Chapter 4

I Know What My Master Did All These Years

My master is a villain of the highest order. He is a man who would have nothing to say even if he were reported to the authorities for violating labor laws and child abuse.

I know what my master has done over the past years. And I can well guess the kinds of things he will commit in the future.

Why did I become the disciple of such a person? I absolutely regret it now.

Bi Ryu-yeon, age 12, on a certain day...

Six months had passed since I started living with my master. During those six months, I had to repeat the tasks of chopping firewood and doing laundry every day. All that time, I was trapped in a prison called 'Hellish Muscle Pain' and subjected to immense torture, but as a result of diligently training in the two secret arts, the Thunder Spirit Heart Method and the Spirit Thread Heart Secret, I was barely able to escape from that prison. This was six months after I began training in the secret arts.

One day, after I had barely escaped the agony of the hellish muscle pain, my master said to me,

"Now you've finally become able to learn the basics."

They were simple but tremendously cruel words. I should have naturally asked, 'Then what the hell have I been doing all this time?' but I suppressed my anger and asked a polite and courteous question.

"What on earth have I been doing all this time, Master!"

To which my master replied,

"Huh? That was obviously just simple housework. Why are you asking something so obvious? What a funny kid."

My master's face had an expression that said I was asking about something completely useless. The devastation I felt at that moment... It was an emptiness that could not be expressed in words. To me, who was standing there dumbfounded and dazed, my master told me to learn the most basic of basics of the Flying Thunder Sect: throwing daggers. What strength could the poor, delicate, handsome young protagonist of this tragedy possibly have? If the vicious master told me to learn, I had no choice but to learn.

The first stage of dagger throwing was, of course, hitting a stationary object. This is where the Spirit Thread Heart Secret demonstrated its infinite effectiveness. The effect of the Spirit Thread Heart Secret, which allows one to pour all of one's spirit into the dagger, results in a hundred-percent accuracy rate.

It took three months and about ten more days to hit the pinecones on a pine tree 15 meters away with a hundred-percent accuracy. But just because I had a hundred-percent accuracy didn't mean I had learned everything. Even with perfect accuracy, most skilled masters could easily dodge or parry daggers or hidden weapons flying at them. A peerless master could not only catch them with their bare hands but could also block them with their body by raising their protective qi. Therefore, accuracy alone was not enough.

What was truly important was a speed as fast as light, almost invisible to the eye. Through nine months of chopping firewood and doing laundry (six months of housework + three months of training), my hands had gained considerable strength, but it was still not enough. Since I was still a child of only ten, there was a limit to my strength. Moreover, if the distance increased beyond 15 meters, the accuracy dropped significantly. At a distance of about 30 meters, the accuracy was less than 30%. This meant that if I threw ten, not even three would hit properly.

Once my accuracy at a 30 meter distance exceeded 50%, my training moved to the next stage. The second stage of dagger throwing was hitting a moving object. The training for the second stage involved tying a pinecone to a pine branch 15 meters away with a string, setting it swinging, and then hitting the swinging pinecone. To be honest, I had a really hard time hitting this.

"Sway, sway... spin, spin."

I'd throw, and it would miss. I'd throw again, and it would miss again. Damn it, damn it, burst repeatedly from my noble mouth. It took four months to hit these swinging pinecones. That was the time it took to hit all of them with a hundred-percent accuracy. But hitting a moving pinecone from 15 meters away wasn't the end of it. The distance to the target grew farther, and conversely, the size of the swinging object grew smaller. It was enough to drive one mad.

The objects I threw also changed. I didn't just throw daggers. There was training to hit a target by throwing a bird's feather. The training using a bird's feather was to learn the knack of properly using qi in throwing, as well as to read the flow of the air. Because a bird's feather is very light, it receives a lot of air resistance and doesn't fly at high speed even when thrown. Naturally, its power was also hopelessly lacking.

The main key was to imbue the feather with true qi and make it fly, but this was by no means as easy as it sounds. Of course, one also had to have a good grasp of the air currents. That's why feather throwing was something that could not be properly completed if one's cultivated internal energy was hopelessly insufficient or if one could not handle it properly. Only when I could throw a feather and hit a target in any kind of strong wind could I finally finish this basic training.

Along with dagger throwing, I also learned a movement technique called the Phoenix Dance. A movement technique is, as the name suggests, a method of moving the body, and it includes both lightness skills and footwork. Many people confuse or mistakenly think that body techniques and footwork are the same, but that's a huge misconception.

Body techniques, or lightness skills, are, in a word, methods for running long distances at high speed without rest. However, footwork, unlike body techniques, is used when confronting an enemy or using martial arts, and it refers to the body movements or footwork used to quickly and swiftly approach an enemy's blind spot or to evade an enemy's attack. Many people mistakenly think that footwork is simply the movement of the feet, but when the feet go, the body is bound to follow, so it actually represents the movement of the entire body.

