Muo asked for one controlled test of the projection under light pressure. The training court had been cleared. Chalk lines marked the range, and a paper-bladed practice construct stood behind the far line. Attendant Jao held its cord from outside the court.
“This isn’t a fight,” Han said. “We’re testing what the projection can do when something crosses its path.”
Yan looked at the construct. Its paper blade had a bamboo spine, light enough to move quickly but not to cut a person. “How much control do you have over it?”
“I can make it turn and strike,” Jao said. “It won’t leave the chalk lines.”
“Then approach slowly.”
Yan opened one branch through the nearest bronze lantern. The projection appeared near the center of the court, pale hands at its sides. Jao pulled the cord. The construct swept forward.
Yan’s projection saw the blade and shifted aside. It moved with the first pass, avoiding the edge by a handspan.
“Clear response,” Qinghe noted. “The branch followed the movement.” Han asked Jao to make the construct sweep toward the projection from a different angle. Yan waited until its paper edge entered the light, then shifted the branch sideways. It avoided the pass again. The movement was not as quick as a living fighter’s, but the projection could see an uncomplicated threat and move before it arrived. Yan enjoyed the clean timing. He had felt no strain in opening the branch, only the satisfaction of matching sight to movement.
