Summer 9 116
The teacher begged his students to learn the basic moves of an dance style that had nothing to do with swordsmanship for two more hours in the early training session, during which time their limbs hurt more than they could have imagined. Though it appeared as though their instructor had taken a nap, Caelum started observing the ease with which he was walking now. Somehow, despite all the abuse they had to put up with, his agility had gotten better. Maeria didn't have her feet smashed as frequently as she had at first, and she even smiled at him a couple of times, so it was clear that she appreciated his steady progress.
When the first students wafted through the doorway of the main hall after their break, the teacher was waiting. A water balloon was bouncing in one hand, and his shrill whistle carried a cheery tune. When Caelum cautiously entered the dojo, he saw that numerous wet projectiles were perspiring in clear containers next to the instructor. However, before anyone could ask why, their instructor asked them to assist him in moving the cargo outside to the practice area. When they got outside, the teacher lined up the baskets on one side and instructed the students to face them while holding their practice swords with both hands.
"You know how to move your feet, right? But in Swordsmanship, it's not just about moving your feet; your body has to follow, too, right? The teacher's somber voice trailed off as he suddenly vanished in a flurry of blurred motion, leaving a student completely drenched from the water balloon's bombardment. "Why not learn to dodge water balloons?" the instructor, wearing an evil smirk, concluded.
Condensed sac-filled mayhem dropped on the class with relentless rapid fire, causing cold panic. Caelum unsuccessfully attempted to deflect the incoming projectiles with his actual sword technique. Their pace was just too quick, so even if he batted one out, it didn't mean the next one would be as simple to take out.
"Foresee and avoid! Don't let your stances slip; instead, move your body and your feet!" The teacher shouted as both arms rotated at damn near superhuman speed, causing water to loudly splat against whatever the students were attempting in vain to hide behind.
Wet to the bone and trembling from the extreme cold, Caelum leaned his smooth back against one of the fortunately dry dummy posts strewn across the yard. He watched in disbelief as one of his peers took a cold shower of pellets, first hitting him in the leg and then his chest. He winced as he realized how many bins they had brought outside on his orders. I could wait until he runs out of ammunition. Once more, it appeared that the unusual instructor had devised a task that appeared both absurd and unachievable. With determination, he started going over the limited instructions his teacher had given them. "Anticipate and avoid. Move my body and my feet. And still maintain my position."
Water lapped around its edges and sprayed coldly upon him as multiple water balloons slammed into the dummy he took cover behind. It sounded like a stretch, but already he felt the harsh vibrations.
Unsheathing his practice sword, Caelum leaped out into the open, leaving him alone and vulnerable. It seemed that nobody else had reached the same decision to meet the instructor's speed head-on. A water balloon shot toward his position faster than he anticipated, and he barely felt the urge to move. His lower torso exploded with discomfort as another burst of water smattered against his dripping outfit, but his feet shuffled him awkwardly to the left. Even though the water seemed to be twice as heavy as his clothes, he didn't take his eyes off his Instructor, who was now determined to try his courage.
Caelum was blind to the moment the Instructor picked up a second water balloon and, moreover, was blind to the moment the man whipped the balloon in his direction. Rather, he just managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of sunlight reflected from its surface before he reflexively ducked his head, hands still twitching in anticipation toward the hilt of his practice sword. The task didn't seem as intimidating now. The teacher threw another whistling water ball in Caelum's direction, but this time, he leaped and kicked his feet fast off the surface of a nearby post, advancing him an additional five meters toward the teacher.
Moments after his feet hit the ground, he saw another flash fly through the air, land in a roll, and then immediately leap into a kneeling position, right under the instructor's line of sight. The teacher sent down additional balloon in a smashing motion, demonstrating that sensory information was having difficulty keeping up with the situation.
Only Caelum's split second judgment of the man's possible courses of action allowed him to lean right and avoid the point-blank shot. Perceiving his instructor vulnerable to assault, he pulled out his practice sword and swiftly executed an upward swing. He recalled his sword missing by a hair then he got whacked on the neck. Everything went black.
