Quantum Leap - Vol. 1 The Leap That Starts It All

C016 Battle

"Young man, I am the old sage that lives within your keris which happens to be home to me. This keris is a combination of a yellow metal that is lighter than water and a fragment of a fang from a legendary Wolf-God."

"I was forged and tempered for 7 days, 7 nights and 7 hours non stop by using some coals from the Middle Earth that was unearthed and mined by the little people."

"It seemed that I had not taken a bath for so long and the previous owner, which I presume as your parents, were the ones who were the rightful owner of this Keris."

"Hey boy, since I had been summoned to bow before you, and before I could do that, there are several customs that you need to adhere to in order to make things work for you and not against you."

"Firstly I need to have this ceremony not once every two weeks but rather on every Thursday night. It was used to be once every two weeks but I feel so sticky and icky when I am left inside the Keris for too long."

"You wouldn't know how long I have to be in here in order to get a good shower at the end of every week...! "

"On top of that, I would prefer to have a kind of appeasement food to be served and it would be in the form of a single roasted piece of chicken thigh and drumstick."

"It wouldn't be too hard to achieve, innit? You could ask this from your sweet little sister whom you like to cuddle the whole night through."

"Hmph... Don't tell me I don't know about your little adventures eh? You too could make a good couple and I don't think she is bearing anything just yet."

"Wait a few more months and I think you would be expecting a lineage after you. Hahaha."

Damn...! This apparition knew what had been going on for the past since Bo had his own little adventures with his sister and somehow the old geezer knew what was happening behind its sheath...!

From the looks of it since last night, Ani had been giving me a signal that she wants to have something going on. Maybe it's the cold and she needs them extra promiscuously... I mean proximity. (Ahem)

"Hey boy, can you do it or not? Weekly showers and weekly offerings to appease me and be of your service."

"I am sure you would want to know what kind of prowess I have. If only the last owner is still alive, I am sure he would not be obliged to tell you everything that you need to know."

"Hmph... Why are you so quiet all of a sudden? You find the task abit overbearing for you to undertake or what?"

Damn this old geezer that lives inside the Keris...! If only I could shut him off then it would be better.

Would he suddenly poofed and appear outside the Keris at his own leisurely time and disturb me when I am doing my own tasks or maybe entertaining Ani during the cold rainy nights?

This damn old geezer is much worse than the crowing rooster in the morning...!

"Oh yeah. Keep up with my demands and sooner or later, I would be of great service to you." With that, the apparition of the old sage disappeared with a poof and ended in the hilt of the keris.

The rest of the brothers who were close by listened intently and once the old sage had gone back to idle inside the Keris, the three brothers can't help but burst out laughing.

These brothers seemed good at something after all — that is to laugh their heads off at me...!

=*=

It seems that each week, I have to pay some homage to the old geezer residing inside the hilt of the keris and have to so-called pre-order the one piece of the roasted chicken thigh along with its drumstick every Thursday night for the old geezer to dine on...!

"Hot damn! This sage is like as if I owe my whole damn life to it. For every Thursday night, this damn old geezer would demand Roasted Chicken Thigh while I had never eaten that for the past few da...err life."

"What kind of special abilities does the old sage provide rather than having good luxurious food and bathe every week?!"

I hollered out to the brothers once the old geezer had gone back to rest inside the hilt of the keris.

All of sudden, without anyone expecting any reaction after I had passed the remark, the apparition appeared again but this time it stuck out its tongue and swiftly went back to the hilt.

"Your mother, you stupid old coont...!" I exclaimed loudly and this made the brothers start laughing their heads off again.

=*=

"Now keris I return back to you. Protect you from harm and evil. Try now and see." The old man spoke gently to me as he handed the keris back to my possession.

I was half expecting for the apparition to jump out from the hilt of the keris and stuck its tongue at me like a little spoilt brat.

I was wondering earlier what other types of food that the old sage of the keris was craving other than Roasted Whole Chicken Thigh.

I realized that it was a type of offering that was meant for the deities but I am pretty sure this old sage had expected me to regard it as one of the deity as well and from the looks of it, it sure had some kind of standards when comes to eating.

I took the keris that the old man handed to me and instantly I felt that the keris had gained some additional weight than before. I scrunched my eyebrows together as I peered at the keris.

There was a slight throbbing sensation to it as if it's alive or seemed to somehow try to communicate with my inner soul. Or maybe just to let me know that Thursday night is creeping close and it would need to feast on a large roasted chicken thigh.

I then slowly drew out the keris and unsheathed it.

The three brothers were looking at me silently and were unaware that the keris now was emitting a slight glow and the throbbing sensation like a steady rhythm of a heartbeat was only seen or felt by me.

I then handed Cheng, who was the eldest of the rest of them, the keris and told him to check it out.

"Seems normal to me but I think the keris after it had gone through the ceremony seemed to be cleaner and there wasn't any speck of rust anywhere around the curvy blade," he remarked after scrutinizing it closely.

Good God...! It seems that they were oblivious to the changes of the keris and could only be felt and seen by me. Except for the apparition that emerged earlier, it was only now known to me, the wielder of the keris, and no one else.

The other brothers took turns handling the Keris and yet had not found any abnormalities to it. The moment the keris was in their hands, I noticed that the keris had returned to its normal state.

