Ch 02 - An (Un)healthy Hobby

The village Shen Jian lived in did not have a name. It was one of those places where people always moved out of but never moved into.

It was situated near the edge of a forest right next to a small river. While the forest became thicker and continued on in one direction, in the other direction the forest was sparse and ended at the foot of a mountain near the horizon. The mountain was tall enough that its peak was somewhere above the clouds and obscured most of the time.

Shen Jian was aware that there were some strange rumours surrounding the mountain but being as young and squishy as he was, he didn't have any interest in verifying any of those rumours.

The only common point all those rumours had was that something was living in that mountain. And that whatever it was had scared away all the strong monsters from the area near it, thus leaving only the dumb and clueless beasts staying nearby.

For today's hunting lesson, Shen Jian accompanied his father into the sparse forest. Following some lessons on tracking a beast, along with some common dos and don'ts about navigating a forest, the father and son pair finally came across a boar.

"Alright son. Here's our catch for today. The common boar." The father whispered in a low voice while crouching with his son behind some thick bushes.

Shen Jian stared.

The boar in question was seen munching on some nuts and acorns that had fallen from the tree above. In terms of behaviour, it didn't seem all that different from the boar he knew of in his past life.

However, this 'common' boar seemed to be as big as a very small car.

Shen Jian felt a headache growing. Had the word 'common' been redefined when he wasn't aware?

"Right. For now, you hide here and watch how I take it down, okay?" His father told him before pulling out the weapons he was going to use for this hunt.

Namely, a sword on his hip and a spear in his hand.

Shen Jian gave him an incredulous look. Why was he using close-range weapons instead of a bow and arrow?

"Father, why not use a bow and arrow? Couldn't you defeat it from far away?" He asked in confusion and alarm.

However, his father shook his head. "That would have worked if the prey we're hunting was one of those tiny animals from the plains. But in these parts, there aren't any of those tiny animals around."

But Shen Jian was still confused. "But why wouldn't it work on this one?" He asked, pointing at the car-sized boar.

His father sighed. "The simplest reason is because us normal humans can't shoot an arrow with enough force to punch through the tough skin of these beasts. They're all too aggressive. It's rare to see a skittish beast in these parts."

"There's also the problem that these beasts are too fast at closing the distance. Even if the archer is a long way away, the beasts can cover that distance in a few heartbeats."

"And once the beast gets into melee range of the archer…" With a grim look on his face, he slid a finger across his neck.

Shen Jian nodded with a look of comprehension. Essentially, the reason a bow wasn't used… was because there was no point to it. Not only could the beast outright tank the arrows, if the beast can just close the distance while enduring all the arrows, then what was the point of having a bow in melee range? There were better options at that point.

And even if a person could use a bow in close-quarters to target some weak spots like the eyes or something similar, why even take that risk when more manoeuvrable close-combat weapons like swords and spears exist?

In this world, it seemed the bow was a cultivator-exclusive weapon. But that was just his first impression based on the local culture.

The amber-eyed boy watched in silence as his father circled around the boar while keeping out of sight until he was finally close enough to the boar to initiate his attack.

Very suddenly, a spear tip came bursting out of the bush in front of the boar and pierced one of its eyes. To its credit, the boar reacted impressively quickly. With a loud screech, it leaped back before the spear could be pushed further inside its head.

Holding the bloody spear, father Shen rushed out of the bush and straight towards the boar. The beast growled and started to immediately charge forwards, aiming to headbutt the human in front of it.

The human in question waited for the right moment before suddenly jumping to the side. Coincidentally, it happened to be the side where the boar still had a working eye.

Father Shen attempted to stab the working eye mid-leap but the boar moved its head away and slid to a halt before turning to its target again and getting ready to charge again.

This same process happened half a dozen more times with Father Shen jumping to its visible side and trying to blind the remaining eye while the boar deftly dodged his attempts.

