At first, he did not know.
The Sect Leader's gait was the same as before.
The stride, the swing of his arms, the rhythm of his feet touching the ground.
Nothing seemed to have changed.
However.
The column had to break into a trot.
It was not clear from which moment it started.
As if the flow of a river was quickening imperceptibly, the distance covered by the Sect Leader's single step was gradually increasing.
He was clearly walking, yet those following behind could not keep up unless they ran.
It was not walking.
It was a martial art in the form of walking.
Seok Gyeong's legs quickened on their own.
The weight of the luggage for two people on his back pounded against his spine with every step.
The breath he had been inhaling through his nose had, at some point, shifted to his mouth.
A scream was heard from the front.
"Sect, Sect Leader! You're too fa..."
There was no reply.
The Sect Leader did not look back.
He did not slow his pace either.
Seok Gyeong watched the Sect Leader's feet even as he ran.
A porter is someone who makes a living with his feet.
Which paths are slippery and which are firm, and where to shift one's weight to avoid falling.
Reading the movement of feet was the one thing Seok Gyeong was better at than others.
That was why he noticed.
The Sect Leader's feet had a pattern.
The left foot pushed off the ground first.
Then the right foot moved forward, its tip turning slightly inward.
And the moment that turned tip touched the ground, the center of gravity shifted forward, and the next step was propelled by that force.
A structure where one step pushed the next.
Seok Gyeong did not know martial arts.
He did not know what kind of footwork it was, or what name it had.
However, his seven years of living by his feet were telling him.
That was not getting faster through strength.
The very structure of the steps was creating the speed.
● ● ●
The column began to collapse.
The new members were running with all their might.
They ran, flailing their arms and clenching their teeth.
However, that was just running with all their strength, not following the Sect Leader's steps.
One person fell.
His knees buckled first, and his face plunged into the dirt.
Seok Gyeong reflexively tried to reach out a hand, but the Instructor was already there.
The child grabbed the fallen man's arm to help him up and said.
"Get up. It's not time to fall yet."
The man shook his head.
It seemed his breath was too ragged for words to come out.
The Instructor's voice lowered.
"You can rest here."
He paused for a moment.
"But the column won't wait."
Another person buckled.
And another.
The Instructor moved back and forth through the column, helping up those who fell.
His face was red from being out of breath.
His voice was also cracking.
At that moment.
The Instructor's feet stopped.
The child's gaze was fixed on the front of the column.
The Sect Leader's feet.
The very same feet that Seok Gyeong had been watching.
The realization dawned on the child's face.
His eyes widened, his mouth opened, and then.
"Stop!"
The Instructor shouted.
The column fell into chaos.
Those who were running collided with each other and staggered.
The Sect Leader was still walking ahead at the same pace.
"Don't run."
The Instructor's voice cut across the field.
"Look at his feet. The Sect Leader's feet."
"...?"
"If you just run, you'll only tire yourself to death. Focus and look at his feet."
The Instructor ran to the front of the column and stood behind the Sect Leader.
Then he began to follow the Sect Leader's steps.
The child's feet matched the same rhythm as the Sect Leader's.
Left foot, right foot, toe turning, center of gravity shifting.
It was slow.
Far slower compared to the Sect Leader.
However, the speed coming from the child's steps was clearly something impossible with leg strength alone.
"This is footwork. Our Hero Sect's basic footwork… right? Basic footwork?"
Though he received no answer from Kim Rae-won, the child continued to shout as he ran.
His voice was a little breathless.
But it was clear.
"The moment you step with your left foot! Give all your energy to the center of your sole! It's called the Yongcheon!"
Seok Gyeong had never heard the name Yongcheon before.
However, he understood 'the center of the sole'.
"From there, four inches above the inner ankle bone! Sam-eumgyo! Pass that point and pull it up to two inches below your navel! Like scooping up water!"
The Instructor shouted, pointing to his own body.
While running, he tapped the inside of his ankle bone and pressed his palm below his navel.
"Qihae! That is the sea where qi gathers!"
Seok Gyeong knew none of the names of the Meridians.
However, he understood the locations of the body the child was pointing to.
The center of the sole.
Above the inner ankle bone.
Below the navel.
"Now the right foot!"
The Instructor shouted again.
"From below the navel to the outside of the thigh! The spot your middle finger touches when you make a fist and lower your arm! Pungsi!"
While running, the child made a fist with his right hand and tapped the outside of his thigh.
Exactly that spot.
"From there to behind the outer ankle bone! Kunlun! Push out forcefully! Hard!"
A path was drawn in Seok Gyeong's mind.
It was not precise.
However, a porter's body was more accustomed to movements than words.
As he stepped with his left foot, he consciously pushed his internal energy—as small as a mosquito's eyeball, acquired through Qi Circulation he had overheard at the Ten Thousand Gold Pavilion—into the center of his sole as much as possible.
