The Scepter of Marahuyo

Chapter 031

I wait while Aaron replaces the bandage on my hand. The first aid kit is on the chair beside him, complete with gauze, disinfectant and medicines. It’s more thorough this time, compared to the last time I’ve seen it. The healing salve that I’ve created done wonders on my injured hand. The wounds are starting to close up, and very little pain is registering when Aaron dabs a disinfectant on it.

“Sometimes, I imagine what you’re getting yourself into to get wounds like these. Last time, you also returned injured.”

“It’s my fault. I ran to it myself,” I say, reminiscing how I put my hands into the glowing ball of spirit and tried to defuse it.

“Am I gonna expect from now on that you’ll always return home with these kinds of injuries?”

“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry.”

“I don’t think I will,” he answers.

“Would you like me to stop this venture outside the zone?” I whisper.

“I know that it’s not what you want, so I will not stop you.”

“Oh! So if there is a choice, you’d want me to stop?”

Aaron scowls at me and then pours alcohol directly into my palm.

“Ah!” I complain. “You can’t injure your guests!”

“You’re not my customer,” he says and, “Your dominant is your right hand?”

I nod.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to use it this time.”

“I can use my other less dominant hand.” I say, sounding as cheerful as possible.

“We can do this some other time,” Senyor Pablo interrupts. He sits beside Aaron and starts to sharpen his gunong. “You overdid yourself yesterday. Even after I warned you not to get injured because we are going to train every Sunday.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll do my best next time not to get injured.”

Senyor Pablo looks at the gunong beside me. “You should think of installing a mage blessing in that, if you don’t want to break it. Pressing a button is faster than activating your blessing.”

I nod. Aaron is now finishing up with my bandage, which becomes a complicated knot. I bring it closer to my face. This is not a simple knot. I don’t even know what type of knot it is.

“It’s just a simple surgical knot,” he says, noticing my awe on it.

I know it’s not. “How am I going to remove this intricate web?”

He points at a protruding edge hidden underneath the bandage and says, “Pull here and it will all get loose.”

I touch it, but he stops my hand. “Not now. I’ll show you later.”

“How did you learn this?”

“When my grandpa always got injured before we were accepted here in Marahuyo.”

I nod. So the time when they are running away from Caltra and are trying to survive. Being outside means they need to fight monsters, not just the ordinary ones but the night creatures. They were lucky they didn’t come across a high level one.

Senyor Pablo stands up and walks a few meters from us. “Are you gonna sit there flirting with my grandson or we are gonna start?” he ushers.

I stand up and take my gunong with my left hand. Aaron proceeds to leave.

“You’re not gonna watch? There are no guests at the inn yet.” I call for him. Since Master Orson’s death, the usual guests are not coming to pay a visit.

“I will support you in whatever you aspire to be. But seeing your injuries after your battles is already hard, I don’t think I can watch you getting injured in the process too.”

I watch him turn his back and go back to the inn. Then, suddenly, I feel something pass in front of me. I look on my left and at the gunong struck on the tree then, at Senyor Pablo, who is not holding his gunong. He reaches up to his waist holster and gets another one.

“If you are going to continue swooning over my grandson while we are in training, you’ll get more than just simple injuries,” Senyor Pablo says.

I tighten my hold on my gunong. This will be hard as I haven’t really used my left hand other than the menial things. “I’m not swooning over your grandson,” I respond.

Senyor Pablo clicks his tongue. “Don’t let my grandson hear that.”

I focus on Senyor Pablo while I kneel down and touch the ground with my weapon. While looking at Senyor Pablo, I call for my anito. The gunong starts to get reinforced with Anitun Tabu’s magic, and I hope that Senyor Pablo will not attack while I’m doing it.

He smirks. “You are still in training. No need to get serious. Go on, use your blessing. I’ll allow you this time. Besides, in real combat, you should use every skill that you have at your disposal.”

I nod. I was about to get up when Senyor Pablo’s gunong came flying towards me. I roll over to my side.

I glare at him. “I thought you’re gonna wait?”

“I waited. See? You’re done already with the reinforcement.”

I look down but shift my attention just as fast when I feel Senyor Pablo advancing towards me at a fast pace. I parry his attack just in time, but the gunong rattles on my hand. I tighten my hold on it. Just as I thought, using my left hand will be really hard.

“Weak left hand,” Senyor Pablo comments.

I retreat from him when he makes an offensive stance. “Watch this carefully, Holly. Because this is the first one I’ll teach you.”

Suddenly, Senyor Pablo launches himself from his position to mine. He tries hitting me multiple times with a focus on my upper torso. I try to parry, but I feel the pressure he’s putting into each of his strikes every time I do. Now, I feel grateful for the basic training I got from the Academy. However, it is still not enough because on every block, I almost always drop my weapon.

Senyor Pablo retreats again. My left hand is trembling, and I know it will be unusable by tomorrow as well.

“After that, you’ll learn how to focus on different weak points of your opponent, like this--”

Senyor Pablo attacks and focuses on my head. I raise my gunong to deflect it, but the force is too much that I am forced to use my right hand to defend. Despite him being an old man, he’s pushing me back. When he stops, I almost feel grateful, but then I watch in horror as another gunong comes from my right. 

To be continued...