On roughly the eighth time however, when the boar came charging, the man jumped to the side of the destroyed eye. Using the second of confusion the boar experienced at having its target suddenly get out of its line of sight, Father Shen stabbed his spear forward with all his strength.

The spear punched into the bloody mess where the destroyed eye used to be and continued well into the head, the charge of the boar only helping the attack.

The man held on to the spear for dear life as the boar staggered and bucked around a bit before it slumped into the ground, the steady breathing of the beast becoming slower and slower until it just stopped moving altogether.

Father Shen carefully pulled the spear out of the boar's head and took several steps back, staring vigilantly at it for a whole minute. After a while, his shoulders relaxed as he turned to the side and said with a smile. "We're done. Come on over here, Jian."

Shen Jian stepped out of his hiding spot with a look of disbelief on his face. The whole encounter barely even lasted a minute and yet it left him with his heart in his throat for much longer than that.

It was a battle of subtle tactics. His father purposefully dodged one side multiple times to "train" the boar's response before suddenly dodging to the other side to confuse it and cause an opening.

It was most definitely not something that amateurs could do on their first try.

Shen Jian didn't say anything as he stared at the dead beast for a while. Then he turned to his father. "Teach me, father."

Father Shen smiled but shook his head. "I will let you hunt but not today. First, I need to teach you how to use these." He patted the spear in his hand and the sword on his hip.

Shen Jian nodded. It was important to be able to use the tools in his possession before actually doing something with them. He didn't want accidents to happen because of a lack of skill.

Afterwards, the Shen father and son went to the village where the father gathered up a few villagers and led them to the site of the hunt. There, the group proceeded to process the boar into usable parts in usable sizes. Apparently, they weren't going to drag the whole thing into the village.

It took a long while but once they were done, everyone headed home. Although they'd set out to hunt in the morning, it was late afternoon by the time everything was done.

And from the next day onwards, Father Shen started to teach his son how to wield a spear and a sword.

"I don't know any special stances or techniques to use for either of these weapons. But I can teach you the basics of how to wield them." He said before starting to do just that.

Shen Jian was surprised that a normal villager like his father even knew such a thing. It was the first time he was exposed to the martial culture of this world. But he soon put it out of his mind and focused on his daily lessons.

How to stand when holding a weapon, how to move when holding a weapon, how to stab when standing still, how to slash when standing still, how to stab when moving in any direction, how to slash when moving in any direction, how to control the power he put into the attack, how to do a feint…

There were many, many things for Shen Jian to learn even without a specific 'style' of spearmanship or swordsmanship. The basics themselves were plentiful and plenty useful.

---

"Father, does everyone know how to use a weapon?" Shen Jian asked at one in his lessons.

His father rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look. "I wouldn't say everyone knows to use a weapon." He said slowly. "But probably everyone has some understanding of how to fight. Or at least, how to defend themselves."

"Why?" Shen Jian asked.

"Well…" His father scratched his head. "There's no specific reason really. Our parents taught us how to do it and their parents taught them to do it and so on. It's like… an unspoken tradition."

The boy was mystified. "Then does mother know to fight as well?"

"I haven't ever seen your mother fight. But I know for a fact that she was definitely taught how to protect herself if she was ever attacked." The man silently clenched his legs together, a shiver running through him.

Shen Jian's lips twitched but he didn't say anything. He returned to swinging his sword.

"You're doing good, Jian. Soon, one of these days, you'll be ready to take on a beast with my support." His father said proudly.

Shen Jian's eyes shined. He eagerly awaited the day when he could put these lessons into practice.

---

Many months later, Shen Jian stood in front of a boar in a forest clearing. As usual, the boar was the size of a small car and letting out fearsome snorts while kicking the ground with its front foot and giving him a gimlet eye.

Unfortunately for him, the element of surprise had been ruined earlier because he made just a little too much noise from the bush he had been hiding in.

A cool wind blew through the area, the early afternoon sun peeking through the sparse canopy above provided decent illumination for the first battle of his life.

"I can do this…" The child let out a slow breath.

