Kang-hyuk slapped Chun-hak's shoulder with a smile.
"Your internal injuries must feel better now."
"Ah! Yes!"
Chun-hak was a little taken aback.
He had a.s.sumed that the pill was a simple internal injury medicine, but from the moment he had placed the pill within his mouth, he instinctively knew that the pill wasn't ordinary.
The healing effects of the pill weren't limited to his internal injuries. Various minor injuries he had also sustained seemed to have been instantaneously resolved.
"About the internal injury medicine I've just taken, was it expensive?"
"It was a little expensive, I guess."
"Huh!"
Kang-hyuk smiled in rea.s.surance at Chun-hak.
"But don't worry, I feel that giving something to a disciple of mine is never a waste. I hope you partake in today's activities well."
"Th-thank you!"
"Also, don't take the advice I've given you lightly."
"Of course I won't!"
From the distance, the sound of breakfast being ready could be heard. Chun-hak bowed, then departed for the camp-site.
*Thud!*
Someone seemed to have had fallen out from somewhere behind Kang-hyuk.
It was Byeok Ae-rin.
"I wonder when that Chun-hak will find out that the pill you gave him was a mysterious pill that the whole of Moorim is l.u.s.ting after."
"I hope he never finds out."
"Why do you feel that way?"
"It's because I would regret ever giving that lad the pill if after finding out its true ident.i.ty he stopped working hard and began to rely on luck."
"I see."
Byeok Ae-rin nodded in understanding.
She remembered that after Ho-seong had distributed the pills amongst the Kwaepungdae members, they had began to rely on its effects, and stopped putting their full effort into training. As a result, Kang-hyuk had given them a severe beating.
At the time, Kang-hyuk had spoken so:
"If you simply rely on the luck of potions and concoctions, and stop putting your efforts into cultivating yourself, you'll end up dying a dog's death like that fellow! Before that happens, I think it'd be better that you all die at my hands instead!"
At that time, the other members were in a profuse sweat in their attempt to stop Kang-hyuk's emanation of ferocious energy- it was as though he was really going to kill them.
Each member then felt the price of not putting in their full effort- through their body. Kang-hyuk put them through an almost unbearable training.
Byeok Ae-rin knew how Kang-hyuk really felt.
Kang-hyuk put full effort into excessively training his men so that the likeliness of their death would be reduced.
"Seonsaengnim, breakfast is ready now. Let's go and eat."
"Yes, yes we should eat now."
***
After breakfast, the students gathered around a large boulder.
They were curious about Eun Myeong-myeong's absence. Ok Hae-mi then began to speak, standing atop the boulder.
"The Princ.i.p.al had some business to address, and so, he had to return back to the Academy early. I'll now give you details of the last task of the field trip."
The ribbon had a tiny silver ornament that had the Hwacheon Academy insignia engraved onto it attached to it.
"The task today isn't to find the usual green ribbon, but to find this smaller green thread."
The level of difficulty of the task had increased.
Even if a student had excellent vision, at the level the students were currently at, to find the green thread seemed an almost impossible task.
Reading the students' dumbfounded expressions, Ok Hae-mi spoke rea.s.suringly.
"Whilst the task has increased in difficulty, there are many more of these green threads available to find in comparison to the ribbons. So, don't worry and go find them all!"
As she raised her hand, the attendant by the drum began vigorously beating it.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The last task of the field trip had begun.
Chun-hak led his group into the forests of Goseon Mountain.
He suddenly yelled: "There's one there!"
The group stopped, and looked towards where he was pointing.
"Where is it?"
"I can't see anything?"
Chun-hak became perplexed as he immediately responded; "Can you not see it, it's right over there? I can see it so clearly."
"I can't see it either."
Another group member had spoken up. She was a daughter of the Hw.a.n.gbo Family, and her name was Hw.a.n.gbo Yun-hye.
Despite only being a third year student, she was extremely capable.
It was only after she had spoken up that Chun-hak felt something was off.
"I-is that so? Let's go a little closer then."
After Chun-hak led the group a little closer to the location of the green thread, they too were able to see it.
"Wow! You could see that it was here from all the way over there?"
"You're amazing, s...o...b..enim!"
Chun-hak had a somewhat distant expression on his face at their praise, as he felt that something was strange about him.
He noticed that unlike yesterday, the flow of Qi within his system was unusually smooth and harmonious.
'What's different about today and yesterday?'
After some deliberation he finally realized what the difference was. It was Kang-hyuk's medicinal pill.
'It-it can't be! Was the pill that the horticulture teacher gave me much more expensive than I originally thought?'
His hands were trembling in shock.
He knew that the prices of internal injury medicines tended to vary.
The most general and basic internal injury medicine was around one hundred pieces of silver and half a nyang.
The price of the internal injury medicine that the Hwacheon Academy used was a little more expensive- fifty pieces of silver and one nyang.
The price of even the most basic internal injury medicine was unaffordable for common folk, but it was a price that the people of Moorim could afford.
But, if the price was more than the basic price, most would hesitate to purchase it, due to the general attachment of humans to money.
'The good thing is that one pill wouldn't generally be over one nyang in price….'
As Chun-hak attempted to calculate the price of the pill Kang-hyuk had given him, he remembered that he had a more important task at hand.
'I'll just have to ask him about it later.'
But his hand was still trembling.
This was most likely because Chun-hak didn't come from a wealthy family.
Soon enough, it was lunch time.
Chun-hak's entire team gathered at a pre-arranged location.
