Xue catches herself rather than overbalancing, but it's still clear to her that she'd be wide open for a counter-strike in a real fight. That deflection is intense. 

"Wow, it's like my fist completely bounced off. Every strike against you is glancing even before it hits the inner armour, and then it goes completely wild when it hits the harder surface beneath. That's amazing." 

Meresankh shakes out the glancing blow on her fist, and tries to push her own Madra out into a layer around her hand, trying her best to copy the thicker inner layer of Terem's armour. Not a claw but a — spiked gauntlet —

She's met simpler armour techniques not too different from each layer on their own before, but replicating the double layers would be incredibly difficult, especially with her own differently-aspected Madra...

She knows well before she gets there that the technique's too far a reach from her existing ice claws. It's slow and she has to clumsily shove Madra around to get it to go where she wants to, rather than having it work properly from the outset. But testing carefully with her other hand - there's a kinda sorta slippery-sharp surface there. She's not sure how to make it more or less slippery or more or less sharp but it feels like it could maybe be the beginning of something. Maybe if she drilled it for long enough... 

She lets go the technique and shakes her head. No use wasting her instructor's time. "Thank you for the insight, Honored Jade. I think I will have to think seriously and perhaps perform some experiments regarding how to make my techniques produce a similar deflection using my own Madra."

He raises an eyebrow as he watches her shape her madra into something almost like a glove, a bit of surprise on his face. My, that was fast.

"I suspect you don't quite want the same thing, your aspects perhaps lean more to harder deflection and could have quite a bit more difficulty with something like the outer layer of my technique. Sword madra is often considered a subtype of force, but it's rather specialized in the cut. And the ice aspect of your madra means it is likely going to work better than force for reinforcing your body all the way through- I have armour of force madra twice over and can augment the power of my movements, but the flesh beneath is not much more durable than if I had no Enforcer technique running at all."

He could develop something that worked like that for him, but it would simply be less efficient. Different madra types have different strengths. And as far as he's concerned it's better to take no damage at all than to take reduced damage.

"Better not to take damage if you can avoid it, though, even if you have an armour technique. I fought a spirit cougar remnant three years ago and it managed to claw my right forearm as it died. Defensive wound. My armour-technique took the worst of the blow, but I still had a nasty set of scratches that took weeks to heal. Over a career as a monster hunter or warrior, those kinds of injuries can slowly add up until you're no longer able to advance. Your technique has the right idea." 

"In fact, I'm a little annoyed at not having thought of the idea to deflect blows away with my armour rather than relying on evasion and parries. It's a relatively straightforward idea, and clearly better in the long run if you have a compatible madra type."

She supposes that's what being a Jade is about, in part: having the insight to make the right call on a thousand little things like that, to squeeze every little advantage for everything it's worth... 

"Thank you for your time and insight, Honored Jade. You've given me a lot to consider. May I ask how long you're likely to be in town for? I want to take some time to try and develop these ideas, and would love to be able to share my progress with you." 

(She'd probably be pushing it to extend this conversation even further, even though he does seem interested. And risking a foray into a topic other than sacred artistry would be entirely too forward. It's not fair, but she should back off to make sure Terem doesn't feel threatened. She doesn't want to act as if she's hopeless over him, even if she is, so... best to wrap things up and try to meet him again soon.)

"A woman after my own heart," he says when she mentions avoiding rather than taking damage.

Then, at the end "I was planning to leave on the morrow, in fact. I tend to move quickly."

But- that skill. It's impressive. It would almost be a shame to leave her to forge on alone without any help at all. He doesn't want to make her more sad than she has to be, he finds himself enjoying her company already. Yu really would like her. Most of all he's curious. He checked once already, but what if something went wrong?

"But I can add a day or two to my stay, and travel with your family to the next village and go my own separate way there. If I don't miss my mark, you'll be heading farther into the valley, yes? We'd be taking the same road. Ending up in all the same places a few days later isn't such a grand sacrifice. I really can't emphasize enough that that little experiment you just did was very impressive, it's honestly not much slower than I could try something new like that myself. It's not all that often I get to play the role of mentor to anyone who can learn quite so quickly that I can actually help them in just a few days. I'm afraid I don't have the requisite beard, however. I never could grow one, but I can purchase a wig and wear it on my chin if need be."

That gets a small smile, and a deep bow of appreciation, fists pressed together.

"You are correct, Honored Jade. Thank you for your time and all your praise. I will do my utmost not to disappoint you."

(YES YES YES YES YES YES YES)

Meresankh's inner rejoicing can perhaps be detected by a faint rosy hue on her cheeks, but little more than that shows through. 

(She is trying so hard not to laugh at the joke because she can just tell that if she were to start laughing she'd probably start babbling like an idiot too and that would look so, so bad.)

He pauses, then, "You know, in all of my excitement I completely forgot I need to eat. I have yet to invent a technique to avoid this, although I assure you I am trying. Some day, I will eat the madra. In the meantime, I do believe I'll depart and avail myself of more mortal foods. Don't hesitate to interrupt me if you make any progress, or find yourself stuck. Or, ah, simply come back with me, I presume you are also not yet capable of subsisting on madra and perhaps were also in the inn's common area for that reason."

"As much as I'd like to start making progress this instant, I too need to eat. I simply couldn't hesitate to take the opportunity."

"... My family will likely be wondering where I am as well since they would have been expecting me back after lunch, and it's been what, fifteen minutes what with the demonstration and all?" 

"There shouldn't be anything urgent, deliveries out to village houses usually don't happen until later in the evening, but it would likely be good if I filled them in on your travel plans and maybe introduced you, since we'll be traveling together over the next few days."

"In any case I need the ice to cycle, so I should be heading that direction anyway."

"That is, after lunch, I mean. I'm sure they'd spare me a few moments more." 

Especially if I'm talking up a eligible Jade and getting technique tips. 

"I do suppose it isn't every day you get a Jade to give you some tips. Or, well, for me it is, all I need to do is give myself tips, but that's cheating."

He orders some rather fancy food for himself, he can more than afford it. Well, fancy for a town inn, it's really nothing more than good meat prepared well with some greens on the side.

Xue orders a fish dish, which is tasty enough but noticeably less expensive; the ice business is doing well, but not that well, and while it's worth making Terem feel like her meal is basically comparable it's silly to try to keep up the appearance of being as wealthy as a Jade when she'd have to maintain that for an unknown period. 

"I have to admit that I've never actually spoken with a Jade before until today. While the mountains are the Schools' territory, it's not as if my family talks to them regularly. Some people think that since I come up here I must know important people, but..." 

She shakes her head.