HWARANG Rewritten✅

10. Sparring

Chapter 10.
Sparring.

As expected, they were punished the next day and unfortunately, it was the same as last time.

"Aigoo! I said it's tilting," Poong Wol Joo objected, most unhelpfully, as Soo-ho, Sa-do and Seon-woo held one side and Ban-ryu, Yeo-wool and Ji-dwi balanced the other. It was incomprehensibly heavy and the six of them struggled to keep it steady as they walked across the uneven forest terrain. "We just got to the fifteenth round. With this slow speed, when are we going to reach hundred?" 

The other Hwarangs were scattered across the greenery, placing bets on how long the six of them would last before collapsing or worse, dying. "At one point you guys fought each other to death. You are all a bit closer now," Poong Wol Joo remarked randomly but the six stumbled making the chair tilt precariously. "Hold on to it well."

"Didn't you say 'the end' wine?" Ban-ryu hissed at Yeo-wool, who was in front of him.

Yeo-wool frowned. "This is a sort of end. The end of you and me." Ban-ryu restrained himself from smacking the other's head at that totally unneeded lame joke and groaned in frustration.

"Hey! Is there anyone who can tell me what happened to me last night?" Soo-ho pondered, annoyed because of the missing chunk of memories and the fact that no one was filling him in. Ban-ryu nervously ordered him to hold on properly.

"So this is the sixteenth," Lord Wih-wa counted. As they were passing a wooden bridge, maybe due to the bouncy, unsteady ride or owing to the alcohol from the previous night, the teacher was unable to keep a stable stomach and vomited unceremoniously, the residue of which hit Yeo-wool, Ji-dwi, Seon-woo and Sa-do. All four of them flinched and shuddered violently as Seon-woo commented, "ah it's hot," which did nothing but make them shiver in discomfort and disgust.

Poong Wol Joo was not done however as a second wave of nausea hit Soo-ho and Ban-ryu at the back. "What the-" Soo-ho's horrified gasp drowned. They were dismissed immediately though, instead of waiting till the hundredth round which surely would have led to their deaths.

The boys rushed for the showers while Sa-do headed towards the river instead. She had avoided the group showers, usually waking up early to wash before the others rose. She was completely familiar with the timings of when the shower room was empty during the day. But now as her roommates were there, she didn't want to step foot in that area, afraid of the horrifying images she might end up seeing.

...

"Is he a person?"

"I couldn't even sense when the sword struck."

"He is so strong. He could break my head in an instant."

They had a weapon training class afterwards. They were learning sword fighting. The challenge was to defend themselves ten times from the guard using their practice swords. But so far everyone had failed abysmally.

Sa-do remained silent as she took the time to observe the guard's fighting style. It was challenging however as no one had been able to put up a proper fight against him. Then it was Soo-ho's turn. The other Hwarangs had more expectations from Soo-ho it seemed, if the encouragement and excited whispers were any indication. And Kim Soo-ho did last for a full two rounds.

Then it was Sa-do's turn. She didn't miss Ban-ryu's condescending snort and the doubtful looks of her classmates. "Good luck," Han-seong had called out when she passed them and Yeo-wool shot her an encouraging thumbs up.

When she stood before the guard, she made the strangest request ever, "can we start from the back?" There were whispers and laughs as the guard consented and walked back to the wooden railings behind him. Everyone watched with keen interest as Jae-won stood still, not attacking the guard.

After a few moments the huge man made the first move and rounded his sword towards the boy's side. But the shocking part was that he blocked it with ease and pushed the sword back. The guard looked surprised, not having expected a proper opponent, but charged again.

The Hwarangs watched with slackened jaws as Jae-won blocked each attack gracefully, practically dancing his way through each blow and strike. He didn't have the brutal force to take down the guard, but he made up for it with his speed and agility. He never attacked, merely blocking out the powerful strikes. The pair had finally made their way back to the center of the room.

"That's nine," Jae-won pointed out as he swerved out of the way of yet another blow. "I will stop defending now." And with that he switched from defense to attack as he charged at the older man. The blows were hard and fast. He parried, forcing his opponent to back away, striking and spinning his weapon making the man drop his sword.

It was quiet for a moment before there was thundering applause.

Sa-do took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her rapid heartbeats. It was Ji-dwi's turn next and he had to spar with her as she had defeated the guard. The Hwarang gave her an acknowledging nod as he stood before her. She didn't know what to expect from her fellow roommate and so kept her guard up.

The battle between them was fierce and Sa-do had to dodge out of the way of a lot of Ji-dwi's blows when she didn't have the time to pull up her sword to block him. But she was also fast enough to force him to back away a fair few times. Though their fighting styles were variant, their skill set was almost on par and at last they ended up on a stalemate.

Ji-dwi was more than impressed. He hadn't exactly found someone who could hold their own in a fight with him and the challenge was oddly refreshing. As they were heading to their class, Ji-dwi pulled Jae-won back. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Sa-do hesitated. How was she to answer such a question? She couldn't tell him the truth. Back at home, Park Young-shil's guards often used to train in the sprawling backyard of the huge house. The same backyard that her room window faced. She had learnt mostly from observing her father's guards train. Sometimes there would be soldiers from the royal army too, the ones that her father had bribed to join his side, who trained there.

Sa-do had been watching them for years, listening in on their conversations on fighting techniques and battle strategies. And she had practiced all the moves tirelessly within the confines of her room to either entertain herself or wear herself down when she was angry or frustrated. And then there was Dan-se. He had taught her a fair bit of martial arts and archery.

"Uh...I learnt at home," she finally replied pensively, not giving out anything. The pair were the last to reach the classroom. Everyone else was already there. Ji-dwi pulled her to the last row. Sa-do ignored the warmth that the contact brought.

Ji-dwi had been getting increasingly comfortable around her, especially after admitting that he knew she was the one at Dayiseo that night, and it made her nervous at times. Mainly because she didn't know how to react and it kept on making her freeze every single time. What was happening? She was supposed to be avoiding him, was she not? Then why the growing familiarity?

Bu-jae entered the class with someone in tow and Sa-do's thoughts were abruptly cut off as her blood froze.

Ji-dwi glanced at her in confusion on noticing the sudden mood alteration. Jae-won looked like he had seen a ghost, with all colour draining from his face.