Discovering Potential [Plot/Job]

fter settling down her equipment and beast at the barracks, Jingyi promptly headed towards Phezihi's office. Her hands were at her side, fingers curled into a fist as she approached. The redhead couldn't help but wonder the reason behind him ordering her to appear; was he upset with her performance, or was he impressed?

"No. There's no way that he wasn't impressed- he must have been! If I were him, I would be. Didn't he see the way I fought? They couldn't hold a candle to me!" Jingyi reassured herself, her ruby eyes narrowing in confidence as the girl smiled softly to herself. There was no way that the man was upset. If he were, it was probably because she showed off too much.

The knock on his door was received with a bark of "enter" and Jingyi opening the entrance to his office. Pheizhi was sitting at his desk, his usual paperwork off to the sides as he waited. A tilt of his head gestured to the lone seat he had provided the girl with, which Jingyi took with gratitude. The white-haired samurai didn't take a moment to allow her to grow comfortable; instead, he leaned forwards, resting his hands on his desk as he narrowed his eyes. At this point, after spending so much time under the man, Jingyi knew it was a sign that he was thinking hard about something and that she was to be silent.

"Hou, care to explain a little bit about the encounter we had today?" He quietly uttered to her, his gray eyes watching the girl as a hawk watched a snake. The redhead, wearing the most reserved face she could muster, nodded her head curtly and sat up.

"We were patrolling five miles out in a diamond formation. Ten Man Squad Commander Yu was in the middle of the diamond watching the flanks, and I was at the front on top of my beast," Jingyi explained, her brows furrowing together as she remembered all of the exact details of the encounter. "We were encroached upon by a Ten Man Squad under Yoshiro's banner, most likely a scouting group. I dismounted my beast and launched the first offensive, leaving my beast behind to defend my other team-members in case danger had approached," at that point, the redhead took a moment to pause as she tried to recall what happened after attacking. She wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on about her, but a faint voice in the back of her mind reminded her of her squad's assistance in the take down, "I tackled the first soldier, and I believe by the time of my takedown of the two more, the rest of my squadron arrived. As I dispatched two more soldiers, they took on the remaining five. Our Ten Man Squad Commander Yu defeated the rivaling commander." Just as she was about to take another breath to continue, Pheizhi raised his palm and Jingyi quickly fell quiet.

The man nodded his head, confirming that her story certainly did line up with what he had seen of her. But it was brief encounter due to her assistance in it, and Pheizhi knew that he would have to see her abilities in combat again to reassure himself. So another mission, one where she would encounter the enemies and show off her true potential. With that decided upon, it was time for their meeting to come to a close.

"That is all. You're dismissed. Get a good night's sleep, soldier."

he red-haired soldier was mounted upon her goatly beast once more, the creature in question trotting along at a business pace at the urgings of her nudges. Once more their squad was found patrolling, albeit it was a different route from the day before. It was a rather strange occurrence, being sent out on another one of their "missions" a day after having just completed one? But Jingyi chose not to complain and instead wore a pleased smile on her face. The more work she did for the military was the better if meant reaching her goals earlier.

Again, Pheizhi was within the innards of their diamond formation, tasked with defending their rear. But his attention was focused more on Jingyi, intent on watching her and her abilities. If he blinked, he could miss it, and the soldier wasn't about to allow that to happen. He had to ensure that the day prior was more than just some odd fluke. And while finding a squad of Yoshiro soldiers wasn't a common one, reports have warned that their current path wasn't particularly far from their "territory".

And just as they day before, Yu's men found themselves in the cross-hairs of an enemy patrol. This time a soldier on the right of their formation spotted them first, yelling to alert his brother in arms of the incoming danger. Pheizhi watched as Jingyi nudged her mount, the goat snorting as he lowered his head.

A man to his left asked if they were to engaged, the question drawing the rest of the squad's attention upon him, including one redhead. Pheizhi nodded his head as one of his calloused hands reached for the hilt of his katana. But this time, he would remain back to better watch Jingyi.

"We've just arrived, after all... Hou, charge first." The commander ordered, his eyes narrowed as the girl simply grinned and nudged her beast. Was she to remain on top of him?

Jingyi almost whooped in excitement as Dullahan shot forwards, his speed easily rivaling that of his master's as he raced towards the enemy. His tamer was forced to cling tightly to his back and neck, a single arm wrapped around him to prevent her from falling. Jingyi clapped her hand against her leg and then pointed towards their nearest foe, alerting Dullahan to her order for him to use Lightning Ram.

Dullahan charged at the man, lightning covering the two curling horns on his head that Jingyi was careful to not touch. Using the ability, he rammed into the target with all of his force, easily sending the man flying away. The beast continued to run, looping around to again attack his tamer's enemies.

As Jingyi finally climbed off her beast, Pheizhi ordered the rest of his men to allow their sister to finish off the rest of their foes. She was able to take down five yesterday, and he was interested in seeing if there was a limit to her strength.

ingyi directed Dullahan to stand as a barrier between her enemies and her squad, to ensure that none of them would sneak away to harm her allies. While it doesn't have to be said that she was much faster than these men, there was always the possibility, one that Jingyi wasn't willing to risk.

