Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 83
>Chapter Title: Demonic Path's Greatest Prodigy (2)
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A few days later.
After thoroughly reviewing the report on the cadets that Chu Il-hwan had submitted and pondering over it for several more days, Yeom Ga-hwi summoned Chu Il-hwan to the Academy Lord's Hall.
“Soon, for the second exam of the new cadets, I shall also attend as an observer.”
“Understood.”
Chu Il-hwan showed no particular surprise at Yeom Ga-hwi's announcement.
He made such appearances a few times a year, for exams or training sessions.
However, the purpose was not to inspect the cadets.
The Academy Lord's role was originally to monitor the 'instructors,' not the cadets.
The instructors of the Demonic Path Academy were all practitioners who had mastered demonic arts to a certain level, and thus they all suffered from side effects.
They were somewhat able to control themselves, which was why they held instructor positions, but they were essentially walking time bombs that could explode at any moment.
The Academy Lord's duty was to keep such instructors in check.
Of course, if the goal was to monitor the instructors, it might seem best to do so covertly without announcing it beforehand. Yet Yeom Ga-hwi never acted that way.
With his upright and uncompromising nature, he always made his intentions known in advance.
And knowing Yeom Ga-hwi's temperament well, the Heavenly Demon had placed him in the position of Demonic Path Academy Lord.
In the first place, the role of Academy Lord prioritized preventing instructors from going berserk rather than cleaning up after they caused trouble—that was merely a lesser evil.
Ultimately, it was about constantly reminding the instructors that they were being watched, so they would restrain themselves.
In that sense, Yeom Ga-hwi's rigid personality was perfectly suited to the role of Academy Lord.
Chu Il-hwan, aware of Yeom Ga-hwi's nature, assumed this time was no different—it was to monitor them.
'Hmm. Time to check on the instructors' conditions. And I need to gauge the youngest young master's true character.'
In truth, Yeom Ga-hwi's real aim was to observe Il-mok.
The evaluations of Il-mok were so mixed and contradictory that the Academy Lord wanted to see for himself in detail.
“There might be a shortage of hands for this exam, so I shall also take on a monitoring role in place of the instructors.”
Though it was to observe Il-mok closely, Chu Il-hwan responded with a moved expression, clasping his hands in respect.
“We are endlessly grateful for your consideration, Academy Lord. This Chu vows to ensure no incidents occur during this exam.”
“Good. You must be busy, so you may go.”
As Yeom Ga-hwi dismissed him, Chu Il-hwan left the Academy Lord's Hall, thinking to himself.
'I'll have to remind the instructors. They need to keep their wits about them this time.'
Of course, that included Chu Il-hwan himself among those who needed to stay sharp.
* * *
The next morning. Instructor Chu Il-hwan's martial arts training session, as always.
Yet for some reason, instead of starting the lesson right away, he called for the cadets' attention, saying he had announcements to make.
“In five days, it will mark two months since you all entered this Demonic Path Academy. And as you might have sensed from the last exam, the second exam will take place in five days.”
Il-mok, listening to Instructor Chu Il-hwan with a bored expression, nodded.
'Hmm. So it's the exam notice.'
He couldn't have cared less.
In the over twenty days since the last sparring tournament, Il-mok had truly devoted himself to resting. Aside from training sessions, he hadn't drawn his sword even once.
Even during training, he merely went through the motions.
'I'll just get through it half-heartedly and rest some more.'
As Il-mok pictured himself napping in that clearing again today, Instructor Chu Il-hwan continued.
“The reason this instructor is announcing the exam early is that the Academy Lord himself plans to observe.”
“!!!”
The eyes of the Gap Class cadets listening to the explanation burned hotter.
Sweeping his gaze over them, Instructor Chu Il-hwan added his final words.
“Of course, I trust there are no cadets who would slack off or half-ass the exam just because the Academy Lord isn't watching. But since he will be observing, hold yourselves to an even higher standard. That's all.”
For some reason, as he said "slack off or half-ass," Chu Il-hwan glared intently at Il-mok.
'Ahem.'
Il-mok hurriedly averted his eyes from that intense stare. Not out of any guilt.
'Damn. Still hasn't let it go?'
It was just that locking eyes with Chu Il-hwan always made his skin crawl.
Meanwhile, unlike Chu Il-hwan's focus on Il-mok, the ones most spurred by his words were others.
'The Academy Lord is coming to observe! It must be to see me!'
'Heh heh. Even the Academy Lord is intrigued by my talent.'
Thanks to Il-mok's concession, Dokgo Pae and Bang Mi-hwa—who had been receiving special training from Yeom Ga-hwi—harbored similar thoughts.
They believed the Academy Lord's visit was to check their special training progress firsthand.
Naturally, their gazes turned to Il-mok.
'Heh heh heh. It won't be easy this time!'
'Ho ho ho. Since the young master can't bring himself to apologize out of embarrassment, maybe I should make him kneel myself this time!'
To showcase their training results, they needed to land a solid hit on the chief culprit, Il-mok.
'What the hell are those lunatics up to now?'
From Il-mok's perspective, they just looked like madmen plotting more madness.
At that moment, having finished the exam announcement, Chu Il-hwan issued the order.
“Begin your training.”
No sooner had the command fallen than the cadets spread out across the training ground at intervals and began swinging their weapons.
