A little practice
Breezed by the grass the cold winds of July, the green grass now dried by the winter, whose dew announced the presence of the nearby river Ilias. Its currents now peaceful and calm produced a pleasant sound in its flowing. More could also be heard: the wooshing sound of a wooden sword cutting through the air and the grunts and yells of the swordsman wielding it and his trainer giving him instructions. The small child-like fighter with purple hair wielded and stepped somewhat clumsily, his balance not quite handling the weight of his own swings, but every time he over swung he nodded to himself, taking a mental note to try and not make the same mistake again, this was marked by his coach, who would immediately but calmly told him his mistake.
"Luka, your grip is still too tense, and after swinging a few times you change back into the wrong hand posture. Try not to focus on strength for now, but on good technique."
"But, every time I swing, my hand slips! If I dont put force into my grip, its going to shift into something even worse than I used to have."
The instructor "Hmmms" for a moment, thinks and sighs, saying: "If only they didn't teach you incorrectly back then, you'd probably have enough grip strength for a good wielding by now. The thing is, that hammer grip they taught you that time not only is bad posture in general, but it also doesn't train your fingers properly, that means that you didn't grow the strength to hold the sword properly while striking."
Luka looked down, with a sad face, like an abandoned puppy. Instructor looked at Lukas sadness and smiled sheepishly.
"Gosh, that's cute!"
He walked close to the boy, put his hand on his shoulder and put the best smile he could.
"Don't worry about it! You've got a proper teacher now! With your enthusiasm and attention, you're gonna breeze through this no problem!"
Looking up with somewhat puffed cheeks, he looked at the man and put on a small smile. Looking to the side for an instant, he hesitantly told the man.
"T… That's… That's not it. It's just that I didn't think they'd go that far to try and sabotage me..."
Widening his eyes a little, the instructor put on an even bigger smile.
"So that's what he was worried about."
This kid gets cuter and cuter by the minute. He widened his smile and so he started laughing. Luka looked on with a confused expression, soon it turned into an hurt and indignant one, saying: "Hey! Why are you laughing?!", he puffed his cheeks and looked at the man. He laughed even harder.
Cleaning his tears, the instructor looked at Luka with a refreshing smile.
"Its' just that, Luka, even though that yes, they interfered in your training, they didn't try to hurt you. In fact, they taught you wrong in the most safe way possible."
"Huh?"
"That hammer grip for example, even though it's not good for fighting, it also provides no danger to it's user in case he makes mistakes. The correct grip on the other hand, can very easily hurt your wrist if it is used incorrecty for a long period of time, in fact, you could get carpal tunnel syndrome from it."
"What's carpal tunnel syndrome?", said Luka while tilting his head, confused at the strange word.
"It's a disease where some of your fingers and hand go numb essentially, could get pretty bad with time. To the point you'd have a hard time using your hand", explained the instructor while still making a cheerful face.
Luka shuttered for a moment while looking at his hands, for a moment he thought about what the man had said. He noticed what that meant.
"Does that mean that they didn't want to hurt me? Even though they are trying to stop me becoming a hero, they still cared about whether I got hurt or not?", Luka said, looking with hopeful and wet eyes.
Sighing lightly with his nose, the man looked at Luka's eyes. For a moment, he betrayed happiness, melancholy and fear. At this the boy was confused, not understanding the expression on the man's face. Almost imperceptible, his mouth trembled, and several words died in his throat, many things he wanted to say but many more could not be said. It was a gamble, a big one, and on the bid was, amongst other things this kid's life. If he lost, the world was over, even if he won the kid might suffer an even worse fate. For a moment a voice argued that he should prioritize those he loved, even if that meant a greater chance of the universe ending. Another, boldly declared that such a position was selfish and that he should obviously sacrifice many things for the greater good of all, after all, was that not justice? In this brief moment of conflict, another thought surged.
"This may be what I think. But, that boy. What would HE want?"
The foolish man, faced with reality entered a paradox. Internally inconsistent and warring. But in understanding his limitations, a flash of light appeared. In his heart was a small child with shoulder length black hair, exclaiming proudly to his teacher in kindergarten. A small, naive child, but with a heart flaming and the resolution of a strong mountain, the emotive charity of water and freedom of the wind. In the principle he had the light, and since then that what something he would never let himself lose. The exclamation was:
"I want to be a Hero!"
…
…
…
Looking at Luka, he saw himself…
"How stupid I was, no matter what I do, he will never allow that to happen. He will always get himself into stupid, dangerous situations because of this foolish idealism of his".
Satisfied, the man regained his cheerfulness and clearly told.
"No Luka, they did that because they wanted to protect you. But you know what? Who cares?! You're going to be a hero Luka, I feel it in my bones! And I'm going to help you do it as if that's the last thing I'm gonna do!".
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Hello! John here!
This is a short story that I've made to introduce to the readers a few concepts of a story I've been thinking about for some time. As embarassing as it is to publish a story in this setting, I feel it has potential to make an interesting fic. This is also my first time writing fiction of any sort, so I think my writing might be quite dry. Constructive criticism is always welcome!
