Well, that wasn’t going to happen today. Or anytime soon.
Chapter Sixty-one
Arjun Gets a Shock
The Kshatriya Practice Field
The Gurukul
Arjun stared in sheer disbelief. Following his uncle’s instructions, he had arrived at the practice field on his own. The entire morning, prior to lunch, had been spent on practising the two techniques that his uncle had taught him on his first day in the Gurukul and which he had been practising ad nauseam since then.
Both were complex manoeuvres, and Arjun could see why only advanced sword-fighters were taught these. The time he spent in the gym only helped in getting him accustomed to the techniques and ensuring that he didn’t tire soon with the complicated moves.
But this , he felt, was uncalled for.
When they broke for lunch, his uncle had given him a heads up about what the second half of the day held in store.
‘Live combat practice today, Arjun,’ Virendra had called out to him. ‘Be prepared.’
Arjun had nodded. He knew what that meant.
He would have to face Amba and Parth during a live combat session. His uncle had given him five days to learn, train and practise. Today would be the first live combat session.
Arjun was nervous but still confident. He had trained well and the longer hours at the gym here had only done him good. He felt strong. While he had no doubts that Amba and Parth were not going to be walkovers, he thought he would be able to hold his own. At least for a while.
But he hadn’t reckoned for what his uncle had planned for him.
Not only were Virendra, Amba and Parth trooping into the Kshatriya field, each carrying what looked like a large, flat, black rectangular metal case, but behind them Arjun could see Varun and Tanveer entering the field. They, too, were carrying the same flat, rectangular cases.
What were the boys doing here?
Varun and Tanveer were two Kshatriyas who shared the dormitory with Arjun, along with Agastya, a Rishi. Arjun had met Varun during the battle with Shukra’s army, and, by sheer coincidence — though Varun insisted it was destiny — Arjun had been assigned the same dormitory as Varun.
Arjun was aware that the three boys he shared the dorm with were highly regarded. Varun and Tanveer were probably the most accomplished Kshatriyas in the Gurukul — and possibly even in the entire Gana — and Agastya was already considered to be one of the most powerful Rishis on campus.
‘He can do stuff that will make your eyes pop out,’ Varun had said as he had introduced Agastya to Arjun.
Arjun had, therefore, been chuffed no end when he realized that the Mahamati Council had considered him good enough to be equated with Varun, Agastya and Tanveer. It was a rule in the Gurukul that dorms were shared only by students who were at the same level of accomplishment. The novices, newly enrolled in the Gurukul, had a separate cottage all to themselves.
The four boys had got along like a house on fire from the first day and had become fast friends in the few days that Arjun had been with them.
Virendra gave Arjun a sly grin, relishing the lad’s amazement and confusion.
‘Ready, my boy?’ he asked.
‘Ready for what?’ Arjun pointed to Varun and Tanveer. ‘What are they doing here?’
‘Combat practice,’ came the cryptic reply. Virendra looked at his four companions. ‘Let’s set up and roll.’
‘Hey, AJ.’ Varun and Tanveer wore sheepish grins.
Arjun frowned. Then it struck him. It had been so obvious that he hadn’t even bothered to consider it a possibility.
‘No way!’ he walked over to where Virendra was in the process of opening his sword case. ‘This is pure suicide, uncle. I’m not doing it.’
‘What do you mean?’ Virendra stood up, hands on his hips, and glared at Arjun. ‘I haven’t trained you for so many years only for you to back away from a fight when the chips are down. You will damn well fight all four of them.’
‘Not at the same time.’
‘At the same time. And no arguments.’
‘They’ll kill me. I’m too young to die. I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet.’
‘I’m not in the mood for jokes, young man. You are a Kshatriya. Your dharma is to fight. And fight you will.’
‘And what if I say no?’ Arjun knew he was pushing it, but the alternative was to go up against the four most competent warriors in the Gurukul.
‘Then you will have to fight five of us, not four. I’ll join them. Do you want that?’
Arjun knew when he was defeated. He knew that Virendra was probably equal to all four of his current opponents. And Virendra would be as good as his word. Arjun didn’t want to end up fighting the equivalent of eight supreme warriors. A sullen look crossed his face.
‘Here,’ Virendra opened the metal case. ‘You are all going to be wearing armour. And the swords will be blunt. You aren’t going to die. The worst that will happen is that you will get some pretty bad bruises.’ He grinned wickedly. ‘You’ve got to learn someday.’
Arjun rolled his eyes.
‘Don’t you roll your eyes at me, young man,’ Virendra said sharply.
Varun and Tanveer hid broad grins, which only increased Arjun’s irritation.
Virendra’s face grew serious. ‘Let me explain, Arjun. You haven’t seen the worst of it yet. Those creatures you fought the other night were bumbling buffoons compared to what we may be up against. The day you come up against the Vikritis , you will know. They are deadly and have no compunctions. No morals or ethics while fighting. Everything goes. I will tell you more about them someday. For now, all you need to know is that you have to be prepared for them. And your preparation starts today. And don’t forget, we don’t know what Shukra has in store for us. We need to be prepared for the worst.’
