Nano Machine c1 to 10

 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: Prologue : Crucial turning point A long time ago, martial artists of Jianghu used to learn martial arts for their own safety and protection against enemies. But as time passed, martial arts evolved to kill enemies more efficiently and it grew to be more sophisticated and complicated. The simple forms became a series of movements, and the breathing techniques represented the basics of internal energy. Martial artists left heirlooms to the future generations with books and teachings of what they learned, allowing martial arts to evolve. Martial artists were soon the ones who were more powerful than normal humans as they could run through the trees like the wind, crush stones with their fists, and cut down trees the swing of a sword. They were soon called the people of Wulin. However, martial artists wanted to become more powerful and they gathered to form clans. Those who wanted justice and honor called themselves the Force of Justice, and the ones who did not care about using violence and cruelty were called the Force of Evil. And there were those who sought an entirely different route, seeking only strength. They were called the Demonic Cult. The current Wulin was in a tight competition between the three forces. South of Jianghu, there was a place called Ten Thousand Mountains. It was filled with tons of mountain peaks that spread vastly over the land, and this place was forbidden. It was because this place was the home of the Demonic Cult. In a deep forest far from the castle of the Demonic Cult, a boy who looked to be in his teens was running for his life. “UGH!” The boy was exhausted and heavily panting. His clothes were ripped and his face was full of bruises, showing that he had gone through a severe beating before he had escaped. “Dammit!” The boy spat, as he saw five masked men waiting to capture him. He had run so hard for the last thirty minutes, but it seemed he couldn’t get away. “F*CK!” The boy held on his trembling legs and glared at masked men. Their faces were covered, but it was easy to see that they all were smirking. “You did well in running all the way here. Prince Chun.” “Haha. I almost fell asleep while waiting for you.” The boy frowned. If they had been waiting for him here, then there was no point for him to continue running in this direction. The masked men all pulled out their swords from their backs. Their eyes were filled with the intention to kill the boy. ‘What should I do?’ It was his life that they wanted. It didn’t seem like talking to them would work. He had used all of his internal energy to run here, so he had no energy left to run or fight. But even with his death waiting for him, his eyes were filled with anger rather than fear. “…Why? I gave up on joining the academy already. Why do you want to kill me?” “Prince… you surely know that all of that doesn’t matter.” The boy was at a loss for words. He had expected this day to come ever since he was very young, but he didn’t expect it would come even before he joined the academy. “As long as you have the right to the throne… it is your destiny.” The other masked men began making comments also. “Surrender, and we will make this quick.” “Even if you have peasant blood, we will not dishonor the blood of our Lord.” The boy then became filled with anger. The word he hated the most were the words that insulted his mother. ‘Damn bastards!’ If he was going to die anyway, he might as well try to fight back. He pulled out a dagger. He had never learned martial arts, however. All he knew was whatever he observed from watching his guard, Warrior Jang. “Hmm? A dagger? Did you learn something from Jang?” Sadly, he didn’t. If he really did learn it, the skill would have been very useful here. “Crude. But your blood speaks it for itself, that you do not cower away at your death.” The masked men seemed to be very happy. It was better for them to kill someone who would not give up than someone who would beg. “Kill him.” One of the men gave the order and the other four attacked the boy at once. He thought he would hold them off for at least a bit, but that wasn’t the case. “Haaaa!” “ARGH!” One of the masked men used his sword hit to strike the boy’s wrist and he dropped the dagger to the ground. His face grimaced and he glared at the masked man, but the man grabbed the boy’s neck. “Argh…” “Is it over?” The boy’s face turned red, but his eyes had not given up yet. At that moment, another man shouted, “Watch out!” “What?” “The dagger!” A dagger stabbed the man’s chin. The boy had been hiding another dagger, and the attack killed the masked man at once. ‘What…? A mere boy without any martial arts training killed one of my fighters?’ The leader of the masked men who was watching became intrigued. It seemed like the boy was aiming for this from the beginning. “Damn kid! Get him!” Another man charged in and kicked the boy, swinging his sword down the boy’s stomach. “AAAAAAAAAAARGH!” The boy had never felt such pain in his life. A searing pain shot up from his stomach and blood soared up from his throat. ‘Dammit… so it didn’t work twice.’ But killing at least one of them made him feel better. He was going to die anyway. “Aaaaagh…” The masked man stepped on the boy’s punctured wound and the boy screamed in pain. The ground was drenched with blood. The man could have killed the boy at once, but he seemed to be giving the boy as much pain as possible. “Slowly… I will give you a slow death!” The leader didn’t seem to like what was happening, but he couldn’t stop him since it was for the revenge of his teammate. Suddenly… A bright light shined as if a lightning bolt had struck. When the light disappeared, the masked men’s eyes turned in shock. “W-what?!” Blood sprayed up like a fountain. The masked man who had been stomping on the boy had lost the entire top half of his body where the blood was spurting upwards. “W-what?!” The boy also was in shock. If he wasn’t wrong, some white light streak had zapped the man and his body melted away. “It’s him!” The leader pointed to a certain direction in shock, and there was a strange man with weird clothing. The man then disappeared. “Huh?” It wasn’t through any movement skill. It was as if he had turned invisible so that he could not be seen. Another light then struck another man, killing him also. The only ones left were the leader and the remaining masked man. ‘Someone is helping him… the white light. Is it a beam?’ If it wasn’t an energy beam that was said to be used by highly skilled warriors, there wasn’t anything like it that could instantly melt a human. The boy had lost a lot of blood, so he would die anyway. ‘We did what we needed. We should retreat.’ The leader tried to send a signal for his man to fall back, but he was then struck with another streak of lightning and he disappeared also. “AAAARGH!” The man screamed in panic and tried to run, but he too was struck by the lightning. After all the men were killed, the boy smiled and chuckled, “Hah, farewell bastards.” Then, a strangely-clothed man revealed himself in front of the boy. He wanted to scream in shock but he had no energy to do so. “Whoa. So, my ancestor feels better even when you’re about to die?” ‘Ancestor?’ The boy frowned, but he had no energy to speak and his body was growing cold. He had lost too much blood. ‘Am I going to die now?’ That’s when he heard a weird beeping sound. Then he saw something on the silver-clothed man’s wrist and became shocked. “I wanted to come earlier and teach you how to use it but… oh well.” The man took out two things from a small bag. One was a syringe. The boy was almost at the brink of death. “I should hurry.” The man then injected the syringe at the back of the boy’s ear. He then brought up another syringe and stuck it in the boy’s heart. “Ugh… it pains me just by looking at it. Anyway… hey, Ancestor.” The man called out to the boy. “Please make it right and make your descendant’s life easy, okay? The Nano Machine is the latest one there is, so it won’t be too hard to use.” ‘…What is he saying…?’ And with that, the man disappeared. The boy then heard a strange sound in his ears. [Serial number: 034-4532-5893. Activating the 7th generation Nano Machine of the Sky Corporation. Scanning the user’s physical data. Now scanning…] Weird words rang through the boy’s ears and a weird light began glowing from his body. It felt like thousands of ants were crawling over his body and soon the sound came back. [Scanning complete. Emergency! Emergency! Found a severe wound on the user’s stomach. The blood loss is at 13%. Initiating blood injection and healing for life support.] And the boy’s body began to change. It was the beginning of his life’s turning point. Chapter 2 Chapter 2: Machine descended to my body (1) Prince Chun had been attacked by masked men and was killed by a sword to the stomach. Or so he thought… the guard, Jang, ran as fast as he could with his movement skill to find Prince Chun. When he found the boy, the place was littered with dead bodies that were missing their upper torsos. Only one of the masked men’s bodies was intact, but he had been killed with a dagger to his head. ‘It’s the dagger I gave to him.’ It was what Jang had given to Prince Chun on his 10th birthday. He didn’t teach him a single dagger skill since he was made to swear an oath to not teach any martial arts to the boy until he joined the Demonic Academy, so it was astonishing that the Prince had killed even one man. “Oh… Prince!” Jang then found the Prince slumped down on the ground. The ground was drenched with blood, hinting of doom. ‘Please…!’ If the Prince to die here, he wouldn’t be able to find the right words to apologize to the boy’s mother. However, something was weird. “…Huh?” He heard the boy’s breathing. From the looks of his clothing, it was certain that the Prince had been struck with a sword to his stomach, but his breathing seemed to be normal. Jang went up to him and picked up the clothes. “Huh? There are no wounds.” Prince Chun’s stomach was clean of any wounds. It was weird since the ground nearby was full of Prince Chun’s blood. ‘What is it? Hmm… did the Lord…? No. The Lord would not meddle with the fight for the throne… but who killed these men and saved the Prince then?’ His mind was full of questions, but none could be answered. Jang searched the area for a while and soon buried bodies and took up the Prince on his shoulder. He then activated his movement skill to travel toward the Demonic Cult’s castle. As Jang’s hand touched the boy, something in boy’s head shocked him and deactivated his unconscious state. [Self-healing mode paused at 80%. Master, wake up please.] The boy’s eyes opened in shock as he heard a voice ringing in his head. ‘Huh?’ He had to have died from the severe blood loss, but he was alive and someone was carrying him on their shoulder. He looked down and that it was Jang Gageng, his guard. “Jang!” The boy’s face brightened up and the cold mechanical voice came back again. [Confirmed target to be friendly. Deactivating automatic defensive mechanism. Reactivating self-healing mode.] “UGH!” And with it, the severe headache struck the boy’s head and he grabbed it with both hands. “Prince! You’re awake. Are you okay?” Jang smiled and asked excitedly. “Prince?” But the boy couldn’t stand the headache and fell unconscious again. It was the next morning when he woke up from his sleep. “UGH!” His body was drenched with sweat. He realized that he was sweaty and he wiped his forehead with his palm. However, he realized that it was not sweat, but something sticky instead. “Ugh, what is this? Huh?” He then saw the dark, black liquid on his palm and became shocked. It had a foul stench. “Ewww!” The smell was so bad and the liquid covered his entire body as if it had seeped out from his body. “W-what is this?!” That’s when the voice came to his head. [Master. Are you awake?] “What?” The voice repeated itself. [Master. Are you awake?] “W-who are you?” The boy got up from the bed and glanced around, but he soon realized that the voice wasn’t coming from outside. [Master, please calm down.] ‘Is it coming from my head?’ [That is correct, Master.] “What!” He only thought the word and the voice seemed to have read his mind. The boy became nervous. ‘Telepathic message? No… it’s not that.’ Telepathy was a skill that highly-trained martial artists used to send messages to others. He had heard one of those types of messages once a long time ago. The message was sent with internal energy, and that made it feel like a wave of energy. [I am unsure of what this ‘telepathic message’ is, but you are not listening to me through your ears, Master.] “What! W-who are you?!” The boy looked up in the air with wide eyes. He thought if one could send a message directly through his head, the one would be very powerful being. [I am the 7th generation Nano Machine, made by Sky Corporation to serve as a core to support Master’s brain.] “Wait, what? What are you talking about?” The boy became pale as what he was being told was beyond his comprehension. The Nano Machine realized that the user did not understand their words. “Who are you, and what do you want with me?!” [I am the 7th generation Nano Machine.] “Nano Ma Sin (Evil God)?” [Yes. I am Nano Machine.] The boy’s face turned grim. The Evil God was the being that the Demonic Cult worshipped. The Lord was the one who was given the power to communicate with the said God. “A-are you really the Evil God?” He was now kneeling on his knees, asking with a shaking voice. The Nano Machine had understood that the boy had gotten everything completely wrong. Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Machine descended to my body (2) The boy’s name was Chun Yeowun. He was the member of the Chun family, the highest-ranked family in the Demonic Cult. The Chun family was related to the great Lord himself, and everyone considered them to be extremely powerful. However, contrary to people’s speculations, they were just a part of the six main families that maintained the Demonic Cult. Chun Yeon was the son of a female slave who worked at the Lord’s chamber and was not from the six families. Although he was the child of a slave, he was still part of the Chun family and he had the right to the throne. Nonetheless, he was not even close to having a chance at taking the throne. Then what made him fall encounter danger? The reason was with his mother, Lady Hwa. The Lord who did not like any of the six women from the six families fell in love with a mere slave. This made the other wives angry and spiteful. Moreover, their fury didn’t just end there. Chun Yeowun encountered multiple life threats throughout the fifteen years of his life. He had no chance of succeeding the throne, but he was still wanted for his life due to the anger of the other wives. Since seven days ago, the assassination attempts increased greatly. It was because it was now time for him to join the Demonic Academy and that would test his right to succeed and earn the title to be the Lord’s heir. If he joined the academy, he would learn martial arts and grow in power to have his own force. And the academy prohibited most outside entries, which would ensure his safety. That’s why the assassination attempts happened so often. “D-did you save my life, God?” Chun Yeowun asked the voice in his head while he laid flat on the ground. The Nano Machine answered. [If it is about the enemy who tried to kill you, no. But if you are talking about Master’s wound after going into self-healing mode, yes.] “W-what is a self-healing?” Yeowun couldn’t understand most of the words that the Nano Machine used. Nano Machine realized that they couldn’t communicate like this. [Sending basic information to Master’s brain…] “Huh?” Nano Machine understood that it needed to find the right words for its master to understand. [Searching for the right words for the era and culture.] Nano Machine began searching through words and terms so that Chun Yeowun could understand. After a while, Nano Machine finished selecting the words to communicate. [Master, I am not the Evil God that you speak of.] Chun Yeowun became surprised at the sudden change of tone, although it still sounded mechanical. “What? Then who are you?” [I am trying to send you the basic information and manual about me to your brain. Will you accept?] Nano Machine thought it would be easy to send the information instead of talking about it and Chun Yeowun nodded without knowing what it was actually. Then, a video flashed in his brain at once. His eyes shook rapidly as he looked through multiple video images and soon he felt dizzy. He bent over and kneeled down to the ground to vomit. “Ugh!” [It is a natural reaction after receiving information through your brain. You will not feel dizzy the second time around.] Chun Yeowun recovered from the dizziness and got up. “What is going on?” It was hard to believe. He had not seen or been taught anything, but he now knew about the machine created with highly-advanced technology installed in his brain. “Nano Machine?” [Yes, Master.] “Is it true that thousands of machines are now embedded in my body?” [That is correct. 