novelraw Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22 - Murim Alliance (2)
‘He said the exam site for First-Rate martial artists is on the far right, didn’t he?’
Pushing through the crowd and moving to the right, Jaun felt the surroundings gradually becoming more pleasant and lifted his head to examine the area closely.
Left.
Center.
Right.
Among the three sections of the exam site, only the left one, which selected Third-Rate martial artists, was teeming with people, while from the central exam site onwards, there weren’t many people waiting.
‘Well. Properly trained martial artists aren’t common, after all……. Most applicants must be at the Third-Rate level. That’s a relief. I won’t have to wait too long.’
Letting out a sigh of relief, Jaun continued to move towards the right with much lighter steps.
As Jaun left the left exam site and walked towards the central exam site responsible for Second-Rate martial artist exams, the gazes of the martial artists standing around focused on him.
“Uh-oh? That kid……. Where is he going?”
“Didn’t he get lost? I think we should call him back here.”
“He’s walking too confidently for that.”
“Surely not……. At that age, already at the Second-Rate level?”
“Tsk. Could that be possible? Must be a kid who doesn’t know anything.”
“True, unless he received full support belonging to the Nine Great Sects and One Beggar Clan, reaching the Second-Rate level at that age isn’t easy.”
Leaving the murmuring applicants behind, Jaun continued to move his steps.
The number of people waiting at the central exam site was about thirty.
As Jaun passed straight by the people gathered at the central exam site with nervous expressions, the murmuring of the crowd grew louder.
‘That must be the First-Rate martial artist exam site.’
A small table placed all alone in the corner of the empty exam site caught Jaun’s eye.
When Jaun, having crossed the open ground, approached the table, a young man who was dozing off while sitting at the table startled at the presence and jumped up from his seat.
Jaun handed the paper he was holding to the young man.
“This is the First-Rate martial artist exam site, right…….”
The young man looked Jaun up and down, then turned his eyes to the paper.
「Fifteen years old, Han Jaun.
Nameless soldier, Rise to Fame.
First-Rate Martial Artist. (Three Talents Sword Art)」
It was a combination of words that didn’t match.
The young man, tilting his head once while looking Jaun over, bowed deeply.
“I have confirmed the application. Could you wait for a moment? I will bring the examiner.”
The young man, having greeted politely, moved quickly to the middle exam site using light footwork and whispered something to a middle-aged man supervising the exam from behind.
The middle-aged man, glancing once at Jaun standing alone, let out a small sigh and walked to the back of the central exam site.
“Hnng.”
Picking up a large wooden pillar placed at the back of the exam site with difficulty, the middle-aged man then began to walk slowly towards where Jaun was.
Looking Jaun over as he approached, the middle-aged man planted the large wooden pillar he was holding in front of him.
─ Thud!
The sound of the wooden pillar being planted in the ground filled the exam site.
The middle-aged man, looking at Jaun with sharp eyes, opened his mouth.
“Young Hero. Are you certain you have stepped into the realm of First-Rate?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
“……Believe so, you say.”
Looking at Jaun giving a vague answer with a confident attitude, the middle-aged man scratched his nose.
“The First-Rate martial artist exam is conducted within mechanisms, and one wrong move can lead to serious injury. To reduce any potential danger, I would like to do one verification task with this wooden pillar first……. Is that acceptable?”
The middle-aged man looked at Jaun with a gaze containing both worry and suspicion.
Jaun nodded his head vigorously.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Good. Then we will proceed with the verification task first. The method is simple. Just stomp your foot and shoot your energy into this wooden pillar once, and that’s it.”
What the middle-aged man proposed was an Emission of Force test.
It was a representative test to check how freely the release and withdrawal of energy were performed.
When Jaun nodded and looked around the wooden pillar, the middle-aged man carefully examined Jaun’s youthful face.
Every year, there were martial artists who got injured visiting the exam site without properly understanding even their own level.
Moreover, this boy was still far too young to take the First-Rate martial artist exam.
Even the phrases written on the reception slip he brought were, without exception, unreliable.
‘From next time, maybe I should just make the Emission of Force test an official process.’
The middle-aged man looked at Jaun with a gaze from which suspicion had not been erased.
“Is the goal to destroy the wooden pillar?”
