Kingdom of Rust Chapter 38

Clack! Clack! Clack!

“Good job, Laris,” I said as I ducked his next strike. “You’ve improved quite a bit these last few months.”

“Still not enough,” he panted, “I still can’t hit you.”

I laughed, “well, that’s because I improved as well.”

It was true, the flighty man that he had been when I first came to the tower was gone. He had driven himself to improve after losing Matteos in that horrible mission to stop the Father-tainted monsters from spreading.

Our mission was an eventual success but not without the cost of a friend and acquaintance as well as our innocence. While the pain had lessened over the last few months, we all still bore the mental and physical scars of what happened.

I ducked another strike of Laris’ training sword and spotted an opening. I had warned him about this one repeatedly so taking advantage of it to strike back was only proper.

“Oof!” Laris grunted as I jabbed the blunt tip of my sword right below his rib. He dropped to the ground and groaned. “I left myself open again didn’t I?”

I offered my hand to pick him up, “You did. Remember to position yourself side on to your attacker if possible. You make yourself a smaller target.”

Laris rubbed the spot below his ribs and winced, “I think that’s enough for me today. That last hit is gonna leave a nasty bruise.”

“Probably for the best, I want to wash up before supper anyway. I heard Master Mgumba has an announcement for us.”

“Oh?” Laris asked, straightening. “Where did you hear this?”

“He came into the library earlier and told me. Perhaps if you spent more time in the library, you might learn a thing or two as well,” I said with a grin.

“Ha…ha. Did he say what it was about?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be standing here wondering, I would have already told ya.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you at dinner then.”

I nodded as the man walked off. Laris was the only one that had kept on with my training after reaching an acceptable level of swordsmanship. Something along the lines of where I was before I met Holton. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to continue but weren’t able to. I had spoken to Rebeka and Quimby separately about it. Neither one had any real fluency with a sword. They could swing one around without harming themselves in an emergency but when we moved to the more advanced footwork and movements, they just didn’t have the mindset for it.

Quimby wasn’t a surprise, he had a form of Terrani gift like Master Mgumba and I noticed a Chosen’s personality was a reflection of their gift to some extent. Rebeka’s lack of skill was a bit surprising though, her Aquon gift should give her flowing movement and she moved very fluidly. But when it came to the precise movements I was trying to teach, she wasn’t quite able to pull them off. Both agreed that they were not progressing using my style of combat and decided their time would be better spent practicing their gifts.

They still came in and sparred once a month but that was only to keep their skills fresh. Thea also came around when she wasn’t on missions and she was getting better as well. She was more adept at compensating for the movements than Rebeka was. I chalked it up to her years of experience. I didn’t know how far her skills went but I knew she was a terror on the battlefield according to Laris.

After quickly cleaning up and putting on some fresh clothes, I headed down to the dining room to join the others. I was a bit early so it was a surprise to see three new faces sitting on the initiate's side of the table.

I took a seat next to a thin-looking man, he only glanced my way and I heard him give a quiet disdainful sniff. Guess we weren’t going to get along.

Soon others walked into the room taking their seats. Laris plopped down next to me and whispered into my ear. “Who are they?”

I just shrugged, deciding it was rude to speak ill of people I didn’t know.

I nodded to Master Thea and Master Estos as they entered and took their seats across from us. Rebeka and Quimby came in next with Master Mgumba right behind them.

As soon as Master Mgumba took his seat, the staff brought plates of food and drinks out. The food was never very rich or indulgent but it was filling and that was all that mattered. Everyone quietly ate and Master Mgumba waited until the plates were cleared away before speaking.

“I have a few announcements to make before you all head off about your duties. First, I would like to introduce three new initiates. Faith, Vardis, and Clemen.” Master didn’t say it but I could tell from his voice that he wasn’t happy these three were here.

It also seemed like the initiates weren’t happy about the arrangement either as they bristled at something.

Master Mgumba ignored them as he continued. “On another note, I would like to ask Rebeka and Quimby to stand.”

Both rose, confusion etched on their faces.

“You have both shown great improvement over the last few years and a strong dedication to your studies. A decision has been made to move you from initiate status to master in training. Please take your seat on the other side,” Master Mgumba motioned with his arm.

Laris and I clapped, happy for our friends.

“Now, Laris…” Laris winced as Master Mgumba addressed him. “Apply yourself more with your studies and you could soon join them.”

Laris nodded, looking a bit defeated as he shrank in his chair.

“Before you go, there is one last thing,” Master interrupted as everyone began to rise. “Bakus, a letter arrived for you today. It was simply addressed ‘Teacher’.”

I groaned at that news, that meant Holton Aloo had finally finished recovering from his injuries and I needed to train with him again per our agreement. I waited around until everyone else left the dining room before speaking with Master Mgumba.

He pulled the wax-sealed envelope out from his robe and handed it to me.

“Can’t we just burn it and pretend it never arrived?” I asked, looking at the letter like it was a poisonous snake waiting to strike.

“As amusing as that sounds, we made a deal and I honor my deals. Do not worry overly much. I am sending Master Thea with you when you go to train. That should keep Master Holton in line.”

With a sigh, I took the letter and opened it.

There was a town name and a date and that was it. It seemed like a colossal waste of time and effort to deliver these few words. Of course, I recognized the name of the town. Bershal was where I was summarily embarrassed by the town guards and also where that Navae woman told me she lived. So at least I could look into that while I was up there. But why so far away, shouldn’t he meet us halfway? It would take four days just to ride there. With the travel distance, that meant I was out a week, probably two every month.

