Summer 6 116
It had only been about a week since he set off on this journey. Though he had grown to enjoy his time with the more boisterous Astraen, it was a sobering realization that he would miss the intense sparring sessions with his bully. Nevertheless, he dismissed the thought as he carefully wrapped his cloth around his hands and forearms. He had no time to be weak, and his goal was to achieve it within the next week.
Caelum slipped out of his white attire and put on the newly provided black outfit. He looked in the mirror of his home, silently proud of how far he had come since starting his journey. He had come a long way from being a mere beginner, and this outfit was evidence of that
He made his way to the dojo and Caelum noticed that the class had shrunk to a mere fifteen students, all of whom were strutting their black attire as well. He reasoned in his head that it only made sense that many students would not have passed or would not have desired to continue with the demanding instruction needed to become proficient swordsmen. In their line of work, resolve and skill were two realities that every Swordsman, Swordsman, or Soldier had to deal with. This was also the same.
Caelum was no longer surprised or amused by his Instructor's cunning pranks. "At last, you're here. We'll be teaching outside in the practice yard today. Get moving!"
Before long, everyone was outside, pondering what kind of training they had committed to this time around. The teacher-instructor greeted them with an unreadable smile and proceeded to work with each of the remaining sample students one by one, offering them a nod of approval. Caelum met the bland stare of his instructor. He was more concerned with achieving a peculiar kind of self-approval than he was with winning the approval of others, and he had very high expectations of himself.
The teacher said, "Swordsmanship is not only in your body and mind - it is in your soul. It is precisely the balance between good and great. Forms and techniques are great, but they are useless without a gifted comprehension of both your own and your opponent's souls. Mastery requires understanding more than strength."
To that, nobody had anything to say. Like everyone else, Caelum had doubts about the spirituality their instructor professed to practice. He thought that many great swordsmen had no innate sense of the "soul" that anyone could discern, but their minds would soon turn to their teacher, whose temperament was based on the idea he was discussing.
The instructor brushed an unruly lock of greasy, black hair from his face. The lesson was to meditate and learn about oneself. Caelum detested this kind of education above all, but he swallowed his initial outburst and chose to see it as a patience test. Maybe it wouldn't be as stupid as he assumed; maybe it would strengthen his abilities. Maybe.
After selecting their own area of the yard, each person sat down cross-legged on the dirt filled area that was covered in straw striking dummies. For a brief moment, Caelum was enveloped in a magnificent sense of ease as the breeze complemented the sun's warm, bathing rays. "Okay, let's get started. What should I concentrate on?" There was no way that closing his eyes and letting his mind wander to reveal any grand secret about the sword. Nothing but strength, speed, and cunning won sword fights.
A surprise chop to the head knocked Caelum out of his thoughts. The instructor had previously employed this tactic to make sure that his students' reflexes were always at their highest level, and most of the time he had the upper hand due to his speed. Prior to this ambush, Caelum had never even noticed the man approaching him; however, this time, Caelum was prepared to move as soon as the teacher did.
His reflexes hadn't gotten faster per se, more like he didn't even need to think. His body started to move on its own because the action made so much sense in a detached emptiness of his mind. As he started to lean away from the approaching hand, all the wasted time thinking had vanished. "What action should I take next? Perhaps if I..." Caelum would think, and the silence that had made him feel so safe vanished.
Although Caelum's first reaction saved him from taking a direct blow to the head, the teacher's blow to his shoulder caused him to gasp in agony. The instructor watched him thoughtfully before helping the student, who was now standing, with a grim expression on his face. "Something was there, but you lost it. That's a success, I guess, but strive to do better. When it comes to both mental and physical quickness, one's mental state plays a crucial role," the instructor said.
The teacher's broad smile almost split the man's face as he observed Caelum, but he said nothing before moving on to the next student. Caelum nodded weakly while clutching his shoulder, but dim understanding penetrated the veil of pain still blooming in his mind.
"Okay, class, since the first part of this lesson was about your soul, this next part is about your body See those posts there?" The teacher ceremoniously called out, his own attire twirling in the breeze. The ones that are arranged in a line about a meter above the ground. You're going to jump from one to another them… until I get tired."
The first students in the class started the course, which required them to jog in a semicircle around the practice yard before starting the entire cycle again after being herded roughly onto the first six or seven of the meter-high posts that protruded out of the ground. The last person on was Caelum. He could fly to some degree so he wasn't all that worried – it certainly helped make up for his lack of physical prowess.
The spherical tops of the posts, which were only about six inches in diameter, made the footing extremely unstable. It was impossible to hop from one to the other. His stomach was about to burst from trying to hold himself aloft while he waited for the student in front of him to jump to the next post, which was two feet away. "Just keep going," Caelum told himself to move mindlessly as he succeeded in landing on the tenth post.
Then things started to go wrong.
Someone fell face first into the practice yard's ground after getting her balancing foot caught on the last post. The really hard part started now. She ran back around, hopped on the first post, and then advanced back across the posts she had previously completed with other people perched on them, requiring everyone to stay balanced the entire time. Yes, she was smaller than most of them, but any additional weight might mean the difference between everyone falling to the ground or succeeding.
Her form was composed self-control that she had displayed at the beginning of this test of balance and spatial awareness, and her eyes appeared to be filled with exhaustion. Caelum quickly tiptoed to the edge of the small circle of space allotted to him at the top of the post, and after taking a moment to gather herself and prevent herself from falling again, she leaped into the air. As soon as she touched down, Caelum immediately reached out and pulled her tightly to himself, righting the two of them, even though they were flailing their arms in tiny circles to try to keep their balance.
The students in line were waiting for her to approach them when a tiny bit of laughter passed by. She flushed in Caelum's arms, and he struggled to keep a stern expression on his face as he removed his arms from around her waist, locking his core to prevent his body's weight from shifting in any one direction. Anything other than an awkward intimate closeness was inevitable because of the woman's warm breathing and the small space that separated them.
Caelum felt his balance falter as she moved on and let go of a breath he had been holding the entire time. Laughter gave way to irate expletives as he collected his thoughts while lying flat on his back and the instructor's face materialized above him.
"Take your time, we have all morning."
Caelum snarled as he got up and strode to the start of the post range before starting over. Every leap required a well-coordinated effort of reflex, balance, and fast thinking and he had maybe one of those. His Grist became essential to keeping himself from falling again. Only then could the class move forward, even though his muscles hurt as he made his way from the first to the post where he had fallen.
Caelum noticed a few things as the lesson progressed. His balance was easier to maintain if he landed on the balls of his feet rather than flatly. He could also stay on his post if he allowed his shoulders to roll back, which completely counteracted the unconscious forward lean that occasionally caused him to sway. Little by little, each student learned a trick or two, and by the time the lesson was over, they had to call it quits.
