The Heavenly Martial Academy
The Heavenly Martial Academy. A massive educational facility established by the Murim Alliance in Chang'an, a city boasting a long and storied history. In the past, the transmission of martial arts had been an extremely closed affair, with each sect training its own disciples independently. However, the Murim Alliance's first strategist, Jegal Yong, argued that stronger soldiers were needed to face the foreign tribes beyond the Northern Wall. He established a facility to train the most talented youths selected from every sect together. That was the beginning of the Heavenly Martial Academy.
At first, many were skeptical about a system that educated disciples from different sects side by side. But four years after its founding, the first graduating class began pouring into the murim, and those complaints vanished without a trace. It was only natural. Jegal Yong hadn't only recruited disciples from the sects. He had also persuaded reclusive masters whose names were known throughout the murim and seated them at the lectern. The martial arts of the students who received their teachings improved by leaps and bounds, like tigers sprouting wings. Under normal circumstances, such growth would have been impossible without some extraordinary opportunity. Even though they taught dozens of students at once in lecture format, the casual advice from those who stood at heights far beyond the novices carried enough power to transform chicks into phoenixes.
Once the academy's effectiveness was proven, even the sects that had been reluctant to send their talents outside began competing to enroll their disciples. As competition for admission grew fiercer, they eventually created an extremely difficult entrance exam to prevent riffraff from slipping in. Now, over a hundred years later, more than ten thousand applicants knock on the academy's gates every year, yet only about five hundred are accepted. It boasts an entrance exam of nightmarish difficulty.
***
The next day.
After breakfast at the Geumseong Inn, we headed to the Heavenly Martial Academy, located in the heart of Chang'an, to take the entrance exam before it was too late.
"Wow, there are so many people."
The academy occupied a vast plot of land and felt like a university. Its entrance was packed with people who had come from all over the country to take the exam.
"Does that mean everyone here is a murim-in?"
Tang Soso nodded at my question.
"That's right. From the great sects whose names you would recognize to one-man hereditary secret sects, Shaolin monks, Wudang Taoists—every kind of person you can imagine is gathered here."
"Looking around, the examinees' ages are all over the place too."
"The academy accepts applicants from age fourteen to twenty, except in special cases. Some of them are probably retakers who failed last year or the year before."
"Seeing this many people makes me nervous. What happens if I fail the entrance exam?"
"Then you'd have no choice but to go back to Sichuan alone, Chilbok."
"...Just imagining it is terrifying."
Dokgo Rin, who had been listening to our conversation from the side, spoke up.
"You don't have to worry. That won't happen, Chilbok."
"How can you be so sure?"
"At your current level, you'd rank among the top ten of the late-stage index among the people here. You can have confidence."
"...I'm really at that level?"
Honestly, I couldn't feel it. It had only been about two and a half years since I started properly learning martial arts. The idea that I could not only compete on equal footing with those who had trained since childhood but might even be stronger than them didn't feel real. Still, Dokgo Rin wasn't the type to lie, and since Tang Soso didn't deny it either, it seemed I really was at that level.
'Still, all that suffering was worth it.'
Thinking back, it had been a constant string of hardships. Under Dokgo Rin's guidance, I had spent two years doing nothing but basic training. Recently, I had endured another hellish regimen learning the Tang Family Fist under Tang Ho-chang. It seemed the time had come to test the strength I had built.
"By the way, Chilbok."
"Yes?"
"How long are you planning to keep using formal speech? Once we both pass and start attending the academy, we'll be in the same year. Using formal speech with your peers would feel awkward, wouldn't it?"
Dokgo Rin had a point. No matter how comfortable I felt using formal speech, speaking that way to fellow students would create unnecessary distance.
"Got it. I'll try to use casual speech as much as possible from now on."
"Not 'I'll try,' just 'I will.'"
"...I will."
Tang Soso, who had been listening to our exchange, gave us a dumbfounded look.
"Are you two done with your lovey-dovey act? Then let's go line up over there. We need to register our names on the examinee list before we can take the test."
After hearing Tang Soso's blunt sarcasm, we followed behind her with flushed faces.
***
We arrived at the registration desk for the entrance exam.
"Please state your sect affiliation and your name as an examinee."
Upon hearing the staff member's words, Tang Soso snorted and spoke in a haughty voice.
"Tang Soso of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
The other examinees waiting in line began murmuring.
"She's from the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"The Sichuan Tang Clan, famous for their poisons..."
