Shimazu Teahouse

Quirking a brow at first witnessing the spear's appearance, she gave a light nod, hearing that he'd been at practice for eight years at least meant her had some use of the weapon. It wasn't so common in this age, since either ars-based guns seemed to be the more practical, that or swords, in various shapes or sizes would be the norm. But a spear was a nice choice to see, she had not wished to tell him that the family's main weapon was a variant of a spear; as despite her liking of his general nature, one did not merely learn the secrets of the Shimazu that simply. She knew him worthy of their basics, which itself was a miracle. "I would see your skills with your weapon...you are to attack me with your spear. This is not to the death of course, but I want to gauge your talent. I prefer to do so with all students of mine." a simple fact, since he seemed to be balancing easier with the spear; he must have been at home with armed combat as opposed to unarmed.

Blinking for a moment he realized how dangerous this would be, considering the fact the spear its self isn't exactly made for spars If..you are sure he said moving back a little his left foot swung round behind as his shoulders moved so he was turned a little him facing the teacher, holding the spear in both hands with his right foot in front. This was a basic stance but he rarely used any other stance considering the fact his opponents don't usually push him to use any other. Despite the blade out forwards he slowly shuffled forwards with little to no hesitation despite his rather not comfy feeling about attacking a unarmed old lady. Master or no this was kinda dangerous.

He thrust his spear upwards, it was strange he seemed to have missed horribly however he swung his right arm down and his left arm up, causing the pummel of the spear to spring up near the womans face, it would miss since he didn't actually want to hit her.

While her aged eyes focused on the spear tip, there was no failure at any moment of watching the deadly metal tip rise up, it was an interesting tactic. She had to admit, that he let off on more of his lineage and the talent he'd possessed with the spear, and it was just when the pommel of his spear neared her center that she acted!
Without removing a hand from her back, the blur that was her left leg had caused her genie-like dress pants to puff outward, her student would be free to see that she'd nudged the blunt end of his spear back to the floor with speed alone. He was indeed not without skill, but his heart was faltering.

"It's okay to pull your blows, young one, but do aim true. I will not break so easily, in fact...I am hoping that you will see my hands are not folded behind my back." she smiled lightly, almost in a matronly fashion before bringing the spearhead of his to the ground, under her foot. "That was a decent strike, now...try again."

He was shocked, the old teacher had actually stopped the butt of his spear with only one foot not only that she had nudged it down, her speed was impressive to say the least. There was a clang sound as the spear butt hit the ground, Jay snapped out of his shock and hopped back a couple feet the light sound of his shoes tapping against, in no time he was back into his stance with the blunt side facing forwards.
Legs bent a little his shoulders tucked in, it was clear he was going for a thrust but he just stood there his eyes looked to the left, then right he was thinking about his next move. There was a certain tension in the air, something about fighting an opponent stronger than him was kind of exciting in its own way.

His feet that were flat moved onto the the balls of his feet like he was going to move, however at that moment his spear shot out, he was easily within range so his spear could hit and the blunt end was aiming for the old woman's stomach.

It was with experience that she watched her student's unique set of movements, he had a rather peculiar way of fighting, but it was not without its merits. Her body tensed slightly while she watched his strange actions, the near movements which from her point of view were merely used for generating momentum in his spear's swing; an advanced technique in many an outlook. However, as she watched it coming, it was those inhuman reflexes that beastkin were known for...no her own honed inhuman abilities that were beyond the average one that had her catch the pommel with her heel, despite its great force and accuracy; she forced it to a dead stop with a fluently accurate amount of force. She had gauged just the amount of power that he possessed within its swing and stopped it cold.

"That was better...now you're getting into it." Her smile only showed that she was too putting in more effort, though as to what he would notice; was that elder beastkin forced the spear's pommel to the ground again, with what seemed to be no effort from her whatsoever. He would resist and still, she put the pommel under her foot in one smooth motion...just how strong was she?

The moment the pummel was stopped Jay had moved forwards, placing his feet flat on the ground so he could push forward better but he was unable to push forwards in fact the spear butt had already been put on the ground. The expression on Jays face was pure surprise and shock as he looked down at the spear then up at the woman the only words that came out were Well that happened, by instinct he tried to pull the spear back but it didn't budge, the spears color began a golden one but it was only momentarily as it went back to the dark grey color it had.

I can't use my lightning...so what do I do as he continued to try and pull back he felt something familiar about the position he was in, the way his feet were positioned, it gave him an idea. He let go of the spear, in one swift motion his left leg came round for the roundhouse kick.

As she watched the spear's changing color in some minor fascination, the moment she felt the whip of air whooshing through her ears, despite her slightly altered balance; it would be her right foot which rose to a perfect rotation, catching the roundhouse blow, which with the power that he'd generated had managed to make her left foot remove itself from his spear; but immediately once it planted in the ground, her balance was re-established. Something Jay would find akin to stopping suddenly, his heel was halted by her foot while she beamed a small smile of approval at his tactic. "Removing my balance and switching to a kick you have picked up well, a nice improvisation, my student." it was the first time that she'd called him this, let alone so endearingly. But it was nice to note that he was meeting her expectations of him.

