Face, meet fist. This is Akyu Quest!

[Fightest]

> "You give yourself too little credit.  If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have learned the majority of my stances."

> Meiling flashes you a wry smile.
> "I did notice. You're very sharp, aren't you?"

>"Shall we switch the attacker and defender?"
>If she agrees, go into Meiling's Tower. How she approaches it should give an indication on its purpose.

> "I didn't realise we were being so formal. You took the initiative, went from there, and succeeded. But, if you want, I can be more aggressive."
> You draw yourself up to stand in the stock-still Meiling's Tower. Meiling narrows her eyes.
> She resumes Tiger Rends Prey, with a single alteration - only her left arm is in front of her. Her right is stretched out behind her, palm raised to the ceiling. A small, glowing orb forms above her palm.

>Rather than that, let's just straight up ask about Meiling's Tower. At the very worst, she'll just say no.

> Your question registers with Meiling just as she swings her right arm down in a quick swing, sending danmaku flying everywhere. She abruptly pulls out of the motion, sending herself off-balance and forcing herself into an awkward little dance as she tries to regain her footing. The bright-white bullets impact around you, but do not hit. One sails past you and smashes into the wall to the right of Kaguya's head. The Princess opens one eye, gives the both of you a dirty look, then resumes spellcasting.

> "You don't know what it does? Um. Good thing I didn't go through with that attack! And shame on you, misleading me like that - someone could have gotten injured!"
> Meiling frowns at you in an exaggerated fashion. However, the frown quickly makes way for her usual friendly smile.
> "It's a defensive stance. It helps focus the Qi needed to block mystical attacks."
> She pauses briefly, then steps into a basic stance, stretching her right arm behind her, a white glow forming in the palm of her hand.
> "Try gathering your Qi like you would for a kiai. Don't release it, though - try holding on to it instead, and focus on your hands and forearms."

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow those instructions! Gather it up, hold onto it, and then try to urge it toward our hands.

[Fightest]

>Follow those instructions! Gather it up, hold onto it, and then try to urge it toward our hands.

> Standing in Meiling's Tower, you start gathering your Qi. You can feel the effect of the stance - the arrangement of the body allows it to flow... smoother, more controlled. With your ability to use your Qi as a true sense, you can see the insides of your body, your bones, muscles, sinews, organs. You can see the cracks in your ribs from your fight with Kaguya - they seem to be healing cleanly. You can see your strained muscles, and the pools of blood under your bruises...
> ...And you can clearly see six glowing spots within your body - your head, neck, chest, heart, abdomen and lower back - areas where your Qi pools naturally, where you might be able to draw a large amount from when you might need it...
> You pull some of the energy into your hands, seeing the glow suffuse them.

> You have demonstrated the ability to actively and accurately control your Qi. You are the master of your own spiritual essence, and, with this, your Martial Arts increases to 4. You have a exceptional degree of control over your actions, and you are able to chain many actions together into powerful combinations. Your spirit and soul are exceptionally-tuned, giving you excellent resistance to spiritual and magical attacks. You are now able to divine the purpose of any Move or Stance upon seeing it fully just once.

> Learned Stance: Meiling's Tower. Complexity: Special. Power gathers to those who are strong. The user of this stance is able to fully tap the channels of Qi in her body, and shape them to her will. While offensively and defensively weak, this stance is able to quickly counter attacks with a mystical component, as long as they can be affected by touch, simply by channeling Qi to the correct location in the body. To the outside observer, the user of Meiling's Tower would seem unmoving and unflinching even as attack after attack breaks itself upon her. Once her Qi has been shaped, the user of this stance does not need to remain in it to enjoy its effects, but would have to return to it to alter the flow of her Qi into another fashion.

> "Ready?" says Meiling, "then here goes!"
> She gently tosses a single, slow-moving bullet at you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"...My word."
>Move some Qi to block that bullet.

[Fightest]

>"...My word."
>Move some Qi to block that bullet.