Shen Jian held a sword in his hands. Though a spear was debatably more useful for hunting due to its longer range, he felt more comfortable with a sword than with a spear. Thus, the longer weapon was strapped to his back, only to be used in an emergency.

His father watched anxiously from a different hiding spot, his spear clutched tightly in his hand, ready to pounce out and rescue his son if required.

Without any warning, the boar kicked the ground and suddenly started charging towards the boy.

Shen Jian's heart beat faster and faster as the beast closed in towards him. At the last second, he took a breath and jumped to the side, simultaneously slashing his sword at its eye.

Unexpectedly, the boar only slightly tilted its head so that the blade hit its outward protruding fang. Then it bucked its head and outright pushed the blade away along with its wielder.

"Wah!" Shen Jian panicked as he was abruptly thrown into the air.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his father looking panicked and looking ready to charge into the clearing.

In front of him, the boar slowed its charge and rounded its path towards the airborne human, getting ready to slam him into a tree.

Feeling like his life was flashing before his eyes, an unprecedented calm pervaded his mind as the world seemed to slow down for a brief moment. Shen Jian's amber eyes darted around, taking in everything around him.

A moment later, the world snapped back into focus and Shen Jian turned his unplanned tumble through the air into a backflip. His feet landed solidly on the tree trunk behind him before he put strength into his legs and sprung off it towards the charging boar.

The boar was startled but before it could do anything, a small human foot planted itself in between its eyes before Shen Jian plunged his sword into one of the boar's eyes.

The beast screeched and bucked, throwing off the human child from its face. Before he could be thrown too far, Shen Jian grabbed hold of the beast's fur on its back and pulled himself down. Landing in a crouch on the bucking boar's back, he kept a tight grip and brandished his blade once more.

For a moment, he contemplated slashing the beast's hide but knowing how thick it was and how pointless it was to try damaging it, Shen Jian grit his teeth and pulled himself forward on the bucking boar's back towards its head, trying hard to keep his balance and not fall off.

Unfortunately, he failed and tumbled off the side. Fortunately, he landed on his feet on the grass.

However, the boar was already in front of him with its furious face aiming for a devastating headbutt to his body.

Shen Jian suddenly jumped backwards while putting the flat of his sword horizontally in front of him with his off-hand palming the top of the blade.

The boar slammed into the blade, sending the boy flying backward with his arms aching, his already backward momentum reducing the impact slightly. Not a moment later though, he pushed his feet into the grassy ground and slid back instead, bleeding off the momentum before he put strength into his legs and bounced forward.

The approaching boar, caught by surprise and already too close, could do nothing as Shen Jian approached it an oblique angle and plunged his sword into its remaining eye. The beast screeched once more but before the boar could throw him off again however, he pulled his sword out.

Then Shen Jian stomped his left foot forward and pulled his sword back with his right arm with a focused look in his amber eyes.

At just the right timing, he took a powerful leap and threw his sword arm forward.

With the beast's snout at a height just above his head, he shoved the entire sword into the screeching boar's mouth, right into the roof of the beast's mouth.

And through it.

The tip of the sword poked out from between its eyes as the beast started shaking and slumped into the ground, its head only still held up by the sword through it.

The tip of a sharp fang hovered a mere inch above his arm as Shen Jian stood still for a moment before he yanked his sword out and jumped backwards. He stood and stared vigilantly.

Half a minute passed.

One minute passed.

The boar stayed dead.

His shoulders slowly relaxed. He stumbled backwards before he fell on his butt, his bloody sword clattering on the ground beside him as all the exhaustion of the fight hit him all at once. His arms and legs shook as he took rapid, shallow breaths.

His lungs heaved as he stared wide-eyed at the dead beast in front of him, the rays of light from the afternoon sun poking through the canopy to land on him and his fallen prey.

Even as his father rushed towards him and hugged him, yelling out congratulations and words of worry, Shen Jian only had one thought in mind as his hand found the hilt of his fallen sword and gripped it tightly.

'I want to do that again.'