Summer 7 116
Caelum and his fellow students felt ready for whatever the cunning instructor had left to throw at them, which they hoped couldn't have been much, after the torturous ordeal that the teacher's special training presented. They had become accustomed to meeting in the dojo's practice yard by this point, where they waited for their senior to put them to the test in a bizarre test of spirit and resolve.
This particular evening, Maeria had made it a point to stand close to Caelum, but the two of them barely exchanged glances. Caelum was perfectly content with this, but he could tell that Maeria was becoming increasingly agitated due to the silence by the pulsating vein at her temple. Even though Caelum had forced it on himself, he couldn't understand why, but he was still grateful when the teacher eventually showed up and led him to the practice area with his usual elegance.
The teacher gestured for one of the boys to come over after he was done, and the youngest one, who couldn't have been much older than Caelum, hurried over while holding a practice sword. He handed over his practice sword to the teacher, bowed his head, and withdrew to his starting position.
"You have to demonstrate to me that you are not just swift in body, mind, and soul, but also quick to challenge someone with more experience, don't you think? It is indeed the sword's true path to never give up or falter."
They exchanged several glances and understood each other's meaning. Before moving on to the next level of training, they were to assess their progress against the instructor. Actually, Caelum had surmised that their new uniforms had been less an official acknowledgement of their progression than more a representation of it. It would finally be their chance to see what they had learned so far.
Right away, the teacher gave Caelum a nod and locked eyes with him in an attempt to frighten him. An assistant placed a practice sword in Caelum's hands, and he accepted it calmly, not turning away or faltering.
"You have a maximum of three points. A point each time one or the other delivers a lethal blow. I'm not expecting any of you to receive any points at all. In battle, there are many possible outcomes. In fact, many swordsmen claim that just surviving is a victory."
After saying everything he had to, the teacher took a deep breath and centered himself before waiting for Caelum to follow suit. Caelum, on the other hand, waited, giving himself time to absorb all the lessons he had learned so far and combine them into one before he, too, settled in a bowed position, positioning himself in opposition to the teacher. It was possible to reduce the area that could be damaged and so lower the risk associated with any attack by only giving his opponent half of his body, achieved by facing one shoulder in his opponent's direction.
Although Caelum wasn't expecting the teacher to launch any powerful attacks, he was aware that the Instructor still had the upper hand. Even so, his expression remained determinedly stiff as he cast a cool glance at his teacher. Then, they moved together. The teacher launched himself into a spectacular display of speed and power with his first move during which he flourished his weapon overhead.
Aside from the teacher's amazing fighting skill, the maneuver also showed how quickly momentum carried him toward his target. Caelum, caught flat-footed, barely managed to raise his practice sword in time to block the attack with both hands. He took four steps back to try to regain his balance, but as soon as he did, pain shot through his wrists. He was well aware of the teacher's whereabouts, but the difficult assignment of merely monitoring him was becoming nearly unmanageable.
The instructor's steps were precise and unwavering, unlike the uneasy, wavering hops that each student had displayed while navigating the wooden posts' tops. The instructor leaped and struck Caelum with a straightforward overhead smash with the practice sword's hilt. Caelum retaliated by scuttling past the instructor's guard and taking two small steps forward. Combatting from the air had the drawback of forcing the other side to reposition themselves for when you would eventually return to the ground.
Caelum half-drew his practice sword in a daring move, attempting to strike the chest with the hilt, but his teacher was too fast. The other man quickly reacted, drawing his practice weapon and placing it between Caelum's training sword and his chest. If Caelum had not been so fixated on the battle, the ensuing clack of wood would have been loud enough to cause disorientation. Regretfully, he was not paying enough attention.
The skilled swordsman changed course and spun past Caelum, throwing him off-balance by the sudden lack of resistance, in the brief instant that he had braced himself against the teacher's practice sword. He landed in a rolling crouch, holding his practice sword slightly away from his body to prevent serious injury from falling on it. He then sprang back up to a knee, finding the teacher's practice sword aimed directly at his throat. The teacher had clearly been forced to exert some effort in the battle because of the way his hair was arranged and the slightly skewed appearance of his clothes. With a smile, the teacher took the wooden point away from his frustrated pupil.
"You made a number of mistakes. Never lean your weight against an opponent. Instead, strike and block without sacrificing your fluidity. Second, it is essential for a swordsman to always be aware of their surroundings. Isn't that what you were supposed to learn in yesterday's training?" The teacher reprimanded, "Your body should be able to adjust at a moment's notice and keep you balanced." Despite this, he didn't appear particularly upset as he peered down. "There were a few more things, but you'll definitely fix them the next time, right?"
