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The dojo smelled of fresh-cut wood, finishing oil, and iron. Unmistakably new things trying their best to look like they had always been there.
New training halls popped up and disappeared all the time. Dojos run by fresh advanced-swordsmen graduates from the 3 major sword styles were common as seamstresses, and attracted little attention. While saint-level fighters were more noteworthy, and their halls would get reasonable interest. But a king-class swordsman opening a school was a rare sight.
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Like a newly trained puppy, Rudeus had a big smile that read; I did good. Rudeus stood at the foot of a reclining throne, one he had custom-made from his memory. From a movie called Caligula, he thought that would show the world that Sword King Eris was to be viewed in awe.
Eris was doing her best not to look uncomfortable as she lay on her side in the pose Rudeus put her in. She watched her dojo fill with young athletic students from the odd seat Rudeus prepared for her. Not being one to seek attention, nerves had Eris thinking perhaps letting Rudeus organize everything alone was a bad idea. But it was always easier that way, even if it was embarrassing. Rudeus delivered favorable results.
But Eris was starting to get suspicious of how evenly balanced the genders among the students were. Women warriors were by no means rare, but the ratio was usually twelve or thirteen to one. Glancing over at him, she saw that creepy smile of his as he stood watching the crowd from his side of the couch, which he called her throne. Eris played along, clenching her jaw, while she held the pose he made her take.
Well, she knew what he was like when she met him; a little voyeurism was to be expected. He built her this school without complaint; she guessed in here she could overlook his wandering eyes.
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Eris expected it to take a while for word to spread about her new dojo in order to fill the hall, but apparently, Rudeus was already refusing candidates. But from today on it would be Eris that was master of this hall. The students filed in, filling the space in front of the “throne.” She thought that the couch had to go.
DOOOONG…ong…ong…
The students went silent, some taking up a defensive stance when Rudeus used a small stone cannon to ring the enormous gong at the front entrance.
“Welcome!” Rudeus spoke loudly, far louder than Eris had ever heard him speak before; his voice was carried to every corner of the dojo with ease. Perhaps he was using a spell, perhaps it was the shape of the room. He had the architect from the Sharia opera house over for dinner at some point, she remembered.
The crowd quieted down, listening intently, stealing glances at the Sword King reclining in the most alluring of poses.
“There have been many who wished to be here, but to not compete with the sword sanctum. Eris, I mean the Sword King Eris, has decided that she will only have 40 students at a time. Some students will graduate, some will drop out, making room for others to join. But those that are here today are the ones with the most passion.”
Without turning her head from the crowd, Eris looked at Rudeus in the corner of her eye for his choice of words.
“Training will start tomorrow, but today we celebrate the opening of the greatest dojo outside of the Sword sanctum. We have prepared a buffet and drinks befitting fine warriors, but first we open the festivities with a friendly sparring match. Then once it is finished, and everyone has worked up a good sweat, while the blood is still pumping. We will enjoy a post-battle grapple together.”
As Rudeus finished speaking, the room stayed quiet; the only sound was Eris moving on the cushions to turn towards Rudeus. “What?” The sound coming from Eris was barely loud enough to hear. “We’ll do what?”
Rudeus’s voice was still being carried to the whole room when he replied.“Yes-yes. A Post-Battle Grapple. I can think of nothing better, for after a hard workout and a good sweat. I have already made the preparations; everyone here has a passion for the sword.” Eris saw his smile as he clarified.
Muffled whispers began to spread amongst the students; no one openly objected, but they were clearly debating amongst themselves.
Eris had no choice and stood from her pose, stepping closer to Rudeus. “What is the meaning of this? You want them to grapple, here?”
Rudeus smiled, “Don’t worry, we’ll have a grapple too. It’s perfect, we haven’t had one together in a while, and I thought this would be the perfect time to show everyone how much you like my grapple. And I’ll admit I have been thinking of sharing for a while.”
Eris went silent. She would have yelled ‘no’ and demanded he recant, but she let him organise everything. She left it all to him, and now he was being so assertive. She knew what he was like when she married him. He has two other wives, so maybe this wasn’t that different from back home.
Eris sat back down, unconsciously taking the pose he put her in before. Eris’s thoughts were blurry. Did he say share? He put me in this pose; he’s being so assertive. I put him in charge and he is being assertive. Would it be wrong for me to object? Is he bored of his wives, is he bored of me?
Eris sat with her strong warrior's face, not betraying the turmoil in her heart. The student saw her sitting there looking over the crowd, not objecting to her husband's shocking announcement. Her stoic look came across as agreement; perhaps this was how the Sword King wished to run her dojo. The whispers grew louder as they finished their debate.
Warriors were toned and attractive, appealing to everyone in the world. They were adrenaline junkies and understood that they could die at any time, so they were prone to giving into their urges in the spur of the moment. But that was usually off behind a building in a barn. Not as a group, as insisted on by the master of a dojo.
