The Fire Dragon

3847 defeats. Fifteen years later, Guang had suffered 3847 defeats at the hands of Ms Penelope. It had been a long, tough journey, but through his losses, he learned more and more about not just his strengths and weaknesses, but Ms Penelope’s strengths and weaknesses. Under the clear skies, the cool wind brushing his cheeks, Guang took in a deep breath and got into a fighting stance. Opposite him, Ms Penelope was watching him impassively.

The pleasant weather was a good omen. A good omen that today, he was going to break that long streak of defeat and score a victory. 

Ms Penelope unsheathed her sword and pulled it back. Underneath the sun, her sword flashed menacingly. 

“Ready?” 

“Ready.” 

One blink, and the two figures disappeared. The next second, a resounding boom that shook the earth reverberated through the Dragon Manor, as if a bomb had gone off. However, no one was alarmed. Used to Guang and Ms Penelope’s explosive sparring sessions, the servants barely flinched and continued to go about their day.

Meanwhile, in the training field, sweat flew in the air and the grass crunched as Guang and Ms Penelope engaged in a furious, aggressive dance. Guang remembered when he first started off as an amateur, he couldn’t even touch Ms Penelope despite the numerous handicaps the swordmaster had subjugated herself to. But now, after training under Ms Penelope’s wing for fifteen years, both parties could go full-on on each other without worry. 

Even though Guang said he would emerge victorious over Ms Penelope today, Ms Penelope was still an exceptionally difficult opponent. 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 ultimate move would decide the results of the spar. A move that she had created and mastered, a move that had taken out many great warriors, a move capable of decimating the heavens in just one clean slash: that was the Heaven Splitting Slash.

It was only after many years that Guang had managed to discover a major weakness within her unconquerable move. That was, it required one second of charge up.

It was an extremely miniscule timeframe. Guang must be able to notice it and be quick, as well as choose the most effective counter and time it well, all within a fraction of a second, without lowering his guard. Any ordinary person would have been unable to do anything even if they picked up on this brief moment of weakness. 

However, Guang was no ordinary person. He was a noble, a knight of Long, and Ms Penelope’s disciple. Just to overcome this one move, he had concocted many tactics.

The one that had proved rather successful over the years was to constantly attack her in close-quarters. As a hand-to-hand fighter, this tactic worked well for Guang. Unfortunately, this tactic doesn’t conquer her move at all. Rather, it only served in delaying her attack. The idea was that, with Guang raining down attacks, Ms Penelope would not be able gain that one second of charging to unleash her ultimate move. Although, as seen in many previous battles, his tactic can be easily conquered, such as…

With a forceful kick, Guang was sent skidding across the field. With the distance between them, even if Guang bolted at top speed, it was more than enough time for Ms Penelope to charge up her ultimate move. 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’.

However, instead of making an expression of terror, Guang smiled. 

After so many tries, it was obvious that Ms Penelope’s move couldn’t be overcome by normal means. A few years ago, Guang realised he needed something more. He needed to utilise all the skills he had at 100%, and because of that, he had confronted the mysterious, slumbering power within him.

The power that had been a byproduct to his feelings, the power that emerged when he was feeling intense emotions. Despite Guang not understanding it, the power understood him. He had no idea since when had the power been living inside of him, but Guang could feel the unlimited possibilities that he could unlock if he could simply consciously control it. So, the Guang of fifteen years ago made up his mind: he would master this mysterious, slumbering power within him and not reveal it to anyone until he can call this power his own. 

That very day just happened to be today.

This time, Guang won’t dodge. This time, he will face Ms Penelope’s fearsome stroke head-on - not to be conquered by it, but to devour it.

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

Taken by surprise, Ms Penelope faltered momentarily. However, just as quickly, she regained her wits. She struck down as hard as she could, bringing down her sword like an axe of execution. 

Only to find it stuck halfway.

Hands enveloped in scorching flames, Guang had caught her blade with nothing but his bare hands. The hungry flames were so overwhelming that the sword groaned, melting like butter. Ms Penelope tried to pull out her sword, but it was futile. Guang’s grip was simply too strong! 

“Wh-what is this?” Ms Penelope gasped.

Out of nowhere, the power of flames? Wasn’t this Hero Rayler’s power? Ms Penelope was completely stunned. Out of all the possible future scenarios in her head, this was not one of them. With Ms Penelope unable to free her sword and Guang continually turning up the heat with no sign of letting go, 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 was becoming hotter and hotter to the point of it being scalding.

An emotion Ms Penelope 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!”

Guang blinked. The flames receded, vanishing as if they had never appeared in the first place. Then, as if burned, Guang quickly let go of the sword. With a wet smack, Ms Penelope’s sword fell onto the ground. Although, it’s more accurate to say it was a puddle of sizzling metal goop now. Face pale with dread, Ms Penelope wondered if that was how her hands would have ended up if she didn’t let go of her sword. 

More importantly, though, was what sort of trick Guang pulled. She had never seen him use flames in their spars before. Because of that, the gap between their skills was closed, if only for a moment. No, Guang had in fact surpassed her. Just how long had he been hiding such a skill?

