Ойкумена / Oikumena: Глава 15

Chapter 15 STUDENT

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 20:12

* * *

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 20:15

The new day started with a string of good fortunes.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 20:15

For starters, the Barons of Lecuyer-Argreff left the town before dawn without any consequences for the healer who had offered to spit on centuries-old healing traditions. Elena still felt a little sorry for the unfortunate Dessol, but more symbolically, one might say abstractly. Much more emotion was given to the skinny understanding of what troubles she had avoided, quite like a kayaker who had slipped through a river with low water and plenty of rapids. Yes, on this she did not earn anything, but also did not lose, and after all, if things turned out a little differently ... In general, Elena categorically forbade to ever let feelings and pity ahead of common sense and sober calculation. As Flessa had once said, why pity someone who wouldn't pity you?

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 20:18

Then the rehearsal took place, and everything went according to the proper order, without force majeure and failures. What was happening reminded her of “Shakespeare in Love”, but Elena had seen the movie a long time ago, almost didn't remember the content, and wouldn't be able to explain the analogy clearly. It just reminded her of it, that was all. Perhaps it was the atmosphere of ordered chaos, the enthusiasm of amateurism when established traditions were being scrapped and replaced by something new, invented on the fly.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 21:22

Kimutz, although the day before he had drunk himself to death, played as if he had been doused with living water, everyone more or less succeeded, and even the owner of the wandering circus theater seemed moderately satisfied. Though no... it would be more accurate to say that Joaquina exuded smugness and success, like a ferret in a nest with chicks. Apparently, the acrobat had gotten her way with Ranjan and was now looking at Elena like a Caesar who had defeated the Gaulish leaders in triumph. The scriptwriter had nothing against it, reasoning that as long as Joaquina felt herself the winner in the one-sided competition for Ranjan's body, the troupe as a whole and Elena in particular would have fewer problems.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 10:49

While they were polishing the lines of Mariadek, who could not catch the image of the treacherous magician, noon passed. Elena took a breath and went to wash her face with cold water, listening to Artigo's loud sniffling. It seemed the boy had caught a cold, and the woman made a note of it. She'd have to check him out tonight. And in general, to organize a good sauna, warming up the imperial body, so to speak preventively. And at the same time...

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 10:58

"It's time,” Pantin said from over his shoulder, and Elena quickly wiped her wet face with a shabby towel with a fringe of fraying threads around the edges.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:19

* * *

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 21:22

The best way to communicate with a magical warrior was the principle of “don't ask - save time”. If he considered something worthy of attention, he explained it himself, if not, he kept silent as if he hadn't heard. That's why Elena didn't even try to ask how the mentor organized the training room. They - teacher and student - simply went somewhere, any place with no prying eyes and at least some kind of door. A barn, a room, anything, once even an old and abandoned privy. The door was always different, but when opened by Pantin's hand it invariably led to the same place.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:34

Maybe Pantin was hiding some folded space in the purse, maybe he was creating a magical portal (though it was unlikely if what Elena had heard about transitions was true), or maybe everything was an illusion... anyway, the two people found themselves in a large hall that resembled a huge stroboscopic cylinder ten meters high, or even more. Outside was the brightest light, penetrating through vertical slits and rows of small - like a sieve - holes, but no details of the “cylinder” environment could not be seen. Only light and nothing else. No odors, no outside noise, just a polygonal platform and a smooth floor made as if of polished malachite. A beautiful training room, but devoid of props, no comparison to the half-dark room in the Draftsman's house filled with dummies, shields, and weapons. The training process was also radically different from Figueredo's.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:42

The late fencer emphasized practice from the very first lesson, but during several months of Pantin's studies, Elena had never once taken up arms. The master and the student practiced almost every day what could be called general physical training, which included special athletics, movement culture, and prevention of musculoskeletal apparatus.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:37

"All human life is a struggle,” Pantin admonished. "A struggle first of all with oneself, with other people, with the countless trials that life sends us. And, finally, the struggle with the main enemy - Time. Sooner or later a person loses this fight, but it is possible to leave with dignity, leaving a noticeable furrow on the plowed field of history. And it is possible to do the opposite. What is the practical conclusion from the above?"

