by Mike Han
Ability:
Comprehension (18%). Give a chance to comprehend a deeper meaning to your inner or skill learnt and evolved them into a different level. As your mastery of this ability improved, you will be able to learn skills faster.
Inner:
Calmness of the Lake (21%), Balance beginner Inner Technique. Gaining mastery in this inner, will strengthen your body and enhance your movement.
Turbulent Waves (10%), a martial world inner Technique. Taught by the vagrant Feng Ren. Can be used with Finger Striking technique.
Skills:
Silky Palm (19%), Balance palm technique. A soft palm technique that scale with the inner technique used.
Ghost Steps (17%), a movement technique. This technique improves the speed and evasion of the user. It was rumored to be the requisite for learning Chasing Shadow Sword, the legendary sword skill that had since been lost to the martial world.
Chasing Shadow Sword (15%), a sword technique. A legendary skill that appeared in the martial world twenty years ago welded by Elder Hao from Balance Sect. Considered one of the top ten sword skills, it had been considered lost after he retired from the martial world.
Finger Striking (10%), a range technique using pellets. This extraordinary skill feared by opponents for it lethality.
The next few days passed by peacefully. With no fresh incidents turning up, and no new clues to follow up on, in the end, we decided to return to Balance. Min and the rest were sad at our departure, but we promised them that we would come visit.
On the way back, Yu’Er convinced Will that there was no reason to rush back since there was no new developments when we last updated the sect. We paced ourselves leisurely and we took frequent breaks and early stops at inn. Each time we reached a town or city, she would pull us along to find out from the locals on the places to visit or delicacies to sample before we continued our journey. Will confided in me one night when Yu’Er had gone to bed early, that he had never seen her so carefree and casual. He reasoned that the main cause was me. This was probably the first time in her life that she need not be mindful of her status to another disciple, who so coincidentally was about her age and also a deacon. Not to mention that she probably felt grateful over my rescuing her on several occasions.
But eventually we reached Balance Sect and words of our arrival had preceded us. When we arrived at the foot of the mountain, Grandmaster Tao, the Elders and Deacons were waiting for us. The moment we saw them, Yu’Er had leaped off her horse towards Grandmaster’s embrace, his face sagged with relief that she was back. After handing over our mounts to the other disciples, we had then made our way back to the sect. No time was wasted before we were back behind closed doors to give a detailed accounting over the incidents at Canyon Town.
As our briefing concluded, there was silence as everyone pondered over the significance of the affair. Elder Ming was the first to break the silence and asked the obvious, “What would be the interest of Imperial School in creating rumors of that Evil Demon Clan remnants?”
“A good question and one that we had no answers to.” Elder Hao mused.
“Do we have any means of finding out if there are similar attacks happening elsewhere?” Deacon Pan, the fortyish eldest male disciple of Elder Ming prompted.
“We had no hear of any such news from any of the other schools or sects. But I will send out riders to them to share this incident and ask if they had encountered similar attacks?” Deacon Lee, another male disciple of Elder Ming replied.
“Alright, I think that will settle for now, till we have further leads on this matter. However, caution all disciples that are out or heading out into the martial world to be on a lookout for such incidents and to give Imperial School a wide berth. Until we know more on their intention, let’s not give them an excuse to harass our disciples.” Grandmaster Tao instructed.
“Yes, Grandmaster.” A chorus of acknowledgement rang out.
“Jun, you have done well.” Grandmaster Tao then directed his attention to me. I bowed in acknowledgement of his compliment. Noticing the puzzlement in the other’s eyes, he gave a smile, “For those who are not aware, we have a new Deacon. Elder Hao had accepted Jun as his personal disciple and been training him in secret.” He added mischievously. I could now see where Yu’Er got her mischievous streak from. Warm smiles broke out from the rest of the Deacons as they came forward to offer their welcome. “However Elder Hao and Jun had requested that this status be kept a secret for now and Jun to continue as a normal disciple. Both Elder Ming and I agreed with their reasoning that Jun is not ready and need more years of training and experience before taking up his duties as a Deacon. So Jun will continue his training with his cadre. But he will still be liable for call-up for other duties, like this mission. We do have confidence in his ability.” Grandmaster concluded with a smile.