When Ms Penelope got her breathing back under control, she turned to Guang. Guang, who had a glazed over, stupefied look on his face as he stared at the remains of her sword.

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

He hadn’t expected his trump card to work out on the first try, but since it did help him score his first ever victory in fifteen years, Guang was over the moon. Laughing, he collapsed on his bottom, enjoying the cool breeze on his sweaty skin.

Did you see that, Sui? I’ve overcome my orge-like teacher. The next thing will be the Demon King, and I can create a safe, peaceful world for you and my family.

Without warning, Ms Penelope smacked his head, snapping him out of his sweet daydream.

“OW! What gives?” Guang whined. Pouting, he rubbed his neck that had nearly snapped. This ogre, she really had to mind her strength…

As stern as ever, Ms Penelope said, “You’ve only defeated me once. Don’t let it get to your head - you’ve still got room for improvement.”

Gosh, can’t this woman let him savour his first victory for just one second? He had been waiting for this moment for fifteen years!

Reluctantly, Guang muttered, “Fine. What did I do wrong?”

“You failed to finish me.”

“But you surrendered!”

“I did, but only because my sword got stuck. There was no way for us to continue. But Master Guang, I’m disappointed. When I was immobilised, you were not looking at me, but at my sword. Tell me. Are you fighting my sword, or are you fighting me?”

Guang blushed, looking away in embarrassment. He was hoping that Ms Penelope would not notice his careless mistake, but who was he bluffing? She was the ogre known as the ‘Strongest Swordmaster’ - of course she would notice something like that.

“Sorry, I got too excited,” Guang mumbled bitterly.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. Next time, I want to see a proper victory. Again, your goal is not to stop the Heaven Splitting Slash, but to defeat me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

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. That was a total slip-up on his end.

“By the way, care to explain what you did earlier?”

“What I did earlier?”

Ms Penelope, usually so proud and haughty, appeared to be squeezed like a cloth as she murmured, “That sudden boost in speed and strength, and I also noticed that your hands were on fire.”

Ah. Right, he hadn’t told Ms Penelope about the powers he had been secretly harbouring for the past fifteen years.

“Pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Guang smirked smugly. “I don’t know where it came from, but I’ve always had that power within me, ever since the accident fifteen years ago. It’s thanks to this power that I beat you today, Ms Penelope!”

Ms Penelope sighed, crossing her arms. “What did I say about not letting it get to your head?”

Guang chuckled. Then, taking in a deep breath, he leapt back onto his feet.

“Let’s continue with training, Ms Penelope! I still have lots of energy in me!”

However, just as they were about to continue with their lesson, Guang’s valet, Bo, appeared out of nowhere and called out to them.

“Young master, Ms Penelope!”

Spotting Bo, Guang gestured to Ms Penelope to wait. He waved enthusiastically and ran over to his valet. “Bo, What’s up? I’m in the middle of a lesson, so I’m kinda busy. Oh, before that, guess what, guess what? I just defeated Ms Penelope for the very first time! You should have been here!”

“Is that so? Congratulations, young master.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing. What brings you here, though? You don’t often come all the way out here. Did something happen?”

“I’m here to pass a message from Master Jin, sir. A few minutes ago, Master Jin texted me to inform you that he will be arriving soon. He should be at the front gates now, but I understand if you’re occupied now-”

Instantly, Guang was freaking out. As if lifting a sack of feathers, he picked up Bo by his shoulders and shook him around. “JIN IS HERE ALREADY? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOONER? YOU SHOULD HAVE STARTED OFF WITH THAT!”

Slightly dizzy, Bo said, “A-apologies, young master, I got here as fast as I can-”

“Nevermind, forget it! I’m gonna go see Jin now, talk to you later!” 

“Young master, wait!” 

By then, Guang had already vanished, leaving behind nothing but a trail of dust. Bo sighed, lowering his outreached hand. 

Ms Penelope patted his shoulder, startling Bo, who didn’t realise she was behind him.

Schooling his expression, Bo asked politely, “Ms Penelope, are you just going to let him go in the middle of a lesson?”

Ms Penelope was known for her strictness, so Bo was surprised when the swordmaster said, “It’s fine. He earned at least that much today. Besides, the brothers haven’t met each other for three months. Who am I to interrupt their reunion?”

That look on Ms Penelope’s face…Bo was sure that Ms Penelope doesn’t even realise she’s making such an expression, but Bo knew all too well what it meant. It seemed that Guang had finally won over the strict ogre, Ms Penelope’s, favour. Somehow, even a renowned warrior can fall under Guang’s charm. 

Bo understood. Try as he did to not get attached, Guang was just so genuine and bright that it was impossible to dislike him. He naturally drew people in without needing to try, like an enticing flame that attracted moths. Bo, despite knowing all this, was one of the foolish moths that got bewitched as well.

Sharing the sentiment, Bo chuckled, “You’ve gone soft, Ms Penelope. But perhaps, even I, too, have lost my edge. It’s about time we enter a new chapter. Don’t you think, Ms Penelope?”