"You must practice it diligently because it is essential for the next stage of training," was what my master said when he taught me the Phoenix Dance. But whenever my master taught me something, rather than feeling grateful and thankful, I somehow worried about my future first. What is he going to make me do now... It seemed the evil master was slowly remodeling me into a human form that was easy to exploit. And unfortunately, my premonition hit the mark.

My anxiety slowly began to take shape, then grew front and back legs and sharp fangs, becoming a ferocious beast that pounced on me. My anxiety had become reality.

Once my Phoenix Dance and dagger throwing reached a certain level, my master suggested we go for an outdoor lesson. An outdoor lesson? I couldn't help but feel anxious. My ever-so-wonderful master had never once done anything that benefited me.

The location for the outdoor lesson was the mountain right behind the hut where my master and I were living together. The hut itself was located deep in a high mountain, but the mountain behind it was even higher and more rugged. My master took me there. And the outdoor lesson began. But disgustingly, the true nature of the outdoor lesson was gathering wild vegetables and hunting.

What was the most important purpose of this sudden outdoor lesson? It was to save on food expenses. To be precise, the true and only purpose of this outdoor lesson was to reduce the cost of side dishes. Since we couldn't cultivate rice, we couldn't reduce the cost of rice, so it was natural to set the goal of saving on side dishes. The claim that it would increase my lightness skill and improve my dagger-throwing ability through outdoor lessons was just a plausible excuse.

Meat is expensive, but he wanted to eat it, so he ordered his disciple to go hunting under the pretext of training. "Meat is the best for a side dish with drinks!" I knew my master's vile scheme inside and out as he licked his lips. Furthermore, my master's words that running all over the mountain like a madman to gather wild vegetables for side dishes and medicinal herbs at the same time would help improve my lightness skill and aid my training were, in a word, like the sound of a dog barking after being doused with water while peeing.

My master explained to me the types of edible wild vegetables and expensive medicinal herbs. Showing me the actual plants one by one... And as a bonus, he taught me how to season wild vegetables with salt.

The act of hunting was a tearful effort to obtain meat. When I first started hunting, he told me to hunt small animals first. He said that if I hunted big game like wild boars from the start, I was likely to be gored to death. So, as a beginner, I was taught to aim for small fry like mountain rabbits or birds. My master's teaching was to hunt bigger and fiercer animals as my skills gradually improved.

And he warned me that I must only use daggers for hunting. He told me never to use traps, snares, or bows. He said they wouldn't help with my training. How ridiculous... He added that hunting and gathering wild vegetables should only be done in the morning after waking up at dawn. For some reason...

I had my doubts, and those doubts were resolved not long after. In the worst possible way.

What kind of place is Iron-Fire Artisan?

---

It was a day more than a year and a half after I started living with my master.

That day, as usual, I was cooking, doing laundry, chopping firewood, and as a bonus, training. By now, I had become somewhat accustomed to all the work in the mountain hut. I could swing the 30-kilogram iron laundry bat without turning the clothes into rags, and I could hold the 60-kilogram iron axe and chop firewood as if swinging a stick.

That day, my master took me down to the village at the foot of the mountain. In all that time, I had been suffering from endless housework accompanied by hellish muscle pain and had never had a chance to go down to the village. It was a fairly prosperous village, and my master went into the largest blacksmith shop in that village. Then, he went into a room with the owner and seemed to be discussing something seriously. How much time had passed? My master's loud voice came from inside the room. It seemed that his intended business was not going well.

"What do you mean it can't be done!"

My master seemed to be getting emotional.

"He's just a child who hasn't even lost his baby fuzz. It's only natural."

"What nonsense are you talking about? That kid is already 15 years old. He's a proper adult now. Besides, his strength is probably three or four times stronger than an ordinary adult's. You know that well since you've checked for yourself."

'Huh? I'm still 12... Did Master get my age wrong? That can't be right...'

My master's angry voice, having lied about my age to the owner by three years, was heard again. What was my master so angry about now?

"Anyway, 2 silver taels is too cheap! I demand 3 silver taels and a special allowance. Considering that child's ability, it's only natural."

"Isn't that too expensive? How about 2 silver taels and a special allowance?"

"No. I'm telling you, he's no ordinary kid! He handles a 30-kilogram iron bar like a toy. He can easily do the work of three or four grown men."

'This sounds like he's talking about the laundry bat!'

An endless argument continued inside the room. It was a conversation that was hard for me, at my young age, to understand. My master's loud voice came through the paper door again. As expected, ignorant people had loud voices.

"Are you blind?"

"Of course not. Why do you ask when you know full well?"

"Then why are you acting like a blind man? Anyone who sees you would mistake your eyes for some kind of decoration. Can't you see that fresh and vigorous young body?"

