Chp 6 : Determination.(Re-written)

*Hye-ryang POV*

It has been 2 months since we were given the tasks and I had already completed the task requirement way before everyone else, except for my brother,

I really admire and envy him as he is always the first person to finish the tasks but he still works hard and puts effort in completing them and still waits for the others to complete them but even so I am not that far behind him... I believe.

I hadn't paid enough attention to this before but he really is very kind but he just isn't expressive and is also extremely introverted too.

I always try to keep fighting with him and compete with him to keep myself entertained and he never denies a match with me too, which is also the reason why I like to compete specially with him and it is also my first goal to defeat him.

Anyway, the weapon I discovered I had an affinity with was the Blade and surprisingly my brother too had the same ones too just like our father.

Anyways, We went through a similar situation during our Meridian opening and 'Dantian' formation too,

It always makes me wonder why these things keep repeating.

We had kept our identity a secret from everyone for our safety and even most of the instructors didn't know about them except for some of the senior instructors directly connected with our families.

Anyway, we were currently following the senior Instructors as we were told to and were walking out of the cave when suddenly I felt dizzy and fainted.

....

I woke up and saw I was currently inside a forest and then when I checked I found a note and as written in the 'note' left behind by the instructors we would have to survive here in this forest for the next 6 months without escaping.

I was a little thrilled and excited for this new challenge but it was soon started getting boring since I already knew what I had to do.

First, I started searching around for a water source and a shelter for myself and soon found a waterfall but then I accidentally stumbled on a rock nearby the shores and fell headfirst on the falling water waves

I balanced myself immediately before crashing but I still crashed against the water waves.

But surprisingly I found a secret cave behind it.

I walked towards it and entered and when I looked back surprisingly I would still see the outside clearly through the waves.

It was a pleasant surprise since I wouldn't have to face the problem of finding water or shelter or any danger from beast attacks anymore.

But to be honest I was still thinking of the possibility of getting a fruitful encounter that I could 'maybe' experience inside the cave.

I entered inside the waterfall again after checking the surroundings and after confirming that I didn't sense anyone in the nearby vicinity I entered back inside the cave again.

I stopped myself from jumping in excitement after thinking about all the possibilities.

I calmed myself down and looked at the outside view once again,

It was a surreal experience it was as if I was looking through a window instead of a simple water reflection.

The cave looked like it was enchanted with various formations which I didn't completly understand but the possibility of this being a windfall for me had increased together with my safety.

I kept watching the outside for a while then suddenly I saw someone approaching from a distance.

I went on alert watching the figure approaching slowly and cautiously but when I noticed clearly again I saw that It was none other than my brother.

He approached towads the water shores cautiously and inspected the surroundings and after confirming nobody was nearby he went behind the bushes to change and quickly dived into the water.

I got a little embarrassed watching this but thankfully he still wore his undergarments, I still quickly turned away from his direction and after a few minutes when I turned back around to check again he had already changed into his clothes and was now climbing a tree,

I almost laughed out loudly when I saw him fall from the tree but still he managed to climb up after a few tries and was sitting on top of the tree while monitoring the surroundings.

It looked like he soon got bored of it and slided down the tree which looked so effortless but it just went to show his proficiency over the footwork technique.

I was furious and almost felt like beating him up 'WWE style' as he usually says I do whenever we fight, I mean he clearly told me he had only Inept' mastery in everything he learned but these clearly wasn't Inept' level display of mastery since even I wouldn't perform skills like these and I too had Inept' mastery in everything we were taught except for theoretical knowledge,

I thought it was the same for him too.

I always thought I was as equally talented as him and there was no comparison between us since we were on the same level,

'But, why did he lie to me!?' I thought to myself

'Does that mean he will fight with me for the Vice-Lords position and kill me too!?' I thought looking at his disappearing figure.

It was just like the Council Elders had said before...

*Flashback*

It was way before we were taken to train into the 'Cave of Latent Demons'

It was when I was was still young and was roaming around the newly built 'Wang Family' house inside the cult territory.

It was then when I first met her.

I still remember that I was playing together with the maids when I suddenly stumbled onto someone.

I crashed into them headfirst and fell down.

"Ahh-Ouch" I cried out upon falling,

"Are~`Look who do we have here!" said the person who I crashed onto.

