Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

2:18 Training

A cool breeze buffeted Sam's body and he sneezed. His head scraped against the hard stone of the plain as he continued bowing.

"How much longer do I have to bow for?" he asked Ji.

"Until your knees hurt," she said from somewhere above him.

"They already do."

She tapped his head and said, "well stand up then."

He grabbed his weapon and stood to face her. Ji's naginata towered over her and she was no small woman. Sam was six foot and she was a few inches taller than him with a ponytail that arced over her head and made her look even more imposing.

"Did you discover the whereabouts of Tsurugi?"

"Not yet."

She nodded her head solemnly.

"We will begin our lesson with a quiz," she said.

"I don't have time for that, Ji."

"You will make time or you won't learn anything from me at all. I need to know how much you've learned since I've last seen you."

"I can show you firsthand," Sam said swinging his Corseque around.

"You will answer my questions first."

"Fine," Sam said with a sigh.

"How does one build up power for a Burning Chain?"

Sam rolled his eyes and said.

"One must perform effectively and efficiently in combat both offensively and defensively. Such a performance builds a fiery confidence and flow that is needed for Burning Chains."

"How does one perform effectively on offense in order to build burning power?"

"One must attack wisely and aggressively, finding openings, sweet spots, weaknesses. Counter-attacks and critical attacks quickly build that burning power while running away from an opponent and missing attacks decreases it."

"Good. Now how does one build burning power with their defensive choices?"

"One must evade and parry at the most opportune times to build up burning power. Blocking diminishes the power while running and getting hit greatly diminishes it."

"Very good," Ji said smiling. "Once the power is built, how does one use a Burning Chain?"

"To use a Burning Chain attack certain conditions must be met and once met the user must combine a string of attacks called Linkers into a perfectly flowing chain and end that chain with an Ender."

"What conditions must be met to perform a Linker?"

"A user must have the necessary amount of burning power and the correct sequence of Linkers to interrupt an enemy attack and stun them."

"What about an Ender?"

"To perform an Ender the user must have the necessary amount of burning power along with sufficient soul power to use the proper Soul Burning Technique at the end of a string of Linkers."

"Good. You've learned the basics of Burning Chains very well, though of course there is still much to learn. You will master that Combination Scroll yet. But before your mastery of that, must come a skill which you severely lack."

"Which is ... ?"

"Your mobility and evasion skills are lacking."

"I get by okay."