“We have made a pact that henceforward connects the two of us,” began the man. “But do you understand what you are to learn in this place?”
The young man hesitated for a moment, then responded, “I will learn to wield my weapon efficiently in battle. I will learn the style that is suited to my weapon: Iretane.” That was about all that the young man knew. Kezthrem remained silent, his gaze trained on the young man. However, when he realized the young man had nothing more to say, he began to pace about the room.
“Not just that, not just that...” he murmured. He stopped suddenly, then turned towards Glaide, fixing him with a piercing, accusative glare. “Why do you want to learn to fight?” he asked in a hard voice. Before the sudden aggression, Glaide froze, unsettled for just a moment, then spoke again, quickly and in a self-assured voice.
“I want to learn to fight, both on a physical and on a psychological level. I want to be able to face violence, rather than fleeing it, and to learn the art of war.” The voice of the young man became stronger as he became more sure of himself. “I want to learn to fight so that I can defend myself, but also so I can attack. I want orks and my enemies to fear me. I want to believe that this legend about a Destroyer is true, and that it will let me become strong.” By now, the young man was almost yelling. “I don’t want to be afraid to travel! I want to be able to take advantage of my dream of being here. I want to protect my friends. I want to become wise. I want...” But then he stopped, suddenly out of breath.
He had declared everything that he wanted, everything that he was looking for. He had opened his heart to his master; his master now knew what hopes and dreams his disciple was looking to him to fulfill, what his deepest desires were, and he understood everything the adolescent needed to learn in order to become a new man. Kezthrem gaze remained trained on the young man, but the expression on his face softened somewhat.
“Very good, Glaide,” he said calmly. “You have many questions, and are seeking many things, but be assured that I have many answers for you. You will not only learn how to use this piece of metal called a sword; training in Iretane goes much beyond the mere physical plain. In my presence, you will learn the things that a warrior must always keep in mind. You will learn the values that belong to a warrior. You will learn how to determine who is an enemy and who is an ally. And more than that, you will learn how to plot out your own destiny, whether it be glorious or modest.”
A long silence followed the declaration. Glaide didn’t know what to think. He hoped above all else that this would all be true. Having a mentor that could help him advance – someone he respected for his wisdom and strength... Those words represented things he wished he, too, would someday experience for himself, but were at the same time empty of meaning. “What is strength?” he asked himself. “Knowing how to fight? Not really. And wisdom? Is it knowing everything? I don’t know that it is...”
For a moment, a terrible thought crossed his mind: what would become of him on the day that he surpassed this man before him? This physical incarnation of the force and wisdom that he so desperately hoped to acquire, without really being able to define them. Fear, and a great emptiness filled him. “Will I be... lost then? No!” he thought forcibly. “I’ll have changed when that time comes. Everyone changes.” He chased away the dark thoughts. “In any case, it will take plenty of time before I come close to surpassing this man...”
“Right,” began Kezthrem. “I cannot tell you exactly what we are going to do in the months to come, as I do not yet know myself. But we will begin at the beginning. What did you learn from Uziere?”
Glaide thought back to what he and Jeremy had done under the careful watch of the old man. “If I’m not mistaken, we never once used a sword. During our time there, we really only worked on our own bodies: flexibility, strength, and stamina.”
“Excellent, then that will save us a bit of time,” exclaimed Kezthrem. “In that case, I suggest we continue in that vein for now.”
“What?” asked the young man, surprised. “You just want me to continue strengthening my wrists and forearms?”
“Not just that, my young disciple. Of course, it is your forearms that will allow you to be precise in your movements, and your wrists that will allow you to be quick, but we must also better your stamina, endurance for your whole body against strikes and blows, and many other things. We’ll start by warming up.”
Glaide couldn’t hide his disappointment, but he did as he was told. He hoped with all of his heart that this training, which promised to be terribly dull, would soon be over, and that he could move on to something more... sharp-edged.
An hour later, the young man, the man was finishing up by striking a vertical, wooden bar with his forearms, as his master had explained that he needed to increase his pain capacity, so that he no longer feared pain. His master then came in to see him. The arms of the young man were already reddening, and felt sore. The man stopped to look at them for a moment, then asked, “If I were to ask you now to lift a chair with only your forearms, would you do it?”
Glaide decided to opt for truthfulness. “No...”
“Why not?”
“Because they hurt to much, and I would be afraid of the pain that lifting it would cause...”
“Okay,” replied his master simply, with a smile. “In that case, let's go eat.”
The young man realized in that moment that he had learned an important lesson: he had to know his own limits, so that he could test them, and expand them. “It’s a bit funny,” he thought to himself. “This is really the first day that I’ve spent with this man, but I already feel as though he understands me perfectly...”
The two ate quickly, then training began again. This time, it was his legs that had that honor.
