Episode 33
Chapter 12: Struggle, Seizure, Enjoyment (3)
Jed pointed to their side with his finger.
There, piles of round iron spheres were stacked like mountains. Tall tables meant for placing these iron balls were also visible.
“Move the iron balls and tables over here.”
“How many should we move?” Heitona asked.
Jed grinned—a strangely wicked smile.
“Four tables. As many iron balls as you can carry.”
The three of them moved the iron balls and tables to the center of the secret chamber. The iron balls were heavier than most training weights, and each time they shifted, something heavy rattled inside.
‘What is this?’
As Jin carried the iron balls, he confirmed that he had never seen anything like this in his previous life.
Of course. This special iron ball training was only used when learning the Runkandel swordsmanship directly from the lineage. Before his reincarnation, Jin had no chance to even witness it.
Thud, thud.
Each time they dropped an iron ball onto the hard earthen floor, it left a mark.
Jed told them to stop after they had moved about fifty iron balls.
“Do you know what these iron balls are?”
Jed placed one on the table, which stood just below his waist.
“No, I don’t.”
“These are called Cheongaseok—‘Clear Stone.’ They’re named for the pure, clear sound they make when struck.”
The Tona brothers exchanged puzzled looks. They didn’t understand why such stones were necessary for sword training. Jin kept his curiosity to himself but wondered how exactly Cheongaseok would be used.
Jed smoothly drew his sword from his waist and brought the blade down on the Cheongaseok.
“From now on, I’ll strike this ball three times with my sword. Listen carefully to the sounds.”
First, Jed lightly tapped the ball with almost no force.
Thruuuummm…
A dull, muffled tone echoed—a harsh, unpleasant sound that made one feel queasy the longer it lingered.
“Unpleasant, isn’t it?”
Then Jed struck the ball again, this time with a sharper, faster cut.
Charrang!
This time, a clear, beautiful tone rang out—just as the name Cheongaseok promised. The sound seemed to caress their ears and gently soothe their entire bodies.
“Wow!”
The Tona brothers exclaimed in unison. Jin’s eyes widened as he stared at the stone.
“Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve heard that sound. It’s wonderful. As you just saw, if you strike the Cheongaseok lightly, it makes a dull noise, but with the right amount of force, it produces this beautiful tone.”
A simple principle.
But Jin noticed Jed hadn’t explained what exactly ‘the right amount of force’ meant. He also realized how cleverly this simple training was designed.
‘The goal is to strike the Cheongaseok with the sword until it produces that clear, pure sound every time.’
It would be ideal to get it right on the first try, but judging by Jed’s demeanor, it was clearly not easy.
That meant they’d have to keep striking the ball until the clear tone came out, enduring the unpleasant sounds along the way, which would naturally sap their concentration.
Even if their focus wavered, they couldn’t stop training, so their mental endurance would be strengthened as a byproduct.
‘What about the third strike?’
The first two were about controlling the force.
The third must be similar. There didn’t seem to be anything else to do besides striking the Cheongaseok with the sword.
‘This training suits the physical abilities of Runkandel. That’s why it’s simple and brute force, as Uncle said. But so far, what he’s shown me seems too safe.’
Runkandel swordsmanship—the Paedo style—was always accompanied by risk. There was no way the pureblood-only Runkandel training was this safe.
‘When we carried the balls, I definitely heard something rattling inside. It felt like iron fragments…’
Ah!
The moment Jed raised his sword again, Jin grabbed the napes of the Tona brothers standing on either side.
“This is the third strike.”
“Get down!”
Jin bent down and shouted. The Tona brothers, caught by the grip on their necks, fell face-first onto the ground.
They tried to curse immediately, but when the next moment unfolded before their eyes, all they could do was blink in shock.
KRAAAASH!
With Jed’s final strike, the Cheongaseok exploded with a deafening roar.
From within, dozens of iron pellets shot out like arrows—fast enough to kill anyone untrained if they hit a vital spot.
“Uh, uh…”
“Hah…!”
The Tona brothers panicked, looking around wildly. Seeing the iron pellets scattered on the floor made their legs go weak.
“You’ve got a good instinct, youngest. Yes, the Cheongaseok is designed to explode like this if struck with too much force.”
Jed said with a satisfied smile.
Jin brushed the dirt off his body and thought his uncle was out of his mind—throwing his nephews into danger without a single warning.
But on the other hand, he thought:
‘This training is something every Runkandel must do. Most of the other brothers learned from Uncle Jed, so they must have gone through this brutal demonstration.’
Jin’s quick reflexes saved him this time, and the Tona brothers benefited from his instincts.
But what about the others?
“You’re the first since Luna not to get hurt during the Cheongaseok demonstration. Except for her, everyone else got hit by the iron pellets at the same moment and was seriously injured. It’s a kind of rite of passage.”
The Tona brothers, hearing Jed’s chuckle, sensed the hard road ahead.
