PHENOMENAL ARENA

General Sokham had set out of his manor with his entourage and he were travelling with Haesul and Seungman in the same carriage.

"Tell me something Seungman." Sokham said.

"What is it Sir?" Seungman asked.

"However did you train in martial arts?" Sokham asked.

"We didn't have a good training course like the one in Your Manor sir, I remember that for me it was always running around the hills, climbing up and down with two water buckets in my hands.

I remember that there was swimming upstream and then training on the trees as well as the fields blindly.

At once I remember I had to run through marshlands." Seungman replied.

"All that seems natural, I can tell it's the reason that you are very flexible even in your movements it's not that hard for you to wield. a sword or any other weapon." Sokham said.

"I guess that I had always hopped so much to become like my master and even better to fight for my motherland." Seungman said.

"Seoraebeol is too big, do you think there is anyone there that you might know?" Sokham asked.

"There is someone there that I know." Seungman replied.

Haesul looked the other way as he wasn't interested in the conversation.

"That's good enough." Sokham said.

"Sir, could you tell me about the Hwarang?" Seungman asked and Haesul who was quite surprised to hear that turned and looked at the both of them.

"The Hwarang?" General Sokham asked.

"Yes." Seungman replied.

"Why?" General Sokham asked.

Seungman was reluctant to tell him the truth as to why she was interested so she buttered up a lie.

"I am curious." Seungman said.

"The Hwarang are a group of Shilla's most elite youth, in fact, some of the great Generals that emerged following the reigns of King Jinheung and King Jinji up to the present day King Jinpyeong, they were originally Nangdos and Pungwoljis." General Sokham replied.

"Were you also a Hwarang?" Seungman asked.

"Yes." General Sokham replied. "I remember those days as though it was just yesterday, we were sworn warriors that were devoted to motivating the rest of the troops and the cavalry of Shilla to fight.

Along with us we carried in our hearts the most golden rule and that was to see to it that all three Kingdoms of Samhan would one day unite on this peninsula band become one." He added.

"You must hold those days to be very valuable." Seungman said.

"I prize them." Sokham said. "The glory, that fame, the loyalty, bravery and honour made me a dustinct General that I am today and I was thankful to one man who made it possible for me to find redemption within my soul." he added.

"Who was that man?" Seungman asked.

"Galmunwang Gukban." Sokham replied with a smile on her face.

Seungman was quite intrigued when she heard it.

"In fact, I am taking Haesul to Seoraebeol so that he can also become a Hwarang." Sokham said and Seungman looked at him admiringly.

"How lucky he is." She said. "The Hwarang sound so exciting it makes me wish that I were a man too." She said sweetly as they continued their journey.

"I'd never thought that things would come to this." Princess Deokman said as she sat right in front of Yushin and Alc heon.

"Your Highness." Alcheon said.

"No." Princess Deokman said, "I can't just watch things turn out this way." She added.

"Why would they wish that the King should remarry?" Yushin asked.

"My mother is already past child bearing age and there are no male seeds to inherit the throne, the last that remains of the Seonggols is the female heritage." Princess Deokman replied.

"You should be ready Your Highness." Alcheon said. "this is the opposition that is always laid ahead for everyone that wishes to be a ruler." He added.

"Even I am faced with nearly the same fate as that of Mishil but I can not let my dream slip away, no, no one shall lead me to my grave except myself." Princess Deokman said.

She had just spoken when the door of her room was opened and one of her maid servants walked in.

"Your Highness." She said as she bowed her head.

"What is it?" Princess Deokman asked.

"Prince Kim Chunchu is here to see you, he says that it is very urgent." She replied.

"Let him in." Princess Deokman said.

"Aye." She replied as she bowed her head and then walked out.

A short while later with the three patiently waiting, Kim Chunchu walked up to them.

"Your Highness." He said as he bowed his head.

"Have a seat." Princess Deokman said and Chunchu complied as he sat down at the opposite end of the table.

"It's good that you are here." Princess Deokman asked.

"Aren't you going to ask me the reason as to why I have decided to see you now?" Chunchu asked.

"I suppose that I already know." Princess Deokman replied.

"Is there anyone who understands my wisdom and my thoughts much better than your Highness?" Chunchu asked.

"Just as I am for you, there is no one who understands my motives and reasons out there like you." Princess Deokman said with a smile on her face.

"Then why aren't you afraid?" Chunchu asked.

"Did you come here to threaten her Highness?" Alcheon asked.

"Alcheon Rang." Princess Deokman called to him.

"Pardon me Your Highness." Alcheon said as he bowed his head.