I decided to ask Master Mgumba. “Wouldn’t it be better if Holton met me closer to the Tower’s territory?”

“I’m sure it would be but we had no correspondence until now and we forgot that little detail when we struck our deal. It will be fine though, just don’t cause any trouble in their territory and I will ask Thea to have a word with Holton about moving the location closer.”

A quiet sigh escaped from me as I decided to change the subject. “Mgumba, can I ask you something?”

“You can always ask me anything, doesn’t mean I will answer but I will at least listen,” he responded with a small smile.

“Those new initiates… they don’t seem too happy to be here and you didn’t seem too happy to have them here.”

“Quite perceptive. And no, I don’t want them here.”

“Um, may I ask why?”

Master grunted, “I won’t get into the specifics but suffice it to say that they are fake Chosen.”

“Fake Chosen!” I exclaimed in shock. “Then why are they here?”

“It is a ploy by the nobility to get their own people within our organization. They try schemes like this all the time, but I don’t think I have seen them go this far in ages.”

“Wait, so this isn’t the first time they have tried something like this? Why even humor them then?” I asked in confusion.

Master Mgumba chuckled. “There is an old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. This way I know what they are up to instead of having to wonder what the nobility is scheming in the dark. I doubt they will last long but until they do something to get kicked out, we are required to house and train any Chosen found within our territory. That doesn’t mean we have to be diligent in those training methods. Then again, we could be even more diligent if you get my meaning.”

I nodded. If Master wanted me to train these initiates as Holton trained me, it was likely they wouldn’t last long. “What about Laris’ training? Won’t it look odd if I’m not training him as diligently?”

“Chalk it up to him already having surpassed your grueling regiment. I will speak with him privately this evening and let him know. It will also be an opportunity for me to coach him on his studies. He is more than ready to move up from initiate, yet he squanders his time. But enough of that, I believe you have some packing to do and some fresh faces to enlighten.”

After Master Mgumba excused me, I went to my room. The date on the letter was for a week from now so I didn’t have much time before I would be required to leave on the long trip north. It was getting into late fall so I would need to get some warmer clothing for the trip. Instead of heading to my room, I sought out the tailor. The man did other chores around the manor but I always referred to him as the tailor. His name was Heinrich and when I came to his room, I knocked.

“Come in,” a reply came soon after.

“Good evening, Heinrich,” I said as I entered his living quarters slash workshop.

“Ah, initiate Bakus, what can I do for you this evening?”

“Master Thea and I are heading off on a mission to the North and we will need some warmer clothing.”

“Ah yes, your training with Holton Aloo.”

“Wait, how did you know about that?”

The man chuckled. “You don’t think the staff is blind and dumb, do you?”

“No,” I exclaimed, looking mortified.

The man laughed again, “good because we know everything that’s going on in the manor. How else can we keep it safe? As for your clothing. I can have simple jackets made in a day for you and Thea. You won’t need anything more than that due to your Chosen constitution. But if you want a hat, there is a box over there with a few knitted wool or cotton hats. As you can imagine, they aren’t very popular in our warm climate but I keep them around just in case.”

I walked over to the box he gestured to and pulled it off the shelf. The wooden box was indeed stuffed with hats meant to fit snuggly against your head. I decided on a cotton one over the wool because I didn’t think it would be cold enough for that. I made sure it fit snuggly on my shaved head before taking it off again.

“Do you need any measurements from me?” I asked.

“No,” Heinrich shook his head, “I have them from your initial fitting,” he said tapping his skull.

Seeing as my clothes still fit fine, I figured he was fine to use the old measurements. I hadn’t bulked up or grown all that much over the last few months. If anything I may have slimmed down a bit after my transformation during the mission to stop the Father’s spawn from wreaking havoc.

Next came training with the new people. I met them in the training yard and quirked an eyebrow when I saw all three standing and waiting with sword and shield in hand. As someone who had trained with a sword for years, I could tell these three had previous training. It was as clear as day when you looked at how they held the weapon, and how they stood. This might be more fun than I thought. A small smirk reminiscent of Holton’s appeared on my face. When I realized this fact, I wiped it away with a scowl.

Vardis seemed to be the “leader” of the trio and he was the first to step up and challenge me.

“Very well, the rules are simple. No use of powers, you win or lose when you take what would be a lethal blow. Any questions?” I asked as I retrieved a practice sword and buckler of my own.

I heard Vardis spit in the dirt before he spoke up. “You afraid of our powers, what sort of half-assed tutor are you? Not even a Master, but just another initiate.”

“You got me there, I’m not a master but I try my best to help out. Tell you what, you want to use powers, I’ll allow it.” It was dangerous, more for me than them but I had faith that I could manage.

Vardis smiled cruelly and I just gave a slight nod. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Less than three seconds later, Vardis was laying on the ground coughing up blood. I may have put a bit too much force behind the rock I propelled into his gut but the man hadn’t held anything back. Three thin spears of metal about the length of a hand had come rocketing toward me. Thankfully, I just redirected their trajectory and everything was ok, but the man had just attempted to kill me. I’m sure he would come up with some excuse like it was a mistake or something. He would need to be watched carefully. Manipulation of metal was rare and not something some lowly peasant would ever get any use out of. The fact that he had three steel needles said a lot about his backing.

As for the other two, they waived using abilities when they saw me handily tear apart their leader. It didn’t help them last much longer though. They were skilled with a blade, even a bit more than Rebeka or Quimby but I was pretty sure Laris could take them by himself now. Their style of fighting was different than my own but left a lot of openings that I exploited ruthlessly.

With a smile on my face, I left the three groaning in pain on the ground. At least something good came out of today.