Nine Sages Training

"..."

"What's wrong mom?"

"I'm sorry for you Thomas."

"Why?"

"Because of what you'll have to go through knowing that the people of Murim are real…"

"What I'll have to go through? What do you mean mom?"

"I'm sorry Thomas, but I can't explain it to you. You'll have to find out what I mean on your own."

"Why not?"

"I just can't, as a mother I can't hover over you and tell you everything forever. I have to let you make your own mistakes."

"So because you're my mom, you can't tell me why you feel sorry for me? And because you're my mom you can't help me?"

"It's not that I can't help you… Sigh… Thomas, I can't help you with this matter because it's something that everyone has to experience at some point. And if I help prepare you for what is coming… It will make you less… Human."

"Oh…"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…" Lilly said as she stood up from the dinner table.

"No it's okay, I think I'm going to go back into the Murim world for a while." Thomas replied as he grabbed his plate and stood up from the table.

"Alright, good luck with your training Thomas."

"Thanks." Thomas replied as he slid his plate into the sink and began walking towards his room.

Yet just as Thomas was about to enter his room, he stopped.

"Hey mom, when do you think dad is going to be home?"

"I think he said he'd be home around ten."

"Alright, and thanks mom." Thomas replied as he walked into his room.

Thomas checked the time on his phone.

6:43, Monday, September 6th

After placing his phone on the charger on his desk, Thomas leapt onto his bed and landed on his back.

'I've got three hours or so until dad gets home, so I've got three days of training to do until I can tell him about our reward…'

---

After opening his eyes to the same familiar roof of his and Sung Ho's room within Jin Tang's palace, Myeol Mang sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes as he recalled the training what Seo Jun had said to him before he returned to his home in Texas.

"Seo Jun said that he'd start teaching you the Nine Sages Sword today, and so you should come into the training hall with a clear mind and be ready to learn with some hard labor."

"Fuck, why are you here Myeol Mang? Did you think I would forget what you did to me so soon?"

"Again I did you a favor, I cleared all the dead blood cells out of your veins so your internal energy could flow faster."

"Myeol Mang, there's a thing called ethics in society, and the way you went about clearing the dead blood out of my veins was entirely unethical. That's why we're so damn mad at you. Now back to the question at hand, why are you here?"

"You wanted to learn the Seven Heavens Sword didn't you?"

"Tch, despite how much I'm mad at you right now, you're right. I do want to learn the Seven Heavens Sword."

"Good, now get dressed and go to the training hall, I'll teach you the basics of the Seven Heavens Sword after you finish your training with Seo Jun and Mi Yeon."

"Tch, if it wasn't for the Seven Heavens Sword I wouldn't even listen to you." Myeol Mang replied as he changed into his training clothes.

"I know, but in the future you'll see that what I did was to help you, regardless of the repairable harm I caused."

"Unlikely. I'll see you later, 'Master.'"

Thud!

"...."

"Shut up Myeol Mang!... I'm trying to sleep here…" Sung Ho exclaimed groggily.

"Sigh… That damn child is such a pain…"

---

"Good morning Seo Jun and Mi Yeon."

"Good morning Myeol Mang, how was your sleep?"

"It was decent I guess."

"Well, that sucks, though are you ready to start learning the Nine Sages Sword today?"

"Yes."

"Good, now I'm going to show you the first formation. So watch closely." Seo Jun replied as he unsheathed his sword.

Myeol Mang watched in astonishment as Seo Jun let loose a barrage of interconnected swings and stabs.

"Woah…"

"Did you memorize those movements?"

"Not really, you went through the steps a little too fast for me to memorize them."

"Well good, since if you did memorize those movements there would be cause for concern. But that's not the point, now watch closely, I'll demonstrate them slowly for you."

Seo Jun then readied a stance different from the one he had taken moments before.

"The first form, Acquisition of Knowledge. Consists of several basic slashes and thrusts."

Swish!

"You interconnect the slashes with quick and steady footwork."

Woosh!

"Each slash and thrust is aimed precisely at a vital spot of your opponent's body, so your strikes must be strong and true."

Swish!

"Your internal energy flowing freely across your meridians with each movement."

