Secrets in the kitchen not actually about food

"Am I in the right place?" Riku wondered.

He should be. Following Master Huang's directives, Huo brought Riku along when he wanted to practice, and the next thing he knew, the pair of them had trooped into the kitchen.

Maybe there was something here Riku missed? Maybe there was actually a gym in the kitchen filled with martial arts training equipment that were kept in a secret cupboard or, or…

But no. Huo basically picked up a knife and started peeling fruit.

"Err…" Riku paused.

"You wanted to observe. So, observe." Huo said, in a grouchy voice.

Riku blinked, then, hesitantly, watched. [System, begin Observation.]

There was a short pause. Then, [Southern Star Blade Technique Observed. 0.5%... 0.6%... 0.7%...]

Riku gaped. Huo really was practicing his martial arts skills! On top of that, the technique he was practicing was so high leveled, Riku's Observations could barely make out tiny increments of a percentage from it!

"Could you… make it easier for me to understand?" Riku requested weakly. "That blade technique you're using is really hard for me to make sense of. Can you explain it to me?"

Huo blinked at him, startled for a moment, then paused and reflected. Then, he said, "It's in the wrist. In the fingers. The intricate power. Look at the energy flows. The power is in the small movements."

Not 'the power of' the small movements, but 'the power is in' the small movements. In other words, it wasn't that the small movements were powerful, but that the power of the technique came from the small movements.

[Observation: 15.4%... 16%...] There was an instant jump in progress. Even so, it was slow.

"Could you explain more?" Riku asked tentatively.

"No." Huo said gruffly.

Riku sighed. "Come on. After all, the quicker I get stronger, the sooner we can put together the Five Elements Formation and go take revenge for Tu."

Huo's head snapped up, his eyes blazed. "No! Forget it! Don't even think about taking revenge for Tu!"

"What? I can't believe even you, the most Senior of Master Huang's Closer Disciples, is so afraid of the Spider Brothers!" Riku said in disbelief.

"The Spider Brothers?" Huo looked at him blankly. "What do they have to do with Tu…?"

Riku trailed off. "They're… I mean… They beat him to death, didn't they?"

Huo stared. "Is THAT the story?"

Suddenly, Huo turned away from Riku entirely. He focused on his fruit-peeling, his attentions purely on his knife movements. Riku waited and watched and watched and watched, but Huo said no more.

[Observation: 34% complete… 35%...]

Huo totally ignored Riku. It was as if Riku wasn't even there. This was deliberate, Riku felt. Whatever the case, Huo was done talking and it wasn't likely he was going to offer any more information on anything.

After Huo finished the entire pile of fruit, he said, "Enough. Get out of the kitchen. You're in the way."

Riku could only salute him in farewell and leave. Looking for more people to Observe, he went over to the drill yard, where a group of Master Huang's regular disciples were demonstrating their prowess for Master Huang to inspect.

Master Huang himself was meeting with messengers who came and went while inspecting them. "Riku! How was it? Did you learn anything from Huo?"

Riku half-jumped, then paused and thought about what he was actually asking about, then calmed down a bit and said, "I learned that I should be training with weapons."

"Weapons?" Master Huang blinked. "How did you figure?"

"It's the greatest strength of mankind, the big advantage we have over beasts and nature." Riku said, thinking back to his 21st century memories. "There is a huge amount of potential and growth in how man can develop tools and grow stronger with them."

"Spoken like a true blacksmith." Master Huang said wryly. "I suppose you'll be wanting to train with swords, since forging Spirit Swords was your Xi Clan's specialty."

Riku nodded slowly. It did make sense. "Yes. That's it."

That wasn't what he'd had in mind earlier though. What he'd really been thinking about was how medical science and machines had kept him alive for so many years in spite of his physical weaknesses. He was thinking about technology and the developing sciences of man.

How long had mankind taken to go from swords and horses to the internet? A few hundred years?

How long had this world been stuck in the Iron Age? Or was it in the Steel Age, now? Riku sifted through this-world Riku's memories. Yes. The people here, in this Nine Kingdoms Empire, could in fact make steel. They did it the old, inefficient way, by hammering the carbon out of pig iron until it was pure enough to become steel.