> Your Qi responds like soft clay, easily molded and shaped how you wish. You build up some around your left shoulder, where the bullet is headed.
> The bullet impacts heavily, pushing you off-balance. There is almost no pain, the bullet having dissipated itself against your protective Qi barrier. You'll have to learn how to deal with that momentum, though. You would most likely be fine if you blocked it like a regular attack, but it would take more practice to have them just bounce off you.

> Meiling beams. "Well done! It's not wholly perfect, but it's magnificent for a first try!"

[Hello Purvis]

>"You are far too kind. Perhaps you can offer some advice on anything obvious I overlooked?"

[mad]

>Can the qoi be used to push the attack to the side os opposed to absorbing the momentum?

[Mr_Bob]

>What is our agility like in this stance?

[Fightest]

>Can the qoi be used to push the attack to the side os opposed to absorbing the momentum?

> Whilst the process is like using a bucket of sand to push aside a snooker ball, you will probably figure it out eventually. Only time and practice will tell.

>What is our agility like in this stance?

> Low. The stance is very strict and rigid, and, whilst Qi moves freely, you can not.

>"You are far too kind. Perhaps you can offer some advice on anything obvious I overlooked?"

> Meiling bites her lip, then sighs in resignation.
> "Yes. There is. I did warn you against fighting Spell Cards, but... There is a technique that only a select few martial artists have mastered. It is called the Spell-Shattering Palm. The technique explosively channels Qi into a single strike against a Spell Card directly, aiming to break it apart through brute force. Some Spell Cards will be shattered after a single strike, others could be more persistent, needing a repeated assault. The attack is different for each martial artist, and you will need to figure out for yourself how to get that much Qi in one place quickly enough."
> Such an attack would be the epitome of speed and accuracy, nothing less than a perfect strike. You cannot even complete the physical part of that, yet, let alone the mystical. Complexity: 5.

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"I shall keep this in mind for when I have learned more, if indeed such things are within my grasp. But, I meant advice for this stance."

[Fightest]

>Nod.
>"I shall keep this in mind for when I have learned more, if indeed such things are within my grasp. But, I meant advice for this stance."

> Meiling shakes her head.
> "At this stage, you know all you need to develop your own style, and I'm confident that you can. I can't in good conscience recommend things that I do, knowing how different we are in a fight."
> She smiles and ruffles your hair.
> "It means you've graduated! You are your own woman now, and I wish you all the best. Now how about another round?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Somehow, I do not feel it is so. But very well."
>Ponder what the mystery stance we saw the first day from her was.
>"I would be pleased to have another round."

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Heh, If the student has past the masters expectations, then a second round should be perfect."

[Mr_Bob]

>Roundu Twou: Letty? Fight-o!

[Fightest]

>"Somehow, I do not feel it is so. But very well."
>Ponder what the mystery stance we saw the first day from her was.
>"I would be pleased to have another round."

> Meiling ruffles your hair.
> "I am certain you will surprise yourself. Just keep your confidence and fighting spirit!"
> The mystery attack was a Move, not a Stance. Meiling struck a set of key points on her own body, then made a slow attack at an imaginary opponent. These points seemed to correspond to the chakras that you saw in your own body. This must have been a way for her to gather a lot of Qi into a single strike, meaning that the Move must have been a Spell-Shattering Palm, or a variant thereof.

> "Heh, If the student has past the masters expectations, then a second round should be perfect."

>Roundu Twou: Letty? Fight-o!

> The two of you resume the sparring match. As the fight progresses, you get the feeling that Meiling is still stronger than you, but you're not unrealistically far off from her level of skill. Punches and kicks fly in something that would appear as a fight to the death to an inexperienced outsider, yet the amount of trust that goes into each attack and block means that neither of you receive nothing but light bruises.

> You lose sense of time in your fight against Meiling, the flow of combat proceeding so naturally and organically that you realise, during a short lull, that Kaguya and Eirin have been sitting on your bed, watching your fight for quite a while.

[Hello Purvis]

>If it is a proper lull, look to the Lunarians and ask, "I presume things have gone well?"

[Fightest]

>If it is a proper lull, look to the Lunarians and ask, "I presume things have gone well?"

