“Hello? Hello?” There was a muffled voice on the other end of the phone. It was the voice of disciple Jin.

Hoon barely recovered – when Sora emerged from the passage his eyeballs nearly popped out and rolled on the floor.  After a few seconds, Hoon muttered, “Brother Jin, I think it will be okay. No need to worry…” Hoon disconnected the call with that.

Everyone stared at the missing boy ‘Sora’ as he emerged from a secret passage. Many teachers were not even aware there was a secret passage in the dojang. To correctly state other than, Ahn Hyundo and Chung Il Hoon (and three others not present), none of the instructors new of this hidden passage located in the Grand Master’s chambers.

If anyone was angry at Sora that anger disappeared when Sora emerged from the secret passage. All the ignorant teachers had their attention shifted to the *secret* passage. Why were they all unaware of this?

“Everyone please leave.” Chung Il Hoon spoke with a grave expression, which one should he be more angry about; Sora disappearing for several hours and causing panic? Sora discovering the secret passage and trying to decipher the ancestral scrolls? Or Sora’s impeccable timing which has revealed the location of the secret scrolls to everyone?

The other instructors quickly recovered when they heard Chung Il Hoon speak. Even Sora whose attention was fixed on the Ahn Hyundo suddenly realized he was in the presence of many others but then again he didn’t really care about others….

“Sensei! Teach me this!” Sora spoke out again.

Chung Il Hoon’s eyebrow twitched slightly revealing his anger, the brat still hadn’t even recognized the situation he was in. The image of a prodigious child lacking discipline was completely lost – a hazy chapter in his mind. Furthermore, Sora was holding a golden scroll, these had been classified amongst the most difficult to learn – what an arrogant brat.

Even though Chung Il Hoon had requested the other instructors to leave – right now no one left. All of them were staring at Ahn Hyundo’s expression – his eyes were moist and he was smiling??? This was one of the most rare expressions of their teacher. Chung Il Hoon too took notice the expression of his master’s expression and was stunned – for this one student Ahn Hyundo openly shed tears?

“Sora, how did you find this passage?” Ahn Hyundo spoke gently – there was not a shred of anger in his voice. He was in fact very pleased and happy.

Ahn Hyundo’s teary yet relieved image confused Sora. Sora was used to being scolded for anything and everything that he did. Sora was most confused seeing Ahn Hyuundo whose expression revealed happiness at seeing Sora – something no one showed when they saw Sora. So far Sora too had been testing Ahn Hyundo for his own entertainment but this reaction had been out of expectation. Sora silently stared at Ahn Hyundo.

“Hey brat! Master asked you something!” Hoon roared.

Sora didn’t even turn around to see who spoke, his gaze was silently fixed on Ahn Hyundo – an entity he could not understand.

Ahn Hyundo did take notice of Chung Il Hoon and raised his hand – signalling that he keep quiet. Hoon coiled back – he did not understand the situation very well. Ahn Hyundo understood it very well – this was a crucial moment for Sora – maybe even a life changing one. Right now scolding Sora would push him away from everyone so another approach was needed. Ahn Hyundo too had burnt his fingers many times when teaching Sora in Japan – he had been the victim of many pranks but he never once gave up on Sora. This time too he was as patient as ever – he already knew Sora never intentionally meant to worry him or disappear.

“The floor felt different.” Sora said after a long time.

If Hiromasa or Akiko – Sora’s former teachers were here they would be shocked. Normally, Sora would have not given an answer no matter how ever much they scolded him but Ahn Hyundo managed to get a reply from a single sentence.

“Really? How is it different?” Ahn Hyundo asked with curiosity. He didn’t mind letting the other instructors know the existence of the secret passage – what was done is done.

“Well when I walk over it, it sounds different.”

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“Oh!” Ahn Hyundo’s eyebrows are raised in surprise. “You can tell the difference in sounds between tiles just from walking over them?”

Sora nodded slowly.

Chung Il Hoon couldn’t digest that fact. A child who came on his first day to the dojang discovered a secret passage just by walking over it? The other teachers could not believe this either. Some of them had been here for years and the master’s room was open to all. Many of them had been here many times and not once could they tell that there was something wrong with this particular tile.

“Sensei! I want to learn this!” Sora said as he held up the golden scroll.

“Brat! Even if you practiced for twenty years you won’t be able to master that one!” Chung Il Hoon’s voice rang out.

 “Why?” Sora asked indignantly.

“Master, may I?” Hoon asked for permission to demonstrate.

Ahn Hyundo nodded.

Hoon walked over and picked out Sora from the hole and covered the passage with the tile once again.

“Everyone please watch this carefully.” Ahn Hyundo spoke out. “This will be a very good demonstration of the Kumdo high level skill.”

“Brat come touch me!” Hoon said.

Sora immediately lunged himself at Chung Il Hoon, but Hoon side stepped him with the greatest ease.

Sora frowned, this was not going to be easy.

Sora tried two more times before giving up. “This is not fair! He is bigger and stronger than me! I can never touch him!” He complained. However, those who saw Chung Il Hoon’s movement were in a shock – it was like nothing they had seen before.

“Hmph!” Hoon grumbled hearing Sora complain. He expected Sora to be somewhat agile but this was just terrible. Sora was no prodigy – Hoon was disappointed.

“Choi Jong Bom, come at me.” Hoon instructed.

“Will this opponent do?” Ahn Hyundo asked Sora.

Hoon’s face twitched slightly – why was master giving this child so much importance? There is nothing good about this child? What really happened in Japan?

Sora nodded his head in disagreement. “No. This won’t do.” He quickly pointed at two other instructors. “Three against one will be fair. This man is strong!”

Ma Sang Bom and Roi Lee got up from their seats and joined Choi Jong Bom.

“Is it fair now?” Chung Il Hoon asked Sora sarcastically.

Sora nodded – he didn’t understand the sarcasm; why would a master level martial artist need his approval.

Three attacked Hoon at the same time, but once again Hoon dodge the attacks effortlessly. It was only when Sora saw from a bystanders perspective he realized Hoon wasn’t fast at all. He was barely able to dodge their attacks yet he dodged them all.

“Sora, if you really want to learn these techniques then you must first learn that speed is not everything but rather strength is.” Ahn Hyundo whispered to Sora – like a teacher guiding a student.

“Strength?” Sora asked with great confusion. It made no sense.

"Even someone with low agility can perform maneuvers like those as long as they are strong."

"When I see that man dodge, it feels very wrong Sensei; as if his movements are a flaw in the laws of the universe."

Ahn Hyundo smiled - to an outsider it would really feel that the laws of physics had been disregarded here.

“The Kumdo dojang specializes in strength training. Are you interested?” Ahn Hyundo asked Sora.

“And the way of the sword too, right?” Sora confirmed.

Ahn Hyundo smiled and nodded. “Yes, strength and the way of the sword go hand in hand. Without these two you cannot be a regarded a man.”

***

No one present that day would remember these moments ever again. These memories would only be retained by Sora and Sora alone. The truth how Geomchi2 through to Geomchi5 became close comrades would forever be lost. The truth that Ahn Hyundo had a successor before Lee Hyun, would also be lost.

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