Legend of Ransera

His teacher never did tell him what day it was they were going to start his training and Shuai excited as he was had expected it every day since his teacher promised his training would begin, soon. Excitements and disappointments soon turned into difficulties of getting him into bed and it showed even if not so noticeably among the people who spent time with him everyday. it was just Shuai and any abnormalities he exhibited from his normal state especially if it made him mellow was a welcome one especially for the rest of the household. As such no one though there was any reason to prevent him from meeting his martial arts teacher in a first time after a while nor was there anything new to report to the man so he could better prepare the young master of the house's curriculum. A curriculum which in fact once presented to Shuai allowed the boy to show even more of his energy with his displeasure. "No weapons? Are you sure? I thought we were all about learning how to use weapons!" What was this teacher good for if he was not going to teach Shuai how to use a weapon? That was the only reason he was in the house and the only reason Shuai would willingly volunteer his time to learn something his father wanted him to. There were a lot more fun things he could be doing now.

That was an excellent point all of his students have given him at one point of his career while being a teacher of experience he had plenty of responses prepared for these students of his there was only one which was applicable for Shuai and the reason he might most readily accept. "What happened a few days ago..." that was when he first met this teacher of his. They got into a fight and, he lost. "Is this what this is? Is it because I lost? That's only because you are an adult and you are bigger than me. I'd beat any other kid! Why don't you bring one of your other students my age and I'll prove it!" If the reason for why he could not start training with weapons was because he lost then he only needed to win once to prove otherwise so there was no shame in making an excuse to get another shot against someone more suited to his age. At least his outburst proved he had learned something and Shuai was not shy to repeat it whether to convince his teacher or himself that "it's because you are bigger than me and you're stronger than me." Go on, go on, what else was there? Was it skill? Experience? The quality of weapons? Maybe even a little strategy and understanding of one's opponents? "Yeah, yeah, sure. You got all that and I don't. That's why I'm here to learn how to fight." What exactly was his teacher getting at? Did he even want to teach or was this a way to make his prospective student feel bad?

What his teacher was getting at was simple. If Shuai had none of those he only needed to start accumulating them and it was to his fortune that he is starting at a young age. There was no better time to do it. "A sword? A hammer? A bow?' Which weapon were they going to start with if they were really going to start? "Not those? Gonna punch and kick some people then?" It was not as glamorous as what he wanted but he had to start somewhere and at least he would always have his fists and feet. Not those either? Then what? "A foundation? What is that?" Telling him that to be a fighter he had to start building his strength from the bottom before he reached the peak, like how a building which would not collapse even in a strong earthquake as long as it had a strong base was not a concept the boy could understand properly. Reminding the boy of the loss he had a few days ago and the reason why he had lost, well one of the reasons he lost which he cared enough of to admit it to his teacher and dumbing down the concept further, Shuai finally got the idea. In a fight with two opponents using the same weapons or weapons of the same quality and characteristics, there was one very important element which would bring one side the win. "Why didn't you say earlier we were going to be building my strength up? You should have started with that!" Of course they had to start with his strength now that he thought about it. It was the only reason he lost, as the boy had deluded himself into believing.

Although it was easier said than done because he had no clue where to start. He knew for a weapon he only had to pick one up and start practicing with it as he did earlier in the season but what could he do for his size and strength? Then his thoughts drifted to Big Gwin, the son of a merchant with a moratallen for his mother who had terrorized the local kids because of these now desirable qualities. Of course, the solution was simple for him now! Yelling out the solution proudly, "all we have to do now is get father to change mother for a giant moratallen woman! Are we going to find him one?" shocked his teacher who immediately feared for his safety for that mere suggestion in the Chisuo estate and had a hand around the boy's mouth with a 'what the fuck are you doing' moment shared between them. The worst of it was the fact Youdu himself was present to observe his son's first official lesson and he was fuming, eyes flaring with anger and mouth snarling in the derision of it all. If the teacher was afraid of the master of the house hearing of this, the master of the house too feared what his wife would think of such words being uttered from her child's mouth.