Arjun had no clue what Virendra was going on about. All he knew was that he didn’t have a choice. He was going kamikaze and he could do nothing about it.
He began donning the pieces of armour that were packed in the suitcase.
Chapter Sixty-two
Combat Practice
The Kshatriya Practice Field
The Gurukul
Arjun hefted his sword and stretched and wiggled to adjust his body armour. It wasn’t very comfortable, but Virendra had told him that he would get used to it after a few sessions.
‘Everyone does,’ Virendra had assured Arjun. ‘And the armour is strong but light and flexible. It is designed to enable even older Kshatriyas to fight should the need arise.’
At least Virendra had been right about the weight of the armour. Arjun marvelled at its lightness; it didn’t seem to slow him down and, despite his fears, didn’t restrict his movements at all.
His four opponents for the combat session were positioned randomly at four points around him. But Arjun knew that they would begin moving around as soon as the session began.
Strangely, though, they were all unarmed. Tanveer’s bow and quiver were missing, as were the swords of the other three. Arjun wondered where their weapons were. They had all marched onto the field carrying only the cases in which the armour was packed.
Were they going to fight him with their bare hands?
He frowned. That didn’t seem quite right.
It didn’t matter. He had to take advantage of the situation.
He decided to make the first move. Quickly sizing up his adversaries, he decided that Amba was the one he should take out first. She was the nimblest and the fastest of the four, with a fearsome reputation for out-battling most of the male Kshatriyas on campus, making up in speed and technique for the brute strength that Parth and Varun had.
He would go for Parth next, followed by Varun, leaving Tanveer for the end. The archer, while dangerous with a bow in his hand, was no danger for him at the moment, since he was weaponless.
Arjun charged towards Amba, brandishing his sword. To his great surprise, she met his charge head on, sprinting towards him with a grace and speed that h
e didn’t believe was possible.
But that was not the only surprise in store for Arjun.
When the two were barely five feet away from each other, Amba reached out into empty space and, magically, a sword appeared in her hand.
Arjun was taken aback. Where did that sword come from? It had materialized out of thin air!
A quick glance around and he saw that his other three opponents were also closing in on him and they, too, were armed now.
What had happened? Where had their weapons appeared from? His mind boggled, Arjun strained to keep his focus.
Before he knew it, Amba was upon him, attacking him with a level of swordplay that he had only been told about by Virendra during their practice sessions. She was lightning quick and it was all he could do to fend her off. Attack was out of the question.
Arjun realized his mistake. He had underestimated his opponents. He felt thoroughly under prepared.
Now, armed with his bow and arrows, Tanveer was the most dangerous of the four — he didn’t even need to get close to Arjun to strike him.
Arjun thought swiftly, while parrying Amba’s blows. She was quick and her technique was much superior to his own, but her sword strokes — while deadly — depended on agility and skill rather than strength.
He quickly decided on a new strategy. It was now or never. If he delayed any further, Tanveer would strike, and the session would be over.
Arjun angled to Amba’s right so that Tanveer came into view from the corner of his eye. The archer was fitting an arrow to his longbow. Arjun had just seconds to execute his plan, and Varun was also now dangerously close. Where was Parth? Never mind. He would tackle that problem as soon as he got rid of the immediate one.
He had to time this well.
He heard the twang of the bowstring as Tanveer shot his arrow.
Several things happened in the milliseconds after the arrow left the bow.
The years of training with Virendra kicked in. It was almost as if Arjun was on auto pilot, defending himself against Amba, using the swordplay techniques that had, over the years, become part of his subconscious. He focused on the arrow that had just been released from behind him. It would strike him in microseconds.
‘Udnayate !’ he intoned softly, simultaneously jumping up and somersaulting in mid-air. The power of the mantra reinforced the action of his muscles, lifting him higher than he could have jumped on his own, until he was turning in mid-air above Amba’s head, just as the arrow sailed past underneath him, striking Amba in the chest.
The momentum of the arrow lifted Amba off her feet and propelled her backwards as she fell heavily to the ground. She lay there, supine. The arrow tips were blunt and the armour would have protected her from harm, but she was out of the combat session for now.
One opponent down.
As his feet touched the ground, Arjun raced towards Tanveer. He had to take the archer out before he could shoot again.
Tanveer was already fitting a second arrow to his bow.
Varun was two feet away.
Where was Parth?
‘Vegita Vriddhi! ’ A powerful, invisible, force suddenly gave additional strength to Arjun’s muscles as he uttered the mantra, exponentially increasing his speed as he raced towards Tanveer.
Arjun reached Tanveer just as the archer let loose his second arrow.
It was too late to escape the arrow now. Instead of using a mantra, Arjun leveraged his own momentum, sharply tilting to the left, skidding as he tried to duck the arrow instead of trying to jump over it as he had done the first time.
He wasn’t successful. Even as he went down, losing his balance in the process, the arrow struck his right shoulder and bounced off the armour harmlessly.
Arjun grimaced. He wasn’t hurt. But the impact of the arrow would leave a painful bruise.
And the damage was done. Arjun hit the ground heavily, crashing into Tanveer who also went down.
