After thinking a while, I try to speak with this man who I don't know what his name is.
"Honorable Sir, I don't know how to wield a sword or any swordplay. What if I can't learn your teaching?"
"You don't know swordplay? That's better, it easier to make a sword from an iron than make a sword from an axe. You will not be distracted by what you've learned before, and absorb my teaching like an empty sponge"
"I'm afraid I will disappoint you with my shallow knowledge, honorable sir"
"Nonsense. Just try it first before you said what you can do and what you can't do"
Since this man seems insisted to parting his swordplay skill to me, I had to receive it, although I don't know anything about swordplay at all. well, my father once a while receive some orders to make samurai sword and katana but I never use the real sword in my life. The utmost thing that like swordplay only extra-curricular kendo class that I ever take for one semester during junior high school because it looks cool in front of girls. But after that I change into cooking class because my interest in cooking started developed, besides, there are more girls in cooking class than in kendo class.
"Alright honorable sir, I will try as hard as possible to learn your swordplay"
"Haha…that's good! Now listen carefully. My swordplay consists of seven stances, seven moves, and seven strikes. Each stance intended to face the enemy from the different direction. Left, angle left, front, angle right, right, top and below"
"That's many, honorable sir?"
"Do you expecting your enemy will always attack you from your front? In battle, the attack can come from everywhere. Your enemy is also not always human. What if your enemy is a snake that hiding in the top of a tree, or hiding below in the bushes? You must always ready to face any attack from any direction"
"Sir, what if the attack comes from behind?"
"Haha…do you let your enemy attack you from behind?"
"No sir, I will turn my back to face him"
"That's why I only teach 7 directions in my swordplay"
"I understand that sir, please teach me"
"After telling you the stance, I will tell you the seven moves. The first moves call hill destroyer, the second move is river reversed, the third move is mountain crusher, forth move is sea splitter, the fifth move is sky piercer, the sixth move is star chaser, and the seventh move is heaven and hell devourer"
Hearing him telling the moves in his swordplay make me feel shiver down on my spine. The names are so terrifying! I wonder if the power of this moves just as powerful as the name. if this swordplay moves worth its name, it will be a great advantage for me!
"I'm not expecting you to master my swordplay in a short time, Henry. As long as you remember every moves and strike that I've taught you, that's enough. You can hone that skill later by yourself. Now watch the seven stances first"
After saying that, I don't know where he gets it, that man already hold a wooden sword in his hand. He shows me the first, second until the seven stances to me. After that, he handed me that wooden sword and told me to repeat those stances. He told me to repeat from first until the seventh stance until I can perform the perfect stance as he shows me before. It feels like hours only to learn these stances only. That man is very strict during his teaching, he didn't hesitate to kick my leg if my leg not in the correct position or slap my arm if I raise my arms too high or too low.
When he's finishing his teaching, my body already covered with sweat from head to toe. My arms cannot longer lift the wooden sword he giving to me before. But the man seems satisfied with what I've learned.
"Very good Henry, you still can follow my teaching until this far. Most people maybe already faint long time ago. You can rest now, and we will meet again"
"Thank you, honorable sir"
After saying that, I already fall down to the ground while catching my breath. That man leaves me in the direction where come from and within minutes he no longer can be seen. Damn! What kind of dream is this? Why my body feel so tired? Can I sleep within my dream? Whatever, since my body can't move anymore, I just close my eyes and rest.
I'm awake when I feel my body shaken. When I open my eyes, I see my uncle Jason in my tent. He's the one who wakes me up by shaking my body.
"Henry! Henry! Are you alright? You sweating all over, you're not sick, right?"
My uncle seems to worry when looking at my body. His hand is touching my forehead to check my body temperature. I feel the clothes that I wearing during the sleep is really drenched with my sweat
"I'm okay, uncle, but I don't know why I'm sweating a lot like this"
"Thank God! I thought you're sick because I never see anyone can be drenched with sweat like this when they sleep"
"I'm fine, just a bit tired. Can I sleep a little longer, uncle?"
"Oh, okay. Do you want to eat first before you sleep? This morning breakfast is good. The cook tells me it's you that teach him the recipe. Is that true?"
"Ah, that's right, last night we make a fishing contest on the old pier, and that's the gain from last night contest. Please give me a bowl uncle, I want to know how its taste"
"I'll bring one bowl for you. You just rest here and wait for me"
"Thanks, uncle"
Uncle Jason left my tent to get me a bowl of this morning breakfast. I wonder how good Craig make the breakfast this morning with my teaching from last night.