En Garde

“We have to hurry,” King Hinata said. “After all, there’s not much time for you.”

The king walked the same way he talked: clumsily and off-beat, in a manner that showed he didn’t care much for the perceptions others had of him. It made it difficult walking behind him, since I spent most of my brain power trying to predict where he was going and trying to keep the right rhythm. And cuz of how distracted I was, I kept tripping over the ostentatious rugs that were strewn throughout the halls, even with the pre-noon sunlight streaming through the windows.

The king looked back with a scornful eye.

“Careful now,” he said. “We need you in one piece to defeat the Demon King. Watch where you’re going.” And he turned back without so much as a care in the world.

I gritted my teeth and nodded. Once again, he was right, as much as it kept hurting to admit that. And the last thing I needed to disrupt my health was a swift chop to the neck (again). That bastard Peter was still following me, making sure I didn’t do anything funny. His ragged breathing and careless stomping was starting to get on my nerves.

I followed through the winding halls, up and down various stairwells, always ignoring the bland, blank bricks encasing us. They seemed extra bland today. Empty. Void of something.

Not that it mattered. King Hinata stopped in front of a doorway, shoved it open, and shuffled inside. Peter and I did the same. This room was also stone, but stone hewn more roughly. The unpolished, coarse surfaces exposed small minerals that glittered in the sun. We were standing in some sort of arena configuration. The room was broad and circular, with a relatively low, domed ceiling. At the very center of that doom there was no roof; it formed an organic spotlight in the middle of the room, wide enough to fit three people doing a jig or something. 

The spotlight made me notice the ring-like patterns on the ground. The floor was covered in concentric circles, maybe half a meter apart, except for the center, forming a circular stone platform. Again, outlined by that natural spotlight.

“This is the training room,” King Hinata said. He gestured to the many weapons which hung on the round walls. Swords, axes, spears, and a whole lot of shit I didn’t know the name of. “In due time, you will be as fine a warrior as our captain of the guard. Which weapon would you like to master?”
I scratched my chin, examining the various pointy metal objects on display, before remembering something.

“Do I need a weapon?” I asked.

King Hinata raised an eyebrow.

“Are you suggesting that you will kill the Demon King... empty-handed?”

“No, Your Majesty, I meant do I need a new one? Cuz I already have a weapon.”

The king blinked. “Oh, of course. You already have a class assignment. Sorry, I forgot about that. We must have taken that weapon when we, um, kidnapped you two. And your class is…?”

“Sorcerer.”

The king blinked again. “Sorcerer?”

“Mhm.”

“What level are you?”

“Uh, one. Your Majesty.”

There must have been pollen in the air because the king blinked again.

“You travelled all the way from Tyro Town to Lumino City and into the Lone Pines without leveling up? At all?”

I shook my head. King Hinata was showing an emotion other than disdain and smugness: genuine shock.

“But that’s absurd. Peter leveled up twice simply by following you two on your journey. What, did you flee from every random encounter?”

Peter, standing off to the side, grunted in confirmation. Or maybe gloating, I wasn’t sure.

I shook my head again. “I’ve only had one random encounter being here, and that was when I first landed here. Every other time, even when trying to start a fight, they’re the ones running away from me.” It was embarrassing to admit that out loud, but at least I got one hell of a reaction from this royal douchebag.

“Wow,” the king said. “I must say, I’m impressed. I never even knew that was possible.” He then dragged his feet to the closest rack, picked up a sword, and tossed it my way. In His Majesty’s ever-so benevolent caution, he chucked it at me straightly, forgetting that one end of a sword is nice and the other is not. I ducked as the blade went past me, clattering against the wall. I looked at the fallen blade in shock, then glared at the king. He wasn’t even looking at me. He was going back to the rack to find his own sword.

For Chouji, I thought. You’re doing this for Chouji.

I bent down, grabbed the sword, and made my way to the center. 

