[D10LA] I'll make a war... a survivor out of you (Expecting)

[Moto Mitsuki]

"The art of evasion is like any other martial skill. At first, it's harder and less efficient than simply trusting your instincts and inner strength. As you progress however, you realize it consumes less energy and leaves less openings, and eventually you wonder how you could have ever done without it.

It's like throwing a punch. When you know nothing about jiujutsu, you hit as hard as possible and do real damages, to both your opponent and your fist. When you start on the path, you're first taught how to not hurt yourself, and your punches are ironically less useful in an actual fight. But when you get past a certain threshold, you can hit as hard, or harder, than before without paying the price with your own body.

As for counterattacks, with you magic, range isn't really an issue? Or is it? As a non-shugenja, I tend to always overestimate what the spirits can do, because, from an external point of view, it doesn't look like there's a limit."

[Seppun Unsei]

Unsei listened intently as Mitsuki explained, but the shugenja had never been real good at listening to lectures in the first place. They tried hard though, but unfortunately they learned through doing more than through hearing.

At the end of it all, Unsei nodded. "Okay. Um. Yeah! Do less... to do less... but help more? Better." They said, trying to make sense of it all. "Training is important!"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Fine. A demonstration it is. Let's switch roles. You try to grab me and I try to keep my distance." said Mitsuki as she entered a defensive stance.

[Seppun Unsei]

"We... uh... We both know how this is going to go, really." They chuckled a bit awkwardly. "As much as I joked, I do think I understand what you were trying to tell me. Instead of just running around, just try to go in shorter bursts each time you lunge and work on my reaction speed if it's too slow to do so."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"That's the idea yes.

Once, me and my soldiers got the chance of witnessing art of evasion pushed to its very limit, and how it can be defeat an opponent by itself. It was in the Ivory Kingdoms, and there was that guru – kinda their local Togashi monks with more beards and less tattoos – who was just sitting in the middle of the road. Road we had to pass through with horses and carts.

We tried politely asking them to clear the passage, but they didn't even open their eyes or showed any sign they were hearing us. Eventually, one of my soldiers, infuriated, dismounted and tried to grab them and move them out of the way.

They never managed the grab part, their hands closing on nothing but the void each time they tried. The guru was moving just what they needed to, not one inch more, to not get caught, and they never moved more than one step from their initial position, perfectly returning to it after ten minutes of failed chase.

At this point, everyone was dead of laughter except for the still impassible guru and my hotheaded soldier.

And then the guru just stood and walked out of the way from their own will. Never knew what their deal was exactly, but I guess it's the very lesson they taught us that day.

You won't achieve that result with today's training, but it's a start."

[Seppun Unsei]

As always, Unsei listened closely, paying attention to what Mitsuki was saying and doing a much better job of it now that they weren't having to learn something. Right now, this was just story time and story time was much better than learning time.

Nobody tell them that you can learn stuff from stories.

At the end of it, Unsei nodded like the airhead they were, smiling away. "Just sounds to me like the... guru... was being a bit of a dick. He knew you all were trying to pass through and he just stood there until he pissed people off. Though, I suppose alternatively I don't understand why you could just... move around him either."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"The horses could, the carts couldn't. A cart full of goods is heavy, and would have just sunk in the mud if they had left the road to get around that obstacle.

And indeed he was kind of a dick. I guess monks all over the world have to swear as part of their vows to never impart wisdom without first driving nuts their pupils."

[Seppun Unsei]

"Was it really that small of a road? Though, I suppose that all monks are usually some facet of annoying. Actually makes me wonder if they actually teach anything of if they're just being an ass and hoping someone thinks that they're smart."

They shook their head. "I also don't know much about cavarans and stuff, so sorry if I sound silly with that."

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki was suddenly reminded that Unsei was an Imperial, not someone really used to the countryside.

"Most roads in the world are only wide enough for one cart at a time. Only roads part of the main trade routes or managed by powerful military estates are large enough for two or more carts to cross each over.

And yes, this is often an issue, even without a guru involved. A stupidly high number of fights happen each year over which convoy gets to go first, and which must wait on the side at the risk of some goods getting lost there if the terrain is hazardous.

As for monks... They have skills only them have, so I guess there must be some wisdom in them. Not sure however if they themselves know how to differentiate between what is a hard pill to swallow but a needed one, and what is just being an ass for the sake of being an ass.

Maybe true enlightenment is actually knowing that.

Though Shinsei himself was sometimes kind of an ass too so..."

[Seppun Unsei]

They furrowed their brows. "I thought they would've been larger. Making them only wide enough for a single cart is kind of... stupid. You'd get backed up, lose stuff, and so on and so forth. It's not a very good design choice, is it? Is it expensive to fix or something like that?" Unsei was very, very much an Imperial who had no knowledge of such things. Poor sap couldn't even ride a horse and was deathly afraid of calluses, so walking and knowing about open roads was next to nothing.

"Just because they've got special abilities doesn't make them smart, either. I've seen some really dumb shugenja in my time, and yet they've got special skills that only we've got. Granted, I am also likely counted as a dumb shugenja, so there's that. Such is life, you know."