The trainees were more rebellious than I expected. And I could guess why.
Okryong.
He had been active in diplomatic activities for the Huang Nation, traveling through Hwanguk, Yeolguk, and Cheonchuk, even importing various cultural items from the West, that is, Europe.
Okryong’s achievements are numerous, but the most significant one is undoubtedly that he brought back corn seeds. Corn grows explosively but damages the soil considerably, making it a perfect crop for the Huang Nation, which has plenty of land available.
In the future, it is set in the Martial World that corn will be called corn as a way to honor Okryong for bringing back the corn seeds.
Anyway, his unique affability and networking abilities surely hadn’t gone to waste, and he probably gathered information by poking around various units and spreading bad rumors throughout the regiment.
I wasn’t going to drag Okryong over for a scolding.
Was there really a need to? If I carelessly shared any information, I’d be sure to learn the hard way what kind of disaster could unfold over the next month.
I thought to myself as I adjusted the beret I had commissioned from Cheonui Mubeong.
Jae Sang-hae was still just a troublemaker. With the kind of talent that Jae Sang-hae had, if he had chosen his means and methods wisely and practiced patience, he could have isolated the training instructor from the unit without causing much noise and taken the initiative.
It was just the notion of wanting to display his strength and abilities by clashing head-on with me that was the problem.
“Look, I’m strong enough to fight the instructor and win!”
Such a display of vanity would only make Jae Sang-hae look foolish.
These guys were still greenhorns. Okryong had good sociability, but he was just a simple gossip who couldn’t differentiate when to speak up and when to stay silent, and Jo Ga-ju still hadn’t picked up his best friend, the spear, while Jae Sang-hae was nothing but a clueless fish who had never been hit in his life.
The rest were the same. The way they easily antagonized the training instructor showed how immature they still were.
“This instructor can be both an angel and a devil, depending on the cadets’ actions.”
The fourteen trainees looked at me in disbelief. Ah, I used to think that way too when I was a trainee. And at that time, the instructor said this.
“Get down.”
Thud.
“Is my command amusing? Why is no one answering me?”
“Ah!”
“Get up!”
“Ah!”
“For the next month, this instructor will train together with the cadets.”
“Ah!”
“This instructor will tear down everything from your head to your toes and train your minds from scratch. Are we clear?”
“Ah!”
“In order to correct the cadets’ sloppy foundations and rotten minds, the time is insufficient, but I will do my utmost. I hope the cadets will follow this instructor’s guidance. Are we clear?”
“Ah!”
I scanned the faces of the cadets and chuckled inwardly. All the talents here would eventually find their way into other fields. Jo Ga-ju could be said to be somewhere between a martial artist and an instructor, and except for Kang Chumo-ru, who would later become a general, they would all scatter into their respective fields instead of being soldiers.
It’s said that teaching martial arts and tactics leads to nothing but futility in the future.
Since I had to teach them anyway, I’d better leave them with something that would positively impact their futures.
“It appears to me that the foundations of these trainees are quite a mess.”
“Ah!”
This was the truth.
Currently, their level was generally first-rate. If you asked why the skills of those who passed the famous Commander of the Golden Guards exam were only first-rate, it’s because the Commanders of the Golden Guards are not a group of martial artists but an elite army of Huang.
The goal is to train martial artists and enhance their martial arts, while the Golden Guards’ objective is to utilize those martial arts for ‘work.’
These young men, at such a young age, are proven to be talented, but to my eyes, Ho Cheon-an, they looked like a mess.
Of course, I too had been a mess in the eyes of Hyeok Gi-rin and the Masters, but isn’t everything relative?
They’re showing talents in their own fields, yet those who applied to the Golden Guards think that following their family business or nurturing their unique skills is boring. They dream of becoming experts in the Golden Guards to live an extravagant life while criticizing the world and trained under some neighborhood martial artist or self-taught with secret texts.
Thus, their training status was horrible.
“So now, I’ll teach you the Blood Splashing Gymnastics!”
“Ah!”
So first, let’s build some basic stamina.
The trainees gulped.
