22 Frost 110
The exercises over the last few weeks of Frost really did a number on Shuai but unfortunately the climate had become too much of a limitation for him to do much even with his teacher around to give him direction when he was lost. He could not run outside, the Frost being as cold as it was meant he would have to bundle himself up and the one time he tried running in that get up he had gotten himself so hot in his coat that he was even sweating. His own practice of running himself to the limit before taking his leisurely stroll also worked against him then as by the time he had cooled down from his exercise, so too did his sweat in his coat and Frost came back biting at him with a vengeance. So no, running was definitely out but even though the season had robbed him of the one hour of his day he enjoyed, it also gave him the perfect excuse to stop with that ridiculous diving stone game his teacher made for him as a 'fun' change of pace. Well it was not really an excuse as both had already expected that Shuai would no longer be able to continue using that method after some time but, it could not have come at a sooner time during the season. Even his own teacher's predictions thought they would at least have a few more days worth of chances to do it if not a week when the turn of the month would make anyone, even the most hardy of moratallen, feel the cold.His training and exercises were therefore confined to those he could do indoors but there were not really many places suited to do that and if Shuai was only limited to hand to hand with his teacher, there was not a lot they could do either. After days of throwing punches at his teacher at the slow speed which was needed for the man to be able to catch them, Shuai wondered if they had exhausted everything he could have learned. Most of the advice and guidance on how he could improve his ability to hit a man with his fists and feet were only fresh in the first few days and after they were only the repeat of the same old, same old. Regrettably being indoors, his teacher could not teach him how to properly make use of the space around him as that would be something the boy found, fresh. It might have similarities to when he learnt them in his training with weapons but the man assured him there were enough differences to the forms that Shuai would have to understand for himself to become a proper all rounder. It was no surprise when offered the chance to try something different, Shuai immediately took it even if the manner his teacher extended the offer was very much suspect.
Dressed with enough layers that even walking about could be a workout in itself if he did it long enough, Shuai found himself back out in the courtyard but his excitement of it was shortlived. Another workout regime? This was becoming ridiculous. Sure it was not an exhausting full body workout which used even the weather to make it hard on him and to increase its effects on his body, but it was still not what he truly wanted to learn from the teacher just like the first exercise he ever did with the man. "So what are we going to do out here today? Get an axe? Chop some wood? Feed the fire for a few hovels suffering through the Frost?" Now that was a seasonal exercise and saying it so directly to his teacher he could only wonder if the man would explain to him why it was taught to him three seasons ago instead of the Frost when it would actually have practical uses as well. The man did not have any exercises suited to Searing? Given how meticulous he had been that would have been highly irregular of him.
But there was no need for Shuai to worry about other homes, just his. He cannot believe this man, "more chores?!" What he had to do, move a few sacks around the house today? This was something the help was hired for and the young Chisuo was not about to let his teacher off this time. "if the sacks need to be moved around, we can just ask the help to do it. That is what they are paid to do and I'm pretty sure these sacks belong in the workshop." Shuai recognized the sacks as being taken from the part of the estate he was forbidden from going into but he was mistaken if the contents were from the same place too. It was not like his teacher had enough pull to even break the rules of the family just because he taught one of their sons. That would have been more irregular than him being unable to provide a new exercise for the boy as needed. Going closer to the sack to hold it up at the opening, the boy asked "so what's in the sacks? Rocks?" No, a surprise but Shuai would not believe the man if he tried to again say it was something valuable like dragonstones. Fool the boy once and it was a shame on his teacher but fool him twice he was a fool himself- oh, that was not how the saying went? That was embarrassing for Shuai who wanted to sound enlightened.
It was not like he would have been able to see the contents of the sacks anyway as they were wrapped up tight with ropes at the mou- wait was that movement he just saw? "What do have in there? it just moved! What could you put into a sack to make it move? A cat? Rats? Rat cats?!" His teacher looked alarmed at this outburst as there should not be anything living in the sacks so it must be Shuai's overactive imagination again but this could be a solution. His teacher held up the sack by the neck and asked if his student was really that curious because if he was, he could easily open the sack to show him. All Shuai had to do was get close and the boy who was already spinning from trying to figure out what was in the sacks had suddenly lost interest and declined. Curiosity killed the rat- cat- rat cat and all that. Another botched saying? He was really on a roll of failing to display his intelligence. Whatever was in the sacks however, he should be safe as long as the thick fabric of the sack maintained its integrity and did not rip or anything and... BOO! the sack was opened to reveal nothing but some sort of dust and powder in it. Nothing to be afraid of except, that suddenly cry by his teacher which gave him the scare of his life.
