I thought Master Fu was bad, but Master Zhen is somehow worse.

I duck as the blade of his guandao slashes the air just above my head and sidestep the butt of the polearm as he swings it upwards. The last few weeks have given me an idea as to how to deal with such weapons that I attempt to use as I dodge his rapid swipes while I bring myself inwards, removing his advantage of reach. He shoves the shaft of his weapon in my face, but I catch it with both hands and stop him from breaking my nose.

However, that leaves me open to the knee he delivers into my side. The breath is driven out of me and the circulation pattern of my reisen I was told to hold is almost disrupted, my control faltering for a moment before I regain concentration. The few moments were enough for him to back away, out of reach, and again he exploits the extra reach he now has as he adjusts his grip and unleashes a flurry of attacks while slowly moving backwards, keeping me away from him.

Well, if he’s going to be like that… I switch into the Rising Gale stance, keeping my knees slightly bent to give me explosive bursts of speed. Despite both being named after the wind, the Elusive Breeze and Rising Gale stances have quite a significant difference in their movements. The Elusive Breeze focuses on kicking techniques, attacking from a range, and movement mainly focuses on getting away from the enemy. In contrast, the Rising Gale places more emphasis on punches and elbow strikes and focuses on getting close to the enemy via both dashes and flips.

Honestly, though, who uses a flip in the middle of a fight? I’m no expert, but it seems like a good way to get yourself killed.

He reopens our exchange with an overhead cleave, following with a sideways sweep of my legs as I dodge his first attack. I leap over his sweep towards him and he retreats, all the while launching attack after attack. He gets bored of this game quickly, however, as he starts using gusts of wind to knock me off balance. I switch over to the Placid River stance instead, giving myself the extra stability and turning aside his attacks by pushing against the flat of the blade. That is, until I’m a moment too slow and his blade sweeps past my defense, stopping right before my face.

The session now over, I’m given leave to take a break before we start physical training. The past few weeks have just been nonstop sparring and physical training, which Master justifies as “rushing my preparation for the war”. All of this is done while circulating reisen around my body, non-stop, all day and night. Master claims it helps my control and grows my pool, but secretly I think he just likes it because it gives him an excuse to whip me when I lose control of the circulation.

As much as I may complain, the weapons training has actually significantly improved my skills. Watching how Master Zhen used the variety of weapons to fight and adapting to each has given me a clear idea of what each stance hopes to achieve, and what each of their weaknesses are. For example, using the Crushing Earth stance against a guandaowould have been suicide, as the solid blocks and restricted movements of the stance would have been a horrible match against the sheer weight of the weapon. In contrast Placid River did well here as it focused on redirecting force instead of absorbing it, but against a lighter weapon like a jian the stance’s defense would have been practically useless.

I jog off to find the well at the center of the camp, the cool mist freezing me through my sweat soaked shirt. The Liusha canyons seem to be covered in a perpetual mist, partly a result of the spray from the few waterfalls gushing over it. The falls weren’t an original part of the canyons, however; the battle between the two great warriors which had also served to give the canyons its name had also cracked off parts of the neighbouring mountains, resulting in streams pouring over the surface of the canyons. The canyons overlook the twisting Yuexia river, allowing for the camp to receive supplies by boat.

As of now, the camp seems to only consist of a handful of Intelligence Corps members, and though I’ve yet to meet any I’m told each of these members has brought along their own disciples. I’ve wondered why we weren’t trained together, but apparently the training for each disciple is tailored to specifically fit only that particular disciple.

Talk about excessive…

The darkened skies overhead have started to thunder by the time I reach the well. The wind howls through the camp, catching the tents and straining the ropes holding them down. Flashes of lightning light up the skies as they arc towards the ground. Sparring against Master has given me a sense of what being struck by lightning feels like, so I hurriedly drink my water and make it back to Master. If he’s able to use lightning, he should have some way to stop me from being hit, right?...

Right?...

I find Master seated in a lotus position, his eyes closed. Without bothering to open them, he speaks.

“Tell me, what do you know of reisen?”

I pause to collect my thoughts. What I know came from Brother, which came from an old discarded manual of some obscure Sect he had found. I’m hoping the fact it was a Sect manual meant it was at least somewhat accurate. Then again, if it was discarded…

“Reisen is the Life Force of a person. It’s what gives us life.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

…. I don’t think he liked that answer. It’s hard to give off an air of disappointment while maintaining a neutral expression, but somehow Master does it.

“No. Reisen by itself is ‘Character’; it is what makesan object itself. To have the Character of Fire means to burn, the Character of the blade means to cut, and so on. To use the reisen of an element, you must understand it’s Character, its secrets, and only then may you convince your own reisen to emulate those properties, that you may use them.”

He motions for me to sit.

“There are three types of reisen: elemental, conceptual and bestial. Elemental reisen comes from understanding the Character of the elements around us, such as Fire, Water, Earth. You’ve seen me use both Wind and Lightning; this is because my reisen is that of the Storm. By understanding certain elements, you can take control over more than one ‘pure’ element, although your control over each of your constituent elements will be weakened.”

