Apexus and Maltos passed a ball back and forth between them. It was a steady ritual. The ball was caught with the left hand, passed to the right, then tossed across the gap with increasing ferocity. What could have been a mere game was turned into a dangerous test by the razor blades that covered the surface of the sphere. The sheen of light metallic grey that covered their arms protected them.

Twenty times they tossed it back and forth, before Maltos put it aside. “You have mastered the Ironskin of the Ready Waters Style.”

Apexus and Maltos walked outside. An unassuming piece of the landscape had trees planted across it for the next test. Climbing onto a boulder, the humanoid chimera watched his teacher demonstrate the path once. Then, he himself leapt from tree to tree. Each step he took on the thin branches of the canopies was light as a feather. Not once did his wings spread, as he followed the path of trees.

Twenty leaps he had made, before meeting Maltos at the other end. “You have mastered the Featherstep of the Ready Waters Style.”

Apexus and Maltos returned to the courtyard, where one of the experienced instructors had put together the last test. Twenty-one tiles lay stacked on top of each other, their base two blocks of stone. The teacher took the uppermost one and snapped it in half like a thin piece of wood, nodding at the quality. Testing, the pupil put his palm on the top of the stack once. He took a deep breath and simulated the strike slowly once. He took a deep breath and struck once. The energy rippled through the stack.

Twenty tiles were in front of him, before his strike. The central two cracked cleanly and the stack stayed standing, before Maltos lifted the upper half and inspected the work. “You have mastered the Rippling Palm of the Ready Waters Style.”

Instructors and fellow students stomped their feet and let out a unified, “HUA!” to celebrate the success of one of their own. There was no envy for the privilege of personalized training nor excess jubilation at his success. All those that remained were those of disciplined mind.

“Apexus has hereby mastered the three basic Techniques of the Ready Waters Style. He has earned himself the right of calling himself a Monk to all those that ask, and to teach those three Techniques to those he deems worthy. We bow to a new member of the Ready Waters Style. May you follow the aspirations of our school and engrain the creed into your heart: a steady hand cannot be forced.” Maltos put a clenched fist against the palm of his other hand and slowly bowed before Apexus. Everyone followed his example. Once he straightened back up, he declared. “The training continues.”

Those three words dispelled the current formation. Ceremoniously, two instructors came to clean up the tiles with symmetric movements, while the teacher and the pupils ascended the steps up to the temple. The students took their usual grid formation and soon the usual morning routine was in full swing.

Once inside the temple, Apexus and Maltos sat down before the carefully crafted lotus flower, as they were prone to do. “Other schools would hand you a sash or something else to commemorate the occasion,” the teacher explained, pouring himself a cup of tea from a set that he had put there before Apexus had even arrived. The liquid was at the exact right temperature to drink it. “I have always found such materialistic representations burdensome. My woman liked them, but she was a homemaker… while I was not.” He took a slow sip.

“It would not have been safe with me,” Apexus stated. “My clothes often end up shredded.”

“Adventuring attire is a primary expenditure. It is a part of the profession many often ignore. Too inconvenient or shameful to mention during heroic recollections, that the items we carry seldomly survive even a single Leaf.” Maltos turned the cup in his hand, watching the small ripples he created. “Perhaps I could gift you some of my old equipment before you leave. Albeit, I will have to don it one more time before you do.”

“Consider carefully, teacher. I would not wear what I have not earned through deeds.”

Maltos nodded slowly. “Big shoes to fill, as they say, and you do not have the luxury to grow into them. Best to keep you in the shoes that you fit than impede your walking.” He cleared his throat, then took another sip of tea. “Why do you think the Ironskin, Featherstep, and Rippling Palm are the basis of the Ready Waters Style, when the signature Technique is the Flow Manipulation? Be elaborate in your answer.”

“You must know the barrier between you and the outside world and how to reinforce it. You must be able to step with diligent care and grace to keep the energy flowing. You must be adept at manipulating where the energy goes and what shape it maintains. Those are the three lessons I learned from mastering these Techniques.”

“Observant as usual,” Maltos nodded approvingly. “Then let me demonstrate the three forms of Flow Manipulation. Redirection, Neutralization and Breaking.” Maltos poured himself a new cup of tea, then lifted the lid of the pot to make sure that it was empty. “You already know the first one,” he stated and put the lid aside, “but it is important to reiterate. Slowly spill the tea in front of me, Apexus.”

The slime moved over and took the cup. Gently, he tilted the container, until the green tea poured out. With gentle movements, like pulling the strings of a harp, Maltos directed the flow mid-air. His hands never came into contact with the liquid, which followed a curved path back into the pot.

“Redirection is possible at any speed. Slower or faster is not any harder or easier, fundamentally. The more impatient will find it easier to manipulate swift attacks, the more careful will be able to maintain the necessary concentration for prolonged manipulation. It is a question of temperament, rather than ability.” Maltos expertly tapped the last drop of tea in the air, nudging its flight path to fall into the pot as well. An open hand was a demand that Apexus answered by handing the cup back. The tea was poured back into it. Maltos took a sip. “A bit cold, now,” he chuckled.

