Nano Machine novel - Chapter 41

Cadets from the high-ranked clans were smiling. They were certain that the third test would be held just like how their family members had told them. Left Guardian Lee Hameng kept on explaining.

“For twelve to complete a sword formation, you must have top-class martial arts skill.”

People were shocked and began talking amongst themselves even more.

‘Top-class?!’

‘How many are they trying to drop?’

‘Dammit!’

As the cadets began get noisy, Hameng shouted, “SILENCE!!”

The training ground immediately became silent. Hameng frowned as he continued, “Do you see the books on the table?”

“MADO!”

“This is the Seven Demon Dragon book, one of the top-class martial arts that will be the foundation to the Sword Demon Formation of our cult.”

The cadets then became excited immediately. This was a dream come true for the cadets from weaker clans. It wasn’t common for them to come across a chance to learn a top-class martial art.

“If you absorb the Black Dragon Ball given out today and learn this Seven Demon Sword formation, you will be able to have a top-class martial arts skill in no time.”

Chun Yeowun nodded. Even if the test was supposed to be harder, they weren’t going to make it way too hard.

‘That sounds easy until now…’

If what Yumpa said was right, then this was only a prerequisite. Lee Hameng grinned as he continued, “The third test will take place exactly four weeks from today.”

The students then turned grim. That wasn’t too long. They needed to learn the Seven Demon Sword and group up with others to form a formation, and two weeks was too short for it. However, the real challenge had yet to come.

“So, the twelve of you will form a sword formation and you have to defeat the instructor you see up on the stage. Isn’t it simple?”

Hameng spoke casually as he pointed to the thirty-six instructors lined up on the stage.

‘S-simple?’

‘What!’

All of those instructors were those at the level of Squad Leaders who were at least at the masters of martial arts. Some were even at the limit of the master level. This wasn’t an easy test.

‘Dammit!’

‘I wondered why it was so easy!’

Many cadets turned pale. They weren’t sure if they can defeat such powerful instructors.

‘It is as Yumpa said. What’s left now is to choose the leader.’

As Yumpa had foretold, they were given a goal to overcome. It became harder since they weren’t fighting against each other, but it wasn’t all that impossible either.

‘Total of seven.’

That’s how many people Yeowun now needed. After passing the second test, Yeowun had seven people who were friendly toward him. So, he called them up with Hu Bong last night to share the information about the third test information and offered them to join his team.

‘I’m sorry, if it’s for the test, I won’t join.’

‘I’m sorry, Prince.’

Yeowun had expected all of them to join him as he had shown strength and leadership in the second test, but four of them refused saying that they wanted to follow different leaders.

‘I still have four.’

It wasn’t too bad anyway. He had gotten four cadets on his team already. Yeowun was thankful for their decision. He knew he had a different start line from the other princes, and since these cadets agreed to follow him, it was proof that they truly trusted Yeowun.

“This test is different from the second one. Everything is up to you, cadets. You gather your group members and learn the formation.”

The cadets became confused. If the instructors weren’t going to teach them, it meant that the leader would have to play a vital role.

“There is a total of 207 of you, so if you are divided into groups of 12, then there will be 17 groups.”

‘Huh?’

‘What happens to the three leftovers?’

The cadets then realized that three people would be without a team. This meant that they needed to group up quickly or else they would not even be given a chance to take the test.

‘Most of the explanation is done now. Now the leaders…’

Cadets who knew most of the information now turned to their group leaders up in the frontline. From how things went on until now, it was likely that the current group leaders would be chosen to be leaders again.

“So, let’s talk about how we will appoint a group leader and I will dismiss you all with the Black Dragon Ball and the book of the Seven Demon Sword.”

‘Huh?!’

Some of the cadets were shocked. What he just said was that the academy was not appointing leaders by themselves.

“Do you see instructors with tags?”

The cadets turned to the instructors to see their tags. They hadn’t noticed until now, but all of them had different colored tags. From a total of thirty-six cadets, many of them were yellow, and when counted, it came down to a total of seventeen yellow tags.

“Whoever takes the yellow tag in one week will become a group leader.”

‘IMPOSSIBLE!’

The cadets grimaced. This was too hard of a challenge. The final test was to defeat the instructor, but needing to take the tag away from them was too much.

‘This means that if there aren’t that many who can take those tags, then we might not even have seventeen groups!’

This had increased the difficulty of the test. Cadets wanted to raise an objection but no one dared to do that.

“Don’t think it’s too hard.”

Lee Hameng spoke with a laugh.

“Instructors with yellow tags will only fight you with the Seven Demon Sword, not their own specialized martial arts. If you can counter their Seven Demon Sword technique, you will get the tag.”

Even then, it still wasn’t going to be easy. They were still up against experienced martial artists who had used those skills for a long time. However, there was a hidden factor here, and Chun Yeowun knew this.

‘If a cadet can learn the sword in that short amount of time, it means he or she has greater knowledge about the sword formation. This wasn’t just decided to make the test harder.’

As he thought, if the group leader knew how to counter the Seven Demon Sword technique used by the instructor, it meant that all the cadets would agree to follow the leader in learning the Seven Demon Sword.

‘A week…’

But the time was too short.

“Hehehe…”

Lee Hameng looked amusingly at the cadets and gave an unexpected offer.

“You have a week left, but is there any cadet who wants to issue a challenge right now?”

No one had read the book of the Seven Demon Sword right now, but asking if anyone was up for challenge was like asking if there was anyone who was confident enough with their own skills to counter it. The crowd turned silent. No one dared to raise their hands. Most of them were still mediocre, and even those who achieved the level of top-class couldn’t dare to do such a thing.

“Hmph. So, no one is that brave? Okay. Then…”

Lee Hameng seemed to be disappointed and tried to begin giving out the books and balls, but the crowd turned wild.

“OH?!”

Hameng was astonished. Three group leaders raised their hands. It was Chun Muyeon of the Wise Clan, Chun Yeowun, and the 18th cadet who defeated Chun Jongsum of the Poison clan to be the leader of his 12th group.

‘This… is interesting.’

Lee Hameng was deeply entertained. He thought Chun Muyeon and Chun Yuchan will volunteer, but his expectation was wrong. Chun Yuchan simply stood back, watching what was happening casually. It was likely that Chun Mukeum would have volunteered also if he wasn’t in the medical room.

‘Bakgi… and Chun Yeowun!’

These two were the cadets who had showed excellence beyond expectation. Lee Hameng brought them forward.

“Three group leaders from the second test. Sure, you should have that much of courage in you as a leader. Come to the front of the stage.”

The three leaders walked out. As they grouped up, Yeowun turned to Bakgi who walked up on his right. Chun Muyeon was famous, but he had only seen Bakgi guide his formation. He had a long scar on his right eye.

“Hahaha! You look eager. So, who among you instructors will fight them?”

Lee Hameng laughed as he asked and seven of yellow tagged instructors walked up. It wasn’t intended, but there were instructors from 1st, 8th and 12th group also.