Ashe woke up the next morning quite refreshed. After a large dinner with Sammath and then an early night, he’d managed to fall asleep quickly and get a great night’s sleep. Ashe stretched and yawned, his limbs shaking as he groaned in pleasure at the stretch. With a grin, Ashe sat up and placed his feet on the floor, only to be greeted by a splinter in his foot. “Ah, shit!” Ashe exclaimed, and Sammath stirred in his sleep. Ashe pulled his foot up to see the splinter. Thankfully, it hadn’t gone underneath his skin and was just sticking out of the sole of his foot. With a quick jerk, Ashe pulled it out of his skin and flicked it to the ground.
‘Oh, what a great way to wake up.’ Cab’s voice seemed almost… languid, ‘Cries of pain in the morning are a wonderful sound.’
Ashe wanted to disagree but that would just open him up to something from Cab. Instead, Ashe much preferred the sound of birdsong in the morning. Just outside their small house, birds tweeted and sung in the dappled light that came through the canopy and Ashe had to admit, it truly was idyllic. If the house wasn’t so unfinished, it would be a really good place to stay and settle down. Carefully, Ashe placed his feet down on the ground, making sure to avoid any visible splinters or rough wood, and put on his shoes, having slept in his clothing the previous night.
Ashe tried to be silent in leaving the house, tiptoeing across the wooden floor. But as he reached the entrance to the door, a Cultivator ran into the courtyard, “Young Mistress Dawnblaze!” Ashe had no idea where Erin was, having not even seen her go inside the night before or having seen her in the few minutes since he’d woken up. So, when Erin practically dropped out of a tree, Ashe nearly started in surprise.
‘Well, that’s one way to make an entrance.’
Erin brushed herself off, completely ignoring the startled gaze of the young Cultivator, “Yes?”
The young girl took control of herself quickly enough, “Uh... Elder Chang sent me to bring you to your class this morning.”
Erin nodded, “Very well. We’ll wait a minute or so for Sammath to come out and then you can bring me to the class.”
“Erin, I think Sammath is still sleeping.” Ashe spoke up.
In response, Erin just held up her hand, three fingers sticking towards the sky. First, her ring finger dropped, then her middle finger, and finally her index finger. Right on cue, Sammath poked his head out of the doorway, “Fucking splinters!” He yelled in Shinian, hopping up and down on one foot. With a quick jerk, he seemed to pull something out of his foot, and he flicked it to the side. Free of the sharp piece of wood, he looked up, “So, what did I miss?”
Erin jerked her head and turned to the young Cultivator, “Lead on.”
Ashe grinned as he and Sammath followed Erin into the courtyard. They were entering a real training courtyard, filled with training dummies and Cultivators, with weapons racks holding dozens of weapons. As they entered the square, the hundreds of Cultivators turned as one to look at them. Ashe’s grin fell as every single gaze – every single hostile gaze – turned upon them and Ashe’s stomach dropped. Erin strode forward, Sammath following behind her as though he didn’t have a care in the world, but Ashe faltered slightly.
Sammath turned back, one eyebrow raised – a gesture he’d very clearly learnt from Erin, “I’m… just gonna stay here for now.” Ashe replied.
‘Coward.’
Sammath shrugged, “Alright, then. Come up whenever you want.” He turned around and followed Erin to the front of the courtyard, stopping at the front line of the Cultivators even as Erin continued forwards. “Alright! Listen up, everyone!” The few Cultivators whose gazes had remained on Ashe flicked to the front of the courtyard, where Erin stood, hands on her cocked hips. “My name is Erin Dawnblaze and I’m going to be your instructor for the next two or so months. You will call me Instructor Dawnblaze or ma’am. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am!” A few of the Cultivators shouted in unison.
Erin put a hand to her ear, tilting her head to face the Cultivators, “What was that? I asked you a question.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Many of the Cultivators responded. There still seemed to be a few holdouts, though, and many of them were near the back, by Ashe.
Up the front, though, Erin pointed to a Cultivator, “You, there. What did you just say?”
“Nothing, ma’am,” the Cultivator yelled out in response and Erin just shook her head.
“Alright. Remember this moment, everyone. My first rule is that, when I ask you a question, you respond truthfully because, well, I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t think being called a dumb bitch is ‘nothing’. So let this be a warning to all of you. I will not tolerate any disrespect to myself or to your fellow students in this class. If you want to disrespect me, you will fight me and, when you lose, you’ll be spending some time in the infirmary. And don’t think that you can try to hide it by speaking in the Heavenly Tongue. I speak it fluently and am only speaking in Shinian for the benefit of some of the others here. Finally, if you think muttering it under you breath will work, it won’t. Even if you’re at the back, like that young woman over there,” Erin pointed to someone and everyone turned, “who asked what made me so special that I get to teach you all.
