Duality - 5 John Yao

Afternoon.

It was a small bedroom, the sunlight coming in through the single window it had.

“Push! I can see it.”

On the bed, a woman was giving birth to a child, while a midwife assisted her.

“Waaa! Waaaaa!”

“It’s out, and he’s a boy.”

After much effort, the child was finally born.

——

The midwife had just left while the woman held the now sleeping boy in her arms.

“Jonathan.” The woman quietly spoke while looking outside through the window. “We finally have our own child, a beautiful baby boy, but you’re not here to see him.”

She had a sad look in her eyes. Finally, she had escaped, but her loved one had to stay behind.

His family couldn’t accept him falling in love with a slave woman. The two of them tried to run away together, but his family pursued.

Now, she had no idea if he was dead or alive.

“My son. Your father’s name is Jonathan, so you shall be called John. John Yao.”

Though the boy had noble blood, they would never accept him, therefore she could only give her own surname to the child. Her name is Dene Yao, from the Yao tribe, though her tribe no longer exists.

“John, I don’t know how much longer I have in this world, but I promise to stay with you for as long as I can. I shall teach you everything that I know so that you’re better able to survive.”

——

Five years passed since John was born. He was already able to read, though nothing too difficult.

Right now, John was in his room trying to memorize a spell incantation his mother wrote.

“John, come here.” He heard his mother calling from outside.

The two of them lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of a small town called Greenflower. The cottage was only big enough for their rooms plus the kitchen.

John got up from his bed and headed outside to meet his mother. She was waiting by the fence with the same stern look as always. On each hand, she had two small sticks.

“John, how’s the mind training coming along?” She asked.

“I remember about half of the spell.” John answered.

“Hmm, recite it for me then.”

“Yes.”

[Akular Khetsaram Kali Norn]

[Miopiar Suh Soth Damen Pveathr]

“Er…” John tried to recite the rest but failed to remember it.

“You can stop. This time you managed to recite half of it, better than last time.” She said, though without a change in expression.

“In a few weeks you should be able to have it memorized, that’s not bad. Now let me ask you a question. What does it mean to cultivate?”

“Um, to cultivate is to train the body and the mind, so we can become stronger.” John answered what he could remember.

“Good, that’s basically it. There are two different paths; the Warrior path, focused on training the body, and the spellcaster path which trains the mind.”

“Remembering the spell incantations is a way of training the mind, though quite basic. To truly train the mind also requires you to manipulate mana to cast the spell.”

“Comparatively, training the body is simpler, as it only requires you to exercise your muscles and absorb mana into then.”

“Now, you’re already five years old, which means it’s time for you to start training for real,” Dene said as she threw the sticks in her right hand towards John. “From this day forward, you and I shall train every day. During the day I’ll teach you combat, while at night you’ll learn spells and important knowledge from the world.”

“Now, take one stick on each hand and try attacking me.”

John’s father was famous for his sword and shield skills. Unfortunately, Dene wasn’t very proficient with it, so she decided to teach the twin shortswords techniques from her tribe.

“Try again, this time watch your stance. The back must remain straight and the hips cant be so tense, you must remain agile or you will be easy prey. Keep your head high, eyes on the opponent. You must have the opponent in your sight at all times.”

“You’re holding the weapons with too much force, the thumb and the forefinger must remain flexible. Also, don’t put so much force at the attack or your sword may end stuck at the opponent’s body.

“Never try to block an attack, you’re using swords, not a shield. A blow is coming at you, use one sword to deflect it to the side, sidestep away and stab with the other sword.”

“Armor is made to stop attacks, so you must aim for where it is weaker or simply is not present. That can be the eyes, gaps of the armor, the crooks of the elbow or the knee. Don’t simply throw attacks. Observe, think and aim. And always strive to win with as little effort as possible.”

That was John’s life growing up. Learning how to fight during the day and when the body was resting at night he would learn magic, knowledge about the kingdom, how to read, and other things he would need to know when not fighting.

“Mom.”

“Yes, my child?”

“Why is our skin different than other people’s?”

“That’s our heritage my child, the way the gods made us. By day we are able to better withstand the scorching desert sun, while at night we better blend with the shadows, becoming deadly hunters.”

“Ooooh… and Is the desert far from here?”

“Very far, taking years if you try to go by normal horse. The best way to get there is by flying magical beasts, but only nobles have access to them. To commoners like us, there’s only renting or trying to tame a magical beast that you can ride.”

“But it is so beautiful,” Dene Smiled. “Different from here, the days are much brighter in the south, the sand dunes and the oases full of animals. And at night you can see so many stars, like fireflies in the sky. If one day you get the chance you should try visiting it, you won’t regret.”

——

The training routine went on for 3 more years until John was ready for his awakening.

“Now focus,” Dene instructed her son. “Do as I taught you and try absorbing the mana into your body. Breath in… breath out.”

John was kneeling on the ground, his eyes closed and head down. Dripping with sweat he began to absorb and guide the mana inside his body.

He could feel the energy sip into his body, strengthening it. Through his breathing, it entered the lungs where it entered the bloodstream, and flowed to his muscles.

Every minute they would become stronger, slowly surpassing what a normal human being could achieve until finally…

John felt a surge of strength. For an instant, he felt like he could destroy a boulder with a single punch, though the feeling quickly disappeared, leaving him exhausted.

He began falling forward, but Dene, already expecting this, supported him.

“Well done John, you did it. How do you feel?” She asked with a smile, though John, clearly awake, didn’t answer. “…John?”

John kept looking down, as if in a trance.

For a few seconds, he felt like a completely different person.

He saw himself stabbing an unconscious old man with a knife. John didn’t know why, but he felt a deep hatred for this man as if the only thing that mattered was to kill him.

The knife pierced the old man’s chest, ending his life. After this, the vision ended and John passed out.

“John. John!” Dene screamed.

He slept for an entire day while Dene kept going back and forth with worry.

Exhaustion was common after awakening, but she never heard of someone passing out after it. She was on the verge of calling for a doctor when John finally woke up.

——

When John woke up, he noticed that he was now laying on his bed. Looking around he saw his mother pacing around the room.

“… Mom?” He called quietly.

“John!, how do you feel?” She asked.

John was surprised, he had never seen his mother so worried before. She had big dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept the whole night.

“I-I’m a bit tired. What happened?”

“Don’t you remember? You passed out after your awakening.”

“The awakening…” John then finally recalled what happened. He had just gone through his awakening when he had a strange vision where he killed someone. After that, John passed out.

“Now, you may have woken up, but you’re still too tired. Don’t worry about the training for today, I’ll cook something for you to eat, then you should go to sleep ok?”

“Ok.” John chose to not tell his mother what he saw, as he thought she was too worried already.

Dene then left towards the kitchen, where she began preparing the food.

This was the first time in 3 years that John didn’t have to train, but he was simply too tired to enjoy it.

‘What was that? I never saw that man before, so why did I feel so much hate for him?’

Dene brought his food to the bed, but even after eating he kept thinking about it until he fell asleep.