ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS
CHAPTERSIX: THE CRUCIBLE
Back in Shu, Zhi Ning is the central part of a tournament in the camp. Shu is showcasing its officers and Zhi Ning has been nominated to "help."
"I don't believe this," said Ma Chao, still donning the regular dragon armor, "I remember when we were up for this and we had to fight each other to prove our worth.."
"Yeah," commented an old man. He was in his sixties, but by the way he acted and moved, you would never know. His white beard went down to the top of his chest. He wore a well-worn pair of khaki pants and golden armor around his body. He also had on a similar colored helmet; this one was open faced can covered with intricate designs. Huang Zhong finished his statement, "I want to know who orchestrated this and wrap my fingers around his neck."
"They're only a rag-tag bunch, what does it matter?" said Zhao Yun. This officer, who was dressed in a set of half-torso armor, the rest of his chest was covered in a fine, light cloth that he tucked into his light green loose pants. In his usual humor the 'Little Dragon' finished his reasoning. "I'd rather not spar some trained solider anyway, a cook's apprentice can't fight, so there's no danger."
A great bulk of a man spoke up. He had on a simple cap and was wearing a common robe. This robe was worn with one sleeve off, so that the yin-yang on the back was lopsided. His hairy, black beard and mustache were small and he had the look of a continual drunkard (maybe because of the sake bottle on his hip.) He wore a thick rope as a belt and his massive eighteen-foot weapon was always around. This was no exception. "Huang Zhong and Ma Chao have a point. No cook's subordinate should have the honor of sparing with officers" these words came from the mouth of Zhang Fei.
"You...got…that," grunted Wei Yan. Wei Yan was an anomaly of a man. He had very little armor on, even during battle. The little he did wear was usually spiked or studded. The spikes would mess with his outline and make him appear quite unnatural. He also wore a very interesting mask. It was a half-face mask and had multiple colors so it looked like a clown face from a circus. There were decorations extending above it so that it looked like a clown with horns. His weapon was called a voluge. It was basically a short, curved sword set in a long hilt, with a matching blade coming out the other side. The appearance in battle was that of a demon marching to collect souls.
In, fact the one who nominated Zhi Ning to fight was sitting next to Liu Bei pondering whether or not he really wanted to do it. It was the only time Zhuge Liang questioned his decision. Jiang Wei is distracted lately and I sense that she is the cause. Pang Tong is keeping her to himself. He told me the basics.
"Kongming! What are you doing here?" asked Pang Tong.
"I could ask the same thing, and why do you have a suit of armor with you?" replied Zhuge
"I guess you won't just trust what I'm doing and let me go then."
"Pang Tong, where's the armor", asked a feminine voice.
"Pang Tong why is a young woman in your tent?"
"Oh shit. Zhi Ning, would you get in the tent and shut up? For all our sakes."
"Okay fine", said Zhi Ning.
"Pang Tong this better be good."
"I'm sick of all the officers saying I'm only here because you asked Liu Bei. I will prove my worth by fooling the entire camp. The person you heard earlier was a young woman. No one knows that she is a woman. I will succeed in tricking the camp and Liu Bei will recognize my talent. I only ask that you not reveal my secret. Can I trust you for this, Kongming?"
"You have my word. In truth, I want to see you succeed."
Zhuge Liang remembered that day quite well. It was almost four months ago. Winter has come and the fighting is in a lull. Shu decided to have its newest officers show their stuff. Zhuge, however, keeps thinking, as though he is trying to justify his action.
She is quite the seductress, trying to steal away Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei has been , in essence, my son since his parents died. If she can run this gauntlet, then she can have Jiang Wei. I will condone it.
Zhi Ning is having quite the tough time, she thinks Jiang Wei hates her, she has been stuck in an odd ceremony, and this put her into— a very bad mood.
Oh great, here I am. I get to "spar" against the new Shu officers so the bigwigs can have a look at the new guys in battle. I'm not going to just stand here and get hit, if one of them tries to smack me. I'm going to send him into orbit, thought the ever-charming Sun Shang Xiang. She obviously didn't like this. I didn't think that a cook's apprentice would be heralded as a sparring partner for the new officers. I doubt that Pang Tong asked for this. He usually tells me first. I wonder who set this up.
