-- Two days later --
Yun Qiang woke up, to the usual clanging of chains and Voss's voice.
"Wake up, you have 20 minutes to get ready and meet me at the training ground!"
Even if it was early in the morning he was already used to waking up early and his mind could already work at full speed.
Uh? At the training ground, not in front of the barracks?
He didn't even have the time to ask for clarifications that Voss had already left them to their devices.
Yun Qiang swiftly wore his armor, greeted Sun and Lee, and started jogging towards the training ground.
After two days spent training with Voss, he could already feel his body getting lighter and faster, he could almost feel the fourth stage in front of him. Waiting for him to claim it as his prize.
Naturally he was still far away from the next stage but the fact that he physically felt and saw the progress he was making, made him more cheerful and full of energy. However he didn't delude himself like last time. This time he was completely aware of the dangers that lurked just a few days away from the Shard, he wouldn't throw away all of his cautions and preoccupations like he did at the start of his recruitment. He simply chose to go on, to use the extra energy towards his goal of becoming stronger, his cheerfulness and excitement wasn't his drive, it was just a tool for him to use to improve his survival rate.
He arrived to the training ground only to find out that Hai Ming was already there, silently waiting in line in front of Voss. Yun Qiang greeted Voss before falling in line, it felt kinda weird to not refer to him by name after having done so for a few days but he still followed the rules.
After a few minutes everyone arrived and Voss started speaking.
"We don't have any patrols for the next two weeks; however I won't let you waste your time idling around the Shard."
While speaking he slowly paced in front of them. His walk felt methodical as if he had trained just for this occasion.
"After our last patrol I reached a conclusion." He stopped walking.
"That is: you all have the cultivation and strength to be soldiers, but you don't have the method or the fighting skills of soldiers."
Voss glanced at Sun and Hai Ming.
"Excluding some elements that are experienced enough to fight by themselves, none of you would survive a full one-on-one duel with a trained and experienced fighter."
"This is why this week we will interrupt our normal schedule to do some sparring sessions among ourselves."
He pointed at some long sticks that were laying down close to the wall.
"You will be divided in pairs, and will duel with each other with those sticks. Since we are an odd number of people, one of you will spar with me."
He looked at them expectantly.
"Any volunteers?"
Sun, Hai Ming, and Yun Qiang stepped up.
"Good, you three will be my sparring partner in a rotation. Today Yun Qiang will spar with me, tomorrow Sun and the third day Hai Ming."
The trio responded in unison.
"Yes Sir."
After they picked up the sticks everyone got in front of their sparring partner and started fighting.
Yun Qiang spent a few seconds studying his stick, it was an exact copy of the spear they used on patrol, the only thing that was missing was the point at the end of the shaft.
Yun Qiang slightly bowed before Voss and got in a defensive position. Voss wasn't someone he could wantonly attack.
He gazed at him, to his surprise Voss didn't move, nor did he take an offensive or defensive stance. He stood still with his stick stuck in the ground as if inviting him to attack.
"You attack, I defend. During your fights you focus too much on defending, you can't win a duel like that."
Voss was right, while fighting on patrol he had always focused on defending, hoping his enemy showed some openings or his team came to his help. However this had never helped him, he either got cornered or drove the duel to a standstill where neither side could win.
Yun Qiang changed his stance and started circling around Voss. To his surprise Voss didn't try to stop him, instead he stood still, without even bothering to change stance or follow him with his eyes.
When he reached Voss's back he attacked. He started with a small lunge that wouldn't leave him too exposed. It was better to test the waters before fully committing to a full attack on his team leader.
However he still had underestimated Voss.
Voss moved to the side and used his free hand to yank the shaft forward. The sudden pull broke Yun Qiang's stance, dragging him closer to his enemy, and when he was close enough, Voss simply shoved him away, sending him tumbling on the ground.
The entire exchange only lasted for a few seconds, and looked extremely easy. Voss clearly hadn't used the strength of a foundation realm to win, he simply used his skill and experience to overpower Yun Qiang's attack.
Yun Qiang didn't say anything and just got up from the ground, he picked up his spear and fell in an attacking stance. He attacked again, this time with a sweep coming from above. However Voss was one step ahead and was ready to deflect it even before Yun Qiang's attack started falling towards him. When the two weapons clashed, Voss slightly tilted his staff, forcing Yun Qiang's strike to slide to the side. In the same motion, he redirected the shaft and shoved it forward, pushing Yun Qiang back and making him stumble.
"Don't make your attacks so direct. Try to mislead your enemy, move your weapon into unexpected angles. You have to bait your enemy into defending the wrong position."
