In a training ground deep within the Inner City of Silver Sword City, Liang Xiong moved swiftly from one stance to the next, a heavy training spear flickering like lightning with his every movement.
Spring had all but come to an end and the late morning sun beat down on his bare back and shoulders like the searing flames of a hearth. Sweat poured from his lightly bronzed skin as he pushed himself faster and faster through the repetitive movements.
All around him, several junior Soldiers of the Inner Sect toiled under the watchful eyes of a senior brother. While each of them worked with dedication, polishing their skills step by step, Liang Xiong pushed himself considerably harder than his peers. With each movement of his body and his training spear, he imagined powerful foes like the Broodmother of the Corpse Devouring Locust Swarm and shaped his techniques to defeat the imaginary foe.
As the sun rose higher, the sound of thunder could be heard with each strike of Liang Xiong's training spear. Electricity crackled around his feet as he surged from one end of the training yard to the other. Were a mortal to see his movements, they might think that he had teleported, completely vanishing from their sight only to reappear a moment later with a powerful spear thrust like a bolt of lightning descending from the heavens.
"Excellent progress," a warm voice called as a purple-robed senior disciple stepped onto the ancient paving stones of the training yard, holding up a hand for Liang Xiong to stop. "Keep going at this rate and you'll be a middle-stage Soldier within two or three years," the senior praised, handing out a fresh towel that Liang Xiong readily accepted.
"I'm still not fast enough," Liang Xiong said with a shake of his head. "I can be quick in the attack, but I'm a heartbeat slower if I'm moving to defend someone else," he said, offering his honest feelings about his performance. While it never felt bad to be praised, right now, what desired from his seniors was help in addressing his weaknesses, and pretending they didn't exist wouldn't help him to improve.
"Is that what has you so stirred up lately?" Liang Xiong's senior asked. "Is someone you know in trouble?" When Liang Xiong first arrived at the Inner Sect, he'd worked diligently to master the many different forms of combat that allowed a leader on the battlefield to support the people they led in battle.
Recently, however, the young Soldier had been driving himself hard to learn rescue techniques and methods of protecting others even if he put himself at risk in the process. It was commendable for a commander to rescue his soldiers but several of the seniors had begun to wonder if Liang Xiong's training was excessive.
"I don't know if they're in trouble," the younger man admitted while he used the towl to wipe sweat from his trembling muscles. "But I know that they'll attract it once their talents become known. Besides, if I don't push myself, she's sure to pass me up by the time the year ends."
"Ah, say no more," the older man said, nodding sagely. What man would want to be surpassed in cultivation by the woman he fancied? No wonder the young Soldier had been throwing himself into cultivation like a man obsessed since he returned from his first campaign as a battle leader.
"A runner came with a message for you while you were practicing," the older man said, changing the topic. "Armorer Dian wants to see you."
"Armorer Dian?" Liang Xiong said in surprise. She'd told him that she wouldn't be able to begin work on his gift for Wu Ling until mid-summer. Was she going to be ready earlier than he expected? "I'll go wash up now then. Thank you, Senior Brother, for the lessons today," he added, bowing over cupped hands to the Warrior who had spent the morning giving him and the other Soldiers pointers while they trained.
"You think Armorer Dian doesn't know what sweat smells like?" the older man said with a laugh. "Just go directly, it's best not to keep her waiting." While an Exceptional Artist might not command the status of an Elder within the Inner Sect of the Purple Thunder War Hall, it still wasn't wise to keep a fourth-stage cultivator waiting any longer than necessary.
When Liang Xiong reached the Artist's workshop on Armorer's row, he found the silver-haired woman leaning over a writing desk, a piece of charcoal held gently between her strong fingers as she sketched a design for something that could be a bracer or greave.
As the days grew warmer, Liang Xiong couldn't help but feel for the armorers and weaponsmiths working away in their sweltering forges. In winter, the sect tended to turn inward, dispatching disciples on only the most important missions. During those cold months, the armorers were able to work in relative comfort to prepare for the battles ahead when the heavy snows melted.
Now, however, as the spring campaign season had ended, disciples returned in droves with broken and damaged equipment that needed to be repaired before they could undertake other missions.