They then bent down a little and offered their hand towards me to help me stand up,

I looked at the hands of the person looked thin and their fingers had a few cuts on them which looked more like scars rather then simple cuts but I took their hands and stood back up.

I then looked up and saw a thin lady with a old stature wearing an extravagant clothing but she only had one hand and was standing and smiling looking at me.

She then bent down to reach my height and said looking at me.

"Oh, so sorry young miss `this lady here was distracted and accidentally bumped into you" She said smiling at me

"It's okay, it's alright I wasn't hurt anyway" I replied since I wasn't hurt really and mother and grandfather had always taught me to forgive anyone who apologises for their mistakes,

But the Cult Academy had also said that we should only forgive anyone once and that's it, and forgiving someone twice is foolishness.

"Haha, thankyou for accepting my apology young miss" She replied

"No problem, I am going to go hide now" I replied and ran away to hide, since I was still playing with the maids.

I then went behind the room and hid under the bed before they would find me.

....

But later when I went out to buy sweet candies from the money mother gave me I accidentally stepped my foot on someone.

"Ah~Ouch" cried out the person

"Ah-I am really Sorry" I replied in response immediately.

"Oh so It's the young miss, it's okay if it's the young miss" replied the person.

I looked back up to see and it was the same lady that I had met at the house before,

"It's not okay, even if it's me" I replied while looking back at her.

"No it's really okay young miss, you are the young miss afterall, you shouldn't care about every little peasent that gets hurt, they are just ants you shouldn't care about since there are so many of them"

She said non-chantly without even batting an eye proudly in the middle of the market for everyone to hear.

"Umm, who are you again?" I asked confused looking at her.

Since nobody had ever told such things to me ever before and so confidently even in the middle of the market.

"Haha, I apologise for the discourtesy, I am the 12th Council Elder, Hang Soyu" She replied

"Oh then sorry, Elder Soyu once again" I replied

"It's no problem young miss, I will take it as we are equal now since we both bumped once against each other" She said while smiling at her.

"Alright then, I am gonna go now" I replied back and ran away towards the direction of the candy shop.

Then a few days passed and I kept meeting her again and again and soon I became friends with her after a few such meetings and then later she introduced me with her other friends who wanted to meet with me.

Some of them were even elders like the 7th Elder Bu Chu-Ryong and the 11th Elder Ja Kinkeng, they even told me how they were my relatives and how they were punished by father for their mistakes and how sorry they were for their crimes and also how they felt sorry for me.

They also helped me with my physical training and bought sweets for me frequently and even played with me and even taught me at times,

It was during one of those days when one of them asked me -

"Miss ryang, since you will soon be going to the training cave with the other cadets' what do you think about marrying someone" they asked

"I won't, I will never marry anyone weaker than me" I replied proudly

"Haha, young miss you should think about it deeply before someone tries stealing your position" they replied humorously

"What position, I am just a simple cult member?" I questioned

"Woah, young miss, you really don't know-!?" they asked

"Know What?" I asked back again

"Young miss you are also the vice-lord candidate of the cult" they answered in chorus.

"What ! Haha elders don't make such jokes with me" I answered

"But young miss it's the truth" they replied

"Yes, young miss you do know you are the lord's child, right?" they asked me with confused looks on their faces.

"Yes, grandfather told me about that" I replied

"Yes, so you are a vice-lord candidate because of it" they replied

"But, wasn't that changed by father previously" I asked

"No, young miss the lord made it so that anyone can challenge the vice-lord candidate for their position during their coronation through a duel incase they have any objections with them" they said

[A/N : It's like 'Christian Marriages' where they ask does anyone has any objection but here the person with an objection can duel with them and replace them as 'Crown Prince' if they win instead]

"So?" I asked back again looking at them.

"That means that you are still the 'Un-official Vice-Lord Candidate' together with the young master Woo-myung" they replied

"But It's still 'Un-official' right?" I asked back looking at them

"Yes, It is so young miss, but you have to always be a step ahead of others if you don't want to get destroyed by others instead" they said

"Why, though?" I asked dubiously while looking at them.