"I understand what you want more than anything else." Princess Deokman replied.

"But you are also reluctant to give it up." Chunchu said.

"Because I believe that I am much too qualified when it comes to who is rightful to ascend." Princess Deokman replied.

"There are people and letters coming into my residence lately." Chunchu said.

"And they are asking to support your claim for the Throne?" Princess Deokman said.

"After all, I am a direct descendant of two Seonggol Kings and two Seonggol Queens, can you above all the other women tell me, isn't it much easier for my title to be reinstated for I personally believe that I can come to possess the Hallowed bone again." Chunchu said.

"But how far would you be willing to go?" Princess Deokman asked. "A claim against the King in this our Shilla is an act of treason, I do not wish to see my sister as well mourning the loss of her son, I do not wish to create a rift within the family and I am unwilling to force my own nephew to contend with me." She added.

"I have even never found the courage to call you my aunt." Chunchu said.

"Didn't you ask yourself why?" Princess Deokman asked.

"I believe that I know." Chunchu said.

"Then that's good enough." Princess Deokman said. "You should be worried about those that call themselves your disciples." She added.

"Mishil's people became my own." Chunchu said.

"But they were uprooted from their high positions and cast in the mud they feel much lowly than the peasants themselves.

There are people that are pledging the help you acquire the throne but aren't you curious why they can not have it for themselves and if they could turn against the ruling King, why wouldn't they turn against you?" Princess Deokman replied.

"I get your point and I thought about it." Chunchu said.

"That's quite logical, there's still living Seonggols that can run the show and it's likely one of them is using you as a traitor just to depose your father.

Many fear as you might have heard that I am the successor of Mishil and others fear that like she drenched this our Heavenly kingdom I'm blood and suffering just so that she'd become a queen I might as well just do the same.

If it was quite easy for her then give in to the love of six husbands and reach the height of power, pull strings within the court and command the wrath of the Hwarang being one of the most influential Wonhwa, she was instrumental in deposing your Grandfather King Jinji..." Princess Deokman said.

"Many would believe this to be a family feud and in the end like a tool that has already served its use I would be abandoned and called a national traitor." Chunchu asked.

"They only wish to use you because they believe that you are most competent to oust me, you very much know the very fate that awaits you." Princess Deokman said.

"And that's why I have come." Chunchu said with a smile on his face as he fanned himself with a peacock feather fan.

"I am most envious of the thoughts that are running in your mind." Princess Deokman said.

"I can open up to you much more than anyone else." Chunchu said. "You don't need to be envious." He added.

"I believe I know what you are asking for." Princess Deokman said, "But it's something that goes two way and depending on how you are going to use that power you are going to define our relationship in future." Princess Deokman added.

"Yes." Chunchu said.

"You can do as you please, just don't let those people control you at all." Princess Deokman said. "If you can succeed in doing so then I very much believe that in deed you are worthy of that known to the two of us alone." Princess Deokman replied.

"As Always Your Highness, I am on Your side." Chunchu said as he stood up and bowed his head.

"Then I hope that you won't disappoint me because as long as you won't fail me, I won't fail you as well." Princess Deokman replied and Chunchu walked out.

"I don't understand Your Highness." Yushin said.

"Yes, me either." Alcheon added.

"What did you tell Chunchu to do?" Yushin asked.

"There are people that plan on using him to uproot my power and my influence in the court as I am certain it must be well known at this moment that Galmunwang Gukban is on my side." Princess Deokman replied.

"So they want to make Chunchu your contender for the throne?" Alcheon Rang asked.

"Yes." Princess Deokman replied. "It's possible for the Seonggol rank to be reinstated and revised once it has been taken away to ensure that there is succession to the throne.

Chunchu knows that as many expect me to get married, I am considering a few things aside so I only asked him for permission to use him to uproot them." Princess Deokman replied.

"But he has gotten support, why would he turn against them, it's like a snake eating its own tail?" Yushin asked.

"That's why I told him that it's a two way deal that could either put him with me or against me because if they were really that powerful they wouldn't have used him in the first place and to them he is something disposable they can use to redeem themselves, it's just like killing with a borrowed knife." Princess Deokman replied.

"Then it leaves Chunchu without a choice but to be for you." Alcheon Rang said.

"You can never be too certain and you can never be too quick to trust, Chunchu being smart can be both a sword and a shield for me, it could also be very venomous on my side.

Why do you think that King Jinheung who took Mishil as his favourite grew up to fear her?" Princess Deokman replied.

"I see Your Highness." Alcheon said.

