THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 107: 107: IT IS STILL A ’NO’

Sagiri jolted awake, lying on a soft surface. He sat up, wondering if he was in the healing wing again, and sighed in relief when he found out that he was not. The room was too small to be in the healing wing. It seemed to be in the middle of the night because he could hear snores from their rooms. They were supposed to go on a patrol with their team before bedtime and another early in the morning with twelve other squads. Apart from training, they had also had patrol duties. He felt rested, and his body felt fully charged even though he had slept all the way through supper.

The patrol will be their last before they are assigned missions within Galka City and northern regions for a month before they come back to prepare for the final. Every school could be around this time to go out on field work in areas generally around their school. At this time, they would live as a squad among the people in an institute, especially those from innovation schools, as interns and even in healing houses for those from high schools from the east. For war schools like Galka and konate they would be assigned to military bases or whatever the instructors thought best.

It was already three in the morning, and there was no need to go back to bed since the school would be up in an hour. The first thing he did was to look for Nokai it was nowhere to be found. He shot up and looked around the room, but Nokai was gone. He did not even care to be silent anymore as he threw the door almost off its hinges and spilled out of his room in panic.

He now knew the weapon connected him to his clan, even though he still did not know the name or who they were. The red eyes were evident enough, even if he only possessed one. It was the only thing connecting him to a line of people he did not know, but who he now knew wielded the weapon he had so carelessly left in a fault for months in Galka War Academy when he could have connected with them sooner.

He ran across the corridor, and of course, a warder was standing at the gate. Some junior instructor rank. Junior instructors were the ones who took the role of wardens, too.

”Go back to bed, cadet,” is all he said, not bulging from his position.

”Where is Nokai?” he said frantically, and the guy just stared at him as if he had grown another head.

”You better not be sleepwalking,” the warden said, adjusting his obsidian black sash.

”My weapon. I was unconscious when they brought me here, but I had a weapon,” Sagiri said, and the archive stirred silently at his distress and the absence of Nokai. At the mention of the state he had been in, the warden finally turned to look at him as if he had suddenly become a person of interest.

”You are that boy?” he asked, looking him up and down. sagiri could now recall what he had done in his trance because it was in the memory of the archive. He had really gone and done it and made himself not only the talk of the students but also the instructors. What a bother. But he did not care anymore, he wanted to see nokai and he wanted to see him immediately.

”Yes. now where is my weapon?” sagiri asked, and he did not know how long he was going to be patient for. He suddenly did not have any patience when it came to Nokai. He did not want to ever part with the weapon.

”I don’t know about the weapon, but it was Captain who carried you here from the arena,” the warden said, and sagiri could not perceive any lies from him. ”He should be awake right now in the pits,” he added, stepping aside.

”But come back immediately. students shouldn’t be out at this time,” the warden added as sagiri walked through. He made his way to the central pentagon, and the wardens just let him through. It was the warden at the door of the dormitory wing who had the biggest say, so if he let him out, then the others could just ask his destination.

The central pentagon was awake, but a silent commotion befell it. sagiri knew the central pentagon well by now, and he just walked in the direction of the training pits. It didn’t take him long to reach the one with the highest probability of Salka being there. The sound of bodies making contact was the first to reach his ears before he even broke through the doors. The pits were situated underground, but it was well lit with artificial lighting.

It seemed that Squad Salka was training in the pits, and sagiri was not prepared for the level of violence the five men eluded. Lotaga was in attendance, and it seemed like Salka had finally allowed him back into the squad salka or maybe not. sagiri could not tell what Salka was thinking.

The formation looked like Salka and Lotaga were standing at the centre backs to each other with spears drawn out, while the other three surrounded them. The three attacked suddenly in unison, and it was not one at a time in different places, but the formation was so perfect that they almost left Salka and Lotaga no loophole to defend. Because the weapon in question was spears, they kept a distance, yet no loophole.

Salka did not look cornered, even so, and he attacked quickly, pushing Matasi and yavaga ta the same time. They moved back a step, but Kolu closed the gap immediately. Salka stuck his sword to the ground, and as if on cue, Lotaga stepped on the elevated position, jumped in the air, and landed a solid hit on Kolu. Their weapons collided in a thundering collision that the air cackled, but Kolu was only pushed back a few inches before he launched the next attack. Salka was the one who blocked the attack as if Lotaga was just an extension of Limp.

The sparring went on and on, and the movements, attacks, and defenses were so fast that Sagiri almost missed them. It looked like they were actually trying to kill each other rather than just mere training. sagiri was sure that if one broke the formation, a person could easily die. The training was so vicious that it made all the squad 25’s team work and formations look like children’s play. They had a long way to go, or even a few years, to even dream of reaching the level of Salka’s squad.

They finally stopped after a while, and they did not even look breathless apart from the sweat that was dripping down their chest. All of them had their combat overalls with their top half unworn and the arms of the suit tied around their waist. They must have been training for more than two hours for them to be dripping that much water.

They all finally turned to sagiri as if they had known he was there all along alone.

”sagiri, did you miss me and come to thank your role model?” It was Lotaga. It seemed even after all the punishment from salka the man had not changed one bit. somethings never change, and perhaps Lotaga was one of those people who could not. Even so lotaga had been the one to teach sagiri in archery, and they had forgotten the past, and sagiri had grown a little respect for the guy. No matter how undignified he always acted, he was very competent.

”Shut up,” Salka said, jumping out of the pit, his team right behind him.

”What is a recruit doing here?” It was kolu. Most of Team Salka still called him a recruit even after he moved up two sashes. He was days away from receiving his midnight blue sash made for third years, and perhaps he would receive the red sash after the field exercise. That would depend on his performance, however, in the field.

Team Salka seemed not to care that he was a cadet now, but it did not bother him much, except Lotaga.

”he is a cadet now kolu, how could you feel if I called you a senior instructor?” Lotaga asked.

”I’ll break you in half and teach you to obey your elders,” Kolu said on a serious note, his shoulders rising and falling steadily.

”Captain, can I have my weapon back?” sagiri said after saluting.

”No,” is all Salka said before turning to leave, but sagiri was in front of him on instinct, blocking his path.

”I have to have my weapon,” sagiri said, and Lotaga whistled.

”The boy has gotten bolder,” Matasi added, and sagiri realized his mistake. No matter how much he felt about Nokai, Salka was still captain, and he must have had a reason to keep it, and he’d be wise not to be on his bad side.

”I’m sorry captain but why cant i have it?” he asked, feeling frantic.

”Because, recruit, you went crazy with it. The dance you performed might have been beautiful, but you went crazy on the instructors before that, just like you did with the muddy water scorpion. I might not know what secret art of your clan you use that the weapon only responds to you, but I know when a person doesn’t have control over their weapon,” Salka said with all seriousness, and sagiri could not help but agree. It was true that he did not know how to use the weapon well till earlier, when the echo images gave him a taste of the past, yet now he knew how to use it.

”I told you that I protect cadets and recruits of Galka War Academy from internal and external danger,” Salka said, and when Sagiri could not find the words to explain that he had suddenly connected with shadow blades.

”I know how to use Nokai now,” sagiri said, but of course salka did not care to hear.

”It’s still a no. You have breakfast and patrol. leave before I put you on pet tending duty with Lotaga.” Salka said with finality before he turned to leave, and this time sagiri did not know what to say to get Salka back. The whole Salka squad followed after him, not paying him anymore attention.

”Why do I have to go to pet tending duty?” Lotaga whined, walking behind Salka as their voices faded away.