Then he imagined that feeling rising above his ankle bone, to below his navel.
Nothing happened.
Of course.
His internal energy was meager.
However.
When he pushed with his right foot.
As he imagined sending it from his stomach to the outside of his thigh, and from his thigh to his outer ankle bone.
A little.
Just a little.
He felt his foot become lighter.
He could not tell if it had actually become lighter, or if it was an illusion created by his consciousness.
But it was certain that he had taken one more step.
Something like this was not yet martial arts.
It was just the work of a porter.
Just one more step.
The work of a porter was always that one step.
But if that accumulates… wouldn't it become a martial art?
A certain faith was building up.
Even though it had only been a day since he had joined this place called the Hero's Sect.
● ● ●
The sun began to set.
The Sect Leader's pace slowed minutely.
A momentary difference.
But just by being able to take one more breath in his lungs that felt like they were about to burst, Seok Gyeong felt it.
He slowed down.
He had slowed down for them.
A man who knew exactly how far the rear had fallen behind without even looking back.
Pushing them to the very brink of their limits, but not breaking them.
Seok Gyeong did not have the luxury to judge whether that was cruel or merciful.
Just one thing.
That man's steps had a purpose.
Around the time the sun set behind a distant mountain.
"We rest here."
Before he could even put down his luggage, Seok Gyeong's knees buckled.
The luggage for two people slid from his back and fell onto the grass.
There was no strength in his legs.
His hands were trembling too.
He looked around.
Of the twenty new members, none were standing properly.
But there was one thing different from before.
There were those who were moving their mouths while lying collapsed.
Sole of the foot, ankle bone, and below the navel.
They were repeating the path the Instructor had shouted.
It was not just one person.
Many were doing it.
The Instructor was weaving through them.
Handing water to one, checking another's feet, then the next.
Sweat was also streaming down the child's face.
His voice was hoarse.
His legs could be seen trembling.
Yet he did not stop.
Until the twentieth person.
Finally, the Instructor stood before Seok Gyeong.
"Are you all right?"
Seok Gyeong nodded.
"The verses, you tried to follow them, right?"
"...I understood the locations. But I felt nothing."
"That's okay."
The Instructor smiled faintly.
He smiled even though sweat had not yet dried on his face.
"It's like that for everyone at first. Even if you don't feel it, your body remembers. You can fill up the internal energy later. The path comes first."
Seok Gyeong silently looked at the child.
The path comes first.
Was that something he learned from someone?
Either way, it was surprising that he could say such a thing at thirteen or fourteen.
And he was envious.
Wishing that he, too, had someone to guide him like this from an early age, that sort of feeling.
"Is the Instructor all right?"
The child's feet stopped.
A beat.
"Of course."
Seok Gyeong knew it was a lie.
Because the child's legs were trembling.
Because his voice was hoarse.
Nevertheless, the back he showed as he turned was straight.
If the person standing in front falls, the person behind also falls.
He was a child who knew that at his age.
● ● ●
Dong Bongsu was leaning against a tree, watching the column.
'So there was a guy who noticed. Two of them, at that.'
The basic form of a Lightness Skill.
The most elementary footwork, called the Spirit Step.
A principle of converting the repulsive force of one step into the propulsive force for the next.
With internal energy, the body would seem to glide over the ground, but even with almost no internal energy, just mimicking the form was more efficient than running.
The original plan was this.
Walk by incorporating the basic form of Spirit Step into the pace.
Those following would at first just feel that it was fast.
But anyone with an eye for martial arts would notice the pattern in the feet, and anyone who had learned the basics would realize it was a footwork.
That much was within his expectations.
But spreading the verses was unexpected.
Hoae had recognized the footwork and, on his own judgment, spread the verses to the new members.
And not just by shouting the names of the meridians, but by pointing out each location on the body.
While running.
While he himself was in a considerably exhausted state.
Taking care of others even when at one's limit is not a matter of stamina.
It is a matter of will.
Will alone does not move muscles, but without will, even the remaining muscles stop.
As expected, he was not just fit to be an Instructor.
That child is....
He is simply prime timber.
A sapling of a great tree, so tall that its limits are unclear, though it is unknown in which direction and how it will grow.
His gaze shifted once more.
Yan Bilyeong was sitting in the shade of a tree with his sword resting on his knees.
His eyes were closed, but he was surely not asleep.
Myo Jinheo stood beside him with his fan folded, scanning the column.
Both of them seemed completely unaffected by today's march.
Of course.
For masters of their level, this kind of pace was nothing more than a stroll.
'But those two aren't just looking at me.'
Yan Bilyeong was probably spreading his Qi sense even in that state, and Myo Jinheo was likely observing the column's reactions.
Both were in the process of grasping how the Hero's Sect operated.
Good.
Let them watch.
The more they watch, the more they will be drawn in.
And Seok Gyeong.
This one was unexpected.
He barely knew any martial arts.
