What Are You Impersonating? (1)
“Basically, a sword formation is...”
Un Geom’s deep voice spread calmly through the hall.
“A method for fighting together efficiently.”
The disciples lined up before him listened with bright, focused eyes. Un Geom, the leader of Baekmae Hall, had always been respected by the disciples, but after everything that had happened lately, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t truly admire him.
So no one could even imagine letting their attention wander.
“In essence, a swordsman’s blade follows a fixed pattern. With repeated training, that pattern becomes sharper and more refined. So in actual combat, if you want to bring out your full ability, the best thing is to move your sword along the set pattern.”
Un Geom looked over them as he continued.
“However, when several people fight together and the space becomes cramped, it becomes difficult to swing your sword the way you normally would.”
The disciples nodded in unison. They had already learned that lesson painfully during the battle with the Dae-byeol Bandit Band.
When they had been packed together so tightly that their shoulders nearly touched, they hadn’t been able to swing freely for fear of injuring the person beside them. More than once, a sword they had swung had struck a comrade’s blade instead of an enemy’s, creating a dangerous opening.
“A sword formation is not meant to make you crouch down and wait for the enemy. Rather, it is a way to bring out your true skill even in narrow spaces. So I hope you will all give this training your best.”
“Yes, Hall Leader!”
A booming reply rang out. Un Geom smiled faintly at their enthusiasm.
Good.
There were countless things he could say about how Mount Hua had changed from the past, but if he had to name the first thing, it would be the disciples’ eagerness to learn. It was a truly gratifying thing.
“I and the senior brothers will demonstrate first. Seven of you form a group and follow along.”
“Yes!”
“There is no fixed martial art you must use with the sword formation. Once you become accustomed to it, you can use the sword style you know best according to the formation’s movements. However, since using a complex sword style from the start would be difficult, we will begin with Chilmaegeom only.”
“We’ll remember that!”
“Good.”
Un Geom and the other senior disciples took their places in the shape of the Big Dipper.
“Mount Hua’s Seven Star Sword Array follows the principle of the seven stars, one among the principles that run from Wuji, Taiji, the three talents, the four symbols, the five elements, the six harmonies, the seven stars, the eight trigrams, and the nine palaces.”
At that, Jo Gul shot his hand into the air. Un Geom nodded.
“Speak.”
“Is there a reason it has to follow the seven-star principle?”
“......Well, I......”
Un Geom hesitated for a moment, and a faint flush touched his face. Immediately, Yoon Jong drove his elbow mercilessly into Jo Gul’s side.
“Ghk!”
Clutching his ribs, Jo Gul doubled over with a strangled wheeze, but no one looked at him with even a shred of sympathy.
That mouth of his, honestly.
Without Chung Myung around, he starts acting up like this.
He’s really asking to get himself killed.
The Baek generation’s eyes burned with fury, while the Cheong generation pointed at him with their gaze as well.
“Ahem.”
Un Geom cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “The sage who created the formation no doubt had his own intentions, but my own martial learning is still too shallow for me to fully grasp them.”
“That’s fine, Hall Leader!”
“There must be a reason for it!”
“Seven stars, or whatever else—it’s enough to learn it! What does that matter?”
It was truly tear-inducing family affection.
Left out of that family affection all by himself, Jo Gul blinked away watery eyes and muttered, “......I was just asking.”
“Shut up.”
“I’ll kill you!”
And in the end, he really did end up in tears.
These are all things I’ve heard somewhere before.
Chung Myung. So this was how you felt.
I’m sorry.
“Ahem.”
Un Geom coughed loudly again and lifted his sword.
“Watch carefully, all of you. I’ll show it more than once, but don’t think that means you can just look carelessly.”
“Yes!”
At the disciples’ loud reply, Un Geom slowly began to move his sword. At the same time, the swords of the senior disciples who formed the array moved as well.
So disciplined.
They’re moving like one body.
Though... if that’s the case, isn’t this just the same as their usual sword swings, only with different positions?
The many swords moved in perfect unison.
