I was pushed back over a hundred steps, and Yao Kun still had no sign of stopping or slowing!
His spinning attack is inferior in terms of refinement compared to Baiyu's techniques, but his unbelievable stamina make it over tenfold more draining to guard against!
But, if he keeps going, even if he's draining me by putting me on the defencive end, won't he get tired out too? Or is that what he wants me to think? To try and play the long game only to find out he has a secret finisher move for this exact situation?
I can't risk it, but I can hardly do anything with him putting so much pressure on me, this would be about the time for something to put some distance between the two of us, but neither my Soaring Red Flame Arts nor my Yeowang Oyeonmu (/Five Flames Art) is able to do so!
I'm the second-best performing disciple and I beat Baiyu by myself! How is it that Yao Kun, whom I have barely paid any mind to, is able to defeat me?!
"Jungdo Yonggeommu (Middle Path Dragon Saber Dance), Fifth Stance--"
He hit me with a surprise attack, causing me to wobble slightly, losing my stable footing. But that wasn't the true attack! He just wanted me to be defenceless for this!--
"Gwanjae Hoenggyeok (Magistrate's Sideward Judgment)!!"
It was a heavy, wide cleave straight for my stomach, I tried my best to duck under it, but only ended up getting hit in the shoulder. It was so incredibly heavy and filled with so much force, not only a result of his technique but also of his arduous training he did while the rest of us were resting!
I was sent flying and got knocked unconscious...
.
.
.
Seemingly hours later, I woke up on a bed of moss in the wilderness, next to me was another bed of moss and infront was an unlit campfire.
"Ah, brother Mo, you're awake! I figured you can light the campfire with your sword arts, but not just now, we still have some hours on the day and I saw an interesting looking herb that we could go and pick it off!"
Ah, my shoulder...it's bruised blue and it's hurting so much...maybe Auntie from the medical building was right, this spar had already impaired my fighting ability greatly. I need to be wiser in picking my fights, but it has taught me much.
For one, I need to fill myself with more willpower to train even harder! It doesn't matter how great a difference in techniques is if the person using them is weaker, slower, and less conditioned than his opponent.
Secondly, I need to train my footwork, I am not sure how exactly, but the instructor should know, so when I come back from the forest trip and tournament, that's what I'll ask for! With better footwork, I could evade and weave around my opponent much easier.
There's likely other stuff, but those need to be mentioned later, because I've apparently been stuck in my thoughts too much.
"Brother Mo, are you alright? You're just staring off into nowhere! I don't think I hit you in the head, did I?"
"Ah, no no, I was just, er, visualising...our...trip...?"
Yao Kun gave me a blank stare, "..."
"Should we head out for the herb then?"
"...uhuh."
"Right."
The two disciples stood up from their moss beds, walking side by side, their real, metal blades on them.
If this is a spiritual herb that has gained, over yucheons and yucheons and possibly even seasons and years, lots of Qi, then that means it could have mystical properties and be worth a crazy amount!
It was only a two gak's (15 minute per Gak) hike from where we will stay the night, and we could tell we were at the right location before we even saw the herb itself, because the ground itself had grown these 'red veins'
When we did see the herb itself, it all made sense, the Crimson Blood Flower. A bright red flower that absorbs the corpses of any nearby beasts to absorb their energy to make its own.
Oftentimes, this ends up making the Crimson Blood Flower incredibly potent in elixirs and quick to mature as long as it's provided a good amount of 'offerings'
It was a bit cruel, but that's the way it grew, it wasn't man-made or created by some powerful cultivator, no, that's the way it learned to be after years of growing in these forests and mountains..
I wanted to walk closer to it in order to pluck it out, but Yao Kun suddenly grabbed my robes and pulled me back, "What are you doing? Don't you know herbs always have some kind of guardian, waiting for it to mature so they could take it for themselves?" He yelled at me in a half-hushed tone.
And, as if waiting for the cue, a large tiger walked out of the nearby brush, smelling the Crimson Blood Flower and laying down beside it afterward. It had red streaks along its orange and black body that glowed in rhythm with it's heartbeat.
"See? Look! Some kind of tiger has claimed that herb, and it doesn't look normal, it's most like a Qi Beast. A normal animal that has managed to gather Qi within it to empower itself" Yao Kun talked to me without ever leaving the tiger out of his sights.
My hand naturally reached toward the grip of my sword, "Then shall we go and strike it down? That's the reason we're out here after all, to learn, ain't it?"
Yao Kun though, he seemed a lot more cautious and weary, but after a few moments longer of analyzing the tiger, he nodded and grabbed his own saber, "I will go ahead and distract it, and when the tiger leaps to strike me, you jump out of the brush and cut its head off!"
I nodded and watched Yao Kun suddenly jump out of the brush and rush the tiger, I had t heard his words but he started spinning, clearly using the same attack he did on me.
I maneuvered myself around to the side of the battle and bided my time, but just when the tiger had leaped and Brother Kun yelled out, "Now!"
I was ambushed myself! A second tiger leaped on my back and pushed me down to the ground, and I was forced to watch as Yao Kun was slashed from his shoulder to his waist, leaving gashed and a bloody pool!