His internal energy was also meager.
He probably did not even know what footwork was.
And yet, he extracted a pattern from the 'walk'.
He was already watching the feet before Hoae shouted.
Click.
He opened the Status Window.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
◈ Seok Gyeong
▸ Position: Guild Member
▸ Combat Level: Low-Beginner Rank
▸ Trust: [Faintly Favorable]
▸ Status: [Determined], [Fatigued]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nothing unusual.
No special abilities.
No sensory-type passives either.
Yet he read the feet.
Dong Bongsu trusted his own eyes.
This man undoubtedly had potential that the system could not detect.
A man who carries loads makes his living with his feet.
He reads the terrain, follows the steps of the person in front, and adjusts weight distribution through subtle differences in his feet.
It is not a martial art but a survival skill.
However, that survival skill was used to read the pattern of the footwork.
He could see him trying to channel only his will according to the verses, with almost no internal energy.
But will is the first shovel that properly carves the path of qi.
Qi follows the will's movement.
If the will goes first, the qi will eventually follow.
The fact that he attempted the form, the fact that he attempted the verses.
When those two overlap, it is like a path for water beginning to be carved in an empty vessel.
'The empty vessel has begun to fill on its own.'
Also, he did not abandon the luggage.
Carrying a load for two people, while even attempting the footwork, he remained in the column until the end.
He's either a fool or the real deal, but....
He remembered those eyes he saw at yesterday's interview.
The eyes of someone who clenched his teeth, saying he could do nothing when his younger sibling was taken away.
He is by no means a fool.
That is the will to never return to being a person who can do nothing.
A guy who does things that are a minus in terms of efficiency.
Such a person is tricky to use because he is unpredictable, but he seems to have value.
Value worth raising.
Click.
He closed the Status Window.
════════════════
[Guild] Threshold of Growth
├─ Progress: 12% → 15%
├─ Remaining: 6 days 18 hours
└─ Condition Update: Average Combat Level Low-Beginner Rank → High-Beginner Rank
════════════════
'3%.'
The morning march raised it by 2%, and another 1% was added in the afternoon when the footwork instruction began.
It was the effect of the verses being spread.
Since it was not just simple stamina depletion but the sowing of seeds for basic qi circulation, the system must have recognized it as 'growth'.
Just then, Jeon Rahwa approached.
She opened her register and said.
"Four complete dropouts today. Fortunately, they're all still within the column, but if we go at the same intensity tomorrow, someone will really break."
"If they break, we can just put them back together."
"...Is that something you say about people?"
"Ah, right. They were people."
Jeon Rahwa lightly tapped Kim Rae-won's shoulder with the register.
"Did you just hit me?"
"Yes, I did. You should know I held back from hitting you harder."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not killing me."
"What?"
"If you hit me harder, I would have died, wouldn't I?"
"Ha. Ha. You want me to really kill you?"
Dong Bongsu smiled gently.
"Yes. Kill me. If there is anyone who can truly kill me, it would only be you."
"Ah, yes, yes. Just wait until you die by my hand, and don't go dying somewhere strange. Please."
Death.
They were already as intimate as friends, yet their relationship was lukewarm, not wanting to get any closer.
"Alright. I'll try to stay safe until you can kill me, I guess."
"That's enough out of you. That's enough."
Jeon Rahwa let out a sigh, then turned a page in her register and said.
"Anyway, Hoae did everything today. The footwork is one thing, but to spread the verses as well… you were aiming for that, weren't you?"
"..."
"Ah, really? It was a coincidence?"
"Yeah. It was a coincidence."
"Ha. Ha. Such coincidences happen often, don't they? And to a twelve-year-old, no less."
"That's what makes it fun."
Jeon Rahwa looked toward Hoae for a moment.
The child was sitting among the other children, sharing water.
His eyes were half-closed with exhaustion, yet his hands did not stop.
"How will you set the travel speed for tomorrow?"
"Twice today's."
"...Are you serious?"
"Growth has to be remembered by the body. The ones who heard the verses today will catch on a little faster tomorrow. Then they'll be able to endure even if we keep raising the level."
"..."
"Seven days of this, and all the basic forms will be ingrained in their bodies."
Dong Bongsu looked up at the darkening sky.
'Seven days.'
In seven days, he had to make these people into humans.
Not combatants, but at least people who could survive.
The sword comes later.
Internal energy also comes later.
First, they must run.
Run until they fall, then get up and run again.
Once the vessel is made that way, he can pour martial arts into it later.
Far away, Seok Gyeong was lying on the grass, moving his feet.
Left foot, right foot.
With his mouth, he was repeating the path the Instructor had shouted.
He still kept the luggage by his side.
'Looks like he'll be carrying it tomorrow too.'
The luggage.
And the footwork.
As expected, not bad.
That man, Seok Gyeong.
And.
Dong Bongsu's eyes naturally shifted to Hoae.
'That child, too.'