Ойкумена / Oikumena: Глава 21

Chapter 21. "And the secret was revealed."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 16:52

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Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 16:47

The concept of regular days off did not exist in the Ekumene, but there were many holidays, including the obligatory celebration of the sixty-six Attributes of the Creator, one for each week. Therefore, in one way or another, there was a non-working day in the five-day week [1]. It was not easy to get used to such a schedule, as well as to keep in mind the "floating" weekends. However, Elena coped. So, today was a day off, the last day before the start of the great Tournament. The best fighters of the world would fight in the arena of the Hippodrome to find out who had the truth and power - the One or the Two.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 16:54

In fact, a normal tournament was not much different from an earthly one. The armor was different, the people were different, but the essence was the same. Training in horse and pike combat plus entertainment for the nobility, usually in groups, party on party. The Tournament of Faith was held under completely different rules. Warriors could be anyone, origin and wealth didn't matter. Fighters went one-on-one, only on foot, demonstrating not the cost of a horse and reliability of armor against a spear, but personal mastery of weapons. Killing an opponent was discouraged, but occurred regularly. In addition, according to long-standing custom, battles were held in the evening, after sunset, with magical light provided by the entire magical guild. So the Tournament (judging by the stories) was the closest thing to Earth Elena's idea of a violent sport.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 16:56

She was very interested in the upcoming event as an opportunity to see the fencing art of the best of the best. That's why Flessa's suggestion was very appropriate. But the great Tournament loomed somewhere in the future, even if not far away, and the training at the Drafter's was here and now. And it was very painful.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 16:57

"One-two-three! One-two-three!" the fencer indicated the beat and rhythm. "You see the attack, you defend, you strike back!"

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:12

The draftsman knew many different techniques and enjoyed shuffling them around. All of them were unpleasant and painful, imparting the science of the High Art most shortly and clearly possible - through the apprentice's sore ass. Elena had gotten a hard stick, a flexible stick, and even a whip. But exercises "with fire" were the worst of all, and she sincerely, deeply hated them.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:13

"One - strike! And defense."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:14

Draftsman's hand clutched a scented torch like a baton. The tip of it glowed with a scarlet coal, emitting a spicy smoke. Usually, cedar [2] beams were used to spread a pleasant odor at bedtime, to ward off bad dreams, and to cure the respiratory system. But Draftsman used their other property: long and steady burning.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:15

Elena dodged Draftsman's lunge with a practiced movement. Her bare forearms were already sore and itchy from tiny cigarette-like burns. They didn't threaten her health, but they were painful, and they left scars that looked like smallpox marks. It was a good thing that short sleeves were not worn in public in Ecumene.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 19:35

"Three - counterplay!"

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:49

Elena was tired, her movements slowing, seeming to drag as if she were in a muddle. Draftsman parried her awkward lunge with a squeamish curl of his lips and did not fail to leave a new mark. The woman hissed, suppressing the urge to clutch at the new burn to cover it. Elena had learned by experience and knew it would be a good reason to burn her palm to keep her focused.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:50

"One more time!" Draftsman commanded.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:51

Elena gritted her teeth. The teacher and student spun again inside the figure on the stone floor. Clutching a wooden dagger in her left hand, Elena mechanically moved her feet and "played" for three steps, thinking bitterly that she would need gloves with long cuffs in time. Another year of such lessons and her hands would be disfigured like those of a smallpox patient.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:53

"One! Two! Three!"

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:15

The ray stung at the joint, mimicking a slashing blow to her fingers. Elena held the blade in place only because of the noose. Instinctively, angrily, she responded with a full arm's length sting - and, of course, was immediately punished. Draftsman didn't even bother to step back. He let the dagger past him, turning on the spot, then simultaneously struck her arm from top to bottom and hooked her supporting leg.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:54

The apprentice lost her balance but immediately turned the fall into a controlled somersault. She rolled over her shoulder and got up, but Draftsman was already at her side, bringing his hand up. The master intercepted the stick by the middle and prepared to fake a "breaking" blow from top to bottom with a reverse grip. "Breaking" - because it was considered one of the strongest, it could pierce any clothes and even chain mail, and when delivered with a training blade, it could easily break a collarbone.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:56

On reflexes, Elena dodged this blow and attacked in turn, trying to "cut" Draftsman's face from the bottom upwards. Master leaned back, letting the wooden blade pass by, and at the same time, he snatched a real dagger from behind his belt with his free hand. Helena didn't even have a thought of "unfair," she continued to act in a practiced manner like an automaton strictly programmed to fight.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:57

