Volume 2 Chapter 11

  Elder Yotu was returning from a consultation on the construction of the Perfect Mountain Array towards the peak when he sensed another elder approaching. He turned to find the old weapons master, Elder Uto, staring at him. He raised his own Qi in greeting, and the man nodded towards the noodle shop nearby where they’d often eaten together while they were still juniors.

  They entered the shop through different doors and sat down together. The mortals running the shop, realizing that there were two elders in their establishment, promptly kicked their backroom into overdrive and their prettiest serving girl appeared to take their order.

  The elders each ordered “the spiciest noodles you can make, but not the same as his” and exchanged grins. These mortals wouldn’t remember, but there had been a competition between these men when they were still in the bronze realm of cultivation to find the spiciest flavoring to make the other sweat.

  “But take your time in delivering the meal,” Uto suggested. “I want to catch up with my old friend.”

  “Yes, Elder Uto,” the mortal agreed, vanishing into the back room to give the cooks the order. Fresh noodles were cooked, and the cooks scratched their head on what recipe to follow for the sauce.

  “So, what brings this on?” Yotu asked his friend.

  “Can’t a man simply reminisce with his junior?” Uto asked

  “We’re the same age, more or less,” Yotu reminded him.

  “It is the more that makes me the elder and the less that makes you the junior,” Uto said definitively. “But you’re right. You seem to have been busy these last two years, since the mountain spirit woke up.”

  “Ah, yes, well, it is a good thing, I suppose,” Yotu said. He leaned back. “Ever since those children arrived and woke up the spirit by accident, this mountain sure has changed, hasn’t it? The Perfect Mountain Array isn’t even complete yet and already the flow of Qi is so much denser and more vibrant. I am very looking forward to the completion of our grand project.”

  Uto shrugged. “It is frustrating to us other elders, who must have our homes deconstructed and rebuilt elsewhere to take advantage of the changing Qi flows. Only to find that in the next stage of the array construction, there would have been an even better spot to claim should we have waited! Ah it is so frustrating!”

  “How many times has that happened?” Yotu asked.

  “Twice, to me. Among the other elders? I wouldn’t know,” Uto admitted. “But then I am content to live in a shack so long as the ambient Qi is good for cultivating, so it’s less of a problem for me. Some of our juniors are truly annoyed about the process.”

  “But it is better than being evicted from the mountain entirely,” Yotu argued.

  “Yes, that would have been most troublesome. And embarrassing to be forced to relocate by such a powerful spirit. As a sect, we would have been a laughing stock,” Uto said.

  Yotu nodded. It was a conversation he’d had with many of the other elders, but he hadn’t had it with Uto yet and so he wasn’t surprised to be addressing the same grounds. However “This doesn’t seem like a concern that would bring you to me, my friend. Why don’t we simply get down to what it is that made you seek me out, and then we can spend the next hour or so reminiscing without that shadow looming over us?”

  “It is hardly a shadow. The new boy asked for an evaluation,” Uto admitted. “It’s been ten years since the last time that happened, as my disciples have been very good at snapping up the juniors and keeping them from bothering me.”

  “Don’t act like you’re not pleased to be consulted,” Yotu chided.

  “I didn’t say that I wasn’t.”

  “Eventually everyone who is serious about mastering their forms comes to you,” Yotu reminded him. “Even if it’s only for a handful of lessons.”

  “We both know this. But usually it is after they have been wasting time with my disciples and have run into a wall in their progress,” Uto admitted. “Regardless, I was wondering if it was you who put the boy onto taking lessons from me.”

  “I advised him to shepherd his contribution points most carefully,” Yotu said. “He only has sixty from the mortal goods his family traded to the sect, after all. Your prices are still the same?”

  “They are.”

  “Then he has spent a quarter of his total just on seeking your advise. I advised him to go with the cheapest option, since it is just a matter of finding a weapon suitable to him at this point,” Yotu said, shrugging.

  “I see. I wonder why he isn’t following your advise, then,” Uto said.

  Their noodles arrived, along with tall glasses of cold water. The pair exchanged looks at the others meal, then promptly switched bowls. Yotu tasted his broth and nodded. “Not like it was in the old days, but still pleasant.”

  “Yes. Things change, it’s the nature of time,” Uto agreed. “You know, I got those exact words as an insight scroll when I was younger. Such a waste of contribution points those are, I wonder why the youngsters are so fascinated with them.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Yotu shrugged. “I advise them to save up their contribution points for tutelage. But ultimately, the trap of seeking shortcuts and advantages over their peers lures many of the youngsters off the path to righteousness.”

