Legend of Ransera

Shuai's teacher came up to him and started to regale the boy in the tales of his progress so far. When they had first met the young Chisuo was not a very pleasant child and he still was not a very pleasant child. It would be immature to think the young boy had gone through enough changes to grow up in the span of a few seasons. But it was not all too bad as the teacher learned something really important. How to control the boy whether it was encouraging his enthusiasm for martial arts or making use of his fears that his teacher would stop teaching him. The man had no doubts that Youdu would be able to find for his son a better teacher should the master decide to part ways with his young student but if nothing else it was more believable that the boy's training would only resume after the Frost. Shuai was starting to feel a little bit concerned with the topics his teacher was talking about. Was the man trying to lead up to declaring that Shuai was no longer his student for the delays he had caused in his training timetable through his screw up in the last season and part ways with him right there and then? Shuai did not like that idea. Maybe his father really could get him a better teacher than the man he had now but they have accomplished so much together! It was not time for the man to bail on him now!

The boy started to blubber but incoherently as he could not deal with the emotions, his teacher thought it was because they were both sharing a moment and continued with his stories. Shuai had come very far since Youdu told the teacher of his son, a really violent brat who joined in on a beating of another moratallen child and then played very strange war games in the most inconvenient of places with his friends. In their first meeting Shuai even had the audacity to challenge the older man to a fight but after being showed his place and becoming much more obedient, the teacher led his young student into training with various different weapons. From the axe which made him stronger, to the swords which he would be expected to use and fight against as a member of the nobility in his future duels and then the polearm which had caused much friction for the pair with the head of the household. And then there was the entire screw up with the overtraining which had Shuai forced into only running for quite some time. Oh no! His teacher had led up to it and now he was going to say it is time for them to split! Finding his words Shuai finally was able to tell the man "no, no, no it was not like that. I'm very, very sorry I made us train slower. I just... I just thought that- that- that- if I trained more then I could learn more things from you. I'm so so sorry so please don't leave. I still have a lot to learn from you. I'll follow everything you say from now on, cross my heart and hope to di-" Well his teacher stopped him right there. No need to go so far to the point of making a promise like that.

While the heartfelt confession was something the teacher appreciated it was the idea that he was going to leave which came as a surprise to him. Leave? Why would he leave? The child did not know just how hard it was to get a new gig over Frost. "Th- then why?" Why what? The story? They were sharing a moment were they not? Like a holiday card moment. "But I thought you were talking about all those things because I am a bad student and-" there were no bad students and only bad teachers so as far as the man was concerned if Shuai even came out with half the ability of his once popular duelist of a father, he would have succeeded and would be able to share in the glory. "But why are we remembering then?" Shuai asked still persisting in his inquiry. "Oh you're right, I've become stronger and faster, and it's all thanks to you master" he admitted in response to the statement that his teacher only brought up all those memories so that Shuai could continue with his earnest enthusiasm of his training but the boy thought there was no need to go through all that trouble since he was always enthusiastic of his teacher's lessons and trusted the man a lot that any new training he concocted would be followed without question like how chopping the logs made him stronger. That acknowledgement meant the trap was sprung.

Because speaking about the axe, it had been a long time since they did that and his teacher had concerns Shuai had forgotten all about how to train his body after all that running he had been focused on. That was a funny joke to the boy because he would never forget but the laughing stopped when his teacher made the grand reveal. They were going to continue in his training with some full body exercises just as he did at the start. Nervous laughter, maybe it was just a poor attempt at humor? Nope he heard that right. Full! Body! Exercises! Shuai panicked as he knew this would not end up well for him and all his thoughts were drowned out by his own cries of anguish echoing in his head as he was being taunted with the words, F! U! L! L! B! O! D! Y! E! X! E! R! C! I! S! E! S! Training was good and something he had come to accept as necessary for himself to do regularly but this? This was no training. It was brutal! Maybe against all he believed he wanted with his teacher, it might actually be a good idea to part ways with the man right there, right now. His teacher laughed at this joke his young student finally learned how to make and truly this was a day to be marked down in their calendars as it was not one moment they were able to share, but plenty.

