Nano Machine Chapter 27: Remember, This Is All Of Your Own Making (D)

All the cadets in Group Eight had to walk on eggshells for the rest of the afternoon training due to the weird chain of events that had occurred since Cheon Yeo Woon's return. The instructor caught them in the crossfires of the Buk Ma clan's Grand prince candidate, Cheon Moo Geum, who kept glaring at his despised enemy with a murderous look and Cheon Yeo Woon, who seemed to just brush it off as a negligible thing.

But, it wasn't only the group eight cadets who sensed this growing tension between the two.

All the way across the main training field on the academy's arena stage stood a man who was observing the whole drama unfold in Group Eight's quarter. He was none other than the host of Fighting Ma Academy, the Lord of the Underworld, otherwise known as West Grand Lord Yi Hwa Myeong.

-A clash between two Grand Prince candidates within the same group… keke. This really is getting interesting.-

Yi Hwa Myeong had all but disappeared following the first couple days of training. But, with the return of Cheon Yeo Woon, he had come back as a spectator. As expected, the atmosphere in Group Eight was getting intense.

The reason was obvious — there were two cadets with a black badge in the same group. The unexpected outcome of all this was that Cheon Yeo Woon's inner power level was more formidable than he thought.

-He's stronger than I thought.-

Fourteen days ago when he had felt his pulse, Cheon Yeo Woon had zero inner power. It was unbelievable for Cheon Yeo Woon to go from having zero inner power to now owning enough to face up against Ja Hyeon of Buk Ma clan, in just a matter of fourteen days.

Granted, East Grand Lord Seop Maeng, one of the top ten fighters in the faction, taught him, his dramatic increase in inner power brought on a good measure of suspicion.

Given that Ja Hyeon would have gained a significant level of inner power through the manna orb he absorbed on top of the inner power he self-proclaimed to have on his entry application, he would have at least twenty to thirty years' training worth of inner power. That meant that Cheon Yeo Woon himself who deflected Ja Hyeon's kick had at least thirty years' training worth of inner power.

Even with the assumption that Seop Maeng helped Cheon Yeo Woon absorb as much of the manna orb as possible, it was still hard to believe this drastic change.

-Does this mean, he absorbed the full potential of the manna orb? This would signify that the kid's capacity is even a cut above that of the drunkard Seop Maeng. Keke, I guess a half-blooded tiger still is a tiger.-

This didn't change the fact that Yi Hwa Myeong had zero intentions of ever commending Seop Maeng for his work.

After observing from afar with intrigue, Yi Hwa Myeong left the stage.

At the end of formation training, all the cadets returned their swords and headed to the main cafeteria on the left side of the academy for dinner. This was an exciting moment for Cheon Yeo Woon who had to eat white rice porridge Doctor Baek Jong Myeong brought him during his entire stay at the dispensary.

Since the second round of the competition required group cooperation, all the cadets moved together within their respective groups even to the cafeteria. After getting in one straight line with the group leader at the helm, the cadets marched into the cafeteria in successive order. After being given a large plate and wooden chopsticks, they all sat down in their designated seats to chow down.

"Oh, nice! They have chicken today."

There were two piles of steamy barbecue chicken set in the middle of each long table where the cadets sat. If there was one huge perk of being in the academy, it was that the cadets could eat as much as they wanted. With their chopsticks still neatly lying on top of their plates, one of the training instructors opened his mouth and shouted with a loud voice.

"Begin eating!"

"Fighting Ma!"

As soon as the words 'begin eating' rang out, hundreds of chopsticks headed for the middle of the tables. Although a rigid protocol like this even in the cafeteria had the potential to feel a little excessive, it was a necessary evil for them to manage all low and mid-level common masters by faction rules and an austere system of control, lest all order would soon fall apart.

-Ha ah.-

At the heavenly sensation of chicken meat and the sweet and salty flavor of barbecue sauce in his mouth, Cheon Yeo Woon couldn't help but smile. Thanks to his humble childhood where he grew up eating simple dishes prepared by Master Jang's yet unrefined cooking skills, he wasn't a very picky eater. However, it was still torturing to eat only white rice porridge for fourteen days straight.

