I am wondering who Cai Renxiang and Kang Zihao are going after. Each others? Though it's possible Cai Renxiang wanted to challenge either Sun Liling or Bai Meizhen and is currently pouting away her aloneness.
Honestly, I think that Cao Renxiang is a solid step or two bellow Meizhen and Liling. She seemed to be going at it seriously vs the latter, while the redhead was having some fun in handicapping herself by going at it without Armour or weapon.
Honestly, I think that Cao Renxiang is a solid step or two bellow Meizhen and Liling. She seemed to be going at it seriously vs the latter, while the redhead was having some fun in handicapping herself by going at it without Armour or weapon.
What gave you the idea that she was going at it seriously?
Ling Qi found it hard not to be distracted, they were glowing for goodness sake. She glanced nervously again at the wide section of the field reserved for the two strongest girls in class. Sun Liling had a savage grin on her face as she faced Cai Renxiang. For once her stance wasn't lax and loose, but taut and ready, her hands splayed out like the claws of a beast, she could see red mist seeping from the girls pores, gradually rising above and behind her to form a disquieting shape. Her opponent on the other hand stood straight and tall, the hilt of her long curved sword clasped in her hands at chest height, it's tip planted in the ground. She looked as if she was standing in a shaft of bright sunlight, forming a white corona behind her head and casting a long, ominous shadow across the field in front of her.
Both seemed to be giving it some modicum of effort, but neither were all in? Yeah, Renxiang did use a weapon, but that might simply be because she wants to train with one while Sun Liling didn't.
What gave you the idea that she was going at it seriously?
Both seemed to be giving it some modicum of effort, but neither were all in? Yeah, Renxiang did use a weapon, but that might simply be because she wants to train with one while Sun Liling didn't.
The fact Renxiang was using a weapon and Liling didn't is the proof.
Because despite the western stereotype, fighting with your body alone is considered the act of peasants, true nobility and heroism is from mastery of a weapon--fist techniques are just something you use if you find yourself disarmed, or are sandbagging for whatever reason.
For Liling to fight without a weapon means she's intentionally not revealing her true strength. She might be actually employing a little effort, but for her not to draw a weapon does inherently mean she was looking down on Renxiang
The fact Renxiang was using a weapon and Liling didn't is the proof.
Because despite the western stereotype, fighting with your body alone is considered the act of peasants, true nobility and heroism is from mastery of a weapon--fist techniques are just something you use if you find yourself disarmed, or are sandbagging for whatever reason.
For Liling to fight without a weapon means she's intentionally not revealing her true strength. She might be actually employing a little effort, but for her not to draw a weapon does inherently mean she was looking down on Renxiang
Liling can't use her 'real' weapons without showing a big part of her hand -
Squinting, she could see that the figure was Sun Liling, with malevolent and spiked crimson armor forming over her torso even as the red mist she emitted in sparring fights erupted and spiralled into her hands, forming a thorny, twisted black and red monstrosity of a spear. It was the first time she had seen the girl with a weapon.
Those are either techniques that create weapons and armor, or item spirits she just pulled out of her dantian. Ether way, she obvious didn't feel that the growth she would get training them in class was worth showing them. Well, that or she simply felt the class would be so easy with them that she would get no benefit. Ether way those are much more serious tools then the rest of us are playing with.
Pretty sure that's what the staff would start growing into in a year or two, but that ship has sailed. Even if we kept it this time, whatever spirit it grows will remember we sold it and won't be loyal. We'll have to wait till we steal the next heirloom on the edge of awakening, and nurture it.
Ling Qi scowled. That guy… he was just causing her one problem after another. Bad enough that he was a creep who switched 'targets' at the drop of a hat, bad enough that people thought badly of her for his interest. Now someone was actually going to attack her over it. "Yeah, the creep? Do me a favor and leash him," she replied coldly. The other girl's eyes were just beginning to narrow in outrage when Ling Qi's right hand blurred and a white streak shot out, one of her new knives flung out at the Zhu girl. Even as she flung the knife, she was already darting backward, the wind stirring around her frame and making her gown billow around her feet.