Caelum nodded and then it was someone else's turn to go against the instructor. Once everyone got a turn, they took a break and reconvened outside. There, the instructor gave each of them a wooden longsword. These were much larger than what they usually used. Massive, two-handed swords that were heavy. For an instant, Caelum believed the man was insane. Each one was noticeably longer than he was tall, and based on the reactions of those who had already received them, he could have been convinced that the damn weapons were heavier than he was.
"The first exercise is to jump across the training posts again while holding your longsword over your head. It will build up your strength," the instructor said, firmly guiding the first of his students to the training posts despite their protests. The instructor exclaimed with gusto.
Caelum watched as all the students, Maeria included, jumped up onto the first post and groaned, then mustered the strength to jump up to the next one. Due to the lack of students, a large number of them fell and were ordered to move to the back of the line. When it was finally Caelum's turn, he felt the enormous weight he was carrying over his head pulling him obstinately down to the ground as soon as he launched himself into the air. The fact that he had landed on top of the post at all surprised him even with his Natare. His breath came out in short bursts and his legs trembled like waves in a river. Desperately, he told himself maybe the next jump would be better.
With a half-bent posture, he leaped back into the air, trying to get as high as possible with his feet but failing. Though his bruised pride hurt far more than the actual fall, he had assumed that the actual part of the experience would be the most painful when he watched the other students fall. Nobody was able to finish the exercise, which was a first since he entered the dojo. Each of them had been hit by the same uneasy reality.
This was the first of many difficult trials to come.
Instead of serving as a barrier, the sun's heat seeped through his cloth, turning the protection into a linen threat that caused hot, sticky midday wrath. Sweat trickled out of Caelum's eyes in beads and trickled past his nose and by his lips.
His partner for the day was none other than Maeria, and she was determined to show that his previous slights had not in the slightest affected her resolve.
With a fierce shout and eyes full of wild, animated energy, the teacher painted an astonishingly realistic image of someone who genuinely cared about his students. They were signaled to begin and all other thoughts were pushed out of his mind when Caelum just about pulled his practice sword from his sheath. He swung up without wobbling, and parried the woman's vicious blow with the sword before smoothly sheathing it in one motion.
The sweat and salt made his skin itch in all the wrong places, and his arms hurt like crazy. The only thing keeping Caelum from moaning like most of the other students in the small class of dojo was his focus on his opponent's next move. His eyes met Maeria's sword hand with hard eyes. She appeared to have spent most of her days practicing with the sword because her nails were a lovely cerulean blue and her skin around her fingers was immaculate.
Caelum gave a grunt and awkwardly reached for his practice sword, attempting to pry it free before Maeria hit him - something she seemed determined to do today, for some reason. This time, his practice sword was still entangled in the folds of his clothes and sheath, so all he could do was raise an arm to protect himself from being struck in an embarrassing place. As a result, he felt the full force of the girl's blow. A cursory check of his forearm showed the grotesque onset of a bruise that would probably take days to heal.
With lowered gaze, narrowed eyes once more locked on Maeria Caelum. With his weight evenly distributed beneath him and his stance bowed, he eagerly twitched his fingers, clearing his mind of all thoughts save the one that needed to be done next. Time was unimportant to him, and the only rhythm that mattered to him was the slow, heavy pounding of his heart; his breathing even pretended not to register.
This time, instead of hearing the teacher's call, he responded to it. With blind rage, he quickly grabbed the practice sword from his sheath and tore it loose. His wrist hurt from the motion, but he composed his features and moved forward and upward in a single motion, building up momentum until the two wooden practice swords struck and released the stored energy.
Her practice sword rebounded off of his, sending her twisting awkwardly to one side, just like most of the times he'd had to parry Maeria's strike. He barely moved during the exchange. Maeria steadied herself and turned to glare at Caelum, burning with acrid hatred in her eyes, but Caelum calmly put his practice sword back into the sheath and pretended to brush invisible dirt from his outfit's sleeve. When he applied himself, she was truly no match for him.
With an almost supernatural ability to read the situation, the instructor announced that practice was over for the day, making sure to focus his attention on Caelum and Maeria before heading into the dojo. When a practice sword was pressed flat against Caelum's chest, he was forced to stop before he could turn to leave with the rest of his class. He didn't need to look back to realize it was Maeria, so he didn't; instead, he just kept his languid gaze fixed on the dojo, acting as though his only motivation for going there was to find a place to nap, which wasn't totally false.
"I'm going to beat you someday" Maeria growled."
