Cultivation Fever

"I will only show you the first two, as the last two are specifically methods for inflicting damage," he gave Father a wry smile, "so you don"t have to worry about being my sparring partner."

Father breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his neck as if remembering past pain.

"Now," Crow began, "onto the first form. This is called "Extending Slice," and it excels at surprising your opponent."

He started spinning the chain on his right side, before whipping his whole arm in an arc. As the chain came down in front of him, he planted his right foot far forwards.

The chain slashed diagonally, and for a moment, he looked like he would fall over. But just before the chain hit the floor, he spun around his front foot, leading the chain in a sweeping wave around his body.

As the spin finished, he planted his left foot forward and brought the sweeping chain back into a controlled spin.

"That attack has a lot of extra length because you use your whole arm and body. It"s also an attack that puts you two steps forwards while forcing your opponent back."

The technique seemed amazing, but I couldn"t help but worry about leaving my back open during the spin. Someone like Tai could close that gap in an instant, crushing me before I had a chance to react.

"Um, Crow, what if someone hits you in the back?"

"A good observation. Ideally, this technique should only be used against a single opponent within your range. If they are forced to back off, they won"t have time to strike during the exposed phase.

"However, if there is another enemy shooting projectiles you use a second chain. Carlo, if you would shoot an arrow at me?"

"My pleasure Crow."

Father summoned a golden bow and drew back an arrow. Crow began spinning a second chain, then performed an Extending Slice in Father"s direction.

Father let the arrow loose as soon as Crow"s back was turned, and it streaked in a golden flash towards him. As Crow"s second chain swept behind him, his wrist flickered, and the chain formed a purple spiralling cone behind him.

The arrow stopped within the spiral, and as Crow"s spin came to a halt, I could see it caught in one of the chain links.

"That was an advanced move that also uses the Body Protection Whip Technique," Crow explained, "so I wouldn"t recommend trying it any time soon."

I was stunned by Crow"s versatility. Absorbing projectiles even when his back was turned? With two chains, Crow seemed invincible.

"What about a close combat fighter?" I asked, wondering the extent of Crow"s skill.

"To begin with," he replied, "never use a technique like this when a brawler, like your father, is out of range. If you are not at least pressuring your opponent, there is no point.

"Moreover," he continued, "if your opponent can both retreat and attack within the time it takes for you to spin once, you"re probably outmatched. This technique gets faster as you get stronger, so at full speed, it looks like this."

Crow started spinning, building speed. The chain began to howl as wind rushed through the open-chain links.

When he executed the technique, he disappeared into a blur, then reappeared two steps ahead. It looked as if an oscillating disc of light had blinked into existence around him.

"If you do mess up the technique, and your opponent closes in on you, there is still a simple solution. Carlo, if you would?"

"Crow… please…" Father complained.

"I"m just an old man," Crow egged Father on with a cheeky grin, "how much can it hurt?" he paused, putting on a mockingly sad expression, "It"s for your dear son."

"Fine!" Father answered with an exasperated sigh. As he walked up to Crow, he stared daggers at me, "I hope you enjoy this."

Father stood outside Crow"s range and unleashed his full power. His hulking ma.s.s of flesh glowed a mottled gold, twitching as if ready to burst. Crow wound up a single chain to a howling whirl, preparing himself.

He performed the technique with the same speed as before, but Father somehow found a gap. He dashed forwards, cracking the flagstones underfoot, but Crow was prepared.

He executed a blindingly fast back-kick which cracked into Father"s sternum, sending him skidding across the patio. Father grunted in pain, released his techniques, and coughed violently.

It was quite a sight, seeing this old robed man do that much damage to Father. After everything he had shown me, there was no way I could see Crow as anything but a monster.

Disregarding Father"s pain, Crow explained what had happened, "With the combined momentum of their charge and the rotational force in your kick, you can deal serious damage to anyone brave enough to come close."

"Thanks for that," Father chimed in sarcastically, stretching his back and wincing in pain.

Crow"s explanation made a lot of sense. Even without much kicking technique or power, it was easy to land a counter kick to such a linear charge. An idea formed in my head.

"Crow, could you use that technique to bait someone in?"

"Hm," he thought for a second, "I suppose you could. Your legs and core do need to be strong enough to resist the impact though. But after some training, I"m sure you"ll get the hang of it."

With this, I now had a tactic against Tai. With his temperament, he was sure to charge in. The possibility of knocking down Tai with a kick fired me up, and I clenched my fists in excitement.

"Crow, can you show me the next form?"

"Of course. This next form is Tiger"s Prowl, and it"s much more advanced. It"s going to take you a lot of time to learn this one, but it"s worth it."

Crow brought his chain to a gentle spin, then did a stutter step forwards while spinning the chain once overhead.

In one smooth motion, he a.s.sumed a side-on stance, then flipped in a cartwheel fashion, simultaneously bringing down the chain and sweeping it twice underneath himself.

Landing back on his feet, he brought the chain up from underneath him and continued spinning. It looked effortless and elegant when he did it, but I knew this would be h.e.l.l to replicate.

"This technique can be chained into itself, and it"s an excellent all-round technique. It"s the more important one to learn out of the two.

"Because it sweeps both low and high, it"s d.a.m.n difficult for your opponent to push into you. Only someone with fantastic reflexes, or considerable experience against this technique, has a chance. It"s a fantastic way to pressure your opponent. So, any questions?"

Compared to the last technique, there was a different kind of problem with this one.

"Crow, do you think I can learn it in a week?"

Crow went silent for a second, before grimly replying, "No, that"s impossible. You"ll be hard-pressed to even learn a few of the basic techniques in just a week."

"How long did it take you to learn it?"

"That"s a long time ago you"re asking about, Oscar. I would say… under a year?"

His words sunk my heart. My prospects didn"t look bright. To get to a fighting stage in just a week… this was going to be my harshest week yet.

Seeing my glum face, Crow showed a bit of compa.s.sion, "Don"t worry too much Oscar. All you"ve got to do is. .h.i.t the b.a.s.t.a.r.d you"re fighting once, and they"re done. You don"t need to be an expert."

Crow had a point, but there was more to it than that. If hunting season was as intense as I was told, then I couldn"t just win, I had to win without getting injured.

In the time it took me to control someone, there was a large window for punishment. If I couldn"t fend off an attacker during that time, I wouldn"t last long.

There was also the imminent pressure of Tai. While I doubted that he would do anything right away, there was always the chance, and I needed to be able to fend for myself in the worst-case scenario.

Trying not to let my worries drag me down, I picked myself up.

"Thank you, Crow. Really, thank you so much for doing all this."

"It was my pleasure, and it"s been a long time since I put your father in his place."

"Hey, I let you kick me!" father protested.

"Yes, yes. Now, your father and I have some things to discuss, and you"ve got techniques to read."

I took Crow"s suggestion and said my last words of thanks, before heading to my room. This week was going to be intense and had to be fully optimised. It was time to plan.