They discussed the task whilst drinking tea, eating dumplings that the maids had prepared,
"How many green threads have you all found?"
The fourth-year students that were in charge of each individual group answered.
"We collected two."
"We have three."
"We also have two."
As Chun-hak's group had collected five threads, the team's collective total thus far was twelve.
The other students were in awe of Chun-hak's superior abilities.
"s...o...b..e-nim, you're amazing!"
"Yes, he is!"
"It's nothing, I'm just feeling better than I am usually."
The other students that were the same age as Chun-hak shook their heads.
"No, your skills have definitely improved!"
"We picked a good leader!"
"Oh really! Why are you guys being like that! It's embarra.s.sing!"
His cla.s.smates then began to tease him upon seeing his reddened face.
"It's been a while since I've seen you blushing!"
"Indeed!"
"Stop talking rubbish and eat your dumplings! If you don't eat them, I will!"
"Aigoo! No way!"
"Hahahaha!"
***
Sitting cross-legged in the branches of a tree and eating, whilst watching Chun-hak and his team from above, were two teachers.
The two teachers were Kang-hyuk and So-hun, a stick martial arts teacher.
So-hun spoke up: "Hmmm…there's definitely something different about Chun-hak today."
Despite the cause of Chun-hak's increase in skill being his own Heavenly Spirit Restoring Pill, Kang-hyuk feigned ignorance.
"I think so as well."
"I wonder what the reason could be. Kang Seonsaeng, can you think of anything?"
"I don't really know, but I did hear that he had an internal injury yesterday from overexerting his internal energy."
"Internal injury you say….now that you mention it, I did hear that he went to the medical staff yesterday."
The medical staff of the Academy attended to the treatment of the teachers and students of the school, and there were five staff in total. Out of the five medical staff in the Academy, three had been sent to the field trip.
"But I don't think you really need to think too much about the cause of his increased ability."
So-hun looked up, surprised at Kang-hyuk's relaxed stance, and responded. "Why do you think so?"
"I know I'm only a teacher of horticulture, but I know that in Moorim, there's a phenomenon known as unexpected luck."
"Indeed there is."
"He's in a situation where teachers and students both are watching him. He hasn't done anything suspicious, so couldn't it be unexpected luck? His increase in skill could be as he has been blessed by a mysterious fate."
"Alas! What you say makes sense!"
"We should hurry and eat now. We don't know when the students will begin to move again."
So-hun nodded at Kang-hyuk's advice, and picked up a dumpling.
Kang-hyuk too picked up a dumpling and began to eat as he stared at Chun-hak.
'I guess my help really has helped you. From now on, it's up to you. I'll be watching on how far you fly from now on.'
Kang-hyuk grinned.
'But these dumplings. Are they thanks to Ye-rin's skills? Either way, they're delicious.'
* ＊ ＊
The sun was setting.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
As the powerful drumming signified the end of the day's task, the students began to gather around the large boulder within the campsite.
Each team handed in the green threads they had collected to Ok Hae-mi, and soon, the results were ready.
Ok Hae-mi stood atop the boulder, holding a piece of paper upon which the final counted submissions had been written. The students looked at her nervously.
"You've all put in a lot of effort today. I will now announce the results of the task."
She took a breath and continued.
"The first team has gathered a total of fifteen threads. The second team has gathered a total of seventeen threads. And….."
As she continued, the winners of the day's task were Sam-jo, the third team, with a total of twenty three threads.
However, with their deducted points, their final placing in the overall activity was of second place.
"Wow! We're second place! Second!"
"Huh! I thought we'd come last….."
The third team were joyous, they were simply happy that they hadn't come last as they had antic.i.p.ated.
"Thanks to the team leader!"
As the other students expressed their grat.i.tude to Chun-hak, the other students in the team, that were his cla.s.smates, spoke up.
"Thanks! It's all because of you!"
"We indeed picked a good leader!"
Lastly, those that had hung back in hesitation approached Chun-hak. They were the students of the second group of Chun-hak's team.
The group that caused the entire team to lose points.
Chun-hak came towards them as they approached.
"You all did well. Today's placing is a result of your hard work."
"Chu-chun-hak s...o...b..e-nim….."
"s...o...b..e-nim…."
The students of the group had been holding some spitefulness within them at Chun-hak's kicking of their shins in the morning.
This was why they ran all over the mountain in an attempt to find the green threads- to be able to proudly show off their achievements to Chun-hak.
They felt as though they were going to collapse at Chun-hak's ready acknowledgement of their efforts.
"We're sorry s...o...b..e-nim!"
"We, we..."
"It's fine. I know how you feel, so there's no need to say any more. Of course, it's true that today's results are due to your hard work and effort."
"s...o...b..e-nim!"
Chun-hak patted the tearful students' heads.
"Hmmm…"
Kang-hyuk nodded as he watched on. He felt as though his initial impressions of Chun-hak weren't incorrect. What he could see in front of him were the definite signs of a great future leader.
"He's a student that deserves your high regard of him indeed!"
A clear, feminine voice resounded out from behind Kang-hyuk.
It was Byeok Ae-rin.
"His path in life will be decided by the end of the year. Do you want me to help him out?"
Kang-hyuk shook his head at her offer.
"There's no need for that. His talent will speak up for him. The nature of a talented man is such that even if he is put into a pouch, he will jump out."
"Indeed, you're right."
"Also, this is the extent as to which I'm going to help him. If I help him too much, he will lose his self-reliance and won't last long."
