Chương 17: "You Dare to Kill My People!”

Ch 17 "You Dare to Kill My People!"

"Ha!" The cold steel of Amber's spear made a satisfying whistle through the crisp morning air as she practiced her thrust. It was still the only thing Dante had taught her about the spear, after all.

"Ha!" Another repetition of menacing steel slicing the air erupted out. Amber Fang had been drilling spear thrusts at almost every spare moment since joining in on the Lucky Tiger Caravan's journey. Any other off-duty time was spent cultivating, trying to glean information from her family's paper book, or striving to improve her flows on her Blazing Tiger stances to prepare herself for more Saint Tiger blood.

The rest of the caravan camp was filled with the morning activities of merchants and porters for a day of business. Caravan guards were mostly present, with some on active duty while others relaxed.

"Not bad," Amber heard a calm voice coming from behind her. She let her stance relax as she turned to see the tall guard captain walking up.

"Thank you, sir!" Amber said happily with a slight bow.

"Better than before anyway," Dante said.

"Today, I'm going to teach you the second fundamental spear movement." Amber's eyes sparkled.

"I'm ready Captain!" After doing nothing but thrusts for her spear practice, any type of new practice was welcomed.

"The first movement you learned, the thrust, focuses on being direct, penetrating, and decisive. Which leads us to…." the guard captain lowered into a solid stance that gave off an imposing feel.

"The sweep," Dante said, his voice cutting through the morning air with characteristic precision. He lifted his spear horizontally, holding it at its balance point. The Guard Captain moved with fluid grace, drawing a horizontal arc through the air. The spear severed the air sharply, tracing a perfect half circle before returning to the guard position. Amber felt her hair sway gently from the wind of the sweep as she absorbed the technique.

"This is a powerful tool for both offense and defense. It follows the principles of slashing, striking, and redirecting." She watched intently as Dante shifted his stance, wanting to memorize every word and movement.

"The low sweep," he began to demonstrate, dropping into a deeper stance as his spear sharply cut through the air at shin height.

"Used to disrupt an opponent's footwork, to sweep aside a low thrust, or to attack the legs directly." He performed the movement again, slower this time, for demonstration purposes.

"The hips rotate and carry force. The power doesn't come from my arms. It comes from my center, from my whole body turning as one piece." He straightened, then flowed into a different form.

"The mid sweep." His spear carved a horizontal line at chest height, the movement quicker and tighter.

"This is for for creating openings in their guard. You can use it defensively to deflect an incoming attack, or offensively to disrupt their weapon or stance. It is also excellent for controlling space and creating distance." He gave a few sharp flicks in horizontal arcs of varying degrees. Amber tried to commit every detail to memory. The way his weight shifted, how his grip adjusted subtly between movements, the precise angle of the spear shaft. All of it was of the utmost importance to her.

"The high sweep," Dante's spear suddenly accelerated upward in a rising arc, "An imposing strike that demands a response. Good for creating an opening. Starting from a low angle with an aggressive angle can make it difficult to respond to." With a flourish the tall guard captain brought his spear back to his side.

"There many types of sweep, but the basic fundamentals are the same. Do you understand?" Amber was carefully replaying the movements in her mind and moved them to her memory. She felt like she was trying not to spill an extremely full cup.

"I do!" She tried to say it with full belief as she stood taller.

"Demonstrate." Amber raised her spear. She gripped the dark wood and tried to bring her thoughts into control.

"Low sweep!" She swung her spear at an imaginary opponent's leg. It felt slower than she expected and clumsy.

"Mid sweep!" This time she slashed at an imaginary chest, intending to smash through a weapon's guard. Fuck your sword, she thought. This movement felt more comfortable and natural than the low sweep.

"High sweep!" Her hips pivoted the way she had just seen her captain demonstrate, as she flicked the spear up in an arc. It flew out at an awkward angle and it felt poorly controlled.

"Again," Dante spoke. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Amber ran through them again and again. Dante hadn't said whether she was good or bad, but she was beginning to look smoother and more controlled than when she started.

"Not bad," he nodded.

"Remember to focus on the underlying movements and principles of the sweep rather then strictly practicing these three moves."

"Yes captain!" Amber said loudly through puffed breaths.

"Very good. Keep drilling the basics. Technique can never replace experience, however. Wait here." She quelled her curiosity as she watched the man leave and returned to drilling her spear sweep basics. Soon enough, the tall guard captain returned with a younger boy, who looked on the verge of becoming a man. He was holding two long… They weren't quite spears, she noticed. They had bags that appeared to be filled with sand tied to the ends.

"Guard Amber," Dante addressed her, "this is Little Wing."

"Just Wing to you," he told Amber. His brown hair was kept short, over leather armor with a few strategic steel plates.

"He's our youngest guard, but the boy is very promising. You're going to spar together today." He tossed Amber a practice spear which she easily caught and traded for her steel blade spear.

"Spar? Don't you mean teach?" The young man said, trying but failing to hide a scoff in front of his superior.

"I get a raise for doing this on my day off, right?"

"Keep it light. Sparring is not a fight. No other techniques than spear techniques. No Qi either," Dante said, ignoring his subordinate's question entirely. He turned to leave the two to their practice.

