I brought Safi into the training room.
“Hold my hand, dear.” She grasped hold of my hand and I sent my qi into her. She was startled by the intrusion. “Defend against my attack.” She did try, I could tell. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no idea how she might go about defending me. The control she showed over her qi was disastrous, her defences were non-existent and her qi flitted about me uselessly, colliding every now and then in what I presumed she thought was an offensive onslaught.
In truth, I was disappointed. I should not have been, this was far more similar to the level I was expecting and yet, after Sen’o, I could not help it. I shrugged off the idiotic feeling and recalled my qi.
“Good, lots to work on,” I chuckled.
“That bad, was it?” she asked sheepishly.
“Absolutely.”
“Alright, then what else can I be terrible at?” she asked, her smile showed me she was unaffected by my teasing.
“Next, you will fight me. Make sure you use all that is available to you, including that lovely bird of yours.”
“Yes, Master,” she said resolutely. She threw what was quite possibly the weakest punch I’d ever witnessed, I quickly slapped it aside and watched as she lost all balance and fell. She hurriedly turned around and summoned her bird, it flew at me with it’s talons bared. I formed a qi barrier that extinguished the bird instantly. She tried to get up but I was on top of her, stepping on her back.
“Stay down, darling.”
“This is not exactly my strong suit,” she said as she rolled over to look up at me. I laughed at her proclamation.
“Don’t worry, you’re in quite the fortunate position that learning hand to hand combat is not a good use of your time anyway.”
“Well that is a relief.”
The rest of Safi’s tests were more along the lines of a beginner disciple. Even less so, to the point that I would imagine she was less than a year into her cultivation journey.
I sent my disciples away so that I could read through their written tests and to no surprise, Sen’o’s was shocking. Truly shocking. What he had said was true, he had an extremely basic level of knowledge about the planet he was on. He knew even less about its residents and cultures.
It was up to me, as his Master, to teach him how to represent himself, to teach him what he would need in order to survive the journey to immortality.
What shocked me further, however, was the level of excellence in Safi’s paper. It shook me to my core. She regurgitated knowledge about the most cryptic and under recorded information in such detail that she had to squeeze words in at the end of the page as if I had not given her enough paper.
I struggled to admit that even I would have struggled to present such advanced ideas quite as eloquently as Safi had. The matter became grave when I had to reach for a book in order to verify one of her answers as the answer she provided went beyond my own understanding.
Sen’o’s writing had taken me no time at all, I finished one single cup of water in the time it took me to finish reading it. By the end of Safi’s work, I had refilled the cup two dozen times. I had notes of my own scrawled all over her page and my notebook went a good few pages deeper.
Finally, upon completion, I placed my head in my hands and groaned. In so many years and with so many expectations leading up to gaining my first disciples, they had somehow managed to both fall short of and wildly exceed them.
With such a comprehensive shattering of any plans I had managed to formulate in the years of waiting, I turned to a blank page. There was a lot of work to be done.
The remainder of the day and ensuing night seemed like far too little time before I saw them again. In such situations, it was wise to enlist help. Or at least enlist someone to listen to my ranting.
“Hello, Fred,” I said as I found him meditating in his room. I interrupted him unapologetically.
“Mele, lovely to hear your voice again.”
“Likewise Fred,” I said as he got up and straightened his robe. “You don’t usually sit on the floor like that?” I asked.
“I just felt like it this time…” he said with a shrug. “What brings you here?” He poured us both some tea.
“I’ve got two, rather pressing matters that must be discussed.”
“You’re not usually so dramatic,” he remarked with a raised eyebrow.
“My disciples are weird.”
“They’re all weird…” he sighed exasperatedly.
“Tell me then, if this is normal.” I described the situation. I made sure to underplay Sen’o’s capabilities in order to avoid letting on that he was not, in fact, a 17 year old boy.
“Well, that certainly is weird. However, every Master has an Evelynn, although it’s not usually their first disciples.”
“Evelynn?”
“I suppose you have not heard the conversations amongst the Elders. No surprises there, considering your reclusive ways.”
“I have not,” I said, ignoring the insult.
“Evelynn, she was a student of an Elder many generations ago. She was the Elder’s masterpiece, her story always left an impact on me, and so I refer to the special students as Evelynns. The ones that require you to work harder than you ever have.”
“Have you ever had an Evelynn?” I asked
“Not yet. I’m rather jealous that you’ve found two.”
“Jealous?”
“Why yes, what? You haven’t come here to brag? Isn’t that what you wanted me to say?”
“No, I came here for advice,” I said, waving my arms from side to side, annoyed that he’d got the wrong impression for my visit.
“Advice? What could I possibly offer you? You are smarter, stronger and more capable than I have ever been. Lack of experience in teaching does not mean anything with an Evelynn. They will pick up anything you put down.”
“Anything?”
“Provided they are as exceptional as you say they are. If not, then you should come back to me. You might have a few quite gruelling years ahead of you.”
“What if they deserve better than me?”
“Then they were born on the wrong planet.”
