Preparations and the Forge

Thud!

"Sung Ho! Stop training right now, we've got bad and good news!"

"What happened?" Sung Ho asked as he got up off the floor.

"Well, good news first. You get to start learning internal energy now. Bad news is, me, you and everyone else in the palace is going to experience the same thing that took our parents away"

"What."

"You get to learn internal energy tomorrow I think, but the Demonic Cult has been sending spies to watch everyone in this palace, especially us. So Master Tang is speeding up our training, and giving you a pill to help with your internal energy after you establish a dantian."

"I heard you the first time. But did you seriously say that the Demonic Cult is coming after us again?"

"Yeah, I did because that's the honest truth.That loud sound from earlier was a Demonic Cult spy breaking out of Master Tang's hidden chamber. So we have to act fast to get prepared."

"Shit, Myeol Mang do you know why they're after us!?"

"Because we survived the previous raid?"

"No! It's because of you! Do you not remember what happened that night!?"

"Not really, I remember that we're the only survivors but that's really it."

"Ughhh, Myeol Mang. The real reason for the raid three years ago was because of your father! The Heavenly Demon himself was a part of that raid, he killed your mom right in front of your eyes and took your father away from you! Them raiding us is a very bad thing to happen. And if the Demonic Cult is coming to finish the job, then we're screwed."

"We're not screwed Sung Ho! We've got Jin Tang, Seok Hwan, Mi Yeon and the others alongside us this time! And we're stronger than before, and we'll know some martial arts too! If anything, once the raid actually comes we'll be more prepared than we ever could have been three years ago!"

Sigh… You're right, and we don't need to be arguing right now. Where did Master Tang go?"

"He went to break the news to Seok Hwan and the others. Now come on, we should go find Master Tang so he can inform you of how your internal energy training is going to go."

"That won't be necessary. I'm already here."

"Woah! Master Tang can you please stop showing up out of nowhere? You keep scaring the crap out of me."

"If you're getting scared just by me entering a room without you knowing then you'll be scared in the heat of a fight."

"Tch, you have a point there. Anyways, Master Tang, what is the plan for the next month?"

"Wait, we only have a month!? Myeol Mang, why didn't you tell me that?!"

"Oh sorry, it just slipped my mind."

"Both of you, enough. I'm going to explain the plan. First, Myeol Mang. You're blacksmithing training will continue as planned, tomorrow at sunrise be at the forgery. Seo Jun will be teaching you how to forge a sword and craft a handle, Mi Yeon will teach you how to perform sword techniques after you've finished making your own sword."

"What about me Master Tang?"

"Sung Ho, your physical training is now complete due to the unfortunate circumstances we are currently in. I will be teaching you the Foundations of Heaven and Earth tomorrow. And once you've established a dantian I will be giving you a Shaolin Temple Pill to increase your internal energy. After that you will begin your blacksmithing training and martial arts training with Sang Chul."

"What martial arts will we be learning, Master Tang?"

"Myeol Mang will be learning the Nine Sages Sword, while Sung Ho will learn the Shaolin Spear of Justice technique."

'Wait, since I'm going to be learning the Seven Heaven's Sword from the original Myeol Mang. Do I really need to learn the Nine Sages Sword? Well, I have a month so I might be able to learn part of both techniques.'

"Well, I might not understand what those martial arts do but that sounds good to me. Better to learn the technique name now rather than waste time later."

"That is true, Sung Ho. That's why we must waste no time during the next month. Now, I have to go and get the pill for Sung Ho from the Shaolin Temple. You two can do what you want for now, but it will be the last free time you get until after the raid, so use it wisely."

Watching as Jin Tang walked out of the training hall doors and vanished from their sight, Myeol Mang and Sung Ho then turned towards each other.

"Well, you heard him, we should use this time wisely." Sung Ho said as he began to walk towards the training hall doors.

'Hold on, a month in the memoires is thirty hours in the real world. Not even counting the Transcendental Path. So, I can learn the blacksmithing techniques much faster if I practice them in the Transcendental Path, though I'm not sure if that's possible yet since the Transcendental Path is capable of making a forgery for me to use.'

