Chapter Twenty Three
After lunch Andrew paired up with Finor, the elf. They used a room in the castle that was stocked with martial arts equipment; weapons, punching bags, and the like.
Finor taught in the traditional way. He demonstrated a move, and Andrew attempted to replicate it. Then Andrew practiced the move until it became a part of him.
The next five days were similar. Andrew fought Kiara in the morning, and she soundly beat him in every fall. Each time she took him down, Andrew's resolve to beat her grew stronger. Afternoons were spent with Finor, acquiring new moves and techniques.
Training was grueling, like Teltibane said it would be. Andrew's body ached constantly. Many times he felt like giving up. If he can't even beat Kiara in a practice match, how will he defeat the mighty King Blue in a real fight? Besides, it was just so hard.
At times like these Andrew thought of Katy, languishing in a dark cell, deep underwater. The only way to set her free is to defeat King Blue. And the only way to defeat King Blue is to practice and train hard for the battle. So giving up is not an option.
Andrew lost to Kiara again several days into his training, and Teltibane offered him some advice. "In sheer strength and power, you will never best her. Focus more on polishing and perfecting your technique. There, you can hope to defeat her. An analogy to think about: Would you try to fight a ferocious tiger with strength? Of course not. You can never be stronger than it. You must rather try to outsmart it. Only there, can you hope to beat it."
"Very well sir."
So Andrew tried to change his focus from power to technique. But Finor was a stickler for order. He would not skip any steps. He will only move on to advanced techniques when Andrew has mastered all that comes before it.
Therefore Andrew took another thrashing at the hands of Kiara the next day. He couldn't decide what hurts more: her devastating elbow jabs, or a throw onto the hard stone floor that they train on. Or the humiliation of it all.
After lunch, Andrew found himself wandering aimlessly through the hallways of the castle, brooding over his defeats. He needed to learn the advanced moves. He needed it badly, so much so that it quite literally hurts, in the form of punches, kicks, and falls to the stone floor.
Finor wasn't going to teach them to him yet. It could be weeks and weeks before Finor felt that he had advanced to that level. And by then, the war could have already come, with no Champion to challenge Blue.
Andrew turned a corner, and found himself in an unfamiliar section of the castle. A hallway of blue stone, with miniature sculptures adorning the shelves on the walls. He made to go back, but something at the end of the hallway caught his eye.
A tall wooden door, with an elaborate carving of a magnificent bird stretching from its top to its bottom.
Andrew studied the door. There was an inscription on it, three lines. He looked at the top one. It was in an elegant alphabet Andrew had never seen before, filled with swirls and dots. The second line was in the language of Man, and the third was in a variation of Dwarvish script.
The English sentence read: "Come this way, both strong and weak, find within, the knowledge you seek."
Andrew knew he had some time. He was curious what the room contained, and entered. It was filled with books. A library. Its many bookcases fanned out in every direction. The handsome furniture was made of a combination of tan and dark brown woods. Everything was decorated in a bird motif. There were bird carvings, bird sculptures, bird bookends. Two giant bird models hung from the ceiling.
There were three large sections, along with many smaller ones.
Andrew was intrigued and wanted to explore more, but it was time for his afternoon lessons with Finor. He reluctantly exited the library, vowing to return as soon as he could.
The afternoon was spent learning more novice kicks and punches with Finor. What Andrew considered to be largely a waste of time.
After dinner Andrew sped back through the maze of castle hallways to the blue hallway and the exquisite bird-themed library.
He entered and strolled through the rows of bookcases. Past rows of books written in the delicate swirl-and-dot filled script inscribed on the door. Past lines of shelves written in bold Dwarvish. Until he came to the third of the large sections. The one written in the language of Man.
Now if he could only find a book on the martial arts...Andrew went down the line, searching.
'Mad', 'malevolent', 'man', 'marsupial', 'martial arts'!
He pulled the green leather-bound book from the shelf, and blew off the dust. Martial Arts Illuminated, by Kameneshi Ososaka.
He sat down at a small round table with a bird statue for its leg. The first page of the book began with a quote—"Possibility lies within you. You need only learn to harness your innate power and bring it to the surface." Underneath was a diagram of a man performing what the book called the 'reverse hip throw.' And the amazing thing about it was that the diagram moved!
Andrew looked at the diagram, following its movements. It demonstrated to him step by step how to perform the reverse hip throw correctly. The drawing moved magically, as did most of the drawings that filled the book. Like so many miniature, paper-thin television screens.
He skimmed through the pages. The book was chock full of high level advanced technique. It drew its material from the best of every martial arts style. And each and every technique was accompanied by a moving diagram which demonstrated how to execute them properly.
"Wow."
Included next to each move was also a brief account of the move's origins. Inspirational quotes were sprinkled liberally throughout.
Andrew looked at the book in awe. 'This is exactly what I need to beat Kiara! Advanced technique.'
He took the book back to his room and pored over it for hours that night. Mr. Ososaka was a superb teacher. He explained each move in a crystal clear manner. He broke down the most complex of techniques into small bite size pieces that were relatively easy to master.
Andrew read one last quote—Transform your body into a weapon, guided by your soul—and grudgingly closed the book. If he would not be rested well, he would never beat Kiara, no matter how advanced his level.
An interesting dream visited Andrew's mind that night. He found himself in an art gallery. He was looking at an assortment of paintings of martial artists in various poses, when the painted figures started to move. Then the martial artists climbed out of their paintings and came to life.
"Thank you for releasing us from our prison, friend." The word friend dripped with sarcasm.