She looks around; nine men (the new officers) are standing there, three with common weapons, six with interesting ones. Luckily, Zhi Ning has fought against seven of them.
NAME—TUTOR—WEAPON
ONBAY SAIKA—ZHANG FEI—HOOKSWORDS
ONBAY KADO—GUAN YU—KUNAI
SHIN KA—ZHAO YUN—SCYTHE
META SAITO—MA CHAO—WARHAMMER
KAISETA—YUE YING—TWO-HANDED AXE
DU KEN—WEI YAN—METAL ARMS
LIU CHAN—LIU BEI—BROADSWORD
QUIANG DU—HUANG ZHONG—PIKE
ZHON KAN—ZHUGE LIANG—LONG STAFF
A large, raised, wooden box, served as the ring. Several wooden benches surrounded it. A large throne stands on the northern side. The officers of Shu sat in a circle around the ring, Liu Bei in a throne with Zhang Fei at his right, and Guan Yu at his left. The other officers sat around the ring. Sun Shang Xiang was fourth in the line of "sparring partners." The first new officer stood up, and moved from one side of the ring towards the center.
"State your name, teacher, and weapon," asked Chi Nan, the announcer, "then turn and select your opponent." "Opponent" was probably a little bit of an overstatement. All the choices were small, thin, "men" who only had swords with which to defend themselves.
"I am Liu Chan. My father, the king of Shu, Liu Bei, taught me. My weapon of choice is the broadsword. My opponent shall be you!" He pointed to a small man two spaces to Sun Shang Xiang's left.
"I accept your challenge, Liu Chan," replied the small man as he rose and bowed deeply to Liu Chan.
Both men moved to the center of the ring, Liu Chan with his slightly curved broadsword held rather tightly at his right side. Sweat was pouring down his brow. At least I'm first, I don't have to outdo anyone else, then again, I get to make the first impression on the officers. Remember what your dad taught you, bob and weave, strike like a snake, when they are weakening, hit like a pouncing tiger. Don't do anything flashy; just stick to the basics and you'll be fine. This guy is just some book carrier. He can't do any real damage.
Chang Yu, his opponent, however, was also worried sick. Oh, of all my cursed luck, I have to fight our lord's son. He's going to be some kind of godly fighter who's going to kill me for fun. I just won't strike; I'll let him kill me. I'm not doing anything important and it'll be over in a second.
As the battle began, Liu Chan was waiting for his opponent to make a move, and Chang Yu was waiting to get hit. Eventually, Liu Chan just went for it and cleaved straight down aiming to split his opponent's head.
Even if you are looking for death, it's hard to give up life and so Chang Yu stepped to his left and started to stab Liu Chan's side. Liu Chan had been given extensive lessons on how to avoid similar maneuvers and merely sidestepped, and in the same fluid motion, hit his opponent's blade out of the way and started a slice to the neck.
After ducking, his opponent cut Liu Chan's toes. Liu Chan let loose a scream of pain and kicked Chang Yu in the face.
He clutched his face, which now stung with pain and was slick with blood from his nose. Liu Chan was preparing to kill him now. He stood up and through his tears saw Liu Chan coming towards him, with nothing but a giant grin on his face and in his eyes.
Sun Shang was horrified, she knew that this could be brutal, but not this bad. She shouted, "Step to your right, it will be harder for Liu Chan to hit there!"
Chang Yu heard this in the nick of time, and was able to plan his next move. Liu Chan started a chop similar to the one that started the match, and after sidestepping to the left of the powerful cleave, Chang Yu stabbed.
Liu Chan couldn't stop the attack, the little freak that yelled out was right; it was hard to stop attacks on his left. Liu Chan wailed at the red-hot pain that seared his side. His blood flowed freely but, luckily, the wound was shallow. With his last conscious motion, Liu Chan swung his sword around and caught his partner in the arm, cleaving it off. Then Liu Chan promptly fainted.
By this time, the unconscious Liu Chan was put on a silk sheet carried by four men and hauled off to the infirmary, his opponent was less lucky and had to walk with someone to get there.
