Fraction

Fraction Chapter 17 - Enter the Porcupine

The old man stroked his beard as he sat and watched his students practice. His prize student was as amazing as ever... having mastered everything he had taught him so far... but there was still more to go... a lot more... He noticed a group of people walking towards the entrance of his school. He got up and walked towards them. He recognized the man walking at their head... the Chief of the forest inhabitants. His son had grown a little. However, he noticed the bow in his hand. That bow was steady. Its string was taut. He could feel a slight, sharp pain hit his eyes... just watching how this bow rested in the boy's fist... the mere sight of it was enough to tell him. This boy had learnt everything. Every. Single. Thing. He knew everything that the old man knew. How? How could he have learnt everything even though he had refused to teach him? It was impossible for knowledge to be born from nothing. Where did he learn? Who had taught him? The Chief? That ignorant forest dweller? Impossible...

"Master..." the Chief spoke as he bowed along with everyone else, "My son has learnt everything you wanted to teach him... We have come here to offer you our eternal gratitude for bestowing your immeasurable knowledge to my son..." The old man tilted his head. He then looked at the boy. He was bright... beaming with happiness like the sun itself... Asato ma Sadgamaya... Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya... The light of true knowledge which drives away all darkness... "Did you learn properly, boy?" the old man asked. The boy smiled and replied, "Yes, master. When I went back home, I saw the giant statue you had sent me in your stead. I looked at your statue and believed it to be absolutely you. You... You taught me everything I know. We have come here to thank you." The old man looked at the Chief... looked into his eyes. He now understood what had happened. His desire to teach this boy had surpassed the meaningless law of the land after all... words are powerful. His desire to teach this boy had been imprinted in his own words, "I am paid by the King... I work for him... Due to this, I can only teach Royalty... I cannot take your son as my student..." He had unknowingly passed on his will to teach the boy in those words. The moment those words had reached the boy's ears that day... the boy had already become his student... his knowledge had already begun to flow into him. All he needed to realize this knowledge was...

...a slight push. A method of reinforcement. A symbol. Say... a statue of him... staring at this symbol every second of every day all these years... this boy had unconsciously taught himself everything. All that remained now was the icing on the cake... the process of education in that kingdom was divided into several steps...

Step 1: The parents willingly surrender their willing children to the teacher... to do with them as he pleases.

Step 2: Over a period of several years, the child accepts all the knowledge that the teacher chose to give. The students cannot leave the teacher until he is satisfied that he has given them everything he has.

Step 3: When the teacher is satisfied that he has nothing more to offer to a particular child, he summons the child and he asks him for a token of gratitude. This is the ultimate sign that the student is ready to face the world.

Generally, the teacher would demand for something small like, "Climb that tree and bring me a mango. An old man like myself cannot climb trees..." Sometimes, it would be, "Go to this village and kill the demon who has been terrorising the people." Sometimes, it would be, "Repair the part of my hut which got destroyed by Hurricane Gloria." Well, maybe not Hurricane Gloria... but you get the point (and the Friends reference) right? Regardless of the enormity of the task... the student was absolutely obliged to do it. It was one of the greatest honours... giving your teacher a token of gratitude... This was the final step. The old man stroked his beard... perplexed. While no one else had noticed it, he knew it with certainty that the existence of this young lad was a breach of the promise he had made to his prize student. He closed his eyes and sat on his chair. All his students gathered around him. After all, it was a ceremonious moment when the teacher asked for a token of gratitude. They stood and watched. The prize student looked into the boy's eyes. He felt a vague sense of inferiority. He could not comprehend the mastery of the boy... but he felt it all the same. It dawned on him ever so slowly. The greatest archer in the kingdom stood right before him... and for once, it was not because of the presence of a mirror. He could not take his eyes off him.

"I see..." the old man said, "You have indeed learned and grown in my care... I have nothing more to teach you. I acknowledge that you are ready to move forward and face the world. I am willing to accept your gratitude..." Each word brought a new level of pride to the boy's face. "Ask me and I shall give you without asking a single question and without a second thought." He said, trying to keep his voice steady. The Chief looked on. The old man's next words would decide everything. He had gone ahead and ordered his men to make a clay replica of the teacher without seeking his permission. The old man could be outraged... he could cast them out... that would destroy the boy's heart. He looked at the teacher and prayed silently. The old man smiled and spoke, "My boy... As a token of your gratitude... I want you... to wake up."

"Sir?"

"Wake up."

"Wake...? Up...?"

"Morning, wake up! We have to get moving again."

Morning woke up and yawned. "I'd appreciate it if you don't interrupt my dreams." He said, somewhat disgruntled. Eve pouted and said, "Well, excuse me for not wanting to leave you out here in the cold." Morning nodded and turned around. Then he turned around suddenly. "Eve!" he shouted. "What?!" Eve shouted. "You... you POUTED! You acted like a girl!" Eve narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It's just that you've always been... um, never mind. I'll take that as a good sign for him."

"Good sign for who?"

"Much intelligence. Such wow."

"You're not making any sense right now. Are you sure that guy's weird medicine isn't messing you up?"

"What? No. The medicine is fine. To a certain extent, I can control when I fall asleep now."

"Really? So you can fall asleep at will now? Can you fall asleep now? Th-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a beam of energy which hit her back. Both of them immediately turned to the source of the attack. "Damn..." a man with a small gun said as smoke fizzled out from its tip, "That blast should have pierced right through your chest and the brat as well... I'm pretty sure I had set this thing to 'kill'..." Morning smiled and said, "That would be because of my Absolute Trust." Eve looked back at him and tilted her head. "I'll explain later." Morning said and looked at the enemy. "Where are my manners..." the stranger said, "My name is Robert Eligos Ronove Tesla... If that's too long, you could just call me Rob.E.R.T. like everyone else does..."

"Okay... Robert... Why did you attack me?"

"It's nothing personal... just good business..."

"If nothing else, it looks like you're gonna kill me with awful clichés..."

"How about killing you with my Quill, then?"

"Quill? Your gun has a name...?"

"Of course, she has a name... Speaking of names... I know you are Evening. You are Morning. Where are the other two? Afternoon? No, it was Pony and Chris?"

"Gone fishing."

"And you said my clichés were bad..."

Morning interrupted with a long-awaited "Who sent you?"

"I generally prefer to keep the identity of my clients a secret..."

"So this isn't really a contract killing then..." Morning replied.

"You're a smart one... Yes... this isn't really a strike... or the chick would have been dead long before she came to wake you up."

"And you just attacked her back then... to judge the radius of my Absolute Trust field."

"Indeed. Judging from her reaction, my shot didn't even make it to her heart... which means... If I shoot there..." he held up the gun and pulled the trigger so fast that Eve didn't realize he had shot her until after she felt a sharp burn pierce her shoulder. She turned and saw a perfect hole in her shoulder. Her Vectors were already scrambling the atoms and healing her. However, she knew that with this kind of speed and accuracy... she felt more pain and noticed that her leg had four holes in it being repaired by Vectors. Five shots. It had only felt like one. She stepped close to Morning. With her powers sealed as they were... she could only attack people who were "inside" the boundary of her body. She looked at Morning. "Are you sure you can take your eyes off me...?" Robert said while grinning, "My Quill just got five shots into you before you could finish half a blink... I have another name too you know... Robert... the Porcupine..."