To be honest, there was nothing especially extraordinary about that yet. For seniors and juniors who had trained together all their lives, matching the speed and direction of their swords was no big deal.
Didn’t the Cheong generation and Baek generation already do similar training every morning when they practiced together?
But the true power of the sword formation revealed itself from that moment on.
Whoosh!
The sword in Un Geom’s lead hand began to move faster and faster. At the same time, the swords that had been moving so neatly in step began to come apart.
Already?
No, that wasn’t it.
They weren’t falling apart—they were moving differently from one another. Proof of that was plain to see: although the people in the formation were using different sword styles, their paths never overlapped even once.
So it really works?
That’s amazing.
The Mount Hua disciples watched the display with wide eyes.
They had already experienced group battles, so they knew just how difficult that kind of thing really was.
This is what a sword formation is.
Only then did everyone fully understand what Un Geom had meant when he said a sword formation was necessary to bring out one’s true skill.
But the formation’s changes did not end there.
The disciples moving their swords began to step through footwork.
“Ah?”
“Th-tha...”
As Un Geom, who had been at the front, fell back, Un Am darted forward from the rear, and then the formation seemed to compress before spreading out again. The Seven Star shape became a circle, then a straight line, then once more the shape of seven stars—the changes came so fast they made the eyes swim.
And yet even within all that motion, the swords never stopped, and the paths never overlapped, as if it were a lie.
The Mount Hua disciples’ expressions grew steadily more serious.
They instinctively realized that learning a sword formation would be far harder than they had expected.
And they could also imagine, clearly, just how much the Un generation must have suffered while training the formation even as they were busy with all their other duties for passing it down.
Un Geom, who had stepped back, suddenly surged forward again, swinging his sword powerfully.
Then his senior brothers and juniors swirled around him in erratic footwork. It looked almost as if they were drawing the path of the Plum Blossom Sword Art with their bodies.
Baek Cheon, watching from the side, slowly opened his mouth without meaning to.
Incredible!
To think it could be done this perfectly.
The moment he was about to let out an admiring breath, Un Geom spoke first.
“This is the Seven Star Sword Array. Everyone, watch closely...”
And then, at that very moment—
SMACK!
An enormous sound exploded through the hall. Everyone flinched and shut their eyes before they could help themselves.
“......”
When they cautiously opened them again a moment later, a wooden sword was resting against the left knee of the man at the front—Un Geom.
No, wait...
Right now it only looked like it was resting there, but for it to have touched there, it must have come from—uh... uh...
Un Geom’s eyebrows twitched violently.
The owner of the wooden sword scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look.
“S-sorry, Junior Brother. It definitely worked during practice, but...”
“......”
As Un Am apologized awkwardly, Un Geom forced open lips that were trembling all on their own.
“I-It’s f-fine, Senior Brother...... That can happen.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“......I’m fine.”
The disciples watching them broke into a cold sweat.
That must really hurt.
Wow, that sound... He’s done for. That’s a killing blow.
And yet his face didn’t even change. If that were me, I’d be rolling on the ground right there.
Even though it was only a wooden sword, he had been struck properly by a sword swung with full force. There was no way it didn’t hurt. But even so, Un Geom was suppressing every change in expression he could. Everyone could only marvel at his mental strength.
But then—
“......Pfft!”
A muffled laugh escaped from Jo Gul’s hand, which was covering his mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with this bastard?”
And before that laugh could even finish, Yoon Jong’s fist came flying and twisted Jo Gul’s jaw hard to the side.
“Eek!”
Jo Gul collapsed face-first onto the ground, and the Baek generation rushed in around him.
“Trample him!”
“What’s wrong with this idiot? You’re laughing?”
“The older he gets, the worse his condition becomes!”
“Just step on him! Harder!”
Yoon Jong, who had been watching with his eyes slightly widened, took a quiet step back.
It looked like there were also Cheong generation disciples mixed in among the Baek generation, trampling away with gusto. Uh...
He quickly turned his gaze aside and pretended not to see it.
“Ughhh... what am I supposed to do if I start laughing...”
Covered in dirt, Jo Gul protested miserably, but the feet of the people surrounding him rose again, and he had no choice but to flatten himself against the ground.