Then, Zhi Ning's thought process took over. So that's what this is all about, don't show up the officers. Well, I have a few things to say about that—Oh, wait a minute. I just showed up Liu Bei's son. Shit.
Liu Bei was virtually red with anger and embarrassment. "Well, it appears that we have an expert in the crowd. Step up." She did, and knew that something very bad was going to happen to her. "We shall see if you can fight as well as you can talk. Next!"
A man dressed in a white wrapped shirt and turban, stood up and bowed, saying, "I am Quiang Du, taught by the great master Huang Zhong. I have selected a pike to slay my foes." As he lifted himself from his knee he looked menacingly at Zhi Ning. His cold, blue eyes were looking daggers at her from across the ring. His large weapon was setting at his side, ready for a killing blow.
"Now you," said Liu Bei, expecting Sun Shang Xiang to tell her story.
"I am Zhi Ning, my strategies were taught to me by Pang Tong, I never had a teacher for fighting. I will use a sword."
"Circumstances in battle change at a moment's notice. Without warning or favor. So I, as is my right, shall alter the circumstances of the tourney. I say that this is your tournament, Zhi Ning. If you win, an officer may take you as an understudy. You will fight the next four matches, without rest. If you manage to beat them all, then as I said one officer will likely take you in and teach you how to fight." I cannot wait to see you fail. You humiliate my son and in so doing, you make me seem a fool. This will put you in your place. And if it does not, then I will have a very talented officer under my command. Either my honor will be restored, or my army will be benefited. I cannot lose. "Begin the match!!!"
Quiang Du, taught in psychological as well as physical warfare started to assault his foe's mind, "So, Zhi Ning, how long have you been untrained? Do you mouth off to your superiors often? Is your defense always this open?!" He was referring to the way she stood after asking his first two questions.
She was caught so off guard by the venomous way he asked, and, in trying to defend her honor, she forgot to defend herself. Quiang Du's lengthy weapon cut through the air. If her reflexes were not so keen, she would have been wounded much deeper than she was. A shallow cut soon formed on her stomach, outlined in the red of her blood.
Her eyes seemed aflame with hatred. She charged, sword held high, ready to cause some serious damage. Suddenly she stopped, she was a good ten feet away and felt a pain on her cheek. She moved her hand there and examined it on the return; there was blood upon it. She looked at her foe and saw that he had knocked another arrow.
"I'll fire it. Can you dodge this one?"
Great, this guy is all about range. If I get too close he'll smack me with his wicked crescent pike. She looked at her stomach, the blood was clotting now, but another hit would send ever more flowing. She also thought about her cheek and how it stung. Neither of those seems very comfortable. If I focus on dodging the pole weapon, he'll send a cloud of arrows my way. I can't get close because of the pike, and I can't stay away because of the arrows. I wonder…
He can't possibly win, if he gets close. I strike him. If he retreats for some distance, I shoot him. Liu Bei will shower me with praise for restoring his dignity and Huang Zhong will rise in the ranks. I can bring good things to both my masters. What a glorious day for Quiang Du.
Quiang Du let loose four arrows in quick succession. Zhi Ning sidestepped the first two, swung her sword at the next and leapt over the last constantly advancing. Now with his adversary only six feet away Quiang Du shot a fifth arrow, aimed at the heart of his new, fearless foe.
Almost as though she was inhuman, Zhi Ning held her sword out pointing at her opponent. The arrow seemed to slow down before it struck the point of her sword. Quiang Du reached for another arrow, but before he could ready it, Zhi Ning closed most of the distance and halved his bow.
Quiang Du rolled away as fast as he could, creating space, almost another ten feet. Then he stood, weapon at the ready. Zhi Ning merely walked closer, shortening the distance. Nine feet, eight, seven, six, five… Quiang Du clamped his eyes shut and tried to sweep his weapon through his foe, but it stopped halfway.
He looked, and was glassy eyed. With a simple gesture, she stopped his blow and was now only one foot from him. She turned her blade over and brought the hilt of her sword straight up into his chin. For Quiang Du, the lights went out and he fell to the floor of the ring.