6 billion, 482 million, and 40 thousand nanomachines have now been placed into your body.] Chun Yeowun didn’t feel good about having something weird in his body, but he now realized what he was dealing with was not a human nor a god, but a machine. He felt relaxed by the fact and asked, “If I want, can you get out of my body?” [As you saw through the information that was sent, I am programmed to only be extracted outside the body in case you die.] Therefore, the machine was bound stay until Yeowun died. He couldn’t understand why this had happened. “Who put you into my…” That’s when someone knocked on the door to his room. “Prince. Doctor Baek is here.” It was Jang’s voice. Yeowun wasn’t sure about how he should explain the fact that he was talking with a machine, so he stuttered, “S-stay quiet for a while.” [I can read your thoughts to communicate, Master.] “I get it. Just be quiet.” [Going into silent mode.] Yeowun got back on the bed and laid down with the blanket over his body. The door opened and a middle-aged man, Jang, and an old man with long white hair came in. “The Prince seems to be asleep so we will… huh? Prince!” Jang found Yeowun looking at him from the bed and quickly ran up to him. “Are you okay Pr- ugh!” He then placed his hand over his nose because of the terrible stench coming from the Prince. “What’s going on?” Yeowun forgot what happened to his body because he had been talking to the Nano Machine. The black ooze that came out of his body was too terrible to smell. “Hmmm?” Doctor Baek then walked up with an interested look on his face. He was the designated doctor for the Lord of the Demonic Cult, and was nicknamed Demon Doctor in the cult. “Prince Chun, we know each other, don’t we?” “Of course, Doctor.” There wasn’t anyone in the cult that didn’t know about the doctor. Also, Yeowun had met him when his mother was sick. “Give me your hand. Let me feel your pulse.” “T-that’s…” His hand was sticky from the ooze so it was embarrassing to show it to him. The doctor said it was okay he reached out so that Yeowun could give him his hand. The doctor checked his pulse for a while and opened his eyes in astonishment. “This is very interesting.” “What is it? Doctor Baek, did something happen to the Prince?” Jang asked with a frown, but the doctor shook his head and smiled, “No. This is very good actually.” “What are you talking about?” “The entire body has been cleansed of any dirty substances and his energy flow has been activated. Did he consume a special kind of medicine or something?” Yeowun was confused. “You now have the perfect body to train in martial arts.” “What?” Yeowun then understood what the doctor said and became shocked. The black ooze that came out from his body was actually the dirty substances stuck inside his body. What was better was that his energy was now flowing, so he could now learn how to use his internal energy. ‘Hey, Nano Machine. Did you do this?’ […] [Deactivating silence mode?] ‘…Yeah.’ [Deactivated. Yes, Master. The nanomachines have extracted the unnecessary substances from your body and have reshaped the blood, muscles, and joints to best fit your body shape.] ‘…Wow.’ Yeowun assumed that it was probably because of the Nano Machine, but it was even more shocking to hear it from the Nano Machine itself. ‘Are you really not a Ma Sin (Evil God)?’ [I am a machine, not Ma Sin, Master.] The Nano Machine answered with its mechanical voice. Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Why memorize a book? (1) Cheon Yeowun was a boy, but he was not a fool. He had overcome many hardships and assassination attempts that made him stronger and smarter. He knew the importance of a weapon if he had one, and also knew he had to keep it a secret if he were to keep himself alive. ‘I have to keep it secret that I have Nano Machine in me.’ Cheon Yeowun wasn’t aware of it, but there was no way that the medical knowledge of this era would be able to find the Nano Machine. However, Yeowun did not know this, so he didn’t feel good about letting Doctor Baek know as he was from one of the six families, Dokmajong. ‘I hope he doesn’t catch on…’ He tried to hide it, but he became nervous. He was forbidden from learning any kind of martial arts before joining the academy. ‘Hm… he did get help from someone. That’s certain…’ The doctor was curious because of the change that had happened to the boy. He thought the boy would be pushed down the ranks with his weak body and no knowledge of martial arts. However, his state now proved that he was fit to learn martial arts better than any of the other princes from the other families. Nonetheless, he still was in a bad place to aim for the succession. The other princes already had started learning martial arts and had their own forces. ‘He wasn’t all that uninterested after all, it seems.’ The doctor assumed that the reason for this change was due to the Lord, Chun Yujong. ‘He is his son after all…’ If the Lord had helped secretly, there was no need for him to acknowledge it. The doctor just wrote a prescription for some medicine to help Yeowun regain his energy and returned. “Prince.” “Jang.” Yeowun hadn’t even thanked his guard yet. Nano Machine healed him, but if Jang didn’t come in time, who knew what would have happened next? “Thank you for bringing me back to…” Before Yeowun can finish, Jang coldly said, “I’m sorry, Prince. You must wash up first.” “….Right.” It smelled terrible. The doctor called a slave to clean the bed and make preparations so that Yeowun could wash up. While bathing in a hot bathtub, Yeowun was filled with a strange sensation. ‘Does the world want to change my fate?’ His fate had already been decided the moment he was born to a female slave. All that was left for his life was to survive without being killed. ‘Hey, Nano Machine.’ [Yes, Master.] He had not talked to the Nano Machine for about an hour now. Nano Machine did not speak if he did not ask. ‘You said you recovered me from my wound. How far can you do it?’ [I can recover external or internal wounds quickly. But the loss of blood or a body part will require cell replication which will require a longer time period.] ‘O-oh… I see.’ The Nano Machine had given him a lot of information, but it was still hard to understand. At least it was certain that he could recover from most wounds unless he lost a body part or too much blood. ‘Should I test it?’ [I would not recommend hurting yourself, but if you want to try, I suggest testing it first with a small cut.] Yeowun then grabbed the dagger placed on his pile of clothing and cut his palm. “Ouch!” The pain made him frown. [Activating self-healing mode on the left palm.] With the voice, the blood stopped flowing from his palm and soon the wound disappeared as if it hadn’t been there at all. ‘It’s hard to believe… but it works.’ There was more that was hard to believe, which included the usage of the Nano Machine. ‘Can I really use all the powers that I was given the knowledge of?’ [Yes, Master. You can use every power of the Nano Machine as shown in the instructions.] ‘Good. I’ll test it out after my bath.’ [Yes, Master.] Yeowun then got out of the water and clenched his two fists. If he could utilize the power of the Nano Machine, he could rise up in power and get revenge on his enemies. At the south castle of the Demonic Cult was the house of Bokamjong. And next to its main building was a chamber for the heir candidate. In the front yard of the chamber, there was a teenage boy with freckles and a masked man kneeling down in front. “It’s funny. Do you think it even makes sense?” The boy seemed to be very angry and he shouted angrily. The masked man couldn’t even answer to quell his anger. “I sent you all to kill one weak boy and five were killed instead?” “Prince Mukeum, I think some warrior helped him.” “How dare you call my name!” “I am sorry, Prince Chun.” Chun Mukeum was 3rd in rank in succeeding the throne. He had sent assassins from his own Bokmajong family to kill Chun Yeowun before he could join the academy, but it had failed. “I thought he had nothing to help him, but it seems he had something up his sleeve then.” It was unexpected. They made Yeowun’s guard stay away from him and attacked the prince, but they had failed. It meant that someone else was also protecting him. ‘Did Father do something for him?’ That’s what he had in his mind, but he couldn’t say anything about the Lord either. The Lord of Demonic Cult was the divine being. “Oh well. I’ll take more chances after joining the academy.” There was no protection given inside academy, as each of the princes who had guards appointed by the Lord himself weren’t allowed to follow. “I didn’t want to do it myself, but I guess I have no choice.” Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Why memorize a book? (2) The Demonic Cult, located in the Ten Thousand Mountains. The cult had many families and clans, but it was mainly comprised of six clans: Wise, Sword, Loyal, Blade, Poison, and Lust clans. These six clans each had someone who could become the Lord. As per the oath, the Lord needed to marry women from all six clans and make babies who would all live with their mother’s clans. The six sons would then join the Demonic Academy held once every ten years to be trained.’ The academy was created to train the finest warriors of each generation — at least that’s what it was known for officially. However, the academy was filled with the fiercest competition whenever the multiple princes or candidates to succeed the Lord joined. Inside the academy, the princes trained and made connections with other families and clans to increase their power. After claiming victory within the academy, he will become the heir to the throne. Yeowun got out of the bath and looked at his body through the mirror as he dried himself off. His body was originally scrawny and weak, but now it was muscular and well-toned. ‘Nano Machine. How is this possible?’ [I have reconstructed your body, Master.] ‘Reconstruct?’ [Creating something from nothing is hard, but reshaping your body and muscles is not as hard.] ‘Your speaking is so complicated.’ He had not learned martial arts yet, but he did not slack off in his studies. However, whatever words the Nano Machine used were those that he had not learned from any of his education sessions. Yeowun put his clothes back on and went to his office. ‘Your name is too long. Is there any other name I can call you with?’ [You can set any name you’d like, Master.] ‘…Hm. I can’t think of any, so I’ll just call you Nano.’ [Registering -Nano-] ‘I just gave you a name. How about you say thank you?’ Yeowun joked about it, but there was no way a machine could understand a joke. [Thank you, Master.] ‘…Yeah.’ The Nano Machine was a machine and Yeowun was now getting used to it. His office did not have many books. Most of them were related to his studies, and there weren’t any books about martial arts. All he had were basic books about gaining internal energy and that helped him very little. ‘Bastards.’ This was the work of all the ladies from the six clans. It was those ladies who secretly poisoned his mother and made Yeowun swear an oath that he would not learn any martial arts until he joined the academy in front of his dying mother. That’s why Yeowun could only study this basic internal energy book. Even this was only possible because the Lord himself had sent it to him secretly. If he didn’t even learn this, his muscle and veins would have hardened, making it impossible to learn any martial arts even after joining the academy. The six clans knew that the training would not make any differences so they did not care. ‘Let’s try it.’ Yeowun took out a book from the shelves. It was a book about blood flow. ‘What do I need to do?’ [Look right into the book and go through each page until you reach the last one.] ‘Just flip through the pages?’ [Yes. Please start.] Yeowun was not convinced, but he started flipping through pages. He then quickly reached the last page. He did not realize it, but his focus was shaking rapidly. ‘I did it.’ [Scanned the book ‘Blood Passage.’ Attempting to send the information to the user’s brain. Will you accept?] ‘Scan? Oh, you mean you copied what it means?’ [Yes, Master. Will you accept?] ‘I accept.’ And the feeling that he felt when he received the Nano Machine’s manual came back to him. His head felt as if a jolt of lightning had struck him and the information swept into his brain. Yeowun felt slightly dizzy and he held onto the bookshelf. It was much better than before, but he still felt like everything was spinning around him. [Transfer complete.] “Ha… ha…” [You will get used to it, Master.] ‘Are you worried about me?’ [I am just stating the fact.] And as Nano said, the dizziness quickly disappeared. ‘Is this over?’ [Yes, Master. As you did with the manual, you can think about the related information to bring it up.] Yeowun then thought about blood flow, and information about the book that he hadn’t even read came up to him naturally. ‘What… wow.’ It was hard to believe, but he had just crammed the entire book into his head without even reading it. He fully understood what it meant. [There was an error in the book that was corrected before it was transferred.] ‘Error? What error?’ [Information about the blood points were wrong, so it was amended.] The Nano Machine that was created in the distant future had embedded more precise information while scanning the book. “This is crazy!” Yeowun thought this was amazing. He had to study and memorize books until now, but with this method, he didn’t need to spend time on that anymore. ‘I can just cram everything in!’ Yeowun smiled excitedly. He didn’t have that many books in his office, but it was going to be different once he entered the academy. ‘Let’s quickly grow stronger than everyone else and survive after joining the academy. That’s the goal.’ He couldn’t fight the war for the throne just yet. He needed to focus on surviving for now. Little did Chun Yeowun know that the power of the Nano Machine was not only limited to its information transfer. Chapter 6 Chapter 6: Entering the Academy (1) Yeowun’s mother died when he was ten years old. The Lord sent Doctor Baek to look after his mother, but it was too late. He later learned that his mother died due to poisoning. It was a type that was hidden inside food, and one could not detect the poison until it killed the target that consumed it, thus assassinating them. Yeowun was also poisoned, but he did not have as much food and he was able to survive by taking Doctor Baek’s medicine. After this incident, Jang always prepared his food. Jang always woke up early in the morning to train before preparing Yeowun’s breakfast. It wasn’t sure since when, but Yeowun always woke up early too and watched Jang go through his training. According to Wulin standards, it was rude to peek at another’s training, but Jang felt sorry for Yeowun who couldn’t learn martial arts and he didn’t say much about it. And today, Jang was up early to train his dagger skills. ‘It’s today.’ Yeowun stayed up late that night and now it was time for him to join the academy. Once he entered the academy’s doors, he’d lose Jang’s protection. He drew a long face as he looked at Jang’s training. ‘Would it have been better if I learned some of his arts at least?’ He always thought of this, but members of clans were always watching them so he couldn’t learn. That’s when the Nano Machine spoke to him. [Would you like to scan Guard Jang’s movements?] ‘What?’ Yeowun opened his eyes in shock. ‘Can you scan a person’s movements too?’ [It is possible.] ‘Then you mean you can scan Jang’s martial art movements and transfer them to my head?’ [Yes, Master. And there is data of multiple martial arts techniques that I can transfer over to you at this moment.] Yeowun did not know, but the Nano Machine was created with advanced technology from the future. He did not gain approval from Jang, but he was going to the academy in the afternoon. He had to make a choice. ‘Okay. Scan it.’ [Activating the scan.] Yeowun’s focus began to shake rapidly and then started to scan Jang’s movements. After staring at his movements for about thirty minutes, Nano’s voice filled his head. [Movement scan completed. Beginning transfer.] And with the jolt, the movement began to play back in Yeowun’s head. And soon, it was complete. [Transfer complete.] With the slight dizziness, it was done. Yeowun’s eye shined with astonishment. This was beyond amazement. ‘Nano… I can’t believe this. I think I can use Jang’s dagger skill!’ Yeowun closed the window so Jang could not see him and readied himself. It was the basic stance that Jang did before unleashing his skill. Yeowun then swung his arm to unleash his dagger. He did not learn, nor was he taught, but his movements now matched Jang’s movements outside. Jang had trained his actions for twenty years, but Yeowun could mimic his movements perfectly. Nano’s voice rang in his ears again. [Muscle analysis complete for training the movements. Will you accept the transfer to your muscles?] ‘I need the muscle transfer too?’ Yeowun asked curiously. [If you don’t have the proper developed muscles for your movement, you will…] “Ugh!” Before Nano could finish, Yeowun felt pain tearing through his entire muscle. It was so intense that he couldn’t even move. [There is muscle damage as it is not yet suitable for the movement.] ‘Okay… now I get it. Can you please make it easier for me to understand?’ Yeowun thought as he barely got up and sat down on the bed. [Changing language to fit the user’s level.] ‘Level?’ Yeowun frowned as it didn’t feel too good, but he couldn’t understand fully either. [Translation complete. You did not train like Jang for a long time, so your body is not yet accustomed to the movements that your brain has learned. Only after simulating the movements and analyzing the muscle development requirements can you use it fully.] ‘Okay… I think I understand better now. It’s still hard.’ Most terms that Nano used were not used in people of current times, which was hard to understand. [Would you like to lower the language level to the lowest level?] ‘…No, that won’t be necessary. So, if I transfer the muscle development, I won’t have this bad pain?’ [That is correct. Will you begin the transfer?] ‘How long does it take?’ [Reshaping muscles will require every Nano Machine inside the body, which will take loading time.] ‘Loading time? So how long will it take?’ [Approximately two hours.] It was still early in the morning, so two hours was okay. Yeowun nodded and agreed with the transfer. [Activating muscle transfer. It will come with strong pain, so you will be put under anesthesia.] ‘Does it hurt?’ [It comes with severe pain. There have been millions of cases of fainting from the pain.] ‘Should I try it without anesthesia?’ Yeowun wondered curiously. [Will you proceed without anesthesia?] ‘…If I can’t bear it, can you put me to sleep?’ Yeowun added. He soon realized he was not wrong in adding that last part. [Beginning the process.] As millions of nanomachines began moving toward his muscles, he felt ticklish. ‘This doesn’t seem…’ And the muscle change began at once. “UGH!” he gasped. The muscles twisted and his eyes rolled backward at the intense pain. He couldn’t scream, but he couldn’t hold back either. “Nnnnnnggghhhhhaaaaaah…” Yeowun twisted in agony and almost screamed as Nano’s voice rang in his head. [Injecting anesthesia.] “Gg….r….” And Yeowun fell asleep. Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Entering the Academy (2) After completing his morning training, Jang prepared breakfast. He was not a good cook, but five years ago, after Lady Hwa’s death, he had to start cooking for the young prince and now he was very skilled at it. Most of the time he prepared a simple breakfast, but today he prepared red pig meat that he got yesterday with an egg. It was to congratulate Yeowun’s admission to the academy. It was maybe the last time he could enjoy a meal without worry, so Jang paid extra attention to prepare it. ‘I hope he survives to enjoy my cooking again…’ That’s when Jang heard some screaming. “Nnnnnngghhhhhaaaaaa…” Yeowun’s room was close to the kitchen, so Jang was able to hear it easily. He grabbed the sword and ran toward Yeowun’s room. As he burst into the room, Yeowun was sprawled out with only his upper body on the bed and bubbles foaming from his mouth. He was unconscious. “Prince!” He quickly ran over and checked the Prince’s pulse. It didn’t seem weird as it was just like when he found him on the mountain two years ago. ‘He’s fine. What was he… huh?’ Jang then saw the faint trace of footsteps on the floor of the room. He placed Yeowun on top of the bed and checked the footprints carefully. ‘Is it…?’ He wasn’t sure, so he placed his foot over the footprint and moved along with it. He was shocked. The footsteps represented the traces of his own dagger skills. A mere footstep would not leave a trace like this on a wooden floor, but martial arts movements sometimes left deep traces after pushing the feet down with hard stomps. ‘What? Did he learn it on his own?’ It was unbelievable. Jang had trained for twenty years to achieve his skill, but this prince had taken the perfect steps. It would require at least years of basic training to accomplish this. ‘He watched my training for two years at most…’ This made Jang dumbfounded. ‘He watched my training for just two years and caught up to my twenty years of experience…?’ It was unbelievable, but also it made his eyes turn red with tears. To him, Yeowun was always a person in need of protection and the son of the woman he thought of dearly. Realizing Yeowun’s talent made him feel grateful. He then placed his hand on Yeowun’s wrist and checked his internal energy. ‘No energy… he just knows the movements.’ Maybe it was for the better. If it was revealed that he had learned to how use internal energy, it was going to enrage the six clans. Jang looked at Yeowun for a while and then walked out. Two hours then passed by. [Muscle transfer complete. Deactivating anesthesia.] With a jolt in his head, Yeowun woke up from his sleep. “Ugh!” Yeowun got up, panting. He remembered the extreme pain right before he was put to sleep. He did not want to feel that kind of pain anymore. “Ha… I will never try it again.’ [I warned you, Master.] “…Yeah.” It was Yeowun’s choice to try it out. He then got up from the bed and walked to the center of the room to prepare himself to use the dagger skill. ‘Now it won’t hurt, right?’ [Through the simulation, you now have the same muscles as the ones that practiced the movements for twenty years.] ‘Good!’ Yeowun prepared his stance and swung his dagger. The power seemed to be very different from a while ago as his movements were more precise and accurate. As he stomped to move onto his next step, the wooden floor rumbled loudly. “No!” Yeowun was surprised and stopped immediately. The floor now had marks of his footsteps. “This is bad.” He became worried that Jang might see this. “It leaves footprints even without internal energy.’ While he was thinking about it, that’s when someone knocked on the door. “Prince. Your breakfast is ready.” It was Jang. Yeowun pressed down on the area that had the footprint to remove it, but it didn’t work. That’s when the door opened and Jang walked in. “Prince?” “OH! Haha, I’m so hungry!” Yeowun quickly got up and brought the table near the window to the center of the room. Jang asked curiously, “Don’t you always eat by the window?” “Y-yeah, but I won’t be returning for a while so I wanted to eat in the center.” It was suspicious enough but Jang silently placed down breakfast on the table. Yeowun sighed and sat down on the chair. “Oh!” Breakfast was baked pig meat, fried vegetables, and the eggs that he loved. It was not a feast that the six clans enjoyed, but this was still lavish enough for Yeowun. He became silent as he knew that it was Jang’s act of kindness for Yeowun who might not return from the academy. Yeowun took the chopsticks and began eating with teary eyes. [Strong emotions contributing to acid coming up the throat. Increasing saliva level. Please swallow the food with saliva to calm down the acid.] ‘Stop saying weird shit and shut up!’ [Going into silent mode.] Nano became silent and Yeowun swallowed his food. He couldn’t leave any food behind. After a quiet breakfast, Jang began asking, “When did you st…” He couldn’t say the word ‘steal’ to his prince. “Learn my dagger skill?” “Huh? Uh- w-what are you talking about?” Yeowun was surprised by the sudden question. Jang pushed the table to the side and pointed at the floor. There was a clear footprint on the floor. ‘I wasn’t wrong.’ The clear print was certainly from the stomp made by moving onto the second formation of the dagger skill. Yeowun did not learn any martial arts, but he was still from Wulin and he knew what the laws were like. Stealing other people’s martial arts techniques was strictly forbidden and looked down upon. “I.. I…” He did steal it through Nano, so he had nothing to say about it. He couldn’t even look into Jang’s probably disappointed look. Jang then knelt down and spoke with a soft voice. “You did a good job.” “Uh…” “I am your guard, Prince. If it wasn’t for the oath, I would have taught you my skills already.” “Jang…” Yeowun’s eyes filled up with tears. Jang was more of a father figure to him than his real father. Jang took out a paper filled with writing and gave it to Yeowun. “What’s this?” “It’s an energy flow method for the internal energy of the dagger skill.” “Why are you giving this to me?” “I would love to give you a method on how to train the internal energy itself, but you will find a better one at the academy. Learn it.” Yeowun was now shedding tears. He swore that he would never cry after his mother’s death, but he was still a young boy. Jang got up and took the empty plates before he began walking out. He then stopped to speak. “You can cry today, but you will need to be stronger from now on.” “…Thank you.” Yeowun wiped the tears off his face. He now had no fear or hesitation. Even without his mother, he still had a place to return to. In the afternoon, the street near the Demonic Cult’s castle was bustling with people. The opening ceremony was going to begin soon. Every boy, ranging from fourteen to nineteen years of age in every family and clan of the Demonic Cult was now gathering at the Demonic Academy. Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Entering the Academy (3) The Demonic Cult had the six clans, three guardians, and hundreds of small clans and groups. The Demonic Academy was opened once every ten years to train a new elite individual. This current one had candidates that were the heirs to the Lord, so everyone labeled the academy as an Heirship competition. And this was a wonderful opportunity for many small clans to side with the future heir to the Lord. Thousands of boys and girls all gathered to join the academy. The Great Training Ground located right past the entrance of the academy was large enough to fit all the students inside. All of them looked excited and nervous about what’s to come. It was because this was a chance to see the Lord himself who would join the opening ceremony. “Look! It’s the Left Guardian!” “If he’s here, the Lord will be here soon.” “I’ll get to see his face for the first time in my life!” There was a middle-aged man with long red hair walking out from the left side of the giant stage, scoffing at children down at the ground. ‘Fools. We only have fools this time. Or it may be the last time.’ The middle-aged man was the Left Guardian, Fire King Lee Hameng, or the closest advisor to the Lord. The Lord had three guardians with him. The Great Guardian, Left Guardian, and Right Guardian only acted on the Lord’s orders. They ranked within the top ten of fighting prowess within the Demonic Cult. ‘Hmm. Are those the heirs from the six clans?’ Hameng glanced at the boys standing in front of all children. All students who entered the academy were given a round name tag with numbers. They were given the numbers based on the order they entered, but these princes were exceptions. ‘They are quite something as kids.’ The other children were all lined up neatly, but these six princes arrogantly stood at the front as if they were telling everyone that they were on top of them all. Unlike others who had a white tag with black numbers on them, these princes had black tags with red numbers according to their rank to the succession. 1. Wise Clan – Chun Muyeon. 2. Sword Clan – Chun Kungwun. 3. Loyal Clan – Chun Mukeum. 4. Poison Clan – Chun Jongsum. 5. Blade Clan – Chun Yuchan. 6. Lust Clan – Chun Wonryou. They only had numbers on their tags, but Hameng knew their names. There were two girl candidates last time, and although there was only one girl this time around from the Lust Clan, he didn’t really care. ‘Everyone else is here, but I don’t see him.’ Hameng swept his glance across everyone, but he couldn’t find the one he was looking for. There was one boy who was getting all the attention from the higher ranks of the Demonic Cult. ‘Oh, there he is.’ Hameng finally found the boy. He would not have found him if he didn’t have a black tag. At the entrance, at the very end of the line, Chun Yeowun stood there alone. ‘The heir candidate not from the six clans.’ He was still a son of the Lord, but he couldn’t come up to the front. And it also seemed like the other kids around him were shunning him. Therefore, he stood there alone. ‘He’s receiving attention in an interesting way.’ That was the end of the interest. Hameng knew that the boy did not train in martial arts, so he was going to fail the entrance test. ‘There are so many.’ Chun Yeowun was able to see the thousand children standing in front of him. He wasn’t late, but he was told that his tag was missing and had to wait until the end. So even with the black tag, he couldn’t go up to the front. It was certain that it was the work of someone from the six clans, but it didn’t matter to him. ‘It’s best I avoid trouble with them from the beginning anyway.’ Chun Yeowun liked that. They wanted to kill him even before joining academy, so it was better to not see them at all. The horn sound blared across the field, and people began to mumble. It was due to the person who had just entered. Thousand boys and girls began to chant with shouts. A man with the character ‘Sky’ on his black silk clothes got up and sat down on the throne up on the stage. It was the Lord, and one of the Five Strongs of Wulin, Chun Yujong. Even without his title, his presence was overwhelming even in front of a thousand people. “I can’t even look at him directly.” The boys had lost the courage to even look up to him. Next to the Lord was the lead guardian, Great Guardian King Marakim. He had a special mask on his face so that no one knew what he really looked like. “Oops.” And to the right of the throne was a ragged clothed man who seemed to be having a hard time standing up as if he were drunk. He was the Right Guardian, Submeng, the Crazy Blade. He acted silly, but he was still ranked within the top ten strong men in the Demonic Cult. “Hah.” “What’re you lookin’ at?” Submeng spat at Hameng who looked at him with a disgusted look and took a sip from his bottle of liquor. Marakim then walked onto the stage and shouted, “SILENCE!” It was a voice laced with internal energy that spread through to everyone. The training ground went silent at once. “The most honorable one, it is ready.” Marakim turned back and spoke quietly, and Lord Chun Yujong got up from his throne. “To all who have entered the academy, you will be the future of our cult.” And unlike Marakim who shouted, the Lord spoke softly. However, his voice was crystal clear in the ears of the thousand boys and girls. It was proof of Chun Yujong’s sheer power. “I welcome you in joining the academy. I hope you train and play your part in our cult.” And that was it. Chun Yujong turned and Great Guardian Marakim spoke to him. “That was a wonderful speech.” The Lord then walked off the stage with Marakim guiding him. It was so short that it made the students fall silent, but soon they shouted and chanted. “FOR THE DEMONIC CULT!” Chun Yeowun wasn’t sure how he felt. He had never seen his father for fifteen years, but he met his eyes with him for the first time. The Lord had found Chun Yeowun standing in the farthest part of the training ground as soon as he got up on the stage, but his gaze was so cold. ‘I don’t care anyway.’ He didn’t appear when his mother, Lady Hwa, died. There was no disappointment when he didn’t care in the first place. That’s when people fell silent as Fire King Hameng stood up on the stage. “With his speech, we will begin now.” -Mumble mumble… “Stand straight!” Hameng’s voice pierced through the air and the students shut up. “I’ll keep it simple. Listen up.” Hameng began to explain the system of the Demonic Academy. “The academy will last for four years and six stages.” Everyone knew the academy lasted for four years. But there were some who had teachers or parents who did not attend academy, so they began to focus on the tests on each of the six stages. “You can take the six stages in steps, and you can take it only once.” Students began to mumble about only getting one shot at each stage. One failure meant that they would be cast out. “You seem to get it pretty quickly. If you do not pass, you will be expelled right away.” There was only one chance to rise up. That’s when a handsome boy standing in the front row raised his hand. “I have a question.” It was the boy with number 2 on his tag. In second place for the throne, it was Chun Kungwun of the Sword Clan. Hameng was in the middle of his speech, but Kungwun confidently interrupted him. However- “Who said you could ask questions?” “What?” Chun Kungwun’s handsome face grimaced. He had been treated with respect from everyone around him because he was a prince, but it was shocking to be treated with hostility. “Oh? So you have a problem with my attitude? ‘Prince’? You want to be expelled even before the competition?” Left Guardian Lee Hameng spat angrily. Chun Kungwun was angered, but he couldn’t say anything. He was reminded of what his guard warned him about the other day. [Once you’re in the academy, every privilege you had for being the son of the Lord will be removed. And whoever is appointed as the Chief of the Academy, never cross his lines.] He didn’t mind it when he heard it, but he now realized it after experiencing it. He was against one of the strongest in the Demonic Cult. “I apologize, sir.” Chun Kungwun bowed and the other five heirs smirked. Chapter 9 Chapter 9: The first test is a piece of cake (1) The training ground went quiet after Chun Kungwun’s embarrassing moment. Left Guardian Lee Hameng continued, “I know what your question is. You think just one chance is too harsh? There will be special privileges given to those who move forward into the next stage.” Everyone became intrigued. Those who stayed in the academy longer came out with more powerful prowess and higher titles. “The first privilege is medicine. You will be given a medicine ball called the Black Dragon Ball. This is given each time you overcome the challenge.” This ball was created within the Demonic Cult. It wasn’t as good as the one created in Sorim, but it was still good enough that made the person who consumed it would gain twenty years worth of internal energy. In simple math, passing the six tests would give the person one hundred and twenty years worth of internal energy. Of course, this was also the kind of medicine that would build immunity after continued use, but it was still a good privilege. ‘Six stages, huh…?’ Chun Yeowun also seemed interested. He had no internal energy right now, but if he were to pass all six tests, he would be given the chance to increase his internal energy instantly. “The second will be the books to the martial arts secrets. If you are martial artists, you all should know the importance of such books.” This was one of the most important privileges in the academy. There were many books within the academy, and even the books from the six clans’ martial arts were stored within the academy. ‘Books!’ This was what Yeowun needed the most. With the Nano Machine’s power, he was able to learn the dagger skill, but he needed to get stronger. “The library has five floors. The higher the floor, the stronger the books. You will be given access to a higher floor once you go up the stages.” The fifth floor, which was the last floor, was full of secrets to various martial arts manuals of Wulin itself. “However, you all won’t even go near the fifth floor, so give up.” Hameng spoke discouragingly, but the second privilege was still astounding. Not to mention, all of this also meant that whoever the students were, or wherever they came from, they all had equal chances to obtain greater power if they could take it. It meant that stronger the person was, the more powerful they would get. ‘So, this was why…’ Yeowun realized why everyone said it would be different once they were in the academy. In the academy, no one who would be protected by privilege or their family bloodline. Everyone was under the same food chain. “If you pass the first stage, you are low-ranked warrior. Second, middleranked. Third, high-ranked. I hope none of you from military clan backgrounds stay only at the second to third ranks like losers.” Hameng spoke to students with a smirk. “Oh, but even those of you who only want to be mid to high-ranked warriors will still be given medicine balls. Don’t worry.” As Hameng said, the academy gave privileges to even the low-ranked warriors, which was a good opportunity to warrior prospects who want to become more powerful. These ranked warriors had a huge difference in power, with the high-ranked warriors being the most powerful and fewer in numbers. “If you pass the fourth stage, you will be given the title of Squad Leader, and you will be given the title of Clan Leader upon your fifth stage test. For the sixth stage, it won’t matter with you all so I’ll just skip it.” Hameng said that because he had his reasons. The sixth stage test was almost impossible and less than ten people would manage to pass the test. That’s why Hameng didn’t anticipate such an event. “And although you all start out with the same cadet rank, you will all come to have different ranks per the progress through your stages. You will then need to obey your superior.” That was the core element of the academy. One who does not strive higher will be left to rot. Chun Yeowun looked on eagerly. If he had survived until now, it was time for him to go up in the food chain. “Don’t be too happy. Most of you will not even go further than the third stage.” Hameng cracked a smile as he gave his closing statement. “I’m done explaining. Begin forming groups for assigned dorms, and I will proceed with the first test on the stage.” The students became shocked to hear sudden progress. They didn’t think they would be tested on the first day. “As I said before, if you fail this test, you are expelled. If you can’t pass this test, you don’t even deserve to be a low-ranked warrior.” More than half of the students became pale. They thought they would at least learn something before the test, but this meant that anyone with no training had no chance. Chun Yeowun was also shocked. ‘What? First test already?’ He had no internal energy and it was likely for him to fail the test. He had to hope that the test was either easy or did not require internal energy. Hameng declared what the test was. “The first test will assess your basic skills. You will need at least basic internal energy if you are going to be a warrior of our cult.” Chun Yeowun frowned. This meant that if there was one without any internal energy, he was going to fail. “If you fail this test, you will be sent down to the farms or mines for hard labor. Try your best to… no, we do need people to do the dirty work, so don’t try too hard.” Hameng was joking around, but Chun Yeowun felt uncomfortable after hearing it. ‘Ugh… this is problematic.’ He was furious as he thought that at least the academy did not have traps set up for him. However, the internal energy test on the first day seemed to be too coincidental to think that it wasn’t made for him. ‘Was this why they didn’t want me to train?’ Yeowun now realized why the ladies of six clans did not allow him to train. If he were to be expelled here, he would be cast out and he’d stay within the lowest caste of the cult. This would allow those people to kill him whenever they wanted to. ‘Hmph.’ Chun Mukeum, the prince of Loyal Clan, seemed to be satisfied. ‘I was going to kill him myself, but this will get rid of him. Whoever thought of this is a genius.’ The Loyal Clan did not have a part in not allowing Yeowun to train. Mukeum knew it was one of the six clans who led the plan, but he didn’t realize it was to expel Yeowun from the first stage test. That’s when a beautiful, alluring middle-aged woman came up onto the stage. Hameng pointed at her and said, “She is the Clan Leader of the Lust Clan, and the proctor who will watch over this test. Our fifth elder, Hang Soyu.” A girl standing in the front row with lavish red silk clothes smiled. She was Chun Wonryou, and she was the sixth rank to the throne from the Lust Clan. The six clans were not involved with any of the tests in the academy except for the first one. ‘What test calls for the fifth elder to come?’ The students were filled with questions and Hameng explained, “This test is a piece of cake. If you fail here, you will never get a chance to even become a low-ranked warrior.” After she finished, Hang Soyu sat down and readied to play the string instrument that she brought with her. It seemed like people realized what she was going to do and they began plugging their ears while crouching down. “Well, you kids will not withstand her Musical Energy Wave, but she will control it for you weaklings. With luck, you might even endure it without any internal energy. Haha.” His last set of words felt like he was talking to Yeowun. The Musical Energy Wave was not something that one could tolerate with just endurance. Chun Yeowun bit his lips. ‘…Dammit.’ The first test was to endure the energy wave attack. This was also the simplest way to easily weed out the unworthy students. “If they have even the slighted amount of internal energy, they will be able to endure a minute.” Fitting her clan name, Hang Soyu spoke with a beautiful voice, but none of the students were able to hear it as they were already plugging their ears. “Those who endure the energy wave for a minute will pass the test! Begin!” And with the signal, the fifth elder began to play the instrument. The beautiful sound of the instrument spread through the training ground. However, it wasn’t only beautiful. She didn’t hadn’t even played a measure yet, but tens of boys fell to the ground with bubbles coming out of their mouths. “Nnnngh…” “I-I still hear it!” It was only the beginning. As she plucked the strings, the sound thundered their eardrums and shocked their hearts; some students dropped while grabbed onto their hearts. Enduring such a wave required at least twenty years of internal energy. If it wasn’t for the heirs of the six clans or the children from high-ranking clans, there wasn’t anyone who had such internal energy. ‘This stings in the ear. You will be down on the ground already, hehe..’ Chun Mukeum was filled with joy, but things weren’t going as expected. ‘Huh? What’s going on?” Hang Soyu’s fingers that plucked strings began moving faster. Based on the look on her face, it was apparent that she didn’t look too happy. It was because she was only looking at Chun Yeowun. ‘Why? Why is he not falling down?’ Chun Yeowun, who should not have any internal energy, was not falling. When the fifth elder began playing the instrument, Nano activated the emergency defense mode. [Sensing strong high and low frequencies from the instrument. They can damage the user’s eardrums and body. Activating automatic defense system. Muting all incoming soundwaves to the user.] Nano usually activated programs per the orders of the user, but when an incoming attack threatened the user’s life, it was automatically enabled. It blocked out every soundwave coming into his ears right now. ‘…What?’ He only heard Nano’s voice in his head the moment Hang Soyu plucked her instrument and he couldn’t hear anything else. Yet, countless students were falling down in front of him. Chapter 10 Chapter 10: The first test is a piece of cake (2) Chun Yeowun was really worried about going through a test, but with Nano, he was able to pass the danger with ease. ‘Did you make me not hear the sound?’ [The soundwaves coming from the instrument might be potentially dangerous to Master. I have stopped your body functions to sense sounds temporarily.] ‘How am I hearing your voice then?’ [The information is being sent directly into your brain.] ‘I don’t get what you’re saying.’ It was hard to understand Nano. More than half the students had fainted already. Some even had blood coming out of their mouths, proving that they had acquired internal damage. Hang Soyu’s fingers were now fiercely playing the instrument. The tempo had increased much so that even Hameng who stood next to her could feel the intensity. Hameng knew why she was so frustrated. ‘I thought he didn’t have any internal power.’ Hameng was also intrigued by the current situation. He knew that Chun Yeowun was not trained in any martial arts. Thus, he wouldn’t have any internal power, but he seemed to be able to withstand the energy wave without any difficulty. And unlike Chun Yeowun, the other students around him were all on the ground. “Nnnnghhh…” “Ugh, your ear’s bleeding!” “You too!” And it seemed like it was hard even for those who were enduring it. However, that was also because Hang Soyu was increasing the intensity of her attack due to her frustration. ‘Why is she playing so fiercely?’ The princes of the six clans, who had about thirty years worth of internal energy, could still withstand the attack without that much trouble, but they still sensed the elder’s frustration and that made them curious. They were not allowed to turn back to look, but Mukeum was extremely curious so he had to turn around to see. ‘What?!’ He almost spat out from his mouth. ‘How is he still holding on?’ Chun Yeowun was standing there as if the attack was nothing. Even Mukeum who had about thirty years worth of internal energy through the various medicines he took could feel stinging in his ears, but Yeowun stood there as if he couldn’t hear anything. ‘T…th… that bastard. He had internal energy!’ Chun Mukeum was extremely furious. Chun Yeowun swore that he would not train martial arts or internal energy, but withstanding Hang Soyu’s Musical Energy Wave meant that he didn’t keep his promise. ‘What?’ ‘What’s going on?’ Fourth rank Chun Jongsum and sixth rank Chun Wonryou wondered why Mukeum seemed to be furious and they also turned back. ‘W-what?! What’s going on?!’ ‘How can he stand like that without any internal energy?’ They all frowned too. They thought Chun Yeowun would have fallen a long time ago, but he was still standing. ‘Nano, if I’m right, those kids up front and the fifth elder who’s playing the instrument are angry, right?’ [Analyzing facial muscle movements. Frustration, shock, and anger can be seen from their facial muscles.] Without even analyzing, it was apparent that they were looking at him with hostility. Yeowun realized what he was doing was angering them. ‘They thought I didn’t have any internal power, but me enduring this triggered them.’ If this wasn’t solved, it would still be a problem even if he passed the test. He had sworn an oath that he would not learn about internal energy until he joined the academy. ‘Nano, can you give me an internal injury?’ [Internal injury as in damaging your internal organs?] ‘Yeah. Can you do it or not?’ [It is possible, but I do not recommend damaging your body intentionally, Master.] ‘I see. Then can you injure me when the instrument is finished playing and make me vomit blood?’ [Blood through your mouth?] ‘Yeah.’ He was making his enemies angry. If he did not take any internal damage or vomit blood, they would be suspicious of him. He couldn’t take that risk even before getting the chance to learn martial arts. [As ordered, processing damage to the internal organs.] After the time limit was over, Hang Soyu’s patience was at the limit. She was already angry that Yeowun had gained internal energy, but he was now withstanding like as if it was’= nothing. Her tune changed. Lee Hameng quickly sensed the change and frowned. He knew how she felt but she was now forgetting the purpose of why she was playing her instrument. Before he could send her the message to stop, she began playing the instrument with half of her power. This attack could not be withstood unless one was a very powerful warrrior. “UGH!” Students of the high-ranking clans and families turned pale at the moment. They began to vomit blood as their internal organs were damaged, and they weren’t the only ones who were in trouble. ‘UGH!’ Even the heirs from the six clans couldn’t stand the fifth elder’s energy wave. They tried to defend themselves as much as they could, but it didn’t work. The weakest of the six heirs, Chun Jongsum, began coughing from the internal energy damage and Hameng decided that it had gone too far. [Stop! This is dangerous! You must not do it any further!] With that, Hang Soyu also stopped playing. Students who barely withstood it fell to their knees in exhaustion. If she played for a bit longer, all the students might have failed. Hang Soyu became embarrassed that she went out of control, but she was still angry at Chun Yeowun. She was sure that Chun Yeowun had not kept his oath. It was then… Chun Yeowun’s face quickly turned red and went pale, and he sprayed blood from his mouth like a fountain. Everyone who was watching, Hameng, Hang Soyu, and Mukeum, frowned. ‘What?’ It was hard to believe that much blood could be vomited out from a person’s mouth. ‘He wasn’t okay?’ It was too much blood to be an act. Chun Yeowun sprayed blood out and fell to his knees with his hands on the ground. He had definitely taken some heavy internal damage. ‘Nano… you…’ [Program processed as ordered.] ‘I almost d-died!’ People felt pain even when it was a simple vomit. But vomiting blood like a fountain was more painful than he had imagined. “Ugggggh!” Chun Yeowun then vomited more blood. The place around him was now drenched in blood, and it was even a terrible sight to even look at. “Hmph!” However, unlike the fifth elder who was dumbfounded, Left Guardian Lee Hameng couldn’t just stand and watch. If Chun Yeowun, the son of Lord, did not die from the feud between family members but a test, all the blame was going to be on Hameng. He quickly rushed forward with his movement skill to fly to Yeowun and check on him. “Hey, kid! Are you okay!? Hey!” Chun Yeowun felt dizzy after vomiting blood. He almost collapsed to the ground but Hameng got a hold of him. [Sensing dizziness from 7% blood loss. Activating self-healing mode against organ damage and blood loss.] Nano spoke of going into healing mode and Yeowun stopped it. ‘No! Not yet.’ [Master’s condition might go into critical danger.] ‘Wait a second.’ Nano stopped its process. Hameng looked at Yeowun’s pale face. “You could’ve just given up.” Hameng already had checked to see if he had any internal energy. Contrary to his expectations, Chun Yeowun had no internal energy within him. ‘What? How can this be?’ This meant that Yeowun had endured the attack through sheer will. And for the price, he had taken severe internal damage. ‘This one is crazy. How can one withstand such an attack without any internal energy?’ He was astonished. Yeowun really passed the test without a single hint of internal energy inside him. Hameng had heard bad rumors about the Seventh Prince. But who would have thought such a kid from a slave girl would have such a strong mind? Hameng called out to staff standing outside the training ground. “Send him to a hospital room.” As Yeowun was being carried out by the staff, he gave an order to Nano. ‘…Heal me, now.