With that the briefing ended and I left with Will towards the gathering hall to meet up with my class.
“Jun! Wait.” Yu’Er voice rang out behind me.
“I’ll go ahead. Jun, you catch up once Yu’Er is done with you.” Will said and left before Yu’Er caught up.
“Jun, I want to thank you for your help again. Do you think you can help me next time if I go out for another task?” She asked shyly.
“Of course. Anytime you need any assistance, you can count on me. Well, you don’t have to find me just for help, you know. If you need to find someone to talk, you can find me as well.” I suggested as I recalled Will mentioning about Yu’Er feeling lonely as a Deacon.
Happiness flushed her face at my reply. “Sure. Don’t complain if I pull you off to play and you have no time to train. Bye.” She ran off laughing. Grandmaster and the Elders who were still nearby, gave a start when they heard her laughing and turned to look at me. I gave an embarrassed shrug and left quickly for class. I swear I could see smiles on their face as I ran off as well.
Chapter Twelve
When I entered the gathering hall, I could see that everyone gathered around Will heaping him with welcome as well as questions on his quest. The moment I stepped in, Yang shouted, “Jun is back as well!” And I was mobbed by them too. It was a great feeling being back home!
Once everyone settled down, there was a sense of normalcy, as Will continued his lesson as though he was never away and I was happily kept busy with the daily routine stuffs of training. Once the sun had set, I was back sweeping with Elder Hao and was soon sharing with him what vagrant Feng Ren had taught me. Surprisingly he was delighted and explained to me that contrary to what Feng Ren said about it being a mediocre skill, the truth was that his finger striking skill was famous in the martial world, so much so that even disciples from the Flying Knife School famous for their hidden weapon skills feared the skill.
After demonstrating the finger striking skill, he appeared deep in thoughts and after moments of silence, he commented to me that the skill and inner taught, in theory, can complement our Balance Sect skills, but he would need to mediate on it. Elder Hao had then made me rehearsed my Silky Palm and Chasing Sword Skill and complimented that I had made improvement since I left with Will. Pleased that I had not disappoint Elder Hao, the night ended fast and I was soon back to my lodging bunk for my rest.
Deep in thoughts on the pointers that Elder Hao had given me, I was startled when Yu’Er voice rang out. “Jun! Where have you been? I have been waiting for you for quite some time.” To my surprise, Yu’Er was standing outside my bunk waiting for me.
“Yu’Er? It’s late, what are you doing here?” was my reply to her.
“Didn’t you hear what I say? I have been waiting for you. Where have you been? Oh. You went for some secret training with Elder Hao, isn’t it?” She excitedly asked me.
“Secret training? I was helping Elder Hao with the sweeping chores. He did provide some pointers for my training.” I stammered out.
With one side of her eyebrow raised and peering at me suspiciously, she suddenly grinned at me and said, “Well, I would like to
join you tomorrow then. Since it is not some secret training, let me help out Elder Hao with some of his chores too. Maybe he can also provide some pointers for me. I see you tomorrow night then.” Without waiting for a reply, she waved her goodbye and I was too stunned to react.
The next night, Yu’Er was waiting at the archway for me and without another word, picked up a broom and followed me along. When I saw Elder Hao, I nervously told Elder Hao that Yu’Er insisted on following. Elder Hao had laughed when I told him that no one would dare to stop her when she insisted on her way. With a mischievous grin, she asked what she can help with. Soon the three of us were busy sweeping the accumulated dirt along the walkway. Yu’Er did not once complain but instead seem to be contented doing the chores alongside us and Elder Hao did not seem to mind her presence.
After some time with our chores, Elder Hao proceeded to review my learning and gave me pointers. However, now he involved Yu’Er and asked her occasionally to demonstrate some of the pointers he made. Satisfied that I had understood the pointers, Elder Hao asked Yu’Er if she would mind having a practice duel with me, which she readily agreed. He had then made further pointers during the practice duel, not only to me but to Yu’Er as well. Surprisingly Yu’Er seem earnest in learning from Elder Hao and would even ask questions of her own and Elder Hao answered freely.
