Ning flourished his spear, pulling it away from the man and walking back. He went back a couple of steps before stopping and getting back into stance.
He was ready to go again.
The bald man moved back further away, looking at Ning as though he was looking at a ghost. He couldn't figure out why he had lost to him so easily. How could he have lost against this kid in a battle of spear?
It wasn't even a loss after a long battle. He had beaten him in a single strike. He refused to believe that was possible.
"Again," the man said and Ning gave a small shrug before gesturing him to continue.
The man didn't rush forward this ti. Both the last ti, he had been the one to attack Ning and had lost hence. This ti, he beca more wary of Ning and remained behind, waiting for him to co forth.
Ning was of a similar mind, but after seeing that the man was too scared to co after him, he sighed and stepped forward himself.
He spun his spear in circles as he walked, making the man unsure exactly how he was going to attack. When he got close, he suddenly dashed, forcing the man to return to the offensive in order to defend himself.
Ning spun sideways, dodging the spear thrust, and struck his spear's shaft against the man's spear, pushing it down. The man tried to pull it back, but Ning quickly used the butt of his spear to strike it sideways, making the man's hand waver a little and lose the balance of his spear.
Ning then spun his spear fully before striking down from upward with the butt end of the spear, striking right next to where the man held his spear. He didn't hit his fingers, but if he had, he would have shattered the bones right there.
The man felt the feedback of wood striking wood and let go of his spear instinctively in fear of losing his fingers. Before the spear even hit the ground, Ning spun his spear back, placing the tip before him pointed right next to the man's chest.
Once again, the man had lost, and it had taken him no more than 5 total seconds to do so. The man trembled a little and couldn't stay up anymore. He fell back, landing on his butt. He wanted to speak but no words ca out of his mouth. He stared at Ning, speechless.
Ning looked sideways and saw the other man and woman with a stunned expression too. He couldn't help but smile internally.
"If that is all, we can end this spar," he said and looked back at the bald man. "Or would you like to continue this?"
The bald man shook his head and slowly pushed himself up. He took a few deep breaths before saying, "Forgive for looking down on you. You... you are a better fighter than with a spear."
"You are not bad so yourself, brother," Ning said as he walked away.
"Where did you learn it?" the man asked, causing Ning to turn around.
"My spear art?" Ning asked. "I... can't really say, I'm afraid. It's a bit of a secret."
"Is that so?" the bald man asked, dejected. "I just... I have never seen a man who fought with a one-handed spear. Can you dual-wield spears too?"
"Huh? Oh!" Ning slowly lifted his cloak that had been hiding his other arm the entire ti. Or rather, the lack thereof.
The man saw the shirt sleeve that was tied around the stump and was flabbergasted to see that Ning had actually been missing an arm this entire ti.
He had lost to a one-ard man.
"You fight with one arm because you were born without an arm?" the man asked.
"Born? No, I lost it a while ago in a battle that nearly killed ," Ning said.
"Huh? Then your one-ard spear-fighting technique was sothing you learned for no reason" he asked.
"It's not a one-ard spear fighting technique," Ning explained. "It's just a spear fighting technique that I was forced to use with one arm because I don't have another one anymore." The bald man's eyes slowly widened. Not only had he lost to a man younger than him, he had lost to soone who was down an arm too. That could only an one thing.
"You're a prodigy," he said slowly. "You're a prodigy in the way of spear."
Ning felt a little embarrassed hearing the man calling him that. He was no prodigy at all. He just had a really, really long ti to get good at it.
"Thank you," he said, knowing not what else he could say.
"Will you teach ?" the man asked, stunning Ning for a mont.
"Uhh... teach you? The spear?" he asked.
The man nodded vigorously. "Just help fix what errors I make while fighting. I don't need to be trained from the start, just have to be given so tips."
Ning thought for a mont, thinking whether he wanted to teach the bald man or not. He was already teaching Shara too, and-
"I'll pay you 15 silver coins for teaching for the rest of our journey," the man shouted. "Deal!" Ning shouted back. He wasn't going to say no to nearly-free money.
The bald man's face bead up wide as the thought of being taught by soone as good as Ning was incredible for him.
The other man and woman standing by couldn't believe what they were witnessing. "Dema, are you sure?"
"Yes, yes," the bald man said. "You guys don't have to worry about . I know what I am doing."
The bald man, Dema, walked up to Ning and introduced himself. "I am Dema, one of the many guards hired by lord Umad for this journey. I am honored to have you tutor on my spear art, young brother."
Ning smiled. "You can call Ning, brother Dema. I'm glad to be working with you too."
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