Yun Qiang hesitated, thinking on how to mislead Voss into a disadvantageous position. However he couldn't think of anything. To him, it didn't even feel like Voss was defending. He wasn't in an offensive stance, nor a defensive one. He simply stood there with his spear at his side, like a boulder unmoving and uncaring about who it was blocking.
He still gave it a try, first he launched himself into a lunge, however before it could reach Voss, Yun Qiang stepped backward and charged at him with an upward swing. Instead of deflecting the attack Voss simply sidestepped it before pushing Yun Qiang further away.
"It's an improvement, but your counterattack was too slow. Remember that misleading an opponent is only useful if you follow up with a solid attack, that's difficult to dodge."
The session continued; however, Yun Qiang never managed to hit Voss. Every one of his attacks either got dodged or deflected away. While Voss always managed to land one or two hits every time Yun Qiang overextended himself during his assaults.
Finally, after almost an entire day of struggles Voss announced the end of the session.
"Good. That's enough for the day. You are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day."
Yun Qiang looked at the sun. It was late afternoon, they probably had 4 to 5 hours of free time before the curfew started.
Seeing him standing still Sun called out to him.
"Qiang, we are going to the bath house wanna come with us?"
He spent some time thinking about it before responding.
"No I will stay here for a while, I will join you later."
Yun Qiang walked towards the weights and started tying them to himself as he usually did when training.
Voss's caring voice reached out to him.
"You should join them, you can't isolate yourself from your companions."
Yun Qiang started doing pushups before responding, his voice trembling under the weight.
"No. I want to reach the fourth stage as soon as possible."
His arms' trembling intensified, forcing him to pause for a second.
"I can't waste time."
Voss started cleaning up the training grounds from the grime and blood they had created while training, it seemed some of his companions didn't go easy on their adversaries.
"You shouldn't take it this fast. The Qi stage will block you when you reach the fifth stage anyway. You have plenty of time to develop your body element within that period."
He continued doing pushups, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.
"It will take me too long, I plan to buy some foundation realm pills with the pay I will get as an official soldier."
Voss threw some water on the ground.
"Even if you did that, it will take you at least two years of pay to get the two pills that are needed." Voss paused for a second before adding,
"That is if you never spend your contribution points."
Yun Qiang spoke again, his voice sounded disappointed, he had expected a higher pay.
"It doesn't matter, maybe I can push for an extra level on breakthrough." He glanced at Voss, who was still cleaning while giving him his back.
"Anyway, you are not training today?"
Voss continued sweeping the ground without looking at him.
"No, I have to meet Bian later, we have to divide some loot and do a bunch of paperwork."
"Loot?" Yun Qiang's ears perked; he didn't expect Voss would find something precious during their patrol.
"Yes, we found some techniques and a golden core pill on the captain that we killed together, now we have to report to the commanders what we found and how we will split it."
Yun Qiang was a bit surprised.
"You even have to report stuff like that to your superiors?"
Voss didn't mind the question. Even if the Shard was a military fortress, it was held together by the bureaucracy and the strict set of rules that every team leader had to follow.
"Yes."
He shrugged.
"It's just a formality but we must do it. It's not that bad though, if we don't like the techniques that we found we can sell them to the Shard for some contribution points, the same goes for the pill."
Yun Qiang was shocked by this; techniques were something extremely important to cultivators, and most of them contained all of the secrets and knowledge of their creators. Some sects even forced their disciples to swear an "Hearth demon oath" to keep them safe from outsiders.
"Why would you do something like that? Aren't techniques something extremely precious?"
Voss shook his head; it was normal for a recruit to not know stuff like that.
"Techniques are good only if they fit your style. If they don't fit you then they are just useless books. Do you think a swordsman cares for spearmanship techniques?" He paused for a second.
"I have some techniques that I don't use. Maybe I will teach them to you once you settle on a specific fighting style."
Yun Qiang knew Voss was just trying to encourage him, and didn't really mean it. No sane man would give out techniques like that.
"Why don't you sell them? Or have you already memorized them and made a copy before selling them?"
"I never sold them. A friend of mine created them...." He sighed.
"I would feel bad if I sold them."
Yun Qiang immediately understood his blunder; if Voss didn't want to sell them it was probably because this friend of his wasn't alive anymore. He managed to blurt out a "Sorry" before Bian arrived and took Voss away from the training ground.
-The next day-
Hai Ming was standing in front of Yun Qiang. Today it was Sun's turn to spar with Voss, so he was stuck with him.
