Chapter 80: [76] "Early days"
The boys arrive at the imposing academy, being greeted by Suman Kang of Baekho, who welcomes them with a warm but imposing smile. Suman divides the group into two sectors, separating Wooin and Jiwoo from the rest as they have no affiliation with any academy.
Jisuk, Subin, Jaehyuk and Boyoung are designated as Shinhwa representatives and taken to another sector of the academy.
Jiwoo and Wooin are led to their room, which is located in an isolated area of the academy. Upon arrival, they each enter their own room, which are located next to each other.
"Wow, this room is really amazing," sighed Jiwoo as he plopped down on the bed and relaxed.
Kayden looked around the room and frowned. "Why spend so much money. How can you push your limits being so comfortable," he said quietly.
"I agree, Mr. Kayden. That's impressive," Jiwoo added.
"What do you think we'll do at the academy?" asked Jiwoo excited about what would be in store for them.
"At the academy, they will train and learn all the basics to improve their skills, but nothing as amazing as you think," Kayden replied with determination. "And they will also most likely evaluate you to see if you are fit to join some organization and have a record of you."
"Don't worry about that, remember I've told you that before. The important thing now is for you to focus on training as much as you can. After you finish your training at the academy, you can continue with the training we are designing together with Ares," Kayden explained as he lay down on the couch and settled down to sleep.
....
[The following day]
[At the academy training center, unaffiliated].
Lined up, six young men gasp for breath as they stare at a young man in front of them. The young man in front of them with black hair and gray eyes with a scar running the from his right temple to the bottom of his chin.
"How is your first day, you will fight each other and we will see how good you are," Giwook said.
"Excuse me," said a soft voice. "My powers are not combat."
Giwook looked at the shy man with dark green hair and black eyes and replied. "I understand, but how awakened, sooner or later you'll have to fight."
"Who wants to go first?" added Giwook.
"Me," said Jeongsu advancing to the center of the arena.
There, he looked at the young men with a confident smile. 'This is my chance to stand out. I will beat them all and show those groups how valuable I am.'
"Who will be your opponent?" asked Giwook again.
Jiwoo looked at Jeongsu for a moment and advanced towards him, surprising Wooin.
On the way, Jiwoo remembered Kayden's words, "If you have a chance to fight another awakened one, do it and learn from it."
"What fight?" asked Jiwoo.
"Yes, having confrontations against other awakened is the most efficient and fastest way to improve your powers and gain experience," Kayden explained.
"In a confrontation you gain experience and you'll know how to act when you have other confrontations," Kayden added. "You have to squeeze the most out of a fight to learn as much as possible from it."
Jiwoo nodded to himself seriously as he stared at Jeongsu.
Jeongsu smiled confidently at him. 'Great, that pathetic scaredy-cat is first. I'll crush him,' he thought.
"There's an infirmary at the academy, so don't worry about getting injured," Giwook reassured. "They start at the starting whistle."
The whistle blew.
Jiwoo was very focused on improving his fighting technique when he noticed something strange happened to Jeongsu, one of his arms turned green.
"You are dead," Jeongsu said arrogantly.
Jiwoo dodges Jeongsu's attacks with great ease, increasing his speed to connect a direct hit on his face. Jeongsu is surprised to see that his punch did not find its target, as he receives a strong punch from Jiwoo.
After this, Jiwoo positions himself with his guard up, waiting for any further attack from his opponent.
Jeongsu is filled with anger and quickly lunges towards Jiwoo, initiating an intense exchange of blows.
However, Jiwoo handles the situation with great skill and manages to easily win the fight, increasing his speed to dodge his opponent's blows and attacking at the weakest points of his defense, with cunning and precision.
Seeing Jeongsu with wounds and bruises all over his body, Jiwoo decides to put an end to the fight immediately, with a series of quick and forceful blows, Jiwoo attacks Jeongsu, inflicting serious wounds that make his body bleed profusely. Jiwoo's swift and decisive action leaves Jeongsu staggering, unable to continue fighting.
Jiwoo turns and walks towards Wooin with a firm and confident step. Once she reaches his side, she places her hands behind her back and appears calm, with no apparent rapid breathing after her walk, but a cheerful smile comes out of her face.
Gangwoo, Taeyoung and Jihye were stunned as they watched Jiwoo. Meanwhile, Giwook analyzed the fight that just happened and wondered to himself. "Could it be that his power is super speed? He increased his speed at the precise moments to dodge and counterattack without expending too much energy. is he training?"
