Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

2:8 Equalizers

Sam lay out on the ground, completely out of breath and surrounded by a field of rubble that was once six pain in the ass golems. Ji stood over him, looking down with her lips tightly pursed and her eyes narrowed.

"What?" he nearly yelled. "That wasn't easy. We could've stopped after the second golem."

"What would that have accomplished? You've still got a ways to go before you master any of the combat techniques and strategies I've taught you."

Sam sat up and snorted.

"I've learned plenty and with the way you teach, there's no way I can forget it. Unfortunately, I have to get moving soon so I can explore more of the land."

"I do feel you are more capable but there is still always more to learn."

"Well, you may have already taught me too much," he said holding up his Rapier and scowling. The tip of the blade had dulled from repeatedly striking golem after golem. There were also nicks and dents now running throughout it leaving it virtually unusable in a fight.

"I may have overdone things by a small measure, I admit, but I see that you carry another weapon with you. That polearm is a better match against the enemies you'll find here. Its length alone will give you more versatility"

"I correctly guessed that it would when I purchased it, but I have no experience using it and its weak. I'll have to collect a lot of souls to Awaken it."

"I can tell that you already have a lot of souls currently at your disposal. That's good. I have an ally in the valley who can repair your weapon, a smith known as Tsurugi. Now, if you don't have any more time to train, I can at least sell you some training guides to help you on your way."

"What kind of training guides?" Sam asked now leaning forward.

"The guides I sell are called Stance Scrolls. They are supplemental chapters to a general combat book called the Warrior's Dao, which I will also sell you. The scrolls I have are for the Power, Combination, and Mid stances. Each scroll teaches various techniques for each discipline. There's enough knowledge in each scroll to completely alter your fighting style. It's the best I can offer, since I won't be able to train you once you're gone."

"Cool. I'll take them all," Sam said as he stood and dusted himself off.

"I don't think you're focused enough to handle all three scrolls at once. I'll only sell you the Dao and one scroll until you show mastery over the style that you're practicing. Once you do that, come see me for the next scroll."

Sam snorted and shook his head. I'm being treated like a baby by another woman, and this one's not even real.

"Looks like I don't really have a choice in the manner."

"Such a decision will not be undone without good reason, now follow me."

They walked further into the valley, but turned down a narrow passageway. At the end was what looked to be the remnants of a camp along with a jade traveling bag with ivory cloud designs in Sumi-e style all over it. She went into it, digging deeply, and produced the three Stance Scrolls. Power was decorated with a red seal, Combination a blue one, and Mid with green.

"Which would you recommend, Ji?"

"For you, I'd go with Combination or Mid. Those two compliment the way you fight very well. Combination emphasizes speed and multihit techniques while Mid is balanced between speed and power and is perfectly suited for sword and shield fighting styles."

"Hmm, but it looks like I'll be using the Corseque for a while and I may ditch the shield while I'm using it. Looks like it'll be combination first then."