7 Spear Training

244 B.C (A few weeks later)

Rinko having nearly died decided that he needed to become stronger, he knew that old man Chang Wen Jun was once a skilled spearman and had a good opinion of him and decided to ask him for tips on how to improve his skills.

It didn't take much to convince Chang Wen Jun to train him and he was now training in Chang Wen Jun's courtyard, Rinko's stepdaughter hearing Rinko brag about himself and how strong he was in the last war, was eager to start training and now she was working hard as Chang Wen Jun instructed her next to him.

Rinko was working on the basics of spear training, Chang Wen Jun believed it was better to have a strong foundation and built upon speed and strength with good form, others would spend time on fancy spear moves but Chang Wen Jun wanted Rinko to utilize the basics focusing on efficiency and practicality his fight that using moves that just looked impressive and cool to others.

He was currently practicing the basic thrust over and over again, Chang Wen Jun said it was the strongest spear move if mastered, he had Rinko thrust as quickly as he could and then pull his spear back and in position to thrust again and then repeat this action over and over again.

On the first day of his training, Rinko was tasked to thrust 1,000 times as fast as he could! the first couple hundred were easy but as he reached the 600 mark his arms started to burn and he slowed down! SMACK!!! every time he slowed Chang Wen Jun would hit him and force him to speed up again! by the time he reached 1,000 thrusts he was exhausted and covered in bruises. The first week was hell for him! but he improved every day and after his first week he could thrust over 10,000 times with energy to spare!

Rinko was tired of thrusting at this point and wanted to practice other moves, perhaps a slashing move perhaps but this had only caused Chang to smack him and Chang told him that thrust was stronger and increased his workload as punishment.

After training his thrust for a few weeks every time he attacked he thrust and quickly brought his spear back and repeat his attacks slowly starting to become blurs they were so fast!

Rinko felt was starting to feel as if he had reached a wall in his training but as he pushed himself harder he had the feeling that he could break through his limits, gritting his teeth he swore he would push past his limits when out of nowhere a soldier came running up to him and handed him a letter!

Danshi, the Lord of Baou, stationed near the border with Zhao had noticed strange movement from the Zhao troops! he had requested reinforcement, but Sei unsure of the seriousness of the situation had requested Rinko to meet with him.

(a few hours later)

It was getting late in the day and the sun was soon to set but despite this, a small force of 20,000 troops could be seen marching out of the capital! Rinko having met with Sei had managed to talk the young king into sending troops to Baou. Sei was reluctant at first to have soldiers loyal to him leave the capital but eventually, Rinko managed to talk the young king into sending reinforcements.

Rinko knew from his past life that after Baou fell from a surprise attack from Zhao that in a rush Qin would send out Ou Ki with a weak army to face a well-prepared Zhao force, ultimately resulting in Qin losing its strongest and most experienced general!

(a few weeks later)

Rinko now stood outside Baou as acting General of the 20,000 reinforcements sent to Baou answering only to Danshi thanks to the fact that other generals were stationed too far away from the Zhao border.

Rinko arriving at Baou quickly sent out a few assassins to Zhao to confirm the position of the Zhao army! it only took a few days for a young shy-looking girl to bump into him and slip a piece of paper into his hand!

They confirmed that Zhao had multiple armies spread out all over Zhao pretending to be civilians, merchants, and farmers all slowly massing toward the Qin border! Rinko reading this quickly sent word to Sei! he informed him that Zhao was indeed massing on Baou!

Rinko having been ordered to defend Baou, sadly Baou was not able to face the might of Zhao even with his reinforcements. Rinko had to think of a way of weakening Zhao who was massing a large army to take Baou.

Rinko thinking hard knew he had to stall Zhao somehow when suddenly a thought came to him! Zhao was massing a large army, a force that large needed a lot of supplies, they needed food, and WATER!

Humans could live a few weeks without food but would die after a few days without water! he had to target Zhao's water supply! yes, he would poison Zhao's water supply! thinking about it he knew that if he used a fatal poison Zhao would quickly discover it! no, he had to use something slow acting that would take days to show symptoms! it likely wouldn't be fatal but he was ok with that as long as it would spread out to most of the enemy army.

Qin military far might outmatch Zhao's! Zhao knew this and didn't plan on conquering Qin, no all they wanted to do was eliminate one of Qin's strongest generals and draw blood from the strong Qin! If they could prove that Qin could bleed then the wolves would gather and pick apart the mighty Qin!

Rinko couldn't allow this! Baou being a border city had strong walls and was the perfect place to defend against a larger enemy if properly guarded! if given time Qin would be able to send more reinforcements and Zhao would have no choice but to retreat or suffer horrible trying to take Baou!

