Jayhawk+ by Nick Venom (pdf to ebook reader .TXT) 📖

turned his head to face her. “You’re still alive, only a few bruises here and there, so now get stronger. Beat Hank in the next duel.”

“Yeah, she’s right! Beat Hank as he did to you in the next duel. However, you need to get stronger.”

Kodi let out a small sigh before letting out a smile. He had almost lost the function to smile after the loss. “You’re right. I’ll get stronger and beat Hank.” He looked up, seeing the sun nearing its exit from the sky. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”

 

TBC...

The New Guard: Season One [Episode Three "Three Months Later"]

“Punch harder!” Sand shouted in Kodi’s face. Kodi threw another punch aimed at the punching bag in front of him. His punch connected, throwing the punching back a few inches before the momentum kicked in and nearly hit Kodi in the face. “You’re the weakest here!” What Sand was saying was the truth. A week in and the strength gap between Rahim and Breanna versus him became apparent. He was the weakest in the class. 

Sand grabbed his shoulder, turning Kodi to face him. “That punching bag-” He pointed at the makeshift punching bag in front of Kodi. “-is the guy who killed your mother. What are you going to do?” Sand had poked a sensitive part of Kodi. His mother had passed away a year ago because of a murderer. The culprit was quickly found and sentenced, but somehow the culprit escaped and continued their killings. Within the last few months, the culprit disappeared completely. 

Sand turned Kodi towards the punching bag. “Punch! Punch until your knuckles bleed! Punch until you’re completely satisfied!” He ordered Kodi. Kodi nodded, inhaling and exhaling. He didn’t want to explode, calming himself down while Sand berated him.

“Mentor, Saim needs help.” Fellow Enlisted Tayler said. Sand nodded, glancing at Kodi and ordering him to continue punching the punching bag. Kodi nodded, watching as Sand went off to help fellow Saim.

Tayler approached Kodi. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” He looked down at his bruised knuckles. “He’s being extremely tough on me, but it makes sense. I’m the weakest here.”

“Don’t let him get the better of you. He’s tough but it's because he wants us to grow stronger. Our profession won’t be an easy one.” She told him, grabbing his hands and massaging them. 

“T-Thanks.” He sheepishly looked away. “I know our hardest days are ahead of us.” Tayler released her grip on him, nodding at him before heading back to her position in the training area, facing a dummy. She brandished her sword, raising the rapier high into the air before slicing downward. She, within a moment, sliced the dummy several times. It collapsed off the stand in several lumps of cotton and cloth.

Tayler glanced over at Kodi and smiled. “Good luck,” She whispered before turning towards a new dummy to slice at.

Kodi nodded to himself before staring at the dummy in front of him. “I can’t be the weakest anymore.”

 

Breanna watched the entire interaction between Kodi and Tayler, something pulling at her. What is this feeling?

She scowled at herself. Something felt wrong within her, almost like a caged animal pounding at the door to escape. However, Breanna kept the beast caged, double-locking the door. Even so, it pounded at the door with great ferocity, hoping to escape. It couldn’t do so. Instead, it sat down and waited for an opportunity to escape, biding its time until freedom was achieved.

Am I… Am I… Am I jealous? Or is it… another feeling?

 

Maysa focused on her training, not paying attention to Kodi or Breanna. In front of her stood her dummy with several cuts and scratches on it. She gripped her sword---an iron sword---tightly as she eyed the dummy.

Slow your breathing. Calm down. Don’t panic. She took her own advice, slowing her breathing. She raised her sword in the air. Downward swing. It’s a simple move. Images of her swinging onto a bloodied body interrupted her action. She dropped the sword, making a big thud sound that attracted Sand’s attention. He took a step away from Saim and towards her. 

“Is everything okay, Enlisted’s Maysa?” He didn’t address her by her name only, always including that they’re a part of the Enlisted.

Maysa turned to face him, noticing that everybody’s attention was on her. Breanna stared at her while Kodi titled his head.

“Yeah… I’m okay. I accidentally dropped my weapon.”

Sand shook his head. “Don’t ever drop your weapon. Drop it during a fight and you sign your death certificate. Remember this, your weapon is your guardian angel. Drop it and you lose that protection.” He scolded her. Maysa simply nodded before turning around and picking up her sword. She pointed the sword at the dummy, glancing over her shoulder at the others. Most of them went back to their training, except for Breanna and Kodi. They looked at her with worry.

She shot them a smile, large and bright enough to deter their worries. She turned around to focus on the dummy, raising her sword.

“You do that a lot.” A voice muttered. Maysa looked around and noticed nobody near her. “Maysa has changed, but one thing hasn’t.” 

Maysa looked at her surroundings again. She was now standing in an empty alleyway. In front of her was a bloody corpse. On her left was a street rat, staring at her.

“Why did you do this?”

“I… I…. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Maysa stammered, her body freezing.

“But you did. You slaughtered him. You betrayed him. You betrayed us.”