"Well done Zhi Ning, you have fought exceedingly well, any trainer would be proud. Pang Tong should be beaming. Nonetheless, your next challenge is waiting," commented Liu Bei, with a great smirk painted on his face, "unless you want to take a nap and rest awhile."
"If it pleases your lordship, I will continue to fight," replied Zhi Ning, who really had no option.
"It pleases me greatly. Next combatant, rise and be heard."
A tall, burly, hairy man stood up. This one was obviously older than the first man she fought. His eyes were only black. Thick stubble covered his chin and neck. He showed no mark of respect towards his opponent. His towering frame overshadowed Zhi Ning from across the ring. Then his deep rumbling voice, like an imminent storm, called out to everyone. "I am Du Ken. Wei Yan has trained me. I shall annihilate my foes with my metal arms."
"Tell us about your arms," commanded Liu Bei, for he was indeed curious. Only now did Zhi Ning notice that his arms were glinting with light. They were covered with iron, and seemed very heavy.
"In my barbarian tribe, when a boy reaches the Age of Passage, his arms are covered in heavy metal rings. Two years after, he is given gauntlets. Then in two more years he is given a weapon constructed into the arms and sent out into the world. I have had ten years since my time of Passing."
"And what weapon did you have set into your arms?" asked Liu Bei, now genuinely interested.
"A set of claws."
"Let the battle begin."
"You said your name is Zhi Ning, correct?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"So I know what to put on your tombstone."
He lunged at her. She put her sword up to slash him. Du Ken simply grabbed the blade and ripped it from her grasp. Du Ken uttered a feral sound and started to wrestle with her. She realized, as a secondary thought. If he removes my armor, I'm in deep shit. She found a way out and ran away to look for her weapon. Du Ken was lumbering after her on all fours, like an animal. Is this how he trained? Wei Yan is supposed to be an excellent grappler. Did he wrestle with this guy? She ran for her sword. It was close to the edge by Zhuge Liang. As she ran she heard the sound of metal ripping wood. He's tearing the ring apart. I have never seen someone so primal.
She barely made it to the weapon and raised it in time to stop Du Ken's hand from mauling her face. She heard a sound like a sword coming out of its scabbard. A deep pain raced up her leg. She pushed her primitive enemy off her body and noticed that her leg was clawed. She looked back at Du Ken. She saw his right hand had claws on it. They dripped with her blood. She heard the unsheathing sound again. His left hand also had the claws. Du Ken seemed to change completely. He now slouched over and swayed.
Zhi Ning has no idea of what I can do. I will tear him to shreds. "Are you ready for this!" yelled Du Ken as he charged.
Du Ken seemed to slide in and out of reality and moving incredibly fast. He crossed the twenty-foot ring in no time at all. He was standing right behind her. "I can be either a powerful, savage beast or a cold, calculating demon."
"You are still only one man and can only be in one place," said Zhi Ning as she stabbed her sword at the opponent behind her.
"That doesn't mean I'll be where you think," said Du Ken to her face. He backhanded her across the ring.
What did Zhou Yu say about his darts? Oh yeah, I remember now. The smooth silky voice of her once beloved floated into her mind to speak to her again. "Sun Shang Xiang, my 'darts' are actually only mental. My mental power is sharp enough to make my illusions real to my opponents and they think that the fire I throw is burning them. It's not. But they think that and their mind burns them." Thank you Zhou Yu.
She summoned the last reserves of her strength and pointed her sword at her opponent.
"I have no arrows to deflect. And I can dodge a sword that doesn't move. You are dead," yelled Du Ken as he charged.
"I think not!" yelled Zhi Ning as a bright white light erupted from her sword. A dart. I have him now. He can't-
Du Ken grabbed the magic dart out of thin air and crushed it. "Petty tricks will not work on me. Only force can stop the forceful." Du Ken's massive body slammed into that of Zhi Ning. She tumbled for nearly fifteen feet. Her body lay on the floor, severely battered and racked with pain.
The amount of will it took to lift her body off the smooth wood was immense. She stood, "Come get some more, Tin man." "Success is one part inspiration—nine parts desperation." Yet another time Zhou Yu saved her life.
