The Will of Success
Shino was a swordsman. He lived in the land of Mizu. Every Friday, he showed his techniques of swordsmanship to the villagers. The villagers knew nothing of swordsmanship, but they would admire him. They would commend him for his brilliant techniques and skills. Shino openly used to brag about his swordsmanship, and he would go on saying that he did not need to practise like other swordsmen. He was an innate swordsman, born to be a swordsman, and no one would ever dare to challenge him. The entire village, was swayed by his words and character. Shino graduated from the academy with the Founder’s Sword (the highest award awarded to an excellent swordsman). As per him, he was barred from practising, since he had won the Founder’s Sword. The villagers were in awe after hearing his bluffs.
The nation of Wad, waged a war against the people of Kaze. Shino belonged to the country of Mizu. Asuma, the emperor of Mizu, was sure that Wad would not attack Mizu. But Wad had separate plans. Mizu and Wad’s actual enemy Kaze shared a border. Both countries shared a border with Wad, separated by a river. Wad intended to invade the village of Mizu to get a better advantage over Kaze. It would give a sign that Wad is no longer interested in Kaze. While Wad would conquer the village of Shino and then attack Kaze from the border of Shino’s village. During the invasion of Mizu, Kaze would relax and would not anticipate this sudden invasion.
Wad invaded Shino’s land and plundered his village. Asuma’s army was less concerned about this land and so abandoned it. Mizu, in a surprise move, protected the town of Chi near Shino’s village. The platoons of Mizu’s army were deployed on the borders of Chi. Shino had to fight and evacuate his people to Chi. When the villagers came to know of this invasion, they were relaxed. They thought that Shino would protect them. Shino went to the border of his village to fight a small group of Wad’s army. But to his amazement, they were stronger than he had anticipated, and Shino had to withdraw with his few men. It was an insult to his character. He could not fight mere havildars of an army. When villagers knew of this, they taunted Shino and mocked him. It was a moment of embarrassment for Shino and his well-renowned swordsmanship. Shino could not tolerate this; to save his face he again went there. But this time, he was beaten to death and taken as a war prisoner. Wad then launched an assault on Kaze. Kaze lost their southern part to Wad.
Wad, soon after that, established its control over these captured lands. Shino worked as a farmer. He and other people of Kaze would work the whole day and the end, would get a half loaf of bread. Shino went to the realm of contemplation. He ruminated on the causes of this shame. What led to the loss of two countries at the hands of mere musicians? The people of Wad were known to be the perfect Musicians. No one knew how these musicians conquered the lands of two old, strong kingdoms. After keenly observing the soldiers of Wad, Shino concluded. They practised the whole day, if not complete, then 5 to 8 hours per day. The soldiers would run throughout the field. It was practise that made them this perfect. On the other hand, Mizu and Kaze were people of strong will and had great swordsmen among them, but they would not practise this much. You can say, they would rest on their laurels. Instead of doing further better, they would sing songs of their old conquests and would slack off the whole day.
Shino found the same fault in him. Instead of practising like a real warrior, he would sleep the whole day idealising Senju (the great warrior and conqueror of Mizu). After arriving at this conclusion, Shino decided to continue with his life. But that would again repeat this pattern of ignominy. Therefore, Shino started practising at night. He would go out of the stable and he would practise the whole night. Soon he motivated his other fellow soldiers and so in farming and other tasks they would practise the art of swordsmanship. Meanwhile, the army of Wad slowed down their training and started spending their nights at parties and feasts.
3 years later, Shino under his command, led a revolt against the army of Wad. The years of practice had made them tough and they turned out superior to Wad. In no time, Shino recovered all the land and established his rule. A land where people would not slack off from what they are made for.
My teachers in intermediate would tell stories of matric toppers going to mere average students in intermediate. Students from getting positions in secondary and higher secondary schools to passing their university careers with average marks. Students who could not achieve unprecedented success in school, college, etc. doing the unrivaled in universities. Not mine but our lives are filled with such stories. The majority relax when they achieve something big, but they do not know this slackness would cause them a lot. The same happened when I scored my first 4 GPA. I thought I had conquered the world, But I was lucky to realise my mistake earlier, a little earlier than the fall. The same happened to Mizu, Kaze, and Shino. One should not rest on his laurels. It is the will of success; to not rest and go on moving.