“Since that is a fair question, I won’t hold it against you. As I’ve already said, my name is Erin Dawnblaze. The more astute of you have probably already made the observation that I’m related to Dawnblaze Lu, who is my cousin, and I’m one of the most skilled unarmed combat masters in the world. I’ve spent my entire life mastering combat from the tender age of three. Despite training an average of fourteen hours a day, I’ve advanced to Second Stage and am the Arikaran equivalent of your Sect’s son or daughter. If any of you still wishes to dispute my qualifications, I will happily fight you in unarmed combat, one on one, and with the stipulation that no powers are to be used. If you win, I’ll even owe a personal favour.” Erin grinned savagely, “Do I have any takers?”
Immediately, nearly half the hands in the class shot up and Erin stroked her chin, “You have ten minutes to select your class’s five best unarmed fighters. Once you’ve selected them, I’ll beat them and then I’ll be tolerating no more resistance to my teaching. Your time starts now.”
The Cultivators fell into each other, shouting and pushing at each other as they clambered to try and nominate themselves. Erin strode over to Ashe, “Do you think you can go and grab one of the elders from the courtyard. I’m going to need one of them here to oversee the battles. I’d do it myself but I’ll be facing them.”
Ashe nodded resolutely and ran off, knowing he’d need to get it done before the ten minutes that Erin had given were up. If it were much longer, the Cultivators would probably just attack her anyway. Ashe’s feet pounded on the path and his breathing came easily; his six months in the Dawnblaze manor hadn’t been wasted. Ashe juked and twirled around Cultivators as he ran, receiving many angry shouts in the Heavenly Tongue that he was glad he couldn’t understand. Nearly three minutes later, after travelling along the plant-lined cobblestone paths of the sect, Ashe arrived at the bustling courtyard. Ashe looked around frantically, trying to figure out where to contact an elder of the sect.
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Someone said something in the Heavenly Tongue behind him, but Ashe ignored it, figuring it was for someone else. When a soft hand landed on his shoulder, though, Ashe whirled around. The hand’s owner was a young woman, who seemed only a little older than Ashe. Despite her age, though, she felt like a peak Second Stage, or Affinity Stage if you went by Cultivator Stage names, Cultivator. Wide, brown, innocent eyes. Prominent cheekbones and a sharp chin, she had flawless skin and black hair that gleamed almost blue in the sunlight. She was a little taller than Ashe, with slender limbs. It was clear that she’d started developing as she’d filled out a little beyond the normal awkward, lanky stick limbs that children of the Order and Shinia tended towards, but it was also difficult to see much else underneath the loose robes of the sect.
Ashe felt his cheeks burn, though he couldn’t figure out why, She said something in the Heavenly Tongue but Ashe couldn’t understand it so he just shrugged, “Sorry, I don’t speak the Heavenly Tongue.”
“What are you looking for. Perhaps I can point you in the right direction.”
“I need to find an elder to referee a duel. Quickly.”
With a nod, the girl strode across the courtyard, to a small but nicely decorated room. She knocked on the door lightly and waited for a voice to come from inside. When it came, she stepped inside and said something in the Heavenly Tongue.
‘So, boy. You’re beginning to grow up, huh? I’m going to get so much pleasure out of these coming years.’ Ashe ignored the demon and an elder stepped outside. He had wrinkled, deeply tanned, liver-spotted skin that sagged lightly. A flat, wide nose with a low bridge lined the gap between his bored, light brown eyes, and heavy, black brows, sprinkled with grey hairs sat low above his eyes. Like his eyebrows, his hair was black with strands of grey running through it. Cut short, it stuck up above his head similarly to Ashe’s own spiky hair.
“I’ve been told you need someone to oversee some matches.”
Ashe bowed, nodding, “Yes, elder. Unarmed combat, no use of qi or magical abilities.”
“Very well then,” The elder yawned, “Lead on.” Ashe bowed to the elder and began running out of the courtyard but the elder waved his hand, “Stop! You’ll walk or I’ll not come at all.”
Ashe felt like cursing but bowed to the elder anyway and slowed down to a brisk walk which the elder, who was taller than Ashe, could take at a relatively leisurely pace. As Ashe led the elder on, he was aware of every passing second. Finally, after nearly ten minutes just this way, Ashe walked into the courtyard and Erin frowned lightly. When she saw the elder, though, she smoothed out her expression to a careful mask of neutrality, “Everyone, please bow to the elder who’s come to oversee our match.”
The Cultivators, all used to the practice, immediately swivelled in place and bowed towards the man who’d come to referee their challenges against Erin. Nodding, the elder took in the courtyard with a bored expression, “So, who am I going to be overseeing today?”
Erin straightened up, “You will be overseeing the match of me against the five top students in this class.”
The elder’s eyes widened and a slight smile pulled at his lips, “That’s interesting. Are you sure you’re not overestimating your abilities, girl? After all, you only look to be one or two years older than your students and, well, you’re at the same Stage and these are our average Cultivators.”
Erin nodded, “I am very sure, Elder.” She turned away then, “Everyone clear a ring in the centre of the courtyard and send your five nominees into the circle.”