Caelum chose not to respond. Even though he was growing impatient with Maeria and this whole argument, he refused to set her straight because he thought he had every right to. With a half-turn of his head, revealing his left side of his face, he answered, "Someday, sure." Caelum could tell by the squealing rage that his statement had not had the desired calming effect.
"One more time then!" she shouted as her practice sword fell into a ready position. Now Caelum turned to face her head-on, his stance formidable even as he held himself steady on the balls of his feet in case he had to leap to avoid a cunning, malicious blow from his opponent; he wouldn't have put it past her.
After some time, he asked bluntly, "How can I prove that I'm better than you?" His remarks were sharp, but not in an antagonistic way. At least the others had left for the dojo, relieving him of the additional responsibility of avoiding becoming overly critical of Maeria in any direct skill competitions.
After giving it some thought, Maeria's smile turned evil as the thought "Best me with a blindfold on!"
Caelum gave her a cool look and nodded his head in acceptance. Maeria wondered why she was interested in him and, more importantly, how this silly test would help him acquire whatever skill the teacher was trying to teach them as he scrambled off to fetch the blindfold. Maeria reappeared at that moment and covered his eyes with a blindfold. Caelum kept telling himself that his muscles should be loose enough to move against any attack she made, but still he felt his body tensing up as darkness engulfed his vision.
"You sure about this?" Maeria chuckled with innocent delight. She was having way too much fun with this.
Caelum shot back, "If you come at me, don't expect me to hold back."
Caelum fell to one knee in the ensuing silence. The ground's momentum meant that, with the added speed and power, it would have to be a one-shot deal; he would have to act quickly to eliminate the chance that she would dodge and attack him again once he moved. Furthermore, Caelum had a sneaking suspicion that Maeria's strongest side, her right, would be attacked because he knew her somewhat about human anatomy. Caelum's inner voice whispered to him, "Guarding that side is going to be too hard," but he willed the thought away, refusing to accept that failure was inevitable because he was proud and had to succeed.
Sounds of shuffling approached him from straight ahead. Then he heard something whooshing down, alerting him to the fact that the attack was already underway. Caelum drove upward with his hips as he withdrew his practice sword from his sheath, though he wasn't exactly sure how he did it. The abrupt movement sent hyperextension through his body, instantly twanging his muscles, but adrenaline made it possible for him to ignore it for the moment. He felt the wood buzzing through the air as he held his practice sword and then swatted away Maeria's blow like it was coming from a baby.
He only had to hear her gasp to realize he had disarmed her, but it wasn't sufficient. Not nearly enough; she had to know that the distance between their abilities and capabilities was as big as that. His practice sword flew overhead as a result of his parry, and he used all his might to flourish it in a small circle before rapping it as softly as he could against what he thought to be Maeria's shoulder. Sadly, the disconnection brought on by the blindfold made him lose control of the practice sword's hilt, sending it hurtling through the air and landing softly not far away.
Caelum and Maeria remained motionless. She said, "That doesn't count as a win for you," and before Caelum had removed the blindfold from his eyes, her feet could be heard stamping toward the dojo's exit. Her panting was the only sound to break through the silence that engulfed them. He cast a bitter glance at his practice sword, which had fallen, and realized that he agreed with Maeria. In no way had that been a victory for him.
The class the following day was the first official instruction they had received in a while. While most of the class was relieved to be freed from the difficult training assignments they had been assigned for the past few days, Caelum noticed that Maeria was unaffected by the change in routine. He watched the teacher step forward where he would start his next lecture, feeling a little stiff in his willingness to let go of his frustration at the day's lesson plan and instead holding himself so stiffly.
Once the class's light chattering subsided, the dignified instructor examined the meager number of students under his supervision. Caelum had never seen the weight in his eyes before, a melancholic realization of what lay ahead, but he wasn't sure what could have made the instructor so serious.
"I take it all of you have had a challenging time with training over the past few days? I appreciate your patience, and I'll show you a new technique now? The classroom was filled with the customary excitement that comes with learning a new sword form until the teacher raised his hand in the air, signaling silence, and then assumed the starting position."
He stopped just as it appeared he was going to execute the technique then he stopped. "I think it would be best if someone else did the demonstration, yes? Caelum, Maeria, would you kindly come forward?"
Caelum gave Maeria a perplexed look. Though he could still see the stark anger that burned from his treatment of her, trepidation was still present in her eyes. Caelum turned away and stood up straight, so that the entire class could see the demonstration. "You haven't learned the technique, but I think you have heard of it, yes?," the instructor asked as Caelum stepped to the front of the. "You're to defend against Maeria's strikes and then launch an attack in one motion."
[To be continued in another thread]
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