"Hey, Ren, fill the barrel with some water!"

"As you command, senpai!" Ren obediently jumped up and, grabbing a bucket, ran toward the river.

Although life in the Sumada training camp was sometimes hard, and they were overwhelmed with a sea of duties and tasks, Ren never complained.

It was still dozens of times better than living on the streets of some war-torn city in Hyugo.

The trio of children got by on random handouts, theft, and looting destroyed homes.

But the last food source quickly ran out, and theft could get you killed even faster than starvation. Or you could lose a hand, which was only marginally better than death.

Ren and Shinji did their best to take care of Kai, the only girl in their group, but sometimes they couldn't find any food at all.

Falling asleep when hunger is gnawing your little stomach is far from the most enviable lot.

Being younger and when his parents were still alive, Ren once heard a sermon by a wandering monk.

The man in his thirties, as bald as one's knee, dressed in loose orange garments, preached that if you offer a fervent prayer, Kami would surely answer.

When Ren's life took a turn for the worse, he prayed a lot, but it didn't help much.

That's when he realized that the gods didn't care about the lives of ordinary people.

However, meeting that man made the boy reconsider the existence of higher powers.

A kind supreme warmaster. Have you heard of such a thing?

Yet, it was he whom they ran into.

Lost in these thoughts, Ren had already brought a couple of buckets of water and poured them into the barrel.

"Now go and sweep the yard," ordered a twenty-year-old lad. It was he who had taken Ren under his wing, guiding and showing him various things. The boy, in turn, was to obey him in everything.

"As you command, senpai!" Ren nodded and hurried off to complete his task.

When the warmaster whom they tried to rob not only didn't get angry but also shared his food and said he would come back for them, Ren didn't believe him. And even if he did come back, the boy saw nothing good in it.

His words were too good to be true.

He even suggested to his friends that they move to another city to avoid the fearsome warmaster with serpentine eyes.

But thankfully, Kai managed to persuade him otherwise. For some reason, she immediately believed the stranger's words. Ren tried to argue, but she stood her ground.

And then something incredible happened.

The food merchant who used to chase them away began to feed them. And for free!

It was so strange that for a while Ren thought the whole world had gone mad.

Only after a couple of days did the boy notice the merchant's eyes filled with fear whenever he looked at their group.

It wasn't hard to guess who exactly caused such all-consuming terror.

Another reason to run away, but they stayed anyway.

So the days went by, and the mysterious warmaster gradually faded from memory amid daily cares.

The news of the war's end struck like a bolt from the blue. Their country ceased to exist and was annexed by the neighboring state, Rashta.

However, nothing really changed for them. Let the samurai worry about such things, not street urchins.

That day, they were relaxing in their own den, made in the surviving part of a collapsed building.

Even though Rashta's troops had already entered the city, no one had the time or energy for repairs and reconstruction.

"Who do we have here looking so lovely?" A soft whisper near Ren's ear made him scream and tumble off his makeshift bed of rags, and after crawling on his knees for a couple of meters, he leaned against the opposite wall.

Near where he had been sitting stood a beautiful woman, covering the lower part of her face with a thick cloth. Judging by the expression in her eyes, she found it very amusing.

"W-who are you?" Since Ren was tongue-tied, Shinji shouted the question, bravely shielding Kai, who stood behind him.

"Just someone who's looking," the stranger giggled. "And it seems like I've found something."

The wooden panel serving as a door to their hideout slid aside, allowing another young woman to enter. Unlike the first, she wore a full white mask that left only her eyes exposed.

Yet just one glance at these eyes was enough for Ren to reassess the threat levels. This girl was clearly very, very dangerous.

However, when a third person entered, the children gaped in shock.

"Master Serpent?!"

"Who else did you expect to see?" The warmaster they'd met long ago softly chuckled as he ducked to enter. Suddenly, their shelter seemed very cramped. It wasn't meant for so many people, especially adults.

"Master Serpent!" Kai, who had been silent until now, dashed forward to the man.

The woman with the menacing eyes twitched, partially drawing her blade, but at a sign from the Serpent, she clicked it back into place.

Kai, with a running start, leaped forward and buried her face in the belly of the bewildered man. Her little hands clasped tightly around his legs.

"I knew it! I knew you would come!" Her gaze, glowing with trust, met the Serpent's strange eyes. "Just as you promised!"

"I'm glad," the flustered man raised his hand, seemingly unsure what to do, then patted the girl on the head as if she were a dog that had behaved well.

"E-e-eh," a tiny squeak made everyone look towards the first young woman, who, clutching her fist to her mouth, was trying her hardest not to scream with delight. "It's so... So cute!"

The other woman, 'Evil Eyes,' as Ren had dubbed her, rolled her eyes in disapproval of such behavior.

Kai quickly bounced back from the Serpent and blushed desperately, lowering her head and clenching her fists, causing Kaede to reel from a fatal dose of cuteness.

"Alright, that's enough fun," Stas had been in no mood for festivities lately.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The children, following his gesture, lined up before him.

"As I once said, you are offered the chance to become servants of Sumada. Sumada is a great and one of the most powerful clans of warmasters. If you prove yourselves, you'll be given the privilege to enter one of the branch families. If your merits are even higher, then the main family."

Ordyntsev gave the kids a stern look.

"I must warn you that the training will be tough and possibly even dangerous. You will have to do everything the clan orders, and there will be no turning back. Once you make a decision, there's no changing it. This path will most likely end with your death on the battlefield. Warmasters rarely die naturally."