“No. Since it is a test to see the proficiency in the process of releasing energy, the result is not that important.”
Jaun, nodding at the middle-aged man’s words, took a step closer to the wooden pillar.
Glancing back at the middle-aged man once, Jaun fell into thought.
‘I should adjust the energy to about the First-Rate level.’
Jaun slowly raised his arm.
Jaun’s goal was to join the Anti-Demon Squad and look for opportunities.
To do that, a rank around squad leader would be sufficient.
‘To operate without attracting unnecessary attention, First-Rate level is appropriate.’
Jaun, having drawn up his energy, took a deep breath once, then slowly lifted his foot and calmly stomped down.
─ Thud
The sound wasn’t loud, but it was a proper stomp that resonated deep into the ground.
At the sound of the stomp shaking the ground, people watching Jaun from afar also their eyes shined.
Subsequently, Jaun, having stomped, thrust his body forward like flowing water.
The purpose of stomping was to gain momentum and change the direction of energy to control it stably.
The stomp Jaun showed was precise, concise, and filled with power, as if he had pasted a movement straight from a textbook.
“Ho-oh.”
The middle-aged man watching Jaun unwittingly let out a small exclamation.
Jaun, having shifted his center of gravity to the foot that performed the stomp, then stretched out his fist in a graceful motion and placed it against the wooden pillar.
─ Tap
Jaun’s fist, which had lightly touched the wooden pillar, returned to its original position.
Jaun straightened his posture, but there was no change in the wooden pillar standing in front.
People watching Jaun from afar snickered as if they knew it would be like that and turned their gazes away again.
The young man in charge of the First-Rate exam site, looking at Jaun standing nonchalantly, spoke carefully.
“Um……. Young Hero. Perhaps it would be better to move to the Second-Rate exam site and take another exam…….”
“Wait.”
Cutting off the young man, the middle-aged man slowly approached the wooden pillar planted in front of Jaun.
Narrowing his eyes, the middle-aged man examined the wooden pillar here and there, then lifted one finger and tapped the pillar.
─ Crumble
He had merely touched it with a finger, but the wooden pillar shattered into small pieces and crumbled down as it was.
“High-level Internal Energy Heavy Hand…….”
The middle-aged man looked with a surprised expression at the wood fragments scattering in the wind.
The single move Jaun showed was a very precise Internal Energy Heavy Hand that struck only the inside without damaging the outside.
“……With this level of refined emission of internal energy, it can be sufficiently said that you have reached the First-Rate level.”
Turning his body and nodding, the middle-aged man’s eyes shined.
“Hah, First-Rate level at such a young age without any particular background…. The Jianghu is truly a place one can never know.”
Muttering to himself and thinking about something, the middle-aged man slowly approached Jaun.
“Please forgive my rudeness. Since there are applicants from such diverse walks of life, I needed to verify.”
With a much softer attitude, the middle-aged man tapped Jaun’s shoulder.
“Is there perhaps a group you have in mind? I am Nam Ui-hyeon of the Martial Worship Squad, which manages the major and minor affairs of the Murim Alliance. If you don’t have a specific place in mind, the Martial Worship Squad would welcome your enrollment at any time.”
At the middle-aged man’s words, Jaun answered with a fist salute.
“I appreciate the offer, but I am thinking of the Anti-Demon Squad.”
“Anti-Demon Squad……. Indeed, for someone like you to be active on the front lines would be reassuring from the Murim Alliance’s perspective as well. Good. I will submit your application to the Anti-Demon Squad. I will guarantee that you possess the skills to join.”
At the middle-aged man’s words, Jaun threw a question.
“Then is the entrance exam over like this?”
“Since I will guarantee it, there is no problem in joining even if we end it here. However, if you wish, you can proceed to take the proper entrance exam.”
Staring intently at Jaun, the middle-aged man continued.
“The formally conducted First-Rate martial artist exam proceeds within a mechanism formation. Additional points are awarded depending on how quickly and safely you pass the exam. Since that score leads to evaluations in the assigned group, if you wish, it would be good to try challenging it once. However, keep in mind that it is somewhat dangerous as it is an exam using real weapons.”
“I will challenge it.”
Hearing the middle-aged man’s words, Jaun answered without hesitation.
