The sun had yet to break into the sky, but its light had already flooded the ruined courtyard of the old house.
Finally, Ro-han thought, I will be learning martial arts.
"Took you long enough. You're quite late."
The ragged voice of the man cut through the cold morning air.
"Today, we begin training. We'll go over the basics first."
I better memorize this, Ro-han thought.
"As a martial artist, you are built on two pillars: external and internalenergy."
He continued,
"One without the other will lead to an imbalance, a bottleneck. Remember this; you must never out train one aspect over another."
With Seok-min beginning his lecture, Ro-han sat down on the gravel floor crossing his left leg over his right.
"The body, your external energy, is your vessel. If it's weak, everything else collapses. Train your breath, your bones, muscle, and your stance. You'll feel the changes before you see it."
"Next, your internal energy is what fills that vessels. It can be light like air or dense like rock, pure like a spring or dirty like mud. But most important is harmony; it is how the different energies of nature interact within you- changing it changes a martial artist's elemental affinity."
"Techniques, on the other hand, or fighting forms, will allow you to utilize both energies in a variety of different ways."
"Can you change the properties of you internal energy?" Ro-han asked.
"With the right training, anything can be changed, except for innate talent."
"Then, Seok-min continued before Ro-han could respond, onto realms"
"Martial artists are divided into realms, separated by ability. To set their foundations, any aspiring martial artist must begin at the martial apprentice realm, where they first learn how to manage and guide the energy of nature, and strengthen their bodies beyond that of a normal persons."
"Next, the three stages of Third, Second, and First-rate warriors separated by strength and the volume of nature's energy they can utilize."
"With the final foundational stage being the Core realm, it is when a martial artist truly deserves that title. It is where one builds their dantian, or energy core in their lower abdomen, allowing them to train and manipulate their own internal energy and accumulate that of natures."
"With that, you know enough to hold a conversation, but you cannot punch with words."
"Then will I begin with growing my vessel first?", Ro-han questioned.
Seok-min drew a slight smirk across his face hearing Ro-han's words.
"Yes, Seok-min exclaimed, and you will begin with that today"
With the morning lesson complete, Seok-min introduced Ro-han to his new routine.
"At dawn, you will train your body, followed by farming during the day. After you wrap up your day job, I will teach you theory. Until your vessel grows enough, you will not be doing any energy cultivation."
Ro-han nodded, lifting himself back up and finding his way through the busy streets, as people traveled from their homes to their workplace.
Internal energy huh...
I'll master it, if it means I can get closer to meeting father.
...
The next day, the dawn sessions had begun.
It was a brutal hell, brutish even. The old man's training was more akin to that of beasts than humans.
He would train his muscles earliest, tendons by first light, and bones by sunrise, before stepping back into the streets leading to the fields.
During his commute, Ro-han would recount what he had learnt the previous night.
Finally reaching the fields, he would drag the iron plow through dry soil with calloused hands, sweat mixing with dust until the sky went dark.
Once back to his teacher, Ro-han would start learning about a martial artist's body, the meridians, and the theories of sword forms.
By the time a week had past, Ro-han's body had began to change. His muscles more defined, and his posture better held.
"... and that is how energy passes from the 100th to the 108th meridian."
Ro-han gave his mentor a slight nod.
"That's all for tonight, pack up and prepare dinner."
With his instructions, Ro-han promptly made his way to the kitchen and set some vegetables on the handmade cutting board. Slicing through the nearly rotted onion, his fingers naturally traced the the best path to cut along. A pinch of salt, some crushed garlic, the onion chunks, and wild greens from a nearby ditch all tossed together into his old dented pan, alongside yesterday's leftover rice.
Smells better than I thought… Ro-han stared at the pan, chuckling. Weird how this always smells good, no matter what I throw in I might actually be good at this.
He set the two bowls on the low wooden table, with the room lit only by the flickering candlelight.
Seok-min, already seated and waiting, had his nose flare up at the smell, and his fingers greedily held the chopsticks as he ate from his bowl.
"Huh, Didn't expect the kid next door to know how to cook." Seok-min said with a smirk.
Upon hearing the praise, a smile drew across Ro-han's lips despite his attempts to hide it.
"Thank you, Uncle."
'Uncle, huh. I could get used tothat..."
"Ro-han, do you know where Macheon lies?", Seok min spoke as he ate.
"Are we not in the lawless lands?"
"You are correct, and these lands took form about 85 years ago, during the aftermath of the great war."
"Great war?" Ro-han tilted his head slightly.
"Yes, during that war, the orthodox alliance, led by the Roundtable of Six Great Supremes and unorthodox, ruled by The Southern True Blood King, allied to fight against a third evil."
"The orthodox and unorthodox actually fought together? Aren't they enemies?"
"They did, Seok-min replied, For that third evil was a threat to both."
"The crimson soul cult, While unspoken of today, is what they called themselves. The grand alliance launched their strike preemptively, and it was truly a sight to behold; the 6 great elders, and the unorthodox king fighting side by side."
"They are enemies today, so they must have broken the alliance at some point, right?"
Seok-min chuckled at the question, "Yes, they did, and midway through the war at that. During a heated assault, the 3rd of the former six Supremes, Great elder Hon Yu-gwan was killed in battle, but the Orthodox blamed one of the king's five scars, The Black Herald, right hand to the southern king, instead of the crimson cult."
"Why would the orthodox do that?"
"That is unclear, but what is clear is the Unorthodox withdrawing their forces from the fight with the cult completely, and directing them at the orthodox, instead, which is how these lawless, kingless lands where formed."
Ro-han set down his utensils after clearing his bowl.
"I didn't know that was our lands history... how did the war end?"
"That... is a tale for another day. Now, Ro-han, if you are done eating your food, go and fill up the water buckets."
Ro-han nodded and stood up from the floor, picked up the buckets and made his way to the narrow streets of Macheon.
I think someone is followingme...
Before the thought could settle, Ro-han's torso curled with a sudden blow to the back of his head...