Jin felt a surge of pride at being the first since Luna.
“Uncle, may I ask how Luna avoided getting hit?”
“Hmm, you might be disappointed to hear it. Your older brothers all went through the same thing.”
“That’s fine.”
“Actually, she didn’t dodge it like you did. Like everyone else except you, she just took the hits but wasn’t hurt. She’s just incredibly tough…”
Jed’s words were a bit deflating.
Still, it was a relief. Jin had worried that maybe one of his brothers had somehow avoided the hits without knowing, which would mean they had superior talent.
“Anyway, you understand the training method now. From today on, every afternoon you’ll strike the iron balls. No matter when or where, keep hitting them until you hear the clear sound.”
Luna’s room.
She was spending a quiet moment drinking tea with her nanny.
‘It’s about time the youngest shows the results of my mind’s eye training. Getting hit by the Cheongaseok will hurt, but he’ll manage. Watching him grow is the real joy.’
Slurp.
“Miss.”
“Yes, nanny?”
“I’m a bit suspicious of Mu and Miss Ann. Lately, they seem to be keeping an eye on Master Jin.”
Their conversation revolved around who might have tried to assassinate Jin.
—I’ve already experienced one assassination attempt. I’ve never told anyone, not even Gili. In that sense, the fight has already begun.
Since Luna first heard this from Pokpungseong when he stormed in, she had been searching for the culprit for five years.
Not only because she cared deeply for Jin.
But also because it was a long-standing taboo for the purebloods of the main family to wage a power struggle against the Runkandel who never left Pokpungseong.
If Luna reported the incident to Siron, the family would be thrown into chaos. But she judged that wouldn’t be good for Jin.
Above all, there was no evidence.
“Hmm, they’re reckless, but surely not crazy enough to attempt assassination inside Pokpungseong?”
Strictly speaking, what Jin experienced wasn’t an assassination but a curse called ‘the madness of the blade.’ Luna didn’t yet know that.
“To be honest, I think Master Jin might have lied. He was only ten at the time, after all. And there’s been no progress in five years.”
“I don’t think Jin lied. Back then, even I felt the youngest was wary of me—not just awkward, but with the look of someone sensing a threat to their life.”
“Then shall we investigate Mu and Miss Ann?”
“Yes, please. I’m more worried that we haven’t found anything yet. Something… feels ominous.”
“I’m the one feeling ominous. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt by your brothers again.”
“Haha, nanny, I’m well past thirty.”
Luna masked a bitter smile behind her teacup.
A day passed.
Jin and the Tona brothers still hadn’t heard the beautiful sound of the Cheongaseok. Nor had they triggered the explosion that sent iron pellets flying.
Druuuummm…!
Druummm…!
For four hours straight, the unpleasant noise filled the secret training hall.
‘I can say for sure: this is the worst training I’ve ever done.’
The sound kept breaking their concentration. The Tona brothers vomited a few times, and Jin was drenched in sweat, barely holding onto his sword.
After a morning of hellish intermediate training, they spent the afternoon striking the Cheongaseok. It was pure misery. The unpleasant sound and vibration were impossible to get used to.
“Five-minute break.”
Jed’s voice made the three of them sit up straight simultaneously. But the Tona brothers were so mentally and physically exhausted that their posture was sloppy.
Even the break wasn’t really a break.
What Zed called “rest” was actually the act of sitting still while holding the sword straight and maintaining the aura layered over it. Even rest was part of training the aura.
Jin’s grip on the sword trembled uncontrollably, and the Tona brothers couldn’t even hold theirs at all.
For Jin, it was just filthy and unpleasant—not the hardest training he’d faced.
In his past life, he had become a first-rank knight at twenty-five after decades of effort far beyond others. Compared to those despairing days, this Cheongaseok training was bearable.
“So, increasing the destructive power of the aura comes first,” he realized.
Zed had shattered the Cheongaseok without raising his aura, but that was only possible because an eighth-rank knight’s sword strike was on a completely different level from theirs. They had to build up their aura first to even hear the clear tone, let alone break the Cheongaseok.
“Daytona, Heitona. Don’t falter. If you can’t even manage this, you won’t survive in Runcandel,” Zed said calmly.
The Tona brothers choked back tears and corrected their posture. It looked agonizing enough to bring them to tears, but Jin reminded himself that these brothers had been the family’s standard-bearers before their reincarnation.
“They managed to succeed despite being so rough around the edges. If they could do it, there’s no way I can’t.”
There was no need to rush.
Jin closed his eyes and focused on the aura flowing along his sword. Thrum, thrum. He heard phantom sounds, but he knew well how to clear his mind of distractions with his eyes shut.
“Even on the first day, I felt it—this guy’s something else. The Tona brothers are holding up better than expected. Maybe I’ll even break Luna’s record.”
Zed kept these thoughts to himself, withholding praise for Jin.
There was no rush to compliment him before he surpassed Luna’s record.