"Are you ready my son, for the grueling times ahead?" The King asked the prince for the final time.
"Ye…Your Highness! I am ready!" The prince confidently answered the King.
Beside Mt. Yannge, by its eastern face lies the aptly named Mt. Yangge village. They are farmers, laborers, former soldiers, various craftsmen, former Kisaengs, and even some court maidens. They established a community that teaches and trains their young to be adept at various jobs, then they send them out to be hired by rich and noble families and even by the monarchy.
"Jin-Ri! Hong Jin-Ri…come out you little brat! Aish I've been calling you since this morning, is this what you want? For your mother to die from shouting?" a middle-aged woman shouts, looking for her daughter.
"Jin…Umph" A girl was about to shout when her mouth was covered by another girl about the same age of eight.
"Shhhhhh!" said the girl, presumably Jin-Ri, as she covered her friend's mouth as they lay hidden behind some large rocks "Are you crazy Yeng? Do you want my mother to find me?"
Yeng wrestled Jin-Ri's hand away from her mouth "Yes! Your mother and the chief have been looking for us since this morning. They want us to start our training today"
Jin-Ri scoffed at the idea of training "What would I do with that training, I'm just a kid and kids deserve to play and slack around"
"I'm Jin-Ri, nobody tells me what to do. Besides, how hard could it be?" Jin-Ri goes on, not noticing that her mother is standing right behind her.
Yeng started to fidget with her hands, she tried to point behind Jin-Ri, but the girl just rambled on "All you need to do is serve them a couple of tea, maybe a meal. When I grow up, I will be such an enchanting beauty that whoever my master is, he will surely be mesmerized by me and will want to marry me" Jin-Ri said arrogantly while she batted her eyelashes.
"Really? An enchanting beauty? Then you better start learning how to be a magician so you can change the way you look" Jin-Ri's proud expression turned to that of surprise when she heard her mother's voice behind her
Jin-Ri slowly turned around and upon seeing her mother, she gave out a big smile "Mother…I've been looking for you, I've been so excited to start my training." She said as she wrapped her arms around her mother's waist
"Are you now?" Jin-Ri's mother asked sarcastically
"Yes, Mother, I even asked Yeng to help me find you. Isn't that, right? Yeng?" Jin-Ri said while giving Yeng the stink eye
"Ah, that's right Auntie Dam. We were looking for you the entire morning. It's just that Jin-Ri always seems to go in the opposite direction" Yeng said, giving subtle hints that her friends want to avoid training.
Jin-Ri glared at Yeng, but before she could utter a word, Jin-Ri was pinched by her mother by the ear. She was then brought to the village chief, Chief Bong, Il-Sung. The chief looked at Jin-Ri with menacing eyes, frightening the little girl and prompting her to hide behind her mother.
"Child, how long have you hidden from your mother?" The chief asked in a serious tone.
However, Jin-Ri was too afraid to answer. She fears getting punished if she tells the chief she was hiding from his mother the whole morning. However, her mother told her to answer the chief's question "Common now, tell the chief how long I was looking for you"
Fearfully Jin-Ri told the truth "Since dawn Chief Bong"
The chief's reaction left mother and daughter puzzled. The chief laughed out hard and then ruffled Jin-Ri's hair. "I can see the fiery and independent spirit within you" The chief explained, clearly he was commending Jin-Ri's ability to hide. "That being said, we here at the village are in the business of producing laborers that will help our small village survive. The jobs we will train you for, all of require an obedient soul"
"Yes, Chief, I understand" Jin-Ri replied.
"So, let us begin our training" he then addressed Jin-Ri's mother "Dam, you may leave the children with us"
Jin-Ri's mother bowed and then left. The chief then asked Jin-Ri and Yeng to follow him and see the training they needed to undergo. "It is through the hard labor that our village was able to flourish, our people that get hired by the rich, the elitist, and even the palace, send a portion of their salary back here to us which we use to fund the village" The two children saw children in groups of three or more, being taught different trades.
"Why do we need to be obedient? In this line of work?" Jin-Ri asked wondering
The chief responded to the girl's inquiry "Because obedience is a very rare and valued commodity, that is what a lot of people are looking for nowadays. Have you ever heard a soldier that does not obey the King or a kisaeng that does not sing when asked to?"
"Do we at least learn how to fight?" The little girl asked enthusiastically
"Only basic self-defense techniques are needed; it is the soldiers who need to learn all the fighting techniques," the chief explained to the young girls.
