"Stop!"
A booming voice echoed resoundingly across the open training ground. As if doused with cold water, I flinched and came to my senses, halting my steps and backing away. Escort Leader Pung, watching me, slowly lowered his wooden sword.
As I steadied my heated breath, I quickly replayed the exchange we just had in my mind. If we had clashed that time, one of us would have been lying on the ground. To have watched long enough to intervene at the precise turning point of the match, that interviewer was no ordinary man.
Escort Leader Pung let out a sigh, held his wooden sword upside down, and cupped his fist in a salute.
"I am Pung Kang-ik, an escort leader at the Dragon Sky Escort Agency."
His attitude was completely different from his earlier arrogance. Feeling that I had passed the test, I also pleasantly returned the salute.
"I am Jeong Dae-cheon."
"The foundation of your sword art is truly well-established. I have learned a great deal. If I may ask, what school do you belong to?"
"I just learned it here and there, so I don't really know. They never told me until the end."
"Is that so?"
Pung Kang-ik nodded his head calmly. His expression didn't show any particular suspicion. Among the disciples of martial families that had been annihilated or fallen due to various grudges, there were many who genuinely didn't know their origins or were reluctant to reveal them.
The interviewer who had shouted to stop the test rose from his seat. He was a middle-aged man with a slender build, wearing a uniform, but his appearance was more like that of a Daoist than a martial artist. With a gleam of brilliance in his deep-set eyes, he stared at me, sizing me up.
"I am Du Ja-ryeom, the Chief Escort Leader. It's been a while since I've seen such a fine spectacle."
"To last for thirty exchanges with Escort Leader Pung, you are no ordinary man. How old are you?"
"I am twenty-one this year."
"Hmm? You're younger than you look. I thought you were at least twenty-six."
It was a common thing. When a family is poor, the children mature early, and I had never seen a wandering swordsman who lived by the sword and acted his age. Another interviewer sitting next to him frowned and shook his head.
"Isn't twenty-one too full of youthful vigor? He might lose his head over the scent of women and tarnish the escort agency's name."
"Hmmm."
The Chief Escort Leader narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard.
"What do you think, Escort Leader Pung?"
"He should be fine."
When Pung Kang-ik showed a positive response, the Chief Escort Leader smiled with satisfaction.
"I'll trust Escort Leader Pung's eye for talent. For now, you've passed."
"Thank you."
I cupped my fist and bowed my head to express my gratitude.
"How much is the monthly salary?"
"For the day shift, it's 20 coins a day. If you work a full month without missing a single day, you get an additional 100 coins, for a total of 700 coins a month."
"The night shift, where you stay up all night, is 40 coins a day. If you complete a full month, it's one and a half silver taels."
"You may think it's meager, but that's how it is for guards."
"There aren't any gutsy enough bastards in the Western Village to mess with the Dragon Sky Escort Agency, so there's not much danger."
"If you want to earn a hefty sum of silver, you'll have to go on an escort mission."
"Do I have to go on escort missions too?"
"Are you interested?"
"No. If I have to go on escort missions, I will quit."
The interviewer who hadn't revealed his identity sneered crookedly.
"Did you also apply because you're smitten with the Deep Fragrance Pavilion?"
"I don't care where I'm stationed. I just don't wish to leave my hometown."
The Chief Escort Leader tilted his head.
"Hometown? You're from around here?"
"I left when I was young and returned a short while ago."
"So it's the call of home..."
His face growing somewhat wistful, the Chief Escort Leader nodded his head.
"... You must have gone through a lot. I understand."
"We were looking for guards this time, so you won't have to go on any escort missions."
"You two, continue testing the remaining applicants. You, come with me."
I attached the willow blade to my waist and followed the Chief Escort Leader out of the training ground.
"Are there any others who passed besides me?"
"None. There were several wandering swordsmen with decent skills, but they looked like the type to cause trouble."
"If we hire carelessly, cleaning up their messes becomes a chore."
"Finding a useful person is like finding a needle in a sand dune. If you grab it recklessly, you're bound to get pricked."
In the Chief Escort Leader's calm tone, I could feel a subtle but firm warning. That if I caused trouble while wearing the uniform, it would not be good for my well-being. In my experience, those who applied pressure indirectly like this were much more decisive than those who threatened you outright.
If I didn't follow the rules I was supposed to follow, it wouldn't end with just a few beatings.
"There's an escort mission to Sichuan in a month. It's a large-scale mission for a change, so we'll have to mobilize as many escorts as possible, even those on guard duty."
"That's why we're recruiting more people. How long do you plan on working?"
"I think I'll probably have to work until the end of this year."
"That's good. Can you start working tomorrow evening?"
"I can."
"Your post might change if another person passes, so I'll let you know your duty station tomorrow."
At the escort agency's main hall, I received a navy blue uniform with the two characters for 'Dragon Sky' clearly embroidered on the left chest and a temporary identification tag, then went outside. The line, far from shrinking, had actually grown longer, and the escorts were still busy maintaining order.
