The Fire Dragon

Every time Guang closed his eyes, he found himself in an endless field of sakura trees. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, surrounded him and went as far as the horizon could stretch. In a soft, silent breeze, they would sway, like some sort of greeting dance. It was an enchanting vision that only he could behold, and no one else.

“That’s right,” came the firm voice of his teacher, Ms Penelope, from the realm of reality. “Control your breathing, loosen your mind and dilute your emotions. How are you feeling?”

Guang’s eyes fluttered open to the bright, lush green courtyard of the Dragon Manor. Above, the sky was clear, the sun shining in all of its glory. Ahead of him was Ms Penelope, his combat training teacher. As per their usual combat training sessions, the two of them were dressed in a tank top and workout pants. With her arms crossed, Ms Penelope was watching him with sharp, hawk-like eyes.

“I’m feeling pretty calm,” Guang confessed.

“Like the still surface of water?”

In irony, Guang nearly snorted. It was all he could do to keep a poker face, even though he was sure his lips twitched. Every lesson, Ms Penelope would use the same simile. Every lesson, Guang had to hold in his laughter and sustain his calmness. Consider it a training by itself. Even so, he had no idea what was going through Ms Penelope’s mind to use water, of all things, to help in lessons where Guang was supposed to practise his flames.

After taking a few more deep breaths to quell down the urge to laugh, he answered coolly, “Like the still surface of water.”

Ms Penelope nodded approvingly, unsheathing her sword. Underneath the glaring sun, the silver sword gleamed menacingly. “Very good. Now, we will begin the spar as usual.”

For the next few hours, Guang and Ms Penelope traded explosive blows with each other. Sweat flew in the air and the grass crunched beneath their feet as the two of them engaged in a furious, aggressive dance. Guang remembered when he first started off as an amateur, he couldn’t even get one hit on Ms Penelope despite the numerous handicaps Ms Penelope had subjugated herself to. But now, after training under Ms Penelope’s wing for eleven years, both parties could go full-on on each other without worry.

That was, until today.

Ms Penelope was one of the most talented fighters in Alca, perhaps second only to his father and mother. As such, in combat, she kept a cool head and wasted no movements. When she swung her sword, it was with great, devastating force that could slice ten trees in half with one stroke. Her talent mainly lies in her strength. Which was why, whenever it came to sparring with Ms Penelope, it was more often than not that her powerful stroke would decide the results of the spar. However, the disadvantage of that powerful stroke was that it required one second for her to prepare.

Guang found a tactic to prevent her from using this move by constantly attacking her in close-quarters. As a hand-to-hand fighter, this tactic worked well for Guang. However, this only served in delaying her attack. It was impossible to constantly maintain a close distance with her when her other attacks still packed quite a punch.

Today, a forceful kick sent him skidding across the courtyard. Oh, crap. Guang knew it was coming, and Ms Penelope knew he was expecting it too. Without tearing her gaze from him, Ms Penelope raised her sword above her head, as if saying, ‘Here it comes.’

Guang gulped. Having said that, today was different. Today, he will overcome this enormous obstacle. Forget dodging it; right here, right now, he will devour the attack!

Focusing his flames into his feet, he launched himself forwards. In a blink of an eye, he had appeared right in front of his teacher, gold eyes ablaze.

Taken by surprise, Ms Penelope faltered if only for a fraction of a second. Regardless, she struck down as hard as she could, bringing down her sword like an axe of execution.

Only to find that it stuck halfway.

With his hands enveloped in scorching flames, Guang had caught her blade with his bare hands! The flames were so overwhelming that her sword was melting like butter. She tried to budge it, to no use. Guang’s grip was simply too strong!

Guang doesn’t seem to have noticed what he was doing either. His eyes were solidly glued on the melting sword, as if it was all that existed to him right now. This man…he was hellbent on destroying her sword!

This wasn’t good. With Ms Penelope unable to free her sword and Guang continually turning up the heat, it was starting to become physically unbearable for Ms Penelope. Sweat rolled down her face like tears, every breath she took required tremendous effort and her sword hilt had become scalding hot. It was no overstatement when it could be described that she had been thrown into a furnace.

An emotion she had not felt in ages resurfaced once more, threatening to consume her whole. That haunting sense of the end that sent shivers down her spine.

Fear.

Relinquishing her sword along with her pride, Ms Penelope shouted, “I surrender!”

That, it seemed, snapped Guang out of it. As if burned, Guang quickly let go of the sword. With a wet smack, the sword fell onto the ground. Although, it’s more accurate to describe it as a puddle of sizzling metal goop now.

Ms Penelope panted, feeling as if she had narrowly avoided death. In that moment, she truly felt like she was facing a beast. Words could not describe how relieved she was that it was over. Guang, meanwhile, had a glazed over, stupefied look on his face as he stared at the remains of his teacher’s sword.

“I…I won,” he muttered in disbelief. Then, as if it had finally registered in his head, he cheered louder, “I WON!”

Finally! For the first time in fifteen years, he had finally won a spar against Ms Penelope! Guang felt like he had leaped over an impossibly ginormous mountain and had landed in paradise. So overjoyed he was, he felt tears prickle at the edges of his vision.

Out of nowhere, Ms Penelope hit him across the head. Taken by surprise in addition to the pain, Guang cried out and rubbed the place where he was smacked.

“Don’t let it get to your head. You’ve still got room for improvement,” Ms Penelope said sternly. Gosh, can’t this woman let him savour this moment of victory for just one second?

Pouting, Guang whined, “What did I do wrong?”

“What did you do wrong?” Ms Penelope repeated, raising an eyebrow. “What you did wrong is that you have failed to finish me.”

“But you surrendered!”

“I did, but only because of the overwhelming heat,” Ms Penelope clicked her tongue. “In that moment when I was immobilised, I could have been easily taken out if you utilised more movement. Remember, Master Guang, your goal is to not stop my fatal attack; it’s to defeat me.”

Even though Guang was slightly annoyed he wasn’t praised for his first ever victory, he had to admit that Ms Penelope was right. He had been too focused on stopping her attack that would usually end the spar that he had lost sight of the bigger picture.

"Master Guang!"

Guang jolted. That was Bo’s call. Crap, was it time already?

Bowing towards Ms Penelope, Guang blabbered, "ThankyousomuchMsPenelopeIgottagonowseeyouanothertime!"

Without looking back, he dashed off, leaving only a trail of dust in his wake.

A few seconds later, Bo appeared, exasperatedly looking around for Guang. Spotting Ms Penelope, his trusty aid, he eagerly approached her. "Ms Penelope, have you seen Master Guang?"

“You just missed him,” Ms Penelope deadpanned.

Bo groaned. “That little rascal. He attends all practicals but avoids all lectures. If only he could be as attentive to the lectures too. Which direction did he go?”

Oddly, Ms Penelope stayed silent. When Bo received no reply, he called again, “Ms Penelope?”

“Let him be for today,” Ms Penelope sighed. “He earned at least that much today.”

Ms Penelope…was covering for Guang? What happened to being Bo’s trusty aid?

Ah, that look on Ms Penelope’s face was one that Bo knew well - it was an expression of fondness. It seemed that Guang had finally won over Ms Penelope’s favour. Apparently, even a strict warrior can fall under Guang’s naturalistic charm. He understood. Try as he did to not get attached, Guang was just so genuine and buoyant that it was impossible to dislike him. He naturally drew people in without needing to try, like a bright flame that attracted moths. Bo, despite knowing all this, was one of the foolish moths that got bewitched as well.

“What am I to do with you, Master Guang,” Bo sighed.