by W. C. Jasper
This was the first time Akini was seeing King Jeraash’s workshop. Her eyes scanned the entire room as she moved to the right and started inspecting every piece of weaponry, slashing them in the air. She found a magnificent longsword and exclaimed as she took it out of the holding on the wall, “Wow! This… This is something special!” She turned to King Jeraash and continued, “So, since Prince Jared says it will be a long time till I will be ready to wield the twin swords of Naathosu, can I use this until then? I mean, I am after all your brother’s pupil, so I should have such perks, right?” Prince Jared dug his face in his palm as King Jeraash let out a loud and hearty laugh and spoke, “This one sure is bold, eh? She practically does not even understand the concept of… Well,” he gently shook his head, “that does not matter.” He turned around and removed his gloves as he continued, “You, young lady, will be using dual swords. I did not choose the dual swords of Naathosu for you randomly.” Akini interrupted the King out of turn, “But I enjoy a longsword, it is what I am most comfortable with.”
King Jeraash looked down, chuckled softly, and looked back up and spoke, “Young lady, my brother adores you, and I do too. We absolutely love the fiery and incredibly bold spirit… and energy you have. But you mustn’t interrupt your King when he is talking about something of importance. If your King speaks of something with purpose, remember that he is far wiser than you, and trust his wisdom enough to at least make sure he has said his piece.” His voice was as calm and friendly as ever, “Now keep quiet and listen. You are not getting a choice. Your King is telling you that you will be using dual swords. It is a source of annoyance to me already that my brother does not use dual swords. I tried to convince him with much effort. But he enjoys the single sword too much. There are a few specific reasons I allowed him to continue using the single sword. He managed to design a wonderful longsword that is far more efficient than traditional longswords and not only does he use it to maximum efficiency, but he also masterfully uses his second hand to incredible efficacy in combat. His creativity in combat is unmatched, and so he uses his free hand with incredible efficacy and efficiency. But here’s what you need to understand: For people who have immense strength and physical dexterity, it is a waste to use a single weapon. It is best to use two weapons, or a weapon and a shield. My brother is an unmatched prodigy in combat, and that is the reason he manages to use his free hand to absolute perfection. But when my brother will have developed extraordinary physical strength in you, it will be a waste for you to use only one weapon. And your spirit would not resonate well with the fighting style that has a shield in one hand. In fact, with the offensive style that my brother and you share, dual swords are the ideal weapon choice for both of you. Dual swords are the perfect weapon for you, and that is what you will use.”
King Jeraash stretched his left hand behind him and pulled off a thin velvet sheet on the table to reveal a pair of beautiful twin swords. He had finished forging it just then. He was applying the final decorations when Prince Jared and Akini had arrived. The twin swords were moderately broad, and the hilts had a small curve backward at the bottom. The blade’s point of origin, rising from the hilt, protruded a little to the front and a little more out the back. As the blade went higher, the front depressed a little to about 70 per cent of the length and then curved outwards gently as it formed a pointy peak poking outwards. The back of the blade started with a wavy curve that immediately moved in to reduce the breadth at the middle and maintained a somewhat straight angle till about 85 percent of the length and then curved forwards to finish the pointy curved peak. The orange hilt was decorated with a layer of black gold and silver. The metal used for the blades was sevil, it was a very heavy metal that was used for elite weaponry. Only the best warriors wielded weapons made of sevil. The blades shone abnormally bright for sevil, as did every weapon made by King Jeraash.
King Jeraash was one of the greatest weaponsmiths in all the world. Not only because of how superior his fresh, unique, and unorthodox weapon designs were; but also due to the fact that even the way he treated, moulded, and purified the metals was a notch above the rest. Any metal treated by him shone of purity like no other. Akini’s eyes glowed as she beheld them and rushed to pick them up at once. King Jeraash blocked her path with his hand and said with a gentle and friendly chuckle, “Learn some patience, young lady.”
He gestured to her to step back, proceeded to pick up the twin swords and loosely performed a few combos (or what counted as loose for his standards). They moved unnaturally fast in his hands as if they weighed nothing. He inspected them closely a little further, sniffed the blades, and gave an approving expression with his lips. He then proceeded to juggle them around with complex, gorgeous moves while he himself was spinning around and catching them at weird angles. After a few mesmerising moves, he stared at the swords as he said in a very low voice, “Hmmm… the balance is great.” He then looked up at Akini and spoke with a gentle smile, “These will serve you well. They are a little heavier than the blades of Naathosu, which is perfect because when you get used to the weight of these, you will be faster with the blades of Naathosu. They are also similar to the blades of Naathosu in terms of design, which will help you to familiarise yourself with the dynamics of using these weapons. You will be able to understand the changes you need to make to your current fighting style and be able to adapt and prepare yourself for using the blades of Naathosu.” He smiled sweetly at her as he presented the swords to her holding one in each hand with the hilts on his palms and the blades facing towards himself.
