us, though, how did,” she emphasized the word, “you kill that beast? I saw it lunge at us. Then out of nowhere it was pinned against the wall, slammed there by you and your sword. By the time I was able to process what had happened, and they we were safe, you were already unconscious.”
Uktesh knew that even though he had saved her, she was scared of him. He looked at Laurilli and saw her frown at her mother. “You may not know this, but I’m from Beletaria. We train from a young age to be warriors and out of all the students training, I was the best by far. I’m not there anymore because I’m a coward. When my village was attacked, I froze up and ran away. I guess the reason that I could fight the saber rabbit is because I’ve hunted before. This was just a more dangerous hunt.”
He glanced at Laurilli and knew the real reason he was able to fight. “Where I come from there are grand masters who can,” he paused to collect his thoughts, “First I should tell you about the three forms, balanced, imperfect, and perfect. Well I guess some of the grand masters say there’s a form above perfect, but no one knows for sure. I guess there is also unbalanced, which is trying to do balanced, but doing it wrong. When you fight, good fighters will be able to move from balanced to imperfect without any injury to themselves.”
“How would an imperfect attack hurt the user?” asked Heathyr.
“Well normally it wouldn’t, if you started in balanced. Balanced is the way to begin everything, either an attack or a defense. It’s basically how to move and dodge. Only by making sure to start in balanced should a warrior move to, or ‘flow’ to imperfect. This form puts great stress on the body, if it isn’t used properly, but it enhances what the body can do. I become faster and stronger in the form. Flowing from balanced to imperfect allows the stress on the body to be lowered to nothing, if you’re a master, or to very little if you do it right.”
“Is that how you were hurt? Did you do it wrong?”
“Yes and no.” He knew that the grin he felt on his face was a prideful one, “I don’t do it wrong anymore. What I did was I skipped balanced, and attacked in imperfect. Without the balanced buffer, I was hurt doing it. What really hurt was that I amplified myself up from there to perfect form.”
“Why would you do that?” asked Heathyr.
Again Uktesh glanced at Laurilli, but answered Heathyr, “It would’ve killed you, or Laurilli, or maybe both of you. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“From what you’ve been telling us though you put yourself at great risk attacking in this ‘perfect’ form without properly buffering yourself.”
Uktesh was impressed with Heathyr’s’ ability to understand what he’d told them, “Actually, I didn’t expect to live. Imperfect only allows you to be twice as fast and twice as strong, but perfect makes you ten times.” Laurilli gasped. “The stress on your body is equally increased, which is why only masters are trained to use it, and grand masters can use it with little effect to their bodies.”
“Then,” Laurilli asked, “are you a grand master?”
Uktesh smiled, even though it hurt to do so, “No, I’m not able to-” he stopped talking. I should be dead, doing what I did. I have been able to recently use perfect form without many consequences, if any. Uktesh continued, “I don’t know. Maybe I am or maybe I’m lucky, or maybe my body’s more resilient to the damaging effects of the backlash.”
“So that’s why you were able to move faster than a saber rabbit?” asked Laurilli.
“Yeah, I guess, though I’ve never heard of a master or grand master using perfect to see who was faster. I always thought that nothing moved as fast as a saber rabbit.”
“And you want to teach my daughter to use these dangerous techniques?”
The sudden switch in conversational direction threw Uktesh off
Uktesh knew that even though he had saved her, she was scared of him. He looked at Laurilli and saw her frown at her mother. “You may not know this, but I’m from Beletaria. We train from a young age to be warriors and out of all the students training, I was the best by far. I’m not there anymore because I’m a coward. When my village was attacked, I froze up and ran away. I guess the reason that I could fight the saber rabbit is because I’ve hunted before. This was just a more dangerous hunt.”
He glanced at Laurilli and knew the real reason he was able to fight. “Where I come from there are grand masters who can,” he paused to collect his thoughts, “First I should tell you about the three forms, balanced, imperfect, and perfect. Well I guess some of the grand masters say there’s a form above perfect, but no one knows for sure. I guess there is also unbalanced, which is trying to do balanced, but doing it wrong. When you fight, good fighters will be able to move from balanced to imperfect without any injury to themselves.”
“How would an imperfect attack hurt the user?” asked Heathyr.
“Well normally it wouldn’t, if you started in balanced. Balanced is the way to begin everything, either an attack or a defense. It’s basically how to move and dodge. Only by making sure to start in balanced should a warrior move to, or ‘flow’ to imperfect. This form puts great stress on the body, if it isn’t used properly, but it enhances what the body can do. I become faster and stronger in the form. Flowing from balanced to imperfect allows the stress on the body to be lowered to nothing, if you’re a master, or to very little if you do it right.”
“Is that how you were hurt? Did you do it wrong?”
“Yes and no.” He knew that the grin he felt on his face was a prideful one, “I don’t do it wrong anymore. What I did was I skipped balanced, and attacked in imperfect. Without the balanced buffer, I was hurt doing it. What really hurt was that I amplified myself up from there to perfect form.”
“Why would you do that?” asked Heathyr.
Again Uktesh glanced at Laurilli, but answered Heathyr, “It would’ve killed you, or Laurilli, or maybe both of you. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“From what you’ve been telling us though you put yourself at great risk attacking in this ‘perfect’ form without properly buffering yourself.”
Uktesh was impressed with Heathyr’s’ ability to understand what he’d told them, “Actually, I didn’t expect to live. Imperfect only allows you to be twice as fast and twice as strong, but perfect makes you ten times.” Laurilli gasped. “The stress on your body is equally increased, which is why only masters are trained to use it, and grand masters can use it with little effect to their bodies.”
“Then,” Laurilli asked, “are you a grand master?”
Uktesh smiled, even though it hurt to do so, “No, I’m not able to-” he stopped talking. I should be dead, doing what I did. I have been able to recently use perfect form without many consequences, if any. Uktesh continued, “I don’t know. Maybe I am or maybe I’m lucky, or maybe my body’s more resilient to the damaging effects of the backlash.”
“So that’s why you were able to move faster than a saber rabbit?” asked Laurilli.
“Yeah, I guess, though I’ve never heard of a master or grand master using perfect to see who was faster. I always thought that nothing moved as fast as a saber rabbit.”
“And you want to teach my daughter to use these dangerous techniques?”
The sudden switch in conversational direction threw Uktesh off
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