Summer 25, 116
"So I heard you got pretty badly beaten when you tried to take on some idiots. Are you okay?" Maeria inquired, seeming sincere in her concern. Caelum was unable to look past how much more grown-up she seemed to have become in just a few weeks. He scowled at her question, his cheeks flushing crimson red at the mere thought of her becoming even more womanly. She nodded in understanding, but Caelum was unsure of exactly what she had picked up on.
Kai walked over to where Caelum was standing before the teacher could say anything and looked down into his eyes for the first time, his aura clear of malice. After a little while, the bearded student nodded his head and assumed a pose that was odd for someone his size and terrifying at the same time. Maeria was standing to the side, her eyes sparkling with pleasure, her demeanor subdued compared to the teacher.
"Let's start the lesson!" She chimed joyfully, pumping her fist as she said it.
Before his girlfriend's last word could have left her lips, Kai had already moved. Since their last practice sword crossing, the burly swordsman had come a long way, and Caelum could tell that. With an air of menace, he swiftly moved to bridge the short distance between himself and Caelum, then pulled out his practice sword. Caelum, his veins clearly defined against the skin of his arm, fell into stance, equally determined to get better and demonstrate the worth of his resolve.
He barely had time to get his feet under him when he pulled out his practice sword and thrust it in the direction of Kai's barely noticeable slash, but he wasn't nearly quick enough. As Caelum was knocked backward by a powerful blow, pain erupted along his collarbone.
With clenched teeth, Caelum mumbled, "You've improved." In response, Kai sheathed his practice sword and carefully assumed the low stance, maintaining eye contact with Caelum as though they were engaged in a battle for survival.
Driven by a rush of adrenaline and furious rage, Caelum also dropped his hand from his chest and assumed the bow position. The harmless presence of his practice sword gave him support as he attempted to piece together what had transpired during their initial encounter… his injuries were probably too severe for his body to withstand another blow of that magnitude.
"His sword moved so quickly that I doubt I could match it. I have to anticipate and respond. I can't lose in this situation - not to him!"
The two circled each other slowly for a minute, their hate for one another evident in their eyes. Like two wolves dancing, they searched for a point of weakness that would give them the upper hand in their struggle, which went beyond training to include their past relationship, Kai's dating of Maeria, and, more simply put, their prides. There was a fatalistic energy in the air because neither of them was prepared to give in, not even for the benefit of the dojo. Caelum would have preferred a higher stakes duel… it would have seemed more appropriate.
He "felt," as he had so many times before, as Kai withdrew his practice sword with skill, showing in the speed with which he drew it and the strength of the crossing slash that was attempting to take Caelum across the neck. Caelum moved as well, but his movements were so precisely timed that, at least according to what his senses were telling him, his timing was flawless. He felt his practice sword being unsheathed and his practice sword being thrust effortlessly out of Kai's hand during a midstride. He felt Caelum drop to a knee, clenching his quivering hand, and instinctively sheathed his practice sword, ready to defend himself again.
"And so it ends," Caelum exclaimed, his eyes blazing with a wild energy that was so strong that it almost overcame him in its desire to prolong his fallen enemy's suffering. However, he turned away coldly. He valued his pride too much to just throw it away, and there was no honor in taking down the vanquished.
"Although your form was a little off, your timing was impeccable," The teacher abruptly stood by his side and said. Caelum was afraid that his earlier feelings would come back to haunt him, so he dared not look his instructor in the eye.
In the hours afterwards, Caelum wasn't in a good mood. It was quiet, unsettling, and every shadow held potential enemies that could appear out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly into the meek morning light. For Caelum, a dawn's pleasure was akin to a full day spent touring a morgue - the silence alone would have driven him insane.
The sound of leaves being blown into the sky by strong winds caught his ear as he was making his way to the dojo, and he couldn't help but wonder why his instructor had given him the order to arrive at such a foreboding time. Caelum was not just blindly loyal - no matter how much the instructor admonished him, he was going to fight those who left the dojo. His fingers lightly touched his wooden practice sword, and as they passed over a twisted indentation close to the hilt, he thought back to the enjoyable times he had spent at the dojo, with his friends, teachers, and most importantly, his practice sword.
Caelum was a little bummed that the walk was ending when he eventually entered the dojo because it had been so pleasant and serene. That sorrow was quickly forgotten as he watched each shadowy figure with equal suspicion as seven men emerged from the shadows around him. He instinctively withdrew his practice sword from his sheath. Was there an attack on the dojo?
"Are you ready?" a deep voice prattled.
"Yes."
"You respond swiftly. Are you sure you don't want to think about what action you are going to take?"
"Not at all. I'm strong and won't falter. You can put me to the test to determine my worth."