During the whole mealtime, he felt the burn of laser beams on his face that came from Cheon Moo Geum's constant death glares. Cheon Yeo Woon was always at a loss for why Buk Ma clan relative to the other clans, hated him so much.

-Enjoy your meal now because by tomorrow you won't have an esophagus left to swallow with.-

As much as they were always contemplating ways to destroy Cheon Yeo Woon, he looked forward to the day he would exact revenge on them for all the pain they caused. His lowly birth from a palace servant had always made his and his mother's life difficult.

Even now when he thought about his mother who died through digoxin poison, a wave of deep-seated anger within him boiled up.

-Did you trample on those who are weaker than you because they couldn't defend themselves? From now on, I will make sure to trample you to the ground!-

He had kept quiet his whole life since he knew he stood no chance, but it was a different story now.

Dinner time at the academy ran for thirty minutes each night.

Ding ding ding!

As soon as the bell rang all the cadets in unison stopped what they were doing, placed their chopsticks on top of their plates, and put their hands on their laps. Cheon Yeo Woon, who was not aware of this protocol observed the actions of the other cadets, likewise, put his chopsticks down and sat up straight.

"Cease eating!"

"Fighting Ma!"

With the loud affirmation of the cadets at the training instructor's command, dinner time had ended. In the reverse order that they had come into the academy cafeteria, the satisfied cadets made their way out of the facility. When everyone from Group Eight gathered on the main training field again, Im Pyeong their training instructor, made the group announcement before sending them off to their dorms.

"We will conclude our day here. Everyone back to the dorm, except for Cadet Number Eighty. You stay behind. Disperse!"

"Disperse!"

All the cadets headed to the dormitory except for Ja Hyeon, who was grumbling behind his breath with his face looking as mad as a hornet. As Cheon Yeo Woon turned around to leave with the rest of the group, he glanced back with a mocking grin as Ja Hyeon followed behind Im Pyeong.

They situated the dormitory behind the academy's main building to the left side.

It is a gigantic complex divided into five buildings, which all stood in gigantic proportions. There are two floors in each building — the top floor occupied by the girls and the bottom floor by the boys.

On each floor, the academy subdivided ten separate rooms housing at least twenty cadets, which meant each room could house either all the guys or all the gals of one entire group.

They used the third building as a communal space for all the cadets while the fourth building was a private dorm and lounge for those who qualified to the fourth stage and promoted to Grand Captaincy or beyond.

Finally, the fifth and smallest building is the dorm for the academy's training instructors.

Cheon Yeo Woon was assigned to Room Eight on the bottom floor of the first building.

"Hey buddy. Where do you think you're going?"

As Cheon Yeo Woon was stepping into his designated room, he heard someone throwing an irritated taunt at him from the back of the hallway. The voice wasn't distinct enough to know exactly whose it was, but Cheon Yeo Woon had a good hunch. When he turned around, it was as predicted. Lurking in front of him was none other than Cheon Moo Geum, the Grand prince candidate of Buk Ma clan, standing with his arms crossed and eyes ablaze with anger. Behind him were six of his henchmen as angry-looking as their master, all standing like they were his personal guard or something.

-He wants to be the boss wherever he goes; I guess.-

It was one of the defining characteristics of all the Grand Prince candidates — a result of being treated like royalty their whole lives. They enjoy having other people do their bidding rather than them having to lift their own precious little fingers. As an immediate example, the same applied for Cheon Won Ryeo of Eum Ma clan who was passing through the hall at that moment to get to the second floor.

Although it was free time for everyone, she made ten people in her group act as her special entourage. Group Leader or not, it reeked of entitlement.

*Chit-chat, chit-chat!*

Since his room was around the entrance of the dormitory building, people gathered to watch the showdown. Given all the scandalous rumors about the seventh Grand Prince candidate, Cheon Yeo Woon, and the animosity of Buk Ma clan's Cheon Moo Geum towards him, the enthusiasm of the crowd didn't come as a surprise.

-Seems like we got a nice-sized crowd going. Hehehe.-

It was the ideal situation Cheon Moo Geum was hoping for.