“I have committed a death-worthy crime!”
“Good, then you know.”
As his senior brothers clicked their tongues and walked away, tears once again gathered in Jo Gul’s eyes. Looking as pitiful as a puppy caught in the rain, he shuffled over to Yoon Jong and asked, “Senior Brother.”
“What.”
“Don’t you think everyone’s being way too harsh on me lately?”
“Gul.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
“If everyone is saying the same things and doing the same things, shouldn’t you at least once suspect that you might be the one who’s wrong?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“......Never mind.”
This bastard was insane in a different way from Chung Myung.
Un Geom, who had turned slightly away and was tending to the struck knee, gave a big cough and looked back at everyone.
“As you’ve seen, training a sword formation is several times more dangerous and difficult than training alone. If you’re not focused, you can be injured before you know it. Understood?”
“Yes, Hall Leader!”
“Good. Then pair up in sevens and take your positions according to the seven-star direction.”
At the order, the disciples immediately spread out and matched into groups.
“The tip of the sword must face the direction each position indicates.”
The Un generation members ran here and there, adjusting the formation’s shape. After all that work, a rather impressive formation was completed. With more than a hundred disciples standing in their own arrays, the imposing pressure was considerable.
“Hmm.”
Un Geom nodded with satisfaction.
“Let’s start by first demonstrating Chilmaegeom. Each of you is standing in a different direction, but swinging properly from that distance will be difficult. Think of the senior brothers and juniors standing to your left and right, keep your spacing in mind at all times, and keep your sword’s movement as compact as possible.”
“Yes!”
“Begin!”
Swish!
With Baek Cheon’s opening stance at the front, the Mount Hua disciples all swung their swords at once.
The sight of disciples facing different directions and drawing their swords together resembled a vast field of blossoms.
Beautiful.
A satisfied smile bloomed on the faces of Un Geom and Un Am.
This was probably a common sight in Mount Hua in the past. The thought that such a scene was being revived in this era again made their hearts swell.
They’re doing well.
Even though this was their first attempt at a sword formation, everyone was drawing the sword beautifully. Of course, it was only the most basic, simplified version, but even so—it was still a sword formation. The fact that their swords were not colliding meant these disciples were now truly senior brothers and juniors who could understand one another’s thoughts with nothing more than their breathing—
CLANG!
“......”
“No, you idiot! You can’t come over this far!”
“No! Didn’t Senior Brother suddenly twist his sword?”
“You’re so slow that it just looks like I twisted it!”
“What?”
The corners of Un Geom’s eyes, which had been smiling gently, twitched.
“Agh! Hey! Can’t you swing your sword properly? Are you blind?”
“I swung first, didn’t I? It was Senior Brother who shoved his arm in!”
“And who exactly are you talking back to, bastard?”
Once it started, the sword formations filling the training grounds began to collapse one after another.
It was actually understandable. It was their first time trying the formation—if they did well, that would be the weird part.
The problem was...
“You’re hitting your martial uncle’s head?”
“I-it wasn’t on purpose, Martial Uncle!”
“Not on purpose? Seems you didn’t hear what Chung Myung says. The important thing is that you got hit, not why you got hit!”
“......”
“Ah, come on, swing your sword properly, Senior Brother!”
“Oh, really? You want me to show you what proper swinging looks like?”
“Bring it on, you bastards!”
In the end, Un Geom squeezed his eyes shut.
This isn’t sparring time.
If someone got hit, they should first think about why they’d been hit. But these brats seemed to believe that once they were struck, the only way to feel better was to hit back in full, no matter the reason.
There wasn’t even time to stop them. Swords were flying from every direction, fists were swinging wildly. A sigh forced up from his dantian slipped out of Un Geom’s mouth.
And this is a Taoist hall?
What nonsense.
“Un Geom.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
At that moment, Un Am looked at him and smiled brightly.
“......Hang in there.”
“......”
“Then we’ll be going now.”
“......”
Watching the Un generation disciples hurry out of the training yard, Un Geom’s sigh only grew deeper and deeper.