“Since you are so inexperienced with magic,” King Hinata said, “we might as well start you over with a more practical weapon. Even if you were a decent sorcerer, three days is not nearly enough time to learn spells powerful enough to get the job done.”

I twirled my sword in hand. “But I can with swords?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Monsters are surprisingly easy to kill here. You would know that if you had selected a melee class instead of a magic one. Perhaps you would have leveled up by now too.” He shuffled up to the center. “Besides, my army will assist you in battle for the most part. I wouldn’t want such a burden to fall solely on your shoulders. Now get in the ring.”

King Hinata raised his chosen sword, which reflected the rays of the sun. It almost made this dreary stone interior look like a disco.

I glanced around the room to see if anybody else had joined us. “Who’s tutoring me?” I asked.

“I am.”

I paused, expecting one of his stupid smiles. Nothing.

“Shouldn’t I get a little guidance beforehand? I’ve never used a sword before.”

“The best way to learn is by doing,” he said.

I drank in the image of him holding that sword. His foot stance was wack. His wrists were wack. His outfit was wack. Just with a glance, my worst fears were confirmed.

This guy had no idea how to fight.

Since I was a total noob (as Gina would say) at swordplay, I used my previous experiences to my advantage. As I stepped into the proverbial ring, I gripped the sword with both hands and swung it back near my ear like a baseball bat. Not even one more step in, the king was freaking out.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Stop stop stop!” His voice was the most loud and shrill I had ever heard it. Peter rushed to his liege’s side, fists bunched and ready to tussle. I thought there was a seagull that got trapped in this stone chamber. Naturally, I did stop. I dropped the sword so that I could cover my damn ears. 

King Hinata pointed at me like he was accusing me of a crime. “Don’t do that! You could seriously hurt me! There’s a turn-order you fool, and the king always goes first! Do you wish to be thrown into the guillotine? Or the stocks? Or the guillotine-stocks?”

Once I could tell he was no long shrieking I slowly removed my hands from my ears, but kept them up in a defensive position.

“Well, we’re supposed to be training aren’t we? Getting hurt is the point.”

I swear to God this fully grown adult man was stomping his foot into the ground.

“No no no no no! We’re supposed to use these swords like civilized warriors, not barbarians! Didn’t anybody teach you how to properly engage in turn-based combat here?”

Memories of my arrival flooded my mind. The waiting on the phone. The incident with the “elves.” The encounter with my first and only friend here. It made my eyes prickle. 

“Not really.”

The king sighed. “Alright, I’ll show you then. Brace yourself.”

Before I could say “For what?” he swung his sword at me. It wasn’t the trained, precision slash of a samurai or knight. It was closer to a mechanical guard arm in front of a toll booth, preventing a car from passing. A downward swipe, not a slash.

Yet an arc of light flew from the sword’s tip. It hit my chest before I had a chance to dodge, leaving me with an icy-hot stinging that made me yelp.

“See? That’s how you deal damage. With finesse.” He swung his sword around like a deranged lunatic. “When I swing the sword like this, nothing happens. People run with swords all the time, it isn’t movement-based. You have to activate it in a certain way. Now you try it.”

My stance remained the same, but I readjusted my grip so my hands were farther apart. One near the hilt, one on the pommel. (The king very kindly also taught me about the parts of the sword.) And instead of cocking back my arms like swinging a baseball bat, I held them overhead, like I was about to smash a watermelon on a summer beach. I brought my arms down in a far more controlled manner, focusing my intent on the blade itself.

A golden arc flew from the blade’s end. I watched it soar through the air, hurtling toward the king. The golden light illuminated his fearful expression, as he side-stepped, letting the energy pass him. His side-step must have been magic-fueled, as it left blue afterimages in his wake. The energy of the slash continued to the wall behind him, beheading a few spears unfortunate enough to be in its path and cutting into the stone itself. The spearheads rattled to the floor.

“How was that?” I asked.

The king and Peter slowly turned their heads towards me.

“Not bad,” the king whispered.