"What an incredible beauty...!"
Tang Soso looked even more smug after hearing the last comment. It seemed she hadn't received many compliments on her appearance lately because Dokgo Rin was always right beside her. Well, she was a beauty as long as she kept her mouth shut.
"Next person, please."
Soon after, it was our turn.
"Dokgo Rin of the Dokgo Clan."
When Dokgo Rin, her face half-hidden behind a black veil, announced her name, the crowd stirred once more.
"The Dokgo Clan that was wiped out recently..."
"There was a survivor?"
"To think the bloodline of the Sword of Severance still remained."
News of the Dokgo Clan's annihilation two months ago seemed to have spread throughout the entire murim. Dokgo Rin maintained her expressionless face and showed no particular reaction, so people only whispered among themselves and didn't approach her easily.
While attention was focused on the two cousins, I spoke to the staff member.
"Uh, I don't have a sect or clan. My name is Lee Chilbok."
"So you're an unaffiliated wanderer?"
"I suppose so, if you put it that way."
"Understood. I'll register you as such."
My turn passed far more easily than the previous two. In any case, I didn't want any more attention, so after registering for the exam, we left the area as if fleeing.
***
"Whew, that was exhausting getting out of there."
"Tell me about it."
"Sorry. I ended up drawing attention without meaning to."
Dokgo Rin apologized first, but I quickly waved my hands.
"No, no, it's not like you wanted that either. Of course I understand."
As I said that, I quickly shot a glance at Tang Soso beside me. She nodded and chimed in.
"That's right. If anything, the ones who brought up that incident were the rude ones, weren't they? You didn't do anything wrong."
Dokgo Rin stared at Tang Soso with a strange look in her eyes. Even though she knew Tang Soso disliked her, she seemed surprised that the other girl had taken her side.
Anyway, since the entrance exam was scheduled to start at 1 p.m., we decided to pass the time by having tea at a nearby teahouse.
"Three cups of green tea and a dessert platter, please."
"Coming right up~"
After placing a simple order with the server, I returned to our table only to find an unexpected person sitting in my seat.
"Ah! It's been a while, Chilbok!"
"...Namgung Ruby?"
It was Namgung Ruby, whom I was meeting for the first time in about two years since Wiji Cheon's sixtieth birthday banquet.
***
Namgung Ruby.
Honestly, from my perspective as a modern person, her name was extremely confusing. A mix of Chinese characters and English. In any case, she had left an incredibly strong impression from our first meeting. As a mixed-blood descendant of Western and Central Plains people, she had distinctive features: blonde hair and red eyes. Because of that, she had apparently been ostracized within her clan when she was young, but her overwhelming swordsmanship had long since put an end to that. And the Namgung Ruby I met after two years had grown tremendously, just like Dokgo Rin. Her once-short limbs had lengthened, and her previously flat chest had grown considerably. She definitely beat Tang Soso's apple-sized assets and was only slightly smaller than Dokgo Rin's extraordinary milk pouches.
After instinctively scanning Namgung Ruby's body from bottom to top without realizing it, I belatedly noticed something. A sword hung on her back, and its size was absurdly large. It was so big that I doubted whether those slender arms of hers could even lift and swing it. As if noticing my gaze, Namgung Ruby said, "Ah! Are you curious about this?" and readily drew the sword to show me. With one hand, no less.
"It's the Flying Heaven Sword, one of my clan's treasures. I heard it was made from meteorite iron, so it's incredibly sturdy."
Namgung Ruby grinned brightly as she spoke. Still as cheerful as ever, I thought, while I stared at the blade of the Flying Heaven Sword with its mysterious patterns, as if entranced. It was less a practical weapon and more a work of art. Even someone like me who knew nothing about swords could tell it was an extraordinary treasure.
"Alright, that's enough looking."
After sheathing the Flying Heaven Sword back into the scabbard on her back, Namgung Ruby soon smiled like a cat and spoke.
"More importantly, you two haven't forgotten what I said before, right?"
"A promise? What promise?"
"I said that the next time we met, we'd definitely become friends."
"Ah."
Now that she mentioned it, there had been something like that. I had completely forgotten.
"Meeting like this must be fate. This time, become my friends for real!"
Namgung Ruby extended her right hand toward me and Dokgo Rin as she spoke. But Dokgo Rin simply stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before flicking it away.
"Sorry, but I'll have to decline."
I don't need any friends besides Chilbok.