Exceptional Artists like Armorer Dian seemed to take the hot weather as an opportunity to plan and work on projects that didn't require the use of a hot forge. She was senior enough that the only people who could easily command her to repair their equipment were the Elders and Grand Elders of the sect.
The more junior armorers and weaponsmiths, however, were locked in their own battles against battered armor and worn blades while the days grew warmer and their cramped workshops turned into sweltering ovens.
"Armorer Dian," Liang Xiong said, bowing deeply to the woman who had taken up his request to craft a defensive armament for Wu Ling. "You called for me?"
"Ah, good, you've come," the Artist said with a smile, setting down her charcoal and turning to the young Soldier. While Liang Xiong had taken the time to don a tunic, his skin still glistened with the sweat of a hard workout and the armorer nodded in approval when she saw that he hadn't been taking things easy since he made his request.
"I've been contemplating your request," she began, leafing through the pages on her desk and pulling out a collection of sketches. "There are two different approaches I could take, both of which will require you to venture somewhere dangerous to fetch materials for me," she explained.
In truth, the most challenging part of the design process wasn't the defensive armament itself, it was selecting an appropriate material to send the young Soldier on a quest to fetch. Armorer Dian had worked with both Elders and Wardens within the sect to carefully assess Liang Xiong's capabilities before placing this challenge before him.
The number of junior disciples who were bold enough to approach a senior armorer or weaponsmith each generation could be counted on two hands. When it happened, however, the sect had long developed a method of handling them.
Half of the bold disciples were common and entitled wastrels, coasting on the achievements of their parents. Those people could be dismissed out of hand or handed over to a disciplinary elder to have their course corrected.
Then there were people like Liang Xiong. He was genuine, hard working, and could have a brilliant future within the sect if he was sufficiently tempered. When people like him made a request of the senior armorers and weaponsmiths, the Elders worked carefully to place a challenge before them that would further hone their capabilities.
Of course, not every disciple returned from these challenges. A tempering trial was meaningless if it posed no threat to the disciple being threatened. That was why Armorer Dian waited to gather information about Liang Xiong before developing her designs and the dangerous missions he would need to undertake for her to complete them.
"The first option would be to send you into the mountains," she began, pointing out a design for a delicate set of shoulder guards. "If you're bold enough, there is an abandoned mine that has been infested with Darkweaver Spiders. The mine is one of the only sources of Black Yin Iron on the northern continent," she explained.
"If you can obtain enough Black Yin Iron for me, I can marry it with other materials to produce Pure Yin Darksteel. It won't take me very much of that steel to craft this pair of shoulder guards," she said, pointing to the delicate features of the shoulder guards.
The design that Armorer Dian had prepared was almost more ornamental than functional. A blow from a heavy sword or hammer could easily deform or crush the thin, sweeping, and elegantly curved decorative elements of the shoulder guard. At most, it would function as a last line of defense that could stop an attack from reaching a woman's delicate neck. In this design, the spiritual energy imbued in the armament was far more important than the defensive properties of the armor itself.
"Pure Yin Darksteel can only be worn by women," the armorer added. "It would allow her to blend easily with darkness, blurring her figure and causing many attacks directed at her to miss entirely. For a woman who isn't a frontline combatant, it's a good option to keep her out of harm's way while you fight on the frontline in her stead."
As Armorer Dian spoke, she watched Liang Xiong's eyes carefully for his reaction. The young man seemed to be listening carefully to her words but she had yet to sense any great excitement from him at her description of the work.
"I see," Liang Xiong said, admiring the graceful curves and clean lines of the shoulder guards that Armorer Dian had produced. The idea of keeping Wu Ling safe by cloaking her in darkness while he fought on the frontlines certainly had an appeal, but would a woman as bold as Wu Ling wish to be hidden away?
Perhaps if Wu Ling was a calculating strategist, a chess player who stayed behind stronger fighters and positioned them without exposing herself to danger, this might be a good option. The impression his sister gave him of her, however, made the beautiful artist out to be anything but a shrinking violet. He struggled to believe that she'd be pleased with a gift that asked her to hide herself away while others fought in her stead.
"What was the other option you mentioned?" he asked.