As soon as the foot was removed Jay quickly pulled is spear back, his left foot had been stopped as the teacher had her balance back but he had already moved it back to the ground getting his own balance back.  It would have been more joyful to her hear call him student but he was too busy wondering on how he would or if he could even beat her it was insane never did he meet a person who so thoroughly out class him like this with his spear, with no weapons!
The kick seemed effective but he would have to figure out a way in order to get into a position to use the kicks holding his spear, this clearly was something he would need to train with.

Her battle instincts that had long since slumbered, were blinking in a metaphorical manner, rather intrigued by the odd yellow energy from before, whatever it had; likely an imbued skill itself of his. He had taken another chance at figuring out what he could do against her, while she waited and smiled, she would offer him a chance to quit if he wished. "Are you through? Or perhaps do you have more? You need not prove more to me, unless you wish it." she was pleased with what he showed, but she was curious...did he want to continue? She would oblige him, but responding in kind with a straight amount of force should he have decided this.

Jay looked at his spear then at the teacher, he was curious to see if his lighting would give him a leg up on her, but it would be far to dangerous if she were to stop it with her bare leg or hand it could cause a great deal of damage to her. One more time as he spoke the spear turned golden as his hands sparked lighting, a few small sparks went onto the spear it would be enough to give a very mild shock and nothing more.
He held the spear to the side the swung it around to the right no doubt it would probably be blocked.

While she was surprised by the sudden appearance of the odd energy, feeling the shock briefly, there would be something of a spark as he found his spear blocked again; her heel surrounded in a soft golden aura, it was the blow from her heel that was stronger, her heel ending the blow by forcing it away from her simply. "Your power, you do not need to reveal it to me, student. But we too, possess this skill, it is a talent from the divine, if you can then hone it." the only word that she'd had to say about it was just that, while he surprised her at first, upon realizing that the energy was shocking by nature; she would have to negate the next spark.

Noticing the spark he quickly took a look at where his spear hit, he was surprised to see the soft golden aura Wha..is that magic ? he asked pulling his spear back deciding not to continue. The sparks on the golden spear faded and then it reverted to its dark grey color, he wondered if this was magic she was using if so it was strange to see a marital arts family using it. Unless it was an arsmagus she was hiding either way he was really out classed if she could defend against his lighting but he wasn't really wanting to go all out with it.

The Elder Beastkin gave him a small grin and shook her head. "Not quite, I would imagine you are familiar with the prospect of spiritual martial arts? When one achieves a degree of mastery over any martial art, some have the ability to tap into their very life energy. The Qi circulation or in fact Ki manifestation. Depending upon your focus, the external life force can also be tapped. It is a vital source of power, young one." Her words would not fall on deaf ears, she was sure that he either knew of them or might want to know more about them.

Jay blinked for a moment, his face was in disbelief for a moment Ki !? That's a real thing !? his mind raced with thoughts of what he could do if he could manage to harness such a force, for a moment his mind wandered to firing blasts of ki out his hands and flying around. It was clear on his face that the revelation of ki being a real thing was quite a good one as his eyes seemed to sparkle and one could almost swear there was a light coming off him too.
His excitement stopped for a moment as he blinked So..that means Kinjou can use ki as well ?

As she knew that his response was to be something of surprise or bewilderment, she'd let her fingers brush her hair back lightly while speaking up, "A form in question, though its more than just that with our specialty." she'd witnessed his interest in the art itself, but was doubting the prospect of time with this. It took Kinjou many years to harness the proper skills, since there was no short way to learn the art of manipulating one's inner energy. The family's style of ki manipulation in fact incorporated Qi for stabilizing of the erratic energy that was produced by the physical conditioning. "He is adept at wielding what we have called 'Ki'an', yes."

For some reason learning that Kinjou had known Ki made Jay feel slightly depressed like he learned that Kinjou used even less of his power in that spar. I see..so its not too different from magic he looked at his hand It takes years to learn how to properly harness and use magic.. his voice sounded rather low when talking about magic, it was like all the times he missed with his lightning came crashing down on him all at once. Can we continue the training ? he hadn't really kept up with the time, may ten or so minutes had past ? he wasn't sure but he wanted to get back into training right away.

She'd given him a soft nod and then looked at him with a small grin, she could see that look on his face. "You are thinking about Kinjou and your spar with him correct? Well do not mistaken my grandson's lack of use of ki'an. I've instructed him to hide that skill, we do not require much attention from the outside world. He did you no dishonor, nor should you feel less bothered." Though the wish to continue would be simple to follow, she'd gestured for him to stand at the ready. "Alright, now we move on, come my student, its time for you to finish the basic forms."

It was at least good to hear that Kinjou wasn't hiding Ki'an for no good reason, some of Jays ego was intact kinda. But he didn't have time to be absorbed by a new strange nagging feeling in the back of his head, he wasn't too sure what it was but it would be something for a later time right now he was going to finish the basic forms.
He quickly walked back over to the bag and put his spear away, then made his way back then stood at ready a fire in his eyes and renewed energy to learn.

