The sect had designated a new training ground, given that the old one was completely unusable for the stated purpose. The new grounds were much less impressive; it was a refurbished courtyard, previously used as a garden, bordered on three sides with reinforced fences. It wasn't small, though it was much smaller than the previous one, and lacked dedicated seating or the functional-if-bland stone surfaces.
It’s basically just a field they smoothed out and cleared of trees. But still, it was a place for disciples to practise their arts and combat abilities.
“Shall we go to first blood, then?” Lan’s voice was reluctant. He seems to find combat just as distasteful as I, then. Lu approved, but sometimes one had to do distasteful things in the service of a greater goal.
“That seems reasonable, senior brother.”
Lu doffed his heavier outer robes, and they took their stances a ways away from one another. He was using the standard Steadfast Heart martial arts, solid and unyielding, while Lan had a slightly looser variant. Probably a version optimised for spellcasters. Ah, I really wish I had kept up with my training… Who would have thought that the ability to punch someone in the face would ever be the least bit useful to him? The Heavens’ path is truly mysterious.
There was no signal announcing the start of the spar; both men simply moved, each casting a movement art to rocket to full speed instantly. Lu luxuriated in the speed and dexterity of his newly third realm mind, spinning together a Fireball in his left hand and a Windstorm in his right. Both were second realm; without the nigh-infinite ki of the other world, he could only do twenty, maybe thirty big spells before running dry. And this is just sparring, besides. We’re not actually trying to hurt one another. He loosed the Windstorm first, the spell shaping itself to his intent to form a whirling cyclone, expanding out in a loose cone shape from his outstretched arm.
Lan’s form blurred with a concealment art, and he accelerated in an attempt to juke past the whirling air. Sorry, but I’m not going to let that happen! Space Ripper twisted both Lu and the back half of his attack, and suddenly he was directly behind his opponent.
Trapped between the two halves of Windstorm, Lan’s expression flashed in worried surprise. A glowing shield sprang up around him, already distorting under the assault, and Lu took the opportunity to hurl fire at the stationary target.
The Fireball was carried forward, twisting in the wind, and struck the shield full – Lu blinked. The ball slipped past, the path distorted by the wind such that it missed by a hair. It struck the ground, throwing up soil and flames as Lan slipped through the gale.
Lu’s teeth clenched. No matter- I still hold the momentum! He prepared a second combo attack, this time substituting fire for ice, and twisted space again.
But his opponent hadn’t been idle; when Lu appeared behind his back, there was already a shining dagger of light flying towards his chest. Ah-! A shockingly cold sensation went through him as the blade bit deep, and he stumbled. His hip hit the ground, then he was tumbling, unable to draw together enough mental effort to halt his momentum as his spells unravelled. He rolled across the ground for a few seconds, before finally coming to rest flat on his back.
“I believe that’s my win, Sir Lu.” A head poked into his field of vision, followed by a yellow-clothed body. Lu shook his head, dazed. “Are you able to continue?”
“Yes.” Ugh. That didn’t go very well. “Give me a moment, please.”
“Certainly.”
Lu pulled himself up into a seated position, his head still spinning a bit. For just a light spar, meant to ‘gauge my skill level, so as to more accurately pick the optimal training partners,’ that was rather savage. “What was that last attack, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Entropic Blades. A personal favourite; it’s far and away my most useful attacking art.” The man had a faint smile on his face. “The effect is temporary – just give it a few moments, and you should be just fine.”
‘Blades’ implies that it usually conjures multiple daggers. He held back, and I was still taken out. “Yes, yes. Give me a minute, I need to think through what just happened.”
Lu raised a hand to cradle his chin. That was atrocious. Shield, Lu, you need to put up a shield! This wasn’t the first time he had made that mistake, but he had hoped that being stabbed through the gut would have beaten it into him. You forgot to enhance your muscles as well. Furthermore, you didn’t use any defensive arts at all! Disjointed Image would have- ah! “Elder brother, you dodged my fire with an illusion, didn’t you?”
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Lan nodded. “Indeed. Though it would be more accurate to say you missed, rather than that I dodged.”
Lu winced. Ah, I didn’t realise it in the moment at all. I focussed too hard on attacking. It was somewhat embarrassing; after his experiences in the other world, he would have thought that his combat instincts would be at least average.
