THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 189: 189. ‘PERHAPS’ AND ‘IF’S

The second day of the exam, after a rest day, came, and the arena was especially full.

”Say, sagiri the blind, do you also know all seven spear dances?” Kiuga asked as they were running to the war school’s weapon dance exam arena outside the inner pentagon.

”Perhaps,” Sagiri answered.

After sagiri came out of the pool, he had to assume that he had been poisoned in some way. Nvar had not come up with an explanation for the poison, and for all the poison books and all the poison through time, Sagiri could now remember he had never heard of such a poison. He had burnt up again and did not know what had caused the reaction, but he had a feeling something was wrong, and he needed an answer soon.

Later, after the pool, he had been cornered by Kaka and Kiuga, who demanded he teach them all three extra dances from the fourth to sixth as if they could learn them all in a day. Sagiri wanted to deny because he had important things to do, and unlike him, who did not have a dream to go to college anymore, they could be taught that in college. He could have easily said no, but he did not have anything to do but buy time to wait for the benefactor to make his move.

”Okay,” he gave in, and they all headed to the arena above the fourth-year pentagon. The entire squad of 25 had joined in at some point, too, including N’varu, then the trio from Kafika. They had not even cared to ask before they joined the line behind sagiri. Then the lines had started getting thicker and fatter and longer as if someone had told everyone what was happening and every cadet galka wanted to get a piece. The tensions had gone down since the arrival, and now there was free movement from Pentagon to Pentagon. It was Senraki who had allowed it for some reason. It could have been a coincidence for him to let the gates be opened even to the outer pentagon, for he wanted to take a walk before dark. The only rule was that after supper, cadets had to be in their allocated pentagons for head count. Senraki was a complex man. More than sagiri had expected. The man always had his own layered plans. As long as he did not get in sagiri’s way, then he didn’t mind.

Sagiri had not expected to teach such a crowd, but it was not like he was feeling shy anymore. He had a feeling a lot of nothing ever since the seal broke, well, the majority of it. The more the merrier, the more attention he pulled to himself, the better.

Teaching such a crowd was not easy, and he just concentrated on teaching the first line and the first learners. He did not even make it through the basics before it was supper time. Part of the reason was the complexity of the dance, and the second was that Kaka could not let him move to the next step without repeating a step a hundred times till he got it. It’s not like anyone could boo him or question him, so they all persevered. Sagiri did not care that much anyway. He was killing two birds with one stone. Kaka had even requested to take sagiri with him after the final for the one-month break before all the exams were compiled, and the reporting letters were dropped to each student by the examination council.

Sagiri had not said yes to the offer or rejected it. He might have grown stronger, but he did not want to go back and forth with Kaka sakana.

”No, he is coming to my clan. He is going to marry in my clan.” kiuga had somehow saved the day, and more suggestions came flying.

”You only think about marriage. I want to master the three senior dances. Your reason is weaker than mine,” Kaka argued.

”Are you saying Sagiri marrying into my clan is a weak reason?” Kiuga disputed. ”Do you perhaps want to marry him to your sister?” Kiuga accused, and the two fell into a heated argument yet again.

”My sister is twelve, I will not allow her to get married until she is well over thirty.” Kaka shot back.

”You are not the man of the house, Chief Zaka is. You can’t decide who marries your sister. I will marry her when she is of age,” Kiuga said, jumping behind bukata and ulekai at the glare kaka was giving him.

”I will kill you, Lofekeni. Shameless.” Kaka is grinding his teeth. What could a girl born to Chief Zaka and Kaka as a brother look like? Would anyone even want to marry a daughter born to Zaka Asakana? Having Kaka as a brother-in-law in itself was suicide. You fail to be the perfect husband for a split second, and you are not long for the world. It could take a man from the Asakana clan to even be worthy.

The journey to the arena came quickly, and after the archive almost burnt him alive for some reason, Sagiri did not intend to use it. For the next dance, he was going to depend on his own strength. He was not going to use the merge with the archive until he figured out the reason for the occurrence. This was the worst time for it to act in such a manner.

When sagiri’s turn came this time, he just performed the three spear dances required to pass the exam and stepped off the platform, much to everyone’s disappointment. He, however, could not use the archive this time, and he could not perform the complexities of the senior dances without its help. The day went by without much trouble. The girl who had tried to kill him, whose name nvaru now knew as Lira, performed the three required dances as if nothing had happened. Just watching her made sagiri burn with cold anger. Yet he could not move. It was not the right time. He was going to tear her bone from limb, right as her master watched.

The day went by fast, and they were sent back to the Pentagon. Sagiri, however, had to go to the hellpool again just in case. He went alone this time, and no one stopped him. He had acquired a free pass from Lotaga, who had stolen it from Salka. Sagiri had stopped wondering long enough why the man could just heap punishment on himself. Even so, Sagiri was sure senraki, and Salka knew what had happened because nothing could happen inside the wall of Galka without him knowing. The two had agreed to allow him whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t harm any student of Galka until the exams came to an end and he was no longer a student of the academy. The water did not feel like acid, and the archive was pulsing normally under water. The runes were where they should have been. After soaking for ten minutes, he was finally satisfied and stepped out of the pool. Perhaps what had happened was a result of the seal breaking and his body adjusting to the new size of the archive and its power.