Erin rolled up her sleeves and tied the rope around her hair and the elder strode through the crowd of disciples to the edge of the forming ring. Ready, Erin headed toward the crowd of disciples and it parted before her to let her inside. Ashe took advantage of the passage to sneak his way further inside the ring to a place where he could actually see the fight. If he’d stayed on the outside, he was too short to actually see and would be forced to judge what was happening by the sounds of the fight. When he got to the ring, despite a few mildly annoyed glances from some Cultivators, Ashe wasn’t challenged because he was short enough for all of them to see over. Erin strode to one side of the ring, opposite to her five challengers, two young women and three young men, a neutral expression on her face, “Remember. If I win this duel, I will be taking no complaints from anyone about my teachings. Now, elder, I’ll leave this duel in your capable hands.”
He nodded, “Very well, this duel is between the students of the Second Stage unarmed combat class and…”
“Erin Dawnblaze.” Erin filled in for the elder.
“Instructor Dawnblaze. To my knowledge, there are no stakes that need elder regulation. If there are, you may correct me now.” He paused for a moment and, when no one was forthcoming with any corrections, nodded, “Your duel commences now.”
Immediately, one of Erin’s challengers, a large, young man with broad shoulders, a sneer on his face, and short hair stepped forward, saying something to his companions in the Heavenly Tongue. Ashe guessed it would be something stupid like ‘I’ve got this’ or ‘leave this to me’. Erin raised an eyebrow, “I would advise against attempting to fight me alone.” The young man snorted and stepped forward and Erin nodded, “Then your failure is on your shoulders alone.”
Stepping forward with a testing jab, the young man eyed Erin with an upturned gaze. Erin didn’t even flinch, standing in a relaxed slouch with her hands on her hips, “Don’t try to test me. If your blows aren’t going to hit, I’m not going to move.”
The boy stepped forward with a low kick aimed to hit the outside of Erin’s thighs but Erin moved so quickly that Ashe barely even registered what happened. Erin spun inwards, putting her back to the chest of the young man and trapping his arms, which guarded his head, between them. Erin then grabbed the Cultivator’s thigh as he began to try and pull back the kick before he overextended but he barely even managed to pull his leg back a centimetre before Erin stepped to the side, cracking the normal cobblestones of the courtyard with her strength as she planted her foot, and swung her arms around, pulling the Cultivator with her. With a low grunt, Erin sent the Cultivator flying into the air, over the ring of her students, and crashing to the cobblestones where Ashe couldn’t see.
“You’re out!” Erin called, even as she kept an eye on the other four Cultivators.
‘Ooh, I’ll have to remember that move myself. It looks fun.’
“Now, once again, I would advise that none of you attempt to fight me in single unarmed combat.”
A slight grin danced across the face of the elder who’d come to supervise and so, even as the bullish young man tried to barge right back into the ring, he stepped in, “Stop. Do not shame yourself further by breaking the rules of the fight.”
With a growl, the Cultivator bowed to the elder and stalked off to the side. The other Cultivators eyed Erin warily and she turned fully to face them, “Are we fighting, or do you concede?”
Looking towards each other, the Cultivators nodded and sprung into action. First, one woman dashed in and threw a jab towards Erin’s head. Erin leant to the side, slipping the punch by a matter of centimetres, and threw a punch into the woman’s stomach. The Cultivator bent over in pain and Erin grabbed her by her hair and back, pushing her into the path of one of the boys. Erin jumped backwards and to the side, engaging the boy who’d gone to Erin’s left. Erin stepped further to the side, nearly hitting the outer ring of Cultivators, but she slipped the side kick that had been aimed at her abdomen and her entire body twisted as she punched the Cultivator’s head. He crumpled to the floor and Erin stepped over his prone form to block three quick punches at her head from the second female Cultivator.
The first female Cultivator, who Erin had pushed before, tried to step to the side and throw a kick at Erin but the Arikaran slapped the kick to the side with her own foot. The kick impacted the punching Cultivator, probably cracking some ribs, and Erin grabbed them both by their heads to slam them together as the two young women overbalanced. As one, the collapsed to the ground just in time for Erin to step back and literally catch a flying kick from the last guy standing. Ashe’s mouth dropped as she braced herself, dropping her body and digging her foot into the ground. Cobblestones cracked with a loud crunching sound as Erin’s foot dug into the ground. Erin’s armed bent under the force of the kick but they stopped nearly halfway to her head, and she changed her grip, yanking the Cultivator downwards into the cobblestones.
Erin looked down at him dispassionately, “Very good idea, but it would have worked better if you’d communicated with your team and worked together.” She reached down, grabbing him by the neck and squeezing. A few seconds later, he went limp and Erin strode to the edge of the ring. It parted before her and she gestured towards the bodies, “Someone take them to a healer.”
A few students grabbed their companions and Erin strode to the front of the class before turning around, “Everyone, please bow to the elder in thanks for refereeing this match.” Everyone turned to face the elder and bowed to him and with a nod, he left the class. “Now,” Erin looked over the class, does anyone have any objections to me being your instructor?” When no one said anything, she smiled. It was an evil thing, her smile, and Ashe felt shivers run down his spine. That was Erin’s training smile and Ashe found himself thinking that maybe he should have objected, if only to just get beaten up and sent to the infirmary so he didn’t have to train that day.