"We could be confident that Chunchu is our sword but nevertheless we must prepare to guard against him." Princess Deokman replied.

General Sokham's entourage halted and at that moment he stepped out as both his son and Seungman followed him.

They were on a hilltop and as they walked closer to the age, Seungman stood and she noticed the most beautiful view that she had ever seen.

"Is that.....?" She asked but was interrupted by Haesul.

"... Seoraebeol?" He completed.

"Yes." Seungman affirmed.

"It is." Sokham replied.

"It really is the city of Gold." Seungman said as she admired it's vastness and how it stretched under the morning son from one end to the other.

She could see a series of prominent coloured roofs and then also a few other structures.

"From here you can see the Palace." Sokham said as he pointed in a distance at the very Grand structure that was even the longest from that point.

"The school of the Hwarang and their Arena." He added as he pointed at it in a distance.

"It's beautiful." Seungman said.

"All this vast expanse of land only reached the height of its glories during the reigns of King Jinheung and King Jinpyeong.

"In deed, this is the Capital." Seungman said still marvelled by the sight.

"There is no sight that is eternal of you can not protect it and for a ruler there is no domain of you can not rule it." Sokham said.

"For just as the lion fights to defend it's pride." Haesul said.

"So does the land fight to confine the rivers from exceeding their banks." Seungman said as she stared at the city and the two turned around and looked at her.

"A flood breaks the barrier." Sokham said.

"A hunter breaks the pride." Haesul said.

"A usurper breaks the Hallowed bone." Seungman concluded and they were both amazed.

At that point she turned around and looked at them only to see shock painted onto their faces.

"What is it?" Seungman asked.

"How did you know that?" General Sokham asked.

"My Master taught it to me." Seungman replied.

"How is that even possible?" General Sokham asked.

"Why?" Seungman asked.

"That is the song of the Hwarang." Haesul replied and Seungman was surprised.

"Perhaps the reason why your Master never told you his name was because he was a Hwarang." General Sokham said and Seungman was lost.

"Father?" She thought inwardly. "Is it true?" She asked herself as she recalled how he had denied it when Alcheon had talked about it.

"We'd better get back inside." General Sokham said.

"Yes." Haesul replied as Seungman followed them and she sat into the carriage once again it slowly made its descent into Seoraebeol.

"Why didn't you want me to associate with the people from Seoraebeol?" She asked herself inwardly. "Why did you hide it from me that you were a Hwarang?" She added. "What did the people in Seoraebeol do to you?" She added as she seemed to be so immersed in her thoughts even Sokham and Haesul noticed her sudden change in mood.

"Seungman." Haesul called the first time but she didn't reply.

"Seungman." He called the second and she was quite startled that she looked at the both of them.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Are you alright?" Haesul asked.

"Yes." Seungman replied. "It's just that I remembered something." She added as she looked at the window leaving Sokham and his son to look at each other momentarily.

The carriage arrived in Seoraebeol and Seungman couldn't stop looking around the entire place.

For the first time in her life she was seeing an extremely busy marketplace and additionally, there were very many people that were loitering around.

The carriage halted at the entrance of a very large manor that bore a plaque on top which spelt out General Kim's residence.

Seungman stepped out followed by Haesul as she stared at the magnificent gateway and then she looked all around her.

The guards at the Manor bowed down their heads.

"Your Excellency." They said as General Sokham walked through.

"Is this your Manor as well?" Seungman asked Haesul

"Yes." He replied.

"It's beautiful." Seungman said.

"You'll love it more inside." Cheongye said as she stepped in between the two and dragging Seungman she led her inside past her father as Seungman was trying her best to resist but also did not wish to disappoint the young girl so she surrendered to her bidding.

They stopped in the courtyard and Seungman looked around the whole place.

It was just as beautiful as Cheongye had said.

Turning around, she was standing face to face with Haesul that she seemed to be taken by surprise and Cheongye looking at the both of them rushed over and pushed Seungman that she nearly fell but Haesul held her up before she even landed.

"Cheongye, stop teasing them." General Sokham said and Seungman standing on her own she felt so embarrassed as General Sokham looked on while Haesul scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm going to check out the City." Seungman said as she hurriedly ran outside with her sword at hand.

Sokham was so silent until he remembered that he wasn't supposed to just let her go like that so turning around he decided to follow Seungman outside but she was quite fast she had already started to blend into the crowds that flooded the whole place.

She was walking and looking at the stalls many of which were stocked with a series of fruits and vegetables along with some food.