Wooin looked at Jiwoo and said in a weak voice. "I was going to be the first to fight him, but you did very well."
Jiwoo apologized. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to fight. I was told that I should gain experience in fights with other awakened ones and I thought the best way to do that was to fight when I got the chance." And then he said cheerfully, "Thank you!"
Wooin nodded his head without asking any questions.
Jeongsu, as he watched Jiwoo walk away talking cheerfully as if he had spent no energy, thought to himself. 'How is it possible for that kid to be so strong, why isn't he affiliated yet?'
Giwook turns to Jeongsu, who is still standing in the center of the arena, and asks him to stand behind the corresponding line. "Why are you still there? Get behind the line," he tells him authoritatively.
Jeongsu, desperate for a chance to show his true potential, begs Giwook to give him another chance. "Please give me one more chance. I haven't shown my full potential," he says hastily.
Giwook notices that drops of blood continue to fall from the body of Jeongsu, who has been standing in that spot since the end of the fight.
With a firm voice, Giwook tells him. "To return to his place and that he is in no condition to continue fighting."
Jeongsu tries to say something else, but Giwook interrupts him and repeats. "didn't you understand, go back to your place you are not fit to fight."
Finally, Jeongsu resigns himself and walks with difficulty to the place where the other young men are.
Without waiting for Giwook's word, Wooin steps forward and stands in the center of the arena.
Jiwoo, full of emotion, expressed his luck to Wooin with a single word.
Giwook nodded his head and, wasting no time, asked. "who would be next?"
A brief silence took over the atmosphere before Giwook says. "Jihye Lee, go ahead."
With obvious nervousness, Jihye responded with a "yes, sir" and moved forward to stand in front of Wooin.
The sound of a beep interrupts the silence and marks the start of the fight.
Wooin fixes his attention on Jihye, noticing that her hands are holding something blue, which then surrounds her in a sort of bubble that slowly rises.
Wooin's gesture becomes serious, leading him to release two bolts of power into the bubble, causing it to shatter into pieces.
Jihye is taken aback by Wooin's action and before she can react, black energy beams with red hues strike her violently, causing her to fall to the ground in an unconscious and injured state.
Wooin turns around and returns to his position, showing an indifferent and unconcerned attitude towards what has just happened.
Giwook takes a close look at Jihye and thinks to himself. 'Unbelievable, he finished off his opponent with such ease and power control. Jihye has no fighting experience and managed to discover some weak spots in his opponent'.
Then, he turns his attention to Taeyoung and orders. "You, take her to the doctor."
Taeyoung tries to lift Jihye, but her weight makes it difficult for him and Jiwoo comes over to help him.
Meanwhile, Gangwoo smiles and thinks. 'Who will I fight now that the weaker one is gone?'
Giwook looks at Jiwoo and says 'Stay here, you will fight again. You, it's your turn', pointing at Gangwoo.
Jiwoo nodded as he watched Gangwoo approach and stand in front of him.
The starting signal beep sounded.
Gangwoo will assess his opponent. 'He looks very fast, I must be careful. But I have more strength,' he thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Jiwoo thought. 'According to his introduction, he can lift 100 kilograms with one hand'.
Without hesitation, Gangwoo charged at Jiwoo, but to his surprise, Jiwoo appeared behind him in an instant and stunned him with a punch to the face. Gangwoo resisted the blow and hit back, but Jiwoo countered it with his hand.
To Jiwoo's surprise, the impact was quite strong and he thought to himself. 'I won't let them hit me.'
Gangwoo smiled and tried to attack again, but Jiwoo quickly dodged it and landed several hits, showing his impressive control and efficiency in using his powers.
The exchange of blows continued, and as the fight progressed, Gangwoo's wounds began to show, with blood dripping from his wounds, while Jiwoo remained unharmed except for a bruise on his arm.
"Stop," a voice commanded, and both combatants stopped.
Gangwoo breathed heavily, his body dripping blood, while Jiwoo held his breath.
'The fight is over,' Giwook said, looking at Jiwoo and thinking. 'That kid handles his power exceptionally well and Wooin has incredible control over his abilities. Where did these two monsters come from?'
"That's all for today. Those who need medical attention should go to the doctor, and the rest of you should go back to your rooms and get a good night's rest," Giwook added.