The knife fights were usually at such speeds that there was no time to be frightened. After a year of apprenticeship, Elena understood well why Figueredo considered uncompromising dagger slashing the quintessence of skill. A long blade, being heavier, slower, with more room to maneuver, could forgive a mistake. A dagger could not.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:16

The opponents froze against each other in a left-handed stance, swaying slightly on springy legs. The draughtsman took the baton aside as if preparing to embrace his student with his right hand. Then he lightly struck his blade on Elena's wooden dagger, once more, as if offering to appreciate the pure ringing of quality steel. On the third, he threw a beam in his pupil's face, circled her weapon with his own, and interlocked the blades. He twisted the training projectile out of her hand like a lever and then finished the bunch with a poke of the hilt from bottom to top into her chin.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 21:58

Elena staggered and backed up a step. Her burns ached, her hand ached, and her jaw ached, though less than anything else. Her ego was hurting, too.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:17

"Mediocre," said Draftsman. That was the word he used most often when assessing Elena's fighting skills. It was progress, though; he'd used it more forcefully before.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:18

"Mediocre. Still a little better than before."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:20

Elena thought she had a hearing problem.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:20

"What?"

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:17

"You got someone to practice with?"

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:27

"Y-yes."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:27

"It's the right thing to do. The skills came right away. You should have looked earlier."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:28

"But..."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:28

Elena wanted to throw bitter accusations at her mentor and faltered. Figueredo looked at her shrewdly and said:

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:28

"One who waits for death truly asks oneself only one question - how best to prepare oneself for the imminent? One thinks about it every day, every hour, and every minute. And if one does not, it means that the fighter is not ready yet, and it is useless to advise one."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:30

The fencer coughed, rubbing his chest at the solar plexus, wrinkling his nose.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:30

"Fighting with only one person is cramping, restricting knowledge. If you haven't realized that skill should be honed with different fighters, always looking for the unexpected, then it's not time yet."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:31

He grinned crookedly, looking at his student's grim face.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:31

"I give knowledge, holding nothing back. But I do not make you a warrior. That is your concern. Though..." Draftsman's smile grew even wider and more crooked. "I really don't. If I hadn't given the messer and not warned you about the summons, you'd be lying in the common pit in the Northern Cemetery right now. So I'm being fabulously kind. Is there any other master as generous? I'm not sure."

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:33

Elena lowered her head. There was nothing to say.

Camrad_RIP 06.01.24 в 17:33

"Will you help me pick up the sword?" she asked without looking up. "Or sell that messer. It came in handy."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:00

"No," Draftsman replied indifferently. "These are my blades. A teacher may bestow a weapon on a student, but only in special circumstances. You are not worthy of such a gift. Not yet, anyway. A hungry man doesn't wait for the universe to feed him. He forages for food. The sick brews his own potions. A freezing man gathers firewood and takes a firebrand. If you think danger is near, look for weapons."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:01

Elena gritted her teeth ... and relaxed.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:01

"Thanks for the teaching," she nodded. "I made a lot of mistakes."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:02

The woman looked directly into her mentor's eyes. Draftsman waited silently, seemingly with genuine interest.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:02

"I feel like I've been living in a dream without waking up," Elena suddenly blurted out. "Doing things that needed to be done without thinking about their meaning. Somewhere when I saw that that's what I needed to do."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:03

Why is she saying that? And who is she saying it to? To a sick sadist who broke her arm just for momentary amusement, who despises her as a woman, and a useless student who will never bring glory to her mentor? Elena looked into the eyes of the old fencer and realized that it was to Draftsman that she could say everything she was thinking right now. No one else. Some would not understand, and others would ignore.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:05

"If you're waiting for death, you have to find a teacher. If you practice long enough, the rest will come. A master, before giving knowledge, must say something meaningful and serious. That is the ritual."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:18

She was no longer so much speaking as thinking aloud, trying to arrange the considerations into boxes of awareness.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:18

"I hadn't thought about what life and death really are. What Grande Art is. I think it's only now that I'm beginning to understand something."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:19

She was silent for a moment.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:19

"Thank you, Master."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:19

Elena bowed without subservience but with respect.

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:20

"Thanks for the science."

Camrad_RIP 07.01.24 в 22:20