"Myeol Mang! Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to get something done?"

"Oh sorry, I was thinking about something." Myeol Mang replied as he started walking towards the training hall doors.

Going their separate ways as they left the training hall, Myeol Mang began to walk towards his and Sung Ho's room.

'Fuuuuuck, it's all just too much. I mean how do I go from getting my nose broken by an above average high schooler to having to train for a raid that could determine if I live or not in a month? Not to mention all of the damn questions that are still unanswered, and also I have school on Monday, as well as having to visit CJ sometime soon. Fuck, I just want some peace and quiet….'

After entering his and Sung Ho's room, Myeol Mang flopped onto his bed and let out a heavy sigh before letting his eyes slowly droop.

'I need to wake up by sunrise… hopefully some sleep will help me relax mentally….'

---

"Ugghhh, my head still hurts…."

"Myeol Mang wake up already, it's almost sunrise."

"Give me five more minutes….."

"Do you not remember the rules of being my disciple? You will do what you're told when you're told. So get out of bed now."

"Wait, Master!?"

"Yes it's your master, now get up. If you don't you'll be late for the blacksmith training, which will put you behind where you need to be for the upcoming raid."

Jumping out of his bed and throwing on a freshly folded pair of robes, Myeol Mang then dashed out of his room and towards the back left side of the palace.

'I can't be late on my first day of blacksmith training, I need to hurry up.'

"You'd just leave me alone in your room while going off to train with someone else? I guess you don't want to be my disciple, Myeol Mang."

"That's not the case Master, I do want to be your disciple. But as you said, I have to get prepared for the upcoming raid. And I can't learn sword techniques from you until I forge myself a sword."

"Myeol Mang, whose memories is this very world built around?"

"You, I would assume, Master."

"Then who, out of all the people in this world, would know how to forge a sword better than me?"

"I can't argue that Master, but I still have to go to the training session with Seo Jun. Otherwise Jin Tang and the others would start being suspicious of my work ethic and think I'm unworthy of being here."

"Myeol Mang, have you ever heard of a joke?"

"I have, Master. I'm not that big a fan of the jokes that make fun of people though." Myeol Mang replied as he stopped in front of a large building with black smoke spewing out of a hole in the roof.

Upon opening the doors to the forgery, a black mist spewed out of the opening and directly onto Myeol Mang's face.

"Cough, cough… Why is there so much smoke?! Cough…"

"Because the forgery has to be hot enough to melt metal, so to keep in heat the door is closed completely and the hole in the roof is the only way for smoke to escape."

"Oy, Myeol Mang! Are you going to keep standing there letting the heat out and talking to yourself or are you going to come in and learn how to forge a sword?!"

"Sorry, Seo Jun." Myeol Mang replied as he walked into the forgery.

Looking around the dimly lit room littered with hammers, both new and broken anvils, quenching tongs, quenching baths and other broken tools, Myeol Mang only felt astonishment by the history each broken tool told.

"This forgery has been here for ages! Look how many destroyed tools there are!"

"Myeol Mang, did you come here to look around or to learn?"

"To learn, so what are you going to teach me today, Seo Jun?"

"How to properly fold and evenly layer a sword."

"Well, let's get to work then, I'll be in your care, Seo Jun."

"Go to the back of the room and grab a chunk of metal from the box, don't worry about the quality, they're all the same metal."

Walking to the back of the room and finding the box full of shiny white metal, Myeol Mang reached down to grab a chunk before he was abruptly stopped.

"Don't grab that piece, it may look shiny on the outside but it has impurities on the inside."

"Then what piece should I grab?" Myeol Mang whispered to avoid having Seo Jun hear him.

"Reach down into the bottom of the pile at the center and there will be a medium sized chunk, that piece of iron has no impurities within it."

Following his Master's instructions, Myeol Mang reached down into the pile of iron until he felt the rough edges and smooth sides of the medium sized chunk of iron.