Throwing without looking at her target had cost her some accuracy though, and the girl nearly escaped her attack, spinning her staff to deflect the knife. A slight tug on the projectile with a current of wind was enough to alter its trajectory though, scoring a shallow cut across the back of the girl's hand. It was enough for her qi to take hold.
"Ha, true, is there anything more pathetic than a woman who cannot even keep her man's eyes upon her?" Gu Xiulan laughed as she darted away from them alongside Ling Qi, already moving away to the right to reduce their vulnerability to a group attack. Her voice sounded over the roar of flames as an arc of flame burned through the corner of Ling Qi's vision, a wide crescent with a core of flickering blue that forced the sword wielding boy to sidestep in front of his sister and disperse it with a twinned cut of his blades. Ling Qi could feel her control of the wind contested in that moment as the fire was blown away, but she could see a grimace on the boys face as qi flickered around his body where the flames had licked at him.
She didn't have any time to pay the twins attention though, because in that instant a furiously scowling Hong Lin appeared in front of her with a muffled boom, the bar of her guai coated in a solid shell of grey qi as it swung upward to strike her across the ribs.
Hong Lin
Strength+Mastery+Hundred Ton Hammer-2 Against the Wind. 9 dice
7 5 10 4 9 8 8 10 10. 7 successes
2 damage. Damage increased to 4 by technique. Canceling 2 damage with Qi. Remaining damage cannot be canceled due to enemy technique
-8 qi
20/31 Qi
[X][X][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Ling Qi's eyes flew open wide as she tried to call up a heavy burst of wind to push the other girl back and out of range. She remembered this attack after all, it was the one which had laid her out in a single strike before. It wasn't enough though, the furious girl simply bulled through the rushing wind currents with a snarl on her lips. The air flew from Ling Qi's lungs even as her qi drained precipitously to cushion the worst of the blow, and she knew she would be sore after this.
"You don't know anything, you wretched little strumpet," the girl growled as Ling Qi desperately ducked under a follow up strike with the girls second guai that would have cracked her across the temple. "Do you think I enjoy watching that man flit about from one girl to another?" The second was said more quietly, low enough that Ling Qi doubted anyone else heard it.
Ling Qi couldn't spare a glance for Xiulan at the moment, but she could hear the girl laughing even as a green glow lit up in the corner of her vision and the flagstones were carved open by sharpened wind currents, so she was likely fine. With Xiulan's greater cultivation, speed, and the hobbling that Ling Qi had inflicted, she seemed to be doing well.
"That sounds like your problem, I don't want the asshole," Ling Qi snapped as she managed to gain some distance. She felt so damn slow under the bright light of dawn, and it irked her badly. She would have to fix that. Her flute appeared in her hand, and even as her opponent narrowed her eyes and tried to close the distance again, she raised the instrument to her lips and began to play the first haunting notes of her Melody.
There was a susurrus of surprised and disappointed noises from those watching as thick, cloying mist spilled forth from her flute, quickly consuming the battlefield in a thick bank of fog.
15/31 Qi
Ling Qi winced internally at the off tone of her first few notes, she was still short of breath and the aching bruise throbbing on her lower ribs didn't make things any easier. Despite the distraction she still remembered to include Xiulan in the mists protection. She could feel her friend like a cheerfully blazing hearthfire darting about off to her right. "Of course you would use this cowardly thing," Hong Lin said darkly as she peered through the mist, eyes darting about as she tried to locate Ling Qi, who had of course started moving the moment the fog rolled out, was nowhere near the place where the girl's weapons struck. She still winced as she felt the furious wind in their passage.
The breathing room she had gained did afford her the opportunity to give the other battle going on a look, and she was pleased to see if looked to be going well. The boys robes were tattered, even if his skin had taken on a bark like texture that seemed to be protecting him from Xiulan's flames paradoxically enough. The girl's eyes were verdant green lanterns in the mist though, and she was surrounded by a circle of viridian light. She was preparing something, but her shoulders were already trembling from exertion.
Ling Qi had to focus on her enemy for the moment though.
