Indoor class

Laxita's POV

"Whoever this Veer is, I want to meet him," Keshavi said. She was absolutely delighted about this situation. On the other hand, I was kind of worried about him.

When the king of Shaktidvipa established this institute, he created same classes for the children of elite and commoners. But the people of elite protested that they wanted separate education for their children. Due to the pressure, the king had to create separate classes. The elite classes consisted of the children of kings, army generals and commanders-in-chief, rich merchants and other high ranking officials. Meanwhile, the commoner classes had the children of soldiers, farmers, small-scale merchants and other common folks of the kingdom. The system has continued till this day. The children of the so called elites do not like commoners so there have been many cases of bullying and harassments in the past. The elites liked to act all high and mighty and were rude and arrogant. Not all of us are arrogant but the selected few are besmirching our name. I for one, strongly condemn this type of behavior.

"Keshavi, it's not a joy of occasion. Don't you know that this incident can be a matter of life and death to him?"

"Yes, I know. But he is still kind of amazing for standing up to those so called elites," she said straining on the last few words.

"You do know that we also belong to the elite class," I deadpanned.

"Please don't merge us along with those bunch of thugs. Yes, we are elites but we are good elites. And I kind of have a thing for rebels an knights in shining armors."

We were debating about this topic when Guruji entered and the class began. The entire morning, Keshavi was dying to meet this Veer and I had no idea on how should I react. We had a break between classes so we were relaxing under a tree in the University garden. This tree was huge and it was said that it has been here since the day this institute was established, means it is almost 150 years old. We were talking when I saw Vanya, Nakul and Yash approaching us.

"Have you heard the news?" That was first thing Vanya asked when she came to us.

"Yes, and by this time almost every one is aware of the incident. Veer - the rebel. Veer - the protector of commoners. Veer - the saviour. I feel like the only thing I talked about today is Veer," I replied.

She laughed and said, "Let me give you the details. So Kirit was actually harassing someone from a commoner class. Veer saw that and tried to stop him. Kirit said some derogatory words about Veer's family. Veer got angry and he punched him. But Veer still walked away unscathed because he is the adopted son of the king of Somapura. Also, the princess of Somapura supported him. Since, everyone is scared of Somapura's royal family, they backed off. You know what, this incident actually happened yesterday in Yash and Nakul's swordsmanship class."

Vanya was talking animatedly and Yash was staring at her in awe. It was quite an adorable sight. But wait, something clicked in my brain.

"If this incident happened in your class Yash, why didn't you stop it?" I asked.

"Kirit yuvraj hain Rajavarna rajya ke. Hum aise hi koi ladayi nahi mol le sakte unse."

("Kirit is the crown prince of Rajavarna. We can't fight him on this issue.")

Although I didn't agree, he was kind of right. Fighting with the prince of neighboring kingdom is not good for diplomacy. It was time for our classes so we went back.

The next few weeks passed by without any major incident. Veer was gaining popularity among the elite class. These days, everyone was talking about him. I also came to know that he was quite an exemplary student.

It was a random afternoon when I found my friends in the dining hall. I sat with them along with Keshavi.

"You know, I saw Veer in person today and Oh my god!!! he is way too handsome. Those sharp features, charming smile and chiseled body...." Keshavi started ranting. See what I told you about her not having any filter while talking.

"Really? Now I also want to see him if he's this handsome," I giggled.

"There's no need to see him," Nakul interrupted.

Today he was visibly pissed off about something. And not to mention he never really talked to me first, I always used to initiate the conversation. Was he jealous? No. Probably not.

"Why? If someone's this popular and good-looking you have to see him," Vanya said.

"There is literally nothing to see. He is not as handsome as the rumors say." This time it was Yash who interrupted. He was definitely jealous.

"He is quite arrogant and picks fights with everyone for fun," Nakul said a little loudly.

There was silence after that. It kind of became awkward. We finished our lunch in silence and left for our classes.

Today was the day of our first swordsmanship practical class. It was my first outdoor class. Until now, we were taught about the basics and theory of the subject. But now, we have to implement the lessons practically.

After every one assembled, our Guruji announced,
"Aap sabhi ko talwarbaazi ke baare mai kaksha mai seekhaya hoga. Ab samay aa gaya hai ki aap uss vidya ka prayog kare aur shastra uthaye. Sabhi ke nauseekhiya hone ke kaaran, humne aaj lakdi ki talwaare rakhi hain. Jaise hi aap sabhi seekh jaayenge, waise hi ye talware asli talwaro se badal di jaayengi. Sabhi ko 2-2 logo ke samuh mai baanta gaya hai. Aapko jo rang ki parchi di hai, waise hi ek aur parchi aapke saathi ko bhi de hai. Yahan se talwaar uthayiye aur apne apne saathi ke saath khade ho jaayiye."

("All of you have been taught about swordsmanship in your class. Now's the time to use that knowledge and lift your weapons. Since everyone is a new learner, today we have kept wooden swords. As soon as you all learn, these swords will be replaced with original swords. All of you have been divided into groups of 2. Everyone has been given a chit of specific colour and another chit lies with your partner. Pick up the sword from here and stand with your partner.")

All of us went in front of Guruji, greeted him and picked up our swords. Then we searched for our partners. My partner was the son of army chief of Rajavarna.

"Aapka aaj ka lakshya hai apne saathi ko harana. Jeetne ke liye aapko apne saathi ke haath se talwar ko girana hoga. Jo bhi seekha hai uska prayog kijiye. Koi baemaani nahi karega. Aap sabh shuru kar sakte hai ABH," his voice echoed.

("Your today's aim is to defeat your partner. To win, you have to ensure that the sword is dropped from your partner's hand. Whatever you have learnt, implement it. No cheating is allowed. You all can start NOW.")

As soon as Guruji finished his speech, we began. My partner was a tall but lanky person and he had an advantage of height. I had two options - since he is tall and I'm short, his vital points are in my direct attack range or I can kick him in the shin and when he is distracted, attack him. I was weighing my options when he suddenly attacked me. I managed to block his attack in time. So, we are already battle ready and from the looks of it he doesn't seem like he is lifting a sword for the very first time. Figured, he is a warrior's son and now I know that we both have received basic sword training. 

When I was thinking about all of this, he was attacking me constantly. I defended every single attack and noticed that he was trying to attack my vital points. I was left with option two but my legs were kind of short and I couldn't reach him. I guess there is no other option but just an approach of brute force. I also started attacking him aggressively. We engaged in a quite a heated spar. He attacked, I dodged, I attacked, he took a few steps back. It went on for quite sometime but I didn't give up and neither did he. We were starting to get tired but I had to win. It actually ignited my competitive spirit.

So the next time when he tried to attack my legs, I jumped to dodge his attack and attacked him on the head. He staggered back and before he could understand anything, I leaped and pushed his sword out of his hands. The sword landed on the ground. 

I smiled because - I WON!

.

.

.

Hello Lovelies💞

Here's another update. Veer's identity is revealed, will Laxita be able to meet him? Does he play an important role in the story? Also, I always wanted to write a sword sparring scene and here it is! 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. You can support me in the form of votes, views and comments.

Thank you and lots of love💫