....
[The next day]
Jiwoo waved goodbye to Kayden with a wave of his hand, walking away from the place. Meanwhile, Kayden was immersed in his own world, focused on regaining his force control as quickly as possible.
'What a bummer,' he thought to himself. 'Why does Han Seongik have to be here? I thought he had retired. This is annoying.'
Kayden frowned as he concentrated on his recovery. He didn't like the idea of someone like Han Seongik being around.
....
Wooin and Jiwoo arrived at the training center where Jiwoo greeted everyone cheerfully and asked them about their health.
As soon as Giwook arrived, they started training, which ended quickly, and headed to dinner.
Days passed and their routine remained the same, train with Professor Giwook, have lunch and then Jiwoo return to his room to continue training intensely with Kayden.
Instructors Giwook and Siyeong were arguing about the proposal to pit the affiliated awakened against the unaffiliated. Giwook argued that it was absurd to compare them as the affiliated had advantages over the unaffiliated. The discussion ended with the agreement of the other academy instructors, who also agreed with the proposal.
After that conversation, the atmosphere in the training changed rapidly. Giwook intensified the demands of the training, pushing the students there to the limits. Only Jiwoo and Wooin seemed to be able to keep up, while the others struggled to steady themselves on their feet.
Giwook stood in front of the children, who were sitting on the floor, trying to catch their breath and rest with their hands behind their backs, he seemed to be waiting for something.
"Ready," he finally said, catching the attention of the boys...
"Listen well while you rest," Giwook told them with a smile on his face, generating more anticipation.
However, the boys began to have doubts, as the class always ended at that time, even when the training started to become more demanding.
Giwook's response was not long in coming. "The truth is, I didn't expect this to come so fast, but I'll teach them force control," he said with an assurance, startling all four boys, except Wooin and Jiwoo.
Jeongsu, was astonished and excited at the news. "Mr. Jang, are you really going to teach us force control?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, but don't get too excited," Giwook warned with a smile. "It's the most basic thing you'll learn when you join a group," he added to calm their excitement a bit
[Pov Giwook]
I've been teaching neutral force control to the four boys, and while it's obvious that those who have never practiced it will have difficulty following the circulation of energy in their body, Wooin is different. He has already learned force control and, I heard, had a teacher since he was a child.
While the others were concentrating, I went on to teach Jiwoo, seeing palpable excitement on his face.
....
Jiwoo sitting in meditation position is very happy and thinks. 'It's so much fun to learn another type of force control. According to what Mr. Kayden said, it doesn't matter if I learn another force control, as long as it's nothing weird, and since this is the most basic one, it shouldn't affect me much.
'He went on to say that the force control created by the union of his and Ares' force control was at a very high level, even in this country there might not be one at that level. 'Mr. Kayden said that many would do anything to learn even a small part of his force control, but from what I remember, Ares' force control is very incredible as he has several powerful ones and is rare even in the whole world'
"Close your eyes and concentrate completely," he added. Giwook.
"Yes, sir," Jiwoo replied seriously.
Jiwoo felt Giwook's energy enter his body and move with ease, he followed that energy and started to do it on his own.
Giwook looked at Jiwoo in awe and thought 'How can he follow with such ease? It's unbelievable, he's a monster! Who in the world can do this? And Jiwoo also knows force control. These two guys are a mystery'.
After a while of training in force control, the boys went to lunch as usual, but were interrupted by three Baekdu members who beat up Jeongsu. Jiwoo intervened, which made them angry. But just then Boyoung and Jaehyuk appeared. In the end, an argument broke out between Shinhwa and Baekdu members. Jiwoo also jumped in, as he did not agree with what happened. As they were about to fight, Professor Giwook interrupted them and made them go to their rooms.
Giwook walks down a hallway, his mind filled with thoughts about what Jiwoo said a few moments ago. However, his concentration is interrupted by the appearance of Seongha and Inhyuk, who appear on the path in front of him. After a brief exchange of greetings, they both assured him that they would be happy to help train the unaffiliated.
Kayden, for his part, remained focused on recovering most of the time.
....
[The next day]
Inhyuk and Seongha have joined as coaches and have significantly raised the level of training. They have motivated the youngsters to give their best and squeeze all their energy into every training session.
As the days passed, the incident began to spread among the other teachers and members of the academy. Many of them felt disgusted by Inhyuk and Seongha's attitude in refusing to train the affiliates.
