V1 CHAPTER 4: TRAINING THE BRICK

Meixing sat down on the bed, with the sword on her lap.

"What do you mean free you?" she said to the sword. "I already freed you."

"No, you took me out of the well, you didn't free me. I’m still trapped within this sword."

"How would I free you?"

"I don't know."

"Who trapped you?"

"My friends… my enemies."

"But you said I would die if I do."

“I said you may die. Just as you may die when you cross the road but trust me, it will be worth it.”

The voice laughed. "This is why I love kids! You are all so simple to deal with."

"I'm not a kid!" she said. "I’m 15, nearly a woman! My Gran Mama says I'm marrying age."

"Well whatever, Kid! If I am to help you, we cannot waste any time. So I'll need 2 things from you: a map of the surrounding area and the number of demons that attacked last night."

She nodded. "I'll get right on that!"

By the time she had gathered everything the sword requested, it was already night time. Finding out from soldiers how many demons attacked was difficult, as they did not want to give her the time of day and only after incessant grovelling and begging did they give her the information.

She had to trace the map in the councillors meeting when the council members had cleared out, which meant hustling some ink and paper.

When she returned home, her grandmother was sleeping. She fetched the sword from under the bed, making sure not to wake her, before making her way to a different room of the house where set up the collected paper, quill and ink.

"Alright. Here is the map," she said, holding the sword and pointing at the paper with her other hand.

"What the hell is this?" The voice shouted. "I told you to bring me a map! Not a poor excuse for an arts project."

"I did the best I could." she rolled her eyes.

"You may as well have done NOTHING!"

"I'll tell you what I drew! Geez!"

Meixing explained the meaning of the squiggly lines and shapes on the paper before them.

"Now, let me teach you something." The voice said. "Gecko demons like rocky and dark areas. Much like those mountains to the east. If those demons were a Scouting troop then the main force is definitely there." The voice of the sword said. “You said there were 4, so there should be a small force not an army."

"Lying demon!" Meixing spat.

"Considering there are 4 small villages between there and here. They will attack them first."

"Why? I thought they'd just attack us."

"Demons would prefer to face a town like this on a full stomach of humans. That's when they're at their strongest."

"So how long will it take them to get here at their strongest?"

"It won’t be 3 days. It will take them a year."

"A year!" she said happily. "That gives us a lot of time! Dumb demon was bluffing!"

"You fool! It's not much!" The voice of the sword said. "Going from 3 days to a year only changes our chances from zero to slim. We have little time. If you're going to get strong enough, you will not rest for a year."

"What do you mean?" she said. "Last time you just did that thing and you beat that demon easily."

"I can't always do that. I have little spirit energy left. I wouldn’t be able to maintain that stance. You need to train and become stronger if you want to stand a chance."

"Train? Fine, I'll do it."

"Get ready, for it will not be easy. However, there is one thing of importance that you must do if we will have any chance of winning."

Meixing gulped and leaned forward. "What?" she said in a scared voice.

"Please, don't ever try to draw... ever again! Spare the world your crappy art!"

The next day, Meixing walked some ways from the town on a lonely field. This would guarantee her some privacy. The sword was wrapped in the same white cloth.

Sitting down, she unwrapped it. "Okay, no one should be able to disturb us here." She said as she touched the blade.

"You realise you were being followed, right?"

"I was? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We weren't in direct contact." The voice in the sword said. "Anyways, seems you were able to lose him. You must be real idiot to have such dumb luck."

"Thanks... I think." she said.

"Now, I have been scanning you while you slept."

"You... scanned me... while I slept?" she hugged herself and shivered. "I feel violated."

"Calm down! It's nothing like that!"

"Than what is it like? What's scanning?"

"Widen Awareness Stance or scanning for short. It's a stance that allows me to spread awareness away from my body or the sword in this case and have it act my senses."

"Oh? What did you find when you scanned me?"

"I found that you are a brick."

"Wow, that sounds real strong!" she said while flexing her arm muscles which were as flat as a board.

"It’s not. It's the direct opposite of strong... the extreme opposite of strong, in fact!"

"Oh." she said sadly.

"Bricks have low spiritual energy and most of their acupoints are either closed or clogged by impurities."

She deflated at hearing that.

"But not to worry. Most humans are bricks so I've dealt with a few in my day. I have a way to help you."

"Really?"

"The question now is whether you'll survive it."