Teogonia: Volume 1 (Premium)

by Tsukasa Tanimai

  As usual, the soldiers were training in the village square in front of the castle.

  It was Kai’s first time fighting the baron. As one of the highest-ranking soldiers, Basco pulled Kai over into the corner to give him a few words of advice.

  “Listen. Whatever you do, it won’t work against him, but don’t get desperate. No dirty tricks. Making him angry is the last thing you want.”

  “Got it.”

  Kai was told that anything a powerless foot soldier might try against the overwhelmingly stronger baron wouldn’t work. You can throw constant attacks at him or focus solely on defense, but whatever you do, give him a good fight to win his approval. In most cases, the farce of a training session keeps on going until he’s satisfied. Expect to gain a fair few injuries, but keep your hands, joints, and other vital areas well protected so that you’re not left with anything long-term. And you should know this already, but don’t go for the eyes and don’t go for the balls. That’s the quickest way to gain the baron’s disapproval, so don’t even consider it.

  Kai gained new respect for the amount of thought that this graying soldier put into each fight.

  “Let’s get to it.”

  To get Kai’s attention, the baron drove his staff into the dirt, which had been compacted by the feet of many soldiers. His grin was full of eagerness.

  Kai looked courageous as he stepped forward, and the soldiers cheered for him as they watched. Manso and the rest of his squadmates were half-jokingly assuring him that they’d clean his remains from the training ground.

  Kai searched for the source of their voices and found the faces of his fellow soldiers. When he looked toward them, they all gave him a thumbs-up.

  Manso’s thumb then turned to point towards himself. “You’ll be fighting me next.”

  Manso knew that Kai’s continued growth could trigger a change in the ranks within their squad. Contests of strength between high-ranking soldiers were an important way for the males to signal their strength to potential mates.

  The men were always trying to become stronger for the simple reason that it gave them a better chance of winning over a woman they liked. The baron’s household and the women’s council also encouraged this behavior because it motivated the soldiers to further improve themselves.

  Kai had only done what was necessary to rescue Lady White, so he was taken aback when he realized it had put him at odds with Manso. If he became leader of the squad, he wouldn’t just have to show leadership in battle, he’d also have all kinds of other unwanted tasks to deal with, such as coordinating the squad and giving out rewards and punishments. Relationships of power in this world were often easy to accept because older soldiers tended to rank higher, but for Kai, as the youngest soldier, these responsibilities would be nothing but a burden.

  I’ve got to use this bout to set the record straight.

  Kai decided he’d hold back and let everyone see him defeated spectacularly.

  The baron’s staff cut through the air with an incredible whistling sound, so Kai brandished his staff likewise. The sharp whistling noises drew cheers from the spectators.

  Kai still wasn’t used to controlling his power as a guardian bearer. He’d intended to suppress his power a lot more, but his staff had moved through the air with such speed that even Basco beside him was surprised.

  He let the tip of his staff meet the tip of the staff that the baron held out. This signaled that the training session had started.

  The baron’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and he began immediately with a thrust so quick it could barely be seen, aimed directly at Kai’s stomach. Kai followed the thrust with his keen eyes and tried to decide whether he should let himself be hit. The staff was coming at him so fast that he worried it would leave him in unbearable agony.

  Hold up... If that hits me, I’ll be impaled through the stomach!

  If the baron intended to stop at the last possible moment, then it wouldn’t be such a problem, but if he let the staff keep going, this bout would end in tragedy.

  Kai thought about Basco and Setta, and he remembered the terrible injuries they often received during these bouts. He started to worry that the baron might not be very familiar with the idea of going easy on someone.

  In the end, he decided not to take a direct hit.

  But he’d been slow to react to the attack, so now he had limited options. He drew his left leg back some distance and twisted his body so that the staff would hit him at an angle. Then he leaned his upper body backward and let himself fall.

  But it still wasn’t enough to evade the attack.

  With no other options available, he raised the staff so that the part behind his grip that extended toward the butt grazed against the end of the baron’s thrusting staff. The sound of their weapons colliding was soft. The sound was so quiet that it was probably only heard by the two fighters. The thrust was knocked off course ever so slightly, causing it to cut through the air and miss Kai’s torso as he twisted and fell backward.

  In that same moment, there was a wave of air pressure that tore through Kai’s clothing.

  “So you can dodge!” The baron’s face broke into a broad grin.

  Kai was left sitting on his backside in the dirt, but the baron immediately drew back his staff and shouted, “Get up!” before holding it ready to strike once again.

  The fact that Kai had perfectly evaded the baron’s first strike would look like a miracle to any ordinary person. But everything had happened so fast that this miracle went unnoticed by everyone except the two fighters. To the spectators, it just looked as though Kai had randomly stumbled backward and gotten out of the path of the attack by pure luck.

  But the baron’s keen vision missed nothing.

  “Get to your feet.”

  Kai reluctantly got to his feet and then assumed his stance. The two fighters began to move around each other, using the circle footwork of Zula-ryu. It was the same style seen in bouts with Basco.

