Stardust: The First Champion

Martial Cousins 2

Just like Master Levi's Guan, this room displayed a wide variety of weapons. While Master Levi's arms were mostly from East Asia, the weapons in this room included European Longswords, Indian Talwar, and Shasari Wan.

At the very front of the room, on an altar, was a sword stand with a pair of gleaming blades inside a scabbard. Even from a distance, Tora could tell the sword was real and not a prop. The details on the metal that decorated the sheath and the hilt were exquisite. Shadows filled in every curve on the medal. No artisan would spend such a long time designing a prop.

Tora reached out her hand toward the blade, entranced by its beauty. The silence was broken by the sound of the doors behind her opening. "Those are twin red Damascus steel blades: Tangjian and Yuanjian."

Tora turned to Alesia, who walked to stand beside her. Holding the rosewood hilt, Tora pulled the blade from the sheath, watching the metal gleam with the reflection of her face on the blade. The folds from the melted steel created a wavy design on the body of the blade. The sharp edge curved at the tip of the blade into a dull straight edge on the other side.

"It's a single edge. It's the first time I've seen a single-edged Jian." Other than a wooden Katana or a dao, Tora had never held a single-edged Chinese sword in her hands. Most Jian swords were double-edged. The sword in her hand was a straight single-edged Jian, which she had never seen before. "Can it cut?"

"Of course," Alesia replied. She nodded toward a wooden pole. "You want to try it?"

"Yes, please."

Alesia dragged the wooden pole to the center of the room. She moved to stand beside Tora, away from the tip of the sword.

Tora took her stance, her right foot forward as she stood in front of the pole. She raised the sword slightly toward the right, slicing diagonally, then slicing to the left. Two pieces of wood were cut cleanly from the pole, falling on the floor. Tora brought the sword down a third time, slicing the pole vertically, down the middle.

The log split open, falling to the floor in opposing directions. Tora's eyes scanned the edge of the blade. There were no chips on the metal, still perfectly reflecting her face on its surface. "Beautiful," she said as she sheathed the sword in a single, swift movement.

She turned back to the altar, placing the sword back on the stand.

"This Guan looks amazing," Tora said. "It's a tribute?"

Alesia cleaned the pieces of cut wood, putting them back in the corner of the room. "Yeah," she replied. "It's not just to martial artists but also to my mom and dad, who taught me how to fight."

She pointed to the front wall behind the sword stand.

Hiding among the paintings, a man and a woman standing back to back. The man held his fists up like a boxer, while the woman extended her palm forward. Tora recognized the faces of Aisha Wang and Gideon Haines. Alesia's parents.

"You're also a martial artist, right?" Alesia asked.

"Yeah."

"Wanna spar?

"Sure."

"What weapons do you want to use? I wanna use swords."

"I want staff," Tora said. "How about a coin toss?"

Alesia shrugged. "Sure."

They stood opposite each other. Tora dug in her pants, trying to find a coin in her pockets, not really expecting to find anything. Surprisingly, she found a dollar among the lint of her pockets.

"Heads," Alesia called as Tora tossed the coin in the air. She caught the coin and placed it on the back of her hand to reveal the back of the coin.

"Tails," Tora said. "Bo staff."

Alesia went to the wall to pick a pair of long wooden staff. She tossed one staff to Tora, who caught it with ease before immediately getting into a fighting stance.

Bare feet on the mats, in leggings and tank tops, Alesia and Tora squared off against one another.

"How do you want to do this?" Tora asked.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style," Alesia replied as attacked Tora with an overhead strike. "You won the coin toss, you chose the weapon. Next round's swords."

Tora easily blocked the attack above and below as Alesia struck low. "Okay." She pulled back the staff, thrusting toward Alesia's abdomen, who blocked the attack with the end of her staff, pushing it away from her stomach.

Tora went on the attack again, to which Alesia moved back while spinning her staff. They chased each other around the room. They clashed, crossing their staffs in the middle. "You're good," Tora said with a smile.

"So are you," Alesia replied in a pause. "How long have you been doing this?"

Tora, taller and stronger than Alesia forced the end of the staff to the ground. "Since I was a teen. I trained under Master Samuel Levi until I went to the Air Force Academy." She raised the staff, swiping for Alesia's head.

"I've heard of him," Alesia said as ducked below Tora's staff. "He's a grandmaster. He's very well known in the Martial Arts world." She swept the staff low, striking Tora's calves, causing her to fall on her back. Alesia aimed the end of the staff at Tora's neck, establishing herself as the winner. "He's also my martial cousin."

"I surrender," Tora said. With her position on the floor, had they been enemies, Alesia could have attacked her throat or any place in her head. Alesia was the clear winner.

Alesia extended her hand to Tora, helping her up. They pulled the staff close to their bodies, in a neutral stance before bowing to each other in respect.

"What do you mean by martial cousin?"

"My mother's family has a martial arts school in Yunnan. That's where Samuel Levi came under the tutelage of Zhang Yuhong. He was my mother's martial older brother, meaning they trained under the same master. That means my mother was Samuel Levi's martial aunt, making us cousins. At least, in the martial arts world." Alesia explained, "As his student, that also makes you my cousin in Martial Arts." She furrowed her brow before adding. "Once removed?" she said, uncertain of the correct term to use to describe their immediate relationship.

"Small world." Tora raised an eyebrow. Master Levi taught Tora that a martial arts school was like a family. The master was like a father and his senior students were Tora's senior martial brothers and sisters. Tora did not know the martial relationship went so deep.