The crowd quieted down, and no one stormed off in protest. It seems the consensus was that having a grapple with a Sword King would be acceptable.
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While Eris lay reclined on her throne, sinking into her thoughts, Rudeus waved his hand, causing the crowd to part, opening up the centre of the room.
“Alright, whenever you’re ready, we’ll have sets of two spar with wooden swords. Any style will do; we want it to be interesting for the Sword King. A round ends when a fighter's sword makes contact with their opponent’s body. Then we reset and go again. First to three points wins.”
What would Sylphiette say? No, we can’t tell her. I’ll have to keep it secret. But Roxy would notice something is up right away, she’s always watching us closely… Why Rudy?
Eris, still running through the ramifications of letting Rudeus grapple with her students, was sitting with a scowl, making her new students nervous. They felt like she was really scrutinizing their every movement. But the instant each of them took up a sword, they changed into avatars of combat.
They could see that every now and then, Sword King Eris would look far closer at a pair fighting hard to win their mock battle. Her gaze deepened on one of them, analyzing that fighter more than their competitor.
Hmmm, that one, maybe? She’s got the same hair color as me, will she do? Maybe not. Or that one, she’s smaller than me, like his first two wives. I think he’d like that; he can't lift me, or move me onto the furniture like Roxy says he does with her.
It took under an hour for all of the students to have 3 or 4 matches each, giving them all a rough idea of what their standing was. They looked to the Sword King and her husband on the cushioned throne; she seemed to have decided something. They were curious who showed enough talent to remove that intimidating scowl from her brow.
I think that one. Yes, Sylphie’s hair is white, Roxy’s blue, and mine red, so he shouldn’t be bored of blond..
Rudeus stood, giving applause. That was odd for a sparring match, but then again, he had made a rather odd suggestion before.
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The last pair finished their fight, sweaty and panting, and they looked up at the Sword King. Eris nodded her approval, and with that, the bouts were over. The crowd that had been watching was now waiting; some of them were surprised at how excited they were getting. Perhaps a grapple with a sword king was too rare, too exotic to pass up.
When Rudeus stood, excusing himself for a moment, the fighters spread out, looking for the warriors that they most enjoyed watching during the matches. Eris was no exception; she locked eyes with a petite girl, probably 10 years younger than herself. The young warrior seemed to freeze; a sword-king's gaze itself was a weapon, and most would find it hard to move.
She was toned like every swordsman here, but she was short, and when Eris looked down at the girl's chest, mentally comparing it to his other, more modestly built wives. She thought, this little thing should be more to Rudeus’s taste. Eris didn’t move; she simply looked out over the crowd from the reclining couch Rudeus had custom-built.
The well-built and attractive athletes didn’t need much encouragement; adrenaline and hormones had them splitting off into pairs, pawing at each other before the swinging-door even closed behind Rudeus.
As if Eris’s stare was a command, the petite swordswoman walked slowly towards her. She swallowed nervously as the Sword King looked her over one last time before offering her the spot where Rudeus had been sitting a minute ago. Eris sat looking at the girl, saying nothing; she was cycling through Rudeus’s preferences in her head. Then she reached out and opened the girl's shirt, staring at her petite chest.
She didn’t need words; warriors communicated with eyes and muscles. The young woman began to disrobe. There were a few stares from warrior men who were disappointed that the Sword King hadn’t asked them to join, but they quickly found distractions of their own.
Rudeus wasn’t gone very long. The twin swinging doors opened slowly as Rudeus backed into the room. His voice echoed through the dojo as he walked backwards into the room.
“Here we go, a refreshing grapple, one of the Sword King’s favorites.”
The couple that had been pressed up against the wall next to the door looked over at Rudeus, who was carrying a tray of glasses into the dojo.
“Training hard is thirsty work; the apple juice is amazing for a parched fighter. And the Grape juice, in turn, does wonders to restore your glucose levels.”
One by one, the couples stopped making out and turned towards Rudeus, who was setting a tray on the table at the back of the dojo. Because he was holding the doors open for two maids who held trays of their own, he had not yet seen the state the hall was in.
“And the Grapple, a personal creation of mine, has an added benefit. It is fortified with electrolytes to help boost your recovery after a good sweat.” He continued his sales pitch, only turning to face the students once the last tray was set in place.
When he finally saw the students in varying levels of undress, hands and tongues exploring partners, he looked to Eris. The Sword King, NO, his wife was sitting on the reclining throne, her chest bare. And next to her, a nervous-looking swordswoman in nothing but her underwear.
Staring at Eris with a shocked look on his face, he recited the last lines of his speech that he had been practicing all week. “Please help yourselves… the Grapple… is delicious.. We have a travel size for sale, if you like the results….”
Rudeus looked to Eris, unable to think of what to say, hoping to get some sort of explanation. The maids, on the other hand, kept their professional faces on, moving between the crowd, dispensing the Grapple energy drinks to the members of the dojo. One swordsman, with a confused look, released his partner's exposed breast to take the energy drink from a maid.