Lan Qiang stood behind Hou, leaning his spear while talking. Hou jumped and turned around, "Why are you here?!"
Lan Qiang scoffed lightly and dragged his spear on the sand while walking a few steps away. He started speaking as he picked duo his spear, "How about we talk while sparing?" He held the spear firmly in front of him.
Hou held his blood sword in front of him and swivelled to match Lan Qiang, "...okay, on go."
"3..."
"2..."
"1..."
"Go!" Hou did not jump forward, instead he stood still, focusing on defense the start. "So you have any to talk?"
Lan Qiang began moving slowly in a circle around Hou as he spoke, "Yeah I just wanted someone to take to you know?"
Hou kept his sword poised, "I mean I only came to practice, I'm free to talk to"
Lan Qiang thrusted, and Hou easily blocked. He continued to circle Hou slowly, "You're a talented guy, you just seem to know it all you know. And...me I just feel...I feel like I shouldn't be here."
Hou smacked his spear with his sword and thrusting towards Lan Qiang. He dodged to the side and with the opening created by Hou's thrust, Lan Qiang cut his shoulder.
Hou jumped back and begun circulating healing laws as he talked, "..me knowing it all hah..." Hou sighed, "Let me tell you one thing Lan Qiang, you're thinking too much of me. I know so much, but so little really...all of what scattered knowledge and skills I have were given to me, I didn't earn them."
Lan Qiang swung his spear low, causing Hou to need to jump to avoid it. "You don't really get it though because you have so much...it doesn't matter where your strength comes from, just that you have it. But...I just feel not that Hamar can use some 'normal' techniques too..."
Hou stepped on Lan Qiang's spear, kicking off it to swing at him. He used a small amount of aura to slash.
Lan Qiang saw the blade coming for him and didn't use his spear but instead from his body a shield of water dispersed which blocked the sword.
"I just feel that I'm not fitting with you all...Jin is super strong and Hamar has the thing you just used, you have a bit of everything, Tianmo is mysterious but he's strong. I'm just...there."
Hou fell to the ground and rolled back, keeping his sword close, "I can only give you some of my advice, whether it's good or bad you decide...Who cares?"
Lan Qiang's water shield fell and he brows furrowed, "Who...cares? What?"
"Who cares that you feel weak? Who cares that you think you don't fit? These are all things that only you think, why else would you be here?"
Hou cut his own hand and blood dripped out. Small pellets of blood in the air formed and Hou shout them in a certain direction towards Lan Qiang.
He ran forwards as he continued, "Just do your best, work hard. Continue doing what you can when you can and that's enough."
He stabbed towards Lan Qiang while blood pellets shot from a different direction. Lan Qiang saw the tactic coming and formed a water shield for the blood pellets and swung his spear to protect him from Hou himself.
Hou swung with more aura this time and Lan Qiang noticed, he poured his own laws into his spear. The spear became ethereal and he swung it to counter Hou's attack.
The water laws injected into the spear clashed with the aura and ultimately won, pushing Hou back. Hou spat and continued, "Just be a bit like...water. just follow what goes your way and if there's an obstacle there's two paths. You can go around it, or wear through it."
Lan Qiang threw his spear out to the side and rushed towards Hou with his fists up, "And what goes my way is being Tier one? And I need to figure out what I want to do, break through or go around?"
He punched and Hou defended with a shield of aura but just at the moment something rang out in his mind. Hou had a feeling, a scratch he needed to itch.
He felt his fire laws and changed his impression slightly, "fire is the opposite of water" he muttered then from his side a huge burst of fire exploded.
The burst of fire blocked Lan Qiang's spear which flew through the air when he threw it. His punch was a distraction but luckily Hou's intuition warned him in time.
The opposite of fire and water caused the laws to clash and explode away from each other in a puff of steam.
Hou walked out of the cloud of steam, "Did that help?"
Lan Qiang similarly walked out pretty much unharmed, "Not really...but, it was a good talk, thanks. Sometimes you just need to vent a little."
He flicked his wrist and from within the steam his spear came flying towards him. He caught it with a ringing sound and he spun it in the air. He holstered it on his back and cracked his neck.
Hou smiled, "Draw, by the way."
"But I drew blood from you on your shoulder?" Lan Qiang disputed.
Hou pointed to Lan Qiang's arm where a small cut was. Lan Qiang head jumped, "H-when?"
Hou chuckled, "when the fire collided with the water in your spear, it created a flash. At that moment I shot out a spike of blood infused with power."
Lan Qiang held out his hand, "Then draw it is, friend."
Hou shook his hand and patted his back, "Good spar, I might want to join in with you and Hamar's lesson/spars since I'm still a rusty beginner in swordsmanship haha"
Lan Qiang nodded, "You're always welcome"
They walked away and turned into blood, being transported directly to class, which was only a catch up and recap class for the newcomer (Xiao Ye). Then after class, Hou went to Tianmo's room which was much like Hou's but with a much warmer temperature.
"You come from a warm climate?" Hou asked while looking around.