"What do you want?" Andrew asked, backing into the brick wall. "I didn't do anything to hurt you."
The warriors pressed in close, and attacked. Andrew battled them, and sent them back into their lifeless, two dimensional existences.
Then the owner of the gallery, a slim, dark haired woman wearing a blue crown entered. Her long hair fell over her face, blocking it from view.
"How dare you defeat my creations!" she screamed.
They did battle. Before Andrew could see the outcome, he woke up. A new day. A new fight.
The first match began. Andrew sent a high right kick to Kiara's head, a feint. He knew that she would have no trouble blocking it. She blocked, leaving her left side momentarily unprotected. He seized the chance with a forearm to the head.
Kiara swayed. With Andrew's enhanced strength, a normal man would have already been out of the fight at this point. But Kiara was anything but average. She bounced back like a spring, with a punch to Andrew's midsection.
They fought on, and it ended with Kiara executing a perfect uchimata throw.
But the second fall was all Andrew's. Finally. He threw at Kiara the moves that he learnt from Martial Arts Illuminated. Many were very unique and exotic, and Kiara was not at all familiar with them. She didn't know how to respond.
Andrew performed three throws
in quick succession. She recovered from each slower than the last. He was wearing her down, though she made a big effort not to show it.
He studied her eyes, searching for that momentary lapse in concentration that was sure to come like the book taught him. He found it, and exploited it. He started with two weak punches, aimed at forcing her off balance and setting up the technique, and finishing with a devastating take down and choke hold, which if applied enough pressure could snap a man's neck.
Kiara struggled, and was still. After weeks, Andrew had finally won his first match.
Teltibane, Finor, and the workers on the sidelines cheered for their Champion. Andrew smiled. Kiara lay on the floor, rubbing her neck, and Greybeard rushed over to see if she was all right.
Andrew was proud that he had finally beat her after all this time, and after all of those humiliating defeats. He had proved to himself that he could do it.
They took a short break before the third fall. If Andrew won this one, he would have taken best of three.
But this time Kiara played a more defensive game. She wasn't so quick to bite at the bait. Andrew managed to get in one good throw. But then she came at him hard and fast.
Hard hook to the jaw. Vicious elbow to the temple. Devastating punch to the forehead. Andrew was dazed.
Kiara's signature power roundhouse kick ended the fight, and Andrew was sent flying for more than thirty feet, as if he was launched from a cannon. He knew that he would be feeling that one for days, even before he landed.
Teltibane walked to the center of the courtyard. "King Blue's weapon of choice is the long staff. A well-handled staff is best countered with, another staff. Finor and I shall demonstrate basic staff fighting technique."
They demonstrated the proper stance for stick fighting, and some of the more basic moves. Then they took a break for lunch.
Lunch was a tasty Realms fish called tergi with cooked vegetables. Andrew was weighing in his mind whether or not to tell everyone about the remarkable book that he had found.
As if he has read his mind, Teltibane asked, "so Andrew, you displayed some extremely advanced technique today. Are you already up to there with Finor? Your capability to process new information is certainly enhanced by the Light, but I don't think that it is that enhanced."
Teltibane's eyes gave Andrew a piercing gaze, his thick white eyebrows knotted together.
Andrew put down his fork. "I learnt those techniques from a book called The Martial Arts Illuminated, which I found in the library in the northern end of the castle."
Teltibane gasped. "Martial Arts Illuminated, by Kameneshi Ososaka?"
"Yes, that's the one." Andrew was puzzled at Teltibane's surprise. He got it from the castle's own library, after all.
"That is an extremely rare book!"
"You mean to say that I shouldn't have touched it? Fine, I will return it right away." Andrew felt hurt. How was he supposed to know that that book was off limits? It wasn't specially marked.
"No, you did fine, my boy." Teltibane chuckled. "It is just that our library doesn't have a copy of Martial Arts Illuminated in its collection. Furthermore, our library is located in the southeast part of the castle, on the fourth floor. Not in the northern end."
Andrew wondered if he had been hallucinating. And he was also quite embarrassed for talking about an imaginary library that doesn't exist in front of all these people.
"Now tell me," said Teltibane. "Were there images of birds all over the room?"
Andrew nodded. Was this some kind of test to confirm if he was crazy? Did crazy people see birds everywhere?
"And on the door was an inscription?"
"Yes," Andrew said.
"What did it say?"
"Come this way, both strong and weak—" said Andrew.
"—find within, the knowledge you seek!" Teltibane completed the rhyme with him. "Excellent. The Library of the Seeker has come by for a visit."
"What's the Library of the Seeker?" Andrew asked.
"There is an Elf called Tondlen Sirith-Crask, or bird-lover. It was he who first bred the great birds; Kilons, Forklants, and others, a great many years ago. Tondlen loves books as well. There is a age old debate among his admirers over which he is more passionate about; birds, or books. He collected many, many rare and valuable books over the ages. The Library of the Seeker is of his design. The room is enchanted to appear wherever it is needed most. It seems that our very own castle is its latest home!"
"En Muglath din en Rengdol! The famous library of the Elf Tondlen. It has a large section of Dwarvish books, does it not?"
"Yes," said Andrew. "And books of Men, and what I am guessing is elves too."
"You must lead us there, Andrew, as soon as we finish eating," said Greybeard.
After lunch, Andrew led the others through the halls of the large castle towards the enchanted library.
They went through the bird engraved doors. Greybeard went straight to the dwarf section, selected a thick tome from the shelves, and sat down to read, while Finor and Teltibane perused the Elf books.