As I left the main gate, the jobless local martial artists who had gathered in droves to get beaten up one by one started talking to me.
"Hey brother, what happened?"
"Did you pass?"
"What are they doing in there?"
"Isn't that a uniform? Huh, so there are people who actually pass."
"Dammit, they're not just hiring one person, are they?"
The envy and jealousy pouring in from all sides, along with a twisted malice, pricked at my nerves like invisible thorns. Answering would only lead to a fight, so I kept my mouth shut and passed by at a reasonable distance. As soon as I returned home, I threw the uniform on the wooden floor and drew the willow blade.
The excitement of the duel had already faded, but the memory of the exchanges was still vivid. Holding the blade, I reenacted each move, starting from the first form when I had rushed at Pung Kang-ik. I hadn't noticed during the spar, but as I calmly retraced my steps, I saw areas for improvement.
Here, a simple upward block would have been better than a continuous attack... What if I had feinted to the right instead of the left to deceive him... Imagining Pung Kang-ik's counterattacks, I broke away from set forms and my favorite techniques, trying various variations and unorthodox moves.
Then, I got completely stuck at the problematic Piercing Spiral Thrust. Although I had parried and broken it by holding the wooden sword with both hands, I was not at all satisfied. If it had been a real blade and not a wooden sword, could I have deflected it?
What if it had been a spear, not a blade? After repeating the same form several times and twisting it this way and that, I sheathed my blade. I went to the bamboo grove and cut down a few stalks of suitable thickness.
I was stripping the branches with a dagger and making a bamboo staff when Gu-sam arrived with dinner.
"Hero, you have to eat. Hehe."
Had it gotten that late already? I looked up at the sky; being early summer, there was still plenty of daylight left.
"What's this?"
Gu-sam ran over, his curious eyes blinking.
"What does it look like?"
"Is it a staff?"
"If I use it like this, it's a staff. If I attach a blade to the end, it's a spear. What happened to your right-hand man? How come you came alone?"
"Hojin is busy today helping at the cloth shop. They said they got a large order from the escort agency."
I held the bamboo staff, trimmed to a suitable length, and stood in the middle of the yard. I took a step forward with my left foot and turned my body diagonally to the right.
I held the middle of the bamboo staff with my left hand and the end with my right, aimed it forward, and took a deep breath. Recalling my past practice, I executed the Piercing Spiral Thrust. I spun the bamboo staff, striking outwards, then pulled it in to press down, and finally thrust it forward.
It had been a while, so my posture was clumsy. No matter how much force I used, the tip of the staff shook, reducing its power, and it lacked the precision of the Piercing Spiral Thrust Pung Kang-ik had performed with his wooden sword.
After repeating it dozens of times without rest, I grasped the middle of the bamboo staff with both hands and swung it from side to side. Stepping with the Eight Directions Step, I swept all around me like a pinwheel, kicking up dust from the ground. This was as far as my knowledge of spear techniques went.
It was hardly better than a street performer's spectacle, but it was enough to satisfy Gu-sam's eyes.
"Wow, Hero, you know how to use a spear too?"
"I'm just imitating. Here, you try."
"Me too?"
Gu-sam excitedly took the bamboo staff. The Piercing Spiral Thrust was so simple in its movements that even Gu-sam learned it quickly. But as expected, it didn't produce any real power.
Having learned the basics, Gu-sam swung the bamboo staff around with delight.
"Fierce Dog Runs Down the Road! Head Smashing Strike! Five Viscera and Six Bowels! Face Paralysis Technique!"
He spouted a torrent of nonsensical form names, I had no idea where he learned them. As his chronic habit of spouting nonsense started up again, I shook my head, then flinched as something seemed off.
"Wait!"
"Why?"
"What was that just now? If I didn't mishear, the first two sounded like form names from the Dog Beating Staff Techniques?"
"Ooh, you know it too, Hero? The Dog Beating Staff Techniques."
Gu-sam beamed, looking at me with newfound respect.
"Do you even know what the Dog Beating Staff Techniques are?"
"Of course. It's the unique martial art of the Beggars' Sect, isn't it?"
"If you know, then watch your mouth. If a Beggars' Sect disciple hears you, you'll get cut for impersonating them."
"There's no blade in this world that doesn't hurt when you're hit, but there's nothing more wretched than being taken down by those beggars."
One might think they wouldn't seriously pick a fight over kids playing around, but the Beggars' Sect bastards were more than capable of it.
"How do you know so much? Hero, don't tell me you were beaten by beggars..."
Whatever he was imagining, Gu-sam couldn't finish his sentence, his eyes wide with shock.
"Stop with the nonsense and practice the Piercing Spiral Thrust some more."
"Yes!"
Gu-sam shut his mouth and focused on the Piercing Spiral Thrust. At first, he seemed to be just having fun, but soon his breathing grew ragged, and his face was covered in sweat. Tired of repeating the same motion, he suddenly grabbed the staff with both hands and started spinning it around.
The more he spun, the more the staff extended to one side, until it slipped from his hands and flew towards the wall.
"Huh? Why did it slip?"
