FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 32

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After eating a very satisfactory breakfast, I spent the rest of the day training with Aceh. Our training was much more varied than normal, probably due to the fact we had more time than normal since I wasn't going to any of my other lessons.

We ran through the motions, the most basic type of training, of each of the stances and moves I had been taught; Aceh correcting me occasionally if my form poor. It had been a while since we had done that.

As I went through the motions I was able to let my mind wander slightly, most of the moves were now effortless, the moves and motions having become muscle memory. As I ran through each stance I thought back to the times I remembered using them.

After a while I realised that while I had favoured the first stance at the beginning of my training, a defensive form, I was now favouring the more offence stances more often when I fought. Tigers Palm focus was to switch stances, being able to remain fluid and be able to react to any situation, but I always found myself defaulting to one stance or another during my training. I found myself beginning to favour the fifth stance, it was the primary fighting style I had used when fighting the three warriors.

Then he ran me through some exercises. My father had apparently had some equipment made at Aceh's request. There was lifting weights, training dummies and tall wooden posts that I apparently had to balance on while completing various tasks; including a sparring session, which was thankfully more gentle than our usual sparring sessions.

But gentle or not it was not fun at all. I fell on my tail a few times, Aceh needing to give me little more than a nudge to make me fall or stagger. The posts were only a foot across, so a single misstep was all it was going to take. It was more balance training, just like when Aceh had made me ride standing atop the wagons when we travelled.

After a break and a bite to eat we sparred, on the floor this time. Needless to say I got my tail handed to me several times over. While Tigers Palm had definitely become much more natural to me, I was no match for Aceh who essentially knew each move I would make, before I even did it. While Tigers Palm followed a limited set of moves, a little ingenuity was not unacceptable depending on the circumstances, but the limit number of moves meant that Aceh would know my next three moves with relative certainty.

And on top of that, he had still only taught me the first six of the seven stances, so I wasn't even fighting him with a full arsenal. Not to mention that Aceh rarely used Tigers Palm himself, he used several different styles that he hadn't shown me beyond using them against me. I assumed that was to get me used to fighting against different fighting styles, but that didn't make me feel any better. It was time, I was ready, to learn the last stance!

"Master?" I asked, breathless from our last exchange while he still seemed as fresh as when we had began. He turned his head and his ears perked towards me. "When will you teach me the final stance?"

"..."

"Master?" I tried to stay polite, I was asking him for something, and Aceh never did anything without reason. Even if it was not teaching me something specific.

"You are not ready."

"What!?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. But since I had already said it I may as well keep going. "I've been busting my tail, doing anything and everything that you asked me to! You haven't taught me anything new since we came to Zangar!" Aceh just stared at me silently. "What makes you think I'm not ready?"

"The fact you ask shows that you aren't." He countered.

I didn't know what to say to that. What could I do to convince him? I was about to say something but stopped myself at the last moment. Nothing I said would convince him to anything he wasn't willing to do, and any attempt to do so might result in him holding back on that knowledge for even longer.

"It has been a long day. Get some rest, we will resume training tomorrow." Aceh said as he turned to leave.

I just sat down on the ground and... well sulked. It wasn't the most mature thing to do, I grant you, but I didn't know what else to do. I just sat there replaying what Aceh said to me over and over again. Somehow I needed to convince him that I was ready.

After a while I sighed in resignation and crossed my legs and began to do something I didn't do very often. I began to meditate. Aceh always said it helped when trying to work things out. I tried to clear my mind, but I wasn't much good at meditating. I found trying to clear my mind difficult. I don't know how long I tried, but eventually I gave up. I growled in frustration, kicked out my legs, lay down on my back and let out a sigh.

"Young Master?" I looked up to see Jovani entering the room. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine... thank you Jovani." I lied. Still not bothering to sit up.

"That was not a sigh of someone who is fine. Talk to me, maybe I can help." What could it hurt? I thought to myself. I looked at Jovani, he stood a few yards into the room, his arms folded behind his back looking at me patiently.

"I feel like I'm running on the spot and not moving, no matter how hard I try." The words sounded more profound than I had intended them to.

"Anything in particular?"

"No." I sighed... what was the point in lying to him? But then I realised it was more than just the fact Aceh would teach me. It was everything. The events leading up to my hearing. The constant worry about what I would do when Eric and the others decided it was time to move on. "Yes... everything really." I said as I pulled myself up to a sitting position.