Arjun recovered first, springing to his feet, planting his sword on Tanveer’s armour.
Two down.
But the fall had robbed him of time. He felt a hard blow across his back.
Varun had caught up, no doubt using the same mantra for speed, and was now attacking him.
Arjun turned around swiftly and defended himself. The two boys were locked in combat for a few moments, thrusting and parrying, landing powerful strokes on each other’s armours. In a real battle with swords that had not been blunted, both would have been wounded or worse. Even now, the blows would hurt and leave bruises.
Varun was strong, his blows potent and well-aimed, and Arjun struggled to get the upper hand.
Suddenly, there was movement at his side and Arjun saw Parth descend to the ground.
Had he been in the air? How . . . ?
Now Arjun had two men to fight, both accomplished swordsmen. But he had only one sword.
The sound of swords clashing filled the air as the three Kshatriyas fought fiercely, Arjun switching his attention from Parth to Varun and back, trying his best to focus on both his opponents, ensuring that he didn’t make any mistakes that would allow them to prevail over him.
Suddenly, Parth disappeared again.
Arjun was bewildered. What on earth was happening?
He attacked Varun with renewed vigour, driving his dorm-mate back with the ferocity of his blows.
Without warning, Arjun felt a stinging knock on his helmet from behind him, jarring his brains despite the protective armour absorbing the shock of the blow from the blunt sword.
He groaned. Parth!
It was a signal that the combat was over. Arjun had been ‘killed’ in battle. The blow to the head was a fatal one.
Arjun turned to see Parth standing behind him, helmet in hand, grinning.
Virendra strode up to them, clapping, as Amba and Tanveer rose from their supine positions and joined the others.
‘Well done, Arjun,’ Amba said warmly. ‘Those were some good moves. And you put the mantras to good use, considering that you have had less than a week to practise.’
‘Yes, well fought,’ Parth agreed. ‘Considering this was your first multi-player combat session, you were very impressive.’
Arjun bowed in acknowledgement and waited for Virendra’s comments.
‘You were good,’ Virendra said. ‘All the years of training showed up in your moves today.’
‘But I got killed in the end,’ Arjun said, looking dejected.
‘Don’t worry about that too much,’ Virendra told him. ‘You can’t be perfect with just a week’s practice. Remember that there is no Kshatriya in the Gana, as yet, who has excelled at multi-player combat. You need to work on the areas where you made mistakes, both strategic and tactical. We’ll work on them together. With enough practice, a day will come when you will defeat the same four opponents who overcame you today. I know it will.’
Chapter Sixty-three
More Secrets
The Kshatriya Practice Field
The Gurukul
‘So you see,’ Virendra concluded, ‘the two key pieces that were missing from your strategy pertained to your inability to expect the unexpected. Your assumptions didn’t factor in the uncertainties of battle. If you had not assumed that your opponents were unarmed, you would have approached the battle differently. And if you had been able to keep an eye on Parth, you would have been better placed to counter his attack at the end. You underestimated your opponents; which, in turn, lowered your own performance and your ability to respond appropriately to the challenges you faced. Let that be the biggest lesson for you today.’
For the last hour, Virendra had been pointing out the weaknesses in Arjun’s strategy and tactics during the combat and explaining how he could have done better. The two Mahamatis had left the field along with Varun and Tanveer immediately after the combat session concluded.
Arjun had listened attentively, realizing, for the first time, the importance of this training. The implications of his position were beginning to sin
k in. These were no longer sporting games — good exercise and fun to do. At home, at the end of each sparring or training session with his uncle, he would simply wash away the sweat from the sessions with a good shower. It didn’t matter whether he did well or not, whether he won or lost the bout. Once the session was over Arjun would move on to other things that mattered—his schoolwork, tests and friends.
Things were no longer the same. Today it had finally dawned on him that his uncle had not spent the last six years in futile games. Unknown to Arjun, Virendra had been preparing him for this day; when he would slip into the shoes that his father had left behind. The scion of Yayati, leader of the Kshatriyas. These were not mere words. They were going to define his life from hereon.
And the combat session had driven home the realization that he was not yet ready for this role. If today’s combat had been a real battle, he would have been dead. If there were warriors on Shukra’s side who were even a tenth as accomplished as the four Kshatriyas he had faced today, it would be enough. If he was to be a leader like his father, he knew that he would have to prove himself to be worthy of that role, of that title.
Of his bloodline.
And he was determined to prove his mettle. So he listened carefully, taking notes where required, his burning desire to master the destiny that had been thrust upon him honing his focus to a fine point, so that no distraction could affect him.
But he wanted answers to his questions. His entire strategy for the practice session had depended on the two mysteries that had foxed him and caught him off guard. Arjun knew it was not by accident that he had been placed in the situation in which he had found himself during the combat. And he knew that his uncle had the answers to his questions.
‘Now let’s tackle the two big questions that have been on your mind,’ Virendra smiled at him, as they sat in the shade of the trees that lined the boundary of the Kshatriya practice field that ran parallel to the river. ‘Your first question is about the weapons of your opponents, isn’t it?’
Son of Bhrigu Page 21
