Freedom and personal liberty is the most important thing, and for some that is all there is. They will beat evil into the ground because it threatens their freedom, and that is all they would do. “Do as you will” was the statement that basically summed up general culture. It was quite broad and in depth for such a simple idea, with the crux of it being that good people don’t need rules. They will do what is good because it is good. And all Cultivators should aspire to goodness, to favour nobility above the gutter, and not abuse their power or position.

There was absolutely acknowledgement that such a thing was impossible in every situation, so some leeway was given to people, more so when you were young and still finding your feet. It was, in surprising similarity to the Skivoan culture, very communal. Not explicitly tethered by legality, but tethered by your neighbours. It did lead to a question that one’s perception of abuse is not another’s perception of abuse, but that was just the flaws of the system. Every system had them. 

To add further complexity to this, every Sect had their own rules, their own stipulations on how members of it should act. Ranging from absolutely nothing, to more rules than normal society, the Asura Formation Sect had but a single rule. Oppose Injustice. To Fushaka, the people in the Three Mind Society bullying their weaker clansmen was definitely injustice, but she needed to be able to fight them properly before she could oppose them properly. So, after the lesson on society and sect rules, Fu was back out at training. 

This time, not physical. Twelve Stars was merely two dozen moves, some step techniques, some strikes, and two stances. A person could memorise the entire book in a week. This, would have been while people struggled to get anywhere with it, because there was nothing to get with, it was just a skeleton. Like, someone had wanted to build a proper style but got interrupted half way through and never got back to it. 

Still, the point was clearly perseverance, so she would persevere, and fight the doubt wherever it might dare to raise it’s head. One Yin Principle was certainly helping with that, as she was recovering from fatigue and strain easily with the breathing techniques and relaxation styles. Though the flow of energy she was meant to be feeling was not going very far. It was like there was a solid stone in her gut, heavy and unmoving despite her attempts to get it to do just that. She felt that eventually she’d have to stop relying on this technique to recover because it was pushing her too hard. But for now, she could worry about other stuff.

“So” a woman spoke from beside Fushaka. 

“Hello” Fu quickly replied, a little awkward to have missed someone new approaching her. And maybe a little wary about how last time went.

“You are certainly pretty” the woman replied. The uniform that marked her as a Core Disciple was made out of high quality silk, which seemed to glimmer gently and shift with the woman’s movements to accommodate her perfectly. She certainly looked like a Core Disciple as well, with perfectly maintained black hair kept orderly in a double-bun, and a toned but still lithe musculature. The uniform showing just enough of her flawless skin. 

“Excuse me for the feelings of awkwardness, but the last person who said that to me ended up beating the crap out of me” Fushaka replied, staring at the woman with a suspicious gaze.

“Ha, yes. I am sure Eriana would say something like that. But don’t worry about that. I just came down to see you because Talia won’t shut up about her beautiful bride to be, so I just had to see what all the noise is about. Ahh, and sorry, for the belated introduction; I am Raimaa Futago” Raimaa would give a short bow to Fushaka, who returned it in kind.

“Fushaka Shinmizu. I, am glad that Talia thinks so highly of me. It is hard to live up to the expectations of someone so grand as her” Fu replied, standing up and straightening out her uniform.

“Hehehe. Yea, she’s a bit like that, huh? Some days I think I am sparring with a gutter child, and other times it’s like I am facing Ci Lan in her youth. She’s iconic, I think, in the way to truly excel in this world. Too much of any one side will cause an imbalance in your Cultivation, so why would it be any different for the social side?” Raimaa asked rhetorically.

Though, Fushaka had latched onto another part of what Raimaa had said, and looked back with starry eyes.

“Could, you spar with me?” she asked. It got quite the haughty laugh from the woman.

“My my. You are an enthusiastic one, aren’t you? No Qingong, no Neigong, very little Waigong, and still you want to spar with a Core Disciple. There should be limits to one’s arrogance, no?”

The rebuke made Fushaka flush red, and she dipped her head away, suddenly aware of what she had just asked of a woman like this.

“But, we should also be inspired to progress” Raimaa replied, looking over to see a gathering crowd that would swarm her as soon as they got the courage to come over. “If you make it into the Inner Disciple ranks, then I shall come and give you what you ask” Raimaa promised, before giving a wink and disappearing in a cloud of cherry blossoms. Fushaka followed suit the more manual way before anyone started to question what she was doing with a Core Disciple. 

Her first stop was the Martial Hall, where she browsed the Qinggong. Movement techniques like that looked awesome, and she wanted one. The cheap stuff that an Outer Disciple was allowed didn’t look very fascinating, just styles of how to make your body feel lighter and how to shift more easily. None of the awesome leaping and flying shit, but that as to be expected, really. So she bought Rangou Five Steps. Would help her get around, if nothing else. She spent the rest of the day in the Martial Hall learning the basics of the technique, getting some guidance from the teachers and generally putting her whole heart into engraving it into her mind so it would be easy to practise in the future.

Word had spread, both of her connection to Talia and Raimaa’s meeting, and people were milling around her, trying to decide if they should be friends to reap the benefits or if they should bully her and try to extort something out of her connection. Fushaka was hoping they would just leave her alone, but that didn’t seem likely in this place, so she resolved to drop the chores she was doing and focus exclusively on the training to make sure she was capable of dealing with anyone who came her way with untowards intent. After all, it would not look good for Talia’s fiancee to get her ass kicked. Again…