Chapter 21: The Three Basic Skills

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Good. Yin Ling said I need to train your stamina. Are you sure you are okay if we go there by our feet?"

"I'll be alright! Beside, I have you by my side. Hehehe"

"That's my girl. Let's go."

The two leaving the manor before the sun is at the top of the sky. They are leaving earlier than yesterday. In order to keep her energy, Xin Suan prohibited Ai Lie to do the chores. But as soon as they enter the forest that the path keeps going uphill, Ai Lie couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hosh... Hosh...", She takes a break.

"Feeling tired?", Xin Suan stops his feet. He is already a few steps ahead in front of her.

"I-I can still continue... W-wait a minute..."

"Sure.", He walks to where Ai Lie stands, "I actually wanted to carry you, but I can't. I have to train your energy too."

"Want some drink?", He summons a drinking container with some water inside.

"Ah... Thank you...", She drinks it immediately, "Phew! Okay, let's go!", Her energy is recharged after gulping the fresh water.

"Tell me if you need more."

"Okay!"

This physical training feels like hell to her. Back then, when she was a student, she always suck at sport classes. She wasn't good with with balls, so she can't do volley, soccer, basketball, or dodge ball. Unexceptionally running, she wasn't good with regulating her stamina and her breathing. The only thing she was good at is just calisthenics.

Now finally the two have arrived at the empty lot in the middle of the wood. She feels very exhausted, and sweaty. She drinks a lot, until the drinking container is already running out of water.

"Hosh... Hosh... Let me... Take a break.", She immediately laid on the grass.

"Sure. I'll be waiting for you.", Xin Suan sits beside her.

"Does it feels hard? Should I cancel Xiu Zhen's request?"

"Who... is Xiu Zhen...", She took a pause, still processing that name in her brain, "Ah... Is that the Lord Water's name?"

"Hmm.", He nodded.

"Oh... No need to... I'll try my best, Your Majesty... I'll try my best to help you, to help this realm..."

"You are very patriotic. Very well, I'll try to give you more energy. Open your mouth."

He lowers his upper body and lands his lips on hers. His unraveled long black hair is brushing her cheek. This time, the kiss is not for romantic affair, but he is giving her a taste of his power. A warm wave from Xin Suan flowing through from her mouth to her whole body. In an instant, she feels fresh, as if she has just awake from a deep sleep.

"Feeling better?"

"Wow! Is it one of your magic?", She immediately gets up.

"I'm just sharing my power to your body."

"You... You are truly amazing!!", She claps her hands as if Xin Suan has made an achievement.

"But I can't give you too much. My power is maleficious. I'm afraid it will stain your puritiness."

"Okay! I understand! Thank you, Ge Ge...", She smiles widely.

"Oh, finally you called me Ge Ge."

"I'll call you that way but only when we are alone. Hehehe."

"Okay, Mei Mei.", He teased her.

"W-what!? Don't call me that way!!"

"Why not? You are so small and cute. You are younger than me anyway, Mei Mei.", He bumps his shoulder to her.

"S-stop that!! O-or else I won't call you Ge Ge anymore!!"

"Alright, alright. You really are cute.", He pats her head softly and gives her a mischievous grin, "Now, let's begin the practice before the sun sets.", He stands on his feet.

"O-okay!", She immediately stands up.

"Here, take your sword.", He summons it out of nowhere.

'Badump!', Her heart beats faster as soon as her hand take that sword from him. She could see a her own face reflection from the steel of the sword. She is afraid of making mistakes just like yesterday, and Xin Suan will scolds her just like what Yin Ling's did.

"The way you hold the hilt is wrong. If you are holding it that way, it will make you lose your grip easier.", He corrects Ai Lie's hand.

"And your feet. You should be more steady. Put the weight of your body on your feet.", He corrects her feet's posture.

"L-Like this?", She tried to follow his words.

"Good. Now the way you swing the sword.", He holds her grip with his cold large palm, "Just like what Yin Ling said, you should give more power to your arm. One hand might be hard for you, let's try to use both of your hands to make it more steady.", He pulls another hand of hers and leading her palm to grip the hilt of the sword.

"Swing it this way.", 'swoosh!', they both swing the sword together, slashing through the dried leaves that was floating in the middle of the air, readily to fall to the ground. Xin Suan is being gentle towards her small hands, not like Yin Ling who is very rude.

"Woah!! We did it!", She feels excited.

"See? It will be easier for you to practice with both of your hands first. Next step, you will try to use one hand. The sword dance usually using only one hand, so keep up your good work."

"Ah! Okay, thank you for your advice, Ge Ge!", She smiles at him widely.

"I'll give you a reward for your hard work."

"Really? What's that?", She sounds very excited and curious.

"Up to you. You may ask me anything, but after we have done the practice, okay?"

"Okay!", She nodded a few times.

