Twin Blades

Sleep seemed to be an impossible task for Sito as he lay there thinking about how crazy his day was.

First his fight with Raymond, then the whole mithril mine situation. And it made him almost forget about the most exciting part of it all.

'Tomorrow I'll start training with real weapons!' He thought to himself.

'The few times I've snuck in and secretly used the training swords, they felt great, but this'll be my first time actually using them in combat. I can't wait!'

Eventually, his excitement was overcome by his exhaustion, and he fell into the depths of sleep.

—-

Utter shock.

That's what the Old Master felt at this very moment as he walked into the training grounds.

"Good morning, master!" Said Sito with a huge smile on his face.

"It seems that father time has finally withered my brain as I seem to be seeing illusions." Said the Old Master as he rubbed his eyes.

Raymond walked up to them and laughed. "The rest of us are more shocked than you, master. Seems I finally beat some sense into his highness."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you two. I only showed up early today because I was promised blades of my own. Now where are they, old man? Cough em up!"

The Old Master gave a croaky chuckle. "If I had known this was all it would take to make sure you weren't late every day, then I would've promised you these blades long ago."

He turned to the rest of the group. Each of them talking amongst themselves as they stretched, jogged in place, or warmed themselves up a different way.

"Huddle up!" He shouted.

The group huddled up around the Old Master as he scanned his students.

"Today is a special day. I'm sure you have all been watching the rapid progress of our young prince here." He gestured towards Sito.

"And in light of this rapid progress, I have decided that waiting any longer would be foolish of me as his master and only serve to hinder his growth instead of helping him flourish as a warrior."

He turned to Sito and waved him over. "Come, boy."

Sito stepped forward.

"Yesterday, me and the young prince went to the armory to choose a weapon for him to begin his weapons training."

Gasps and murmurs sounded from the group.

The Old Master pulled two sheathed blades from his spatial ring. "Young Prince. I present to you your blades, specially crafted to suit your needs."

Sito's eyes widened at how beautiful the craftsmanship was.

Two beautiful black katanas with sheaths that had an even darker shade of black streaking down from hilt to tip like lightning.

The handle had dark purple and black harmoniously entwined together into a perfect grip that felt comfortable and secure as he took hold of the blades.

He strapped them to his waist in a smooth motion and unsheathed it.

The blade was a beautiful matte black like the rest of the sword and seemed as dark as night. The edge narrowed into a dark grey that seemed sharp enough to cut space itself.

"Woah," was all he managed to say.

"Woah indeed you runt, you better be grateful." Said the Old Master as he smiled.

"The smith spent all day and night making the blades out of his finest material and even got them enchanted for you."

Everyone's jaw dropped when they heard this, as enchanters were rare and expensive.

'I guess being the prince has its perks', he thought to himself.

"What kind of enchantment does it have, master?" Sito asked.

"The smith said they're some of his finest pieces he's ever made and it'd be a shame for them be worn by time and use, so he got the enchanter to apply a self-repair on the hilt and sheath, and a self-sharpen on the blade."

"No way…" Sito said as he turned the blade over and swinging it around slowly to get a feel for it.

"With these, I'll be unstoppable!"

The Old Master frowned. "You fool. Have you learned nothing from me these past two years? Countless other warriors have blades just as fine, and many have some even better."

He leaned forward on his cane. "And you want to know something, boy? I can beat them all with nothing but this big stick here," he said as he tapped his cane.

"A good weapon is definitely a good thing to have. However, it's hardly that much of an advantage. If you think otherwise, then at least you will be given the mercy of a swift death on the battlefield."

The Old Master stood hunched over his cane. "Let this be your first lesson, boy. The most important advantage one can have in combat is experience and adaptability. You must maintain a clear mind full of processing the information from all your senses while simultaneously being devoid of being poisoned by emotion and useless thoughts."

He twirled his long mustache between his fingers as he continued. "If there's one thing you remember from today's lesson, let it be this."

He looked Sito in his eyes.

"Even the sharpest blade is useless in the hands of a dull mind."

—-

A week passed, with each day being the same as the one before it.

Sito stood across from a trainee by the name of Valor. He was of average build with dark skin and had black braided hair hanging over his dark eyes.

Valor wasn't overly skilled with a blade, but he was viciously quick, and that alone was a dangerous trait for an opponent to have.

Sito took in a deep breath through his nose and steeled himself.

"Sito, you ready?" asked the Old Master.

Sito nodded.

"Valor, you ready?"

Valor kept his hawk-like gaze fixed on Sito and gave a curt nod.

The Old Master slammed his cane into the ground. "Begin!"

A resounded boom was heard as their swords collided in the middle.

Although abnormally strong for his age, Sito's blades were being pushed back by Valor, so he broke off and jumped back to put space between them.

Valor calmly kept his eyes on the prince as they began circling the ring, each waiting for the other to strike first.

They both shot toward each other, leaving trails in the dirt where the tips of their swords met the ground.

