V'Neef Pahul
Mayhiros Ruja adopted the stance of the Five Dragon Form, left hand extended, fingers up, with the right hand holding a sword close to his chest, pointed forward and parallel to the ground. "I am ready," he said.
Ruja's sifu, V'Neef Pahul, was seated in a meditative posture. He did not move.
"I said I am ready."
Pahul opened one eye to look at the intemperate young man. "And I heard you." He closed his eye again.
"Arrogant bastard!" Ruja surged forward, leading with his fingers. At the last instant he stabbed with his sword, letting the momentum of his dash carry the strike towards its target. This was the Five-Dragon-Force Blow.
The Immaculate raised his hands in imitation of the abhaya mudrā; the left dipped towards the floor, catching Ruja's sword on the tips of its fingers and forcing its stone-shattering force into the ground. But the right hand rose to meet a nerve cluster just below Ruja's rib.
The breath flew from the boy's lungs and he crashed to the ground, leaving his sword where it was. When he could speak again, he said, "that was not a technique of the Fire Dragon Style."
V'Neef Pahul brushed the leg of his hakama as he stood. "You are a Child of Hesiesh. I would gain little by using Fire Dragon Style against you." He bent down and took Ruja's fallen sword into his hand.
Mayhiros Ruja looked up at his blade in another man's hand and beat his fist against the stone floor. "Teach me, damn you!"
Pahul smiled. "I am."
"My father brought you here to teach me to fight."
"My master sent me here to teach you not to."
Ruja stumbled to his feet. "I have enemies."
"But you are far more terrible than they."
Ruja held out his hand for his sword. "They're anathama!"
V'Neef Pahul tucked the sword behind his back with a twist of his wrist and smiled again. "You're making excuses."
"What sort of immaculate monk are you?" Ruja spat. "Are you saying you don't care about anathama?"
"I'm saying that you don't." Pahul walked a slow circle around the young man. "For you, 'demon' is a convenient label, a way to raise sympathy and allies for your fight. You do not share my faith. If these enemies of yours were Children of the Dragons, you would fight them just the same. That makes the anathama and the Dragon Blooded one, and the immaculate styles are not for use against the Dragon Blooded."
"Are you saying you won't teach me, then?" Ruja frowned.
"Boy, the techniques I have to teach will shatter your soul if you are not ready to accept them. Consider carefully: would you want to fight these anathama if they lived in Nexus? Which monk is more righteous, the one who joins the Wyld Hunt or the one who helps his flock with their farming? Can a demon be righteous? Answer these questions right, and we may begin your training." Pahul held the young man's sword out for him.
Ruja frowned, but took the sword. "And what will you do until then?"
"I will continue the slow process of breaking your will with my kung fu." V'Neef Pahul assumed the Air Dragon Form and gestured for Ruja to advance.