Just as he was thinking that, Master Huang started talking about Spirit Swords and the Xi Clan methods and secrets came to Riku's mind. The two different ideas and memories and thought streams got mixed up and suddenly, Riku half-jumped.

"I need a crucible. Not just any crucible. The Xi Clan equipment." Riku began. "And I need to repair the Xi Clan forges. The Blacksmith Guild forges in town simply won't do. And I need to find the secret manuals of my clan. And a good sword mould. And…"

"Slow down! Riku, all these things are going to cost you time, effort, and money. These sort of things are not to be rushed!" Master Huang mentioned blandly.

His position was clear. He was not going to fund Riku's metallurgic endeavors. Riku would have to pay for it himself, or somehow acquire funding elsewhere.

Well, then, since he wasn't keen on being an early investor, when Riku finally did make Spirit Swords, Master Huang could very well buy them at retail price like everyone else! Riku had an inkling that the weapons he forged were going to be very popular. All he needed was to experiment with alloys. If he could get some nickel and manganese, maybe even chromium… Riku's steel could far outstrip anything the Xi Clan or anyone else around here could possibly manage.

The Xi Clan was already famous for having stronger steel than most. This was done by folding steel in on itself a hundred times over. It was a technique derived from great-grandma's side of the family. She was one of the Sea Peoples. That was also why half the Xi Clan had names like Riku's.

Then again he wasn't sure that the laws of nature were the same here in the first place. What was true in science back in the other world might not be true here. Why should the physics of this world be the same when the biology differed so much? From what this-world Riku remembered, the beasts of this world appeared to be much deadlier and far more hostile to humans than those back on the other world. On the other hand, growing plants and farming seemed to be practically effortless. The technology on this front was totally basic simply because there was no need for it. Food had never been a problem for this world. Security was.

Maybe it was something in the soil or the water, but everyone here was so strong, the average guy on the street could easily hop over an eight foot wall. People hardly ever built fences or town walls around here because what was the point? Walls wouldn't stop anybody. Not unless they were at least thirty feet high… and even then higher level Adepts could scale straight up those walls without too much trouble. Master-class folks around town could easily make fifty-feet jumps and just about every little town had at least a handful of those somewhere.

Thinking about this world's martial arts masters, Riku began to wonder whether anyone ever tried building cannons and if they did, whether those cannons were of much help in the end.

"YOU!" Someone suddenly pounced on Riku from behind.

"UWAAAH!" Riku jumped four feet in the air with a yowl.

There behind him was Ruyi, looking very pleased with herself. "Gotcha!"

"Ruyi!" Master Huang let out a low voice of admonishment.

"It's okay. Riku is tough, right? Like Tu. He's got Stone Skin." Ruyi said defensively.

"That's… true. But even Tu had his limits." Master Huang pointed out. "You can't just keep giving people shocks like that. It's not healthy."

"Riku is stronger than Tu! Shui said so!" Ruyi said defensively.

Riku grimaced. "So what can I help you with, Little Miss?"

"Spar with me!" Ruyi jumped. "Like Tu used to! He was the only one who would!"

"Spar?" Riku lit up. "Sure!"

"Yay! I'm going to get my gear!" Ruyi ran off.

Master Huang watched her go, then cleared his throat. "Riku, before you spar with Ruyi, you must know the rules."

"I'm not going to kill her." Riku assured him. "Or touch her inappropriately."

"You're not going to touch her at all." Master Huang said pointedly. "In fact, you're not even going to raise a hand in retaliation. You'll follow Tu's rules."

"Tu's rules?" Riku frowned.

"He would not strike Ruyi. Ever." Master Huang told Riku. "If you want to spar with my daughter, you have to follow those same rules."

"Would not strike… so that means…" Riku gulped. "Tu was basically a Stone Skin punching bag?"

"Precisely." Master Huang nodded. "Glad to see we understand each other."

Riku began to understand why Tu was especially important to Ruyi. Nobody else would spar with her under such rules. Jin knew the Stone Skin technique too, and the Bronze Bell besides, but he couldn't keep up a full body coverage for long, and used the Iron Skin version mainly to enhance his attacks.

Being able to keep up a Full Body Granite version, Riku probably had an advantage there. Probably.

"I should be fine… I think." He gulped. "I hope."