Akini received the swords and beheld them with great wonder. As soon as she held them, she realised that they were heavier than any weapon she had ever used. She proceeded to awkwardly get familiar with the concept of dual swords, waving them around and slashing at odd angles.
Prince Jared, who was now done inspecting the throwing knives, spoke, “Are these the new ones?”
King Jeraash answered, folding his hands and leaning back on the table with his eyes set on him and the slightest hint of a smile, “Yes, what do you think?”
Prince Jared chuckled as he looked up at him and replied, “You know that I know that you already know what I am thinking.”
King Jeraash grabbed a towel and dried himself off as he spoke with an air of amusement, “Brother mine… despite how intelligent and even wise you are, you are still the younger brother; and I will always be the elder. Just answer me.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, he caught a throwing knife flying at his left trapezius at almost full speed by the tail with the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of his right hand. He spun it around his hand, playing with it as Prince Jared spoke, “Well… the balance is obviously uneven, but it is clearly by design. But for the life of me I cannot understand why. It does, however, hit the target. But only a handful of people other than you and me would be able to do that with only a few minutes of familiarity.”
King Jeraash asked rhetorically with a minuscule pause after every word, “And what if that were by design?”
“Hmm… I can think of a few clever ways to trap opponents using this… Of course, it will take elaborative efforts and tiresomely perfect execution, but even barring that, the passively active advantage of opponents being unable to reuse them will be quite useful in a battle with numerous foes. I like it!” replied Prince Jared.
King Jeraash exclaimed proudly, “That’s my baby brother!” and walked over to him and placed a tight and loud kiss on his cheek.
Prince Jared: “Please do not patronise me, Brother. I might never be able to beat you in chess, but you will never be able to defeat me in an eating contest.”
“Brother mine, have you really forgotten the time you faced shameful defeat in our mini-cakes eating contest and Appa and I had to give you your birth anniversary present early just to stop your tantrum?” asked King Jeraash with a mocking, pitiful pout.
Prince Jared flared in madness as if someone had questioned his honour, “Okay! F
irst! I WAS ONLY NINE! Which means that the age advantage you had because of the rate of physical development at that age was far too much! And second!!” He screamed out, “I HATE COCONUT CAKES!!! If we did it again, I would destroy you! And you KNOW IT!!!”
King Jeraash laughed merrily as he locked and rocked him in his embrace. “Cease your crying, sweet Brother mine,” said King Jeraash as he pinched his cheeks.
Akini, who had now spent a while familiarising herself with her new weapons, exclaimed, “These are amazing! The shine of these blades is outwordly! The balance is incredible! The power! It’s… incredible! And it looks so wonderful! I do not have words for how amazing they are!”
“You never have the right words anyway,” said Prince Jared, “But would you at least say thanks?”
“Oh Yes!” exclaimed Akini, “Thank you so much, My King!” she bowed, “I could not be more thankful!”
King Jeraash acknowledged her gratitude with a tiny bow of his head and proceeded to put on his tunic and led both of them out of the workshop.
General Thayman was training with Yaakub at the military base when the King, Prince, and Akini approached them. It was a bright yellow day with piercing heat. Prince Jared now held Akini’s twin swords, inspecting them. General Thayman and Yaakub were training in their undergarments as were a lot of the soldiers around them. General Thayman was built like a well-conditioned bison - an immensely broad chest and big, muscular shoulders atop a powerful pair of legs. An intimidating figure, and a countenance that was somehow as imposing as it was welcoming. Yaakub was exactly 6 feet tall with short black hair, and a physique that resembled that of a young, powerful, pit bull that never missed a day in the gym. His piercing, stony eyes remained in a constant state of being unimpressed through eternity. The well-built, peach skinned 23-year-old had large and mighty forearms that spoke of a man who exhaustively applied himself to manual labour.
As the party reached within hearing distance; they heard General Thayman say to Yaakub as he fell back after a blocked punch, “Do not rely on your speed alone. While you might be faster than me, you will face foes faster than you. And you know quite well by now that you cannot even provide entertainment for me with speed alone. If you wish to serve your King in battle, you need to be able to at least make me exert some effort. You have great skill, top-tier technique even among the greatest fighters in the world. But if you wish to excel in battle, flawless technique alone will not suffice. Read my movements. Understand my rhythm. Everyone has a rhythm, if you can attain syntony with my rhythm, you can see me. Of course, the difference in calibre is also a factor, but if you can capture my rhythm and stay tethered to it, you will be able to read me.”
King Jeraash spoke loudly as they reached them, “Extremely sorry to disturb your training, General. But I think this training session can be of great value to two people instead of one if it included this young lady.”
Yaakub relaxed from his fighting stance as General Thayman responded, “Ahh… Akini Swaasam. Quite the fiery one, this young tigress. This will be a lot of fun indeed.”
General Thayman moved away from his position and walked over to Prince Jared as he spoke, “Alright! Take your position, young lady. Impress us!”
Akini flaunted a devilish smile with overflowing excitement, and her eyes glinted as she cracked the knuckles on her hands, walking over to take her position. She stripped down to her undergarments and practised a few punches and kicks.