Some sold clothes and ornaments, cosmetics and sachets, others were clothing stores with a lot of coloured fabric and the rest inns, residences, restaurants and even some betting houses.

Seungman walked through as she barely knew anyone in the place.

Her excitement had slowly seemed to die out on its own as she was entirely overwhelmed by curiosity at that point.

She tightly held her sword as she marched through the stalls one by one.

"Do you need anything young lady?" The women selling some ornaments asked her but Seungman was quick to decline as she had little money on her she didn't know of she would survive the night in this City.

Initially, Seungman was very hopeful to meet Alcheon Rang given that he'd saved her life, he might have been quite an old man but for some strange reason she felt so attached to him in ways that she herself was unable to explain.

She tried to recall a few things and then she remembered how General Sokham had shown her the Hwarang Arena and school from the hill, she was most certain that of she found the Palace which was very tall then naturally the Arena would only be stationed nearby.

Seungman started trying to look over a number of buildings but enough of them at least had two stories to compete with the palace as well.

She couldn't forget the dark Navy blue tiles she'd seen on the roof, definitely those are was certain would paint out a clear distinction and she'd know the palace with so much ease.

She walked until eventually, she halted in an open area where she could see far ahead a tall wall and the battlements.

On top she saw a group of guards and watching the tiles on the roof and the structures behind, she was certain that it was the Palace that she was looking for and she decided to walk towards it.

Princess Deokman stepped out of her quarters followed by Yushin and Alcheon, once there she stood at the top of the staircase when she noticed a group of Hwarangs were headed in her direction wearing a bright red attire and they were being headed by Bopheung.

"Your Highness." Bopheung said as he bowed his head.

"Is it time?" Princess Deokman asked.

"It is Your Highness, I have seen to it that the Hwarang prepare for your inspection and as the keeper of the Hwarang, for you we have earnestly been waiting." Bopheung replied.

"Take me to the Arena." Princess Deokman said and at once, Bopheung lesson the way, the other Hwarang that had followed him parted and Princess Deokman walked through with Yushin and Alcheon and negotiating a nearby corner they walked in the direction of the magnificent structure that stood on the Western part of the Palace.

Haesul who had searched for Seungman halted as he looked in the direction of the palace where he saw someone that was dressed in the same clothes as the ones that Seungman had been wearing and he decided to approach them as he yelled and called to her but his noise was bring drowned in the bustle of the merchants and all other inhabitants of the capital.

Seungman looking at the wall and the guards, the flags that had been hoisted and were flying in the sky so high confirmed that in deed it was the Palace and before Haesul could get closer to her, she smiled and turned to her left where she continued following the fence of the Palace.

By the time that Haesul got to the place, she had vanished and he tried to look around to see where Seungman had vanished to but to no avail, there was barely any sign of her in the large crowds.

"Where are you Seungman?" He asked himself as he seemed to recall everything that they had talked about earlier.

"Why would she even come to the Palace?" He asked himself until he recalled that of the few places his father had shown them on the hill, one of them was the Hwarang Arena.

His instincts pushed him to try and wonder what she had wanted there and there and then he recalled that Seungman was hoping to see someone.

"She knew that Hwarang song, is it possible that the person that she is looking for is a Hwarang?" Haesul asked himself as he hurried off in the direction of the Arena.

Seungman was already at the entrance and she stood and admired the entrance which was coloured with a number of ribbons and adorned with five flags.

One was blue with the image of a dragon, the second was red with the image of a phoenix, the third was yellow with the Image of a sun, the forth was green with the image of a sword and shield and the fifth was purple with the Image of a lion.

She gazed with amazement but was surprised that the gates had been abandoned.

She could hear some murmurs that were coming from inside and her curiosity having the best if her, she was drawn towards the noise and walked inside right when Haesul saw her.

He had just negotiated the corner and he knew better than anyone else what Seungman was going for yet her barely having any knowledge of her wrongdoing persisted and went inside.

She had walked for a while following the sound of people marching that got relatively louder and louder and she found herself within a stadium staring at battallions of all the five different colours that were moving about the place in a clean order.

There weren't that many people on the seats of the spectators and for the first time in her life, Seungman felt that that's where her heart belonged.

The Hwarang had barely noticed the stranger who had walked inside until eventually, Seungman walked up through as every one turned and suddenly shifted their attention to her.

She was with nearly five thousand boys and men and some might have looked small but at least compared to her they had the most fierce looks that she had ever seen.

She walked up to the front where there was a tall old man standing and facing in the opposite direction while looking at the Nangdos.

A number of boys let out a shriek when Seungman eventually spoke up to the person.