When we started into his lesson for Chasing Shadow Sword to check on my progress, he spotted my worried glances at Yu’Er, gave a laugh and said, “Don’t worry, Jun. Yu’Er won’t ask you to teach her my Chasing Shadow Sword skill. She would not need to learn this lowly sword skill when she had already mastered the Demon Banishing Sword skill from Grandmaster.”
She replied impishly with her tongue sticking out, “Elder Hao, your Chasing Shadow Sword skill is renowned through the Martial World; who would not want to learn. But I know you must want to keep something special for your personal disciple, so I would not insist. But maybe you can teach me some other skills of your.”
He gave a laugh and commented, “Such a mischievous girl. I don’t have any skills that Grandmaster or Elder Ming doesn’t know of or surpass. But I might have a unique skill that I unknowingly learned during my younger days exploring. It might be too complex for Jun now but I am sure that you can learn it easily. Why don’t you help me pass this on to Jun in future when you both become closer?” He joked with a knowing glance at both of us, making Yu’Er blushed and protested loudly. He had then asked me to practice my Chasing Shadow Sword on my own, while he demonstrated to Yu’Er a series of complex strikes with fingers and knuckles at acupoints in the body that caused numbness and loss of strength, followed by grip and holds to restraint the opponent. He named the moves Piercing Strike grappling skill. Soon Yu’Er was rehashing the moves he taught.
“You are indeed Grandmaster Tao’s protégé. In just one short night, you mastered the full skill.” He smiled proudly. “Why don’t Jun come practice with you?”
Soon Elder Hao was laughing as he observed me rubbing the various bruises on my limbs caused by her restraint technique. After one specific round, he prompted me, “Jun, the Silky Palm might not be ideal in countering the Piercing Strike technique. Why don’t you try the Finger Striking skill and see if you can break her attacks. Think about what you learn. Don’t be restricted in thinking of just using pellet, remember the principle of the Chasing Shadow and used that with the finger skills whenever she tried to use the restraining technique on you.”
Understanding dawned in me after a moment of ponder. In the next round, when Yu’Er stepped close, her left claw moving in to grip down on my right shoulder, while her right claw attempt to subdue my left wrist. I freed myself with a quick twist of my left wrist and followed with a strike from my finger. Instead of flickering out a pellet, instead I brought my hand close and struck out my cocked finger with a burst of energy gathered using the Turbulent Waves internal. The counter hit her right hand with enough force to knock it away, but she had tightened her left claw and before I can react, had numb me with enough force that a quick sweep of her legs had caused me flat on my back.
Her eyes wide with awe, she asked “What was that move you used to counter? Was it the Finger Striking move that Elder Hao mentioned? Elder Hao, you tricked me, you taught him more than just the Chasing Sword Skill.” She pouted cutely.
Chuckling, he raised both hands in protest, “No, no. That was not me. Jun learned that from vagrant Feng.”
Her eyes narrowing, she turned back at me with a deadly gleam in her eyes. “Vagrant Feng? Are you keeping something from me, Jun?”
Gulping, I replied apologetically, “I didn’t want to hide this from you. But vagrant Feng specially asked that I keep it a secret and just share it with Elder Hao.” She had then insisted that I tell her the whole story, which I gladly did to avoid her anger, a very wise act I should say so myself. Rather offend a male than a female. Sorry vagrant Feng.
Once she knew about the story on the Finger Striking Technique, and had I demonstrated it to her, it soon sparkled the competitive nature in her. Yu’Er insisted that I used the technique versus the Piercing Strike technique that Elder Hao had taught.
Through our duels, I learned a lot more on my technique. It was decidedly more difficult than the range attack. While flicking a pellet at a moving target was hard enough, doing so at melee range was more difficult. Even as I tried to avoid direct strikes, I would also had to observe her attacks and deflect them at the right moment and force; if not enough force was applied in my deflection, she could press through her attacks and grab me or if my strikes were inaccurate, I would leave an opening in my defense for her to exploit. When the night was concluded, I escorted her back to her room. Though she protested, I could see that she was pleased with my offer to escort. When we were parting company, she unexpectedly hold my sleeve, while looking shyly at me.