With a light breath taken while Jay put the spear away, she'd already taken the basic root stance, modifying in motion once his eyes were upon her. As she took a step forward with her right heel, she'd swept her left foot smoothly along the ground, a slow but careful action that only ended once her sweep ended. Once the sweep was complete, from her low crouching position on the ground, her right foot once again rising almost perfectly vertical from her position. Something that she brought down in a swift pace, halting her heel before it hit the ground, it was here where she'd set it down flat and quietly. "Note my control, this form is the second to last, you must not lose a single moment's control and I expect your form to show such."

Jay watched closely, the movements were smooth and fluid as before, this time the kick seemed to be lower, trying to trip up an opponent then deliver a blow while they were down a useful maneuver to be sure. First the damphir shook his body then got into the basic root stance left palm to side right fist extended out, left leg back right foot forward. He moved his left foot forwards and swept right foot slowly along the ground, in the crouching position he brought his right foot up then risen vertically then his heel came down stopping at the ground. This move was taking a lot to balance and Jay let out a small sight of relief as his foot gently tapped the ground, quickly he stood up Like that ?

Much to her expectations, the young man had managed to follow the movements, he'd been picking up the form of the style as well as she'd hoped; stretching her arms outward, she'd retaken her stance and let her student hold the stance while she walked around in circle observing his stance. Purposely taking her time so that he'd feel the strain of holding it, she wanted to show him that his balance was extremely important without saying a word. "Very good...now rise. I'm going to show you our fifth form. Then I'm going to have you perform four and five together, this will be a test of your talents! Now pay close attention, I will only show this once; since you have a fairly high aptitude."

She immediately planted her left foot in front of her, raising the heel about 3 inches until only the tip of her toes remained on the ground before perform a fast rotation; using her toes for balance while her right heel whipped outward in a roundhouse. It was just at the end of the roundhouse that she snapped her right foot's toes outward in a hooking motion. Just before bringing her foot to the ground and planting it flat in another axe kick. It was upon her foot hitting the ground, that she appeared to slide forward at an incredible pace; which in truth was her dragging her body forward with his right leg. Upon reaching her destination, she'd brought his right fist above her head and extended her left leg in a high rise snap kick, something almost perfectly vertical that she'd held right above her head. "Now...I want you to merge the two forms and draw them together."

"Hello? Anyone here?"

Carl Clover, blissfully unaware of all that was occurring in the NOL Branch, had decided to stop by this humble tea house for a spot of tea. Well, that's part of the reason why he came anyway. In truth, he was hounding about for any information regarding Ragna the Bloodedge. His Azure Grimoire would be most valuable to the lad.

"Hang in there, Ada." he thought as he glanced at the massive automaton known as the Nox Nyctores Deus Ex Machina: Nirvana that trailed him everywhere he went "Once I get the Azure Grimoire, I'll return you to normal. I promise."

And so swore Carl Clover that he would keep that promise...through any means necessary.

As her student proceeded with the form, the matronly beastkin smiled lightly and gestured to him. "Keep practicing, I'm going to attend to the shop." her word came simply as she redressed in her apron, heading back out to the main floor. She was one who trusted in her instincts, realizing that the present company had not only been with company; but that he himself had a rather experienced aura, something that she would treat with respect.

"Apologies must lay with me young patron, I greet you and your sibling, welcome to the Pale Lotus Teahouse." the words came from her as she emerged from the curtain, the kinkajou beastkin would appear to be no different than any other older woman, not bothering then to show the vigor that backed her sturdy appearance (if only to say that she doesn't appear weak and vulnerable as some old people do :o).

"Ah, good day to you, ma'am." Carl chuckled as he took off his top hat and gave the matron a dignified bow "I have heard that the tea here is exquisite. If you don't mind, my sister and I will like two cups of earl grey, please."

Behind him, Nirvana remained motionless. The automaton stood like a stalwart sentinel, ready to trounce anyone who would harm her little brother.

The matron gave him a hearty nod, smiling at the youthful man before she'd headed off without another word. He was asking something very simply, the earl grey tea was a very popular brand a brew that she'd set up, making use of her tail to raise a fresh teapot to her side, she'd felt more spry since taking on a student, even if he wasn't the most conventional student, she'd felt it was somewhat fulfilling, he was willing to dedicate what he had so far just for the chance to be instructed. Though her thoughts were lingering on the young man's progress, as the kettle went off, she was brought back to reality; and with it a customer who was awaiting his tea.

Without another moment's hesitation, she'd brought out the teapot and a set of cups for her two patrons, as the teapot released its steam, the scent of fresh earl grey that had been masterfully brewed by her hand now steeped, awaiting only Carl's choice to pour it into his cup. "And your tea, sir, careful as it is hot." her words themselves maternal in nature, simple and warm, as it was something she could not help but do now and again. At times her own feelings of being a grandmother could not help but be shown when dealing with a younger crowd.