Blood Splashing Gymnastics? Does that mean a training method where blood splashes? Just how ruthless can a training method be to earn that name?
The trainees became tense as they watched Ho Cheon-an perform a demonstration.
“Number one, high jump.”
However, the trainees looked slightly puzzled at Ho Cheon-an’s demonstration. The movements were a bit unfamiliar, but the four divided actions weren’t that difficult.
It looked like a mix of common training movements.
“Each movement must take your feet off the ground. We’ll start with just ten repetitions. You must count loudly with each repetition. This is to check if the trainees are focused on their main training. There will be absolutely no count for ten.”
“Ah!”
“Good. Count like that with that kind of momentum. I’ll say this again, there will be no count for ten.”
“Ah!”
“Alright, let’s prepare for the Blood Splashing Gymnastics, number one!”
“Ah!”
“The count is ten!”
“Ah!”
Ho Cheon-an put the whistle in his mouth.
Beep! Beep beep!
“One!”
The Blood Splashing Gymnastics proceeded in rhythm. The trainees repeated the first movement of the Blood Splashing Gymnastics towards the line while thinking.
Surprisingly normal training.
Just moments ago, Ho Cheon-an’s eyes had been gleaming with madness! The glare that seemed ready to kill someone was still there, but the training itself was being carried out very rationally.
As soon as we started what could be called our main duties, Ho Cheon-an demonstrated and gave precise instructions. Feeling fear of what terrifying, inhumane things might happen being trained by Ho Cheon-an, who looked like a madman, the trainees were relieved.
Beep- beep! Beep beep!
“Ten!”
Perhaps that’s why many of those who loudly shouted the tenth count weren’t just one or two.
Ho Cheon-an’s whistle stopped, and all along with the trainees, everyone suddenly froze in awkward poses.
Time stood still in the space where Ho Cheon-an and the trainees were.
And breaking that silence was Ho Cheon-an’s one word.
“Get down.”
Thud!
“Did this instructor ask for something too difficult from the cadets?”
“Ah!”
“Affirmative is ‘ah’. Negative is ‘not’. I’ll ask again. Did this instructor ask for something too difficult from the cadets?”
“No!”
“Get up!”
Crash!
“Now we will perform Blood Splashing Gymnastics number one. The repetitions are twenty! How many?”
“Twenty!”
“Good. There will be no count for ten. I’ll say it again. There will be no count for ten and twenty.”
“Ah!”
“Prepare for Blood Splashing Gymnastics number one!”
“Ah!”
Beep- beep! Beep beep!
“Ten!”
The loud counts rang out.
“Roll left, roll right! Sleep backward!”
“Ah! Ah! Ah ah ah!”
“This Blood Splashing Gymnastics consists of fourteen movements! Are you planning to stay up all night with just the first movement?”
“No!”
The trainees’ faces went pale. There are… fourteen of them?
“This time, it’s thirty. Repeat after me, how many?”
“Thirty!”
And of course,
“Thirty!”
“Oh boy…”
“Cut it out already.”
Complaints burst out from the trainees, and of course, Ho Cheon-an wouldn’t miss that.
“Everyone down!”
“Ah!”
“This instructor has repeatedly told you that we’re one unit, yet it seems the trainees still don’t understand.”
“No, it’s not, ah!”
“You’re one unit, and the failure of a comrades is the failure of the unit. Is that understood?”
“Ah!”
“How can cadets who know that say such things! Raise your right leg!”
“Ahhhh!”
“Lift it up to your waist!”
“Ahhhh!!”
“Now bend your arms accordingly! Repeat after me! The unit is!”
“The unit is!”
“One!”
“One!”
“Lift down on one and up on two! Repeat after me! One!”
“The unit is!”
“Two!”
“One!”
“Now, can you do it well this time?”
“Ah!”
“Good. Return to original position!”
“Ah!”
“This time, it’s sixty. How many?”
“Sixty!”
“Prepare for Blood Splashing Gymnastics number one!”
“Aahhhh!”
It took Ho Cheon-an’s unit half a day to complete all fourteen Blood Splashing movements.
