Tear A Path 60 Spar

When night came around, they decided to stop wherever they were to camp. Zhao Wei had already established his position in the group as a chef. For lunch and dinner he'd cook enough for the whole group. At first he'd feed them the same soup for lunch and dinner. Once their stomachs had adjusted, he'd begun cooking slightly heavier meals with more dry cooked foods.

The group would travel the morning and set camp wherever they reached at night. Most of the time, Zhao Wei would be in his own quarters training. This had become a part of everyday life for him. Even while walking he'd use his toes to clasp the ground and propel himself forward without even thinking. A person would have to run if they decided to walk and talk with him.

Most nights in his room he had two hands planted on the ground, his elbows bent at a 90 degree angle and his back straight while his legs were folded on either side and raised in making him look like a frog from behind. These days he'd need Myra on top of him or some other form of weight. He'd persevere for several hours at a time and did so without moving an inch. He was so stiff that if a person came by they would've thought he was a table.

This night however Kitsi asked him to join the rest outside. It was rowdier than usual, the warriors finally had some energy in them after eating better for a few days. In the center where a campfire stood, two burly members were having a go at each other. One held a halberd while the other held a trident.

The trident was a very unbalanced weapon, it was basically made for fishing in the early ages. It's two other p.r.o.ngs beside the center one was created to make spearing fish easier with the added width. While it could be used for bludgeoning and striking, the force applied wouldn't be optimal.

The halberd on the other hand was the king of pole arms, a hybrid between the spear and axe, it was one of the most versatile weapons ever created. With the edges of the axe blade a veteran could hook and tear away enemy weapons. It's only weakness was it's weight which required a person to have immense strength to properly control.

On the same level of proficiency, a halberd should win hands down. In this match however that wasn't so. The trident user focused on his jabs, picking off the opponents openings, the side blades cutting the skin here and there. Each movement was clear and precise, like drawing a line through the air.

His adversary was an obvious muscle head, arms bulging with veins swung the halberd left and right like a whirlwind. To the other warriors it was ferocious and unyielding, even the enemy had a hard time closing in. But in Zhao Wei's eyes, it was clumsy and desperate.

He'd be more effective with a heavy axe than the halberd which required a fine control. His chest was heaving and breath unsteady. With each swing, the switch was slower and the angle of attacks got lower and lower, his head poking out from between.

If he was in there, Zhao Wei would have his head in the snap of a finger. But fortune favors the fool as the muscle head, in his desperation rushed into his adversary at a time he was stabbing at his side. A cut was made but the distance was closed, before the trident could be pulled back the halberd blade was already at the man's neck.

"Stop!" Kitsi screamed just before the blade pressed into the flesh and drew blood. "Artra, you did well, but you panicked at the last second, if you'd just dodged instead of trying to regain your weapon, you'd still be in the fight even if you were barehanded." Kitsi told the trident wielder who walked away after acknowledging the lesson.

"Ortis..." She turned to the halberd wielder who was happy from his win, "You were lucky, wipe that grin from your face and do 1000 swings before your shift." the muscle head couldn't help but open his jaws, wasn't he the winner?.

Zhao Wei was watching the sidelines when Eyisha called from in front of her camp, "Benefactor, would you like to give on of our warriors a shot?"

"No I think it's more fun to watch right now", he replied inducing jeers from the crowd.

Finally after the jeers didn't stop, Zhao Wei finally stood up to the delight of everyone. "Anyone want to test the benefactor?" Kitsi announced. Silence suddenly overcame the camp. Everyone had seen his fight and none of them really wanted to be on the end of that.

A lean warrior came forward holding dual blades. "My name is solith, captain of the princess's guard I am honored to receive your tutelage" he said as he brandished his weapons.

Zhao Wei walked towards his carriage to pick his weapon. When he came back many was astonished as he came back holding the knife he used to cut vegetables. Solith's face had turned red, in his eyes, Zhao Wei was trying to humiliate him. "I understand you have some skill but it doesn't mean you should ever underestimate your opponents" He reprimanded.

"I'm not underestimating you, but my weapons are used for killing and I know no other way to use them, unless you wish for it to be a battle of life and death I don't wish to use them for some entertainment." Zhao Wei replied.

Solith couldn't really agree with Zhao Wei, but seeing that he was stubborn about his decision, Solith decided that he'd be a little harsher to give him a lesson.

Both sides stood on their end, Solith readied his stance, his snake abdomen folded to launch himself forward. Zhao Wei stood low, making himself a smaller target.

Suddenly Solith moved, his upper body moved first while his lower body followed, slithering left and right on the sand. Zhao Wei couldn't move back fast enough, in the first place, a person would always run backwards slower than they ran forward. Secondly Zhao Wei's legs sunk into the sand with every step while Solith's lower body moved on it.

Solith saw this as his chance and swung his blades across, his right followed by his left. Before the right blade could reach the peak of it's swing a leg stopped it. Zhao Wei had jumped on the fist curled around the blade while spinning his body mid air. Solith's left blade barely missed taking Zhao Wei's toes.

As he was descending, Zhao Wei switched his legs around stepping on either of Solith's shoulders. His left hand gripped on Solith's chin and he leaned backwards pulling them both to the ground. By the time Solith realized what was going on, the edge of the vegetable knife was tickling his throat. He could only gulp as his back started sweating.