Chapter 210
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Too Easy, Right?
The great training ground was packed with cadets.
Fierce Dragon Corps first-years and second-years.
All gathered in one place.
At the forefront of the cadets.
The Fierce Dragon Corps instructors had assembled there as well.
Wearing expressions of bewilderment at what was happening.
They too had gathered on the orders of Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho.
Moyong Jin-ho had received instructions from Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
Moyong Jin-ho stood among the instructors, his face bearing a peculiar expression.
Facing them.
There stood Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul, Ha Mu-baek, and Han Seol-bing.
Since it was the first day, Jegal Myeong had come out to lend a hand.
"I'm planning changes to the Fierce Dragon Corps' training regimen. The purpose is to boost survival rates."
Pang Do-yul declared from the platform, infusing his voice with inner energy.
His words rang clear in the ears of everyone assembled in the great training ground.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"What the..."
Murmurs erupted here and there, stirring unrest.
It was all too sudden.
Not just the cadets—even the instructors were caught off guard.
Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho had been given prior notice, so he showed no great agitation.
Just a gradually growing look of dismay.
"From now on, all Fierce Dragon Corps training will focus on survival in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. Equipment support will follow suit. And Instructor Ha Mu-baek here will oversee all training."
Pang Do-yul's proclamation.
The commotion grew even louder.
With Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho already in place, how could a mere instructor take charge of all training?
"Instructor Ha Mu-baek's authority over Fierce Dragon Corps training equals my own. Defying his orders will be treated as insubordination against the Pavilion Lord. That's all."
Pang Do-yul said no more and stepped down from the platform.
Ha Mu-baek took his place.
"I'll drill you so hard you'll wish you were dead. Cadets or instructors alike."
A chilling voice.
The instructors were the ones who widened their eyes in shock.
Drill the instructors too?
"Everything I teach from now on is unknown even to you current instructors. To properly instruct cadets as befits your role, you'll need to learn it yourselves. Forget those days of sucking honey."
The instructors' faces flushed red.
Sucking honey? Did this bastard know the scorn and contempt they'd endured from Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps instructors?
Even the cadets from those corps looked down on Fierce Dragon Corps instructors.
It was inevitable.
Most Fierce Dragon Corps instructors were second-rate warriors from the jianghu.
Commoners without notable backing.
The corps' very purpose was to train sacrificial lambs for the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, so there'd been no need for elite instructors.
The only proper warrior in the Fierce Dragon Corps had been Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho—until Ha Mu-baek arrived.
"Urgh."
One instructor started to vent his rage.
The moment he opened his mouth.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned toward him.
Their eyes met directly.
"Ugh... Urk."
An immense pressure crushed his entire body.
He couldn't withstand it.
His body slowly buckled.
He dropped to one knee.
The overwhelming presence made even voicing discontent unthinkable.
"Gulp."
Someone swallowed dryly at the sight.
What the hell?
Why was a monster like that in the Fierce Dragon Corps?
Such gazes.
They'd seen him in last year's Summer Combat Festival and Eastern Combat Tournament, so they knew he wasn't ordinary.
But this exceeded imagination.
Not just the instructor who'd knelt from voicing discontent.
The others felt the body-constricting pressure too.
Even Moyong Jin-ho.
"Pick up swords and shields."
Ha Mu-baek's curt order.
Workers immediately brought swords and shields.
Wei Ji-gun was among them.
Identical swords and shields were distributed to cadets and instructors alike.
They hesitantly took them up.
"Huh?"
The second-year Fierce Dragon Corps cadets' expressions changed upon grabbing their shields.
Inevitably.
They were different from last year's.
Heavier, for one.
And sturdier-looking.
"Those are for training. Combat gear is prepared separately."
Ha Mu-baek's simple explanation.
"This thing..."
"Yeah."
Baek Ri-pyeong and Dang Jin-san exchanged glances and nodded.
The moment they lifted the shields, Squad Seven knew.
This wasn't standard shield weight.
Using something this heavy in real combat would only slow movements and increase danger.
Having fought with shields in spars, they recognized it easily.
They'd prepared these deliberately to make training hell.
"Then..."
Yeon Ha-min's gaze shifted to the sword. A blunted training blade.
Probably heavy too.
Yeon Ha-min picked it up.
Sure enough.
Tremendously heavy, as expected.
Just walking with these would exhaust all strength in no time.
Cries of dismay rose from all around.
Some first-years struggled just to hold sword and shield.
"Cadets, your instructor's over there while you're here. Instructors, I'll train you. Assemble before your instructors."
Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing moved to opposite ends of the great training ground.
The Fierce Dragon Corps instructors and cadets followed accordingly.
Ha Mu-baek had already asserted dominance with his overwhelming presence.
The instructors grumbled inwardly but obeyed.
Even Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho was complying without protest.
'Pavilion Lord... What in the world are you thinking...'
The day before, upon hearing this, Moyong Jin-ho had seriously considered rebellion or resignation.
But he didn't want to leave.
Life at the Dragon Training Pavilion suited him well enough.
He knew how ruthless the jianghu was.
And he had no intention of defying Ha Mu-baek.
He'd heard from the Pavilion Lord himself what kind of man Ha Mu-baek was when he first arrived.
Unbelievable, but he had to believe.