The redhead unsheathed her blade and swung it, causing the rings to clatter loudly as the scarlet tassel flew alongside her movements. Raising the blade in front of her, Jingyi gripped the handle with both hands tightly. She could feel the golden menuki biting into her palm but the girl ignored it as she charged an enemy, almost stopping as soon as the man was just meters away. Jingyi quickly fell into the Mamushi stance, her next step was a pivot of her heel that turned into a swing. She was a blur she spun, her foe's eyes naturally attracted the to the red blur of her tassel. It was a shame that he didn't notice it when her blade raked across his abdomen, but it happened to many enemies who fell victim to Mamushi Spinning Tassel.

As the soldier fell to the ground, Jingyi sprung away and studied the remaining foes. Her knees bent as the warrior almost crouched down before throwing herself at her next foe. She side stepped a sloppy swing, avoiding the blade as he placed her body at a ninety-degree angle compared to the other man. She stepped forwards and turned, swinging out her free fist with all of her might. The punch easily broke her target's nose, but Jingyi didn't stop there. A second step brought her even closer, and before the opposing soldier had a chance to fall, Jingyi slashed her blade. Unable to withstand the force of Knock-out Hit, the victim of the technique fell to the ground, his hands clutching his wounded side.

The remaining seven soldiers weren't much harder for Jingyi to take down. One ran at her, prepared to unleash an Armor-Breaking Jab, but the faster girl used her incredible speed to evade the attack. He stumbled passed her, giving a chance for the redhead to step behind him and stab his back with Fujin. Withdrawing her blade from the deep wound, the future general receded and turned on her heel, spotting a low-handed Sweeping Blow heading towards her. Taking a step back, it was second nature for her to sink into the Mamushi Stance. With an upwards strike of her sword, Jingyi performed Mamushi Galdiolus, parrying the attack away from her body. The technique was quickly followed by Jingyi lunging forwards and slashing her blade horizontally. The soldier stumbled back and raised his sword, sending sparks flying as metal clashed against metal. Her foe's blade splintered under the force of the mightier blade, but Fujin failed to cut through.

Jingyi clenched her teeth as she shoved the man away and swung her blade again, the other soldier weakly raising his blade to block the attack, only for his sword to shatter. A triumphant grin crossed the redhead's face as she lunged forwards again, slashing Fujin twice against her unarmed target. Diced like a vegetable by the sharp edge of Jingyi's blade, he collapsed to the ground as Jingyi moved on to the rest of her targets.

There were six left at that point, but Jingyi knew that she could handle them. She dived at one man, stabbing him with Fujin. He spat up blood when the blade pierced him, but Jingyi didn't linger to watch. Withdrawing her blade, Jingyi counted off in her head the remaining foes as she continued to fight.

A sloppy strike was blocked by her own blade, followed by a diagonal slash. That was the fifth one. Four more. The redhead turned on her heel, whirling around to face number four before striking out with Fujin, the sharp blade slicing into his body. He fell, signaling that she had three more.

"Two," Jingyi mumbled to herself as she cut down the third soldier left with an earthly strike of her blade. The second to last target decided to take fate into his own hands, throwing himself at Jingyi with a sword aimed to jab her through the chest. The girl saw the attack coming due to his sloppy form and low speed, giving her ample time to step aside and duck down, her own blade thrusting outwards, catching the man in the stomach as he jumped at her. Jingyi held her breath and narrowed her eyes as she heard the sound of Fujin sinking in, but she brushed it off in favor of using her strength to throw the man over her, withdrawing her blade as he was sent flying behind her.

There was a single hare left, his eyes darting from side to side before his grip tightened around the handle of his sword. With a determined yell, the soldier rushed at Jingyi, prepared to slice her down with a horizontal strike of his katana. As he came at her, Jingyi dodged to the side and kicked out her foot, catching him by the knee and throwing him down. Before he had time to recover from the blow, Jingyi stabbed him with Fujin's blade, her head turned away from the sight.

Stumbling away from the site, Jingyi kept her gaze on Dullahan as she clumsily sheathed her sword. While they were relatively weaker compared to her, the girl was never forced to take on so many foes at once. She could practically hear her heart hammering in her chest as her hands shook. With a weak whistle, she called Dullahan over to her side.

hile Pheizhi had expected Jingyi to do well with the task of fending off the soldiers, he hadn't expected her to get rid of all ten of them. At one point or another, the man imagined that he would be forced to rush in and help her with the load of dealing with all of her enemies. But surprisingly, she didn't even need his help.

The strain of fighting all of her enemies showed on her body, but Jingyi only seemed to be ruffled by the encounter. She hadn't gotten hurt by any of their attacks, but the effect of her not only evading all their attacks but fighting them off had taken a toll. Her feet dragged, and there was a certain lethargy to the redhead climbing upon her beast. Though it wasn't from pure tiredness, no, it was a lack of experience that had brought about this bout. If Pheizhi had to guess, this would be the first time she had taken on so many foes.

Moving the squad forwards, they took Jingyi back into rank. Pheizhi had the girl's position moved to the back so a more fresh set of eyes could take her spot. She didn't seem to object much, instead leaning against her mount as they rode. The white-haired man was tempted to have her talk to him again in his office but ultimately saw no point to it.

But one thing was certain: she was being moved to a smaller squadron and tested again. Pheizhi still didn't see much the pure limit that held Jingyi back; she did manage to defeat all of her enemies and stay on her feet afterward.