[Falsum]

Well! I didn't expect Chapter Three to be finished so quickly, but here it is. Sorry, this chapter doesn't have much action either and it's shorter than the others, but it's still pretty important to the storyline. As always, please read/critique!

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Chapter Three: Practice

The magistrate's office was highly ornate. Guards stood at the entrance, immobile and silent,
spears at the ready. The room had beautiful woodwork columns, scrolls of elegant poetry and
incredible landscape painting hung from the walls. Sitting on a corner of the desk was a
marvelous jade statue of a crouching tiger. After a quick glance at the decoration, Xiang Ji
focused his gaze to Han Fu, who had his back to the door, looking out the window.

"I've assigned you to the rank of Captain. It's a minor post, but you are still young, and I'm
sure you will prove yourself worthy of promotion." Han Fu turned around to face Xiang Ji.

"Seeing as you are from the mountains, I will explain the current situation in China. The power
of the Son of Heaven has been shattered due to the Ten Eunuchs and Dong Zhuo. However, they
have been rightfully punished. Now, the power is divided all across the land between rival
warlords, vieing for power." Han Fu took a map from inside his desk, and unfurled it on the
floor. It was a massive, sprawling map, taking up most of the free space of the floor. Han Fu
pointed at the words Ye, written on a province in the northern parts of China, north of a great
river.

"This is where we are." He then pointed at a Province to the north west of Ye. "That is Zhang
Yang's province, we are currently at war with them. The man you killed was Wang Kuang, a minor
officer. Soon, there will be another battle. Your armor will be ready soon, so make sure you're
ready to fight. This time, it won't be so easy." Han Fu turned to look at Xiang Ji, then turned
back to the map.

"You can go now." Han Fu said without looking away from the map. Xiang Ji balled his right hand
into a fist, and placed his other hand on top of that and made a quick bow.

"Lord." He said quickly, and then turned around and headed back to his new house. After returning
to the house, Xiang Ji pulled out their map, and began to explain their situation to Han Xin and
the other, beginning with their location, and ending with news of the upcoming battle with
Zhang Yang's forces.

"Hey, I don't think it's fair that you're the only one fighting out there. I bet I'm just as good
as you are at fighting!" Li Feng boasted to Xiang Ji. "Let's go spar right now, I'll prove it!"

"Alright then, let's go," Xiang Ji responded just as confidently. "You guys wanna come too?"

"Hah hah, sure. Why not?" Han Xin replied with a laugh.

"Yea I'm in, nothing else to do..." Li Ji added in. The four young men walked out of the house,
and getting a native guide, were directed to the military barracks. The military barracks had
quite a different look than the rest of the city. Buildings that looked like huts surrounded a
large, open dirt field. Spears and Swords and armor racks were scattered throughout the field,
and archery targets lined one side of the field. Walking up to a weopan rack, Xiang Ji picked
out a spear that was pretty heavy comparatively, and as long as he was tall. Li Feng, also picked
out a spear, but one that was shorter and lighter than the one Xiang Ji had chosen. The trainees,
recognizing Jiang Xi as new Captain who had routed an army by himself, quickily cleared a section
of the field for the two fighters, and then formed a ring around them, eager to watch the fight.

"Ready?" Xiang Ji asked. He readied his stance, his left hand at the base of the spear, and his
right a little shorter than mid-way. He held the spear out towards Li Feng, bringing the
spearhead to eye level with himself.

"Hell yea," Li Feng responded. He too, readied his stance. His left and right hands were close
together, and he held the spear diagonally across his chest, and close to his body.

"Then let's start!" Xiang Ji shouted as he started to run straight at Li Feng, without adjusting
the position of his spear. Li Feng, surprised at the sudden start and oncoming spear, stood
completely immobile as Xiang Ji thrust his spear foward, stopping right in front Li Feng's eyes.

"I thought you said you were as good as me! Hah hah..." Xiang Ji began to laugh. Li Feng quickly
recovered his confidence and readied his spear again.

"You merely caught me off guard this time. I can beat you in a fair fight!" Li Feng shouted back.
A look of anger now on his face.