Casualperv Click the
I brought Safi into the training room.
“Hold my hand, dear.” She grasped hold of my hand and I sent my qi into her. She was startled by the intrusion. “Defend against my attack.” She did try, I could tell. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no idea how she might go about defending me. The control she showed over her qi was disastrous, her defences were non-existent and her qi flitted about me uselessly, colliding every now and then in what I presumed she thought was an offensive onslaught.
In truth, I was disappointed. I should not have been, this was far more similar to the level I was expecting and yet, after Sen’o, I could not help it. I shrugged off the idiotic feeling and recalled my qi.
“Good, lots to work on,” I chuckled.
“That bad, was it?” she asked sheepishly.
“Absolutely.”
“Alright, then what else can I be terrible at?” she asked, her smile showed me she was unaffected by my teasing.
“Next, you will fight me. Make sure you use all that is available to you, including that lovely bird of yours.”
“Yes, Master,” she said resolutely. She threw what was quite possibly the weakest punch I’d ever witnessed, I quickly slapped it aside and watched as she lost all balance and fell. She hurriedly turned around and summoned her bird, it flew at me with it’s talons bared. I formed a qi barrier that extinguished the bird instantly. She tried to get up but I was on top of her, stepping on her back.
“Stay down, darling.”
“This is not exactly my strong suit,” she said as she rolled over to look up at me. I laughed at her proclamation.
“Don’t worry, you’re in quite the fortunate position that learning hand to hand combat is not a good use of your time anyway.”
“Well that is a relief.”
The rest of Safi’s tests were more along the lines of a beginner disciple. Even less so, to the point that I would imagine she was less than a year into her cultivation journey.
I sent my disciples away so that I could read through their written tests and to no surprise, Sen’o’s was shocking. Truly shocking. What he had said was true, he had an extremely basic level of knowledge about the planet he was on. He knew even less about its residents and cultures.
It was up to me, as his Master, to teach him how to represent himself, to teach him what he would need in order to survive the journey to immortality.
What shocked me further, however, was the level of excellence in Safi’s paper. It shook me to my core. She regurgitated knowledge about the most cryptic and under recorded information in such detail that she had to squeeze words in at the end of the page as if I had not given her enough paper.
I struggled to admit that even I would have struggled to present such advanced ideas quite as eloquently as Safi had. The matter became grave when I had to reach for a book in order to verify one of her answers as the answer she provided went beyond my own understanding.
Sen’o’s writing had taken me no time at all, I finished one single cup of water in the time it took me to finish reading it. By the end of Safi’s work, I had refilled the cup two dozen times. I had notes of my own scrawled all over her page and my notebook went a good few pages deeper.
Finally, upon completion, I placed my head in my hands and groaned. In so many years and with so many expectations leading up to gaining my first disciples, they had somehow managed to both fall short of and wildly exceed them.
With such a comprehensive shattering of any plans I had managed to formulate in the years of waiting, I turned to a blank page. There was a lot of work to be done.
The remainder of the day and ensuing night seemed like far too little time before I saw them again. In such situations, it was wise to enlist help. Or at least enlist someone to listen to my ranting.
“Hello, Fred,” I said as I found him meditating in his room. I interrupted him unapologetically.
“Mele, lovely to hear your voice again.”
“Likewise Fred,” I said as he got up and straightened his robe. “You don’t usually sit on the floor like that?” I asked.
“I just felt like it this time…” he said with a shrug. “What brings you here?” He poured us both some tea.
“I’ve got two, rather pressing matters that must be discussed.”
“You’re not usually so dramatic,” he remarked with a raised eyebrow.
“My disciples are weird.”
“They’re all weird…” he sighed exasperatedly.
“Tell me then, if this is normal.” I described the situation. I made sure to underplay Sen’o’s capabilities in order to avoid letting on that he was not, in fact, a 17 year old boy.
“Well, that certainly is weird. However, every Master has an Evelynn, although it’s not usually their first disciples.”
“Evelynn?”
“I suppose you have not heard the conversations amongst the Elders. No surprises there, considering your reclusive ways.”
“I have not,” I said, ignoring the insult.
“Evelynn, she was a student of an Elder many generations ago. She was the Elder’s masterpiece, her story always left an impact on me, and so I refer to the special students as Evelynns. The ones that require you to work harder than you ever have.”
“Have you ever had an Evelynn?” I asked
“Not yet. I’m rather jealous that you’ve found two.”
“Jealous?”
“Why yes, what? You haven’t come here to brag? Isn’t that what you wanted me to say?”
“No, I came here for advice,” I said, waving my arms from side to side, annoyed that he’d got the wrong impression for my visit.
“Advice? What could I possibly offer you? You are smarter, stronger and more capable than I have ever been. Lack of experience in teaching does not mean anything with an Evelynn. They will pick up anything you put down.”
“Anything?”
“Provided they are as exceptional as you say they are. If not, then you should come back to me. You might have a few quite gruelling years ahead of you.”
“What if they deserve better than me?”
“Then they were born on the wrong planet.”
Casualperv Click the
