Chapter 104

  Spiritwood Grove (II)

  Looking at my Creation Points, I've got 360. No scope!

  Ugh.

  I'm still limited to just 100 points per art, which means that the limit is increased only when I achieve a major breakthrough rather than just a minor one. It's... kind of hard, honestly, to figure out a clever way to make something useful within 100 points when I've made arts costing five and ten times as much.

  It was a lot of fun, not having to skip over every goddamned option just because they are too expensive. Alas, it's my burden to bear.

  ... speaking of burdens.

  I am one. No, seriously. It turns out, all the kids have thrice my stamina--even Light, a six-year-old girl, can outmatch me. You know, everyone back on Earth claimed that the reason humans dominated early pre-civilization days was because we were the greatest persistence hunters ever, but this body is a clear example that not all of them were.

  In my defense, I've got boots that weren't made for walking, and the temperatures here are somehow rising. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the humidity didn't rise with it. I thought that humidity increased with elevation, but clearly I was dead wrong, so what the hell do I know?

  "No, no, you're stepping into it too quickly." While I was catching my breath, Long Tao was doing the unthinkable--interacting with the kids. Well, "interacting" was overselling it--he was sparring with them and helping them chisel the flaws from their arts in the process.

  Right now, he was instructing Xi Zhao; just a moment ago, he easily sidestepped the 'staggered' attack and simply hit the young boy in the back of his knees, immediately downing him. It was all so effortless that it made Xi Zhao temporarily believe he'd forgotten how to fight.

  Now, Long Tao always won the spars--but he usually held back a bit, never completely trouncing any of the kids. Ever since they started sparring in the shade of the scant few trees that we came upon while I rested, however, he became a bit more stern.

  "The best way to fight with the temporal aspect isn't to be on the offense," he said, taking the sword out of Xi Zhao's scabbard and actually illustrating the same attack. However... it was different. "See? If you go in first, it doesn't matter how well you stagger. It gives the opponent a chance to react, regardless."

  "H-how did you do that?! Do you know how to use a temporal sword, too?"

  "Huh? No. I just manually imitated yours."

  "..." Oi, isn't that even more insane?!

  "Don't think stray thoughts." He flicked the boy's forehead, pointing at the sword. "Remember--your best chance of winning, especially against those of higher cultivation, is to lure them in. Don't immediately resort to it. Your sword arts are already on a fairly high level, so use those to set a baseline. Once you lure them in within two feet of yourself, wait for an upward slash." All while he was talking, he kept illustrating all the moves--the attacking and the defending ones. "While in an upward motion, the body's center of gravity is condensed, and swordsmen will find it difficult, and mostly outright impossible, to alter it meaningfully. It means they have committed to the attack. Come on, attack me."

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  "A-ah, yes!" Xi Zhao took the sword back and started attacking, and Long Tao did exactly what he just described--waited for an upward swing and immediately went for the wrist. "Ugh," the sword flew out as the boy cried out in pain.

  "Again."

  "Ugh!"

  "Again!"

  "Ugh."

  "Again!"

  And thus, it went on for about an hour.

  Xi Zhao lay down on the ground, breathing heavily, his wrists bruised like plums and swollen like balloons. I hurried over and handed him a couple of pills, glancing over at Long Tao inquisitively. He just shrugged and then turned toward Dai Xiu.

  "Senior Brother, please!" Rather than wincing or trying to get out of it, she instead got into the fighting stance and attacked.

  As with Xi Zhao, he easily dispersed the mean-looking right hook and took the heel of his right foot into the right side of her ribcage. She yelped and dashed sideways against her will, rolling in the dirt for a moment before slowly standing up, holding onto the hurt end, grimacing in pain.

  "Why are you in so much pain? I didn't even put any Qi into my attack."

  "Uhm..."

  "You're a body cultivator," he said. "Your body is your weapon, yes, but it's also your shield. You focused yourself too much on the attack, both literally and through the use of your Qi. In a fight, you cannot do that unless your opponent is vastly weaker than you. Again."

  "Y-yes!" Though he seemingly taught her how to avoid getting absolutely smacked, the exact same thing happened the next go-around... except he heeled her in the left shoulder, and she ragdolled diagonally rather than straight sideways.

  "You need to get in closer before starting to attack," he said. "You're not a swordsman, so why are you fighting like one? Forget everything you were taught at the sect. While the swordsmen are supposed to maintain the perfect distance so that the extended tip of their swords matches the extended halfway point of the opponent's arm, again, you are not a swordsman. You attack too early, and to compensate for the lack of reach, you overextend, which leaves you practically defenseless. Hold your attacks half a breath longer before going in. Again."

  "Yes!"

  "Again!"

  "Yes!"

  "Again!"

  "Y-yes!"

  About two hours later, Dai Xiu lay sprawled, not unlike Xi Zhao did two hours earlier, bloodied and bruised. I walked up to her, too, and handed over a few pills. Just as I was about to hold a sweet speech to encourage two kids, I looked over and saw something that stopped my soul--Long Tao's knee burying itself into Light's left thigh.

  The girl collapsed like a house of cards in place, yelping slightly as I hurried over and stood between the two of them.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  "Teaching her."

  "... then teach," I grunted. "Beating the hell out of someone isn't the only way to teach."

  "But it's the best way to learn how to fight."

  "And I imagine that the best way to teach someone how to swim, to you, is to just toss them into deep water and watch them squirm?"

  "Of course. Body instincts take over and guide your every move."

  "Yeah. I--"

  "--it's fine," the girl's voice came from my side as her fingers clutched at my robes. "I want to become stronger."

  "..."

  Alright.

  So, all my kids are officially insane.

  And I'm insane for thinking I can reel them in whatsoever. I can already see my future, to be honest--they'll be raising hell everywhere we go, and I'll be running behind them, putting out fires. I won't be a Master so much as I'll be a babysitter that occasionally tosses martial arts at them.

  "I'll just take a nap..." I may as well, honestly. That way I can at least not witness a six-year-old girl being beaten until she's bleeding.

  Are my sensibilities going away?! Why the hell am I indulging a kid?!