They arrive in a section of the training area, where some of the class is conducted. "That is madame So" The chief pointed to the old lady in her mid or late fifties "She was a court lady in the royal palace. Your journey starts here, you must learn how to blend in the palace, for that to happen you must first learn how to become a court lady"
Jin-Ri looked at the old woman, she was going to be her instructor and learn the duties and skills needed by a court lady, and also how to properly walk, stand, greet, and bow to a noble or a member of the royal family. "The basic is just being started, go in now," The chief told Jin-Ri and Yeng. The girls let go of the Chief's hand, bowed to him, and joined the group.
Early morning the next day, in front of the prince's residence, Young-Sik waited for the first lesson, Young-Sik commenced his sword training clad in nothing but a long-sleeved shirt and a type of vest and baggy pants. General Shin handed him a rather heavy-looking sword.
The prince accepts the sword and immediately drops it. The prince tried with all his might but was unable to lift it, even with two hands "Master… this sword is too heavy" Young-Sik tried to lift the sword, barely lifting it with his two hands "How can I learn swordsmanship if I can't lift my weapon?"
"To lift and learn how to hold a sword properly is your first lesson" General Shin, walks around the prince, examining how he held the sword. "You can't lift the sword, because of the way you hold it"
"Please master teach me how to grip the sword properly," Young-Sik asked his teacher
General Shin, stood beside Young-Sik, he pulled out his sword and explained how to grip it properly "Hold the sword in front of you so it's perpendicular to the ground. Keep your dominant hand an inch from the top of the handle, and wrap your fingers and thumb so they're on opposite sides of the handle. Place your non-dominant hand at the bottom of the handle before wrapping your fingers and thumb around it. Please make sure the backs of your hands face out away from the sword on their respective sides. Keep a grip that's firm enough so the sword doesn't slip, but loose enough so you can easily maneuver around."
The prince listened carefully and watched his master, making the proper adjustments, though still heavy, he could lift the sword. He held it in a position where the tip of the sword was pointed forward. "That is good Your Highness, now hold that position. The sword you have is three times the weight of a standard sword. I want you to get used to that weight, I am giving you thirty days to get accustomed. In thirty days, once you can effortlessly lift that sword with just one hand, then and only then will we move forward. However, if after thirty days have passed and you still can't lift the sword by one hand, I will no longer teach you"
General Shin left Young-Sik grunting and straining against the sword's weight to lift it. The general had only taken a few steps when he heard the sword fall to the ground. He stopped for a moment and glanced at the prince. Young-Sik massaged his arms, but when he noticed that General Shin was observing him, he gripped the sword and lifted it again. The general then marched away.
At first, the prince could only lift the sword for one to three seconds. When he dropped the sword, he panted and knelt from exhaustion. He felt his arms trembling. He stood up and once again lifted the sword, this time he counted how long he could lift it. He counted two seconds before he dropped it again. Young-Sik took a deep breath and lifted it again, this time he counted to three before dropping the sword. The next time he lifted it, he counted to four before dropping it. He repeated his process until it surprised him that he could lift the sword to the count of ten. He smiled and said to himself "Progress" For the rest of the day all he did was continue with his process.
By the time the sun set, Young-Sik could lift the sword for almost sixty seconds. He smiled at his accomplishment, but when he tried to walk, he collapsed on the ground from muscle fatigue and exhaustion. The Queen who was watching, including the prince's Eunuch and lady-in-waiting all rushed to his side, but before they could help the prince General Shin stopped them "No!" he shouted "Nobody helps the prince, he must overcome this by himself"
The Queen walked up to the General "Please my lord, the prince needs our help, he practiced so hard the whole day and he is but a child"
"Do as the general says" Said the King, who arrived to check on his son "He is right, if the prince wants to be a warrior, then he must live as one" He then went over to where the Young-Sik was and asked him a question "This is just the first day my son, there will be many more like these and maybe even harder. Can you hold on?"
Young-Sik felt the King's question, revitalized him, and he answered "Yes Your Highness" Despite the fatigue, pain, and exhaustion, Young-Sik stood up bowed to his father, the Queen, and master, and then walked back inside his residence.
The queen gritted her teeth at her failed attempt "No matter there will be other chances to get that boy's trust and then I'll make that boy my puppet" she said to herself, then she along with her entourage walked away
Though his heart ached at his son's condition, he was proud of his determination. "Hold on to your determination, Prince Young-Sik," the king said to himself. "Only you can succeed with such an undertaking." The King and General Shin continued their discussion of the country's military tactics as they strolled away from the prince's residence.
Inside his residence, the moment he closed the doors to his bed chambers, Young-Sik collapsed on the floor. He felt his arms and legs ache, and he panted as he caught his breath. The pain in his muscles slowly subsided, and the moment the pain ceased, Young-Sik fell asleep on the cold floor.