"All right then, you start this time, hah hah..." Xiang Ji responded while he readied his stance
again, not losing an ounce of confidence. Li Feng then rushed foward holding the spear above his
head, with the spear point straight back, in an obvious attempt at a down ward stroke. Xiang Ji
braced himself, spreading his feet out a bit, and lowering his body. When Li Feng got in range,
he brought the spear down with all his might, using just as much might, Xiang Ji intercepted
the oncoming spear with a side stroke that hit Li Feng's spear to the side, not losing any
momentum, Li Feng let it fall from the force of the hit, and then began to bring it back up for
an upward slash across Xiang Ji's body. Xiang Ji, seeing the slash coming, brought his spear
straight down from where he deflected the first hit, and pinned Li Feng's spearhead to the
ground with his own spear.

Li Feng's face grew red with frustration. All of his attacks had been blocked. Xiang Ji saw this,
and smiled. Confident in his skills, and wanting to tease Li Feng, he playfully blocked and
deflected every single one of Li Feng's slashes and thrusts. Sensing that Xiang Ji was just
toying with him, Li Feng grew even more enraged. He put every all of strength and anger
behind every stroke, and with every parry, he grew more and more frustrated. Xiang Ji, however,
grew too confident. As swung his spear in a slash to deflect Li Feng's spear, the spear slipped.
The shaft hit Li Feng's spear, and slid straight foward. Li Feng had a complete look of horror
on his face as he realized that the spear was headed straight for him, and he could do nothing.
Attempting to jump away, the spear on pierced his upper right arm. Xiang Ji, stopping the spear
as fast as he could, managed to let the spear tip get only halfway in Li Feng's arm.

Li Feng's spear clattered to the ground, his right arm hung limp at his side. Clutching his wound
with his left hand, Li Feng fell to his knees and raised his head and started to scream in pain.
Xiang Ji took a step towards Li Feng, but he was quickly surrounded by the recruits, who
congratulated him on his fight. Trying to see if Li Feng was alright, he tried to force his
way through the crowd, but to no use. After Li Feng's pain had subsided, he looked up and saw
Xiang Ji in the crowd. Assuming he didn't care he was hurt at all, he stood up and started to
storm off.

"That asshole only cares about himself, and his big head..." Li Feng muttered angrily as he turned
away from the crowd. Li Ji, likewise, believed that Xiang Ji did not care about their injured
friend. He soon followed Li Feng away from the military barracks. Han Xin, on the other hand,
noticed that Xiang Ji had tried to get to Li Feng, but couldn't. After checking that Li Feng
was alright, he stayed with Xiang Ji.

"You can beat an amatuer easy enough, but how about me?"

The sudden voice immobilized and silenced the everyone in the barracks. Finally with a calm moment,
Xiang Ji looked to where Li Feng was. Only a blood stain and the spear remained. Xiang Ji, disappointed
he could not get to Li Feng, sighed. A man in his early twenties was making his way through the
crowd toward Xiang Ji. Picking up Li Feng's spear, he stood across the ring from Xiang Ji, and
readied his stance.

"I am Zhang He, an Officer in this army." The man addressed Xiang Ji with a smile.

"I am Xiang Ji, Captain. Guess you're my superior." Xiang Ji responded, also with a smile. Then,
he too readied his stance. In an instant, the two were already clashing. With horrendous clangs
of metal crossing metal, Xiang Ji and Zhang He were already fighting round after round. Xiang Ji
would go for a side sweep aimed for the throat, and Zhang He would immedietly block that and
aim a thrust for Xiang Ji's eyes. Recovering from the blocked hit, Xiang Ji quickly side
swept Zhang He's spear aside and away from his face. This frenzied dance of spears lasted for
a couple of minutes, spears clashing at incredible speeds. However, the untrained Xiang Ji soon
began to tire, his moves got more and more sluggish as his body was nearing it's limit. Zhang He,
trained as a fighter since he was born, was still in prime condition. Eventually, Xiang Ji
faltered, and Zhang He took the chance to disarm him, and end the duel. The crowd, speechless at
the intense fight before their eyes, now began to cheer as loud as they possibly could.

(Continued next post... Sorry!)