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:36

Having asked the question, Pantin himself answered it:

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:34

"The fighter's body undergoes extreme stress, it suffers damage and eventually wears out. It is as inevitable as death. Pain in the back. Pain in the legs. Pain in the knees. Painful joints. All of these things await you as anyone follows the path of the weapon long enough. But someone in his twenties is a wreck and has to warm his back with a hot brick every day. And someone in his forties can beat up an insolent punks. What's the difference between them? Let me show you."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:21

And Pantin spent the entire first lesson to “set up” Elena's lumbar spine, as well as her neck. In the second, the woman learned how to twist her head correctly. At the third, she learned how to warm up properly, that is, how to stretch the body after training, when the most useless muscle, the smallest ligament should be warmed up and washed with fresh blood.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 11:40

"Twist the spine smoothly!" Pantin commanded. “Roll” the back gently, smoothing it out to correct all the irregularities. And do it not through effort, but through relaxation."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:34

"I don't understand,” Elena muttered, twisting like a crazy yogi on the cool floor.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:45

"You'll understand,” Pantin said encouragingly. "You do it a thousand times wrong, and on the thousandth first time, everything will work out. Or ten thousand first. The main thing that will work. Now put your feet in your hands."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:46

And Elena, swallowing curses, took “legs in hand”, that is, sat down, grasping her toes, and began to roll from the left hip across her back to the right hip and back again, like a nevalashka.
Неваляшка

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:35

"It's easy to assess the correctness of execution,” the fencer instructed, pacing around. "You can stop the movement at any moment and reverse it. That's enough. Now “walrus”. Do not dare to touch the floor with your hands. Move only with the impulses of your body."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:47

Maybe she should introduce the concept of inertia, Elena thought, gritting her teeth. Stretching her body vertically from top to toe was excruciatingly painful... and at the same time pleasurable. It felt like a seriously ill person who had finally been helped by a potent drug and knew that the pain heralded not suffering and death, but a cure.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:37

At times it seemed to her that her mentor was literally going through her like a mechanism, making the smallest wheels turn, lubricating the corroded gears. Elena considered herself to be perfectly healthy and developed, especially by the standards of the Ecumene, where for the absolute majority of the population to eat enough for at least a week in a row was a memorable event, and to forget about hunger - a pipe dream. But only now Elena began to realize what miracles can be achieved if you apply special practice to youth. Pain taught, pain strengthened. The pain made a young woman stronger and faster.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:49

As the days passed into weeks, the weeks into months, Elena suspected that her mentor was stealthily using magic to restore her body. In any case, the training went on continuously, without discounts for pain and without breaks for recovery. At the same time, the swordswoman was never injured, not even sprained ligaments, which would have been impossible in the usual mode. But Elena did not ask, reasoning - if “it” works, let it continue to work.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:39

The exercises were different - “finger wrestling”, tricky push-ups on the board, and many other things but Pantin paid the most attention to the knees. He, in general, repeated the words of the Draftsman regarding the fact that in battle Elena would be saved only by perfect maneuvering, perfect work with distance when the opponent initially has no chance to break into close combat and impose wrestling. But Figueredo taught Steps, and Pantin went further, working directly with biomechanics.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:40

"The most difficult joint is the shoulder,” he instructed. "Well, unless you count the spine. But the knees are the most vulnerable. The arm moves in all space, in any direction, but the force it can develop is limited. And the legs always carry the weight of your body, taking it alternately and entirely. In battle, the load is multiplied by multiples. You can be a warrior without an eye, without an arm. Even with a bad back if you have a good corset. But with bad knees, it's better to buy a crossbow right away. So do this..."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:41

And Elena did, at first not understand the meaning of the outlandish exercises, only then - step by step - gradually realizing that Pantin was teaching her to work with the “vectors” of movements, to minimize parasitic stress on the joints and to distribute the effort over as wide a group of muscles as possible.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:42

"Nowadays it's fashionable to go as low as possible,” Pantin said. "Squatting down, putting the “weak” leg far out, bending the torso at a large angle to the hip. This makes sense, so it is easier to feint and hit from the bottom to the top, on the “weak”, uncomfortable for the enemy defense directions. From such a “slant” it is easier to stab in the stomach or cut the legs, and your line of parry as if moved further away, as if the wall of a fortified castle. You expose the enemy's upper body, where there are many bones, a good muscular corset, and the vulnerability of the head is often false. One who learns the new urban combat reaches mastery faster, their skills are more sophisticated and dangerous than an old-school aficionado. At least that's how it appears at first."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:44

