Xuelei, Tears of Blood

Chapter 36 - The Swordman's Dance

Over the next few weeks, Xuelei did light exercises to help his body recover. The Swordman's Dance as what he had come to call the martial arts sequence the mysterious man had shown him was driving him mad.

He had gone through it a thousand times in his mind. The glaring flaws to the perfect steps taunted him endlessly. He was missing something obvious. He wanted to practice, positive he would find the answers to the riddle once he went through the steps physically, but his body would not cooperate.

If he could not try it out soon, he was positive he would go stark raving mad.

It was on a bright clear day when he finally deemed himself well enough to try the Swordsman's Dance. His brothers were all out on various missions. He had the training ground all to himself.

Perfect.

Xuelei had dressed in a simple light grey outfit. It was slightly loose and comfortable to accommodate the tight bandages under his clothes.

He walked out to the middle of the spacious training ground and took a deep breath, clearing his mind. He stretched his muscles and warmed up his body with some light exercises.

Then he started.

Xuelei stilled himself, running the sequence in his mind once more, then he gripped his saber and positioned himself in the starting stance. It was a pleasure to go through the motions, controlled body movements, attack, hand block, twirl and kick. The swordsman's dance was an intricate and powerful mix of attack and defence where the body and weapon merged together in deadly harmony.

He had to stop several times as he puzzled out certain moves. Some which had seemed simple actually required a fine sense of balance and posture. The control and discipline required in the combinations almost twisted his body parts as he simulated the steps. The brilliance of the moves dazzled his mind, certain obscure positions made sudden sense as he paced his body carefully through the motions getting a feel of what the man had shown him.

The saber was drawn only on the 15th move, striking, blocking and defending was with the undrawn weapon until then. It became an extension of the body. The weapon was kept close to the body in defence, lashing out only when attacking. He stumbled on the 23rd step, the awkward position of his blade throwing him off balance.

He froze, hands flailed out for balance, feet wide apart maintaining stability and checked his stance. He frowned, he was doing it right. So why did it feel so off? He righted his weapon and continued. This was the first time he was physically doing the Swordman's Dance.

"Arrrghh!!"

He cried in frustration as he faltered at the 47th move. His saber clattered noisily onto the ground as he tried instinctively to counter the illogical step and lost his balance again. The move required full attack but he was too anxious, aware of the opening the move created to his middle and side. It left him vulnerable and almost guaranteed the enemy a successful disembowelling move.

Xuelei picked up his saber and continued. At last he completed the whole sequence, coming down from a high jump to deal the final blow, blade extended slicing the unseen enemy in half. He allowed himself a moment before he pulled back his stance.

He was breathing heavily. He was disappointed in himself, dissatisfied with his performance. The flaws were even more glaring when put into practice, but how did the man do the routine so fluidly? It was a piece of art when the man had practiced it over and over again. There was no flaw when he did it. It had been perfect, elegant and deadly.

Over the next few days, Xuelei practiced again and again trying to work out the flaws. He broke it down into parts and pieced it back again together. He changed up the sequence, doubling up the attacks, then doubling up the defence. The effects were awesome. It was very flexible. If one understood it, mastered it, the Swordman's Dance was lethal. The more he practiced, the more he discovered.