Eventually, the news reached the academy director, Seongik, who summoned the two to talk to them and address the situation.
The three had a long and intense conversation and it was finally concluded to hold a showdown between the affiliates and non-affiliates, in order to test the talent of the latter.
After leaving Han Seongik's office, Inhyuk and Seongha met Giwook, who was waiting for them outside.
Seongha muttered a "mm".
Inhyuk recognized him and asked. "Giwook?"
Giwook answered. "How did it go, what's the answer?".
The three of them advanced down a windowed hallway and continued the conversation.
Inhyuk said. "They gave us a week's time."
Giwook was surprised and repeated. "Only one week?"
Inhyuk calmly replied. "Yes, in a week's time they will be evaluated in a showdown against affiliates. They will have to prove something."
Giwook thought to himself. "Only one week? That's not enough to improve and their future only resulted in a showdown."
Inhyuk smiled confidently and said, "Well, it went as expected."
Giwook was shocked and hesitantly asked. "How did it go as expected, what do you mean? Non-affiliates can't do anything against affiliates."
Inhyuk replied. "The fight is important. We don't know how they are organized, but we have two aces up our sleeves for the unaffiliated that could surprise them."
Seongha nodded his head in approval.
Giwook slowed down and said. "You mean Jiwoo and Wooin?".
Inhyuk replied. "Yes."
Giwook said. "It's true that they are excellent those two, but it's not enough for them to win."
Inhyuk, with a face full of confidence, replied. "Don't believe, it will. Even Subin and Jisuk won't be able to beat Wooin."
Giwook was surprised. "What?"
Inhyuk added. "It's true. There are only two more awakened ones of their age that compare to them in the whole country."
Seongha interrupted and said. "They are more than enough. For all I know, Jiwoo could be stronger than Wooin," looking at Inhyuk. Giwook was surprised and also looked at Inhyuk.
He sighed and said. "That's true, most likely. We don't know for sure because when he fought with Jisuk, the fight was stopped so that both of them didn't end up seriously injured."
Giwook was shocked. "How?"
Inhyuk added. "Just so you know, Jisuk, Wooin and Jiwoo fought the Klein brothers and came out alive."
Giwook looked at the two in astonishment.
Seongha looked at Giwook and said, "You can check for yourself."
....
In the training arena, Inhyuk and Seongha were busy teaching the four unaffiliated youths while Giwook took Jiwoo and Wooin to another training room.
"Wooin, stand in front of me," Giwook probably.
"Yes, sir," Wooin replied obediently.
"Seongha told me about you. I want to test your strength. Attack me," Giwook challenged and the next moment Wooin makes a move, but Giwook reacted quickly and blocks his attack.
Giwook assessed Wooin, surprised. 'He attacked right after I finished talking.'
Jiwoo glared at what was happening.
'Attack me harder,' Giwook urged.
Suddenly, Wooin's body began to give off a reddish black aura and rose to an impressive level that was astonishing to Giwook.
Wooin placed his hands parallel and small sparks of fire began to ignite. The next moment, he swung his arm toward Giwook and struck him with impressive force.
Giwook covered his face with his hands, but when he lowered them, he laughed as he witnessed Wooin's small display of power.
"Well done. You can go back to your place," Giwook said.
Wooin made a reference and broke away.
"Jiwoo, it's your turn," Giwook called.
Jiwoo nodded and stood in front of him.
"When do you want to? Don't hold back like you did with your friends," Giwook said defiantly.
"Okay," Jiwoo replied, ready.
Jiwoo disappeared and appeared in front of Giwook, throwing a punch. Giwook raised his arm to counter it, but Jiwoo disappeared again and appeared next to him throwing another attack. Giwook quickly blocked the punch.
Giwook was astonished, but then recovered and said. "Don't hold back on your speed."
Jiwoo nodded and disappeared, leaving his silhouette around Giwook, throwing punches. Giwook closed his guard and stood still, impressed by Jiwoo's speed.
Then, Jiwoo appeared in front of him and threw a powerful punch to his face.
Giwook blocked it with ease and Jiwoo stopped attacking, standing in front of him.
As Giwook saw his hand with a small wound that didn't bleed, he thought. 'Where did these monsters come from?' and laughed. 'I get it, Inhyuk and Seongha. This is our chance.'
....
3384 Words.
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