Miraculously, Xin Suan teaches her far far better than Yin Ling. He puts a lot of efforts to train Ai Lie, so she will get the feeling of using sword properly. He isn't only teaching her how to swing the sword, he even shows her a bit of the dance movements, so that she won't be surprised when the Lord Water trains her. And Ai Lie gets better too, she didn't fell at all.

"Ai, after this you will learn how to swing with one hand. Remember to give all of your power on your left arm. The Sacred Sword Dance represents the light defeating the dark, so the Sword Maiden has to put a lot of her efforts on her dance perfomance, as if she really wants to win her solo battle."

"O-okay!! Huft...", She is preparing herself.

"Here, let me help you first.", He holds her grip, "Because we need only your left hand, your right hand can take a rest. Now, hold the hilt a bit stronger."

"L-Like this?"

"Give it more power.", He clenches her grip tighter than before, "And now, swing!

'Swoosh!', The two once again swing the sword together. Whenever Xin Suan helps her to swing the sword, her heart feels calmer, because she knows he will lend his strength to move the sword powerfully. But that won't long last, sooner or later she will have to do it alone, which means she has to swing it by her own power.

"Good girl, you really are doing better than yesterday! That makes me a better tutor than Yin Ling, huh?"

"Hehehe of course, you are, Ge Ge!", she smiles widely.

The moments when the ghost fire kidnapped her flashes in her mind. She remembered how she was cornered, wounded, even fell to the ground and lost her axe from her hand. All of the sudden, she couldn't protect herself anymore, and only hoping for Xin Suan's arrival.

"Ge Ge... I think... I think I need to learn martial arts."

"Huh? Why are you asking that out of the blue?"

"I need to learn how to defend myself... I know I'm weak... But I don't like the way I was cornered by the fire ghost. I was really hopeless, and I couldn't do anything except waiting for you to save me."

"I see.", He released his hand from her grip. He walks in front of her, and he puts a serious face.

"Are you sure you want to learn martial arts? That wouldn't be easy for a beginner like you, Ai. The things that I teached you is only for the dance, different from what you ask."

"Yeah! I want to learn... Even just the basic theory will be fine for me."

"Very well. What kind of weapon you want to be mastered at? Or instead you prefer to use your fists?"

"Ahh... Of course not with bare hands. My body is very weak as you can see... Hmm, this sword would be fine."

"Very well. I'll explain the three basic skills of martial arts.", He raised three of his fingers, "First, the basic attack. Second, the basic defend. Third, your concentration. The last one is very important, and Xiu Zhen will also teach you. Now, which one do you want to me to teach you first?"

"Uhh... I don't really understand... But maybe basic attack?"

"Fine.", 'Swoosh!', suddenly a human dummy made of wood appears in front of her.

"Because right now you are living in the demon's realm, I'll warn you one thing: demons like me can't easily die, even if you've already slashed their heads off from their body. We can easily grow them back."

'Gulp!', Ai Lie feels nervous just by hearing the last sentence.

"You must be curious, then how demons like me can die? The answer is easy, when we don't have anymore energy left to regenerate ourselves, which means, you should attack us as brutally as you can. But there is another condition, if you have a high spiritual magic like me, you can easily stop the regenerations, and in an instant, your enemy will die. But you are just a normal human, not a priestess or someone with high level of cultivation."

"Ah... So it's impossible for me to defend myself then...", She feels disappointed.

"Nope. You are wrong. However, eventhough you are a normal human, you can gain your spiritual magic by your own. Humans have a higher rank of realm than us, so it's highly possible you could slain your enemies in one strike if you have enough spiritual magic."

"Ah, I see... So is there still a chance for me to beat the demons? And how can I train to increase my spiritual magic?"

"It's simple, by meditating. But it still won't be enough if you don't train your body too. This is my first time teaching a human since my death, I'll try to make you the best swordswoman in this world."

"Ge Ge... That's too much. You know really well how weak I am...", She feels a bit insulted.

"Who knows, Ai, that you could be stronger than us? You remember that I told you the asuras are similar to gods, right? I can give you a blessing to make you stronger.", He crossed his arms.

"... Really?", She couldn't believe what he said. Of course, someone as weak as Ai Lie who is suck on every physical activities, even weaker than her human friends, will never be a strong person, let alone stronger than the asuras.

"Do you want to try? Come and pray. I'll give you my blessing.", He waves his hand, asking Ai Lie to walk near him.

"... Okay.", She is unsure about his words. For her, it's nonsense, turning her from a normal highschool girl to be a swordswoman just because she prayed.

"Go on and try. Pray to me."

She kneels and shut her eyes. Both of her palms join each other. Xin Suan put one of his palm on her head. She tried to focusing her mind before asking her wish to him. When her mind is at ease, she starts to pray.