The afternoon passed by without the young man even really noticing. Though they had not done anything particularly exceptional, he did his best to put his all into everything, using all of his heart, soul, and mind. He never lost sight of his objectives. From time to time, Kezthrem corrected him when he did an exercise particularly badly, but for most of the time, he seemed content to simply watch. Evening arrived, and Glaide stopped, exhausted. His master gave him new clothing to change into, then gave him directions to find a warm spring where he could take a bath, out amongst the trees.
The young man had no difficulty finding the place. He simply had to move forward a bit into the forest behind the garden. The ground sloped up there, and he had to pay attention so he wouldn’t slip. The trees were sparse, and the glow of the setting sun illuminated the whole space. The young man promised himself that if his master gave him some free time, he would come here to wander about. He spotted a mound of rocks ahead and approached them. They formed a circle around the spring, and Glaide submerged himself in the water delightedly. It wasn’t too deep, and cavities in the surrounding rocks could be used advantageously as seats. The young man settled into one and let his mind wander, his head resting against the edge.
“The first day is coming to an end, and I’m already completely exhausted. Will I be able maintain such a schedule? I’ll have to,” he said aloud, then sighed. “How long will I remain here? Certainly for a number of months, at the very least. It’s a beautiful and comfortable place, to be sure, but repeating what I did today, every day, for ages, could get terribly boring... And will I just have been wasting my time in the end? Right now, I could be traveling throughout Galadria, discovering new places...”
He shook his head, watching the drops of water spray everywhere. “I have to stop thinking like that!” he exclaimed. “I’ve only just arrived here; if Kezthrem saw me talking like this, he’d think I was terribly impatient. He’s the master. If he thinks I need to work on my endurance before anything else, then that is what I will do. And, after all, I’m the one who wanted him to take control, and that’s what he is doing.”
He paused for a moment to listen to the sounds of nature around him, then added, “At any rate, even if I was travelling abou
t right now, I’d probably be busy worrying about many things. At least here, I can be calm, and I know that when I leave, I’ll no longer have to fear anything.”
He let his mind fast-forward a few months. He was walking down a road. Suddenly, off to the side of the road, he spotted some strangers battling an entire battalion of orks. Without question, he drew and jumped into the battle. A few minutes later, all of the monsters were either dead or fleeing. With a self-assured motion, he sheathed his sword. They thanked him, he told them it was nothing, and then he continued on his way...
The young man sighed, still resting against the stone edge. Then, suddenly, he took note of his surroundings; night was falling. He quickly got out of the water and put on his clean clothes, all the while reminding himself that he would have to be patient. For the moment, he was feeling nostalgic about traveling, and all of the adventure he had been living out a few days earlier. His current situation weighed down on him, but he knew that soon, he would know his master better, and that deeper connection would make it easier for him to stay here. He knew he would soon become used to this new life, and that he should take advantage of his surroundings. The brief moment of solitude in the middle of the forest had energized him, and though his body remained fatigued, his mind was calm. He ate with Kezthrem in complete silence; both of them were absorbed in their own thoughts. Then, they took a few moments to gaze at the stars above before turning in for the night.
The week ahead promised to be a difficult one.
Chapter 17
AND so Glaide’s training began. The days passed, one after another, all the same and yet different from each other. Although the exercises did not change, the young man began to take more of an interest in them, as he began to understand the reasoning behind them all: to be able to use his weapon correctly. Just as his understanding changed, so did his body: his muscles developed, he became more flexible, and could nearly do the splits, and he could strike the wooden bar for much longer.
His sword had still not moved from the weapons rack where he had placed it the day after he’d arrived. He had not touched it once. Kezthrem seemed to have forgotten it, and though the adolescent had a consuming desire to use it, he smothered his impatience, and did what he was asked without flinching. His careful reflection in the hot spring a week ago had done him good, and little by little, he felt his nostalgia begin to disappear. He started to get used to this new lifestyle.
Though the relationship between him and his master was still a little distant, since after all, they knew little about each other, it had grown by leaps and bounds. The young man had had many opportunities to observe the immense wisdom of the man, as he explained how each muscle functioned, how they moved, what their role in combat was, and how to use them without injuring them, among other things, and above all, it was this knowledge that gave Glaide respect for the man.
He regretted one thing, though: although the two of them had often stood together, gazing at the falling darkness, or sat together in the garden, looking at the stars, the man had never showed any interest in holding a conversation. The younger man, on the other hand, kept his own mouth closed, afraid to appear disrespectful or hasty. So then, he had to be content to simply wait, and hope that he would soon have an opportunity to learn more about Kezthrem, and to receive answers to his questions.
Seven days passed that way. The month of September was coming to an end. On a morning that was as just as sunny as every other morning, Glaide, still lying on his futon, thought back on the adventures he had experienced up until then. He couldn’t quite convince himself to get up. He knew that his master was waiting for him, but he was again growing tired of the routine, of going down the stairs, of warming up, and of once again beginning the endless repetition of the same movements. And so he remained there, staring up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.
