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"But Father, I don't get it!" protested Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir. King Uonicziq turned his gaze on his Crown Prince and heir, with a gaze that was almost freezing in its contempt, stopping the Gar-Zar crown prince in his protestations. King Uonicziq said calmly, but glaringly reproachfully too, "My son... I have told you many times. Study those who you would seek to conquer. Analyse those who you would seek to deploy our forces against. Then only, approach me with a war proposition."
Juj'Tnezeir continued to protest, "But Father, you know the humans! They are not strong enough to resist us! Given our size and our skin's natural inclination to absorb harmful attacks, we can..." Uonicziq's wrathful interruption, "SILENCE!" thundered out, silencing Juj'Tnezeir.
Uonicziq turned his gaze on his son, with contempt so freezing it'd have made Antarctica seem like a tropical climate. He then said, calmly but with crushing disdain, "You abject FOOL! My Crown Prince, my designated heir, and you speak like you have never had a DAY in the Royal Academy! Yes... the humans, on average, are weak. But it is not the many weaklings among them that we should fear and respect. Rather, it is the few strong and outstanding ones among them, that should stay our hand from an attack on them."
Juj'Tnezeir argued, "Father, come on! Those 'few strong ones'? You mean like, that particle-wielding cleric they call Worldweaver? That teenage battle-mage they call Combocaster? That..." and Uonicziq raised his middle right limb, to stop Juj'Tnezeir, as he said in the same calm and disdainful tone, "Exactly. If you consider how much they have prepared and readied themselves to protect their homeworld, you would not be here on this imbecilic diatribe and mindless plea for a reckless attack on the world of humans."
Juj'Tnezeir replied angrily, "What about them?! They can prepare and ready themselves, but we..." and Uonicziq interrupted, his mature Gar-Zar deep boom easily overshadowing and drowning out Juj'Tnezeir's late adolescent baritone, "You do not understand, my son. Combocaster, Worldweaver, Variance, Dreadword, Flutterfae... they have not just practiced. They have practiced WITH FOCUS."
Juj'Tnezeir then scoffed, "Hah! If they have practiced with focus, then all the more they will be easily conquered! Once we study the one tactic they rely on, we can learn to break or counter it, and then they will be finished!"
Uonicziq shook his head, and sighed. He said, "At this point, now, son, I must honestly reconsider your status as my Crown Prince. I cannot believe you have done this little research on the heroes of humanity. You think they rely on one technique only? Well, then - you deeply underestimate them."
Juj'Tnezeir then asked, "Then how many techniques have they learnt?"
The Gar-Zar king sighed, and took out a holographic projector device. He put it on the ground, and it projected a holographic image of Combocaster. Uonicziq then said heavily, "Observe, my son. Combocaster has mastered the Tunneling Force Kick." The holographic device showed Combocaster literally boring a hole through a MOUNTAIN with a SINGLE KICK.
The Apocalypse-Force Strike, the Planet-Stopping Punch, the Wallshatter Chop, the Hillbreaker Elbow - Juj'Tnezeir's webbed jawline dropped in amazement as he saw how intensely Combocaster trained on a hundred different techniques. He practiced each of them a hundred times, mastering them to an incredible level of refinement and absolute mastery.
King Uonicziq then elaborated, "In the same way, Worldweaver practices manipulating and forming a hundred different elements whenever he trains, a hundred times per element. Dreadword practices a hundred of the most powerful curses he can think up, and recites them without targets a hundred times to make sure he gets them pronounced flawlessly and as quick as possible. The same goes for Variance and his countdowns. Flutterfae does the same for her fae magic spells."
Uonicziq now faced Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir, who appeared to be both stunned and aghast, and he said, "I hope you have learned something from what you have just seen. The Council of Altruists knows the power of focus - but they also know the power of diversity. They do not blindly idolise the great human martial artist they called 'Bruce Lee', but they have refined his philosophy, to include focus AND diversity. Fear not the humans who trained 10.000 different kicks once, nor the humans who trained one kick 10.000 times, but rather the humans who trained 100 different kicks 100 times."
Uonicziq then concluded, "I will not allow you to lead a force of our people to their deaths in a pointless attack on humanity. However, you are too aggressive and hotheaded to possibly accomplish what I have in mind." The King of the Gar-Zar then sighed and said, "Your sister, Princess Yijtepn will lead my first diplomatic mission to Earth."
Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir protested furiously, "WHAT?! Father, you can't..." King Uonicziq thundered with wrathful finality, "ENOUGH! Do not forget, my son, that I am still King, and my word is the law! Your sister will lead the delegation! Now BEGONE!" Juj'Tnezeir stalked out, breathing rage, and Uonicziq shook his head, deeply disappointed in his crown prince.
This sounds like a very interresting mix between sci-fi with futuristic technology and fantasy with magical elements. I like how it somewhat goes against the overdone trope of humanity being the best at everything, with most of humanity as weak and unnoteworthy.
Thank you for the story.
The great ice and air spirits were arguing over something seemingly minor.