In the large dojo hall, silence descended upon everyone for a brief moment. Caelum could feel his left hand steadily, but firmly, gripping his practice sword in case he needed to use it. The silence set him on edge. He squinted in the dark, trying to see the teacher's form, or really any familiar form in the dojo, but the morning light was not coming through the dark shroud of the room far enough for him to see.
At last, a deep voice rumbled, "Take your stance and be ready."
Caelum took his position silently, as instructed. His face was all hard planes and angles, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he thought through every possible attack point before instinctively planning defensive moves to avoid being cornered. His concerns were unfounded, though, because the shadow to his left shifted to stand exactly in front of him, if a good ten meters away. Behind the figure that Caelum assumed to be the dais, there was a massive black mass. Although this information brought him some comfort, he soon realized who the bald-headed shadowy man had been.
While every student in the dojo knew of this man, nobody Caelum knew had ever trained with him or witnessed him using a practice sword. Even Astraen showed him the utmost respect from the instructor, and many students used to secretly debate whether "Sake" was the dojo's actual instructor's name. A true swordsman could tell he was a skilled man just by looking at him. It seemed impossible that he could move with any agility because of his hard head, which was crowned with hair the color of salt and pepper, and his lean body, which ended in thick, blocky hands and feet.
This was Sake, the test-giver for Caelum. "Here I am!" Sake yelled, and Caelum felt his whole body stiffen.
The shifty darkness made it difficult to see movement, and only in the final moments would either combatant be able to clearly see a sword stroke; the dark was always the best time to duel because it allowed many gaps to appear in even the best defense. Unbeknownst to Caelum, the instructor was now standing to his left, flanking him instead of in front of him. He cried out after taking a sharp blow to the ribs, but Sake had also expected him to leap to the right and try to face his opponent. A flash of light on a polished wooden surface caught Caelum's attention as he started to reposition himself, aiming for his legs. Like it had against Kai, his practice sword materialized of its own volition and shot downward to block the lower body attack.
Caelum's leg's excruciating pain was the only thing that indicated his defense had failed. He had encountered an opponent whose sword was too swift for him once more. With his stomach knotted tight, he half-bounced, half-hobbled away from the spot, only to feel the faintest trace of breath behind him, giving him enough cue to land face-first on the floor. With a swift draw and slash to his right, Caelum deflected the older man's practice sword and quickly scrambled to his feet, stopping a blow to the head. It was an idiotic attempt, the slash itself. He had to use strategies with the highest point-of-view of strengths to deal with someone whose power and speed were far greater than his own. If he continued to absorb the shock of every titanic hit, simply slashing would leave him exhausted and with numb shoulders.
"There's not much time left" he thought as his eyes scanned the silent obscurity for any telling movements of his adversary. "I must pour all my power into winning it all in one blow."
Out of the darkness on his left, a practice sword tip suddenly protruded. This time, prepared for the attack, Caelum dropped his back, widened his knees, and jabbed his practice sword out in a two-handed thrust that clattered against Sake-Instructor's thrust, deflecting it. With his stance firmer from the day's demonstration, Caelum's legs absorbed most of the power from the practice swords colliding, giving him just enough standing power to counterattack in the opening that was undoubtedly created.
Caelum took one step backwards before spinning around and slashed in an outward circle, forming a half-meter-long defensive barrier at its strongest. However, he felt no resistance to the slicing technique of his practice sword; he had missed. Old man Sake materialized like a wraith at Caelum's side and pressed the practice sword into the hardened lump of his Adam's apple. He held the stick there for what seemed like an eternity before smiling and saying, "Pass," before Caelum could even consider his failure.
He had just received a pass to advance to the next level of techniques from the dojo's Senior Instructor. Now he could learn the 'real good' stuff.
The next day, Astraen was waiting at the edge of the dojo's grounds, a long way from the spotless structure that housed its students' multiple training halls. It looked a little out of place at times, but in reality, the dojo was a well-known figure in the town, and it stretched into the verdant jungles that encircled the village. Early in the morning, Caelum had set out for the agreed-upon rendezvous, and by the time the sun emerged from the western horizon, he was drenched in sweat.
"We will begin by developing strength and muscle endurance," Astraen said, gesturing for Caelum to put down the items he had been asked to bring. He nodded slowly, as though he had reached a conclusion on his own. In contrast to what he'd been training before, this style's ability was to quickly and powerfully overwhelm an opponent physically.
In response, Caelum dropped to his knees as instructed and started a set of body squats, pushups, sit-ups, and some sprints. Astraen yelled at him to run faster each and every time, despite the fact that exhaustion had rendered his muscles mush. When the sun set, a misty fog covered the fields where Caelum was being personally watched over by Astraen. Although the man was a strict teacher, there was a strong sense of concern for his students.
"We're going to stay out here tonight, and you won't be able to sleep. It's a component of the training," the teacher explained.