  Uto chuckled. “So. You didn’t tell him to hire me?”

  “I did not. Honestly, while I believe you are a true master, I think your price for a basic examination and weapon selection to be a little excessive for our younger members.”

  “I see,” Uto said. “Well then, I shall have to ensure that young Yin gets his money’s worth.”

  They ate their noodles in companionship and began discussing matters of the past, reminiscing together in the way of old men who had been walking down parallel paths for decades. After they’d finished their noodles, they parted ways, walking in opposite directions.

  ~~~~~~

  Yin Wei yelped as he was yanked out of bed.

  “Wake up! Wake up you little brat!” an unknown voice scolded. “It’s time for your weapons test.”

  Yin Wei rubbed his eyes on the ground and looked up at the shadowy figure. The other two boys in the dorm sat up in their beds, confused.

  “Elder Uto?” Yin guessed. “I thought that—”

  “Get moving, get moving, I don’t have all night,” the elder scolded, nudging the lad to get him to move.

  Yin, who hadn’t been expecting this sort of treatment, adapted quickly to the situation. So the elder was a night owl, that was fine. As long as he gave good advice. “Yes elder, just let me get dressed and I will—”

  “No time for that. Your decent, aren’t you?” the man asked.

  Yin looked down at himself. He was only in his underwear, but the elder was clearly impatient, so he mildly agreed, and he scrambled out of the dormitory, barefoot and exposed, marching through the snow as he was directed toward the weapons yard.

  There were torches set up in the yard to see by, and a brazier in the center for the boy to warm his hands upon.

  “The first lesson I will impart to you is that you never truly know when you will need to fight,” the weapons master instructed. “While you can prepare for the battle you see coming, you can’t prepare for the ambush or the emergency that you do not see. Vigilance will help resolve this, but ultimately you must be prepared to fight at all times. Even in at midnight, when you are undressed for bed and it is cold outside.”

  “Yes, Elder Uto,” Yin agreed, bowing at the darkened figure of the weapons master. “This student shall take your lesson to heart. However, as his spirit is aligned with ice and water, the truth is that this environment does not impede me overly so.”

  “Is that so?” Yotu asked. “Well then, how about this?”

  He closed his eyes, and the snow on the yard began to melt, heating the field but turning the sand beneath the snow wet. Yin’s heels sank an inch into the sand.

  “This disciple doesn’t know how this environment would effect his fighting ability, as he has only been in a few childhood brawls,” the boy admitted. “That is, after all, the reason I need to be examined, Elder Uto.”

  “Ah, I see. You have even less experience than I thought. That is good,” Uto said. He tossed the boy a quarterstaff. “Pretend that is a spear and try to stab me with the end that is painted red.”

  “Yes!” the boy agreed, and he gripped the weapon and immediately charged at the man.

  Elder Uto swatted the spear aside and smacked the boy on the side of the head, sending him into the mucky sand.

  “Stand up and try again,” the elder said.

  “Yes!” the boy agreed.

  After twenty minutes, the boy was filthy and exhausted, but had never once questioned the elder’s methods. The elder, meanwhile, had gotten a good sense of the boy’s natural balance and the way that he moved.

  “Pathetic,” the man said at last.

  “Apologies, Elder. As I said, I have never been trained, and I—”

  “It’s not your fault you’re pathetic, yes I get it. However, I cannot recommend a weapon to you in this state. Your balance is terrible and you’re more likely to stab yourself then you are to stab whatever it is that’s trying to kill you! You’re feet get in the way of each other, you have no form, and you don’t even know how to hold a spear!”

  “Yes, Elder. You are correct,” the boy admitted.

  “Come to my pavilion tomorrow. I will dedicate two hours to instilling in you the basics of unarmed fighting. Be grateful for my lessons. After you have practiced them for two weeks, then we will attempt another weapons selection.”

  “Elder, I do not have the contribution points to—”

  “You paid for a weapons evaluation. That means that you are mine until I have selected a weapon for you. Be grateful.”

  “Yes! Thank you for your generosity, Elder Uto!”

  “Harumph,” the weapons master said. “Be sure to wash before going back to bed. You are filthy.”

  Then he left the boy in the dark to make his own way to the baths and back to bed.

  “I like him,” Umbrine whispered in his ear.

  “It seems that you have lucked into the hands of a capable weapons tutor,” the other voice, Hao, admitted. “Heed his lessons well.”

  “Yes, I shall,” the boy agreed, then he went to the men’s bath to wash the dirt and sand off his body before retiring back to bed.

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