THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: PENDULUM

Instructors spread out around the arena as they watched the activities unfolding. Sagiri had been allowed to leave the healers quarters right after lunch. He had been forced to eat there and stayed under observation till midday. Senraki had promised to let him keep his schedule if he went a week without collapsing. He was supposed to join the fourth year in the obstacle arena to observe. because he was ill, and partly because he did not yet have the skill set to join the training.

The pendulum field, one of the obstacle arenas, was quite big and filled with obstacles. It is a wide, circular arena. Shallow but cold water covers the entire floor below the stepping beams. Stone platforms and narrow beams rise just above water level, forming multiple paths. Falling into the water because of a lack of balance on the unsteady beams meant a student had to go back and start over. Being struck by a pendulum or an obstacle meant to be subdued meant instant disqualification and, into the suspension chamber or whatever torture chamber Senior Instructor Zoho thought best. He is the obstacle training instructor.

Sagiri entered the arena as the lesson was about to begin. Many students did not realize his arrival. He slid in behind Instructor Zoho and handed him his exemption from the healer’s office. he was not to partake in any physical training for the following two days either. Since the students were going in according to classes. Class A was standing at the starting line in a line, ready to charge in. Every class had thirty minutes to get across the arena. Class E was going to be the last, and Kaka was pacing with impatience. He was not, however, who Sagiri was looking for, so he faced forward to look at the obstacle field.

Heavy weights are suspended from chains and cables. They swing, rotate, drop, and rise on timed and irregular patterns. Some move horizontally at chest height, and others sweep low near the legs. Several descend suddenly from above with no warning sound. Those were not the only obstacles on the field. Humanoid training figures were also mounted on tracks. They move continuously around the arena in between the obstacles, some popping out suddenly from above and under. Each has marked vital points. The heart, the throat, the eyes, the kidneys, the spleen, the inner thighs, and between the eyes. The targets rotate and partially shield themselves as they move. Students are issued with two dozen Standard-issue daggers only. Students are required to hit at least a dozen targets before the time runs out while simultaneously avoiding the obstacles and staying steady on some of the unbalanced bars. Missed throws are not replaced. The pendulum field was intense, and Sagiri knew he could have lasted a second on it.

Instructor Zoho placed a whistle between his lips and called the field to order all the junior instructors standing in their respective positions. There was a moment of silence before all hell broke loose. The students moved swiftly, sprinting across beams, jumping between platforms, rolling beneath swinging weights, and diving through openings as obstacles passed. Stopping for more than a few seconds increases the obstacle’s speed or the execution of the evasion. It was such a beautiful thing to watch. One student with colorful hair like Daziko, the cheerfully third-year student, probably because they shared a tribe, was hit by a pendulum because of a miscalculated step. Instead of giving in to his fate, he held onto the pendulum with one hand, swinging from it as it went back and forth. While he was still hanging, a target popped up under him. Simultaneously, an unstable bar moved into place.

His eyes moved from the target to the bar and his compromised position. In one leap, he touched both his feet to the pendulum’s base to add momentum to his jump. He propelled himself a few feet in the air. Both his hands went to his breast pockets. He retrieved two daggers, their blades glinting in the artificial light of the closed arena. He spun around in the air, getting his weapons into position before he released them in one go, before he landed on the unsteady beam with both his hands and feet. The daggers landed at the same time as him. One disappeared between the eyes, and another the vital spot on the neck. He cheered loudly before he moved on to another obstacle.

The horn sounded once, sharp and final, after thirty minutes, and more than half had made it to the other side. The other half had either been eliminated or failed to make it in time. Class B went almost the same way, but with less than half making it. It seemed that class B was worse off than class A.

Sagiri’s concentration upped when class C stepped at the starting line. His target was in class C. N’varu Neni stepped onto the starting line. Sagiri did know why he wanted to watch him. It was not like it was going to give him answers to his questions. The whistle went off, and he moved. He was among the best students in class C. He ran the small distance and jumped onto a stable beam before jumping onto another. A weight swept past where his head had been a second earlier. He dropped instinctively, boots skidding on wet stone, and rolled as another swung low, cutting through the air at knee height.