"Young Miss, you must always remember to never let your guard down, look what happened with the other Vice-Lord Candidates, they let their guard down and then they either died or got their arms cut off, which is the same as having their entire lives destroyed" they replied

'It's true for a martial artist having an limb cut off is the same as having their entire life destroyed especially if it's their dominant arm' I thought silently while looking at the elder's missing arm,

Seeing me getting quiet they continued speaking,

"Young Miss, it's from my own personal experience that I am saying this, the Vice-Lord Candidate position isn't just a position it's a power second only that to the Cult Lord, do you think if somebody else defeated you they would let your family live?" they questioned

"Why wouldn't they?" I asked back

"Haha, Young Miss don't be foolish even your own father destroyed three of six clans and later disbanded all of the other remaining clans and the ancestral ritual of 500 years, do you really think anyone else wouldn't even think to do the same with you" they replied

"But, wasn't that father's revenge towards the six clans!?" I asked back

"If so, young miss then why did you think he killed the children of the remaining clan elders-!?" They asked looking at me,

I couldn't answer them as even I didn't know the answers to them and I didn't know why father did what he did, he was the most respected being in the cult after the 1st Chun Ma and was revered as a God by both the people of the Cult and the outsiders.

But what these Elders were saying is something I didn't even think about before or something I didn't even know about before today.

Seeing me quiet down they continued speaking again.

"Think young miss think, think and understand clearly once again about it, if he really hated the six clan system so much then why did he marry your mother, why did he marry her and have you or maybe you were just a 'mistake' that was never meant to be - Heop!!" the Elders shutted each other up abruptly at that moment,

I looked at them for answers and to see if they really meant what they just said and they just looked away from my face.

I wanted to ask and yell at them at the moment because of what they just said but I wouldn't, maybe it was because of the friendship we had for these short period of time or maybe It was just that I didn't want to do it internally.

Whatever may be the case I honestly didn't know.

I was feeling devastated by what they just said but I wouldn't ask them anything anymore I wasn't able to.

I wanted answers but not from them but from my mother.

I wanted to ask her if whatever I was taught and told about since childhood was even true.

.....

I didn't know how long it passed but I calmed myself and looked at them and told them,

"Elders, It was good knowing you all for this short period of time but I hope we never meet again because the next time we meet you would meet me as the 'Vice-Lord Candidate' and not as the young miss of the 'Wang Family' so I hope you keep that in mind, Thankyou for all your help and teachings until now and may the blessings of the Heavenly Demon be with you" I replied and walked away from them,

Even though I said these to them I was feeling an internal crisis myself because of what they just said and it started making me question myself.

'Was I just a mistake?' or 'Was Everything I was ever told even true?'

I was questioning everything I was ever told and taught since I was born,

'Was I even real?' Or 'Was I just here for someone's entertainment?'

I started questioning everything about myself to questioning even my existence but I knew I would never get the answers,

I felt like crying but I wouldn't

I couldn't even shed a single tear from my eyes even if I tried,

I mean why should I? I mean these people aren't even worth a single drop of my tear so why should I?

I went back to my house and confronted my mother about everything.

She was surprised at first at how a 7 year old came to know about it, and then kept questioning me about the person who told me that and she kept trying to change the topic but I stubbornly kept insisting and then she finally gave up and broke down and confessed about everything.

Everything from how they met and about her disease and her special physique to the point of how grandfather forced father to take responsibility and then how he suddenly disappeared without even knowing anything and how she later discovered herself being pregnant with me and in the end everything they had gone through to prove me really being my fathers child and to legitimise my birth and rights...

I heard everything she said and in the end I understood that I was just being selfish and while I was playing around and having fun she had to endure being the topic of ridicule among the people,

She had to endure the mocking and harrasment of people and the things they said about her and on her chastity and even now she had to raise me alone but thanks to grandfather and uncle being here in the Cult to support her she didn't have to take all the burden on herself.

I calmed myself down after listening to her and then determined myself to train hard and become the Vice-Lord Candidate so then nobody would ever dare to point a finger at her or ridicule and question her ever again about her chastity or on my legitimacy...

*Flashback End*

I looked at the trail of footsteps left behind by my brother running off towards the forest and without a single mis-step at that and I now understood at this point that he has been hiding and lying about his potential and talents to me,

I don't know the reason behind why he is hiding his strength but I do know that this is the second eye-opener for me in this life and that what I am doing isn't enough and I have to work harder even harder than him to surpass him and to achieve my goal of becoming the Vice-Lord in future.

And with the new found determination I walked back inside the cave once again...

To Be Continued...