The Last Guardian

Chapter_32: Levelling Up!

And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: "I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin." And they all answered him and said: "Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing." Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.

Johnathan had just finished reading a book on the mythology of the watchers – from how they came to be, to their damnation and falling from grace. He never had to read so much, not even in college but the new knowledge was more interesting than his college texts. He looked at his watch- it was six in the evening –he had almost read for five hours non-stop. Brother Farid came in and announced-

“It is time for some homemade dinner- I hope you like curry- come!” said he.

Johnathan had a hearty meal with Farid and his wife.  Then Farid asked him to rest for a few minutes. An hour later, Farid took him to a room full of weapons and a large mat spread out in the middle.

“Show me what you got!” he said taking a long sword out from the shelf.

“I need a weapon-“replied Johnathan looking around.

“Do you now?” said Farid and rushed at him with the sharp sword.

He thrust the sword at his belly but Johnathan moved away.

“Wait-wait-let me get my sword-“said Johnathan anxiously trying to fend off Farid’s sudden attacks.

“What’s wrong? I thought no mortal weapon can hurt you-“said Farid and swung his sword at his neck.

Johnathan ducked.

“No-you’re right but-“he said.

“But-what? Do you think your enemy will give you the chance of drawing out your sword?” said Farid pushing Johnathan towards the corner of the room.

“No I mean- I can’t fight empty handed-“he said.

Farid stopped-

“You see your problem? You have these amazing powers and yet you got no confidence in yourself- you have fought a few times now, haven’t you- Aah! I think you need some push!” said Farid and without any warning, he thrust the sword towards his stomach.

Johnathan was caught off-guard and before he could do anything, the sword had penetrated an inch into his stomach-he looked in horror-this was not supposed to happen-no sword could cut him. Farid saw that he had actually hurt Johnathan and immediately pulled out his sword-

“God-I’m sorry-I think the curse has made you weak-let me help you-“he said.

“No-no-wait- I feel no pain-look-no wound-“said Johnathan lifting up his shirt.

Farid looked curiously, there was actually no entry wound-but he had indeed pushed his sword and cut his skin-how did that happen?

“Hmm-Strange! Never saw this before-I did cut you though!” he said.

Johnathan was excited now- he felt invincible-

“C’mon-let’s spar again!” he said getting into a fighting stance.

Farid was more than happy to oblige. This time, he changed his style; he took the stance of a samurai with firm hands held upfront and one foot forward-firmly gazing at his opponent, watching his every move. Johnathan started to move like a boxer in a ring- light on his feet with his fist held close to his body, moving from left to right, looking for an opening to attack. But Farid was more experienced than him and he had learnt many fighting styles throughout his lifetime. In a sudden move, Farid moved his sword to his right and taking one giant leap ahead, he swung his sword at Johnathan, who quickly moved out of the way. Farid took his stance again and again at a lightning speed; he raised his sword to his left and swung at him. Johnathan jumped a few steps back and smirked at him. But Farid didn’t give him any chance to celebrate and raised his sword up high and leapt at him. Johnathan saw the shiny silver blade about to fall on his shoulder and instinctively, he lifted both of his hands and grabbed the blade. Farid was surprised to see such a bold or rather stupid move. He saw Johnathan holding back the sword with his bare hands but it didn’t cut him-there was no blood. He pushed down the sword harder on him but Johnathan held it back with full force. Tying to break this deadlock, Farid kicked him in his chest throwing Johnathan halfway across the room. He then rushed at him again and slashed his sword at him- Johnathan raised his left hand, trying to shield himself from the blade and as soon as he did the sword brushed off his skin and a spark of light came out of his hand- it was as if the sword had hit something made out of metal. Johnathan looked at his hand in surprise- there was a silver shield wrapped around his right arm. He smiled confidently and stood up again. Farid continued to s***h him – left and right, left and right! But Johnathan used his hands as a shield and blocked all his attacks- sparks flew from his metal arms. As he grew more and more confident, he began to switch from defense to offence- this time as Farid swung his sword at him for the hundredth time, Johnathan used his iron leg to block it- but instead of merely blocking it, he broke the sword into two halves. The sound of metal clanging against metal reverberated across the room. Farid stopped and looked at his sword. He then smiled at Johnathan and said-

“You see- at first I was able to penetrate your skin, but as you grew more confident-I couldn’t cut you anymore and you developed new powers-this is what the armor of God does-it fuses the armor inside you so that you can bring it out in times of need-“

Johnathan relaxed and looked at his arms in amazement-he was barely listening to Farid- he was feeling the metal armor magically subside down under his skin.

“Remember how you feel now and hold on to this feeling, when you’re in the battle field, recall this emotion and you shall have all the powers you need-“said Farid, patting his shoulder.

Johnathan understood now, that his powers were directly connected to his emotions, the lesser he doubted himself, the more powerful he could become. He knew now that his mind was his greatest ally and his worst enemy! All these days, he had incredible powers at his disposal but he hardly knew how to recall them, it was all very impulsive and at the spur of the moment kind of thing. Now he knew how and when to turn them on!

“Thank You Brother Farid- I understand now-“he said looking at Farid.

“Don’t thank me-It was all you, you’ve got gifts to help and serve mankind-You’re chosen!” replied Farid picking up the broken sword.

“I don’t understand one thing though- why me? Why was I of all people, as you say, chosen?” he asked.

“A guardian is chosen before birth-he comes only from the lineage of guardians-it is through heritage that he gets to be the One-“replied Farid.

“So you’re saying that my ancestors were guardians?” he asked again.

“Or your parents-I have no idea-”he replied walking out of the room.

“Huh! Wait that can’t be-“replied Johnathan in disbelief.

“It’s all fate my dear friend-it’s all written-“replied Farid- his voice fading away in the distance.

Johnathan stood there in the room confused. He had solved the mystery to his powers but his mind was puzzled with another mystery. How can it be that his parents were Guardians? They were simple country folk-his dad a mechanic and his mom- a school teacher. He had vivid memories of them until their tragic death in that car accident! Or was it a car accident? He didn’t know what to think and simply stopped thinking about it altogether and walked out of the room.