It was just a piece of a curvy blade with a hilt and no significant aura was noticed when the brothers were wielding it in their hands

The moment the keris was handed back to me, it then returned to its normal glow and throbbing sensation. So it seems that the rightful owner would be able to sense it after all...!

"Keris is with the owner. The power within released. Others use no power and strength. Just metal blade feeling." the old man explained as I held it close to me and sheathed the keris back.

"Now you meditate. Keris in hand. Go..." the old man instructed as I picked myself up and slowly headed straight to the damn rough circular-shaped mat made by strands of coconut husk at the gazebo that would instantly prick one's butt after sitting on it.

"My goodness...! Can I pick somewhere I could plant my butt checks or not? A cushion with some fluff on it like the pillow I had used back at the house and not this crude piece of shitty mat...!" I thought inwardly as I walked over to the gazebo alone this time.

=*=

As I slowly positioned myself and sat down on the mat, I held the keris in my right hand and closed my eyes to clear my mind and enter a state of blissful, peace and serenity. I got no further guidance from anyone so, that's the only way I got to meditate.

I gripped the middle of the sheathed keris and began my meditation. My left hand was holding on to my left knee as usual.

A few moments later, I could feel the keris and my soul was somewhat fused together, one way or another and became like a single body and mind.

This was an indescribable sensation when the keris merged with my soul. Visions of a fierce hand to hand melee combat took over the darkness in my mind and there were stances and movements that I was finding it hard to decipher at first.

In the vision, I was suddenly faced off with two shadowy opponents and were performing various low and mid kicks towards one of the imaginary enemies while parrying off attacks using my elbows and hands towards another.

In easier terms, I was simply having a triangular unarmed hand to hand sparring session with those two opponents at the same time, attacking me from both angles.

I faced with one of the imaginary enemies and it was intent on knocking me back with his flurry of punches and elbow attacks. I managed to ward off the attacks and managed to get a few knocks from the opponent as well.

It threw a straight punch and was parried by me while another attack in a form of a hook came in and I dropped lower on my knees to avoid such devastating hook that might knock me out of it lands successfully.

The other opponent saw me down on one knee and immediately ran and slid towards me, its foot aiming for my ankle, with an intent to cripple me if it connects. I managed to roll to safety but barely able to parry off a slamming kick from the earlier opponent...!

I held the unsheathed keris in my hand, and I became more confident and was able to time my attacks and defence effectively while at the same time to throw the balance off from those incoming attacks by the two opponents.

Within an instant, I transformed from a noob with little or no knowledge of the martial arts right into a full-blown hardcore martialist! (Just my wild imagination but I really managed to survive because of my unarmed combat experiences)

Visions of the earlier battle were deeply etched in my mind and it seemed that I had learned some new movements such as stances, attacks, defence as well as kicks and punches, all from my simple form of unguided meditation.

I immediately 'downloaded' the sparring session into my memory bank and thus I managed to learn moves that I had never learned before.

The agility of a cat, the speed of a cheetah and the high aerial attacks of an Eagle that was swooping down to earth from the sky above!

Then I felt the keris, unsheathed itself automatically during the melee, was in my right hand and was performing slashes at the mid-abdomen and stabs at chest level of the two opponents.

As the keris was mainly used as a stabbing weapon, it emphasised the movements and assault more to stabbing rather than slashes since the weapon was not dipped with some kind of concoction such as poison et cetera.

I was basically crouching and springing on the backs of my heel as I sprinted towards the opponent and performing leaps and bounds that I had never thought I could execute in real life.

It was as if I was many pounds lighter and had the agility of a mongoose when it faces with a slithering predator.

I slashed my keris from the right to the left at one opponent and I deftly used the momentum to twirl around and delivered a spinning back kick using my left leg.

It was a combo of alternating the use of a melee weapon as well as offenses in hand to hand combat...!

The opponent was kicked in the midsection and stumbled backwards. I then took the opportunity and leapt high as I executed a slamming kick on the shoulder.

The opponent sank one knee on to the ground and it left a window of opportunity for me to strike at it when it was temporarily incapacitated of any movement...!

The opponent, once I had thrust the keris into its jugular, immediately poofed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"HAIYAH...!" I sprinted forward to the other opponent and leapt into the air and adjusted my trajectory as I delivered a flying kick using my right foot.

It too stumbled back slightly and then I delivered a combo as I landed a back kick using my other foot.

I then made a small leap to alleviate my body and aimed my leaping roundhouse kick at its head.

It was like a bit of mixed martial arts where I had to use kinds of possibilities to ensure I defeat these two opponents. The blade in my hand thumped and throbbed as I continued the onslaught towards the remaining opponent.

Upon landing, I executed an almost smooth crescent kick towards its head again. Although the crescent kick was considered as harmless, it could be used to knock the opponent silly...!

When the opponent was staggering to gain its balance, I surged forward to his front, gripped its back of the neck and trusted my keris upwards into his midsection and straight up into the chest cavity.

The opponent looked up at me and then, it too disappeared into a puff of smoke.

=*=

Dear friends, if you spot any errors, please leave your comments in the paragraphs or the chapter section. Thank you for the POWERSTONES and God Bless.