Occasional spars occurred under the supervision of Chu Il-hwan and the assistants, but training sessions had proceeded this way for some time.
After observing the first day's spars, Chu Il-hwan pointed out areas for improvement or development for each cadet. Then, they trained while focusing on those points.
Chu Il-hwan and the assistants circulated, checking each one individually, and if someone seemed stuck, they provided direct guidance through spars.
It had been the same after the last exam and sparring tournament. Chu Il-hwan highlighted mistakes or flaws from those events, and the cadets trained accordingly, reflecting on their own arts.
In other words, everyone else trained that way. Except for Il-mok.
As Il-mok stared intently at a certain spot, the trio there bowed their heads deeply and approached him.
They were the same three who had picked a fight with Il-mok on the second day and gotten thoroughly thrashed.
In particular, Choi Woong—who had leaked info about Il-mok to senior cadets—felt a pang of guilt and hurried over using lightness skill.
Choi Woong and the other two took positions around Il-mok and began practicing their weapon forms.
It was a human shield. To block the gazes and attention from Chu Il-hwan and the other lunatics.
Hidden behind the three as a screen from prying eyes, Il-mok simply swung his sword half-heartedly.
“Yawwwn.”
Even stretching out a big yawn.
* * *
If Jin Ha-yeon or the Heavenly Demon found out, they might rush over to snap his neck—but days of such laziness flew by in no time.
The Gap and Eul Class cadets exited the Demonic Path Academy's main gate alongside their instructors, just like last time.
But after arriving at the gathering point, things were different.
“Group One: Dokgo Pae, Choi Woong, Kang Tae-seok, Kwak Sul, Joo Seo-yeon.”
First, each group had five members instead of four.
“Called groups, step forward.”
And rather than moving groups in advance, they were simply sorting them by group.
“Final, Group Four: Il-mok, Seong Hwan, Jeong Hyeon, Lee Gyun, Bu Ga-young.”
Il-mok glanced over his group mates.
Seong Hwan was from the same Gap Class as him, one of the trio who had picked a fight with Il-mok, like Choi Woong.
And for some reason, Choi Woong was eyeing Seong Hwan with envy.
'Damn. I should have been grouped with Young Master Il-mok.'
He had benefited greatly from Il-mok during the last exam. On top of that.
“Hahaha! Just leave it all to your group leader!”
Seeing the self-proclaimed group leader Dokgo Pae laugh confidently filled him with a sense of doom.
Amid it all, Il-mok let out a subtle sigh that no one else noticed.
'Did I go too wild in the first exam and sparring tournament?'
Of his five group members, only Il-mok and Seong Hwan were from Gap Class. The other three, including Jeong Hyeon, were all from Eul Class.
It seemed like a ploy to balance group strengths. Conversely, Group One, which included Joo Seo-yeon from the bottom of Eul Class, had three from Gap Class, led by Dokgo Pae.
They didn't think they were at a disadvantage. He could handle the workload of two or three Gap Class cadets himself. It was just...
'I planned to take it easy. Tsk.'
With this grouping, maintaining his rank would make "easy" a bit harder.
Brushing off his inner regret, Il-mok looked at Jeong Hyeon.
'At least Instructor Eun-ryeo granted the request.'
The day after the first exam, at Jeong Hyeon's request, Il-mok had asked Instructor Eun-ryeo to group them together.
And fortunately, she had agreed.
“I'm counting on you, Cadet Jeong.”
As Il-mok said that and stepped closer to Jeong Hyeon.
“P-Please take care of me.”
For some reason, she trembled and backed away farther than the distance Il-mok had approached.
“Eek!”
She belatedly realized she was now close to another group mate, Seong Hyeon, and let out another bizarre shriek.
'Young master is a liar!'
After mental image training based on Il-mok's advice last time, getting close to him had become even harder.
Even a slight approach brought back memories of that mental world, making her face flush and her body twist uncomfortably.
Seeing Jeong Hyeon on the verge of a fit, the other three group mates thought:
'Wrong group...'
'One's basically a non-factor.'
'But with the youngest young master, we have a sliver of hope?'
As the newly grouped five harbored entirely different thoughts, Instructor Chu Il-hwan, having finished sorting, stepped forward.
“The exam begins in one hour. The content is simple: survive this instructor's pursuit.”
With that, Instructor Chu Il-hwan pulled a bell from his robes and tied it to his belt.
“This instructor will pursue you while wearing this bell. You will have a one-hour head start to move and erase your tracks to shake me off. The longer your group survives, the more bonus points. However, if you stray from Mount Taecheon and get trapped in the formations, you will fail outright—so beware. Finally.”
Pausing perhaps to draw their focus, Chu Il-hwan flashed his signature mischievous smile.
“The group that successfully takes this instructor's bell will receive top marks, regardless of time.”
It was a smile that seemed to taunt them: try it if you dare.
“With explanations done, move out!”
At Instructor Chu Il-hwan's command after finishing, all groups scattered and dashed off in different directions.
The waiting instructors and assistants followed, each deploying stealth techniques to track their assigned groups.
Among them was Demonic Path Academy Lord Yeom Ga-hwi.
'An exam close to real combat. When mixed with others, true natures tend to emerge.'
The group he was pursuing was Group Four, with Il-mok.