"Hmmm... it seems you have reached what my father would have called a critical moment."

"Critical moment?"

"A moment where you need to make a choice and regardless of your choices you will have to give something up."

"That's one way to put it."

"So the next thing you need to do is make a choice."

"Do you know what I should do?"

"That I cannot tell you. This is your choice to make Young Master, not mine. If I told you what to do then it wouldn't be a choice now would it?"

"I guess not." I sighed, I fell back and stared at the ceiling. What should I do? "I don't want to give anything up."

"No one ever does Young Master." He said with a tone that suggested to me he knew what I was going through. I wondered what kind of choice Jovani had to make? "Maybe you should speak to the tiger. He is your master after all, and all masters need their students to have clear minds."

"He's part of the problem." I admitted. "He says I'm not ready to learn the final stance..."

"If your master does not think your not ready, then I'm afraid to say your not ready." Jovani declared. "You just need to have patience and believe that when he thinks you are ready, he will teach you."

"Yeah, patience at getting my butt kicked!" I scoffed.

"You are talented Young Master, I can see that and so can your master. He just has his own way of teaching you."

"Teaching me what?"

"A valuable lesson."

"That's really helpful, thanks!" I replied sarcastically.

"On your foot-paws Young Master, let me see if you are truly ready for what you want from your master." I looked at him and he seemed to be serious. I calmly got up and he raised his left hand but kept his right behind his back.

"You're serious?"

"Yes I am." He smiled. "Now attack me!"

I laughed but then stopped. In a mere moment the calmness that usually surrounded Jovani seemed to disappear and I felt it, a fighting spirit that he had kept hidden away. Suddenly he didn't seem so harmless, the calm elegance he normally had was gone.

Jovani had supposedly subdued me when I lost control during the hearing, and had done it in mere seconds. I readied myself, slipping into the first stance of Tigers Palm, I was not going to under estimate him.

Jovani made no attempt to use nen, so I didn't either. He wanted to teach me a lesson, so I may as well fight him on equal terms. I stared at Jovani, even without using nen his presence was incredible! It felt like I was facing Aceh. In that moment I knew that his body wasn't just for show, he really was a seasoned warrior worthy of it.

"Now come at me!" He commanded.

I nodded and stepped forward, alternating the position of my arms with each and every step, this stance specialised at counters, so I was hoping that he would strike the first blow. He just remained still, his eyes following my movements, but made no attempt to attack. I reached out to grab him and he quickly stopped the attempt, batting my arm away with his left. I attempted to grab him with my other paw and just as quickly he batted it away, with a strong strike to my wrist, and took a step towards me.

As he step in he lashed out with a single strike, it was hard and fast, I wasn't able to block it. He struck me square in the chest and I was sent staggering back several steps. He didn't move to attack me after that, he just stood and waited. I readied myself again, this time slipping into the sixth stance.

I moved forward and immediately went to sweep his legs, he gracefully leapt back, as I came out of the sweep I pushed myself upwards and came at him with a swift uppercut, but he stepped back and avoided the blow. I wasn't going to let up, I continued my assault with a few kicks, but he just kept moving out of range. I had hoped to back him into a corner but he was too smart of that. He was moving to the side each time he backed away, going round in a circle.

I needed to catch him off balance, I needed to switch stances during my attack and catch him off guard. I rushed him, lashing out with a kick which was easy to dodge, and just like I thought he would he stepped to the right to avoid it. He did lash out with his own attack, but I blocked it with my right forearm and grabbed his left arm before his could pull it back. With a firm grip in his forearm I spun round, sliding beneath his arm and twisting into an awkward angle.

From the point I would be able to control the fight, or so I thought. With surprising agility he did a forward somersault, landing on his foot-paws and essentially freeing his arm from twist I had used. He lashed out with a right hook, catching me across the snout and forcing me to release the hold I had on his arm. He lashed out with another fast jab to my chest, but this time I managed to block it and lash out with one of my own, but he swatted it away with his other paw.

I leapt back to create some distance between us, Jovani didn't move to pursue me. He was strong, his fighting style was unlike anything I'd seen any of the other Zangarians use. It was more like a technique I would expect Aceh to use. I wondered if he would be able to take Aceh on in a fair fight. The thought of Aceh losing in a one-on-one match seemed impossible, but Jovani carried himself in such away I figured that if anyone could he would.