( A few weeks later)

Rinko standing atop the walls of Baou watched as a large Zhao force surrounded the city! the city was many times outnumbered and it was only a matter of time before the city fell! The city's only hope of surviving was if Qin managed to send more reinforcements! if not Zhao would massacre thousands of Qin citizens!

The troops atop the walls had expected the Zhao troops to launch a fierce assault but soon minutes to hours and then to days! it seemed that Rinkos assassins had managed to sneak into the enemy and sabotage their water supply!

The Zhao army had managed to reach a weakly defended Baou but found over three forths of their troops suffering from some unknown illness! if they launched an attack at Baou like this they would surely lose! with no other choice they had to wait until their troops recovered. (it takes about a week or two for white blood cells to rise to high enough levels to fight off an unknown pathogen)

Danshi had assigned Rinko to the section of the wall that would face the brunt of Zhao's attack! once the Zhao troops had recovered they launched a fierce attack upon Baou!

Rinko seeing the troops advance ordered the archers to FIRE!

Zhao troops charging were met by a mighty volley of arrows!

Despite taking heavy losses from archers stations upon a superior position upon the wall the Zhao forces surged forward like an unstoppable beast! they soon were underneath the city's walls!

If they thought they were safe as they position their ladders they were soon proven wrong as Rinko ordered the troops to pored oil onto the enemy ladders! it didn't take much for the top of the ladders to catch fire and be incapable of reaching the top of the walls!

Despite destroying a lot of the enemy ladders they eventually ran out of oil, Zhao having prepared well in advance soon had many ladders positioned upon the walls! sadly the poor troops who climbed to the top of the city walls were met by Rinko's most trained soldiers!

As the poor Zhao soldiers reached the top of the wall they were quickly met by many spears being thrust into them! Rinko men quickly slaughtered the enemy troops! sadly the men could only hold so long before they became tired and were forced to switch with weaker troops to recover!

It was during these moments that Qin ever had any hope of taking Baou's walls! after a few cycles of the veteran troops switching out with the weaker troops, Zhao learned of their weakness! soon enemy commanders would climb the walls whenever the weaker troops were stationed there!

Rinko watching the weakest of his troops being butchered had to make a decision! he could allow his tired elites to go back in and hold the walls or he could go and hunt down the enemy commanders!

Looking at his men covered in sweat and breathing heavily he knew that if he sent them in again many of them wouldn't return... reluctantly he gathered his courage and charged at the nearest enemy commander!

As he neared the Zhao commander he hid amongst the troops and waited to strike when the enemy was distracted killing a grunt! seeing the Zhao commander distracted he quickly sent a fatal thrust into the back of the Zhao commander piercing his heart from the back, quickly hiding among his troops after pulling out his spear watching as the surprised Zhao commander died soon after.

One by one Rino moves amongst his troops and took out any Zhao commander who reached atop the wall, he knew that he had to take them out while his troops outnumbered them!

(a few days later!!!)

RINKO COVERED IN BLOOD WAS FIGHTING TWO ENEMY COMMANDERS!!!

The brave Qin troops had held the city against overwhelming odds! Rinko having spent his most elite troops was barely holding his section of the city wall! was battling two Zhao commanders!

The surrounding Qin troops watched as Rinkos launched a blinding volley of spear thrusts at his two opponents! all troops watching this knew that Rinko was easily beating his opponents and soon from what they have seen would once again defeat his enemy.

(Rinko's POV)

He was spent! he had thrown everything he had at his enemy but they had not been defeated! he was soo tired! he could barely thrust his spear anymore! the only thing that kept him going was the cheers of the troops behind him!

HE COULDN'T DIE HERE! IF HE FELL HERE BAOU WOULD BE LOST!

Covered in blood he had long stopped listening to the cheers of the troops around him! he was battling for his life and if he lost focus his two enemies would quickly end him! he was soo focused that he failed to notice as a large cheer erupted from the troops behind him!

He battled the two enemy commanders until he couldn't thrust his spear anymore! kneeling on the ground he waited for the enemy to end his life! with all hope lost he closed his eyes and hoped that death would claim him quickly.

The troops seeing that Rinko was about to die quickly became quiet! then they were surprised as the enemy launched their killing blow! and suddenly an unknown soldier rushed forward!

(Ou Ki POV)

Leading his elite troops followed by a bunch of militia! he was expecting Baou to have fallen long ago, so he was surprised when the city had managed to hold out far longer than it was physically capable of!

Baou should have been lost long ago! Ou ki, having spent all his life on the battlefield, knowing that the city's strong walls were the perfect place for his inexperienced troop to hold! if he rushed all his troops forward he knew that Zhao would see that Baou couldn't be conquered and retreat...

Quickly making a decision he only brought enough troops to barely hold the city, they were weak enough that they could barely hold against Zhao but also weak enough to entice Zhao into still attacking in hopes of claiming his head! Ou ki knew if Zhao could kill him many enemies who feared Qin in the past would seek to topple the powerful Qin.

