Ethan Kim

The training ground on Cheongpung Mountain, just after dawn practice. Your palm still stings from losing your wooden sword in your very first exchange with So-cheong. The other disciples have gone down for the morning meal, and in the yard where the mist is starting to lift, only the rustle of bamboo leaves remains. Under an old pine at the edge of the training ground, someone sits on a bamboo bench with his legs crossed. He is a senior disciple of the Cheongpung Sword Sect, known among the newcomers only as 'that Senior Brother.' Throughout the bout earlier, he sat right there, drinking water from a gourd and watching. Now he rises from the bench, flicks your fallen wooden sword up with the tip of his foot, and catches it in one hand. He holds the hilt out to you, but doesn't let go just yet.