"Interesting..." He said, cocking his head slightly to the right. "You change your techniques well, you change to keep your opponent off guard. A very interesting fighting style. Each technique unique in of itself. You said there were six?"

I nodded.

"Then show me..." He gave a curt bow of his head before stepping forward. "Are you ready Young Master?"

I nodded and readied myself.

Jovani began with a simple left punch, I swatted it away but resisted the urge to counter strike, a good decision because his right hook came faster than I could have predicted, it was only because I had moved out of reflex that I managed to block it.

He drove his knee at my midsection but I managed to block it with my leg. I spun round and switched to the third stances. A quick double kick aimed at my head had me backing up, he was a lot quicker than me; surprisingly so. His attacks were smooth and sudden, each one linked to the last effortlessly. He didn't leave any openings. That just meant I had to make one.

I pushed forward, blocking Jovani's punches, a round house kick forced me to jump back, but I immediately started pressing forward again. Jovani's expression was one of calm focus, there was no strain or obvious effort being put into his attacks. This was probably no more than a warm up for him. He really was much stronger than I had anticipated.

I bore the brunt of his assault and continued to pressure him by stepping forward into his attacks. But it seemed that he was immune to the pressure, when Aceh used this on me I could always feel it, it would normally put me on the defensive, but Jovani just kept attacking without any obvious signs of my attempts to pressure him.

I kept on blocking his attacks, the effort of trying to keep up with him was exhausting. There was no... wait there it was. An opening, each time he went for that kick after those two same punches. I waited for the opening again. It was my one opportunity to break open his defences.

My patience was rewarded, the two punches came and I knew what was to come, his right leg shifted to kick me, I stepped in, turning that step into a kick to his shin, but my kick never connected. I could only watch as he spun round to my left. I tried to turn to face him, but as I turned his leg came down and wrapped around the back of my neck.

With the hold his leg had he had all the leverage he needed. He dragged me round, using me to propel himself into the air and send me stumbling forward. I fell muzzle first across the ground. I quickly picked myself up, my head slightly groggy from the fall, and turned to face Jovani. Jovani was already upon me, a solid kick to my chest sent me flying. I landed hard on the back and had the wind knocked out of me. I coughed violently as I tried to catch my breath. I looked up at Jovani and already he had reverted back to usual calm appearance, his right arm folded behind his back, his left hanging at his side, no trace of the fighting spirit that had been there moments ago.

"Are you all right Young Master?" He asked with a hint of concern as he knelt down next to me.

"Yeah..." I spluttered. But the truth was my pride was more hurt than my body. I had weathered Jovani's assault but hadn't been able to come close to beating him. His level of skill was far above my own, dare I say, rivalling Aceh's.

"By themselves each stance is flawed, together they help to cover their weaknesses, but even then..."

"What? What is it?!" I asked. He had come to some realisation and I wanted to know what it was!

"If I'm right... then... I'm sorry Young Master." Jovani bowed his head.

"What for?" I asked.

"Your master is right. You are not yet ready to learn the final stance."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am most serious." He said. "You must trust your master, and more importantly yourself. When the time for you to learn the seventh stance comes, you will know it."

"What the hell does that mean?!" I spluttered. Had I just gotten my ass handed to me for no reason? "Is there nothing you can tell me?" I asked and he took a moment to consider my question.

"You have copied the moves well, you are a skilled fighter. Able to keep calm and think during the fight, the truth is... the fighting style is not what makes you strong." He paused to consider his words.

"A true master can change their style and technique during a fight. However... you're so focused on your technique you telegraph your every move to me before you did them. You need to make the moves your own."

"But how the hell do I do that?!"

If he was right then at least I understood what the problem was now. Aceh had tried to teach it to me through experience, a fact I didn't really pick up during our fights. But since Jovani explained it to me I could now see what Aceh had tried to do, but now that I understood I might be able to make some headway, but it wasn't going to be easy.

"Thank you Jovani." I sighed. There was no point in being angry with him.

"Any time Young Master. You should go get cleaned up, dinner will be served soon."

I watched Jovani leave the room and I thought more about what he said. It was a little too much to think about right now. I wouldn't find the answer sitting here on the floor, so I picked myself up and brushed myself off before heading towards the dining room.