He declined too much attention, but he would still need to have his skills recognized to some extent to operate comfortably.
Looking at Jaun’s calm face, a smile formed on the middle-aged man’s lips.
“Haha. I will see something interesting for the first time in a while. Good. Please wait a moment. I will prepare the exam right away.”
Having finished speaking, the middle-aged man approached the young man in charge of the exam site and whispered something in his ear.
Then the young man bowed and ran off somewhere.
Subsequently, the middle-aged man walked slowly to one corner and manipulated something in front of the bushes.
─ Rumble
After some time passed, the middle-aged man, confirming a weak vibration, dusted off his hands and approached Jaun.
“That over there is the entrance. You just have to go inside and pass through the forest to the end. I say this once again, but please be aware that it consists of mechanism formations, so it is a situation where you cannot hold back your hand. You can freely choose a weapon at the entrance.”
Jaun, bowing lightly to the middle-aged man who finished the explanation, looked toward the entrance of the bushes.
Various weapons were hung right on the right side of the entrance. Approaching the entrance, Jaun took out a short sword.
‘Mechanisms……. Sounds fun?’
Jaun, holding the sword, grinned and slowly walked into the bushes.
The examiner, watching Jaun enter the bushes, suppressed his presence and followed closely behind Jaun.
***
‘Three on the right.’
─ Clang-clang-clang
Jaun, who deflected the flying daggers all at once, looked around.
A small path stretched straight into the forest, and every time he passed along that path, hidden weapons using mechanisms or traps were activated.
‘I roughly understand how it flows. Since he said the time to pass the gate is also an evaluation factor, shall I try doing it properly now?’
Jaun, kicking off the ground with force, began to shoot forward at high speed.
─ Chang
ㅡ Kwa-a-ang!
ㅡ Clang
As he moved inward, the speed of the flying hidden weapons became faster and faster, but Jaun dealt with all the hidden weapons one by one without allowing even a hem of his clothes to be touched.
Hidden weapons poured down endlessly around Jaun, who was passing through the mechanisms at tremendous speed.
─ Clang!
Once again, a light sound followed, and the deflected hidden weapons rolled on the ground.
Jaun, who was running while increasing his speed to the utmost while easily deflecting the hidden weapons, discovered a large puddle lying ahead and slowed down.
Since trees were densely planted to the left and right of the puddle, there was no way to go around to the other side.
‘Are they telling me to cross over this obstacle?’
Jaun bent down and picked up a few leaves from the ground.
Then, increasing his speed once again, he threw his body over the puddle without hesitation.
─ Splash
Simultaneously as Jaun passed over the puddle, short spears shot up from below.
Subsequently, daggers flew in at high speed from the left and right.
Since it was an attack rushing in simultaneously from below and the sides, it was impossible to dodge without collision while floating in the air.
‘In that case…….’
─ Whish
Jaun, rotating his body in the air, deflected the daggers flying from the left and right.
Then, using the recoil from deflecting the daggers, he accelerated his figure diagonally down towards the puddle.
He narrowly avoided the short spears shooting up, but Jaun’s body lost momentum and was falling into the puddle.
‘If I fall into the water like this, I’ll waste quite a bit of time.’
Jaun scattered the leaves he had picked up earlier towards the puddle with a swish.
Stepping consecutively on the leaves that fell neatly onto the puddle, Jaun increased his speed just like that.
─ Ta-da-dak
The examiner, watching Jaun running as if skimming over the puddle by stepping on leaves, exclaimed inwardly from behind.
‘Excellent!’
He had watched many martial artists pass through the First-Rate exam site.
In fact, since the geniuses raised by the Nine Great Sects and One Beggar Clan joined directly without passing through this gate, the martial artists passing this exam site often created somewhat precarious situations.
‘Naturally, I thought this boy would be like that too, but……’
But contrary to his thoughts, the appearance this boy showed was clearly different from other applicants.
The speed of passing the gate was surprising, but every process was natural like flowing water.
‘With this level of martial prowess at that age…… Perhaps a new star has appeared in the Jianghu.’
─ Pa-ang
Stepping forcefully on the last leaf, Jaun’s figure floated into the air again, and the examiner chased after him with a smile on his face.