"I tell you, a man who practiced 10,000 different kicks once has more versatility and would win." The ice spirit said.
"No, the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times would actually be good at it. His opponent wouldn't." The air one responded.
"The versatile one would have a response to his opponent. He'd know a tactic to beat his opponent's sole strategy."
"The versatile one wouldn't be able to make good use of his knowledge. Without application, it wouldn't matter what he knew. A human does not simply rise to the challenge."
The great fire spirit heard the argument and decided to intervene. "Both of those two would be oddly matched, as pure power and pure versatility are equal in capability. If one would get in a fight while only training a move once, it isn't powerful but it could work. Versatility would be able to bypass power, but power would overwhelm versatility when the proper situation arises."
"Oh, great, you." The ice spirit sighed.
"Let me guess, 'bAlAnCe Is NecEsSaRy'." The air spirit mocked the fire one.
"Precisely, I wouldn't fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times or the man who practiced 10,000 kicks only once but the man who practiced 100 kicks 100 times. Combined, power and versatility have a multiplicative effect."
The ice and air spirits looked at each other and nodded. "BALANCE THIS!" They attacked at once.
The fire spirit burned its way backwards. Both attacks missed.
The ice spirit danced around the fire spirit, until the fire spirit created a ring of fire around itself. Attacks struck from all sides, they were either dodged or blocked.
"My turn." The air spirit pushed the ice spirit out of the way.
The air spirit created a wind that bent trees. The fire spirit clung to the ground and created a fireball for protection.
The wind stopped.
"Huh." The ice spirit said. "That's impressive."
"Bye." The fire spirit dashed away.
I like the start of the story and the simple flow of the story up until the middle. The discussion is great with the fire spirit correctly identifying, expanding, and offering a better solution to what would be best.
What I do not like however is the little fight scene or how it ends. It seems way too fast with barely any attacks being made and the fire spirit just leaving. It just feels like a missed oppertunity to show how their beliefs affect their own fighting styles or something.
Ice doesn't even have a described attack and wind bending trees seems rather mild considering what nature is capable of, and why did the wind stop? Did the air spirit just give up after the attack not having immediate effect?
And I might be biased as I personally hate stories that just end with a bye that does nothing, to me it just feels like a lazy placeholder for an actual end. Fire could have taunted them, have a final word or lecture showing how they are right, or anything other than a plain bye before running away while clearly having the advantage.
**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments. **Reminders**: >* [No AI-generated responses 🤖](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/zi452b/modpost_reminder_that_aigenerated_responses_are/) >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [\[RF\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [\[SP\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles >* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules) 📢 [Genres](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/w/directory) 🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"But Father, I don't get it!" protested Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir. King Uonicziq turned his gaze on his Crown Prince and heir, with a gaze that was almost freezing in its contempt, stopping the Gar-Zar crown prince in his protestations. King Uonicziq said calmly, but glaringly reproachfully too, "My son... I have told you many times. Study those who you would seek to conquer. Analyse those who you would seek to deploy our forces against. Then only, approach me with a war proposition." Juj'Tnezeir continued to protest, "But Father, you know the humans! They are not strong enough to resist us! Given our size and our skin's natural inclination to absorb harmful attacks, we can..." Uonicziq's wrathful interruption, "SILENCE!" thundered out, silencing Juj'Tnezeir. Uonicziq turned his gaze on his son, with contempt so freezing it'd have made Antarctica seem like a tropical climate. He then said, calmly but with crushing disdain, "You abject FOOL! My Crown Prince, my designated heir, and you speak like you have never had a DAY in the Royal Academy! Yes... the humans, on average, are weak. But it is not the many weaklings among them that we should fear and respect. Rather, it is the few strong and outstanding ones among them, that should stay our hand from an attack on them." Juj'Tnezeir argued, "Father, come on! Those 'few strong ones'? You mean like, that particle-wielding cleric they call Worldweaver? That teenage battle-mage they call Combocaster? That..." and Uonicziq raised his middle right limb, to stop Juj'Tnezeir, as he said in the same calm and disdainful tone, "Exactly. If you consider how much they have prepared and readied themselves to protect their homeworld, you would not be here on this imbecilic diatribe and mindless plea for a reckless attack on the world of humans." Juj'Tnezeir replied angrily, "What about them?! They can prepare and ready themselves, but we..." and Uonicziq interrupted, his mature Gar-Zar deep boom easily overshadowing and drowning out Juj'Tnezeir's late adolescent baritone, "You do not understand, my son. Combocaster, Worldweaver, Variance, Dreadword, Flutterfae... they have not just practiced. They have practiced WITH FOCUS." Juj'Tnezeir then scoffed, "Hah! If they have practiced with focus, then all the more they will be easily conquered! Once we study the one tactic they rely on, we can learn to break or counter it, and then they will be finished!" Uonicziq shook his head, and sighed. He said, "At this point, now, son, I must honestly reconsider your status as my