Apexus showed his amusement with a small smile, and remained where he was. Patiently, he waited for his teacher to oil his old voice box.

“Motion is the requirement of redirection,” Maltos continued. “You surround the flow you wish to manipulate with two of your own making, which run parallel to it. They should provide no obstacle to whatever you wish to redirect. Rather, you weave a road for it. All energy wishes to follow the path of least resistance. Determine that path.”

“I understand,” Apexus nodded. “The theory.”

“The theory. The practice will begin soon,” Maltos nodded. “Important is to understand that you can only redirect what you can move in accordance or ahead of. For small objects, a turn of a finger may be enough, for larger ones, you may have to do an entire spin.”

“I sometimes throw Korith around,” Apexus stated.

His teacher hummed, then nodded, “Yes, she would be small enough. That is another factor to consider. A complete redirection is impossible for objects that are themselves grounded or attached to something that is firm. An arrow can be returned to its sender, a Bolt to its caster, but a fist can only be pushed aside. Now, let me demonstrate Neutralization.” Maltos emptied his tea and stood up. He got in a ready position, bending his legs slightly. “Punch me.”

Without hesitation, Apexus hurled his massive fist at the old man. It stopped at Maltos’ open palm. An impact that would have crushed the palm, wrist, and perhaps even the arm of any regular senior came to a complete, harmless stop against the hand of the Monk. Apexus had a confusing lack of sensation in his knuckles. It did not feel like he had hit a solid or even a soft object. His fist had simply stopped and was now at rest. With the barest of delays, he felt an intense vibration under his feet. The slime directed his gaze downwards, trying to confirm what his tremor sense had picked up.

“Ah, your unusual nature aids you,” Maltos hummed. “What just happened, Apexus?”

The humanoid chimera did not answer immediately, or even quickly. He took a step back and smacked his own shoulder with a weak Rippling Palm. The shock was easily absorbed by his liquid insides. He clapped his hands together, trying to recreate the phenomenon he had witnessed. “You took the energy of my strike into your body and let it flow through, directing it into the ground.”

“Correct,” Maltos confirmed with a pleased nod. “The prerequisite for Neutralization is that you are firmly grounded on a surface that can take whatever you are directing through you. If you attempt this with unsuitable or no footing, the energy will be dispersed inside you instead. That may sound desirable at first, but I assure you that it is much better to have broken fingers than even a slight tear in your organs. Even in your case.”

He was right, patching up his hands would be more energy efficient than internal organs.

“As you have found out on your own, the principle of this is to use the Rippling Palm backwards. Easier said than done, but we will see to that. The third and final category of Flow Manipulation is called Breaking. Strike me again.” Maltos folded his hands behind his back and took the slam of Apexus’ fist into his chest without even blinking.

Instead, it was Apexus who stumbled back, as the entire energy behind his punch shot up his arm. The liquid underneath the thick membrane grotesquely rippled. Muscles were shifted out of place, then quickly pulled back where they belonged by the slime’s will. Apexus pulled one of his fingers back into the correct position, while he attempted to understand what exactly had transpired. That the flow had been thrown back at him was clear, but beyond that he was not sure.

“Breaking is not named for its destructive capabilities, or even the way it works,” Maltos told his pondering pupil. “Refusal would be a more apt term. I reject your force entering my physical form and with nowhere else to go you are hurt instead. Breaking is named such because it breaks the rules of traditional combat for those that see it work. That is only to the uninitiated though. In reality, it only works under two specific circumstances. One, you must have at least twice the level of ki as your opponent. The bigger the gap, the easier it becomes.”

“That sounds useless,” Apexus immediately stated.

“In most cases, it is. Breaking is used by teachers to show rowdy students their place. To break them in, if you wish,” Maltos chuckled at his own pun. “It is impressive, until one catches up in power. To attempt a Breaking and fail is to not only take the full force of the impact, but have the concentrated ki in the area shatter and take the surrounding meridians out of commission. You temporarily numb your own magic circuitry. Ironskin is the safer option in all cases. There is the second case of when a Breaking can be used, even against an opponent of equal or superior power. That is when they lose control. When they are pushed against the wall, desperate to do anything to escape, you may attempt a Breaking against attacks thrown without grace. Their lack of proper aim will make them sloppy and easy to punish, easy enough that it can be done no matter the difference in power. This is still not recommended. You must be an absolute master of the Flow Manipulation to make this a better option than covering yourself in Ironskin and simply jabbing them. Not even I would use it as my first option. If you get to that point, you will have exceeded me in my prime.”

The idea seemed so distant to Apexus, to be stronger than Maltos was now and stronger than he was when he was younger, healthier, and trained regularly against enemies his level. Distant, yet not impossible. Apexus knew he had the potential and with his party at his side, he was certain he could advance enough to get there. It was all a matter of rigorous self-discipline, steady improvement, and avoiding any pitfalls.

“I cannot properly teach you Breaking, although I doubt I will have to. From a purely technical perspective, it is the easiest of the three variants. I will first teach you Redirection, then Neutralization. We will use Redirection to train your stamina, but the technical focus will be on Neutralization. Remember, it is our goal to make you capable of taking just one attack of the Deathhound without budging.”

Apexus nodded and they got to work.