Shuai's mind was filled with a lot worries on what this full body exercise his teacher wanted to do and his imagination had gotten so wild he did not even question the man's instructions to bring with him a swimsuit, in the Frost although as it was still early in the season maybe he had not made the connection yet that it would not be too good a combination. Then they reached a nearby river, finally after a long trek. Shuai was less concerned about how cold it might be and more of why they had not just taken a ride there. Then returning back to one of their previous conversations about how he felt after reach run his teacher had him do, that he felt really hot for a time that he had initially believed he was coming down with some sickness, Shuai finally made the connection with coming to a river during the Frost. He did not like that idea and his teacher? "You can't be serious about this" but just as every exercise, lesson and training the man took his student through, he was all serious about this.

Though his teacher had Shuai change into his swimsuit, he was definitely not going to get the boy into the water and there was nothing he could do to change that, no matter how much his student trusted him. However the boy's air of resolution only seemed to have to opposite effect on his teacher as the man becoming more encouraged, continued with his briefing of what th- actually Shuai was going to have to do that day. The bag the man had carried along with him during that long trek of theirs was something the boy had been curious about and finding they were some sort of cultured rock? Well from that distance he could not recognize them as such and being from a family specializing in the world magics he even mistakenly believed them to be dragonshards. Dragonshards being dumped into the water? He might have taken aven for granted because his family was never slow in giving him whatever he needed and sometimes rewarding him with what he wanted but even he could tell it was a waste for the rocks to be thrown into the water like that. The Chisuos could have used them to make something useful. This was what he expressed to his teacher but was told it would only be a waste, if he failed to retrieve them from the water. Nope.

A dip of his toe into the water confirmed it. "I'm not going in there. Not even if you're giving me the dragonshards. Its chilly, animals do dirty things in there and I can still see the waste from the trees from ash in the water. I don't want to do this. I'd rather swing the axe for firewood to use over the Frost." There was nothing which could be said to convince him and his teacher did not even bother to correct the mistaken assumption that the stones were dragonshards. Instead he had the boy remember the trek here and how the chilly weather was able to make him a lot more comfortable that he did not even notice himself heating up. Did not notice it... "just like that" Just like that and another thing the boy neglected to notice. As he was engaged in the conversation he did not see his teacher coming closer to him, deftly taking him under the arm as they continued in their conversations of the weather and dragonshards and what was considered suitable training under the conditions they were in. He did not even notice that he had been brought to the spot his teacher tossed the stones until his teacher repeated that it was just like that and shoved the boy into the water.

It was cold, the water was weighing him down and he did not even get a chance to hold his breath before he fell in because it had been too sudden. Was his teacher trying to drown him? Nope, he grabbed on to that outstretched arm and was pulled above the water, just high enough to be told to take a deep breath and to kick with his legs before he was let go. It was still too soon and as much as he fought against the water he could not get up until again his teacher helped him up. Shuai thought he would have a chance to get out of it when his teacher offered to hold him up while he got himself used to floating in the water but the man knew enough of how to control his pupils movements to only keep him within arm's reach. By the time Shuai was able to keep him afloat under his own power he was reminded about the rocks which have sunk into the water and that he still had to retrieve them. He was roughly pushed back into the water. One final bit of instruction. Remember to bend his knees once he had reached the bottom so he would not fall in on his ass and be able to push himself up towards the surface.

Shuai could not tell what the man meant until he felt his feet touch the base of the river and still he was falling until he crumpled himself with legs and hands keeping him from slipping. He was still hungry for air and quickly searched around for the stones, just ordinary colored stones, not dragonshards as he knew how to recognize them. He was tricked but at least the stones were visible in the water, no telling if the same would apply for the more precious of materials. With a handful of the stones and lungs on fire for air, he pushed himself up as his teacher told him to and got himself to the surface. One time was more than enough of an experience for him and he rested. After his rest, another dive to get the rest of the stones he missed? Hells no! They were not even dragonshards annd "you've always said rest is important. Are those toys down more important than my rest?" Convincing, no?

It was smart for Shuai to use his teacher's lessons against him and with nothing he could use to effectively refute the boy unless he wanted to teach him how to get out of resting when needed, both headed back over to the Chisuo estate. His teacher had hoped Shuai had learned enough today because this? This was going to be his new training for a week or at least long enough for the temperature of Frost to go down even lower still. While he knew Shuai would want nothing to do with the river during the cold season he nevertheless cautioned the boy from trying to train this way by himself and if he really had to, only at the spot he was just shown earlier because it was the only part of the river he could guarantee the safety of.