I was angry, and mad, we wanted to ambush the tiger and instead we were the ones to be jumped! And the consequences..it is different. This is the Tao of the wilderness, every battle is one until the last breath, and even a single lapse in judgement can lead to an early demise.
I reverse gripped my sword and swung it wildly, managing to cleanly take off one of the paws of the tiger that laid on top of my and I quickly pushed myself back up.
I took my position and didn't waste time on attacking the tiger that Yao Kun was facing. I didn't want it to lead another, possibly lethal attack on my sect brother.
"Yeowang Oyeonmu! Third Stance, Gwanwang-ui Chimbi!"
I had done as I practiced and attacked in a single breath's worth of time, piercing the tiger's side, I tried to rip my blade in order to cut the rest of it's body but I failed!
My sword has lost its flame now that the stance had finished and it lost all its power to cut the rest of this tiger's tough body.
I was forced to take my sword out of it's body and be forced backward as the tiger swung at me with its sharp claws.
My brother was down! He was unconscious and losing blood quickly! Wasn't the baldie instructor supposed to be around here? Why isn't he saving us? Is this supposed to be a lesson, or is he truly simply not watching over us?!
Focus! Breathe! Think of what to do next!
Time seemed to slow, leaves falling around me slowed down to a snail's pace, and I finally had the time to think.
All my life I had trained against wooden dummies or simply the air itself, and at the academy it wasn't much different, the worst that had happened to me was me slightly burning my arm or bruising my shoulder in sparring fights.
But I couldn't understand why I was stressing so much, performing horribly and having to manually shut my brain off in order to fight as I had practiced for days on end.
It was the intent, the same killing intent that made Baiyu wary of me and the same intent that had frozen the giant wooden dummy at the academy examinations and the very same intent that had me feeling true and pure fear!
I had never before fought against an opponent that only wanted to kill me with every fibre of its being. Because that's what required if you wish to live in the wild, you can't be merciful or humble. Honor and face doesn't matter when your very life is at stake!
But my current techniques won't cut it, no matter how pressuring my killing intent coming off my techniques is, it won't paralyze the tiger like it had done everybody else.
I need to reach an enlightenment and do it quickly! Both my life and the life of Yao Kun are at stake!
Think! Think!
What type of maneuvers and actions do Baiyu, Brother Zhi, and Yao Kun all have that I don't? Feints? No, that won't be useful here. Flashiness? No, Zhi and Kun were all brutally effective, while Baiyu had streaks of flash but still, was fundamental to a point.
Ah! I've gotten it! I figured it out!
Rhythm!
The stances of my Soaring Red Flame Art are all meant to be used sequentially, a constant flow and barrage of attacks to not give the opponent a time to wait!
That was the same way I was beaten and a crucial mistake I've managed to pick up!
I've been relying completely on one-attack finishers all this time because of how effective my attacks were!
But if I combine them into a series of movement, make it like a dance, won't I take over the battlefield and put the tides of battle in my favor?
This is it! Another enlightenment! And this also reminds me of the fourth stance of my art!
I rushed forward at the tiger, time resuming again, I used my art in combination with simple basic attacks in order to keep a rhythm. A horizontal swing to make the tiger back up, then a piercing strike to make it move to the side, then a heavy pivot and an overhead swing!
"Bultaneun Gyeongnyeom!"
I cut the entire side of the tiger! It'll lose power quickly and fall soon. Now I just need to take care of the other on-
I felt a sense of danger, quickly I spun, putting both my hands on my sword and putting up in front of me.
The other tiger had leaped at me but I managed to catch its open mouth with my blade! It bit down as hard as it could and started swinging me around!
Crap, just when I was getting in…flow..
No! I can't be taken out here, this won't be my fate!
I went into a trance like state and didn't even think of my next action, they simply came to me as if I had been repeating them for decades.
I let go of my sword and jumped on top of it, stomping the Qi beast tiger's face away and quickly managed to get hold of my sword as it let go.
"Yeowang Oyeonmu, Fourth Stance!"
I slashed diagonally at the ground infront of me, opening up a crack in the earth that glowed red and spewed out flame. Then, all the cuts in the earth that were there from my previous attacks on the first tiger opened up as well.
Then, the ground itself naturally began to crack, beginning to look like a volcanic eruption was about to take place.
This was now my sovereign territory! This was—
"Yeongyeong Bultang-ui Jibang! (Sovereign's Burning Territory)"
I stepped forward, the cracks in the earth giving me a good foothold to leap horizontal at my target. Putting my blade outfront I yelled out-
"Gwanyang-ui Chimbi"
And pierced straight through the tiger's head, finally putting a stop to this madness.
I turned quickly, seeing if I had been quick enough to have a chance to save my brother, but as I rushed over, I quickly fell too.
There was a stinging paint in my shoulder, and when I looked at to, I saw it had ballooned to the size of a watermelon!
Gah, and I almost forgot the large bruises I had on this shoulder…
Thuk
I fell down next to Yao Kun and lost consciousness
My last few seconds of wakeneds were blurry, but I could see somebody in black robes rushing over to me.
Surely it's not a bandit, right? My luck can't be that bad..