Chapter 18- The Dreadfulness of a Vine

Tian was a little disappointed to receive merely a pat on the back and an “Attaboy,” after his breakthrough. Nobody was interested in making a fuss. He got the distinct impression that his brothers would be equally impressed if he fell off a log. He sulked about that for a bit, but quickly got over it.

Cultivation felt good. Cultivating helped Tian calm the anxiety he would feel, often for no reason that he could explain. Perhaps it was all the open spaces, or knowing that people were watching him. Cultivation calmed him. Tian felt more balanced, somehow. And the changes to his body! It was like every breath nourished his flesh. He didn’t know he was starving until he learned how to eat qi. He loved the feeling.

Even sweeter- cultivation was easy. It was so, so easy! You just had to breathe a certain way and send the energy moving around you in a fixed pattern. No problem at all; everything flowed smoothly.

Not everyone was so fortunate. His senior brothers often described cultivation as leading a herd of horses into a barn by yourself. Doable with skill and effort, but exhausting and dangerous. Pills could rapidly speed things up, Tian heard. They were also impossibly hard to come by, at least here in the Outer Court. He didn’t worry about it. He didn’t have any money anyway. Besides- he liked cultivating. Why would he want to skip past something he enjoyed?

A little before the one year anniversary of his arrival at the Temple, he proudly reported to Senior Brother Fu that he had reached level three.

“A bit ahead of schedule, but that’s great. You have worked hard. Ready to learn your first combat art?”

“Very ready, Senior Brother. Though I did wonder if I could get other abilities as well.”

“LIke what?”

“Weaving a hut from saplings with a spell, that kind of thing.”

“When you are old enough to go adventuring, you will have opportunities to earn a storage ring. Just keep a tent in there.”

“Tents break. I might lose my ring. My own power is… my own.” Tian struggled to put it into words, but Brother Fu understood.

“Unfortunately, that’s not something that can be achieved with vital energy, but there are other utility arts that you can use. They will be available in the scripture library, but not for free. Now that you have lived under our roof for a year, eating our rice and receiving our teachings, it’s about time you contributed.”

Tian nodded. That made sense. “How can I help?”

“Beat the absolute piss out of a girl.”

“Okay.”

Tian turned and started walking off, only to get his collar snagged by a laughing Brother Fu.

“A specific girl. And please don’t beat her until she actually pees, the Convent would burn our little Temple to the ground if you did. I suddenly had this image of you walking around the street asking girls if they needed to pee.”

Tian firmly shook his head. “I would never!”

“Oh no?”

“No. Rock Throwers cannot be trusted. They might hide the truth. I would beat them first, pour water down their throat, wait, then beat again.” Tian nodded virtuously.

“Yes, that’s the feral response I should have expected. I have been meaning to ask, what is it with you and people throwing rocks? It’s not a nice thing, but I don’t think you can classify the whole town as “rock throwers.”

“It’s not just the town.”

Brother Fu waited. And waited. Eventually, he asked- “So who is a rock thrower?”

“Anyone who might throw a rock at me. Which is everybody who isn’t a Senior Brother.” Tian didn’t notice the emphasis he put on the words “Senior Brother.” Brother Fu did.

“Is that something that happened a lot?” Brother Fu chuckled.

“Yes.”

The smile drained away from the old man’s face.

“You aren’t wrong, I suppose. Even within the Outer Court, and certainly within the greater Monastery, there are rock throwers. The person I want you to fight hopefully isn’t one of them. It’s a friendly spar between the brothers here and the sisters in the Convent. We are brothers and sisters, after all. One day soon, you will have to trust your back to a sister as you fight against the heretics and demons. Safe chances to spar and make friends are rare.”

“Make friends?”

“Wouldn’t be the worst thing, little Tian. It might even be the best thing. And to that end, we are going to introduce you to a kid about your age over at the Convent. And just as her seniors and your seniors are sparring, you are going to square off with her too. Do well, and there will be rewards. More techniques, access to special places, good stuff. You don’t have to win- you can show off your abilities without winning. But everyone likes a winner, and losing is habit forming. Win.”

Tian nodded.

“I’m glad to learn the Temple’s traditions of beating women. Brother Fu, you are choking again. Brother Fu, should I slap your teapot? Brother Fu? Brother Fu?”

“In the Earthly stage, you can send your vital energy through your body and through specially prepared tools. There are pretty much every sort of combat treasure you can imagine, from swords, to spears, blow darts, fans, daggers, tridents, staves, glaives, chakram, claws, armored gloves… it goes on and on. And naturally, there are accompanying combat arts for each of them.”

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The brother in charge of the armory was sloppy, with a little paunch on him. He was the first person in the Temple Tian had seen with stubble on his chin. He sprawled in a big bamboo chair, seemingly uninterested in anything but the scroll in front of him and the calabash of wine by his side. Tian didn’t believe it- he could see the viper in his eyes.

“Your first training weapon is loaned to you until you can pay it off doing missions. The corresponding combat art is a benefit provided by the Monastery, but don’t be fooled. You will be paying for that too, in the end.”

Tian nodded. That all made sense to him. He was still pretty vague on money, but it made sense that you had to work to get things.

“Let me guess- flying sword?” The sloppy man smiled.

Tian shook his head.

“Oh? It’s a classic for a reason. Elegant, masculine, versatile, provides all the benefits of both ranged and melee weaponry, and you can train it all the way to the highest of heavens. Most people can’t wait to get their hands on a flying sword. Or are you a spear man? Fiery yang energy ready to explode outward, dominating the battlefield?”