No, it’s even worse than that; I haven’t sparred at all recently. Since returning, the only combat I’ve seen was the incident with the Black Cloak Group, and I only fought for a few minutes at most. Before his ordeal, he had sparred – against his will, but a spar was a spar – with Bull, several times a week. Am I actually weaker than I was this time last year? The thought was disheartening.
But the next moment a flood of determination buoyed his spirits. That’s fine, that’s fine! I’m not weaker, just rusty! It’s always easier to learn something the second time; the first ascent to third realm took me two decades, but now I’ve accomplished it in less than a year! I’m sure if I keep at it, I’ll regain my instincts swiftly! He sprang to his feet, a fire in his eyes.
“Thank you for giving me a break, elder brother. I believe I’m ready to continue.”
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Over the course of the day, Lu gradually made progress. Lan wasn’t exactly a difficult opponent, being a scholarly gentleman himself – but he still had a realm on Lu, and his martial arts were flatly superior. It was an uphill climb, but by the end of the day, Lu was winning roughly as often as he lost.
Fireball! Fireball! Dodge, and- Lightning Palm! Between one fight and the next, Lu would sit and ruminate on how he could improve. The conclusions he had reached could be summarised thus: he had to lean into his strengths.
Simple, yes, but the most profound lessons always were. Lu was a spellcrafter at heart, and the speed of his casting was the biggest advantage he had. The second biggest was his ability to multitask; it had taken many losses, but eventually he had figured out that while Lan’s spells might be stronger than his, the man wasn’t able to craft more than one at a time. He couldn’t hold two attack spells at once like Lu could, or weave in an illusion between attacks without pausing.
Something struck his shield directly behind him, and it cracked like glass. A Space Ripper took him away before the spell – Light-Eating Treasure, an orb of darkness that seemed to suck in light and had a disproportionate effect on the simple shields he used – could hit him in the spine, and he had a second to breathe before the battle resumed.
He pumped qi through his veins, stimulating his muscles as Lan moved the fight into melee. He swung, missed, swung again, took a weak hit to the jaw, then unleashed a double Lightning Palm. Lan’s form distorted visibly – Illusion, damn – so he widened the arc of the bolts, bringing his hands up to send lightning all around himself in a wide net.
It didn’t catch anything; the illusory Lan rippled and dispersed, but the real article failed to appear. Invisibility? That’s new. Should he use his own art in retaliation? No, my qi is too low; I’d exhaust myself in a few seconds. Instead, he used a sensory enhancement spell, and renewed his defenses.
I hear him breathing. He didn’t attack right away; better to wait for the man to commit to something, and catch him by surprise. But as the seconds passed, Lu grew more nervous. Ah, or perhaps I shouldn’t give him time to cast? Yes, that would probably end badly.
Once again, qi flooded his limbs. And then… At the same time, ki was pumped through his channels all throughout his muscles. The two energies seemed to intersect – but they didn’t mutually annihilate like they did when meeting in the wild. It took a fair bit of concentration, but Lu was now doubly enhancing his body… And unless he was imagining things, the effects were multiplicative. He flexed, and a fraction of a second later his leg made contact with something solid. The air rippled, and the flying figure of Lan congealed as if from nowhere, blood streaming from his nose like a red ribbon that trailed in his wake. Whatever spell he had been building fizzled out.
Lu landed hard, pain shooting through his leg – but despite the soreness in his limbs, he was smiling. Ah, my body might not like stacking the effects, but it’s certainly powerful! Lan landed on his feet, skidding to a halt with a bruise forming across his cheekbone.
“I believe that’s my win, Sir Lan.”
The man pinched his nose, and a moment later the bruise, and then the blood, disappeared. “Indeed. You’re much faster than you were earlier, junior brother.” He sniffed.
“I feel I’ve shaken some of the rust off. Shall we go again?”
Lan’s lips thinned, considering. “No, I believe I have a good measure of you.” He smoothed out his robes, still whole despite a day’s worth of moderately intense sparring. “You wanted specifically martial specialists, yes?”
“If you can get ahold of any, yes.” My opponents – assuming I have any – will be warriors. They attack simply with overwhelming power; that’s what I should be training against. Fighting a scholar like Lan was a more tactical affair; despite being physically stronger, he tended not to leverage that to his benefit, preferring spells over brawn. Lu needed to fight people who weren’t afraid to get close.
Sparring with Lan was certainly intellectually stimulating, though. I’ll have to ask after him in the future.
Lan nodded. “I have a few people in mind. I’ll contact you should any of them bite,” he showed a bit of tooth, “with the invoice for my services, of course.”