Mythshaper

Chapter 29: Fire Shaping

The third sword form, Walking Mountain, was by far the most complex form among the three. It consisted of nine movements, most of them defensive, building up towards a full-blown swing.

That didn't sound all that complicated, but the difficulty lay in seamlessly moving between defensive and offensive stances to perform it. The form was also more intuitive than the others, requiring one to leverage over the opponent's flaw.

"Remember," Father said, "in a real battle, your opponent will not let you perform any of these moves as you are practising now. You have to interchange between the forms seamlessly, and sometimes in mid-form, to be able to inflict damage. However, none of that is possible if you have not mastered the moves to their purest form."

Walking Mountain required a lot of dynamic movement, so much so that it was inefficient to practise in the yards. Thankfully, the Stonecutters owned dozens of acres of farmland, and some of it remained unfarmed for most of the year, courtesy of the ashen storms. The only issue training there was the bystanders loitering. They were distracting, to say the least.

Thankfully, Father's presence was as unapproachable as ever, saving us from a lot of small talk.

"A sword shouldn't be highly effective against a monster that towers over twelve feet," he said, "but it is. Do you know how?"

"Because of essence," I answered between swings.

"Because of essence." He nodded in agreement. "But even essence could not save you if you failed to take large strides on the move and escape from its range in time. A battle with those blighted creatures requires more movement than sword swings, and a true master knows the simplicity and complexity of movement as well as he knows his sword."

I charged with huge, exaggerated movements as the sun peeked through the cloud cover. The days had grown cloudier, the wind wilder, carrying traces of warmth and dust, giving the telltale signs of the storm gathering. But it was still days ahead. For now, I lost myself in the training.

My augmented attributes did help in enduring the constant lunges and strides of the form, but they didn’t assist as much compared to someone with an Enhancement-type essence. All three types I had awakened were either geared towards artificing or shaping the elemental powers to my will.

I wondered how Mum did it. I had seen her carrying boulders or large frames of logs without breaking a sweat. Yes, her telekinesis helped, but she still seemed to have more brute force than your average Awakened.