17 The Adventures of Jym (4) (Edited)
Several days had passed since Jym was kidnapped and brought to a Training Ground, which wasn't easily own by anyone normal, however at the very least they were built by rich merchants.
In his case, Jym figured the Training Grounds were built by someone strong and powerful, most likely a nobleman with great power and wealth.
That's where the confusion started for Jym who couldn't help but wonder how Val had taken in a noble child as his last disciple.
When he first saw Kage after being brought over to the grounds, he started worrying about his imminent death, thinking Kage would end his life to take the daggers.
Instead, he found endless training for himself every day from the break of dawn to the dusk of the night to learn the art of wielding daggers.
Jym was mentally and physically broken without rest after going through the non-stop draining training every day and unable to process why he was chosen to go through such brutish training.
Above all else he just wanted to go and test out his daggers in the forest while hunting some beasts rather than fighting a monster who was toying him with him day after day.
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Currently Jym was laying down inside the small hut close to the Training Grounds after being dragged to there by his kidnapper, and told he wasn't allowed to leave.
Other than sleeping in the hut and eating, Jym was to train with the daggers non-stop.
Jym thought at the start he would be forced to use his new daggers immediately, as he worried that they might be damaged by his recklessness, thankfully for him, Kage gave him dark black daggers that would appear and disappear out of nowhere.
The first time he saw them vanish in his hands randomly, he nearly lost his mind.
A solid material disappearing like smoke was hard to watch for any person, even if they were a veteran adventurer who'd seen much of the world.
Jym couldn't wrap his mind around it.
All he could was wonder how the dark blades could disappear, but he noticed that was not the only weird thing, but Kage was also someone just as weird and quite the freaky nutcase.
Jym would always be caught out of the blue by him and attacked till he crashed out from exhaustion.
Whether the attack came during training or when Jym was alone in his hut, Kage would suddenly appear out of thin air and start his continuous barrage of attacks.
Originally Jym though he would die from training to much without sufficient rest with the strange man taking his prized daggers, but with time Jym noticed through his training sessions that he was improving, albeit slowly, but nonetheless he was improving his ability to wield the daggers.
Over the few days of continuous training, Jym finally became proficient enough with the daggers, that he moved onto using the daggers Ben had crafted for him in his next training session.
He felt his ability to wield the daggers surpassed his ability to wield a sword and shield, even after all of the years he'd fought with the two items in combat.
Over the course of his 'kidnapping' Jym understood his ability and knowledge was nothing compared to Kages, even if the man spoke very little to him, Jym understood there was a significant gap between the two.
No matter how much he improved or how faster he became with the daggers, Jym still had not won once against Kage.
At first, he was feeling quite disheartened, but Jym also picked up on his own short comings, not only his form with the daggers but how he also behaved in general.
He still struggled to completely understand how Kage brought on the changes for him through the training, but all he could pry out from the man in black was something about 'Worthiness' to use the daggers.
As Jym walked out of his rundown hut, he walked quickly towards the white sandy Training Grounds with his twin daggers in hand.
Jym decided he would beat the weird man in black and leave for his adventure that was long overdue at this point.
A smile appeared across Jyms face as he felt his freedom nearing with the end of his hellish nightmare imminent.
Kage watched on from the small grandstand to the side of the Training Grounds, looking on at the determined Jym entering the sandy grounds with his daggers by his side.
The usual tension that could be seen across Jyms face from a mile away was peaceful and Zen, not typical of the veteran adventurer for the last few days.
His eyes that would shake from the unknown danger around him, was now tranquil as the deep blue seas.
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"Shall we begin..." spoke Kage, his faint voice reached the ears of Jym, sending cold shivers down the adventurers' spine.
"What is it about you... that just brings fear to the very depths of my spirit..."
Jym said with his eyes drawn to Kages position at the peak of the marble stone grandstand.
With a dead stern face, Jym prepared himself into a fighting stance, as his eyes stayed locked onto Kage, whose black cloak swayed with the winds.
"Hmm… hahaha…!
Even I don't know hahaha!" the man in black laughed aloud, before moving hundreds of meters from the peak of the grandstands to in front of Jym, standing apart only by 10 or so metres.
They stared each other down, with cold expression across their faces.
The silence was deafening, which even made the sound of the wind passing by feel as loud as iron being smashed by steel hammers.
In a flash, Kage appear before Jym, wielding similar twin blades in hand as Jym had.
The daggers in his hand seemed like they sucked all the light into their darkness, make the space around them damp, irky and ice-cold.
Jym noticed immediately that those daggers in Kages hands were far superior to the ones he had been using for training over the last few days.
Hell, he could sense the killing intent coming from the sharpened blades on either dagger aiming for for his life.
The first swing Kage took aimed at Jyms head would have destroyed not only his body but his spirit, and his very being if he didn't defend against it.
However, Jym was mostly unfazed by the attack this time round against Kage, quickly moving his daggers to parry, and counterattack against the man in black.
Jym stepped forward to begin his attack with determination behind each strike, each swing, carrying the conviction to be the strongest.
To be more than the weak feeble man he was before, unable to fight proudly...
To finally be worthy…
As they both battled it out, strike after strike, slash after slash, parry after parry, both combatants fastened their movements, with the fight still going back and forth without either one break ahead of the other to control the fight and find a victor.
But, as Jym was exerting his full force and effort into this fight, Kage was trying to match his pace, if not, pushing Jym to work harder and exert more of his raw hidden talent.
Each time Jym would begin to familiarise himself with the pace of the battle, Kage would add another attack action or increase the strikes, whatever he felt necessary to push Jym further and further to keep fighting.
Eventually, Jym collapsed from exhaustion as he was about to defend one of Kages strikes, his arms that felt like they were carrying the weight of the entire sky and gave out along with his consciousness fading away.
