Chapter 15 #2
The young brat huffed, turning off his saber and lowering it to his side. "This is the one I'm supposed to work with? How am I going to learn anything if he can barely keep his saber up?" the kid complained.
I checked the position of the sun. "We've been at it for at least four hours."
"So?" he asked, bouncing the saber against his shoulder, though it didn't burn him. Whatever we were using was some sort of practice version, the kind that were simply capable of connecting, and more often than not painfully so.
Normally, I’d be curious, but the exhaustion in my limbs heavily outweighed my natural curiosity at present.
"You desperately need to work on your stamina, Captain," Violet agreed, shaking her head at my efforts thus far.
I took a drink of water and stared at her. "Thank you for your concern." I emphasized the last word, unsure if that was the correct word to describe her attitude towards me.
One new fact I had learned about Violet was that she was not a gentle teacher. She stood with her arms crossed, glaring at me. "You're just not quite as capable as I expected." There was another barb; she was as prickly as a cactus in her teaching persona.
"It's not like I've spent extended time fighting with a saber before," I replied, and she tilted her head.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes, really. I'm sorry to say that before I boarded this ship, I wasn't particularly expecting much conflict in my life," I spat.
"There is always conflict," Violet said, and her young protégé—whose fur-tipped tails I was sorely tempted to pluck—snobbishly scoffed at me.
"There is always conflict, even more so for those of us who have a noble duty."
I had earlier let my heritage slip, telling him that I was a baron, hoping it would ease the burden placed on me.
That hope proved utterly and completely futile.
Both kikai took it as a personal mission to improve my combat capabilities, as if proficiency and then some was now a requirement of my station.
"Stamina is one of the first aspects of your fighting we should work on," Violet said.
"You can borrow my training sword," the brat said, handing me a sword that was far too small for my frame. As I grasped it, I realized it was most certainly a wooden sword with a metal insert. At least, that's what I assumed they used to make it heavier than it needed to be.
"Thank you," I said, plastering a smile onto my face.
"You are most welcome. It served me well in gaining my own stamina."
I stared at it for a second and shot a sideways glance towards Violet.
"We can probably get you something more suitable for your size. If we get something bigger, it'll be heavier, and the weight will be further from your center of gravity, meaning you'll feel that weight far more."
I scowled at the fact that a bigger size had nothing to do with actually fitting me proportionally.
It was because it would be heavier and train me further.
I pinched a smile at Violet. "No, I should start here.
That's where all kikai start, right?" I lifted the training sword, and Violet paused, tilting her head from side to side before nodding.
"I suppose that's an acceptable way to look at it. Though we should move you up to something bigger eventually," Violet argued.
"Agreed. Eventually," I said, having very little intention of training more than I needed to.
Though perhaps, holding the training sword in my hand, I reconsidered.
This could be useful the next time I picked up one of Gallicard's trainers for a little more physical exercise.
After all, everything I worked on with him was digitally generated.
"Now that you've rested, back at it." Violet pointed, arms crossed.
It had been less than a minute break after a thirty-minute session.
She had suggested I join the young kikai in his training.
Little did I know that meant getting walloped by a little brat for hours every day.
Still, I supposed it was fairly good training.
While Violet was an absolutely brutal taskmaster when it came to the saber, I had a suspicion it would all pay off eventually. At least, I hoped so.
I pulled the practice saber back out, flicked the beam on, and squared up against my opponent.
"When do you teach us to block blaster fire?" I asked. Blocking the blasters was one of the main reasons I had wanted to train.
The young kikai answered rather than Violet. "Oh, that's hard to do. You have to practically be a divine to do it reliably."
"A divine?" I asked.
He nodded. "Divines are kikai gods." The boy stuck his chin out proudly.
"Are they real?" I said, smirking at him.
"Of course," he said, not missing a beat. "They've led our race for generations."
"I didn't realize kikai had actual gods amongst their people," I teased him.
To my surprise, Violet watched impassively. On more than a few occasions, she had scolded the boy for flights of fancy.
"If they are such powerful beings, why doesn't the rest of the universe seem to know about them?" I asked.
He gasped and glanced at Violet for help.
"You picked this fight," she said quickly. "It's up to you to win it."
"Well, the divines are powerful kikai who have led us for generations. However, they abandoned us." He paused. "Before I was born."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Abandoned you?"
He nodded his head firmly. "They were real," he emphasized.
"If they are, or were, so powerful, what could have made them stop?" I pressed.
"Hubris," the young kikai said, as if it would be the downfall of many people. Though I supposed he wasn't wrong.
"Well, that's unfortunate. So they died for their hubris, and now what?" I asked.
"Now the kikai must learn to govern themselves without their help." The young kikai shook his head as if that was a particularly tall order.
Even if I believed there was some sort of powerful kikai out there, I didn't think that any godlike being would necessarily be that much better at governance than us mortals. Still, he lifted his chin in the air. "Our people are resilient and resourceful. Even with their absence, we will flourish."
I smiled at him. "That's a far better reaction than I'd hoped for from you."
"Well, we can't live our lives waiting for their return. And besides, for someone who's already abandoned us once, it would be almost cruel of us to still be waiting in hope for their return."
"I'm sure if they left, they did so for good reason, and not because they wanted to," I offered.
The kikai nodded along with my words. "I suppose in this we could find agreement. What do you think?" He pushed the onus onto me.
"I think there are many people in this world and others that would like people to worship them like gods, but I think very few people are truly worthy of such worship," I answered.
"Huh," the boy said, tilting his head. "Now I can see the noble blood in you."
"What does that mean, you brat?" I scowled.
"Just before, you weren't very eloquent. That statement at least brought out some sense of nobility in you." He turned his nose up and pulled his saber forward. "Now, if only you had half the swordplay to match it."
I growled at the young kikai and resumed our sparring, the sabers clashing in a rapid staccato.
Though as I fought, I couldn't help but notice that the madam who had hired us for this job had slipped up behind Violet.
The woman had a large smile on her face as she attempted to sneak up on my crewmate.
Given how much trouble she had put me through, I decided to let Violet discover her presence on her own.