Hong Lin
Strength+Mastery+ Hundred Ton Hammer+Gate of Wrath-Against the wind -Mist. 9 dice
3 5 8 6 3 5 6 4 5. 1 success
Because Hong Lin wasn't taking her inability to find her well. "If he will not respect me, and if I cannot strike him… I can at least break his toys, I cannot be reproached for that," Ling Qi didn't like the way she had paused, fists clenched, muttering to herself, it was weird and nonsensical, which worried her. Her fears were confirmed as she began to shift to the next part of the song and the girls skin flushed red, qi streaming up visibly around her as her hair and gown fluttered in a phantom wind.
In the next instant her instincts screamed at her to move, and she did so without further thought, soothing dark qi rushing through her veins as she leaped backward with all of her strength, flickering backward through the mist. An instant later the other girls paired guai slammed downward in an overhand strike through where she had stood a second ago, and the flagstones she had been standing on shattered, chips of stone flying outward from the impact.
In the next instant, despite the fact that she heard a masculine cry of pain, and Xiulan's laughter increasing in volume, she only grew more worried. Because the circle of green around the staff girl pulsed and expanded outward, washing over everyone. She felt her grip on their qi through her technique disrupted as it did. That girl had to go.
She didn't wish to stop playing though, and her qi was rapidly draining away through the rapid fire use of her techniques. Her only comfort was that if she was draining her qi quickly they must be nearly running on fumes. Which gave her one good solution. If the twins were suffering so much fighting Xiulan alone… she would have to give them more foes.
As the first sharp note of the new verse began, the shadows grew darker, and hungry eyes appeared in the mist, all three of her enemies stiffened in an instant, moving to dodge the shadowy claws and fangs now nipping at their heels. Hong Lin shrugged off her attacker with a snarl, the mist failing to do more than scratch uselessly at her flushed skin, but the other two were not so lucky. A trio of bloody cuts slashed across Zhu Qing's forehead, causing her to stumble and cry out in pain as blood began to pour down into her eys. Zhu Fong was similarly unlucky, expect his misfortune was the jagged cut across his knee causing him to stumble as a burning many tongued whip blazed into existence in Xiulan's gloved hand and coiled around his limbs with a flick of the laughing girls wrist, causing him to scream as it burned through his clothing and slammed him bodily into his sister, sending them both to the ground in a tumble.
Ling Qi winced as she heard the crack of breaking bone from the direction they had tumbled in, but she had no time to worry about that. The Qi around Hong Lin was beginning to fade and she could see the girl breathing heavily. Whatever she was doing clearly strained her. However, it didn't stop her from raising her hands, and weapons, her hands and forearms darkening to the color of steel as qi infused them.
Hong Lin
Strength+Mastery+ Hundred Ton Quake+Gate of Wrath. 13 dice.
10 1 8 6 4 10 5 2 7 10 9 7 7. 8 successes
This time, when Ling Qi flew backward, it wasn't entirely of her own will. When Hong Lin struck the ground, the earth rocked, and a rippling burst of dark, iron colored qi erupted from around her like a shimmering wall. It struck her like a speeding carriage, and Ling Qi could feel bruises forming all across her body even as she did her best to move with the motion of the blow as Zhou had taught her. It was movement art that saved her the worst though, as she could feel the qi passing through her harmlessly in places as she melded with the mist.
It still disrupted her song and blew the mist away with a thunderous crash, leaving her standing exposed in the middle of the damaged plaza. Hong Lin was hardly in the best shape either though, the flush fading from her skin as she panted for breath, shoulders slumping tiredly as she stared incredulously at Ling Qi. "How! How are you still standing after…"
Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as she screamed in pain, the lance of white hot fire that had just seared across her lower legs and sent her tumbling to the ground, her badly burned legs exposed among the burning tatters of her gown.
"Because she is simply better than you, you whining child," Gu Xiulan said coldly as she strode up beside you, looking a bit battered herself, a thin stream of blood flowed from the corner of her lip, and she looked furious herself.