The Pavilion Lord wasn't one to spout nonsense.
"It's the first day, so we'll go easy. Watch closely. This is the basic stance."
Ha Mu-baek assumed a stance with shield and sword.
The instructors stole glances at him.
"Assume basic stance. Execute!"
At Ha Mu-baek's command, the instructors clumsily tried.
Only Moyong Jin-ho nailed it perfectly.
He alone took it seriously.
The others half-assed it.
Despite his earlier overwhelming aura, they'd already forgotten.
Intelligence worse than fish.
Pfft.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled lightly.
Then.
He kicked off the ground casually.
Thwack! Thud! Thwack! Thud-thud-thwack!
"Kuhk!"
"Aak!"
"What the..."
He struck the instructors with the sword's scabbard.
"Stance correction."
Calm words.
True to them.
Each spot he hit was a flaw in form.
With every swing, their stances improved slightly.
However.
The instructors' faces twisted in pain.
"Aak! I can't take it!"
In the midst of it, a scarred ronin instructor charged at Ha Mu-baek.
Thwack!
Crack!
The scabbard showed no mercy.
The instructor spat blood and teeth.
Followed by the sound of bones breaking somewhere.
"Scram."
Ha Mu-baek's icy word.
"Uuu..."
He trembled violently.
He hadn't even seen the sword move.
Moreover, the terrifying killing intent that had enveloped him as it flew.
As a ronin, he was hypersensitive to it.
He'd felt death several times in that instant.
And he couldn't shake the terror, body shuddering.
Thud.
Ha Mu-baek's toe slammed into his gut.
"Keurk."
A groan of agony escaped.
"I said scram."
He staggered out of formation.
"Anyone else? Come on, try it."
The watching instructors immediately averted their eyes at his words.
And tried their best at the basic stance.
"Th-that guy's..."
"Whew. Brutal."
"Lucky it's Instructor Han handling us?"
Squad Seven cadets, peeking from afar, muttered among themselves.
Thwack!
Thud-thud!
Sinister impacts echoed from their side too.
Squad Seven's faces filled with dismay.
They'd momentarily forgotten who Instructor Han had trained under.
In the end, both were the same man.
"Ugh..."
"Krrk..."
Half a shichen into training.
Instructors and cadets alike groaned without exception.
All they'd done was basic stance drills.
"Prepare!" to assume stance, "Rest!" to relax. Simple repetition.
Yet bodies quivered, arms felt like falling off.
Only Squads Seven and Twenty maintained composure.
They'd already endured Ha Mu-baek.
Glance.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned their way.
The cadets sensed it immediately.
Whoosh-whoosh.
Movements sharper, more forceful, diligent.
Squad Seven reacted at once.
The instructor had warned them.
That he'd really drill them.
But this level? To others maybe not, but to them, it wasn't real drilling.
Now his gaze was on them.
They had to show maximum effort and exhaustion.
"Half gak rest! At ease!"
Ha Mu-baek shouted then.
"Whew."
"Haa."
"Saved."
All collapsed to the ground.
Some sprawled flat.
Thud-thud.
Ha Mu-baek walked straight past without a glance.
"Switch."
He said curtly to Ha Mu-baek at Han Seol-bing's spot.
"Yes."
Han Seol-bing headed toward the instructors.
Dang Jin-san's face paled at the sight.
No wonder he'd eyed this group.
To break the instructors' spirit first, Ha Mu-baek had taken them initially.
He'd been granted full authority by Pang Do-yul.
Half gak was truly short.
They staggered to their feet at Ha Mu-baek's order.
"Prepare!"
His shout rang out again.
The cadets hustled into stance.
From afar, they'd glimpsed it.
Ha Mu-baek mercilessly clubbing instructors.
Ha Mu-baek walked among the cadets.
Still whacking as he went.
The difference?
Much lighter than with instructors.
Especially gentle with first-years.
At least he differentiated by level.
Such Ha Mu-baek arrived before Squads Seven and Twenty.
Gulp.
Cadets swallowed dryly.
Ha Mu-baek stared silently, continuing "Prepare!" and "Rest!"
Squads Seven and Twenty moved sword and shield even harder.
"Too easy, right?"
Ha Mu-baek's question to them.
No one answered.
Thuk. Thuk-thuk.
His light finger-flicks struck.
Hitting the seven's pressure points.
"Kuhk."
"Euk."
They soon realized their inner energy wouldn't flow.
Simply sealed.
"This makes it at least equal. Instructor Han's too soft."
He stood before them ongoing.
Yet ghost-like, spotting flawed stances and flicking chi blasts.
Thus two gak passed.
Dang Jin-san's arms began to tremble.
Inevitably.
Inner energy depleted in spars, no meals, heavy stamina drain.
Manageable training let him recover a bit and endure.
But Ha Mu-baek stared piercingly at just Dang Jin-san among Squad Seven.
'Ah, why! Why me!'
He screamed inwardly, but it stayed there.
Soon.
Thwack!
"Kuhk."
Ha Mu-baek's sword flew at flawed-stance Dang Jin-san.
"Tch. No wonder you lost so softly."
Dang Jin-san's face contorted.
'I won! I won!'
He couldn't voice it.
But his face said it.
"Winning like that's something to brag about?"
Thwack.
The sword followed words.
His shield angle had slipped meanwhile.