204 Chapter 204: Everything but the Rain III

Shun Yin pushed the heavy gates open and stepped into the broken courtyard beyond the rickety fence. Huge trees towered over him as he made his way through the old gravel path that took him into the small building in the center of the perimeter, their leaves unkempt and their branches untended. Grass and weed were left to grow rampantly throughout the yard. The owner of the place evidently didn't bother with gardening.

With a sigh, Shun Yin reached he door to the building and pushed it open. He entered the empty, spacious dojo, took his shoes off at the entrance, left his bag in the shelf located there, and stepped onto the unpolished wood.

"Master…?" he called out, his voice reverberating in the hollow dojo. Frowning, he shook his head and placed his hand on his hilt. This…

He suddenly spun around when he sensed something hurtling toward his back. Drawing his sword instantly, he sliced through the tremendous fireball that was hurtling toward him.

"!!!"

However, that wasn't the only attack. Right after the lethal flames dissipated, a huge figure came barreling toward him, his broadsword raised. Shun Yin stood his ground, however, and parried the heavy blow, both of his legs buckling as the wooden floor underneath his almost bare feet (he was still wearing socks) splintered.

Grunting, he forced his assailant back, unleashing a torrent of flames of his own. His opponent didn't hesitate to generate a new stream of fire and they clashed again, sparks flying as their blades collided violently.

Shun Yin then spun around and thrust his sword from his assailant's blind spot. Despite wielding such a massive and heavy sword, the swordsman moved with a grace and speed that belied his bulk and blocked it. Deflecting Shun Yin's sword, he then attempted to twist it out of the teenager's grip, but the high school student retreated.

"Smart," the huge guy grunted. However, he lunged at Shun Yin again, his broadsword descending in a deadly arc while the blade was wreathed in flames. Shun Yin refused to yield and met him squarely, the both of them exchanging several blows that sent tremors across the old, crumbling dojo and causing the poor structure to fall apart further.

With a bellow, Shun Yin knocked his opponent back with a particularly powerful swing. Fire began culminating around his sword before he unleashed it in a single tremendous surge that bathed the huge man in crimson energies.

The huge man cocked his head to the side, defending himself with his broadsword while exuding a thick layer of armament Ba Qi. The flames washed over him without any visible effect, but beads of perspiration formed on his bearded face.

Roaring, the massive man cast his own spell, blasting Shun Yin with his own torrent of fire. Shun Yin narrowed his eyes, but he rushed inward, thrusting his sword boldly at the fiery funnel. The blade sliced through the tremendous torrent of fire, dissipating it harmlessly before going straight for the massive man's throat.

The huge man merely deflected Shun Yin's sword with his broadsword before delivering a hook with his left, meaty fist. Shun Yin ducked under it and whirled around to retaliate with a kick that forced the huge man to block. Straightening up, he the slashed at the huge man, but his opponent effortlessly blocked his blow.

Their energies clashed once again, twin infernos colliding before exploding forcefully and violently throwing both parties apart.

"You've gotten better again, Shun Yin," the huge bearded man admitted as he lowered his broadsword and shook his head with a grimace. His left hand smoked and he shook it tenderly. "This old man can't keep up with you any longer."

"Come on, Master," Shun Yin scoffed as he nursed his own hands, both of which were reddened. "You were holding back."

"I have no choice. If I didn't, we'll level the dojo again. And I can't afford to rebuild it so many times." Shun Yin's master scratched the thick mass of black hair that crowned his scalp. "But I can't believe you managed to master fire spells to this extent. And to think that the vast majority of them were self-learned."

Shun Yin laughed at that.

"I don't have a choice. Master, you didn't teach me any magic for the first five years. I had to find a way to learn them on my own."

"Well, I have a good reason for that. You need to establish a solid form foundation of combat before you learn magic, otherwise your magic would be pretty sloppy." Shun Yin's master winced. "Just like those Porter people. I understand that they specialize in fire magic, but they rely too much on fire magic. If it wasn't for their overwhelming potential, they would have died many times over in actual combat. They are just too careless and sloppy in fighting." He narrowed his eyes. "Combat isn't about magic or throwing spells alone. A mistake in close combat, a misuse of your weapon, a small slipup will result in death."

"Yes, Master." Shun Yin nodded, lowering his head and remembering his master's teachings. The huge man grinned.

"And there were quite some unexpected results too. You created your own fire spells, some of which I had never seen before. I'm thinking that withholding magic and allowing you to experiment on your own actually helped improve your creativity. Using martial arts and combat techniques as a base instead of the standard magic spells, you were able to come up and invent your own more powerful and efficient spells instead of being shoehorned into learning the same fire spells as me." he stroked his beard. "That thrust you executed near the end to destroy my fire strike…that was beautiful. Contracting your fiery aura to a thin surface around your body and blade to cancel out my fire spell…while expending so little of your own mana…brilliant!"

"Thank you, Master." Shun Yin felt a little sheepish. That was something he had seen in an anime episode and he always wanted to try it out. He didn't actually think it would work, and was secretly relieved he didn't mess it up.