"Excuse me." She said and her voice so soft had left Haesul staring from the entrance as Seungman had dug her own grave.

The man was surprised as well hearing such a time coming from someone in a place that was so manly that he turned around and looked at Seungman who was freely smiling at him.

"Sir." Seungman said when holding his sword, he swang it and by instinct Seungman bent while it cut the last thing that was holding her hair it all fall on her back very long and plain, beautifully sparkling with it's dark pitch black shade.

Seungman quickly withdrew from the old man as she found herself in the centre of the battleground.

"You abomination." The man shouted and at that moment Seungman noticed that a number of the Hwarang were already furious with her they had started to unsheath their swords one by one.

"Take care of that girl and teach her not wander fat from the market, how dare you set your foot in this ground that has been purified and cleansed with the blood of King's and great warriors?" The man said and at once,a group of the Hwarang that were dressed in purple stepped up and surrounded Seungman they were about thirteen of them in total.

At that moment as Seungman looked around, she noticed that Haesul was standing in a distance and nodding his head trying to show her that there was no hope for her.

Seungman must have interpreted the sign differently or she wasn't ready to leave either as she unsheathed her white sword from it's scabbard as well.

The old man looking at her was infuriated.

"How dare you?" He asked and at once before he'd said anything else, the Nangdos surrounding Seungman made their attack.

Swinging her sword, Seungman struck those of the Nangdos that were surrounding her and they flew away and landed on the ground.

She spinned and tripped them all onto the ground and at that moment another set of Nangdos launched themselves towards her.

She took them on one by one and ceasing one by his head and hand, she propelled herself around his as a pivot knocking out the others with her punches on their faces she also put that batch on the ground.

The amateurs were already frightened and the rising professionals of the Nangdo leagues made their attack in the more complex formations along with their shields and their flying kicks.

Spectating as she mastered their movements and those of their swords and shields, she launched herself towards them and pushed herself onto the back of one of the Nangdos.

They closed in on her to crush her with their shields hoping for a very quick suppression.

Seungman turned her shield man around and pushed him in the centre and then dragging the rope that was around him she moved around and swept down all the other Nangdos.

Princess Deokman and the others had just arrived when at that moment they halted upon noticing that there was chaos in the arena and the old man still stood their quite amazed by the techniques of the girl.

The third pro division was fallen so the second swarmed in immediately as they summersaulted with their bows and their arrows at the ends covered with loose but round iron heads to weaken their opponent.

They shot at Seungman who with the edge of her sword flew into the sky and span around while the arrows flew past her.

She made a clear landing and went head on for a few of the archers as she struck away that arrows that were flying in her direction.

She was so swift on her feet that it was a remarkable flow for her eventually she clashed with a few of the archers head on and using some of them as shields, she tripped and kicked them all until they were fallen onto the ground.

Seungman had vanquished more than a hundred members of the Hwarang and she was still standing and breathing heavily as she looked at the old man.

Eventually, the first pro division gathered and they were all taller than she was and perhaps more fierce than any of the Nangdos that she had taken on, they formed three lines that surrounded her from all three sides and caught in between they were twenty one in number that she had to deal with.

"Seung....." Alcheon was about to say when he remembered that Princess Deokman and Kim Yushin were there.

Seungman closing her eyes and holding her sword tightly in her hands, they caved in as though the three lines were trying to form a circle and throwing herself in the air she landed on a few heads as she made it out, their circle was useless, they turned to face outwardly as they leaned in back to back and attacking while spinning they clashed their swords with Seungman's who was only guarding.

A furious her was only waiting and eventually after she'd seen to it that they had exhausted their strength hers was the final chance to laugh.

She went into them one by one and she made an example of their swords and shattered them either halfway or three quarters as though they were Plastic until she halted after the very last and she was kneeling on one knee.

The Nangdos that were holding halves and some particles of their swords were surprised and the rest of the majority that had been spectating shrieked as they came to fear.

The defeated twenty one turned around to look at the Victor who while facing the other side but showing them her back they felt too ashamed.

They had lost after some of them training for nearly more than twenty years for the battlefield, and surprisingly not to a grown man but a seventeen year old girl.

Seungman stood up and raised her sword for all of them to see, Haesul who had come chasing after her must have felt more useless than anyone else that stood within that arena to face Seungman.

"Who is she?" She heard them asking themselves.

"Where does she come from?" Others asked but to all these questions not a single one of them knew except the man that was standing right next to Princess Deokman on her left.

Her sword still clear of blood she was forced to look up where she saw Princess Deokman and her disciples looking at her.