"I am Amber," the girl clasped her hands without dropping the spear and bowed slightly. The boy returned the gesture with a bow that barely counted as a bow, then looked at her with a puzzled expression. She was so young. Shouldn't she be in the house sewing or cooking?

"So you're the new guard I've been hearing about. I have to say, I'm still a bit in shock a little girl joined us."

"This one thanks you in advance," Amber remained respectful, though a small bit of disdain was showing on her face.

"Just come at me. Act like your life is at stake," the boy smiled.

"But, Captain Dante said in sparring-""Hmm, you think you can spar with a seasoned warrior like myself?" The boy looked prideful enough for two warriors.

"Just let me see what you can do first."

"I hope this young guard will not let you down," she kept her words respectful. She was ready to let her spear do the talking. Amber took a deep breath and settled into her stance, practice spear held at the ready. Wing stood across from her, his posture relaxed and casual, almost dismissive. If there was one thing she had learned fighting through life and death, it was that it was better to take the initiative. She moved first, launching forward with a thrust. The one technique she'd practiced thousands of times.

The sand-weighted spear tip drove toward Wing's center. He sidestepped with minimal effort, his own practice spear coming up to deflect hers with a lazy sweep. Amber was shocked at the ease and minimal force it took to change the direction of her attack.

"Too direct," Wing commented.

"You telegraph everything." Amber bit her tongue.

"Ya, ya, ya!" She drilled forward with a flurry of 3 more thrusts, giving extra care to be direct and precise as she had practiced. He lazily swatted away all 3 while yawning as Amber's irritation only grew. He didn't even deflect with any sort of technique so much as he swatted her thrusts like house flies. Amber knew she had to switch gears fast to catch him off guard. This time she attempted what she had just learned.

She swung a horizontal sweep at the boy at mid guard, but her timing was off, and her body's alignment was less than masterful. Wing's spear slipped into her range as her unpracticed sweep overextended. His spear bag tip came at a blurring speed that Amber doubted she could have responded to without her life or death experiences. She barely managed to pull back in time and dodge.

"Better," he said, though his tone suggested otherwise.

"Your speed is a bit surprising. Again." They continued like this for what felt like an eternity. Amber would attack, Wing would counter. She'd try to implement her new knowledge, and Wing would exploit every gap in her technique, every moment of hesitation, every imperfect stance. A low sweep that came too slow. Deflected. A thrust that overextended. Punished with a tap to her ribs. A high sweep with poor weight distribution. Easily avoided and countered.

She did her best to avoid using Qi and showing him who's stronger. Sweat began to bead on Amber's forehead despite the cool morning air. Her arms ached from the unfamiliar weight of the practice spear, heavier than her regular weapon with its sand-filled tip. Several spots on her body ached from repeated blows as bruises formed, but she refused to stop, refused to show weakness.

"Your form isn't the absolute worst," Wing admitted after deflecting another thrust.

"But you're a long way from holding a spear on the battle field." The young guard girl had wanted to retort about her experience, but she quickly bit her tongue once again. Those had been life or death struggles where she'd relied on raw determination and her cultivation advantage. Not to mention her previous opponents had all seemed to wildly swing their weapons with emotion rather than technique. Fighting Ember who moved with poise and grace was far different from fighting someone like Wild Hog.

"Your first bad habit," his spear thrust out and struck her shoulder, making her stumble a few steps.

"You take far too long to get back into guard position after you strike. You're begging to be hit." It was clearly a light hit, but the weight of the blow to her ego seemed all too heavy to the girl who had never been so outclassed before.

"Second bad habit," he held his spear to his side as he lazily dodged a few thrusts, as if to prove a point.

"You're too straight forward with your strikes. You're fast, but that means fuck all if I know exactly where you'll hit." She felt a growing demon in her ear, telling her to use her Qi and increase her speed and power. She quelled it quickly as she brought her focus back to executing her techniques.

"Third," He held his spear behind him, then quickly flourished a spin that made Amber's eyes dart, trying to anticipate where the strike would come from.

"Your footwork is a complete mess!" His spear came quickly with a low angled sweep. Amber's foot seemed to disappear under her as suddenly she was on her back with a hard thud, looking at the sky.

"Ah, too hard? I'm sorry. I really should be more gentle with a lady," he said with a subtle smile.

"No, I'm absolutely fine!" The girl said, hopping up and brushing the dirt off. Her face had a smile but her clenched brow revealed a bit more.

"You have good spirit at least!" The boy smirked. There was a sudden shift in the energy of the camp as the two noticed the bustling environment becoming a group of turned heads and men gathering at one edge of the courtyard encampment.

"Newbie. Let's go check it out. We're on duty after all!" Wing told his sparring partner. They ran to see what was happening.

"You dare to kill my people! Bring your leader! Before this young master becomes impatient!" A young man with long dark hair and fine emerald green robes stood at the source of the commotion. He couldn't be much older than Ember. He had a few men behind him. Shit! Amber thought to herself. She had recognized one there, a bald and ugly looking man with tattoos around his neck. He was the one who had tried to rob her and Lulu with his two men. Her palm began to burn around her mark.

It seemed trouble had come to find her.