This is the first time I’ve heard him say so much in one go, so I listen intently.

“In contrast, the conceptual reisen users understand the Character of concepts; some may use the Character of the blade to cut, the Character of the trap to snare, and so on. In my experience, I have found some of these practitioners to be exceedingly powerful, but their power can make them brittle; they lack adaptability.” Master’s lip curls up in disgust at this last word.

“Lastly, you’ve met some of the bestial reisen users. These were the langren who attacked your village; they understood the Character of wolves, and so gained their power. To use bestial reisen, you must understand the Character of a living thing; animals are common, but plants are also a possibility. Many Bayati seem to favour this particular type; not particularly surprising, given how powerful some of the wild animals in the northern regions can be.” Master finally opens his eyes and spreads his arms out. “Prepare yourself, for I intend to teach you the path of the Storm.”

Seated in a lotus position, I close my eyes and feel the violent winds rage around me. Master’s voice, strong and resounding, carries clearly over the roaring wind.

“Feel the storm around you, its destructive power. Feel the wind, pushing aside all that stands in its way. Feel the crackle of lightning, and its desire to destroy that which it touches. Feel its power and grace; know that this is the might you can command.”

That’s nice and all, but it’s still not a proper manual. Oh well. Eyes closed, I focus on my meditation, reaching for calm and control, seeking my Core. Circulating my reisen through my body in slow, lazy loops, I push it as far as it can go, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I try to sense on the reisen of the storm, and it’s after a few long minutes of spiritual groping do I begin to sense it; the violent nature of the winds seem to have a pattern to them, swirling according to threads of emerald light. Even with my eyes closed, the winds blowing around me contain these threads that imprint themselves on my eyelids. A violet arc of light streaks across my vision, and somehow, I knowthat what I’m seeing is the reisen of lightning, traced out for me.

Tentatively, I focus my reisen into a thread of blue light and send it out to grasp one of the emerald threads. The moment it leaves my body, I feel my reisen drain away and I almost gasp from the shock of feeling my Core drain so quickly, but I grit my teeth and force it onwards. As the two threads make contact, the wispy blue thread of my reisen dissipates, motes of blue turning green, drifting off as they dissolve in the wind. A faint stirring, deep within my mind, but as I reach for it the whispers hang ever so slightly out of reach, tantalizing and taunting. I force down the feelings of frustration, maintaining my focus, and try again, pushing out my reisen to brush against the emerald threads the whispers return. But instead of reaching for them again, instead I study the movements of my dissolving reisen, noting how it swirls and flows. The whispers grow louder as I lose myself in the patterns, and suddenly my head fills with knowledge.

I see the wind flowing past trees, rocks, dancing and twirling in the sky.

I see the force of a hurricane, brought to bear on the land, ripping trees from their roots and pulling dirt from the ground.

I see birds sailing on the breeze, and I see gales flattening huts.

It’s over almost as quickly as it came, and I’m left reeling with the influx of information. I could stop now, but to use Storm means I’ll need to somehow get access to the lightning as well.

I wonder how likely it is to get struck by lightning?...

Deep in focus, I lose track of time.

I’ve been thinking about Lightning, imagining it light up the dark sky above. I see it crash towards the ground, remember how it could fry a human. And yet, its nature remains ever so slightly out of grasp.

Until a sudden CRACK sends a bolt straight through me, exactly as I’d hoped.

Dimly, I’m aware of burnt flesh and smoke, but I ignore it, instead focusing on the bits of Lightning I managed to brush against with my reisen. Within my body, tiny streaks of purple dart back and forth, the remnants of the threads I’d managed to encircle the Lightning with. As with the Wind, I focus on their motions, their nature, and my the shroud is lifted once again.

And yet…

No, no, no, no no no-

Whatever I’d known about the Wind is slipping away. My memories of the insights I’d gained are disappearing and trying to hold onto them is like trying to catch an eel with my bare hands. I struggle to control my breathing, each breath threatening to disrupt the fragile balance of my concentration.

Wait.

Master mentioned that he uses two by understanding the Storm. Could it be that he doesn’t fully understand each?

I hurry, before the last dregs of my insights leave me. I try to conjure up an image of the Storm, recalling the scene around me. I pull out only specific insights from each element, discarding that which is irrelevant.

The Storm has no gentle breezes, for it does not flow past its obstacles, only breaking down that which stands in its way.

The Storm is not the controlled flow of energy; it is the raw unrestrained power of lightning, set loose on the world.

Slowly, my breathing stabilizes. The insights I have chosen to maintain stay fixed in my head, while the rest are gone, dew in the morning sun. I feel a rush of power within me, a raging typhoon taking the place of the calm that was once my Core. Opening my eyes, I’m treated to the sight of Master, forcing a pill into my mouth that I swallow before the world goes dark.