  This movement could only mean that the baron had recognized that Kai was worthy of his respect, and now there were sounds of disbelief among the spectators.

  Kai had also started moving his legs according to his own clumsy version of circle footwork so that he could stay face-to-face with the baron. As soon as the baron saw that Kai was ready, he began a new attack.

  Their weapons collided twice and then three times, and then the baron used an ensnaring technique to capture Kai’s staff. Kai felt his weapon being sharply pulled away from him, and his stance broke.

  The baron didn’t overlook this opportunity, of course.

  While Kai was exposed with his body off-balance, the baron moved close, ready to deliver another devastating blow to Kai’s abdomen. Kai quickly moved his body to the side, but the thrust still connected lightly, and Kai’s face contorted. Then the baron unleashed a flurry of hits that came one after the other.

  Such a fearsome attack would normally be enough to make someone collapse in agony.

  You’ve gotta be kidding me.

  It turned out that the baron was pulling back each strike at the last possible moment after all, but that didn’t mean that his weapon stopped the moment before it hit Kai, it meant that his weapon stopped at the last possible moment after hitting Kai without worrying whether he broke Kai’s skin. This was why Basco had told him to be careful.

  As powerful as each thrust was, these were hits from a training staff with a rounded end, and Kai had become too tough to be injured easily. However, this was an important opportunity for Kai to make a display of weakness, and he wanted to put on a good show of losing. He wanted to bleed.

  He blocked an attack with his arm, and it broke the skin as it grazed him. He kept any bones that might break out of harm’s way while meeting the staff with his flesh.

  One moment he’d be leaning forward, and the next his back would bend backward so as to dodge the next thrust.

  If Kai wanted a beating, this was the perfect opportunity. The baron had gotten carried awa
y in his excitement, and there was no sign that his attacks would stop.

  After being hit so many times, Kai had started to feel pain.

  There was a sudden feeling of heat in his godstone as it was reacting to the danger he was in. Power began to flow to every part of his body, and then he felt that his kumadori was about to appear.

  Not here!

  Enduring the baron’s attack was one thing, but he couldn’t let his kumadori be revealed here.

  Kai sighed. Then, with a feeling of desperation, he aimed a thrust at the baron while allowing himself to be hit. As a result of Kai’s desperate attack, the baron’s staff stopped just short of hitting Kai’s throat, where a hit might have been fatal.

  “All right!”

  The baron drew back his staff happily. He had no intention of killing Kai.

  The baron’s concern for Kai created an opening, and Kai’s staff seized it with a strike at the baron’s chest.

  Just as Kai thought he was about to land a hit, the tip of his staff was repelled.

  The baron had swiftly moved his other hand forward to defend himself.

  Kai’s attack was parried leaving him off-balance, but in an attempt to force the bout to come to an end, he stomped a foot down on the ground with gritted teeth to steady himself, and then put his full weight behind a lunge attack as his toenails dug into the dirt beneath him.

  That power behind his attack was the same incredible power that had allowed a young boy like Kai to ascend to the higher ranks. His attack was a fierce tackle powered by his incredible muscular strength, and it struck the undefended and exposed leg of the baron. As his shoulder collided with the thigh, he grabbed the ankle and pulled it forward. This throwing technique was designed to sweep an opponent off their feet.

  It looked as though a small child was attempting to turn over a giant boulder, but the power hidden within Kai’s body was enough to create miracles. The baron’s huge frame swayed.

  The cheering from the spectators lasted only a moment.

  The baron stood up straight on his free leg and straightened his body to regain his balance. Then he grabbed Kai, who was still clinging on to his leg, by the head and smashed Kai’s face against his bent knee.

  Kai was launched off the baron’s leg and then he fell to the ground and rolled, with red blood spraying from his nose. There was a unanimous feeling that this was a new and acceptable way to lose a bout. When Basco stopped spectating to rush to Kai’s aid, that was when the fight truly ended.

  Kai was on the ground clutching his nose in agony when the baron came over and roughly pet Kai’s head.

  “Good! Good!”

  Kai looked up with his bloody hand still clutching his nose. The baron had come to give him praise.

  “I like you, boy!” the baron said, sounding pleased down to his core. “I’d never have imagined anyone would attempt a throw when fighting me! I’ve decided. From tomorrow onward, I’m going to train you personally!”

  Hah? Wha-?

  There was a commotion from the watching soldiers standing behind Kai as they struggled to understand what it meant.

  The baron had just declared Kai his new favorite toy. If he thought Kai was good enough for his farcical training, it could only mean that the baron had recognized Kai as a skilled fighter. More importantly, this meant that in terms of rank, Kai was now up there with Lag’s elite soldiers such as Basco.

  Far from setting the record straight, Kai had just distinguished himself even further.

  19

  The other soldiers crowded around Kai, and everyone wanted to strike his shoulders.

  Many were happy for this youngster who’d climbed high enough to rank alongside the baron’s favorites. But there was also envy from those Kai had left so far behind, and their words of congratulations carried an awkward feeling, as if there was more they left unsaid. Others congratulated Kai on becoming the baron’s new favorite training dummy, and they weren’t entirely joking.

