Clack. Clack. Clack.

The sound of wood against wood sounded clearly around the training area as Master Selena and I sparred. She was still definitely out of my league talent-wise, but she slowed herself down considerably out of consideration of my clumsy technique. We’d been at this for nearly a week uninterrupted, and I was beginning to see some real improvement. It helped me build a little confidence. That is until she broke through my guard and whacked the point of my elbow.

“Ow!” I dropped my staff with a curse. That was the third time she’d struck there that day. “Can’t you hit me anywhere else?”

She shrugged. “If you left anything else open, I would. But that’s the easiest thing on you to hit, so that’s what I hit.”

I rubbed my elbow, glaring at her. “Surely that’s not my only opening.”

“Nope,” she said, unconcerned with my anger. “It’s the most obvious.”

I opened my mouth at once to retort, but she held up a hand to stop me. “Turn your body more when you strike. That way, you don’t have to extend your arms as far. Even better, you get more power.”

Deciding not to question the instruction further, I picked my staff back up off the ground and took up my stance. I twisted my body in a rapid motion as if I intended to kick her, but I transferred the force into one end of my staff instead. I could tell the difference at once, of course. I struck with a lot more force, and my form was much better. But she still blocked it without any obvious effort.

“That’s better,” she said with a grin. “Now show me your Serpent Strokes.”

Serpent Strokes was an eight-hit pattern of strikes, starting high and ending low. There was a lot less twirling in this maneuver, and the moves were split between defensive and aggressive stances. You started with two defensive strikes to deflect an opponent’s weapon, then two more strikes to push them back. The final four were aimed at their major joints. Shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. It was designed to neutralize the attacking power of an enemy.

“Not bad,” she commented as I finished the strokes. “Now Crashing Wave.”

Crashing Wave was easier for me, except for the end. You started with one mighty overhead swing to beat down your enemy, then spun to the side for a deadly fast strike on their flank. Once they were debilitated from that crucial attack, you spun to the other side and peppered in a few hits. It all finished with a low sweeping move to knock their legs out before you executed another crushing overhead as they fell. My footwork still left much to be desired, and my sweeping spin was less graceful than it should be.

“You still have a lot of work to do on your stepping,” Selen pointed out. “Weak footwork leads to bad balance and less power.”

“I noticed,” I panted. “It’s the wrestler in me. I keep wanting to plant my feet and overpower my enemy.”

“Not much that can be changed about that quickly,” she said sympathetically. “Habits take a while to form, and are hard to clear out.”

“If you say so,” I said with a sigh. “I wish I had some good habits, but I don’t.”

“You don’t have any bad habits, either,” she said with a laugh. “You expect too much of yourself, Silas.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled. “Can we spar again? I want to sharpen my defense.”

She nodded in agreement, and we began to fight once more. I maintained a defensive stance, doing my best to knock her strokes to the side. I did alright, but the sheer pressure of her momentum forced me to take small steps backward. Trying to slow down her flow of movement, I corralled her to the side as I stepped around in a half-circle. I could see the light of approval in her eyes as she refocused her position.

“Good, good,” she said between contacts. “Direct the flow of my attacks away. Do not let me choose the pace of the combat. Be like the rock, forcing the ocean back.”

I managed it a few more times. Then, trying to catch her off-guard, I switched to an aggressive stance without warning and peppered her guard with half a dozen strokes in rapid succession. She was forced to give a little ground, and I went into Diving Hawk. It was a fast series of powerful strikes originating from above, designed to tire the opponent out. It might have worked if I hadn’t gone a little too far in my exertions. Selena deflected the last stroke with ease, then knocked my knees out with a lightning-fast sweep.

“Ow,” I said again. This time the word was muffled against the padding of the floor. “I thought I had it that time.”

“You nearly did,” Selena commented. “Your problem was that you got a little too eager. You should have noticed right after switching that I’d gained control of the momentum, making Diving Hawk a bad idea. Your form was great, though.”

I groaned as I hoisted myself back off the floor for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Selena’s favorite way of pointing out my flaws seemed to be to sneak in a dirty shot, then lecture me on why she was so much better. My body ached in a dozen different places. We were only halfway through the session so far, and I already wanted to lay down and sleep the pain away.

“Come on,” she chided me. “Show me your Juden.”

Juden was the term that described charging a weapon with aura, both for offense and defense. It was a bit tricker than coating your own body, but it was essentially the same principle. I let my aura swell out and cover the staff. That was the easy part. Then I had to swirl the staff around while maintaining the flow of aura so that my aura covered me from all directions. It was by no means a basic skill, but Selena had insisted I learn it.

“Sometimes,” she had explained. “You will be attacked from all sides, at different levels of force. Concentrating your aura makes the defense stronger, of course, but makes you weak to flanking. With Juden, you get reasonable defense at all angles.”

I finished my last flourish of complex strikes and held my position, pleased to feel that the flow of aura was still smooth and strong. With the staff held back, my feet spread, and my stance strong, I felt a surge of giddiness. Stopping the movements and maintaining balance had always been my weakness. At least I seemed to be getting rid of that.

“Well done,” Selena said, walking around me to study my stance from all angles. “You’re definitely improving.”

“Thank you,” I said, straightening up into a resting stance. “What’s next?”

“Well,” she said slowly. She was clearly collecting her thoughts. “What do you think is your main weakness?”

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I thought over the question. If I had to pick, the obvious answer would be my footwork. But that was too simple. What else was I unsatisfied with? Perhaps my overall defense, but I knew that fixing it would be an unreasonable goal in the short time we had left.

“I feel like my strokes are a little too easy to read,” I finally said. “I can’t help but think I’m telegraphing them a little.”

“That’s certainly true,” Selena said, nodding slightly. “But it really only feels that way because you are sparring against me.”

“So I’m not actually showing my plans?” I asked. “If I fight someone else, I should be alright?”

“Well,” she said slowly. “The only way to know that is for you to actually fight someone. It would be better for you to do that anyway. You’ve only fought me so far, so you’re at risk of memorizing only my style.”

“I assume that’s a bad thing?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “What’s worse, you’re practicing with the wrong weapon.”

“I thought that the staff was the closest to a scythe?”

“It is, but it’s not a scythe. Your actual techniques, which you’ll most likely have to invent, will be very different.”

Huh. That was a surprise, I thought to myself. But it shouldn’t have been, right? I know what you’re thinking. A staff and a scythe are two different weapons. Well, turns out that you’re right. But I’m still glad I’d taken the time to learn how to use a staff. Even after I discovered and connected with my ancestor, and learned how to properly use a scythe, Master Selena’s teachings had still come in handy many times. Even to this day.