Phillip Simpson - Rapture

4 YEARS EARLIER

“This is truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn.”

Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings.

“Strike again. Harder this time.”

Sam did what he was told. His katana flashed out, chopping down on an angle and severing the bamboo pole into two pieces. Before the segment hit the ground, he struck again. With a hollow thud, both pieces hit the ground almost simultaneously.

Hikari smiled at him from behind the pole. “Good, but not excellent. You have speed, I’ll grant you that. I have never seen anyone faster with the blade. But …” Hikari paused and held up one finger. “… it’s your technique we need to work on. As you made your attack, you completely forgot to defend yourself. You were exposed on your left side.”

Breathing heavily, Sam lowered his katana and digested this feedback. Rivulets of sweat dripped down his bare torso, streaking the layers of grime and dirt covering the hard lines of muscle. Most of his body was muscle now thanks to the strict training regime insisted upon by Hikari. In the last three years, he had matured rapidly, growing almost unnaturally quickly. He was over six feet tall with a lean, muscular physique more commonly seen on professional ballet dancers.

In the last few months, Hikari had implemented a heavier weight programme which was starting to bulk him up. His master had made pains to stress the importance of not becoming too muscular though. Heavy muscles, Hikari had explained, could also slow Sam down. The trick was to find a balance between speed and power. So far, the training programme seemed to be working.

They’d been out here for several hours since twilight, in the training ground behind their property. The rigorous training was beginning to take its toll even on his unusual constitution. He was exhausted and his technique was suffering as a result. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like Hikari had any intention of finishing the session any time soon.

Hikari stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “What you must remember, Sam, is that it is not one foe you will be facing. On most occasions, you will be fighting tens, possibly hundreds of opponents at once. You must learn to attack and defend at once. Even while striking out, you must remember to protect yourself at all times.”

Sam nodded slowly, not really understanding. His blade couldn’t be everywhere at once. Sure, he knew he was fast, but nobody was that fast.

“But how am I meant to do that, Sensei?” he said, feeling frustration building. He kept his anger under wraps though, unwilling to show Hikari any loss of control.

Hikari bent down to the bag beside him, his face lost in the flickering shadows created by the three kerosene torches scattered around the training area. He fumbled around in the bag before finally finding what he was after. Straightening up with a satisfied grunt, he held Sam’s wakizashi in one hand. The wakizashi was the partner to the sword Sam held in his own hand — the short to complement the long.

Sam was surprised to see it. Two years earlier, Father Rainey had turned up with the matching blades, handling them with quiet awe and passing them over to Sam with respectful silence. Both swords, the priest had explained, were forged from an iron meteorite, crafted by one of Hikari’s closest friends who was one of the finest swordsmiths still alive in Japan. The iron had been tempered and then quenched in holy water. Then the swords had been sharpened so that Sam, if he wanted to, could shave with them. Not that he would — iron hurt him like liquid fire. The hilts had to be specially made from steel in order for Sam to wield them.

Lines of silver writing, prayers in Latin, were etched into the length of the blades to make them more effective against demonkind. Finally, Father Rainey himself had then blessed both weapons.

For the last two years, Sam had practised every day with the katana, building up his strength and expertise with the weapon. On a few occasions, he’d asked Hikari when he would get to use the shorter of the blades. Every time, his master had just smiled and replied cryptically, ‘Not yet.’

Now Hikari unsheathed the wakizashi and handed it over to Sam, hilt first. “Feel the weight of it. Compare it to the katana. I want you to feel as comfortable with this as you are with your other blade. Eventually, it should become an extension of your hand.”

Sam hefted it, getting a feel for it in his left hand. He swung it experimentally. It was lighter than the katana but, due to the nature of its construction, still extraordinarily heavy for a fighting blade.

During his training with the katana, Sam had tried out both hands. Hikari assured him he was ambidextrous but somehow, the katana just felt like it belonged in his right hand. Now, lifting the wakizashi in his left, it too felt natural.

“Why now?” he asked, lifting his head to look Hikari in the eye.

Hikari smiled without humour. “Because you are ready. You have mastered the katana, now it is time to master the daisho — the long and the short. The true warrior uses every advantage he has. With two blades, you will be double the warrior you were with one.”

Sam smiled, enjoying the feel of a blade in each hand. Somehow, the two blades just felt right in his hands, like they belonged together and they belonged with him. Almost as if they completed him. His exhaustion was suddenly forgotten.

Hikari smiled too as if sensing the emotions running through his student. “Did you read the ‘Book of Five Rings’ like I asked?”

Sam nodded. The book had been written in the seventeenth century by a Japanese Samurai known as Miyamoto Musashi. Generations of warriors considered it to be the definitive guide to swordsmanship. He’d read it many times, cover to cover, engrossed by its contents.

“Musashi said that a warrior should start training with both swords at once,” said Sam. “Why is it, then,that I have been training with only one sword?”

“A good question, my boy,” replied Hikari, “and while I agree with Musashi with almost all his wisdom regarding swordplay, you are an unusual case. While your strength is greater than that of most men, the swords you wield are also extremely heavy — much heavier than conventional weapons of their type. I was waiting for your strength to build to such a level that you could wield both weapons with ease. Now you have reached that level, it is time for you to begin your real training. Tell me, what does NiTo Ichi Ryu mean?”

Without hesitation, Sam replied, “One school, two swords.”

Hikari nodded. “Correct. But what does that mean?”

“To use two swords at once, I guess,” replied Sam, shrugging.

“But why? Why not use one and apply your entire strength and focus to that weapon. What advantage do you gain by using two swords at once?”

Sam thought about this carefully before answering. “To enable me to attack and defend at the same time?”

“Precisely. Think about this: does it feel comfortable to run with both hands clutching one blade? Does it feel natural or do you feel unbalanced?”

Sam thought back to some of his earlier training sessions. Some of the drills Hikari had put him through had involved just that, running and leaping through uneven terrain with the katana clutched in both hands. He had felt unbalanced and awkward. Realisation suddenly dawned on him then — Hikari had done that to prepare his mind and body for this moment. That was why the katana and wakizashi in each hand felt so natural. They balanced him.

Hikari smiled broadly as he saw the change come over his student. “The long and the short are the perfect weapons for the challenges that await you. There will be many times when you are fighting on the run or in tight corners where a shorter sword will serve you well. Two swords will also enable you to attack easily from both sides, without exposing yourself when beset by multiple opponents.”