> The fight winds down. Meiling bows to you, and smiles, giving you a thumbs-up.
> Kaguya nods at you. "Like a charm. A wonderful meditation, although I would have preferred fewer bullets in my face. All you'll have to do to call up your partner to aid you now is to centre yourself and focus on this meditation. It is as simple as that."
> You hear Meiling's sudden exclamation.
> "Oh no! I completely forgot the time! I've got to get back to my post, or the mistress will be... displeased." Meiling looks sullen, but quickly cheers up. "Good luck, Akyu! Come visit me next time you have the chance!"
> She moves to dash off, unless you have anything to discuss with her.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I was going to walk you back, but if you need to run, go for it!"

[Fightest]

>"I was going to walk you back, but if you need to run, go for it!"

> "No, no, you've got your business to take care of. I'll be off!"
> Meiling dashes off.
> "That's as much as we can help you," Eirin says. "However, I have heard that there was a Record Scroll nearby, Kaguya and I could use that to check on your progress. Do you know anything about that?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we ever heard of this kind of thing, or have any idea of its whereabouts
>If not, say "I'm not familiar with that. What is it?"

[Fightest]

>Have we ever heard of this kind of thing, or have any idea of its whereabouts
>If not, say "I'm not familiar with that. What is it?"

> You have not heard of it referred to as such, but...
> Kaguya says:
> "When this whole mess started, a collection of scrolls appeared all over Gensokyo, describing the rules and regulations of the tournament. There's one up on the Mountain, one up in Heaven, apparently the Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion has one, and one's been said to be in or near the Human Village. I haven't been able to get my hands on one, but, apparently, they've got more functions than just describing the rules - for example, I know that each can also show the number of fights won or lost by any given entrant. Each one's pretty big, easily two by three metres."
> With that information, you remember that you did see an unusual scroll back at Kourindou that held all of its owner's attention...

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, that would be at Kourindou. Rinnosuke was most interested in it when I visited him a couple days ago. I don't think he would part with it, but I am certain he wouldn't mind sharing the information with you."

[Fightest]

> "Then we will have to go to him. You're going in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine, yes? Eirin and I will accompany you as far as Kourindou."
> Do you have any further business here? Fast-forwarding will occur otherwise.

[Hello Purvis]

>Gather up some food, a good supply of healing goop, see what Cirno's up to. If she's not coming along, make sure she keeps the faeries from causing a ruckus.
>Onward!

[Mr_Bob]

>Sally forth.

[Fightest]

>Gather up some food, a good supply of healing goop, see what Cirno's up to. If she's not coming along, make sure she keeps the faeries from causing a ruckus.
>Onward!

>Sally forth.

> You stock up!
> You see Cirno on the way out and get her to make sure the fairies do not cause a ruckus.
> "Gotcha!" She says.

> You set out towards Kourindou and the Shrine with Eirin and Kaguya in tow. The time is passed in idle conversation on the topic of rabbits and their unreliability. It is a sunny afternoon, with a gentle breeze keeping you cool.
> You reach Kourindou with no incident. Rinnosuke is still staring at that scroll of his.
> "I think that's it!" says Kaguya.
> Rinnosuke waves at you without looking. "Ah, Madam Hieda. Your progress is causing quite a stir in some circles and a very... favourable flow of finances. You're a very profitable fighter - your Value is second only to the Fujiwara girl's, so I would feel awkward not repaying you for that. Go take something that you can carry in one hand that you like. It's on the house."

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Examine Kourindou's Inventory

> "Thank you Rinnosuke-san"

[Fightest]

> Examine Kourindou's Inventory

> "Thank you Rinnosuke-san"

> Rinnosuke waves again.
> The store has a staggering amount of things piled on on shelves, on the floor and on each other. Are you looking for something...
> Mundane?
> Rare?
> Exotic?
> That is:
> A weapon?
> A tool?
> A garment?
> Something else?

[Hello Purvis]

>Tools: Mundane, Rare and Exotic
>...Garments too. We could use something pretty.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Tools maybe, or a weapon?