Summer 4981, 31 Akamoth

The water that flowed from the tap of the dorm bathroom only came in one temperature. This time of year, it was warm. Shon splashed his face with it anyway, wishing it was cold. He'd been waking up early for the last month, ever since Master Veon-Zih had left him with exercises to do, and yet he was still sleepy. He'd thought he would be used to waking up before the sun by now, but no. Apparently, it would take a few more months, possibly years, before he could consider himself a true 'early bird.'

He splashed his face again, running wet fingers through his black hair and staring into the pale blue eyes of his reflection. Master Veon-Zih had agreed to continue teaching him, and the other adults had said the Monk looked 'impressed' with Shon's performance. He could feel himself smile with pride at the memory and his attention shifted up just enough to focus on his own jet-black eyebrows.

Shon had been worried when Father Branston and Sir Rasnah seemed to think he should go to the Monastery. But Master Veon-Zih had made it sound like he supported Shon's dream to join the Temple. Shon tried to arch his right eyebrow, but both rose towards the ceiling. The young boy glared at his reflection. Master Veon-Zih could convey so much information with just that one expression. Shon tried again, reaching up to try and hold his left brow in place, so only the right arched up.

After Master Veon-Zih had agreed to teach him, Father Branston told Shon that the Monk had never taken a student before. The Abbot had also warned Shon that the training would be difficult, that Monks trained even harder than Paladins. Shon growled at his reflection, leaning far over the sink and staring at his eyebrow as if he could force the muscles of his face to obey with just his will. He squinted his left eye nearly closed in an effort to keep the eyebrow down while he opened the right eye wide and stretched his forehead to arch the brow.

Even Sir Rasnah had waited to leave -after Master Veon-Zih had gone for his bath- to tell Shon that the Monk was the strongest fighter she'd ever known. He used no weapons and had no magic, yet he could beat her in a fight nine times out of ten. Shon had seen the Paladin General fight and couldn't imagine anyone being able to trounce her. Shon held his lopsided expression for as long as he could, trying to let his left eye open without the brow rising to meet its brother. It didn't work, and he mumbled a soft curse of frustration.

"Hmmm..." the deep hum came from right behind him, and Shon's eyes shot up to the reflection of Master Veon-Zih above him. The Monk stood behind him, his eyebrow arched in question and arms crossed over his chest as he watched Shon through the mirror.

Shon could feel the heat rise in his face, and swallowed, more embarrassed than ever before. He could read the question clearly in the Monk's face, but Shon didn't have an answer he wanted to give.

Master Veon-Zih relaxed his expression, then arched the other eyebrow instead. Shon's jaw dropped ever so slightly, and the old man chuckled then quickly alternated his two eyebrows back and forth in quick succession. "It is a useful expression," he said, finally settling on just one arched brow, "though Sir Rasnah's is much more impressive than mine. I first learned by trying to imitate her."

"How?" Shon finally managed to ask.

Master Veon-Zih laughed then followed up with a shrug, "Just practice. Like everything else, really." he stepped back and gestured for the door, "Speaking of which, are you ready to get started?"

"Yes, ser. Master," Shon corrected himself quickly but bit his lip at the mistake.

To his surprise, Master Veon-Zih just chuckled again, "Practice," he reiterated, "you'll get used to it." He held the bathroom door open for Shon to exit, then lead the way to the courtyard.

Under the tree, the Monk bowed to Shon then sunk into a low horse stance beside his student. Shon immediately imitated him.

"Your drills will be your warm-up. There will never be a time when the basics lose value, so never forget them." Shon nodded and punched, counting in his head. Master Veon-Zih, however, let out a loud "KI!" with his punch, making Shon jump in surprise. Veon-Zih just grinned at Shon out of the corner of his eye, "A shout when you strike is called a 'kiai.'" he explained, then punched again with another shouted "KI!" causing a few sleepy birds to fly from the tree branches. "Physiologically, it works to focus your breath and attention, contracting the diaphragm and forcing you to regulate your breathing."

Shon had no idea what 'physiologically' meant, but he shouted anyway, punching with a much less impressive "ki."

"Louder. As loud as you can." the Master instructed, then demonstrated two more times.

Shon glanced around, sure they were going to wake someone up, but swallowed and tried again, "Ki."

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"Louder."

"Ki!"

"Louder."

"KI!" Shon screamed into the dawn as loud as he could and felt the rush of energy as his punch sped up to match the force of the shout.

"Exactly! Can you feel the difference?" Master Veon-Zih asked, waiting for Shon's nod before he continued, "I know you don't like talking, but this isn't the same thing, and after enough practice, you'll be able to feel the energy even without the shout, though it will always be stronger with it. Now again, I'll keep count. You just follow and focus on the feel of the punch and the energy of the movement and kiai together."