"You bastard, you can only stand, you are in no condition to fight, much less issue commands. I will enjoy tearing off your head!" Du Ken charged at her. Wait, his body is mantled in fire.
Only a little further. Come on, I've been saving this since Quiang Du and I fought. She stood, her sword at her side. She gathered all the energy around her and channeled her rage and pain into it. The fires at the corner of the ring flared up from little candle-lanterns to full blown bonfires. Everyone, Du Ken included, looked at the now empowered flames.
Only Jiang Wei still had his eyes fixated on the cook's apprentice, who until just recently didn't have a chance in the world. As he looked at Zhi Ning, he felt an odd tug towards him. He saw him assume the charging position, and was further intrigued. Only trained soldiers could channel this chakra, and even then, they barely could control it. This warrior was not a cook's apprentice, not even a low rank solider. This one had a secret, and Jiang Wei was now very eager to uncover it.
As Du Ken stood, pondering what do, Zhi Ning received a mental message from Pang Tong. DON'T!! A MUSOU WILL GIVE YOU AWAY!! DON'T DO IT!!
Great, what now?
Du Ken was moving close and he began to shove his clawed hand forward. Zhi Ning knocked his arm away and stopped the attack. Zhi Ning slashed several more times, then cut upwards. Du Ken felt his feet leave the ground and he only floated in the air. Zhi Ning cut him more while he could not defend himself, all the while keeping him above the ground. Finally, Zhi Ning spun with the sword and used the momentum to smack Du Ken across and out of the ring.
Du Ken landed on his back and lost his breath. Once he got it back the only thing out of his mouth was, "I may surrender now, but you will see me again."
"Well done, Zhi Ning. Perhaps an officer will take you under their wing regardless. Nonetheless, your next challenge will truly test your mettle. Unless our tireless warrior feels weakened." Once again, that same, smug smile crossed his lips.
"I only ask for my wounds to be bandaged."
"That is a request I can oblige," replied Liu Bei.
After Zhi Ning returned to the ring, she saw that the many destroyed boards were replaced.
"Ah, excellent, our main attraction has arrived. Zhon Kan, rise!" commanded Liu Bei.
Then stood a truly magnificent warrior. His body was in excellent condition and he wore only a baggy pair of dark blue-green pants and a gold ribbon around his neck and down his shoulders. On the ribbon was writing, it said, "Have a friend at your back, steel in your hands, and magic in your veins."
"I am Zhon Kan. Zhuge Liang taught me my magic. I use a long staff." He stood up and walked to the center of the ring. His weapon was far more than a "long staff." It was green with a red ribbon twirling around the sides all the way down. The top of the staff had a jewel set into it, an orb of crystal, and it was clear as a pool of water. Zhi Ning thought it odd, also, that his eyes had a similar look to them.
"Begin the match!"
"Your curiosity is apparent, even from across the ring. You were admiring my weapon, yes?" asked Zhon Kan
"It's not like any staff I have seen," replied Zhi Ning as she climbed into the hastily repaired wooden platform.
"No, it's not."
"Are you going to tell me what makes it so special?"
"No."
They lined up on opposite sides of the ring and bowed. It was nearly comical, a very clean, proper young man and a torn-up, bandaged cook bowing to each other. Zhon Kan shot a 'dart' at Zhi Ning. This dart was blue and moved at a very fast speed.
That is just what Zhou Yu fired, but his is fire. Jiang Wei's is lightning. What is this? Well its better to be told than to experience it.
"What was that?" asked Zhi Ning as she used her sword to slash it out of the way.
"Its an arrow of power. Jiang Wei uses lightning and Master Zhuge uses death. I have chosen the blasting power. You fired an arrow during the previous match. It just didn't have a special effect. You have some skills that could be refined. To bad that I will kill you before you can reach your potential."
He ran at her, staff raised and ready to beat her down. She raised her sword in her own defense. His staff moved through her sword and struck her. What the! His staff moved right through my sword! Is that the power of his magic?
"I guess you figured out what my 'special power' really is. My strikes cannot be stopped. And my magic is just as potent." He unleashed a ring of power around himself. Luckily, Zhi Ning was standing just outside of the range and only felt of slight pang of what would have been crippling pain.