Slash!

"It's only when you put all of them together-"

Kwaaang!

A vortex of slashes and stabs rippled across the training hall as Seo Jun connected each swing of his sword with flawless footwork.

"-You get a true sword technique."

Taken aback by the simplicity of the Nine Sages Sword, Myeol Mang's eyes widen as he stared where the vortex of slashes had started from.

"Whoa…"

Seo Jun slid his sword into his sheath and turned to face Myeol Mang.

"Now, ready your sword. I'm going to walk you through the steps of the technique." Seo Jun said, gesturing to Myeol Mang to take the stance he had taken earlier.

Myeol Mang unsheathed his sword and took up the stance Seo Jun had shown earlier.

"Good, now follow my pace, I'm going to teach you the movements first, then the qi pathways later." Seo Jun said, taking up the same stance as before and slowly moving through the technique so Myeol Mang could follow.

---

"Haaaah… Haaaaaah."

Three hours had passed since Myeol Mang began learning the Nine Sages Sword.

During which Seo Jun and Mi Yeon had been relentless about every little detail of the technique.

"Take a break Myeol Mang, you've been practicing the first form for over three hours now."

Mi Yeon had been staring at Myeol Mang, who was kneeling on the ground with one hand on his chest.

"Haaah… No, there's only a week or so left before those cult bastards will be coming after everyone here. Haaaah… I need to get much stronger so I can be helpful in some way."

"You may be right about the cult part, but it doesn't justify how much work you're putting in. Proper rest is a part of training too, you know." Seo Jun replied from across the hall.

Myeol Mang stood up hastily and walked toward Seo Jun until their faces were mere inches away from touching.

"Rest isn't a luxury we have spare right now! I can rest when I need to sleep, but as long as I'm awake I will train!"

"You're being too arrogant Myeol Mang! Sit down and rest, or else you won't even be able to train tomorrow!"

"I'm being too arrogant?! Get down from your high horse fucker, you're twice as arrogant as I am right now!" Myeol Mang shouted back, rearing his arm back to punch Seo Jun in the face.

Mi Yeon grabbed Myeol Mang's arm from behind and pulled him away from Seo Jun.

"Myeol Mang, sit down and rest! With how angry you are right now, you'll end up going into Qi Deviation!"

"I'm fine! I'm just a little ticked off that you two get to slack off while teaching me the Nine Sages Sword, while there are murderous Demonic Cult bastards on their way to kill us!"

Seo Jun tossed his sword on the ground and walked ferociously toward Myeol Mang and Mi Yeon.

"You think we're just relaxing while teaching you martial arts? You're lucky you have us to teach you the Nine Sages Sword, otherwise you'd have to learn it from Master Tang or by yourself!"

Smack!

Seo Jun had smacked Myeol Mang across the face, knocking him back several steps before he regained his balance.

"You're gonna regret that!" Myeol Mang shouted as he lunged at Seo Jun with his arm reared back.

Seo Jun swiftly responded by shifting his feet and rearing his right arm back to meet Myeol Mang's punch with one of his own.

However, neither of the two fists met, as Mi Yeon had grabbed Myeol Mang once again and pinned him to the ground.

"Myeol Mang! Calm down, I get it, you're anxious about the Demonic Cult coming after us, and trust me everyone else is anxious about it too. But freaking out about it won't do anyone any good!"

"Argghh! Get off of me Mi Yeon!" Myeol Mang yelled as he tried to squirm out from Mi Yeon's pin.

"Are you going to calm down?" Mi Yeon replied, tightening her grip on Myeol Mang's wrists.

"Fine! Just get off me so I can go eat something and 'relax.'"

Mi Yeon released Myeol Mang and walked over to Seo Jun.

["He seriously needs to bring his temper under control during training, it's going to limit his growth"]

["I know, hopefully he has another realization that fixes that sometime soon."] Seo Jun replied as he and Mi Yeon watched Myeol Mang walk out of the training hall.

"Hopefully, though he didn't seem so bad when we first met him…. Do you think something happened to him that's causing his mood swings?" Mi Yeon asked, looking down at the sword Myeol Mang had left on the training hall floor.