The master said all this while circling around the student like a shark, an impression enhanced by the light that reflected off the malachite floor and filled the training room with a ghostly gloom. The mentor and apprentice fought as if in a huge aquarium. Pantin slapped Elena humiliatingly, one after the other, forcing her to evade collision, to break distance and “break touch,” that is, to position herself in such a way that, if contact was inevitable, her opponent would strike from as awkward a position as possible. Hot sweat dripped down the woman's face, and soaked her clothes, while the instructor was as if he was not breathing at all, his monotonous, even voice remained steady even when the fencer was literally jumping around the victim.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 14:45

"But every medal has a reverse. And the price new school students pay is getting their knees out to the side, out from under their torsos. Year after year, if not killed before, the Brethers load their knees more than necessary. Eventually, the cartilage becomes stiff, and brittle, wearing off like overexposed cheese. You'll suffer the same fate someday..."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:01

Pantin knocked Elena to the ground with a sharp blow of his palm between her collarbones, knocking the air out of her chest and causing her backside to bruise painfully as she ran over the smooth stone. The woman gasped, her jaw wiggling like a beached fish, unable to gulp air.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:02

"But later than the others,” the mentor promised as if nothing had happened, and finished the thought serenely. "If you live long enough."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:22

* * *

Camrad_RIP 04.12.24 в 21:22

"Take the blade,” Pantin ordered.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:10

Elena looked around in bewilderment, searching for a weapon, but her mentor was already holding out his sword to her. Pantin's peculiarity also made her nervous. Pantin pulled the necessary tools not even out of thin air but out of nowhere. No matter how hard Elena tried, she never managed to notice the moment of appearance. It just turned out that the necessary thing was in her hands or in the hands of the master, and as if it had been there for some time.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:03

"Oh,” was all the student said as she swung the sword to try it out. It was the first time in months of training that Pantin had given her anything resembling a weapon, even an imitation with a blade of solid wood.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:10

Figueredo taught the young woman primarily with the cleaver and messer, explaining that they were basic bladed weapons. If you learned the basics, you could use anything. But Pantin's sword had significant differences, looking more like a simple sword, or rather the grandfather of the sword. It was strictly one-handed, with a long crossguard whose whiskers curved S-shaped in a plane perpendicular to the blade. The garda was augmented with several rings to protect the fingers and unpleasantly reminded one of a red-eyed witch's weapon. The sword mimicked the double-edged sharpening, lying comfortably in the hand, accurately reproducing the correct weight and balance of a real weapon. Judging by the condition of the wooden blade it had served faithfully and reliably for many years. I wonder who... Did Pantin have other apprentices besides Ranjan?

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:06

Elena automatically adopted a stance of deaf defense, Pantin nodded, though without much approval, rather fixing the acceptable and appropriate to-the-moment action of the apprentice.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:06

"Reach me,” he ordered, pulling out his wooden blade very similar to Elenin's, but longer and wider.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:09

The woman stepped around the circle, trying without much hope to pull the master “into a spiral”. The apprentice expected some kind of counter-move, but Pantin only turned a sixth of the circle, maintaining a face-to-face stance. No feints, the master even lowered his blade in deceptive indifference. Making up her mind, the apprentice attacked.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 16:10

The encounter reminded her most of the sparring that had opened Elena's combat history in this universe when Kai had taught her the inferiority of sport fencing techniques when applied to a real fight. The actions were different, but the essence of what was happening was the same. A sudden turn of events and an unexpected result. The fencer didn't try to parry or dodge, he just stepped right on the blow and made a counter-strike, of course, he hit. Elena drew back, closing again in case of a counterattack, but the master lowered his sword. The apprentice, remembering the lessons of the Draughtsman, didn't buy it, ready to continue.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.24 в 19:15

"That's enough for now," Pantin said. "So, what happened?"

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:50

"They exchanged blows,” Elena commented, lowering her sword as well. "Mutual killing."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:51

"No,” Pantin shook his head. "We exchanged jabs to the torso, but you didn't get the blade fully in the right plane. If this had been a real fight, your sword would have lodged in my ribs, three fingers deep in the flesh. Good chance of survival."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:12

He paused as if inviting the student to continue the thought.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:13

"And I got a stab in the heart,” the woman exhaled heavily.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:13

"Yes,” agreed the master. "Of course, there are different things. I have seen a man stabbed in the heart, and he killed his opponent, came to the healer with his own feet, and then only fell breathless. But that's not the case here."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.24 в 19:16

"Yes,” Elena agreed laconically, realizing the lesson was not finished.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:50

"Once more."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.24 в 07:12

And... the same thing happened again.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.24 в 19:15