Caelum woke up groggily a few seconds later. He sat up and saw his teacher standing over him looking somewhat pleased. "Almost had me there," he said, "but now I'm out of balloons. So Everyone! Pair up! Sparring time!"
Caelum didn't want to spar but he couldn't exactly say no. He stood up and stood facing Maeria who didn't hesitate to swing a lethargic swipe at him, but Caelum moved his weight slowly to his knee, giving him time to swing away from her swing. He was a little irritated that she was the one resisting him out of everyone because of the bandaged lump that had swelled on his head. The teacher-instructor had expressly told Caelum not to touch the elevated area of skin, even though he was itching to.
Using the extra energy from thrusting up from his kneeling stance, he instead concentrated on using his precise evasion of Maeria's slash to rise up to a low, crouching stance. He then made a quick cut at Maeria that rose upward and just missed removing skin from the girl's cheek. The breeze of the practice sword brushing against her sensitive cheek made her wince, but Caelum held his form for a few more moments, acting as though nothing had happened, before sheathing his practice sword once more. "Once more," he uttered coldly, his lips a rigid line pressed taut with focus.
When the afternoon came, nobody was left in the dojo. After the lesson, everyone appeared exhausted, even the teacher-instructor who appeared a little weary from accidentally hurting Caelum at the end of the day.
Even though Caelum didn't genuinely recall the blow, shame still tore through him as he dropped to his knees and tucked his practice sword into its home. Even as he fought off the shiver that the goose bumps brought with them, his clothes were damp and starting to smell. Against all odds, he'd made the teacher demonstrate the new form he'd been teaching them, which ultimately led to him making an appeal to the man's guilt for seriously hurting him, or so he'd led him to believe.
The goal of the technique was to avoid an impending attack rather than deflect it, then swiftly strike the opponent who was unbalanced. Maeria said she was just staying behind to assist Caelum in perfecting the form; she would be learning alongside the rest of their classmates, even though she had witnessed the instructor perform it as well.
He managed to remain kneeling as he bobbed right with a little hop-step. Maeria slowed down to regain her balance, but Caelum's quick upward stroke sliced through her, slicing her shoulder as he did so. Attempting to get a solid grip on the ground caused his toes to curl, and this time, he sheathed more quickly than before. His muscles were gradually absorbing the idea of the movement and he was finding it effortless. "Once more," he snarled.
"It's growing late. Maeria grumbled, "I need to sleep."
"Once more."
As Caelum knelt in front of her, she let out a resignation-filled sigh. She waited for a moment to make sure he was ready, then grunted and pretended to strike him horizontally. Keen from his many training drills to respect one another, Caelum slipped beneath the wooden practice sword, feeling its grainy, rough surface pass through his hair tassels and then pass through without incident. Curled like a spring, he slashed upward with uncontrollably strong and swift power, forcing Maeria to stumble back a few steps as his practice sword silently slid back into its sheathing. This time, he caught Maeria completely from the torso and carried the force up the length of her body.
"What's wrong with you?"
Caelum now stood erect, his gaze meeting hers. No matter how intimidating he tried to look to her, they were both the same height.
"Nothing" He fired back. The woman trembled for a moment, giving Caelum the impression that she wanted to give him another lump, and maybe many more, before snorting in disgust and setting down her practice sword.
"I'm not even sure why I'm bothering to treat you nicely!" Maeria's silhouette vanished into the dim light of the evening with that.
That evening, Caelum considered how he had been behaving toward Maeria and how he had grown to regard the majority of the other students in the dojo. It was unexpected how close he was to them. The more time he spent with them, the more he realized that he had grown accustomed to the stolid scholar who appeared more adept at scheming and deceit than open combat.
"I've let them seep into my skin," he sighed, looking up at the simple tile ceiling. Despite the humidity of the night, the melodious sound of crickets in the valley around the village served as a pleasant counterpoint to the eerie silence in the streets. Caelum wondered what kind of goal he could dedicate himself fully to, while he let the sound of nature lull him to sleep.
It had to be the kind of thing he would sacrifice everything for, something he could use to grow stronger and be able to outperform his teacher. The young Dragon's waking dreams revealed to him his greater destiny of tomorrow, and these and many other thoughts stirred within his dreams.
