Ervinos Mukuru sized up his foe before charging in. His opponent was the same age as him and came from a family of farmers. He decided not to go for too aggressive an initial move, worried about permanently injuring the young boy.
The Umpetha was first to move, sprinting directly at Ervin with his daggers pulled to his side.
“He’s full of openings”, thought Ervin, “At least he’s bold, I’ll give him that.” The Mukuru waited for the right moment and then took a large step forward and launched a downward slash aimed at the Umpetha’s head.
As he swung downwards, he felt something odd. The Umpetha’s eyes were tracking the sword across its entire path, as if the farmer boy was fully aware of the attack but simply did not mind if it hit him.
Right as the sword was about to make contact, the Umpetha boy spun in place towards the right and continued forward. He had avoided the attack in a single swift step, and now all Ervin could do was watch as his opponent's two daggers collided into his chest.
“Too slow.” shouted Alcides, much to Ervin's alarm, “I could see that you decided which direction to dodge before you even started.”
Ervin was bewildered, he had just lost to a farmer's boy. It was a lucky dodge, but it was a loss nonetheless. He was about to bow in respect and commend the boy for his bravery, but was interrupted by Alex - “The spar is far from over, boy.” noted the still-angry father, “That is, unless you want to surrender.”
The young Mukuru jumped back to give himself a moment. Surrender? Him? Never.
“You there, Umpetha. What is your name” asked Ervin, nearly ready to treat his opponent as someone worthy of sharing a sparring ground with him.
“No, no, no, Mukuru.” came a cocky laugh from his counterpart, “You are not nearly respectable enough to deserve my name. You may not have noticed me, but I was actually there earlier today when you questioned my father's honour in front of the whole army. I hope you don’t surrender too soon, there are some moves I want to try out on you.”
Ervin turned immediately to his father, this was surely an insult to the Mukuru name. People have been executed for less in the past. To his surprise, Alexander Mukuru now wore a smile on his face!
Seeking to redeem his honour, Ervin jumped in this time. He slashed and stabbed at the Umpetha boy, but was responded to with well-executed blocks and dodges.
The entire time, Alcides was shouting admonitions at his child, criticising the blocks that perfectly neutralised Ervin's slashes and claiming that the dodging which made Ervin feel he was fighting a ghost was “substandard at best”.
In frustration, Ervin mustered all his strength and unleashed a diagonal slash. This time the Umpetha reacted differently, he raised a dagger to block, but instead of resisting the force of Ervin's sword, he let his dagger fall back with the impact and then placed the other dagger on top of the sword. With a movement of his hands and flick of his wrist, he redirected Ervin's sword directly to the ground, and once again drove his daggers into Ervin's chest. For the first time that spar, Alcides kept quiet.
The Umpetha was not done yet, the moment Ervin regained his balance he went on the offensive. He kicked at Ervin's feet, forcing him to move back. Then he pounced forward and began stabbing at him from all angles. The young Mukuru did his best to protect his core, blocking with difficulty but conceding hits onto his waist, legs and arms. Alcides had restarted his criticism, if his words were to be believed the Umpetha boy was slow, revealed his intentions far too early and did not have enough power - an assessment Ervin could not agree with.
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Ervin knew he was on the back foot, but after 15 seconds of blocking, he felt like he was getting used to the flow of the Umpetha boy's attacks. He could anticipate the attacks a bit better, and noticed recurring patterns - a right stab then a left swing, he could see them a bit clearer now. The Mukuru decided to wait it out until he saw his opening, he dodged the coming stabs and blocked a few others. Ervinos attempted to parry, but the daggers were flying too firmly and quickly for any meaningful redirection.
“Pathetic. Are you a dancer or are you a warrior?” came the criticism from Alcides, “You better finish it now.”
The Umpetha reeled at his father's words, pouncing forward with greater speed now. But he had shown Ervin too much, the young Mukuru raised his sword ready to counteract - dodge the right stab, then block the left sw-
Ervin looked down to see a dagger plunged into his chest, he had no idea where it came from. The Umpetha boy followed it up with a kick, sending the young Mukuru flying across the room.