Using himself as bait he quickly rushed toward Baou! upon reaching the city as expected he found the city hopelessly outnumbered! leading his elite troops he quickly broke through the enemy ranks and entered the city!

Upon arriving at the city headquarters he met a defeated Danshi covered in wounds, upon learning of the state of the city he quickly rushed to reinforce the weakest section of the city walls under fierce assault by the Zhao forces!

Upon reaching this section of the city he was surprised by how outnumbered the Qin soldiers were! despite this, the cheering Qin troops had managed to hold back the enemy troops! he soon discovered why! as a lone warrior bravely faced the brunt of the enemy attack! as this brave soldier fought and overcame his limits! as wave after wave were slaughtered by the brave young man! eventually, the young man couldn't hold any longer!

Now an old man, Ou Ki seeing the young soldier fight couldn't help thinking of his past, fighting alongside his wife Kyou (secret daughter of king Sho), years of memories flashed through the old warrior's mind. Upon seeing the new generation fighting, he couldn't allow such a promising seedling to die here! Rushing forward he quickly saved the young man!

By now Zhao knew that Baou had received reinforcements, but knowing that Ou ki was here, they stubbornly laid siege to the city, The Monstrous Bird of Qin had to DIE HERE!!! that old man had managed to survive the time when legends battled across the land! they knew that when Ou ki was alive Qin was almost impossible to beat!

For days Zhao sent wave after wave at the city! Ou ki standing atop the city with his elite troops! each having spent their life following Ou ki when he charged deep into the enemy ranks! slaughtered the Zhao soldiers!

Each of Ou ki's soldiers had survived countless battles hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy! as long as their general was alive they refused to be beaten! the weak soldiers in Ou Ki's army had long been killed out! each soldier left alive now! had the strength of Qin Generals! Ou Ki's army was unstoppable! and the Zhao soldiers paid dearly trying to take Baous city walls!

Zhao desperate to take Ou Ki's head soon sent their generals to face Ou ki! it wasn't long before word spread that Generals Kouson, Man Goku, and ShouMou were beaten and forced to flee!

Ou Ki having sent the last the Zhao general fleeing, soon felt a dangerous presence approaching him! it wasn't long before a young man by the name of Hou Ken appeared before him! seeing the young man caused Ou ki's blood to boil! soon the two clashed and blow after blow the two fought!

It had been years since Ou Ki had a fight this intense! the young man was good, sadly he wasn't strong enough to push Ou Ki to his limits! soon Ou Ki had pushed Hou Ken to his limits and was just about to end the young man when out of desperation the young man launched a suicidal blow at Ou ki! hoping to take Ou Ki with him Hou Ken attacked Ou ki!

Ou Ki surprised by Hou ken's desperate attack twisted his body as his attack pierced his abdomen barely missing his vital organs! at the same time, Ou ki's blow sent Hou Ken flying! his body tumbling over the city walls! Ou ki was a bit disappointed, he knew such a fall likely wouldn't kill the powerful young man, despite being a lot stronger than his opponent, Ou ki had come out worse than his opponent, it had been a long time since this had happened, perhaps his old age was catching up to him he thought.

Wounded Ou ki left the front lines and ordered his most trusted troop to charge out of Baou and send work to his reserve troops, the next day his reserve force led by Mou bu broke through the Zhao forces and entered the city.

Zhao having failed to take the city, and failed to kill Ou Ki, many generals retreated in defeat, and had their morale plummet as fresh troops reinforced Baou! reluctantly were forced to withdraw as they realized as any hope of baiting Ou ki out of the city would fail.

(Rinko POV)

Rinko having woken up watched as Ou ki defended Baou, once the battle was over he returned to the capital alongside the victorious army, and at the award ceremony his fame greatly increased across Qin, thanks to his brave efforts allowed Baou was ready to face Zhao and allowed Ou ki into luring the Zhao army to commit into attacking the city.

His rank was increased and he was once again awarded a small fortune, upon returning home he was greeted by his family and his stepdaughter flung herself into his arms excited after hearing of his great deeds!

That night his wife wept after seeing all his wounds, his fame had greatly increased but his body had paid the price for it and was now covered in wounds! many would leave large scars upon his body...

For the next few weeks Rinko stayed at home and recovered, he watched as his stepdaughter motivated by his achievements worked hard in her training under Chang Wen Jun, the young girl was a monster! and despite being so young he knew that soon she would surpass him! it was clear that some unknown entity had taken a liken to the young girl and lent the girl some of its power! on top of being trained by a spear expert, the young girl's future potential was endless. Rinko seeing this was glad that she was his daughter... if he ever pissed off this young girl's mother this child would for sure be able to kill him! thankfully his daughter idolized him and she still thought that he was powerful...