[center][h2]Wen Taihou[/h2]
Thorne, airship docks[/center]
[hr]

"Ohohoho, practice is a road to mastery, yes, but improper practice is an excellent way to ruin development", Wen Sifu countered as he walked along, adjusting his glasses. The young kimuran noble was a nice kid, Taihou had expected his services as an instructor or bodyguard to be demanded outright, truth be told. It was, after all, the unspoken but very obvious primary reason the prince's family had allowed him into the ship at all. "My first lesson, then, would be to focus on building a strong foundation of your own. If you develop your own sword stroke so that you only need to use it once, is that not the same skill?".

Wen spoke to the youngster in earnest but at the same time he looked around and about, taking in the details. First time in Thorne, after all. He was an instructor and examiner for the Institute, technically a government official of sorts in Nanchuu, but he wasn't really important enough to be sent to the capital of the world. That honor was typically reserved for masters of a higher station. And speaking of his position, it wasn't the first time he was questioned about it and it wouldn't be the last. He had to admit to himself, however briefly and subconsciously, that he had let himself go of late. Not that it affected his skills any.

Smiling, he stroked his moustache and turned to the taller guard. Questioning what this pudgy, bespectacled man could know of the martial arts seemed like an entirely reasonable thought process. "Yes indeed. I am Sifu Wen Taihou, certified instructor and examiner of the Nanchuu Kingdom's Institute for Martial Studies. I represent the Monkey Fist of Three Peaks Valley", he saluted formally, right fist on left palm, at both Solt and Moggo. The Three Peaks area and its fighting skills were not well known even in the martial arts world, and Monkey Fist evoked images of acrobatic, energetic tomfoolery hardly suited for a man of Wen's girth.

The combination of a dubious origin and an ill-fitting school would likely ring plenty of alarm bells, even in spite of his verified position, but Wen Taihou's brutally conditioned hands lended some credence to his claims that there was more to him than a first glance would show.

[@vietmyke][@Laios]