounded, but the only one who was killed was the 7th group leader, Wujun. Now, only 270 students were left and they moved onto the third stage. Chapter 30 Chapter 30: Secret books of the Academy library (2) All the cadets were dismissed from the training ground right after the second test. They were light-footed as they were the ones who had passed the test. Contrary to their expectations of hearing the details about the third test, Lee Hameng, the Left Guardian and the Chief of the Demonic Academy, gave them a vacation. “I applaud each and every one of you for passing the second test. You will be given three days of rest.” “Whoaaaa!” All students rejoiced with a shout. The past three weeks had been busy for them. These three vacation days was for the students so they could take the time to recover, but it was also for instructors who needed rest. At the office on the first floor of the main building, there was a long meeting table with piles of documents which the instructors were shifting through. Someone came up to Lee Hameng with a pile of organized documents. “This is the evaluation and information regarding the failed cadets through the fifth group.” “Okay.” Lee Hameng recieved the documents and flipped through the pages as he shook his head. “We have a lot of failed cadets.” “Are you talking about ones from the high-ranked clans?” “Yeah, they lost a good chance.” Hameng continued looking through the documents. There were a lot of individuals who would have passed easily if it wasn’t for the group testing. Even Chun Wonryou who was one of the candidates to the throne was included. “Well, isn’t that why we’re here to do this work?” “Haha, yeah. That’s true.” The Demonic Academy was open for once every ten years for four years only. The academy was strictly based on competition and gave no second chances to the failed students or talented individuals. This had been an issue with various families, and after through meetings, a reasonable amount of compensation was created. “If we strictly base everything off the original rules of the academy, we wouldn’t be doing this.” “Yeah, but you will be hearing all those complaints from the various clans.” The compensation was to give a fair evaluation to the invidiuals and give them proper ranks and jobs that suited their skills. Failing the second test meant that no one would be a third-grade warrior, but that was deemed to be a waste of talented individuals. Therefore, it was changed. But why was it not announced earlier? That was because of the academy’s talent-based system. If the students found out that they would be given a fair evaluation and title worth getting even if they failed, why would they risk their lives in the competition? The students who failed were missing out on the Black Dragon Balls and access to the libraries, but the compensation was acceptable. “Hmph. By the way, they should be crawling over to the library by now.” Hameng thought as he stretched for a break. And as he had guessed, the entrance to the library was crowded with over hundreds of students trying to get in. ‘There are a lot of them.’ Most were here to go up to the second floor, and Chun Yeowun was one of them. There were more at first, but half of them returned to the dorm to try another time. ‘I’ll be going to the first floor anyway.’ It was Yeowun’s first visit to the library. Most of the cadets had already used their time on the first floor, but Yeowun had used that time to do a simulation with Nano. The choice to do so was also partly because of Submeng’s advice. ‘Concentrate on learning my blade and breathing skills until you get to the second stage. That will increase your chances of moving on.’ ‘Of course, Teacher. But shouldn’t I visit the library too?’ ‘No. You have learned martial arts that would be on the fourth or fifth floor of the library, so don’t waste your time delving into the ones on the first floor.’ He had a point. The Butterfly Blade Dance and Breathing of Thousand Martials were some of the best martial arts placed in the upper floors of the library. Chun Yeowun heeded the advice and focused on training his skills. When he got the three-day vacation, he decided to visit the first and second floor of the library. ‘One hour.’ That was the time limit given for the first floor. It was a very short amount of time to look through books, but it didn’t matter to Yeowun. ‘I’ll scan as many as I can.’ His goal was to scan as many as he could within the time limit. The library was shaped like a tower, and each higher floor had less space. There were no windows and the only entrance was from the entrance on the first floor. ‘I should give up on trying to sneak in.’ Chun Yeowun was shocked to see this. The library had one of the top security measures throughout the entire Demonic Cult castle. “Hey, get in line!” All the cadets lined up to write their names, and they each received two red candles. One of them had a line which showed how many hours they had spent. One of the candles was placed at the entrance, and the other was for cadet to carry around to keep track of time. “What? One and a half hours?” “Why is it so short?!” Some cadets were sighing at the entrance. It seemed like the time given for the second floor wasn’t that long either. And then it was Chun Yeowun’s turn to enter. “Second floor?” “No, sir. First floor.” “What? You didn’t visit the first floor yet?” The instructor looked at Yeowun suspiciously and flipped through the book that recorded all the entrances to the first floor to check if Yeowun’s name was there. “No? Hmm.” He became curious as to why Yeowun had not visited the first floor yet, but it didn’t matter to him so he placed him on the last page of the booklet and said, “Write your name down there.” Yeowun then received two candles. His candles were shorter than the candles that the other cadets going to the second floor received. “You will be allowed one hour. If you go over the limit, you will be dragged out and punished. Make sure you check the time.” “Yes, sir,” Yeowun answered casually and entered the library. A guard at the entrance gave him a box with a handle so that Yeowun could put the candle inside. This was to protect the books from accidental fire. As he walked in, he saw entire walls covered with bookshelves full of books. In addition, there were bookshelves all over the place. The many rows made it hard to count how many books there were. “Whoa.” Yeowun was astonished. He had never seen so many books in his life. He then quickly went over and took out the first book he saw. The cover of the book said: Sword of Five Martials. ‘I don’t have time.’ The first floor had less important books, but it was better to know more than nothing. Since all the cadets were on the second floor, it was good for Yeowun to concentrate alone. ‘Nano, I’ll look through pages. Scan all of them.’ [Yes, Master.] Yeowun then began flipping through the books. It only took him about a minute to go through the entire book. [Scanning complete.] He then continued looking through any book he could find and went on to read any book he could get his hands on. Nano kept telling him whenever the scan was complete. Once Yeowun was able to scan over fifty-five books, his pace became faster. He then moved toward the middle of the floor to look at the books in the middle. ‘Huh?’ At the center of the library, there was a giant stone monument that glowed faintly in blue. Next to it was a middle-aged man with a long beard sitting on a chair. It seemed like he was the guard who watched over the first floor. ‘What’s with this stone?’ As he walked past it with a curious look, the middle-aged man looked at Yeowun’s tag and spoke to him. “This was left by our founding father, Chun Ma.” “Chun Ma?” Yeowun became intrigued after knowing the secret behind this blue glowing stone. The man then got up from his seat and added, “It was created with blue pearl stone.” Blue pearl stone was stronger than any other type of stone as it was hard to even scratch without proper internal energy. There was also a poem written on the stone which looked like it had been engraved by a finger. “Was this written by hand?” “Isn’t it amazing? We can’t do this with our swords, but Father Chun Ma did it with his finger.” Even the most powerful warrior would say that it was impossible to leave such an engraving on blue pearl stone. “Most are too busy looking at the books that they miss out on seeing this, but you seem to recognize your ancestor’s greatest achievement.” “I almost missed it too.” The man grinned at his words. “Yes, but it is only natural. Who would care about a mere stone that was left by a person in ancient times when you are busy digging through books?” He had guarded this place for twenty years but he never saw anyone who took a good look at the stone. It was same for even those who had the blood of Chun. “Well, I took too much of your time. Go on with your business.” “Thank you, sir.” They only talked for less than a minute, so Yeowun smiled and walked past him toward the opposite side of the stone. He couldn’t scan the books when the man was watching him, so he glanced back at the stone that his ancestor had supposedly put there. He then noticed that the stone had sharp scars. It seemed like it had been done to cover something up. ‘What?’ Yeowun then walked closer to check the marks. It seemed like it had been made with sharp weapons. ‘Nano, analyze these.’ [Scanning the surface of the blue pearl stone.] Nano began to analyze the surface through Yeowun’s eyes. Soon, Nano finished the analysis. [Complete. It is a mark left by a sharp sword.] “A sword mark?” Yeowun was surprised. Who would have done such a thing on the stone that was left by the founding father of the cult? Nano then added some additional commentary. [After further analysis, it seems that the marks were left by two different entities.] ‘Two people?