Yaakub was a very grounded, calm, and composed young man. A young man who was always in complete control of his emotions. He took his stance with his left hand in front of him at a 90-degree angle with an open hand facing to his right and his closed right fist to the side just below his chest. He had perfect form and posture.
Akini took a very low, crouching stance with her right leg too far out in front of her bent at about 120 degrees, and her left leg way behind her. Her closed, right fist lay just below her anterior deltoid with her chest almost parallel with the ground. Her left hand was suspended in the air behind her at almost the same height as her head.
Yaakub had never seen such an odd stance and was confused by it, and only a tiny bit of it could be seen in his eyes. They were standing five feet apart when Yaakub decided to make the first move and launched like an arrow with a swift kick to her head. Yaakub’s speed was far too superior for her, but she managed to evade it at the very last moment. She pulled her head back and caught his right leg with her right hand as on a rare occasion Akini felt pain in her hand catching his kick. Akini was surprised. Not only was Akini someone who was now being subjected to the immensely tough training of Prince Jared; but she was naturally, a wildly tough person. Wildly tough. And accordingly, it was a rare event for her brain to register something as even the smallest unit of pain. But Yaakub was no ordinary young man.
As surprised as she was, she knew that there was no time to be surprised by it. Akini’s brain started planning her next move even as the pain in her palm was being communicated to her brain. Just as her brain registered the pain in her palm, she felt a punishing blow to her temple as she also noticed a disturbance in the dust near Yaakub’s left foot.
By the time Akini’s brain registered the dust in the ground being disturbed by Yaakub’s left foot, his left foot had already spun backwards and caught her head with the heel. Everyone including King Jeraash gasped audibly as Prince Jared just smiled with pride at noticing that even after the devastating kick which must have been about thrice as destructive as a horse’s kick, she had not let go of his right leg! By sheer will or by her monstrously stubborn instincts, her right hand continued to firmly grasp his right leg.
Yaakub realised that she still had a hold of his right leg and that he would not be able to bring his left foot back to the ground in time to land. So he quickly adapted and brought up his hands to break his upcoming fall. Little did Yaakub know that he had no need to go through the trouble. For as he put up his hands to break his fall, Akini lifted him straight above her into the air by his right leg and slammed him straight on the ground behind her with such force that General Thayman instinctively closed his eyes to avoid witnessing the brutal punishment.
“Halt!” yelled out King Jeraash to control the pace and make sure that it remained a sparring match instead of turning into a bloodbath. All the soldiers who were around froze like statues at witnessing Yaakub, who was one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the land being brought to the ground by a young girl who was a nobody. Bringing a warrior as skilled as Yaakub to the ground was no small feat, especially because of how sound his fundamentals and how advanced his technique were.
The kick that Akini suffered had left a deafening ringing in her ear which now bothered her more than the horrific pain it left. She shook her head a little and even through the disorientation in her eyes, made sure she kept them fixed on Yaakub now that she could not rely on her sense of hearing. It took quite a while for the dust to settle after the monstrous slam that had dug Yaakub into the ground. As Yaakub got back up with numerous cracking and crunching sounds escaping his body and a thin stream of blood spilt from the side of his mouth, absolutely no hint of pain could be seen in his eyes.
The ground where he was slammed in had a very visible depression of about one and a half centimetres. But he stood up with a quotidian demeanour as if absolutely nothing noteworthy had happened and looked into Akini’s eyes with zero emotion apart from his indifference to everything going on. Indifference: Yaakub’s favourite emotion. The only thing mildly visible in his eyes were calculations. Akini was someone impervious to fear, and for the most part, even incapable of fear. But when she looked into Yaakub’s stony eyes, even Akini was slightly unnerved. She did not see an inhuman tolerance for pain as one would expect, but the absolute absence of any consideration for it altogether.
Yaakub spoke with his square and stony voice and his signature rhythm that was faster than normal, “It seems I was too careless with my gauging manoeuvre. Not a problem, that wil
l be the very last time you successfully land a hit on me today.” He stood straight with his torso slightly turned to his right without taking a stance. Something about Yaakub’s voice told Akini he was 100% accurate about her not being able to land another successful hit on him that day. But fear or yielding were concepts unknown to her.
Prince Jared whispered to General Thayman, “Let’s make a wager, Uncle. My pupil versus yours. One silver dollar.” King Jeraash slapped the back of his head violently causing him to spit out the chips in his mouth and said, “How many times have I told you to cease this nonsense?” Prince Jared stared with sheepish and pitiful eyes and replied “I am only doing it in the spirit of expressing my confidence in my protege, Brother!” with an apologetic voice. King Jeraash expressed his disapproval with his eyes and lips for a couple of seconds and then looked away, shaking his head. General Thayman waited for King Jeraash to divert his attention and replied without turning his head, “For a man who is an expert at betting, you always seem to enjoy purposefully making the most obvious losing bets.”