The nervous laughing bought the teacher some moments to interrogate Shuai on this statement, although it was done quietly so no one else in the estate could overhear any confirmation of any wrongdoings in the estate and so the teacher would have a head start on his escape if this was something which could end up being pinned on him but the joke became obvious with Shuai innocently saying, "you said I needed to get stronger. Big Gwin was a lot stronger than all of us. They say its because he had a moratallen mother so I just need a moratallen mother to get stronger right?" He was too innocent and so naive and really careless because he nearly threw the entire house into disarray. Youdu was placated so there would be no duel with the teacher because of this but like all members of the noble houses he knew an opportunity when he saw one and took his chance. Accusing the teacher of teaching his son the wrong things, Youdu decided to wring out as much service as he could and cautioned the teacher to teach Shuai the best he could in the various martial arts to become an acceptable fighter his age within the year. Acceptable by who? Acceptable by the criteria of a duelist like Youdu of course otherwise he would have to believe the teacher was planted in his position to teach Shuai all the wrong things and throw the Chisuo house into disarray and if true, it would not be good for either of them the implied threat being.

A year. A timeline great to Shuai's ears even if it felt a little too long for the boy. He took it as an assurance his teacher had to teach him properly now and quickly followed the man to the open grounds which conveniently was with the excuse that in order for the training to be effective it had to be done in private between the teacher and pupil. Shuai did not bother with this pretense or ruse as he only cared about one thing. "Am I going to get stronger now? How?" before he was shown a bunch of logs. " Ah, so you want me to punch the logs right?" It knew it would hurt but the boy did not mind as long as he got stronger. Actually not? With the axe he had not noticed till now? "But those are chores! If you want someone to chop the logs, we can just get one of the help to do it!" Shuai did not see himself chopping any logs, especially this many logs, during his training now, in the future or in any other scenario.

Oh but chopping the logs is the training. He did not buy that excuse but as training would not continue if he refused, he had no choice but to do it. While he was taught the 'proper' method of doing it, pfft, what did proper mean as long as all the logs ended up chopped. As time went by his stance relaxed, his arms allowed the weight of the axe to do most of the work for him, he was doing everything he could to draw out each chop so he would expend less energy and thus productivity went down but this was no business and no one was getting paid so who cares about the output? In fact this could only work in this teacher's favor since it meant he would still be getting his pay from 'training' Shuai for less of the effort he had to put into the boy.

But the man took it quite seriously even as the days went by, correcting Shuai each time the boy tried to cheat showing the care and attention he had promised Youdu would be given to his child. When he slacked in his stance, there the teacher was to slap the boy's back into attention or kick up a few limbs to correct him. When the boy decided to be lax in the strength he put into the axe, there his teacher was feeling out the limbs to make sure Shuai was putting his back into it. Drawing out each chop to let the time fly by? Enforced discipline with a full bucket of water to the face. Not enough logs to meet the daily quota? Overtime! There was no way to get out of this one to just get on with the stuff that matters and feeling that it was not working out, Shuai made the usual complaints to his teacher and failing that, tattled to his father that there was no training but chores each day.

As a result, Youdu came to observe the progress of his child and questioned the teacher of methods which to Shuai's chagrin saw nothing but nods of approval from his father. He was given an axe, the first axe he was told he had been using from the start. His teacher must be on something. He had always been using the same axe but why did it feel so light this time? Then another axe. An axe of a week later. Huh. It looked the same and still light in his arms although noticeably heavier than the first. Then the third axe.... the fourth... the fifth... To Shuai who had just made a big deal of his training this did not look too good with his father eventhough it was obvious that progressively he had become a lot stronger. Youdu laughing at him for not even realizing he was having a full body workout almost everyday using a method which was rather well known among the military, despite having friends from military families who were likely doing the same, was also something the boy did not enjoy. He just wanted to go into a hole to hide.

Or at least that was what he wanted to do until he was told he had finally graduated to being able to use weapons now that he had begun to build foundation and was told to demonstrate. Well the axe too could be considered a weapon and he had been using it for nearly a season already but there were some transferrable skills he had learned too. Given a sword and told to lift it as high as possible above his head, Shuai was reminded to use everything he learned from maintaining a proper straight stance, using all the strength he could in his arms, and to bring his sword down in the quickest strike he could. With the overhead slash his teacher hoped Shuai was now convinced of his abilities and would listen to his every instruction, starting with continuing to do the military axe training as usual in addition to whatever else he was going to be taught next.

Sadly for Shuai as he thought he had finally graduated to the good stuff.