*No way, man.*

"Impossible!"

"Yes way, man! I had a few spells that I could have used in the fight. It was just against the rules."

"Then I must have broken the rules of the bout, or talismans must not be considered a type of magic."

"Nah, I think you misunderstood the rules of a bout, you could have used whatever you liked, I was the one limiting myself."

*Isn't that a little patronizing?*

"You wound my honor with that statement."

"Haha, don't worry about it man, besides, can you really say that after all our matches?"

Once again, it irked Fang Hu how Guanyu could speak his mind. Our hero always tried to put it out of his mind, but it was surprisingly annoying to not be in control of your own words. Well, maybe it's not 'surprisingly' so, but Fang Hu didn't have a choice in the matter, so it was a moot (mute?) point. In any case, Fang Hu would kill to be able to go up to someone and say, "Hey bro, wadda you fukin doing?" Well, he wouldn't kill for it, he wouldn't kill for many reasons, and something as stupid as that certainly wouldn't take the cake. Silently, Fang Hu promised himself to not use 'would kill for' in common vernacular, he had learned his lesson with the 'rice' problem.

As much as it bothered him, it wasn't all downsides. For one, no one in this world would believe he was an experienced scholar with his old speaking habits. It also didn't mess with his social life, it didn't necessarily help either, but it didn't blow any chance he had with potential friends. The Fang Hu before Fang Hu was Fang Hu certainly wouldn't have talked like this, but Fang Hu didn't think that being the new Fang Hu was all that bad, speech included.

As much as the scholar didn't want to admit it, he knew he was outclassed. The first bout was barely won by the blue haired wonder, but the second match was won hands down by the less snakey scholar. By the third match the snake scholar was no match for the sky scholar. Guanyu spent the next ten matches methodically comparing how his dao reacted to Fang Hu's mixed daos. For 20 matches after that Fang Hu's fighting style was broken down and Guanyu used the information he gained to supplement his own martial art. Fang Hu felt that all the matches after that were either pity or simply for that sake of enjoying a new sparing partner.

"Hellooooo, Pangea to Fang Hu?"

"!!- Apologies, I was just ruminating on the nature of your spells."

"What? We've been over this man, your spells depend on your dao."

"Yes, but what does a 'spell of sky' exactly entail?

"What do you think it would be?"

"Why don't you ever just tell me anything... Flight?"

"Of course, but not just fight! I can do this as well."

Without any further warning, Guanyu pulled out a small bead from his robe and channeled some of his qi into it. Before Fang Hu knew what was happening, Guanyu was behind him and had rapped his fist across his back.

*The fuck does that have to do with the sky, man?*

"May I ask what teleportation has to do with the sky?"

"Well, they're both awesome for one."

"I'm serious, the connection escapes me."

"It has to do with what sky is, combined with some knowledge I uh... had."

"Oh knowledge you had, huh? What does that type of knowledge do? The techniques I have studied have never been able to be improved by that type of knowledge. I've only been able to implement it in the study of daos."

"Yes, knowledge of how the world interacts with itself is largely useless in the study of how qi interacts with the world. Tell me, do you know what techniques are?"

"A technique is any effect you can obtain by directly using qi."

"Ding-ding-ding! 10/10 answer. I'm impressed."

*Hmm. Say, I forget, which one of us had the better understanding of our daos?*

"Guanyu, could you assist me, my memory is rather faulty. Among us two, who has the better understanding of their daos?"

"Haha, man, you sure are talking a lot of smack for a man in meteor distance."

Both of the scholars took a moment to laugh before continuing.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Anyway, let's get back on track. You can change techniques by changing how you get your qi to interact with the world. That is where spells and techniques differ. You don't circulate your qi differently or have to move your body in a rhythmic pattern to perform a spell. Spells usually operate on one facet of your qi, and that's usually the most basic effect of your qi. For you, that should be manipulating light and manifesting snakes, if my studies are correct. You can use any facet of your qi and as many facets of your qi as you want in making spells. Hell, you could use more than one type of qi to form a spell, but usually the only people who could make such things work are the ones who devote themselves to magic. Magisters, mages, shamans, whatever they call themselves, it's generally their job to use magic, therefore they have a lot more time to study it, not to mention that those types usually pass down their knowledge, giving newer generations more power than older ones."

Song Guanyu was going on a rant about spells, but both of the people here were scholars, they loved every minute of the long-winded explanation. Strictly speaking, not all of his rant was necessary to understand the difference between spells and techniques, what with some of it being essentially background information. Background knowledge it may be, they still both valued it highly. Both of these young men were scholars by choice, they chose their path because they knew the power of knowledge. Guanyu probably wouldn't have felt privy to share this knowledge if it weren't for the fact that he had gained much more value out of the sparring matches than the one spirit stone per ten matches. Even then, his lips were still loosened by Fang Hu's polite demeanor and likeable attitude.

"Because of how complicated spells can get they generally need a medium."

Guanyu pulled out one of his small beads, being sure to give Fang Hu a good look at it before injecting it with qi. A sky blue ethereal meteor hammer formed from it.

"You could always brute force a spell, but if you're a proper scholar, you should know that going through the proper procedures almost always saves qi."

At Fang Hu's nod, Guanyu kept going.

"In the case of spells, it will also save time, if done right. Spells need mediums because directing your qi with more qi obviously wastes qi, but it's more than that. Directing qi with your own qi requires your focus, and unless you have focus to spare, that will cost you in battle. Let's not forget that without a focus, a spell is something that comes from your body. This can cause problems in controlled environments, add the chaos of battle to the equation and what was once inconvenient becomes fatal. Do you want a few examples?"

*Of fucking course I want examples, are you insane?*

"By all means."

"Okay, lets see. First off, your dao could influence your spell, while that can be a plus, if you have a cracked dao pillar or a flawed understanding of your dao, then your spell could vary in an unpredictable manner. Next, If you're injured in any way, then your spell could fuck up. If you're panicking or rushed, then your spell could fuck up. If you're under the influence of foreign qi, then your spell could fuck up. The list goes on, but all that's important is that all this can be avoided by using a spell medium. Any questions?"

Does Fang Hu have questions? Ha, Hu had to stop himself from wondering if Guanyu was messing with him. He was only able to stop because there was so much more interesting stuff to wonder about.

"You've said medium many times. What qualifies as a medium?"

"Oh, just about anything that can direct qi is a medium. You know, talismans, runes, rituals, staffs, wands, artifacts, sacrifices, spell focuses, techniques, chants, bloodlines, anything really, as long as it can direct qi."

Fang Hu had more questions, he always does, but Guanyu had enough of putting off their sparring match. As such, they began their sparring session while Fang Hu had words of spells on his lips. Anyone listening in on the young master of the Song Clan would hear information about spells over the sounds of combat.