He was swift in the way that he moved. Not fast but precise. His feet were stable and light as if he was floating when he moved. A target slid into view on his left, torso twisting as it moved along its track. The heart mark flashed between rotating plates. N’varu Neni planted one foot, let the beam sway, and threw. The dagger struck deep, and the target shuddered. He didn’t stop. A second dagger flew backward over his shoulder as he jumped, the blade biting cleanly as he landed on the next platform.

He jumped onto a water trough in the arena, and water splashed up his calves. A weight dropped from above without warning. He dove forward, felt the rush of air, and it missed him by inches. He came up under another swing, body folding tight to the ground. He rolled, sprang, and ran as the obstacles accelerated behind him.

Two targets crossed paths ahead. One shielded, one open. He chose the open one, hit the heart mid-stride, then vaulted sideways as a horizontal weight swept through the space he had occupied. Another dagger left his hand while he was airborne, striking the heart mark as he landed hard, boots slipping on the unsteady beam.

He didn’t slow.

The final platform rose ahead. Weights converged, moving out of pattern now, and faster than at the start, the obstacles getting more difficult and bars more unsteady. N’varu Neni sank low and waited for a half-breath, then sprinted straight through the narrow gap between two swings, shoulder brushing chain, heart hammering. He reached the exit platform five minutes before the final whistle went off. N’varu Neni was really good, and Sagiri recognized that. He was not as strong and fast as Kaka, but he was still good.

He had not had a chance to talk with the boy, but he needed to have a chat with him and determine if he was worth keeping alive or dead. Sagiri had never killed a person before, but the thought did not scare him or entice him. It was only something he had to do to protect himself.

Soon, it was class E’s turn, and Sagiri could not ignore the aggressive feelings that were rolling off of Kaka in waves. He pried his eyes forcefully from the exit N’varu had walked through to sit at the raised watching place where the rest of the class had gone to. He had not pried his eyes off of him since they had found him, and he could not feel his presence yet again as if he had shut them off.

As soon as the whistle went off, everyone moved, but only after a second to allow Kaka to move ahead. No one wanted to stay in his way to avoid being shoved, except, of course, Kiuga. he was running right beside him, his teeth pulled into a smile, probably after saying something to agitate Kaka. Sagiri was wearing his Oru-shells to keep out the noise in the arena, and he could not hear what he had said. Sagiri could not yet understand how the two boys got along, since they were opposites, but he had grown a newfound respect for their relationship, especially after he witnessed how Kiuga defended Kaka. And after he had seen Kiuga’s brain in action on the battlefield.

Sagiri had never found a person who did not find him weird and who was willing to stick with him the way Kiuga stuck to Kaka, even though the guy did not have an ounce of the ability to have personal relationships. He always gave off the ’stay away, or I’ll kill you energy.’

He moved through the obstacles faster than anyone, and by the time he was halfway, half his daggers were gone, deeply buried either between the eyes and the heart of the targets. sometimes he moved before the daggers landed. He evaded fast, jumped high, landed gracefully even on the uneven bars, threw his daggers with precision, and avoided the moving obstacles with so much accuracy. He was formidable and fast, moving faster than the obstacles sometimes, as if he was created for the obstacles and not the other way around.

Kiuga was behind him. He was quite swift and light, hanging on pendulums and bars and shooting his targets while he was upside down. Yet he did not miss his backstabber move. He was like a frog and a money at the same time. One was formidable and the other agile, yet they moved at almost the same speed. Sometimes they even aimed for the same target at the same time. Watching them, it did not look like they were in the middle of an exercise or a lesson. It looked fun. They loved and enjoyed the obstacles as if they were a part of their breathing. ’Maybe this is the missing piece I had been missing all along.’ Sagiri thought, ’I needed to have fun instead of working in every physical class.