She charged at him, sword down and at her side, she planned to cut him into the air like she did to the last opponent. She succeeded and he was floating, she was very cocky and launched him higher. That was a mistake. Zhon Kan flipped back into the air and threw his staff at the ground, causing an explosion. Zhi Ning was thrown back and startled so badly that Zhon Kan had time to retrieve his staff and come back to smack her around some more.
"Force is useless when the one you would use it against is so far beyond. You have dishonored our lord, two of our most powerful generals, and yourself. Your death is the only thing that will restore them. I will be merciful. I will kill you quickly so your suffering will not be so intense. HAH!!!"
He raised his staff well above his head and brought it down with such immense force that, when Zhi Ning rolled to her right, the ring was left with a deep crater.
"I have so much to do. I can't die here or by your hands." Remember, your magic is weak, so I need to be very careful. Zhou Yu always said, 'The more you strike your opponent, the more powerful your spells. If you can strike them enough times, even Gan Ning can use powerful magic.'
She moved very close to her opponent and danced, while doing so she struck him…several times. She finished with a spin that unleashed a new power. A light blade that would cleave him in half, if he hadn't have blocked it.
"Well, that was very good, now see if you can stop this!" He launched his own cutting blade.
I can't block, so I'll duck. Right under the lethal light she went. She then set off another light blade. What? When could I do that that often? I won't question it, but damn, that would have been nice to know earlier. "It doesn't matter how many you throw, I'll not be hit by any of them." Zhon Kan stood there and in the instant before it connected, he moved his staff and shot his own. In so doing, he destroyed her light blade and sent his. She ducked again and saw him send his ring of power at her.
Well, this looks like this is it. "Perhaps not." Pang Tong? "Yes, now listen to me, if you want to live you need to remember what you did early on that wasn't a block or a dodge, but still stopped his attack." I HATE RIDDLES!! "Well you're running out of time, so you better figure it out soon."
The power ring was now only two feet away from her and she's at the end of the rope. Sun Shang Xiang had a very inspired thought. THAT'S IT!! She raised her sword. "You know you can't block it, so why try?" asked her foe, confident in his victory.
"I'm not blocking, I'm attacking!"
She brought her sword above the ring and sent her blade crashing down. The metal blade clashed with the mental one and destroyed it.
"Well you found it out, but that doesn't mean that I'm defeated yet, I can strike you with my staff and you can't block it."
"Zhon Kan, stand down," commanded an ominous voice from the crowd.
"But Master."
"I said, 'stand down and be silent.' Now do it," demanded Zhuge Liang. Then, in a side whisper, "I am saving you the humiliation of being beaten by her, she would use a skill you wouldn't have a chance in the world to prevent."
"I will do it, but that does not mean I understand it."
"My lord, I know more than any other, the limits of my student's. If Zhon Kan had fought for much longer, he would have drained himself."
"Well, even though I dislike the decision, I will support Zhuge Liang's choice. Zhi Ning is quite the capable fighter. Obviously not a single warrior can defeat him. So with his approval…" Liu Bei paused and looked at him. Zhi Ning nodded. "He now will have to deal with two opponents; as is the required standard for those who wish to be taught by an officer. Onbay brothers, enter the ring!"
A regular-sized well-built male stepped into the ring he was dressed in a set of Eastern pants. The kind that are supposed to make it look like your legs are floating. And he was also in a robe that featured a dragon crawling across his body. A second man, his brother stepped up. He was an identical body type, but rather than a muscular upper body this one had very strong legs. Sun Shang Xiang didn't know that though, because this man were covered from head to foot in a black suit. His mouth and head was covered, but his piercing green eyes were plainly visible. The man in the dragon robe spoke.
"We are the brothers Onbay. I am the elder, Onbay Kado, and this is, my brother, Onbay Saika. Zhang Fei taught me and Guan Yu taught him. I use hook swords and he uses kunai."
"Why doesn't he talk?" asked Zhi Ning.
"He is mute. And he is a ninja, one who doesn't believe in making sound."
"Enough idle banter. To the center! Let this battle commence!" shouted Liu Bei.
A crucible is a very difficult often, grueling test. Usually presented as a right of passage.