“Almost three months now... Three months since we all arrived here, and one since I left Jeremy, Emily, and Gwenn. I wonder what has become of them? I suppose they are still in Shinozuka. Jeremy has certainly made a great deal of progress since then. Perhaps in a few months, he’ll be skilled enough to protect the two girls? Hmm... In any case, the girls must be able to cope better on their own now.” He sat up. The truth was that he hoped they would come looking for him. He hoped to be ready in two or three months, and then expected to go looking for them himself. Perhaps by then, his friends would also be ready, and would already be on their way to find him? Perhaps they would have already passed Adrish, or even Rackk?
“Ha, fat chance of that!” he exclaimed. He got up then. A new day had begun, and his training was long overdue. One last thought, though, made him smile: he flashed back to the chase in the hay cart, as they’d headed for the capital. “I’m still amazed that we came out of that alive! In the end, I’m not sure which was more dangerous: that ramshackle cart and the crazy old man, or the orks...” He laughed a little as he remembered the merchant tapping the wheel confidently, just before the supposedly indestructible wheel separated from the axle and went crashing into the grass.
Glaide went down the stairs. As he expected, the door opening into the training room was wide open, and he went in, still smiling. However, as he prepared for his warm-ups, he heard the voice of his master reach his ears.
“What on earth has you looking so joyful, Glaide?”
Glaide jumped. The voice had come from the niche where the weapons were stored; his master was well back in the space, so that the adolescent hadn’t even noticed him.
“Just memories, master.”
“Really?” Kezthrem, who had been crouched in front of the suit of armor with his back to his disciple, got up, and turned to face him. “What kind of memory?”
Glaide, glad to have a chance to talk a little, recounted the story enthusiastically. “It was while we were on our way to Shinozuka. We came across a hay merchant who gave us a ride for a little while. On our way, we had to pass through a narrow pass. Of course, though, orks were waiting there to ambush us, and when they fell on us, Jeremy and I got ready to fight them, despite how many there were. However, the man told us to stay in the cart, and he sent his horse on its way as fast as it would go.” The young man did his best not to burst into laughter as he pictured the scene. He continued, “During the chase, as we noticed that our enemies were drawing closer, Emily had an idea: she told us to throw our swords at our enemies, then make them reappear, so we could throw them again. That way, we were soon able to get away.” The eyes of the other man seemed to light up at the mention of Emily’s suggestion.
“So you and your friend were able to throw your weapons, then get them back. Is that right?”
“Erm... Well, yes,” responded the young man, not sure what interest his master could have for a technique that all protectors had.
“It is unusual that this particular memory would come to you today, just as I hoped to speak to you of that sort of ability.”
“Re... Really?” stuttered the young man. “Does that mean we can stop with all of the muscle-building and stretching?”
The man reflected for just a moment before answering, “Yeah... No.”
Glaide grimaced.
“What that means is that from now on, your training will involve studying that magic, as well as working your body.”
“Right,” sighed the boy.
“Let’s begin.” Kezthrem picked up the weapon of his disciple, which had already begun to collect a layer of dust, and threw it at him. The young man caught the sheath mid-air. The familiar weight of his weapon increased his excitement, and he quickly drew. The deadly steel gleamed as brightly as it had that first day he’d held it, and the young man could see his image reflected on the metal.
“This blade really is magnificent,” he murmured.
“That’s true,” admitted his master. “However, we are not here to look at it, but to use it. Tell me everything you know about its use.”
Glaide sheathed the weapon again and replied, “Not much, actu
ally. When it is attached at my side, I know how to make it appear and disappear at will.”
“How does that feel?”
It took a moment for the young man to understand what he was being asked, but finally, he declared, “It is as if it were another limb: I can make it disappear and reappear in the same way that I would move my arm or my leg.”
“Good, then. That’s a start. I’m surprised that you could have reached such a level of mastery, when you arrived only a few months ago.”
“Actually, my travels since leaving Shinozuka have been of great help to me. Because I was alone, I had to rely on my sword a great deal. And so, I’ve begun to get the feel of it.”
“Excellent. That will save us time. However, you have to realize that what you know is just the basics,” Kezthrem declared.
“The basics, master?”
“Exactly.” The man began to pace back and forth as he explained, “Controlling your weapon when it is attached to your belt is just a beginning. In contrast, the ‘end’ so to speak, or what would be a perfect mastery, is to no longer have need of a sheath or any such object.”
Glaide frowned; he didn’t understand. His master sighed. “Imagine for a moment that you are disarmed during combat. Your sword is thrown several meters away. From what you have said, you would be able to make it reappear immediately in the sheath, assuming that it is at your side. Right?”
The young man nodded.
“Now imagine that your enemy is fast. Do you think you would have time to draw again? Or worse, what if your sheath is no longer with you? You’d be forced to take off at a run, searching for your weapon, and hoping not to be followed.”
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