However he could not be a hundred percent certain there was nothing within the dust and powder. His teacher was having a laugh. What happened to the rough and direct child he had difficulty with? Did he turn meek in the cold? "No, I just don't like things I don't know and i don't know what's in the sack or what's in that dust and powder. I don't even know what that dust and powder is. What if its a ghost? Just sleeping and he will take up after we disturb him? Maybe we should just go do something else and let the help do this. I think they know how to move the ghost without being eaten." it was surprising that a Chisuo of all people were afraid of ghosts but maybe that was because Shuai had yet to be exposed to that part of the family business? His teacher smacked the sack wildly and Shuai squealed in horror watching that thinking that the ghost would wake up now and attack then but with nothing happening all it was, was a demonstration by the man to prove there was nothing to be afraid of in the sack whether rat, cat, rat cat or ghost.
Shuai was finally convinced, that the sack was not dangerous, not that it was a good exercise and this was especially true when he heard he was going to have to carry the sack from one end of the courtyard to the other end of it over and over. "Lifting sacks... like a commoner? I don't want to do this. I'm already in enough trouble with father just learning how to use a polearm from you." Shuai thought that by invoking the name of his father and the possible displeasure it might bring his teacher would be dissuaded from continuing in this train of exercises but he was unsuccess but who was it that had success here? That would be his teacher. While lifting sacks around like this would be a job more suited to commoners, that the man agreed with, had Shuai who lived only in house ever seen a laborer? Someone who made his living through he sweat of his brow and the strength in his arms? No he did not or he would have not downplayed the day's exercise. Those men, they were stacked and after being described to him, even Shuai knew the laborers of the estate were nothing compared to the ones outside but how could that be true. That would mean the commoners were actually superior to nobles like him. "Is this true?" he asked after pulling one of the help from their work to answer his question, repeating the features of the strong men his teacher told him about and after a long, long pause simply answered in the affirmative if nothing more than to get back to his work- getting on the wrong side of the young master's teacher really was not a concern to him as the man was only in the manor for a short while compared to all the days he would not even be there.
And now, the boy was convinced and hustled his teacher into taking him through the exercises which were not too difficult. Just carry the sacks from one end to another, a job even a young boy could do. The difficulty was in the practice of the boy having to change how he held on to the sack each time he made a pass with them, different ways to work on different muscles his teacher said. And so the amusing sight of the young master of house Chisuo could be seen all over the estate that day. From how he held the sacks, cradled them, lifted it on his head and dragged them around. His teacher was right as he could feel it all over his body and also wrong because this was no workout, it was one of those accursed full body workouts! His teacher did not even act like someone who was caught by this revelation as he had always been telling the truth, they were just regular workouts until done together which would make the whole body feel its effects. That was a really sneaky way of bending the truth to his advantage. Forget about all these carrying sacks Shuai should be learning wordplay from his teacher instead. From the right sayings he used unlike the boy and the ones he botched as well as his ability to use the facts and truth. Was his teacher a member of the nobility as well? Because he sure seemed like one now.
Or it could just be a lucky coincidence because the man began to say some strange things like if Shuai could carry a sack, he could carry a person. Asking the boy to think about it, he had him try all the holds he had learnt all over again- the grabbing, the pinching, the cradling, the dragging, the lifting before the man demonstrated it himself. His volunteer? Young Shuai. And he did not even know it until the man had the boy in his arms, cradling and then slung over his shoulder, lifting followed by all the others. All fun and good for the young boy who finally recovered from the sudden movements but what good were they in a fight? He was assuming this was a lesson in fighting since his teacher specified person which was quite astute of him and his teacher then volunteered for Shuai to try it on him.
Of course the younger man did not even have a hope of carrying his teacher. Their builds were just too different and the other man so big, could Shuai even wrap his arms around him? That said this demonstration was being done for the boy's benefit so his teacher played along, adding his own movement's to Shuai's attempts. Hold the arm like this, have the hands around the pits of the shoulder, these were the sort of guidance and corrections the teacher gave his student until he was finally told to exert all his strength. Like when Shuai pulled on the other's arm, so too did he aid in the act, by forcing himself into a fall and failing that told the boy to kick him in the shins, unbalance him. These were the things Shuai needed to do and know about when getting into a fight.
If it had not been obvious now even after three seasons, his master laid out his methods and philosophy to his student to bare and Shuai repeated it as though he had finally been enlightened. "Learning how to fight is in everything I do..." which meant he did not even need any formal instruction, just a whole lot of experience and chances for application.