'I wish... I wish to have my own power. A power that strong enough for me to protect the others, and to protect myself. Please, grant me my wish, Your Highness, the Mighty Lord Xin Suan'

'CRINGGG!!', His crimson eyes glowing so bright. A red aura is covering her whole body, and the wind blows heavily. The dry leaves that were once piled up on the ground is now flying everywhere around them.

"I bestow upon you my blessing. I will grant you your wish, your own power that strong enough to defend yourself, even more to defend the others. Be wise on using your own strength, my child.", His voice changed, it became colder and deeper than before, as if he is controlled by someone else. But in reality, no one controlled his mind. It's just himself, playing his role as an asura, who has the power as strong as the gods, strong enough to grant other people's wishes.

Ai Lie feels her body become lighter. The red aura that was covering her body is now disappear, seeped into her whole body. Her mind is at the peaceful state, she didn't even try to open her eyes, to see what is actually happening on her.

"Open your eyes."

"Huh..?", she slowly stands on her feet. She didn't see anything different from her, but she knows that something inside her body is a little bit changing.

"Now, go take a look on this dummy.", Xin Suan walks to the wooden human dummy that he summoned a while ago.

'knock knock!', "This dummy is hard enough, this was made with a high quality of wood. Try to slash this dummy."

"W-what? That's impossible..."

"Don't worry. Believe in yourself, Ai Lie. My blessing means nothing if you don't even believe in my power."

"Very well... Let me try. But I'll use both of my hands, is that okay? I think I'm still not good enough to swing with one hand only..."

"As you wish."

"Okay... Huft....", She stands in front of the dummy. She shuts her eyes, preparing to cut the wood into two pieces. She is still unsure about herself, but deep in her heart, she has a will to be stronger than she was. She has to protect herself, she must not rely on Xin Suan too much. She is concentrating her mind, put her weight on her feet, and grip the hilt of the sword tightly.

"Hyaah!!", 'Thud!', The head of the wooden dummy immediately fell to the ground. She feels like she was cutting an air, nothing block her sharp sword. And now her first mission is finally done, all of it thanks to Xin Suan's mighty blessing.

"WHOAA!! I DID IT!! GE GE, I DID IT!!", She immediately runs in front of Xin Suan and throws the sword to the ground. She raised both of her palms, asking for a high five, but Xin Suan doesn't get what she meant.

"What do you think? Is that enough to make you believe in yourself?", He holds both of her hands.

"That was soooooo stunning!!! You are really really reallyyyy awesome!!! I'm so glad I met you!!" , She hugs him tightly.

"...", He couldn't reply anything but a smile on his face. Hearing the words 'so glad I met you' bring a bliss in his heart.

"I dunno what will happen if I didn't meet someone as mighty as you... I mean, I can't believe I could chop a wood with my own hands that easy!"

"Me too, I'm glad that I get the chance to live with you, Ai Lie.", His voice is somehow serious, as if he really means it.

"Ge Ge... If you are as mighty as this, why don't you try to clean the Qiong with your power?"

"Unfortunately that's not as easy as it seems. The Qiong is infinitely produced at the middle area of this realm, we called it the Demon's Lair. It's more like a portal that connects this realm to the lower realm, Hell."

"Ah! So the hell is connected to this realm?"

"Yeah. There are so many trapped souls, tortured inside it, of course it's their punishments before they are allowed to crawl up to the higher ranks. But their cries, despairs, and sorrows bring a great misfortune to this realm. In addition, that portal couldn't be sealed away. The former asura's king has ever tried to close it, in result, he was cursed until his death."

"Oh I see... The former king? So that means the king before you?"

"Hmm."

"Woah... I really want to know more about this world, and about you, Your Majesty."

"... Look, you are calling me with that title again."

"Oops, sorry, I'm still not used to it... Hehehe."

"Someday, I'll bring you to travel around this world. Are you willing to join me?"

"Hmm! Of course.", She nodded a few times.

"Well, the sun is almost set. Your training has done in a very good result. Now, tell me what you want for your reward."

"Hmm... I can ask you anything, right?"

"Yes. But right now, I can't give you anything too big. I've just give you my blessing, and I need a cooldown before granting another wish."

"Oh, I'm sorry... I shouldn't ask you too much."

"It's not much. I just need to take a break. Tell me, what do you want?"

"Nope.", She shooked her head and released her embrace, "I don't need anything. Having you by my side is already a blessing and a reward for me. Thank you so much, Ge Ge.", She smiles widely. The more Xin Suan stares at her smiling face, he realised that she has a dimple at her right cheek. For him she is very beautiful, innocent, sweet, and cute.

"What a kind hearted girl... Well then, I'll still give you a reward.", He throws a soft kiss on her lips, "I hope that will do."

"Hehehe. That's a worthy reward.", She is blushing, "Let's go back home, Ge Ge."