Choosing weapons

The building was well-constructed, boasting a pentagonal shape similar to a typical house, but five times the size. Its roof was yellow, and its walls were a light grey.

To its left, a smaller building lacked any particular features, except that it was wide open, revealing rows of various iron and steel weapons of different shapes and sizes.

To its right, a large open area featured numerous large boulders, trees, and wooden dummies for hand-to-hand combat training. It perfectly encapsulated the life of a true martial artist—simple and clean, dedicated to cultivation and martial arts practice.

"Wow, it's quite big for us three. The house seemed smaller from afar," the boys exclaimed as they walked towards the entrance.

"Yeah, well, there's enough space, so we might as well use it," said Yu Hao.

"You guys settle down; in a few hours, I'll be giving a lecture on martial arts. I expect you to be there without fail. Yu Hao, make sure to show them the way to the lecture location." Allowing them time to settle, Teacher Long stayed by the entrance as the boys went inside, shortly after, he left.

As Teacher Long left, Kaelen and the others entered the house. It was simple, with a wide space as one entered, just a single floor. Three rooms in total—one on the left, one on the right, and one in the center—all with doors left open.

"Let's each take one of the rooms. I'll take the one in the middle," suggested Kaeln.

"I'll take the right," added Raizel.

"Guess that leaves the one on the left to me then," said Torin with a smile.

"Alright, you folks get comfy. I'll come back to take you guys to the lecture in a few." With that, Yu Hao also left.

"Alright," the trio said, each heading into their respective rooms.

"Hmm. This bed is quite large and comfy. It's quite nice not having to share with a stinky dude. Ahahah," Kaelen's voice echoed as he leaped onto the wide bed.

"Tss. You'll miss me soon, you bastard," Raizel fired back, jumping face-first onto his bed.

"You're the bastard, bastard," Kaelen shouted through the walls, not backing down.

They continued for a few more back and forths.

Listening to the two, Torin couldn't help but smile. "Hey, there was a weapons shack besides the house. Wanna go try some?" Taking a peacemaking stance, he proposed to the still bickering duo.

The duo both stood from their beds at the same time, their eyes glowing. "Yes, let's do that." Raizel said first as he ran outside.

"I knew you'd fit right in with us. I truly have a good eye for people," Kaelen followed as they both rushed to the weapon shack.

Looking at the rushing duo, Torin smiled and ran too.

A few seconds later, the boys stood in front of the weapon shack. Their eyes glowing as they each approached different weapons.

Kaelen walked toward the polearm row, choosing a steel halberd. It was heavy, around a thousand pounds, and about six feet long. Waving it effortlessly, he placed it back after a dozen swings. To the innately strong boy, lifting a thousand pounds was childs play.

Raizel, in another aisle, examined different swords, blades, and daggers. He took a refined longsword, waved it around, and then tried a pair of long daggers. "Hmm, I like this, but it's a bit short and light. If I can cover it with Qi like that tall dude did, I can increase the range a bit." Excitedly moving on to different weapons, his eyes glowed more and more.

Torin, on the other hand, explored axes, hammers, and great blades. Easily wielding a great axe with his muscular arms, he demonstrated a series of powerful hacks and chops.

An hour passed as the boys tried all the weapons in the shack, switching rows every ten minutes.

"They're all so cool, but I have to say I like heavy weapons the most. I feel quite mighty when I wield a great blade and axe. I'm not too sure what I'll focus on yet, but I won't use a great sword since my sister uses one," Torin said, waving a heavy curved blade on his left hand and a great axe on his right.

"Really? Meh. I like quick and sharp weapons, like swords, blades, and daggers. I can't stand using those huge weapons that take up so much space." Looking lovingly at the pair of long daggers in his hands and a pristine-looking longsword, Raizel expressed a different preference.

Smiling, Torin turned to Kaelen. "What about you, Kaelen? Which one do you prefer?"

Kaelen, standing in front of the polearm shaft, contemplated. "Old Gramps Dai often said that, though martial artists live a long life and can master many weapons to a proficient level, one could only truly master one weapon type to the peak. He said the reason for that is, while you can reach proficiency with a weapon, it's not a level where you can be called a true master of your art. To reach the true peak, your weapon must be a representation of who you are. There must be a special connection between you and the weapon to be able to reach those profound levels.

I feel most close to polearms for their straightforwardness and mightiness. It's a battle general's weapon. I don't know yet between the spear and the halberd which to choose. Though pole arms can differ significantly, with spears and halberds having many variations, you can use the same martial art while using different ones and have good results. I like glaive/guan Dao type spears and boar/partisan spears because they have a larger and longer blade than traditional ones.

Amongst halberds, I like the Fang tian ji Halberd and the Qinglong Ji halberd, the former being the latter with blades on three sides instead of two. I'm more inclined toward the boar partisan spear for its simplicity and the fact that its blade can both slash and thrust without needing additional parts, making it more uniform and less likely to break. The halberd can lose its side blades sometimes, so that can be inconvenient." The boy answered while in a pensive state.

"I guess since they have the same move set, I can switch between them when I upgrade to a different weapon. If I find a halberd, I'll pick one; if I find a spear, I'll pick that instead." He said as he picked a 7-foot-long spear. It was a partisan-looking spear, its blade four adult fingers wide and a forearm long. Its shaft was made of iron and was two inches thick. Heavily weighing around fifteen hundred pounds. He suggested, "Let's go see how sturdy those boulders are, shall we?"

"Let's," Torin and Raizel both nodded as they each picked weapons, the latter taking a heavy saber, its blade five and a half feet long and a hand wide from the handle. A curved blade that grew slightly large as it approached the tip.

The former finally chose two long daggers about four feet long and three to four inches wide depending on where you looked at the blades.

They both headed outside towards the training area together with Kaelen. As they arrived, they each chose a boulder to try their weapons on.

Standing in front of a five-meter-tall boulder, Kaelen's tall frame seemed meager as he took a horse stance. Together with his spear, his healthy light bonze like skin shining under the sun and his handsome carved face he looked a mighty general in his youth.

With a shout, he thrusts toward a corner of the boulder.

"Clinggggg…" A loud, piercing sound resonated in the air as Kaeln's spear was sent flying back, his arm feeling the redirected momentum as he took a few steps back. A similar scene was taking place on Torin and Raizel's side, however, one could see an inch-deep cut in the boulder that the latter hit.

"Damn, it's really hard, though I didn't use all my strength. Let's try with qi instead." Seeing he failed to leave a mark with just physical strength, Kaelen gathered his qi into his arm. Firmly grasping his spear, he slashed forward with a forceful strike.

"Hiss…" This time, a small hissing noise was heard as a centimeter-deep cut appeared on the boulder. Looking at the pathetic mark, Kaelen couldn't help but scratch his head.

"Not bad; you left a mark on the boulder on your second try." A voice was heard as Yu Hao walked towards their training area.

"Let's go, you guys. The lecture will start soon. Bring your weapons with you since it's a martial arts class. I came an hour early to help you all choose a weapon for the class, but it seems you guys already did. No matter, Teacher Long will appreciate your assiduousness." He raised his voice, so it reached everyone, then turned and started walking his way up the mountain.

The three stopped practicing and ran towards him, shorlty catching up.

"Hey, what type of class is it going to be?" Curious, Raizel asked.

"You will see." A devious grin appeared on Yu Hao's face as he mysteriously said.

Noticing he wouldn't give anything out, the others didn't try to pry information out of him as they silently headed towards their first class.