Worn to the bone, Caelum followed orders and lifted his torso, bearing the weight on his two firmly planted hands in the ground. His arms prickled and his core felt like someone had burned his stomach, but he watched the Instructor start building a campfire and his face remained blank from concentration. Caelum remembered to keep breathing as the teacher-instructor had taught him to do when his body was in a particularly taxing exercise; this helped slow down the rate of blood flow, especially to one area, as the blood rushed to his head.
Caelum's arms were shaking and his eyes were heavy with sleep by the time Astraen had fallen asleep. His body sagged to one side, and on multiple occasions, he used sheer willpower to keep himself upright. It felt like the night would never end, making it harder to resist the want to sleep every second of the day. At last, Caelum's fatigue overcame him, and he passed out on the floor. When he awoke, Astraen was standing over him, looking disapproving, the early morning's dark gray light casting an angry shadow over the instructor's face. Their gazes met for a brief moment before Astraen turned back to the fire to continue cooking something, grunting.
"Come, have some food." The sounds and smells roused Caelum from his groggy sleep daze, and he hurried to consume the food that his stomach ached for. "Your training resumes later today."
Even though breakfast had been insufficient, at least he wouldn't starve to death in a place where only Astraen would be able to locate his body. The burly man appeared determined to break him, but Caelum would make sure he survived whatever hard training the instructor had set for him. After the dinner, Astraen got up and grunted, tossing a practice sword in Caelum's direction before taking one for himself. Caelum felt a tingling sensation of apprehension creep up his spine as he eyed the practice sword he was holding and the one held by the elder.
Caelum tensed, his eyes narrowing as he saw the other man creeping toward him, a malevolent flash of bloodlust. "What exactly is this," Caelum questioned, hesitating to move to the left.
"Sparring, duh."
Despite Astraen's bulky and awkward appearance, his well-built physique was not without elegance. The man appeared to leap the several meters that had separated them just a moment earlier, and with that momentum, the Instructor struck hard enough to knock Caelum to the ground even though he had deflected the majority of the blow.
Caelum was not amused by the unexpected attack because he was still extremely tired from a restless night and was barely satisfied with his hunger. Leaping back onto his feet, he skillfully whirled the practice sword in his hand before putting it away in his belt. As he approached Astraen slowly, his now-prominent cheekbones gave him a feral appearance, but the instructor laughed happily, as if this were a friendly competition rather than a fight to the death.
In an attempt to take down the teacher, Caelum feinted sharply to his right and then unleashed a vicious cross-reverse slash that tore at the air itself. However, the man easily repelled the attack with a deft raising of his practice sword. Caelum was so startled by the impact that he failed to notice Astraen's knee rushing toward his stomach. His head dropped as if he meant to lie there forever, and pain shot through his body as he was launched backwards onto the silky grass of the well-kept jungle.
He heard only an animalistic howl before a shadow passed over him, and he rolled away in time to avoid the falling mass that had made a small hole. Fear nearly caused Caelum to scream as he staggered to his feet and noticed the insane glint in the instructor's eyes. Suddenly, the man struck out with a powerful two-handed cut that started from a kneeling stance. Although the attack's form and mechanics appeared straightforward, Caelum was unable to parry this one any more skillfully than he had with the knee to the abdomen.
Astraen's practice sword was used in yet another vicious hack before the force tore it from his hands and Caelum danced off. Caelum tried to take down the elder by throwing himself at his thick stomach, but Astraen threw him aside like a rag doll, as he was unable to think of anything else.
Astraen growled, "I'll take you out with one more blow!"
It was depressing to face another opponent who believed they were better than him and was demonstrating this. After losing his fight weeks ago, Caelum had been fuming quietly, but now even the instructor he had gone to for assistance was disparaging his strength and utterly dominating him in battle. Astraen embodied the ideal of a warrior. If that's the case, then who was he?
Astraen was about to laugh as Caelum charged at him with a roar and swung the blade without hesitation. In the heat of the moment he wanted to kill the man. If necessary, he was willing to give up his arm in order to kill the man, as he would not dare allow his pride to be further insulted. With wide eyes, he was blind to the fact that Astraen had ceased his unrelenting assault and was now warily observing him. Moments later, Caelum's cheek rested flat on the cool mud of the floor, and he fell unconscious.
The sun was still shining in the sky when he woke up. Caelum let out a moan and concentrated for a considerable moment before the pounding pain that shot through his face and out from the base of his skull. Not far from where he lay, Astraen was quietly carving something by the fireplace. Astraen made it plain that there would be no games during this training session.
"If you are all rested up then let me show you the form that we're out here to learn," the instructor said flatly as he gently laid down the piece of wood he had been whittling. For a long while, Caelum said nothing and showed no signs that he'd be sitting up anytime soon. When Caelum realized he had little choice but to try he got to his feet and discovered his practice sword lying on the ground next to him. Something told him that their training was only just getting started.