A long silence flowed from inside the room. The owner seemed to be in a difficult dilemma. But soon,

"Alright, I lose. I'll accept your terms. It's settled at 3 silver taels and a special allowance."

"Good, I'll hand the boy over for that price. Please take good care of him."

A conversation that one might hear at the scene of a human trafficking deal involving a handsome young boy flowed from the room.

'Is he trying to sell me to that old blacksmith geezer?'

'Is the blacksmith a pervert who enjoys handsome young boys?'

In that instant, a strange flash and a chilling anxiety brushed past my mind. But judging calmly, I thought it was a situation that could very well happen, given my master's character.

'No way, no way, it can't be. The price is too cheap. There's no way that little money would be exchanged for selling a handsome boy like me. Unless it's just for one night...?'

The moment these thoughts occurred to me, I felt chunks of ice dancing down my back. A chill ran down my spine. I felt a cold draft. An unknown fear began to dominate me. Feeling a spooky chill, I unconsciously wrapped my arms around my shoulders. While I was worrying about this and that, the door opened and my master and the owner walked out. Then, my master said to me,

"Ryu-yeon! From today, you will be working at this blacksmith shop. Work hard."

In that moment, I doubted my ears. Half of my prediction that my master would sell me off had come true. Although he hadn't sold me to a perverted old man—the old man's appearance itself was enough to warrant such a misunderstanding—instead, he had sold his disciple into the worst possible labor environment. Wasn't a blacksmith shop a representative of the three most difficult jobs that people avoided? The three difficulties referred to workplaces that were dirty, difficult, and dangerous. Weren't these jobs avoided even by adults? I could absolutely not work in a place like this. My thoughts immediately turned into action.

"Master, how could you do this to me! I will absolutely not... Mmph!"

In an instant, my master clamped his stinky, pot-lid-sized hand over my mouth. Then he said to the owner,

"Ah, just a moment, I need to have a little chat with this kid. Shall we go, disciple?"

And then, my master dragged me to a secluded spot behind the building.

"Hey, you brat! What do you mean you can't do it? This is all a method I came up with after agonizing for three days and nights to give you a trial. If you can't even overcome a trial like this, how will you master martial arts and become a peerless master? This work is all an extension of your training. It's all helpful for your martial arts training. Stop talking nonsense and just work hard. It will all become your flesh and blood."

I was completely speechless. It was a stroke of luck, a blessing from heaven, and the grace of God that I didn't die from Qi Deviation at that moment. To give me a trial? My master seemed to be under the huge delusion that if he just used the word 'trial', everything could be forgiven. Besides, it's helpful for martial arts training? I had no idea what could possibly be helpful.

"What on earth is helpful for martial arts training? I can't even begin to guess. Then again, it's absurd to try and guess something that doesn't exist in the first place."

I threw a sharp question, even using literary characters, but my master answered my question readily without being flustered in the slightest.

"Of course, if you work hard with the sledgehammer, your arms will get stronger, and your grip strength will increase. Plus, your palms will get tougher. Also, in the process of handling fire and iron, you can learn patience. Isn't that enough?"

It was a moment where my master's specialty, the sophistry of 'everything is training,' was being brandished like a family heirloom sword, but this time, I had prepared a formidable counterattack.

"But won't rough and crude work like this sledgehammering make my hands coarse and dull my senses? Weren't you the one who said that our school's ultimate technique, the Flying Thunder Dagger, requires delicate hand senses? Won't this kind of work actually interfere with my training? Surely you're not going to be so cheap as to take back what you've said now, are you?"

I smiled a triumphant smile. And I looked at my master with eyes that said, 'Go on, say something if you have something to say.' But my master suddenly started laughing loudly.

"Gwahahaha, hohoho! To think you've thought that far, how commendable. But rest assured. Who is this master? Am I not the master of the Flying Thunder Sect, who possesses the greatest martial arts in the world? How could I not have a provision for something like that? The countermeasures for that have already been prepared. You can just focus on your training with peace of mind."

My master's words became a spear of anxiety and pierced my chest. In that instant, I felt it. Another huge anxiety approaching me... If my master prepared something, it was obvious. He was not a person who would do anything good. It seemed he was born with a talent for endlessly creating only vicious things, I don't know how he was made.

"A... a countermeasure? W-what is it?"

My tongue stiffened with anxiety, and even my voice trembled. I felt my whole body shiver spookily, like a person having a stroke.

"You'll find out when you come home later. Now, work hard."

After saying this, my master used a lightness skill technique from the Phoenix Dance called 'Soaring' and made a lightning-fast getaway. His speed was so fast that I couldn't catch him. This battle was also my complete defeat. A loser has nothing to say. Except that I had to work here... A master who sells his disciple as a worker? Isn't that a strange tale that cannot and should not exist? And for the paltry sum of 3 silver taels, at that. I could only curse my fate for having to endure such a thing so brazenly.