Arc II
The Band of the Enchanted Dagger
Six years have passed, with peace reigning throughout Chakradwipa. Even the peasants in the outermost area are not spared from the blessings of their great king.
But the king's only son, Adanu Raksa, grows up mingling with the peasants' kids without them knowing his true identity.
"I don't care if your father is a general in the fort!"
"A weakling like you isn't welcomed here!"
"But I just want to play with you guys! Why do we have to fight?"
"We don't want to be friends with a crybaby like you!"
"We are children of Talang Asri. We will become mighty warriors to guard the borders of Chakradwipa in the future."
"If you want to join us, you have to prove your worth!"
And so, the bullying starts, with eight kids swarm Adanu Raksa together. All of them are older than Adanu Raksa, while there are four younger ones watching with joy.
They might be just kids of peasants, but they have a pretty good basic in martial arts. Some of them even loudly pronounce the name of their specific techniques and arts when swinging their twigs and throwing rotten fruits.
"The Art of Monkey Throwing Fruits!"
"Langur Dance!"
"Elephant's rampant!"
Yeah, those are just twigs and rotten fruits. However, if used with proper technique, they are effective enough to inflict pain to a 6yo kid.
"Please! I don't want to hurt anyone," Adanu Raksa begs.
"Hurt anyone? As if you can hurt us?"
"If you can make one of us cry, we will accept you as a member of The Band of the Great Protectors of Talang Asri!"
Actually, Adanu Raksa also has his own twig. But he hasn't swung that weapon so far. He is so reluctant to fight back, which only makes the other kids also reluctant to accept him.
Ultimately, the boys lose respect for him. They stop using their twigs, and start kicking him on the ground.
"There's no way you can be one of us!"
"You are a coward!"
"I'm not a coward! I'm the son of Rangkabhumi, the Great Protector of Talang Asri!"
"No! You are a disgrace of Talang Asri!"
"Coward!"
There are a few adults relaxing at a coffee tavern nearby. But they actually make a bet with the bulliying.
"Three gold coins! The kid will call his father first!"
"No! The kid knows his father won't come! Here, three gold coins! He will call his mom!"
Meanwhile, Adanu Raksa still curls up on the ground. But never once he calls his parents. He doesn't even ask for anyone's help either.
"Please, stop it! I don't want to fight you guys!"
"There's no way you can protect this border if you are too scared to hurt someone!"
"Rangkabhumi must be suffering having a coward like you as a son!"
The bully kids keep kicking Adanu Raksa together. Until at one moment…
"I'm not a coward!!!"
With a scream that sounds like a war cry, Adanu Raksa releases some odd intimidating aura to his surroundings.
The six kids stop the bully, and slowly step back by instinct. They gulp, their faces look pale. Even the adults also get out of the tavern with their curiosity.
"What was that?"
"It's that kid! Rangkabhumi's son!"
Adanu Raksa rises up. His cheeks wet with tears, but he is now gritting with a mad face while holding his twig so tightly.
"Kill!!!" He hisses so lowly. "I'm going to kill you all!"
The next second, he already grabs a kid's neck with one hand, while his other hand which holds the twig looks so ready to give a beating.
That one kid closes his eyes in terror. And then…
Plak!!!
The kid slowly opens his eyes, and finds that Adanu Raksa's twig has been caught by an adult's hand. It's actually Bramasti, currently glaring at Adanu Raksa with a gaze filled with so much hatred.
"Did I ever teach you using my technique to hurt a harmless kid?" He inquires.
"But I…" Adanu Raksa stutters in guilt.
"Go back to your mom! Now!" Bramasti exclaims.
Adanu Raksa is back to being a timid kid. He drops his twig and turns to leave. As for Bramasti, he shuts silent watching the small twig, while hiding his clenching hand which is now tingling with a certain degree of pain.
He has always acted as a mentor teaching Adanu Raksa martial arts. But only now does he realize what the boy is capable of.
Well, he knows that Adanu Raksa is not a kid of peasants. Bramasti still keeps it a secret until now, both about Adanu Raksa's identity, and also about his desire and love toward the boy's foster mother, Arkadevi.
It has lasted quite long for years while he plays his role as Rangkabhumi's confidant. Even after knowing so well that Arkadevi has been living together with Rangkabhumi as a spouse, Bramasti still keeps his longing for that woman.
It's not rare for him visiting Arkadevi while Rangkabhumi is busy at the fortress. He always acts like a master teaching Adanu Raksa sword fighting, while hiding his real interest in Arkadevi.
"Hohoo! Good going, Adanu Raksa! You really have what it takes to be great warrior like your father," he compliments, as he accompanies the kid as a sparring partner.
"One day, I want to be just like my father, the hero and the great general of Talang Asri," replies Adanu Raksa naively.
Bramasti turns silent for a moment. Somehow, he begins to think about securing the good side of this kid. Who knows, when the kid reclaims his right as the king's successor, he may take benefits from it.
"Hey, you know what?" Bramasti approaches him, intending to reveal the secret. "About your father, actually…"
But suddenly, Arkadevi comes out of her house taking a basket of clothes that needs to be washed. In that instant, her beauty steals Bramasti's interest.
"Well, why don't you continue your training," says Bramasti before leaving Adanu Raksa alone.
With whatever dirty mind he has, he secretly follows Arkadevi to the river. As he stalks her being so wet while washing the clothes, he begins having a wild fantasy.
"When was the last time you touched that smooth skin, Rangkabhumi? How could you abandon such a beautiful woman at home?"
And somehow, whatever black magic that has been done to this man, Bramasti is now trapped inside an illusory world. But it looks so real to him, where he and Arkadevi intimate like lovers.
Without him knowing, the cursed Kris that he hides under his robe is now vibrating, as if showing response to his deepest desire toward Arkadevi. The fantasy looks and feels so real that the man even reaches his climax.
"Ouw shit!" Bramasti is aghast, and then realizes that he has spurted some semen inside his pants. "What was that? Was I dreaming just now?"
<< What are you waiting for? Isn't that what you truly want? >>