  His squad were among those hitting his shoulders to congratulate him, and the last of them was Manso, who was still smiling when he announced their upcoming fight: “We’ll do it tomorrow.” Whether he liked it or not, Kai’s status in the village kept on changing.

  Kai felt happy when those around him recognized his potential, but at the same time he wished he could escape from it all.

  Someday, I’ll live in the valley...

  He’d find a girl he liked, they’d have children together, and then they’d move to the valley. The valley was so rich with food that it would be enough to feed Kai and the rest of his family.

  It felt like a betrayal to think of leaving behind the community that had raised him, especially when they were at risk from the macaques that were becoming increasingly active in the nearby forest, but he allowed himself to dream.

  That night, he planned to visit the valley.

  He’d been wounded fairly badly, but that wouldn’t stop him because he could secretly heal himself with magic. The thought of the sweet taste of the maca in the valley made his mouth water.

  As a valued soldier wounded in combat, Kai was given treatment from an old woman who was one of the village healers. He was ordered to spend the evening resting, but Kai had managed to close all of his bleeding wounds using his healing magic and didn’t want to wait any longer.

  He removed his bandages and hid them in his bed and then slipped out of the barracks after the other soldiers had fallen asleep. He had no need to use the gates to the village when he was able to leap over the walls under the cover of darkness.

  On the other side of those walls was the path to his beautiful valley.

  His emotions spurred him on, and he traveled across 50 yulds in no time at all. The ruined settlement of Banya served as his usual landmark when deciding where to enter the forest.

  The manner in which he’d make his way into the forest would vary day by day, but now that there was an understanding between him and his lagarto neighbors, he no longer felt the need to avoid their territory.

  He wanted to establish the shortest possible route into the valley.

  Well, the valley’s in that direction, but...

  Kai usually reached the valley by entering the forest from a point one yuld beyond Banya, and then altered his course slightly toward the east and headed five yulds further in.

  The valley wasn’t very deep into the forest, but its existence was unknown to humans because the ground was covered by rough black rocks that made for poor footing, and heading there via a straight path was too dangerous. The scattered areas of marshland inhabited by the lagarto was another likely factor.

  Orgs lived deeper into the forest than lagarto, and there seemed to be some pact that allowed them to move freely through the lagarto’s territory. The lagarto wouldn’t normally turn aggressive if the areas of water they inhabited weren’t approached. Kai knew that from experience.

  The rough black rocks were solidified lava. That was something Kai knew from his internal knowledge. Subterranean water was plentiful enough in this area to rise up and create many small brooks that fed into the marshland.

  I want to find a good place to drop down into the valley, so I guess I’ll explore around the outside first.

  He already had a good idea of how the lagarto land was arranged, so he could imagine the shortest route that went through gaps in their territory.

  They were fond of water, so those gaps were the screes and outcrops of rock that didn’t retain water.

  Here and there he could see rocks jutting out from the ground to form miniature mountains, breaking up the gentle, rolling hills of the vast forest. Kai checked their positions by eye and thought about how to proceed.

  Okay, here goes.

  As his starting point, Kai had chosen somewhere just outside of Banya village, thinking that no one would be there to see him. After a short run up, he leaped powerfully and raced past their defensive walls like a gust of wind as he reached his top speed, causing shrieks of surprise from
the settlement.

  There were loud cries of “It’s the monster!” and “That’s what’s making holes in our fields!” Kai knew exactly what they were talking about, and he knew he was showing disrespect toward their village, but their problems weren’t his problems, so he ignored them.

  Kai counted to himself as he leaped into the forest.

  This is the first step!

  He leaped from a small rocky cliff, and his body flew through the air.

  The high air pressure made his breathing erratic as he scoured for the next foothold. He jumped toward one of the larger old balen cedars, one with many particularly large branches.

  The way the branch of the tree bent added to the force propelling Kai forward.

  This is awesome! The branches are giving my jumps more power!

  There were also rock surfaces here and there, but they were far outnumbered by the tall balen cedar trees that grew wild in the forests of the borderlands. He continuously searched for new footing, knowing that it was most efficient to seek out the larger of the balen cedar tree branches as much as possible. With each jump he searched for a new tree.

  The word that came to mind was “ninja.” Though Kai obviously didn’t know exactly what that meant. But whether he knew it or not, he’d actually achieved their legendary technique of traveling through the treetops, which had been a near impossibility for them. He reached the edge of the valley with surprising speed.

  From afar, the rising edge of the valley looked just like a range of low mountains.

  Then, atop a tree at the valley’s edge that would serve as his final stop, he stared in wonder at the beauty of the valley. No matter how many times he saw it, he could never get enough. But then he spotted something out of place, something he wasn’t used to seeing at the opposite side of the valley. His mood soured in an instant.

  Whatever it was, it was too small to see clearly, but he could tell at a glance that it was a living creature. In fact, it looked more like a group of living creatures.