.
Jym awoke in a daze, his body aching all over.
He tried to push himself upright, but he had no strength to move his arms or legs right now.
His whole body laid there alone in the grounds, covered in the white sandy dirt from the faint wind blowing across the open land.
Jym stared towards the dim sky, as the shades of sky blue darkened with the falling sun, setting in the distant horizon.
Jym felt defeated, after pushing himself so far, it still took Kage only one precise strike to end it all.
He still remembered the exact moment when he knew Kage had beaten him before his eyes shut down and his consciousness faded out, Jym remembered seeing the haunting creepy smile.
That smile full of mockery and disdain from the man in black.
It told Jym subconsciousness that no matter how hard he pushed himself, he would forever he far behind to reach his level of skill and proficiency.
That smile justified it enough for Jym to work harder and to never give up unless he wanted to see such mockery again.
He knew they were worlds apart in strength and ability, yet this desire, this push to keep moving forward deep down that demanded him to not give up until he could beat the crap out of the smile.
Jym knew he had the best goddamn weapon around that allowed him to move and fight like no one had ever seen before.
Even after exerting every fibre of his strength so far only to be defeated, he still wanted to keep pushing forward.
While lying on the ground he continued to push himself to move upright, with only his fingers and toes, slowly moving until his hands and feet could as well.
Eventually Jym was sitting upright, his eyes darted all over his battered body, utterly shocked by the extent of change both to his physique and mentality through the last fight.
When he used to wield a sword and shield, Jym had never worked his body to this point in any battle, much less a training session with a bloody monster.
Yes, it was tough wielding the swords and shields frequently, especially if it affected his ability in combat, but they'd been enough to keep him alive till now, even if they were ever the right weapons for him.
Just from training with the daggers, Jym noticed a short growth in his body and skills from the heavy training over the last few days.
Jym could not tell how he knew there was some core changes to his strength, but he could instinctively feel it.
After all this time Jym finally felt all his effort and passion to still fight on to the very end made it all worth it finally.
Even if he had been close to death many times before in his misadventures, Jym felt that he could finally shine with the daggers in his hands.
Jym finally had a new lease on life, and it was all thanks to that stupid Kid.
As the veteran adventurer gripped the two daggers by his side, he felt the anxious weighed on his back fall apart at the hands of the twin blades, clearing away a ton of guilt.
Tears fell down Jyms bruised face, with him smiling cheekily through the pain.
"Thanks brat…" Jym faintly whispered, while looking deeply at the two dark steel blades in his hands.
Still sitting in the middle of the Training Grounds all alone, Jyms eyes refused to stop staring at the daggers.
He couldn't care about the two people watching from afar, he stayed there, unmoving.
.
"So those are my childs first crafted item.
'Daggers' is what you called them right?
Hmm, Alfreds words may come true if my son continues his 'work'."
Liz spoke as she sipped on the tea, watching from the balcony of the manor on the second floor
She could see the Training Grounds from her second-floor bedroom balcony, even though she rarely had the time to see her child train.
Today Liz happened to have some spare time to relax at the balcony and noticed Jym.
She had watched Jyms battle against Kage from the start.
Even if she was not able to keep up with paced of the strikes, the presence of the man guarding her made sure to keep her appraised of the actions occurring in the pits of the Training Grounds.
"Indeed, my Lady, those daggers crafted by the Young Master are something unbelievable.
The way he was able to not only attack with them, but their lightness increasing the wielders mobility…
They are a work of art.
Of course, there are disadvantages, but to someone that has never seen or faced this type of warrior before, many will definitely perish without noticing who or what killed them."
Allat said, having never left Liz side from the beginning of the battle, also curious to see how the daggers would work perform in battle.
Jym also noticed the quality of the daggers and their impact not just in battles, but in the line of work for certain people.
Certain organisations would truly desire the weapons to supply their warriors to perform deadly tasks that make be heavily frowned upon.
They were weapons possible to cause a tipping point in the power struggle for certain organisations and nations around the world.
Jym made the promise to never let the daggers leave his line of sight.
Allat couldn't help but be amazed at his Young Master's ability to craft something so unique with possibly huge ramifications across the continent and world, of which they would not be able deal with at all.
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"My Lady, I think it would be best if we prepare just in case Alfreds words do come turn…"
Allat anxiously added.
"I think that would be the best decision, however where would we go Sir Allat?
Only this city would be safe for Benny, and the only option we have now is Kage plan…"
"His plan is absurd, My Lady…
It'll end up with the Young Master going down a path that could be disastrous for settling his Empires foundations."
"…Whether it happens or not, Sir Allat, we have put our trust in Kage at the very least…"
Liz sipped her tea while focusing in on Jym.
She tried to distract her mind to stop her hands from shaking, hoping Allat wouldn't catch on and begin to worry about her.
Liz already knew his worried eyes were on her for a while now, concerned about her health, but Liz continued to do her best to show him nothing was wrong to stop her Knight from his senseless anxiety.
She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes to calm her mind, before opening her eyes.
Liz reached for the teacup again, taking deep breaths to calm her tense mind.
The Lady of the Estate focused on the gently breeze flowing past her balcony, carrying the rosy fragrance of the tea straight to her senses.
.
"But…"
"But nothing… Allat...
Benedict has always said that we are a family and that is how we should behave…
I understand you feel reserved about the plan, but trust Kage, trust our family and its group decision…"
Liz gently spoke, she pushed the freshly pour tea towards Allat gesturing him to sit down.
They both sat in silence as they drank their tea together, looking over at the garden instead of the Training Grounds once Jym had got up and left.
Time slowly passed before they both moved inside, their discussion continued going on through their minds, replaying again and again, making them wonder what was to come of their family's future.
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