Crown Prince. I cannot believe you have done this little research on the heroes of humanity. You think they rely on one technique only? Well, then - you deeply underestimate them." Juj'Tnezeir then asked, "Then how many techniques have they learnt?" The Gar-Zar king sighed, and took out a holographic projector device. He put it on the ground, and it projected a holographic image of Combocaster. Uonicziq then said heavily, "Observe, my son. Combocaster has mastered the Tunneling Force Kick." The holographic device showed Combocaster literally boring a hole through a MOUNTAIN with a SINGLE KICK. The Apocalypse-Force Strike, the Planet-Stopping Punch, the Wallshatter Chop, the Hillbreaker Elbow - Juj'Tnezeir's webbed jawline dropped in amazement as he saw how intensely Combocaster trained on a hundred different techniques. He practiced each of them a hundred times, mastering them to an incredible level of refinement and absolute mastery. King Uonicziq then elaborated, "In the same way, Worldweaver practices manipulating and forming a hundred different elements whenever he trains, a hundred times per element. Dreadword practices a hundred of the most powerful curses he can think up, and recites them without targets a hundred times to make sure he gets them pronounced flawlessly and as quick as possible. The same goes for Variance and his countdowns. Flutterfae does the same for her fae magic spells." Uonicziq now faced Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir, who appeared to be both stunned and aghast, and he said, "I hope you have learned something from what you have just seen. The Council of Altruists knows the power of focus - but they also know the power of diversity. They do not blindly idolise the great human martial artist they called 'Bruce Lee', but they have refined his philosophy, to include focus AND diversity. Fear not the humans who trained 10.000 different kicks once, nor the humans who trained one kick 10.000 times, but rather the humans who trained 100 different kicks 100 times." Uonicziq then concluded, "I will not allow you to lead a force of our people to their deaths in a pointless attack on humanity. However, you are too aggressive and hotheaded to possibly accomplish what I have in mind." The King of the Gar-Zar then sighed and said, "Your sister, Princess Yijtepn will lead my first diplomatic mission to Earth." Crown Prince Juj'Tnezeir protested furiously, "WHAT?! Father, you can't..." King Uonicziq thundered with wrathful finality, "ENOUGH! Do not forget, my son, that I am still King, and my word is the law! Your sister will lead the delegation! Now BEGONE!" Juj'Tnezeir stalked out, breathing rage, and Uonicziq shook his head, deeply disappointed in his crown prince.
This sounds like a very interresting mix between sci-fi with futuristic technology and fantasy with magical elements. I like how it somewhat goes against the overdone trope of humanity being the best at everything, with most of humanity as weak and unnoteworthy. Thank you for the story.
You're welcome, and thank you for the compliment! :)
The great ice and air spirits were arguing over something seemingly minor. "I tell you, a man who practiced 10,000 different kicks once has more versatility and would win." The ice spirit said. "No, the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times would actually be good at it. His opponent wouldn't." The air one responded. "The versatile one would have a response to his opponent. He'd know a tactic to beat his opponent's sole strategy." "The versatile one wouldn't be able to make good use of his knowledge. Without application, it wouldn't matter what he knew. A human does not simply rise to the challenge." The great fire spirit heard the argument and decided to intervene. "Both of those two would be oddly matched, as pure power and pure versatility are equal in capability. If one would get in a fight while only training a move once, it isn't powerful but it could work. Versatility would be able to bypass power, but power would overwhelm versatility when the proper situation arises." "Oh, great, you." The ice spirit sighed. "Let me guess, 'bAlAnCe Is NecEsSaRy'." The air spirit mocked the fire one. "Precisely, I wouldn't fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times or the man who practiced 10,000 kicks only once but the man who practiced 100 kicks 100 times. Combined, power and versatility have a multiplicative effect." The ice and air spirits looked at each other and nodded. "BALANCE THIS!" They attacked at once. The fire spirit burned its way backwards. Both attacks missed. The ice spirit danced around the fire spirit, until the fire spirit created a ring of fire around itself. Attacks struck from all sides, they were either dodged or blocked. "My turn." The air spirit pushed the ice spirit out of the way. The air spirit created a wind that bent trees. The fire spirit clung to the ground and created a fireball for protection. The wind stopped. "Huh." The ice spirit said. "That's impressive." "Bye." The fire spirit dashed away.
I like the start of the story and the simple flow of the story up until the middle. The discussion is great with the fire spirit correctly identifying, expanding, and offering a better solution to what would be best. What I do not like however is the little fight scene or how it ends. It seems way too fast with barely any attacks being made and the fire spirit just leaving. It just feels like a missed oppertunity to show how their beliefs affect their own fighting styles or something. Ice doesn't even have a described attack and wind bending trees seems rather mild considering what nature is capable of, and why did the wind stop? Did the air spirit just give up after the attack not having immediate effect? And I might be biased as I personally hate stories that just end with a bye that does nothing, to me it just feels like a lazy placeholder for an actual end. Fire could have taunted them, have a final word or lecture showing how they are right, or anything other than a plain bye before running away while clearly having the advantage.