Shon did as he was told and didn't bother to count his punches as he shouted into the morning, growing less and less nervous the longer they continued. When they moved on to the next strike, he paused to look at his Master, waiting for him to meet his eyes before he asked, "What does phisiljically mean?"

"Physiologically," Master Veon-Zih corrected his pronunciation, "it's just a fancy word for physically, like when you sneeze you automatically, and physically, close your eyes. The kiai has physical benefits, but also energetic ones, which are a bit more esoteric." Shon scrunched his face at the new, just as confusing, word, and Veon-Zih sighed, coming out of his stance and rubbing his head. Shon's eyes dropped to the ground, feeling stupid for not knowing these words.

Master Veon-Zih must have read his mind because he spoke softly, "I'm sorry, Shon, I just forgot how young you are. Don't worry about not knowing the words. No one expects you to just magically know things you've never been taught before." Shon tried to look up again but couldn't bring his eyes above his Master's neck, Veon-Zih continued, "If I ever use a word you don't understand, please ask, and I will explain it, it’s the only way you'll learn, and I never want to talk down to you."

Shon finally met Veon-Zih's eyes and nodded, doing as instructed and asking, "What does 'esoteric' mean?"

The Monk smiled broadly and even chuckled, though if at himself or the boy, Shon couldn't be sure until he answered, "It’s a great example of exactly what I just said. Esoteric means something that is only likely to be understood by a few people with specialized knowledge or interest. Very few people are concerned with personal energy, Monks call it ki, and so the effects of the shout on that energy is 'esoteric,' meaning not many have the knowledge or interest to understand that part." he chuckled again, "Very few people know or care about some of this vocabulary too, so even the word 'esoteric' is a little esoteric in itself."

Shon smiled, just a little, at the idea, glad that his teacher had answered him so thoroughly and obviously hadn't been laughing at his ignorance. And now that they were talking about it, Shon could ask, while also practicing the new word, "What are the esoteric effects of shouting?"

Before answering, Veon-Zih dropped down into his stance again, "Let's finish while I explain, shall we? You don't have to shout while I talk." Shon resumed his stance in answer, watching Veon-Zih and moving along with his strikes, letting the Master Monk keep count as he listened.

"Every living being has energy, ki. It's our life force and the same thing that spell casters use to direct and cast their magic, both divine and arcane. Have you already studied magic theory?" Shon nodded, so Veon-Zih continued, "Magic itself is a different form of energy, divine comes from the gods, and arcane from the elements. It's raw and ever-present but can only be used if directed with our ki." he hummed in thought for a moment, moving on to a different strike before he continued, "It's like a ball sitting on the ground, it just sits there, unmoving, until someone comes along and physically moves it using their energy to direct the ball where they want it to go. Does that make sense?"

Shon thought for a moment, picturing the example but finally nodded, "Could it also be like a paper and pencil? They can't do anything on their own, but a person can use them to draw?"

"Yes! I'll have to remember that one..." Veon-Zih muttered to himself, then continued, "Monks train with their ki, to use it directly to attack their opponents or speed up their strikes. Ki is not magic, so even in an anti-magic field, we can use our ki. If you focus your ki while you strike, it doesn't really matter how strong you are. You can break stone. Or bones."

Shon gaped at Veon-Zih, his eyes wide at the thought. Without realizing it, he'd risen out of his stance, and his arms started to dip, "That's what you meant by hit harder and faster?" he asked.

"Partly," Master Veon-Zih answered, then kicked Shon's legs, forcing him back into his stance, "but we also train because ki enhances what we already have, so the stronger and faster we are without it, the stronger and faster we'll be with it."

"And that's why you don't use weapons?" Shon asked as he raised his arm to start the overhead strikes again.

"Some Monks do use weapons..." Master Veon-Zih answered a little quieter than before, his eyes losing focus over Shon's head like he was looking into a memory, "They infuse their weapons with their ki, making them an extension of themselves."

"But you don't?"

Master Veon-Zih shook his head as if to clear it and smiled down at Shon before moving on to kicks, "My weapons are my fists and feet. They are the most dependable tools humans have. A sword can be taken, dropped, or broken. Magic can be blocked or countered by other magic or an anti-magic field, but I will always have my hands and feet. And if I ever don't? Well... I'll have much larger things to worry about then, won't I?" he arched an eyebrow at Shon, who could only shudder at the thought of having his hands cut off.

The two worked in relative silence through the rest of the drills, Shon resuming his kiais now that Master Veon-Zih wasn't lecturing. As they finished, and before the Monk could teach something new, Shon squared his shoulders and stated, "As a Paladin, I will be a sword of Hengist. But... even without a sword, I want to be the best fighter for justice."

Master Veon-Zih didn't chuckle. He just nodded sagely down at his student, saying, "Then let's make sure evil regrets ever disarming you in combat."