He narrowed his eyes. He didn't know why, but Yun Qiang was the only person on their team who refused to talk to him. It didn't matter what subject they were talking about or how he approached him. The most he could get out of him was a simple yes, no, or hello. Nothing else.
Noticing that his opponent was zoning out, he tapped the stick to the ground to call his attention. They locked eyes and got into position, both of them in an attacking stance.
Yun Qiang was the first to attack with a downward swing.
His arms were trembling; he wouldn't attack from there.
Hai Ming reacted by moving his weapon upward as if he was ready to block the incoming strike. Then, when Yun Qiang changed his move to a lunge, Hai Ming sprang into action, narrowly avoiding his opponent's weapon before launching an attack of his own.
The stick hit Yun Qiang's stomach, making him stumble backwards.
Hai Ming could have used this occasion to hit him again and put Yun Qiang to the ground, but he didn't do it. There was no need; he had won the exchange.
"Are you ok? Can you continue?"
The only response he got from him was a low grunt and a defiant gaze. Yun Qiang returned to an attacking position, ready to strike once more.
The only ones he respects are Voss and Sun...
Is he looking down on me? Maybe I should show him my strength?
As Hai Ming thought about how to win Yun Qiang's favor, Yun Qiang continued his attacking spree, forcing Hai Ming to constantly dodge, parry, and deflect every blow. An inexperienced soldier would quickly fall into a disadvantageous position under the constant flurry of attacks; however, Hai Ming knew how to counter this kind of strategy.
Once he saw another lunge coming for him, he dodged the blow, quickly closing the distance between him and his opponent. Once he was close enough, he pushed Yun Qiang away, signaling his victory in the spar.
Maybe I should try the gentle approach again?
"Yun Qiang, you shouldn't underestimate your opponent. Always keep your distance in a fight."
He tried giving Yun Qiang some guidance. If he could establish himself as a guiding figure, Yun Qiang wouldn't doubt him when he used him as a shield or asked him to protect his rear.
Yun Qiang didn't respond to his comment and instead prepared to launch another attack.
Hai Ming's face darkened before he decided to act. If Yun Qiang didn't want his advice, then he would force him to respect his strength.
Hai Ming moved forward with a lunge; however, as Yun Qiang moved to parry, he instantly changed direction, transforming it into a swing instead. Yun Qiang got hit in his chest, sending him to the ground.
Normally this would be the end of the spar, but the two sides seemed to have formed a tacit agreement and continued with the spar as if it were a real fight.
Hai Ming did a low sweep towards his enemy; however, just as the swing was about to hit him, Yun Qiang rolled out of the way and got up. However, Hai Ming insisted on his offensive, launching a series of relentless attacks — the same strategy that Yun Qiang had used against him a few minutes ago.
When Yun Qiang tried to close the distance, Hai Ming smiled.
He has fallen for it!
When Yun Qiang was close enough, Hai Ming quickly reverted his grip, forcing the spear to rotate and hit Yun Qiang in the head.
As the disoriented Yun Qiang moved backwards, Hai Ming lunged at him in close quarters; however, Yun Qiang didn't dodge or step back as he expected. Instead, Yun Qiang counterattacked from above. Hai Ming quickly corrected his position to block it; however, it was a fake. Hai Ming's pupils contracted in shock as the strike from above quickly converted into a low sweep.
Hai Ming fell to the ground. He had lost his stick and was completely defenseless. If this were a real battle, this position could only mean one thing. Death.
A surprised expression etched on Hai Ming's face before he got up and continued the fight.
From then on, Hai Ming stopped fooling around and completely focused on the spars. He only dared to lose focus when Voss announced the end of the session and he left with the other recruits.
Like the day before, they left for the bath house while Yun Qiang remained at the training ground to train more. Usually, he would join them later when almost everyone was done washing themselves or fooling around at the tavern. Even if they were recruits and didn't have any money, they could still spend their time talking and playing with the other soldiers.
As the day went on, Hai Ming felt more silent than usual. He felt extremely disappointed with himself, but mostly he was surprised by Yun Qiang's rate of improvement and way of fighting.
If someone had kept score during their sparring session, Hai Ming would have easily won. But this only made Yun Qiang's victories more special in Hai Ming's eyes. The times Yun Qiang had won were with unexpected moves that required extreme reflexes and quick thinking to execute. But what surprised him wasn't that, but Yun Qiang's fighting style.
Even if it was extremely chaotic and basic, Hai Ming could almost feel the shadow of a more elegant and dominating style behind it. It was as if Yun Qiang was trying to copy and imitate someone else's fighting style.
He gazed at Yun Qiang who was now joking with Sun, and for the first time, he wondered if Yun Qiang was really the weakest member of their team.