“Was it very painful, my attacks?” She asked gently.
“Yeah. It was very painful. But I survived.” I smiled back. “Don’t worry about it, Yu’Er. The bruises will heal. Though it is painful, being serious will help us to improve. Furthermore, how often is it that a pretty girl will grab me so many times?” I jokingly said.
Grinning in relief, she shot back, “Alright, then I make sure I grab you harder tomorrow.”
With that we parted company, I could see her face filled with joy, while my own heart was tender with memories of our time spent together.
True to her words, the next night, when we were practice dueling, her attacks increased in intensity. I gained a lot more bruises but I became more proficient in my use of my finger technique. Our practice duels was not restricted to hand-to-hand only. Elder Hao soon had us practicing our sword skills during dueling as well.
Her Demon Banishing Sword skill was not to be laughed at. Though it was the basic sword skill taught to all disciples, this skill was the famous sword skill that the founding grandmaster had used to win fame in his days. A true master of the Demon Banishing Sword skill will not lose to the Chasing Shadow Sword and the personal tutelage from Grandmaster Tao to Yu’Er had raised her level, if not to a master, to at least an expert in it. Truly few in the sect could beat her in sword fighting.
Elder Hao had, in one instance, explained to me the essense of the Demon Banishing Sword technique of the Balance Sect.
The Demon Banishing Sword was well-balanced in its offensive and defensive moves, thus it’s well suited for training disciples to start off. But as disciples became more experienced in their own rights and abilities, often they found or learn skills that appealed to them more, and tended to forsake this basic sword skill, for either more offensive skill or defensive skills. Founding Grandmaster Tao seek harmony in nature and balance in life, and had thus named his newly founded sect Balance Sect. He had developed this sword skill seemingly with offensive and defensive moves balanced with each other, but as you mastered the skill, the two become as one, as they reached a state of harmony.
In his heydays, on the rare o
ccasions that he acceded to a duel using this famed skill, his moves blended into a single continuous movement. No one can tell if he was attacking or defending, his defeated opponents could never understand what lead to their defeats. And these defeats lead to the reputation of the Balance Sect; creating a legend to rival the Monastery sect.
Though Yu’Er had not reached the level of the Founding Father, nor that of the current Grandmaster or Elders, she clearly understood the essence of the technique. That day beneath the well, though she suffered defeated from the Chasing Shadow Sword, it was partly due to her fatigue from being trapped for days and the stress of worrying from further attacks. Even then, she could still have easily defeated Will but not against two highly skilled opponents when I joined in.
Now under the moonlight here in Balance Sect, she was able to demonstrate the full power of her Demon Banishing Sword skill.
With a quick burst of speed from my Ghost Steps, I approached within three feet from her, when I swirled to the left to attack her right flank, hoping to catch her unguarded. A quick step back and an upward swipe from her sword and she deflected my move. Before I could follow up with a close up attack, a quick twist of her wrist and her defensive move transformed into a downwards stab in a blink of an eye. Not able to counter or block, instead I flicked my blade at her hand to disarm her but another twist and her sword pommel strike my sword blade deflecting it away. Both of us leaped back and appraised each other.
It was the first time that the Chasing Shadow Sword was countered so perfectly by another technique. Though I was defeated by butler Wu during the battle at the campfire, it was due in large to his greater strength and inner technique. However, Yu’Er had countered the Chasing Shadow Sword with her greater understanding of her own sword technique. Her moves from offensive and defensive flowed so smoothly, that it was difficult to find an opening to exploit. Several times we clashed as we tried to find an opening from each other. Whenever I tried to attack a vulnerable spot, she would pull up with an amazing defense. I could not press my advantage as she could flow from a defensive move into an offensive move. But neither could she push her attacks, as I would counter at her vulnerable points, forcing her to move back in defense.