Ervin held his stomach in pain, the kick was far more powerful than anything he could produce. He looked up at his opponent to see that same cocky smile.
But the smile which caused Ervin great annoyance just a few minutes ago brought forth something different now. Ervinos Mukuru stayed on the ground, placed both of his hands before him, and performed a deep bow to Alcides.
“Sir Magektonos. I have committed a grave mistake. I have disrespected you in front of your comrades, and for that I am sorry.”
He then turned to face the Umpetha boy, getting off the ground but keeping his head lowered. “Son of Alcides, I surrender. You are far superior to me in the ways of the battle. You have shown me today that sometimes a true warrior can come from outside the nobility as well. To you, too, I apologise.”
“You have bent your knees and head to me, I am aware how difficult that is.” responded Alcides, “Boy, introduce yourself, and make sure no ill will remains between the two of you. He has done something that is worthy of respect.”
“You took the beating well, Lord Mukuru.” stated the young Umpetha, with a clumsy bow, “I am Symeon Umpetha, son of the great Magektonos Alcides Umpetha. Despite our initial disagreements, I hope we can be friends.” The son of Alcides extended a hand, keeping the cocky smile plastered on his face.
In most circumstances, Ervin would have never accepted such a half-hearted formal greeting, and such attitude from any peer, but he had undoubtedly lost to this prideful boy. “I am Ervinos Mukuru, pleased to meet you.”
“Ervin, do you remember the hilltop around 20 minutes from here,” asked Alexander Mukuru, breaking his long silence and once more wearing his characteristic smile on his face.
“Yes, father. The one with the view of the stars.”
“That’s the one, take Symeon there as a way of making amends.”
“Yes, Father.” came the immediate reply, Ervin was in a very humbled mood now.
The two boys discussed the route and started making their way out of the tent, as the two fathers whispered to each other.
“Are you sure this is okay, Alex?” asked a concerned Alcides, “I do hope your son doesn’t assign mine to a suicide charge when he gains the authority to do so,” he said dryly.
The Mukuru General burst out in laughter, “The boy is immature but not a complete idiot.” he said, “I am sure that just as you have changed my heart, he will allow Symeon to change his. Ervin has never had a friend more capable than him in any aspect before, your boy will be a good influence.”
The Umpetha warrior nodded silently and watched as the two boys left the tent.
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The two boys climbed up a ledge to reach their destination for the night. They looked up to see the marvellous sight of the stars spread across the sky.
After sharing stories from their childhood, the Mukuru and the Umpetha had built a reasonably friendly relationship.
“Do you have a dream, Ervinos, a goal you want to achieve?” probed Symeon, as he settled on a mossy rock.
The Mukuru contemplated whether he should say it out loud, it was a dream that got laughed at whenever he expressed it. In the end, he decided to risk it - “One day, I will lead our armies against the Empire, and we will break free from their influence once and for all.” he declared boldly, looking at the Umpetha to see his reaction.
“Impossible”, chuckled Symeon, as he turned towards Ervinos, “But that’s what makes it worth doing. I think my dream is no more achievable than yours - One day, I will be recognized as the strongest Hatha warrior this nation has ever had, with no rival either in Ikona or the Empire.”
Ervinos didn’t hold back his laughter either, he felt happy that he was in the company of someone as crazy as him.
“Just so you know,” started Symeon Umpetha, speaking more candidly now, “your apology still had a huge misunderstanding. What is it you said - sometimes a true warrior can come from outside the nobility as well?”
“I accept that you are an excellent fighter” replied Ervinos, feeling a lot less humble now that he had grown comfortable with Symeon. “But if you look around us, it’s hard to deny that nobles show the best qualities in both learned studies and fighting. The noble Hatha units are still more effective than any peasant squadron.”
“I don’t blame you for seeing it that way, Ervin.” chuckled Symo with some attitude. “But what do you think the difference is, between us peasants and you nobles?”
Ervin hesitated, he remembered the answer he gave his father earlier but did not believe it as confidently any more. “I- I’m not sure, what do you think?”
“It’s simple” replied Symeon with that cocky smile of his as he gazed up at the stars, “Training.”