I take a deep breath of the crisp autumn air as I step into the courtyard. Each step sends a tingling feeling through my body. I want to move. My limbs are stiff but I feel energized. I glance above towards the heavens. The sunlight trickles down in thin slivers through the canopy of leaves with teases of a clear blue sky.
I'm not in the clear yet. I'm still on probation and this is just beginning.
Yujiro stands off to the side of the path waiting for me with Qin Tao and Lubi. There's a nervous energy around the guys that is absent from Yujiro. Did something happen while I was out?
"Come along, Li Mei. We'll return to the Tranquil Pavilion to train," Yujiro beckons with a tilt of his head. He turns from me and I follow in his wake. Qin Tao and Lubi walk on either side of me, on guard. I look toward them and focus my attention on what's beyond my group.
We pass whispers of conversation and the sound of training echoing from the walls of the other pavilions. Life continues on in the rest of the Celestial Mountain Sect and I don't feel particularly excluded. I have my little group and a place to train, it's more than I could've ever asked for.
You could have so much more.
You can take anything you desire with your hands.
The memories from lifetimes I don't remember reply as I consider this. Could I ask for more? Of course, but what was it that I really wanted? Revenge, obviously, there are people inexplicably entangled with my life.
Yujiro presents another variable I hadn't considered before - people who also hold memories of previous lifetimes that I don't remember. Is there a chance that some of my enemies also remember what happened before?
The wind shifts and brings with it the stench of sulfur. I shift my stance as the clang of steel on steel rings out all around me. Yujiro, Qin Tao and Lubi have all drawn their swords against would be assailants. I reach for a weapon that I do not have.
Yujiro chuckles. "Li Mei, watch and learn. You're under restriction still, we'll keep you safe." The instruction is strange but I know he understands what I am capable of with the right training.
The massive culivator moves with a ferocity and speed uncanny for a man so large. I'm not actively involved in the combat so the system isn't pinging me with the turn order and the cards. But my eyes are following the movement of Yujiro's body to understand his fighting style. His muscles tense and move with explosive bursts of qi. My face feels hot as I admire his physique and ability.
It's a deadly dance of qi and blades as the cultivators slash. I shouldn't be able to follow their movement but my spirit eye ability allows me to keep track.
[System Alert: Condition Unlocked. Would you like to utilize your Comphrend ability?]
Yes! This is why Yujiro told me to watch him. I don't remember this ability but it'll help things go faster while I'm recovering. I select the yes option.
[Li Mei rolled 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8! Critical success. Special Condition unlocked.]
[Would you like to play a 8 of Spades to upgrade your Mind Stat and a K of Spades, K of Diamonds to learn the techniques?]
"Yes, play the cards."
[You have 45 cards remaining.]
[Your Mind Stat has increased! You have learned how to channel your qi into your combat movements. You have learned Riposte!]
I blink at the improvements as all movement stops, the cultivators fighting my friends have fallen to the ground. Yujiro glares down at his opponent. "Leave and tell Chin Wen to stop this foolishness. The woman is not his to harass."
Lubi lightly touches my left shoulder. "Are you okay, Li Mei?"
I smile and nod to Lubi as he sheathes his sword. "I'm unhurt."
The man at Yujiro's feet scurries away and his friends follow suite. Yujiro shakes his head and we continue the short track back to the Tranquil Pavilion.
Qin Tao locks the gate behind us with a deep sigh. "They are relentless. They really want to get to Li Mei," he grumbles.
Yujiro walks to the center of the court yard and waits for me to follow him there. I stop across from him. "Li Mei, show me what you learned." He shifts into a fighting stance. "Lubi, give her the sword."
Qin Tao moves to one side to observe. Lubi hands me an extra sword with a reassuring smile.
Yujiro looks to the two cultivators with a thoughtful nod. "Pay attention, both of you. This is a technique that you can learn as well. I'm here for Ji Li Mei but while you are here, you can benefit from these lessons."
I draw the sword, the weight feels familiar in my hand. I was raised and trained in the sword, like all my father's children. I just never had the strength to be effective with it. But this is different.
I don't want to be distracted by system prompts and rolls. I want to just show Yujiro what I've learned on my own merit. If I hit him, I hit him. If I don't, I don't. I don't want to waste all my cards right now.
System, disable prompts for this encounter except for level ups.
[System Alert: Prompts momentarily disabled.]
Yujiro straightens, smiling at me. I feel a tingling warmth that dances through my qi. He's passed me some water qi to use.
I take a deep breath and readjust the flow of the new qi and my qi. I move it to empower my movements, I feel lighter and stronger as I fly forward and slash at Yujiro. His expression is calm as he parries my attack. I press forward again and sense a counter attack, dancing back away to avoid the blow. It creates a window for my new technique to apply - I riposte the riposte.
My sword presses into the skin of Yujiro's muscular chest and I stare up at him wide eyed. My chest heaves heavily as my body catches up to the exertion, the excited energy of qi flowing out of my system as quickly as I gained it.
The whole exchange took less than a few seconds and I'm already exhausted.
Yujiro's large hand presses down on my shoulder. He grins at me, pleased. "Excellent. You're progressing quite nicely, Li Mei. You can rest for now." He turns his attention to Qin Tao. "So what did she do? I want to know if you understand the techniques."
Qin Tao's expression is thoughtful as he looks from me to Yujiro. "The essense of this technique lies in the flow of energy and the awareness of intent. When you deliberately direct the flow of qi within your system to the pathways of action, you empower your movements. All barriers temporarily fall away but if you push too hard, when you stop moving, your body will be exhausted since you've pushed yourself beyond your limit."
Yujiro nods. "Excellent. That's the one technique. What about the one in motion, Lubi?"
"It happened so quickly, it was hard to track but," Lubi fiddles with his hair as he thinks over his response. "I believe there was a sequence of diverting attacks back onto the attacker using the energy and force of the enemy's momentum back onto them. You make them hurt themselves as they go to hurt you. It's a technique that relies on getting hit in order to attack. Effective defense if you can't dodge." He looks at me with a furrowed brow. "It's an aggressive fighting style."
Qin Tao adds, "I'm surprised Li Mei picked it up that quickly. She's still recovering from the surgery and the cave in." He looks at me like he would something dangerous, like he's not sure what to do with me now.
Yujiro sheaths his sword and I do the same. He folds his arms and nods. "She's quite brilliant. For a cultivator with no training such as she to grasp and replicate complex techniques so rapidly and in such a state, she's quite a rare student. She can learn from manuals, experience and just by observing. It makes her perfect for stealing secret teechniques of other sects simply by observing them."
"Did you know this about Li Mei when you accepted her as your student, Yujiro?" Qin Tao asks with a frown. "How could you have known?"
Yujiro quirks a brow and grins. "I just have an eye for talent. It's something Chin Wen must've realized too, since he sent some of his students after her."
Lubi looks impressed, his voice filled with awe. "It means that if Li Mei understands a technique, she could theoretically teach others how to do it. If she can learn how to express what is a natural process to her as theory." He winks at me with a grin. "What a great person to be friends with."
I yawn and wobble. Yujiro catches me, commenting softly, "Just a short rest, little rose, we're just getting started."