Valor swung down in a textbook diagonal slash. Sito used the left sword to parry as he slid forward while swiping at Valor's legs with his right sword.

Valor jumped. Sito stabbed under him, hoping to let gravity do the rest, but Valor quickly withdrew his sword and deflected Sito's blade before landing on his feet and delivering a kick to Sito's chest.

Sito crossed his arms in front of him and jumped back as he absorbed the blow and used it to create some space.

The two exchanged blades several more times, each slowly accruing shallow cuts.

The Old Master watched in awe. 'What in name of the gods are they feeding this boy?' he thought to himself.

Although he would never tell him this, Sito has been improving at a mind-boggling rate. Not just his technique but his reflexes and fight IQ have improved drastically in only a week of training.

'If this is how much he changes in a week, I can only imagine how much better he'll be in a year.' The Old Master twirled his mustache as a proud smile bloomed on his face.

Completely oblivious to all of this, Sito was fighting a losing battle and Valor was slowly landing more and more cuts and finding more and more openings as the fight went on.

'I have to end this now!' Thought Sito. 'If I keep going at this rate I'm bound to lose. I have to find an opening quick.'

They kept exchanging strikes. With Sito not finding any luck and only getting cut even more. 'Fine, if I can't find any openings, then I'll just have to make one!'

Sito lashed out with a kick at his chest. Valor put his arms up to block and Sito used this to plant his foot and launch himself back to create some space again.

The two boys locked eyes.

"I think it's about time we finished this Valor. I'm getting pretty hungry." Sito said, as he smiled and patted his stomach.

Valor smirked and nodded. "As you wish, your highness."

Sito launched forward while Valor took a defensive stance, ready to counter.

'His defense is solid. Even with two blades, he's too quick for me to land a clean hit. I have to catch him off guard.'

Sito kept running and right before he reached Valor, he spun and launched his right blade forward, spearing it toward Valor's chest.

Valor's eyes widened as he brought his blade up to defend. However, right as he did, Sito was there to take advantage with his second blade. As Valor swiped his sword to defend his chest, Sito swung his sword at Valor's abdomen. 'I've got you now!'

Valor used the sword in his left hand to slap away the thrown blade. He didn't have the momentum to bring his sword back to his right side in time, so he let it go and grabbed the prince.

Right before Sito's blade struck true, his world was turned upside down, literally. He was flipped and slammed on his back with the air knocked from his lungs and his own sword at his neck.

He looked up to see Valor's straight white teeth smiling down at him. "You're not the only one who can throw their blade, your highness." Sito just groaned in reply as he tried to catch his breath.

The Old Master walked up to them as he chuckled. "Well done, both of you. A great showcase of your skills and adaptability."

Valor stood up and bowed. "Thank you, master."

He offered Sito a hand that Sito accepted. "Your almost half my age and you've only been using blades for a week, yet you still almost beat me. I have no doubt in my mind that one day you'll be a fearsome warrior, my prince."

Sito sighed, "yeah but I still lost and it's annoying losing, especially when I know I can do better."

"Ow what hell old man!" Shouted Sito as the Old Master smacked the top of his head with the cane.

"What? Do you expect to become an expert sword master overnight?"

Sito looked down. "No, I guess not."

"Progress comes only with time. You cannot rush it. You are standing in front of a wall trying to break through it, not realizing that it is a mountain you must climb."

The Old Master looked around at the other students sparring. "Alright. Gather up everyone."

They lined up in front of the master.

The Old Master smiled at Sito. "When you showed up early that day, I was afraid it'd be a normal occurrence and that you would rob me of my favorite time of day. It's good to see that you immediately reverted to your old ways of being late."

The Old Master began to allow Sito to use his blades to parry and block at their end of session ritual of throwing slugs at him. Of course, since then they've also turned the intensity up a notch.

Sito sighed. "I'll go grab my blades."

—-

From behind the viewing booth, several men watched Sito's training in silence until now.

"What…. the fuck?" Marcus said with his mouth open.

The smile was gone from Duncan's face, replaced only by shock. "What the fuck indeed."

Ragnar crossed his massive arms. "That boy's going to be a one man army. We can't let anybody know of his potential."

"Why do you think I've been hiding him in the castle? Ever since he was born, he's been special, and I knew from the moment he started training that he would be a crucial trump card." Replied the king.

Marcus leaned back and exhaled. "Well, I see the old man's still as brutal as ever. Let us hope he doesn't work the boy to death before he grows into his full potential."

Duncan finally regained his smile as he shook his head and laughed. "Not many things can surprise me these days. I thought I had seen everything there was to see." He leaned his elbows on the table, intertwined his fingers and placed his chin atop them.

"Sito Meridius. I wonder in the future recordings of history what they will say of you. What kind of titles will you earn? What kind of victories will you achieve? What kind of legendary beasts and warriors will meet death by your blade's edge? Whatever happens, I just hope I'm still here to see it."