Ling Qi surreptitiously popped one of her qi restoring pills while Gu Xiulan spoke, choosing not to comment on just how close that had been.
17/31 Qi
She was all to aware that they still had an audience though, nearly a dozen other disciples, male and female watching them. She absolutely could not afford to appear tired right now, and so she did her best to stand straight and keep her expression confident despite the pounding in her ears.
Thankfully, Gu Xiulan was fully willing to take the attention for herself. "Let that be a lesson to you," she said haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest as sparks danced in the air around her. "Do you truly think that I, a daughter of the Gu family, last descendants of the Sun would extend my friendship to a weakling? That Elder Guan Zhou, the great Bulwark of the south would accept an unworthy student? Check your pride and delusions," she spoke, voice cracking through the air like the whip she had held a minute ago. "We will happily break them for you should you find yourself unable to do so."
The murmuring around them grew angry for a moment, and Ling Qi tensed, still doing her best to project confidence as she scowled out at her fellow disciples, arms crossed over her chest. The tension broke as the first of their audience turned away, a pair of boys who inclined their heads slightly to Xiulan and left. The others drifted away as well, some with more reluctance and unfriendliness in their expressions than others. Xiulan, continued to glare for several moments before letting out a 'Hmph' and reaching into her pouch for a Red restoration pill herself. "Well, shall we take our spoils then?" She asked brightly after swallowing the pill, turning to Ling Qi with an expectant look. "I believe an even split is fair in this case," she added.
Ling Qi nodded slowly, looking out at their opponents, Hong Lin was struggling to sit up, a grimace on her face, and Zhu Qing, was slumped at her brothers side, tears on her face as she frantically worked to heal her brothers burns. As for the boy himself, he was unconscious, bleeding from a shallow cut on his head where it had struck the flagstones.
[] Loot them down to their robes. It's what they've earned.
[] Be merciful, leave them some part of their possessions
[] Be merciful to the twins, but take Hong Lin for everything she is worth
Secondly, please vote for what Xiulan and you will do next.
[]Go look around for Han Jian, see how his own breakthrough went
[] Just head back to the residences for now,Ling Qi wanted to see how Meizhen was doing.
[] Check in on Li Suyin and Su Ling, see how they're doing.
[] Shopping Trip! You've just acquired a windfall after all
And finally, vote for whether Ling Qi uses another qi restoring pill
[] use one
[] use both
[] use none
AN: As a note, allow me to explain a bit about qi healing to put some things into context. Qi healing can even at low levels cure fairly grievous combat injuries such as cuts and burns or broken bones given time. However, organ damage, loss of limbs/significant chunks of body mass, spinal and nerve damage and other such 'crippling' injuries require healers of much greater skill to repair, hence why the twins friend is shit out of luck what with Xiulan's flames destroying her eyes, which are a delicate and difficult to heal organ. Similarly, it is this sort of of injury you should avoid inflicting on your fellow disciples if you don't wish to be 'excessive'
We won, it was close, but we won in the end! Congratulations to Ling Qi. It was closer than I would have liked, we certainly need something to help us against brutes like Hong Lin. As for loot, I'm not sure what the best choice is. I'm tempted to loot them down to the clothes, but that would make a cycle where we are expected to be looted as well. However, I don't see our actions actually affecting the actions of others much.
[X] Loot them down to their robes. It's what they've earned.
[X] Shopping Trip! You've just acquired a windfall after all
[X] use one
We need to make examples or there will be more of them
And sell everything we can't use for stuff we can...this time with someone who actually can get us fair value. Before someone goes on to try to reclaim their goodies
We already maimed one as a pair, so being merciful would not avoid making these guys enemies.
Loot them bare and that will deter the opportunists. Those with a grudge would be working with a major wealth and injury disadvantage and unable to retaliate even if they wanted
[x] Loot them down to their robes. It's what they've earned.
[X] Shopping Trip! You've just acquired a windfall after all
[X] use one
Those who covet the treasure of others must be prepared to lose their own! If we had some backing of our own I'd recommend crippling their dantian and abolishing their cultivation but as it stands that would provoke way too much heat.
