Getting up and leaving Sigmir’s cuddly embrace was difficult, a true test of conviction and willpower. For maybe five minutes, I struggled, snuggling into her while remembering that I would have to hurry if I wanted to take a shower before heading to training with Mrs. Wu. Finally, knowing that I would have to skip breakfast, I gave her a gentle kiss and got up, shifting into my Hallow as soon as I cleared the bed. Once inside, I triggered the logout and left Mundus behind.

Opening the capsule and standing up once again made me appreciate just how strange the capsule-technology was, and how comfortable. Normally, I would think that after lying in mostly the same position for some twelve to fourteen hours, I would feel stiff and sore all over. But I wasn’t, instead I felt like I had just gotten up from a comfortable sleep, ready to face the day, even if it was early afternoon. Even hunger was merely a slight twinge instead of the growling stomach one might expect after a long session. A quick look at the wall-clock told me that no, I didn’t even have time to fix that part, not if I wanted to be on time for training, so I quickly stripped off on the way to the bedroom, throwing on some clothes before grabbing an apple and two small water-bottles before heading out.

Ultimately, I just managed to get to training on time, eating my apple on the way and drinking the water, but I managed. Changing was done almost as quickly as dressing and, maybe two minutes before the appointed time, I was on the mat, with Mrs. Wu joining me.

After a short greeting and bow, me bowing quite a bit deeper, we started, first with the warm-up before moving on to forms and, later, sparring. During warm-up, my stomach realised that the apple was all I was planning to eat, or rather had time to eat, and began to make its displeasure known, with soft grumbles whenever I relaxed for a moment. I thought Mrs. Wu had noticed, there was a small twitch on her mostly impenetrable pokerface, but if she did, she didn’t pay it any mind.

I was able to finish the warm-up but once we moved on to the forms, I felt my energy levels flag, especially once the forms got more difficult and required precise muscle-control. But still, I endured, knowing that Mrs. Wu had thought enough of me to invite me to train with her. Failing her was something I didn’t intend to do, not if I could help it.

“Good, you seem to have kept up your training-regime. Now, let’s see how much you have learned. We will use the practise blades today.” she announced, once we had moved through a difficult set of forms. I felt reminded, again, that I was barely managing to keep up with a woman old enough to be my mother, maybe even grandmother but no matter what, she seemed to move with effortless grace where I had to strain and stretch.

We both took up our practise weapons, short, wide blades with a solid fist-guard, before moving across the mat from each other and bowing before starting to move. I knew that Mrs. Wu preferred to wait, to flow around my attacks and strike back, so I decided to play the waiting game, not committing to any serious attack, only short feints and stabs, nothing that she could capitalise on.

For what felt like hours but couldn’t be more than a minute or two, I tried to get her to move, to do more than slightly shift out of my way or use one of her blades to alter the path of one of mine by more than a bit, anything that I could use to break through her slippery, flowing defense. But there was nothing, no opening, not even a feigned one, nothing but her inscrutiable mien, looking back at me.

As I moved, circling around her, trying to catch her in the movement, I felt myself flag further, my mind slowly calming down, not because I felt calm or serene but because my body was simply lacking the energy to keep it working. Suddenly, she closed in, catching me just a tad out of position, forcing me to parry, pushing my blades out of position for the follow-up attack. A searing line of pain cut across my upper arm when the solid practise-sword hit, not strong enough to injure but bruising more than my ego.

“Come, don’t think that your enemies won’t use your weakness against you. Push through the pain, the weakness, and force your body to obey.” Mrs Wu ordered, her voice sharp and snapping. For a second, I considered ignoring her words, to keep up what had worked in previous sparring sessions, but after a few steps, I realised I simply could not. Without fuel, my body would only get slower, taking away the one advantage I had, that I was quick and nimble. Without that, Mrs Wu could score on me with ease, simply due to her near perfect body-control and vast experience.

As I felt my world grow narrow, darkness obscuring everything but Mrs Wu, I started to move in, my mind slowly fading, letting go of unnecessary notions. For once, my mind felt quiet, no patterns to be sought, no noise, only a single purpose. My blades collided with her defense, the attack sharp and furious like a winter storm, a memory from Mundus flashing into my mind, for just a split second. Dancing with the wind, becoming the storm. For a second, I felt my mind reach for Darkness-Magic, trying to let it bind Mrs. Wu and there was a glorious moment when I thought I succeeded, only to have the darkness consume me.

When I got back to myself, the first sense returning was smell. For a moment, I simply floated there, in formless, comfortable darkness, perceiving nothing but the familiar smell of filled dumplings. Hearty, with a hint of soy-sauce and for a moment, I wondered where I was. Slowly, my mind started to supply information and as it did my senses returned as well, the softness of the surface I was lying on, the warmth of dry air brushing over my face, sharply contrasted by a cool, wet cloth lying over my forehead. Soon, my ears joined in and I heard the clanking of kitchenware and the soft, almost silent, movements of a person, mostly cloth shifting and the tapping of feet.

Finally, I managed to open my eyes, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling, a wood-paneling formed from many small pieces.

“Ah, you are awake.” the familiar voice of Mrs Wu supplied the information that allowed me to ascertain that the ceiling, with its four-hundred forty-eight pieces belonged to their appartement. The couch-back next to me added the information that I lying on their couch. It was an interesting, geometric pattern that made me want to trace it, to look for a greater pattern. Pushing my mind past it’s instinctive need, I focused on Mrs Wu’s voice, computing what she had said.

“Yes, I assume I passed out?” I asked, trying to figure out if I would pass out again if I tried to get into a seating position.

“You did. But you passed a test of mine. I assume you forgot to eat, or simply missed it?” she asked, sounding completely matter-of-factly.

“I didn’t have the time, the error was mine. Better planning is required next time.” I admitted, knowing that I had made a mistake, no matter how she wanted to frame it.

“In a way, it was an error. But at the same time, I think you learned something. Your enemies won’t wait until you are at your best, so learn to fight at your worst. To get past the limitations of your body and end your fight.” she explained and I determined that I should be able to get into a sitting position. Carefully pushing myself up, I looked over to where I heard Mrs Wu, seeing her work at a stove with a small pot on it.

“But then I failed, didn’t I? I didn’t finish the fight.” I wondered, not wanting to contradict her, merely wanting to understand.

“Oh, but you did. If what we had used were sharp blades, we wouldn’t be talking. Even with the training-blades, I will be feeling that hit for quite a while.” explained and turned around, looking towards me. Just from the way she carefully and slowly moved, I was able to guess that she was in considerable pain, her left arm held carefully near her body.

“You came after me with intent to kill, without hesitation or mercy. If you ever get into a serious fight, not on the mat but out there, where your body is on the line, I want you to remember today, to remember the feeling. It will serve you well.” she continued and for a moment I felt terrified. But then I remembered a line from the book she had given me, that mercy was for those strong enough to prevail. Neither Mrs Wu nor I were physically impressive species, if we had to fight, the fight would be over once we were grappled. The best way to prevent that was to end the fight before it could happen.

“But now, you managed to pass the test and I’m proud that you did. However, I would be failing you as a teacher if I send you back out there without making sure that you are able to get home.” she told me and spooned the content of her pot into two steaming bowls, carrying them over to me, handing me a bowl of dumpling soup.

“Eat, it will help silence the monster you keep in your stomach.” she told me with a smile, sitting across the table and starting on her own bowl.