"When you begin accepting disciples of your own, that might be something you want to keep in mind." Shun Yin's master nodded sagely. "Instead of forcing you own magic or spells onto your disciple through rote learning, you might want to let him experiment and learn magic on his own. Just teach him the very basics, give him a good foundation. But the advanced spells, the so-called clan techniques, leave them out. I'm sure he'll surprise you in future by coming up with his own creative way of using spells. Don't lock him into becoming another you."

"I'll keep that in mind, Master."

Even though Shun Yin complied outwardly, inwardly he couldn't imagine himself ever accepting a disciple. He felt as if he was still so far away from becoming a proper mage. He had only just started out his mage career…a year earlier than most of his peers, admittedly, but nowhere near the point where he was a recognized mage.

He highly doubted that there would be anyone who would want to learn from him. And he wasn't confident he had the knowledge, skills or experience to teach them either.

In any case, there was no point worrying over this. It was still something far in the future, something he couldn't envision. As they said, take one step at a time, and worry about it when it came. If it hadn't happened yet, what was the point of worrying over it?

Master chuckled, as if he had read Shun Yin's thoughts, and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"It will happen eventually. Trust me. I was the same as you once…I could never imagine becoming a master of mages and magic swordsmen when I was your age…I only busied myself with learning under my own master." He glanced up at the broken ceiling, where several wooden beams hung precariously. "I never took my master seriously when he advised me on how to teach because I didn't think I would inherit his dojo…yet here I am." He had a nostalgic look on his face. "Years later, after so many of my fellow disciples came and went…I'm the only one left here. The only one who is still teaching the old Miyamoto sword styles to future prodigies."

"Future prodigies…" Shun Yin repeated with a roll of his eyes. His master chuckled again.

"Don't look down on yourself too much. You are definitely a prodigy."

Shun Yin decided not to argue and instead raised another question. His curiosity had been piqued when he heard his master reminisce about the past.

"What happened to all your other fellow disciples? Did they become powerful mages?"

His master's expression turned grim, and his eyes glazed over. Taking a deep breath, the master of Miyamoto dojo shook his head.

"Most of them died."

"…eh?"

Shun Yin gaped at his master, who merely nodded his head gravely.

"I told you, didn't I? That a solid foundation is the most important thing of all. That one mistake in close combat or a misuse of your weapon will cost you your life." Shun Yin's master sighed. "Many of my fellow disciples got too impatient or didn't adhere to that teaching closely, overly trusting and relying on their magic. At the most pivotal moment, they fell to a monster attack when those things got in close, and they mishandled their weapons or defense."

His eyes narrowed and he thumped his broadsword against the ground.

"This is what it means to fight against monsters…to risk your life. Your enemy doesn't exist for you to slay. Both of you are locked in a life-or-death struggle. Obviously it would do its best to survive too. Never underestimate your enemy. Never neglect your basic foundation and combat techniques. Hone your sword and combat skills to their sharpest. Only then would you survive the bloody battlefield even as so many others fall."

"…yes, Master."

Shun Yin lowered his head, his heart a little disturbed. He raised his sword a little, staring at it and catching a glimpse of his reflection on the highly polished blade.

Would he die just like his master's fellow disciples, an ignominious death on the battlefield? Or would he survive?

"There's no point thinking so much," Shin Yin's master told him with a shrug. "You either live or you die. You can only change your fate when you're fighting. Right now, no matter how much you ponder over the matter, it's not going to change the outcome of your battle. You can only prepare and continue to be careful and vigilant."

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"Yes, Master."

Shun Yin nodded and sheathed his sword. That was correct. The only thing he could do now was train and hone his skills. Anything else would just be an unnecessary distraction.

"Speaking of which…" Shun Yin's master peered closely at his uniform. "I almost forgot. You've finally gotten into high school, haven't you? You're starting this spring?"

"That's correct."

"Good luck." Shun Yin's master nodded and reached out to pat his disciple's shoulder. "You're going to need it."

Shun Yin gave him an inquisitive look, and his master burst out laughing in a boisterous manner.

"What? You didn't know?" When Shun Yin shook his head, his master snorted gruffly. "The school you're going in…that's run by the Porters. It's an academy for mages…on the surface, but the students and staff in there…they have quite the…uh, distorted view of how mages should be." He coughed scornfully. "Some bullshit thing about strong eat the weak and all that nonsense. Of course they would emphasize such a dumb ideal when they believe themselves to be the strongest. The moment they're no longer the strongest, they'll probably start changing their rhetoric and twisting the rules to keep themselves in power." He let out a disgusted guffaw. "Their notions of what power means will change according to the circumstances they find themselves in."

"Huh?" Shun Yin looked confused. His master merely laughed and shook his head.

"Like I said, when they are the strongest, they will do whatever they want and oppress and bully others while claiming stuff like 'survival of the fittest' and 'the strong eat the weak.' When they run into someone stronger, they start backtracking and spouting nonsense like, 'power comes with responsibility, the strong should protect the weak, and they can't abuse their power to do whatever they want.' You should be careful when you go in there. As long as you're not from the Porter family or one of their subordinate clans, they'll make life difficult for you."

Shun Yin sighed and shook his head. "Ever since I chose to walk the path of being a fire mage, my life has been full of difficulties and idiots trying to push me down. What's going to be different about Vermillion High?"

"Oh, you'll find out." Shun Yin's master was smiling humorlessly. "You'll find out really soon."