Ouch. Those are some scary fucking techniques, but we did our part and showed strength at least, even if we were very close to getting rekked.
Like, seriously, she was regularly chaining arts together there.
It's also annoying that we still can't outrun melee people. On the other hand, Hong Lin had a shitload of good techniques, and was in Zhou's class too, so it's probably not surprising that we couldn't keep the range open against her.
[X] Be merciful to the twins, but take Hong Lin for everything she is worth.
Twins attacked us on a legitimate grudge, Hong Lin was just being a bitch though, she deserves an added penalty.
To close for comfort really... Now then, peoples first knee jerk reaction is going to be being merciful, dont. We really cant afford it, a single fight and we had to burn almost all of our qi and pop a pill. We need every single resource we can from now on. It has already been pointed out that this is a micro cosmos of the outside world, they wont extend a single shred of mercy to us and Ling Qi doing it will not earn her any respect nor will it make people hesitate when fighting her.
[X] Loot them down to their robes. It's what they've earned.
[X] Shopping Trip! You've just acquired a windfall after all
[X] use one
Get stuff, sell stuff and get gear. We have Gu Xiulan with us so we should get far better deals with her helping with the social stuff.
In that first clash where she hit us, we both had 9 dice, it was just bad luck that she rolled more. The solution to bad luck, however, is simply getting more die. I am extremely sympathetic to the twins though, I would rather leave them with some possessions as they aren't going to be much of a threat anyway. And as was said before, this is a knee jerk reaction.
To close for comfort really... Now then, peoples first knee jerk reaction is going to be being merciful, dont. We really cant afford it, a single fight and we had to burn almost all of our qi and pop a pill. We need every single resource we can from now on. It has already been pointed out that this is a micro cosmos of the outside world, they wont extend a single shred of mercy to us and Ling Qi doing it will not earn her any respect nor will it make people hesitate when fighting her.
Or rather, we COULD show mercy...if we were at Meizhen's level of relative advantage, then it looks like you're strong enough not to need to care even if it's closer than it looks.
Mercy is for the strong. Since we failed to show total combat dominance, people will think they have a chance if they can get a big enough gang. So now we change it to a cost benefit analysis and make the bargain a bad gamble.
Also we really should dispose of the loot ASAP. Right now we're with someone who actually knows the value of goods, so we can dump all the stuff they'd kill for at the shops if they want to buy them back and resupply our drugs at least.
I think we've hit the scale of diminishing return for how much we can debuff at our current level. We need a defensive technique to absorb blows, and an offensive technique so that we get unsoakable damage. Then we should look to pick up more buff and debuff. Well, we should keep developing FVM the entire time because it remains an awesome technique.
Hmm, we should be reasonable to the twins, but make a point of punishing someone who went after us for reasons so 'petty.' [] Be merciful to the twins, but take Hong Lin for everything she is worth
I'm really conflicted between these two. [] Just head back to the residences for now,Ling Qi wanted to see how Meizhen was doing.
[] Check in on Li Suyin and Su Ling, see how they're doing.
If we go home, we shouldn't use another pill. If we stay out, we should [] use one
[] use none
We have to use a bunch of techniques that are qi hungry to setup our fight. If we get into another fight, we need to start with more then 15 qi, even if it's an easier one then this. Painful to spend stones, but that's the cost of moving about freely right now. We should have just got a bunch of stuff anyways.
You were outspeeding her with SCS and the mist up, but well.. she had a movement tech too. Melee people generally know that they have to be able to close the gap you know?
In that first clash where she hit us, we both had 9 dice, it was just bad luck that she rolled more. The solution to bad luck, however, is simply getting more die. I am extremely sympathetic to the twins though, I would rather leave them with some possessions as they aren't going to be much of a threat anyway. And as was said before, this is a knee jerk reaction.
I'm partial to the following policy:
If we are the initiator, be lenient and loot reasonably. Don't be a bully, basically.
If we are the challenged party, especially if the opponents bring superior numbers, then they shall be looted down to their robes.
Also that was some nice acknowledgement from Xiulin. She's a real sis.