“I… I-I-” She felt somebody shaking her shoulder, teleporting her back to the training area. Sand stared at her, his eyes furrowed. 

“Enlisted’s Maysa, are you okay? Are you overheated? Do you need to go inside?” He seemed worried.

“Can I, sir?” Maysa asked. “I think… I think the heat’s getting to me.”

Sand nodded. “Head to the barracks and take a shower if needed. I will send Dawes to get you water.”

Maysa nodded, dropping the sword. She walked towards the barracks as Sand picked up the sword. He watched her leave, wondering what happened. She completely freaked out.

Breanna and Kodi wondered the same. It was weird behavior for Maysa. 

 

 

***

Three months passed. Over the long three-month period, everybody was trained to their bones. Kodi went from using his fists to using a sword, a change that Sand had to approve beforehand. The others continued their training, everybody except for Kodi, participating in duels. Most of the time Rahim or Breanna won the mock duels, their talents as swordsmen being apparent.

Alita, one of the Enlisted’s eight members, quickly proved her uselessness with a sword and talent for a dagger. Alita was the daughter of the famed assassin, Haven White, and knew the arts of the dagger more so than a sword.

Tayler continued training with the sword, getting better at combo attacks that did little damage but overwhelmed her enemies. Or, in this case, a stuffed dummy.

AJ and Siam, the remaining two Enlisted members were mediocre at best with the sword. Neither proved to be a genius in the sword arts but fared better than Kodi.

Maysa had regained her spirits, remaining as bright and energetic as usual but lacking the same emphasis. She dropped using a sword and relied on a bo-staff. She no longer had the energy or motivation to hold a sword, startled with her memories of a distant past.

Sand, who oversaw everybody’s training, was satisfied with their progress. With their training nearing its end, he saw that a final test was established. The final test would serve as their certification as part of the Wolfstein Royal Guard. 

He stood in front of the Enlisted, covered in a thin camouflage sweater. The wintertime had caught up to Great Wolfstein, the first snow falling. Soon it would turn into a blaring explosion of snow.

“Good morning, Enlisted. In a few days, your training will be over and you’ll be given a chance to awaken your Talent. Once you do so, you’ll continue your training while acting as the bodyguard for the king. However, before I allow you to - you’ll need to complete a final test. It won’t be a duel between fellow Enlisted or other squads, but a mission inside or outside the capital.”

Sand squinted his eyes as snowflakes attacked his face. “You’ll… You’ll be separated into two groups.” He angled his body to escape the snow and wind. “Group 1 will be Rahim, Kodi, Maysa, and Alita. Your mission will be to tackle the small bandit party lurking outside the capital, attacking small carriages on the main road. They’re called the Seven Winds. As for Group 2----which will include Breanna, Tayler, AJ, and Saim----your task is killing the Slum Ripper. He’s a low-level killer who only targets small kids and teens. Any adult that he has encountered, he fled from. It’s evident that this Slum Ripper-” He mocked the killer’s name. “-is a coward and should be an easy kill, but never underestimate him. He’s killed people before.”

The Enlisted nodded their heads.

“Before we send you to your missions, you’ll need better gear. Follow me to the armory where we’ll get rid of the practice equipment and equip you all with new protective equipment.” Sand led the Enlisted towards the nearby armory, on the other side of the Empire building.

On their way to the armory, they passed by a church-looking building with a large crystal instead of a bell. Kodi looked up at the crystal before he felt something pinch his hands. He looked at his palms, seeing blood trickle out of his palm and begin to fall to the ground. However, mysteriously, the blood disintegrated before it could reach the ground, almost burning up like a meteor entering Earth.

What was that? He thought as he looked up at the crystal. What is that crystal? It’s not the machine that… activates our talent?

Breanna passed by the church, something inside her trying to burst out. She collapsed to her knees, feeling like she was having a heart attack. What… What is happening? She shouted, but no words came out. Her words were bottled up inside her.

Tayler came to her aid, picking her up and comforting her. Breanna thanked her before looking up at the crystal. What was that? Something had happened and it was connected to the crystal.

Maysa monitored the crystal, fearing it would attack her if she ever looked away. As she walked past, she felt pain in her head. A headache? Why? She rubbed her forehead with her hand, keeping eye contact with the crystal. The pain was gone within a few seconds.

Rahim and the others passed by, suffering a range of pain from Breanna’s near heart attack to Maysa’s simple headache. Sand quietly observed them, glancing over his shoulder at them. He took note of who suffered what, keeping the notes hidden in his brain.

As everybody began to recover, he marched them to the armory to fit them in their official attire; a red and black suit. The metallic black suit with red outlines was enhanced with magic and given multiple defensive spells by high-mana mages; people that couldn’t use skills that Talents had, but held enough mana to use spell scrolls, a magic circle printed on a cloth or cotton paper. 

With everybody fitted out, Sand ordered them to complete their missions. Groups 1 and 2 set out to