Gu-sam ran to pick up the bamboo staff, scratching his head with a puzzled expression.
"Your left and right hands need to be in the same position. You're pushing it out because you're moving to one side like that."
Watching Gu-sam practice, I took the remaining bamboo and cut it to a suitable length to make a bamboo sword. It was much lighter than a wooden sword and hollow, so it probably wouldn't hurt much if I got hit. Gu-sam stopped his spear practice and wiped his sweat, asking.
"If a spear and a sword fight, who wins?"
"The stronger one wins."
"What if their skills are equal?"
"The spear has an advantage. It's longer than a sword, and it's easier to put your weight behind it using both hands. It's not difficult to learn either."
"Just as they say, a hundred days for the spear, a thousand for the saber, ten thousand for the sword. But why do martial artists use swords and not spears?"
"Because they're cumbersome to carry around."
"Even if they're cumbersome, wouldn't it be better to live longer?"
I picked up the willow blade from the floor and gestured to Gu-sam.
"Thrust at me."
The bamboo staff had no blade, so Gu-sam didn't hesitate to get into position. Perhaps due to his rock-solid faith that I wouldn't harm him, he didn't even flinch in front of a real blade. The bamboo staff traced a rather plausible thrusting trajectory as it came stabbing forward.
I didn't dodge or block, but lightly swung the willow blade. The tip of the bamboo staff was cleanly sliced off and sent flying, as if cutting through paper. It wasn't just sharp because it was a new blade.
The entire edge had been painstakingly honed to a uniform density, allowing it to cut through in a single stroke. Even when I spun and recovered the blade after the cut, its balance was so perfect that there was no strain on my wrist or shoulder.
I found myself looking forward to what my new long blade from Dojeong Smithy would look like in a month. I wiped the blade of the willow blade on my clothes and sheathed it. Gu-sam seemed quite surprised, staring blankly at the cross-section of the bamboo, from which drops of sap were falling.
"A spearman is finished if his staff is cut."
"Ah."
Not all spear shafts are cut so easily. Since their lives are on the line, martial artists who use spears make their shafts from the toughest, most resilient wood they can find. But no matter how sturdy, wood is still wood; it cannot defeat steel.
It will hold and hold, but eventually, it will break. A sword can be used even if it gets wet and rusts, but if a spear shaft gets wet from the rain, the wood might warp or lose its elasticity.
In close-quarters combat in narrow and complex indoor spaces or alleys, the length of the spear becomes a fatal weakness that restricts movement. It can't be hidden either. It stands out wherever you go, and since it's the main weapon used by the military, it often draws the annoying attention of Officials.
In many ways, the spear was a weapon that was ill-suited for martial artists. After having Gu-sam practice a bit more, I stood facing him with the bamboo sword.
"Here I come."
"Come."
"Hi-yah!"
Gu-sam let out a yell and thrust the bamboo staff forward with the form of the Piercing Spiral Thrust. I could see it was packed with force. Standing my ground, I swung the bamboo sword and struck the head of the bamboo staff.
The fiercely moving bamboo staff flew to the opposite side as if someone had yanked it. Gu-sam looked down at his empty hands with a dumbfounded expression.
"Don't grip the staff too tightly. If you use too much strength, you won't have any left when you really need it."
We tried again, but this time too, Gu-sam lost his grip on the bamboo staff during the 'Lan' part of the technique. The difference in brute strength, skill in handling force, and technique was too great for an even match. I had no choice but to reduce my strength.
I held the bamboo sword as light as a feather with minimal force, and even when I had to apply strength, I used as little as possible. This time, the feeling of the clash was completely different.
I barely managed to block the 'Lan', but when I couldn't shake off the 'Na' that pressed down from the opposite side, the bamboo sword was wrapped up, and my wrist was twisted.
In the midst of that, instead of deflecting the incoming 'thrust' along its grain, I tried to block it somehow, and the bamboo sword curled inwards and slipped from my grasp. Looking at the bamboo sword on the ground, I was dumbfounded.
No matter how much I held back and went easy on him, to be defeated by a kid was absurd. I could see why the military only taught soldiers spearmanship. I imagined this was exactly what would have happened if Pung Kang-ik had been holding a spear and performed the Piercing Spiral Thrust.
I found myself lost in thought for no reason. Gu-sam's eyes widened, having knocked my bamboo sword away with the basics of a spear technique he had learned for barely an hour.
"He-He-Hero. This is it, right? This is that, isn't it?"
He was so shocked that he trembled, clutching the bamboo staff. I wondered what kind of nonsense he was about to spout, then it suddenly occurred to me. That this kid, Gu-sam, had quite a bit of martial talent.
He was good with fist and foot techniques, so he might have had a breakthrough in spearmanship. If he showed a talent for the spear, he could become a useful practice partner.
"What do you mean?"
When I looked at him with anticipation, Gu-sam looked at me with a somewhat troubled expression. Unable to understand, I tilted my head, and Gu-sam, with a face full of joy, carefully opened his mouth.
"I mean, this is that, right... The student has surpassed the master. Right?"
"...... Huh?"