“You will pass the test if you kill them with the Sword Demon formation. This will be your first official battle.”
The test was not a practice session anymore. It was a real fight against a real enemy and they needed to kill them. Most of the cadets only stayed within the Ten Thousand Mountains, so they never had never seen any enemies until now.
“These criminals will be let go if they defeat you, so they will try hard. Don’t be sympathetic to your enemies, or else you will die instead.”
Lee Hameng warned them. The cadets all turned grim. Of course, the thirty-six instructors were ready to jump if there was any threatening potential danger, but they didn’t tell the cadets. Otherwise, they would forget their fear.
“I- I don’t want to die...”
Jin Guuk paled because of the fear. But it wasn’t only Jin Guuk. Now the test wasn’t about if they were going to pass the test or not. It was whether they would survive or die.
“Now, we will proceed with the test. I will start with the 700th cadet, Sama Chak’s group. Come forward and retrieve your swords.”
“Mado!”
The first group to take this test was Sama Chak’s group. He had been the first person to register to be a group leader, and although he was happy when he did it back then, he and his group weren’t happy about going first.
“Go up!”
Instructors dragged up one of the tied up criminals to the middle of the training ground. Then they took off the black rag and a man with a tangled beard and pale face was revealed. There were many signs of torture on his face.
“Ah... argh...”
He too seemed to be very nervous. He had heard about the test already and he knew what he had to do if he were to survive. However, he was still shocked to see the cadets in front of him.
‘They’re just children!’
He volunteered since he was told that he would be freed if he could win against the sword formation, but he wasn’t told that he’d be fighting teenagers. The instructors scoffed at the man from behind.
‘This group is lucky to fight the foolish Force of Justice.’
It seemed it wasn’t likely that something would go terribly wrong. Lots of members from the Force of Justice valued justice or ethics, and thus they were sympathetic. It seemed this man was probably like that.
Instructors untied the man and released the pressure on the blood point, freeing him to use his martial arts. Sama Chak’s group circled around the man and Hameng shouted, “Begin!”
With the order, twelve cadets all formed the Seven Demon sword stance.
‘Ah...’
The man then became serious. He realized that if he wasn’t serious, he might die. Then his sword wielded clear white sword qi. He was an experienced master-level warrior. The twelve cadets became concerned. The only master warrior they had was Sama Chak, but he too was only an entry-level master warrior. If they made any mistakes in the formation, then they might die.
‘We have no choice.’
Sama Chak took a deep breath and shouted, “Third formation! Gol!”
The twelve cadets then began to unleash sword movement at the bearded man. With each pair of students doing the same sword movement, a total of six sword movements were unleashed by all the pairs, inducing an amazing effect.
“What!”
The ordinary Seven Demon Sword had become a sword movement unleashed like that of a master warrior.
‘They learned it well.’
Yeowun nodded. The written explanation about the Sword Demon formation in the book was too simple, and there the possibility of misunderstanding it would lead a group to attack with the same formation. However, Sama Chak and his group were doing it the correct way.
The bearded man was shocked, but he quickly defended himself against all the sword movement. He was attacked from all sides, but he had enough experience to fight back.
“Ugh!”
However, he couldn’t defend everything since he had been tied up for a long time. His muscles were stiff and his shoulder and chest were cut slightly.
“Second formation! Go!”
Sama Chak then shouted at his members as the bearded man shook from the damage. The second formation was unleashed, but there was a problem. A few cadets collided against each other while trying to complete it too quickly, thus shaking up the formation.
“N-no!”
‘Now is the chance!’
The bearded man then took the change to put his sword into one of the cadet’s chests. When the cadet flinched and closed his eyes, the bearded man hesitated.
‘Dammit!!!’
He couldn’t bear to kill a teenage boy. And that hesitation brought him his demise.
“AAAAAAARGH!”
Many swords pierced into him from the back. A sword passed through his organs and through his heart, killing him. Some cadets slumped down to the ground after their first kill. Leader Sama Chak looked at the dead man and bit his lips.
‘Dammit. This doesn’t make me feel any better.’
Regardless of his feelings, the cadets shouted in joy for the first victory.
“Whoaaaa!”
It seemed like they gained courage by seeing a fight that seemed to end easily. Two instructors then came up to haul the body out.
“You were lucky,” the instructor said. Sama Chak and his members frowned. Like he said, if the man was cold-hearted, they would have been killed. Lee Hameng then got up from the chair and shouted loudly, “I congratulate the victory of Sama Chak!”
Regardless of the progress, Sama Chak’s group brightened up since they had passed the test. However, it didn’t last long.
“The 700th cadet leader, 93rd cadet, 147th cadet, 217th cadet, 803rd cadet, 922nd cadet, and 983rd cadet. These seven cadets have passed the third test.”
“S-seven?”
“W...what does that mean?”
The five cadets who were not called out became shocked. These were the ones who collided against each other during the formation. They had made a mistake, but they thought they would pass the test since they had won the fight. However, it wasn’t what they expected.
Yeowun frowned. So the test would be carried out as a group, but the actual result relied on each individual. Any mistake, and that person would fail.