The kids quickly exchanged glances.

"We agree," Ren declared resolutely, boldly looking the warmaster in the eye. "We will manage."

Ordyntsev simply nodded. He had never doubted it.

When he brought the children to one of the Sumada training camps, incidentally owned by Jishin, he had a preliminary discussion with the prince, making a special note that these children held quite promising prospects. Especially the girl.

"I don't want them to be mindlessly thrown into some meat grinder," he told Jishin.

"So be it," and so the fate of the youngsters was decided.

Thus, now little Ren smiled happily, shaking his clothes, trying to cool off a bit in the heat.

He, Shinji, and Kai met every day, discussing training and striving to refine their strikes and kata even further.

The teachers saw potential in them, so they were treated kindly.

For the first time in years, Ren, Shinji, and Kai looked to the future with hope. And they'd be damned if they didn't know who to thank for it.

*****

Ever since Leviathan had recovered, she constantly felt that something was wrong. Her master briefed her, explaining that the war was over and their side had won, taking over an entire country.

He also told her about their enemy, the fearsome old man, who had been defeated thanks to Kaede.

The snake was astounded - she had slept for almost four months!

Nonetheless, that was the case. And during that time, something had happened with her master.

The more Levi thought about it, the more she realized that he was avoiding her.

At first, it could be attributed to her healing, for after coming to herself, she needed to eat heartily and sleep deeply to reclaim the mass lost during regeneration.

But why did he persist in shunning her afterward?!

These thoughts gnawed at Levi as she rested in Minoru's hideout.

When she could no longer bear it, she went to the Nure-onna and tried to find out the reason, but the latter just smiled sadly. Levi never questioned how this ancient yokai could catch the thoughts of a magical animal like her.

"I don't want to interfere with your relationship. Ask him yourself. Otherwise, I feel he'll make my life difficult for it."

And now, Levi had finally awaited her master's return, ready to address the matter squarely.

Mari's arrival went by unnoticed. At the moment, the snake was only interested in Stas, who was once again about to leave.

'Master.'

Levi slithered up to Ordyntsev's feet and nudged his hand with her nose, causing him to stroke her along the ridges on her head instinctively.

'What is it, Levi?'

The snake had already realized that strange feelings were coming through their connecting bond.

'Master, where are you planning to go again?' Leviathan casually asked.

'I need to collect materials for future training with the Deathbringer magic,' Ordyntsev honestly replied.

'Will you go alone?'

'No, I'll take Mari. Kaede will continue training with Minoru.'

'Master, take me with you too,' Leviathan finally resolved.

The man flinched, then gently ran his hand along the snake's coils.

'I'm afraid it's too soon for you; you need to recover.'

'But I'm healthy! Minoru examined me.' Levi knew and sensed her master too well not to see when he was lying.

And right now, he was doing precisely that. Why was he deceiving her?! He had never done that before!

Stanislav's face froze.

'I'm sorry, Levi... But you can't go.'

'Why?' The snake looked up at the towering human and realized she was afraid to hear the answer.

'Because I don't want you to go,' Ordyntsev's response hit very hard, making Levi recoil.

'Why, master?!' Stas, unable to bear it, averted his gaze.

'Because I don't want to lose you, Levi.' Stanislav was involuntarily glad that the conversation was through mind-speech. He didn't know how he would have said it out loud. 'Understand me; in that battle, you nearly died. And you almost perished several years ago - again, because of me. I don't want to risk you...'

'I don't care!' Leviathan's mental scream nearly deafened him. 'I will protect you, whether you like it or not! And you can't forbid me from doing so. If you leave me here, I will still follow you.'

'You dare defy my order?' Something dark flooded the mental space, making Leviathan tremble with fear, but she still proudly rose, refusing to back down.

'Yes!'

Ordyntsev studied the defiant snake before him for a few seconds and thought. Of course, he could show firmness and break the resistance of this, essentially, child. But would that be the best solution?

Yes, he would save her life, but would he keep her soul?

He called her his pet, and she called him her master. But Ordyntsev didn't consider her a slave, and he was not a slaver deciding everything for her.

Freedom is the right of any sentient being. And Leviathan was sentient.

'Alright.' Levi thought she had misheard, but the next words put everything into place. 'I will allow you to accompany me.'

'Hooray!' In her joy, Levi wrapped herself around the man several times, squeezing him tightly, crushing his leather armor in the process, and forcing him to use prana to survive.

'But from this day on,' Stas straightened his shoulder guards as the pet's euphoria subsided, 'we take your training seriously. If I hear even one complaint about exercising, you lose the right to accompany me. Understood?'

'Yes,' Levi nodded seriously, which looked quite surreal. The nodding giant snake reminded Stas of a movie series about an incredibly lucky lad who also knew how to talk to reptiles.

'Then let's begin immediately.' Ordyntsev decided ominously, causing Leviathan to lose her previous confidence quickly.

'But weren't you, master, planning to gather materials?' Levi made an attempt to pull her tail out of deep trouble but suffered a crushing defeat.

'It can wait.'

*****

Leviathan's training consisted of mastering the techniques of the Kiatto that Stas had learned.

The order of their study was as follows – Stas, Kaede, Mari, and Leviathan would roam the forest, catching various magical creatures, and then bring them to the laboratory. There, Ordyntsev would perfect a new Kiatto technique on them and then try it on Leviathan.

And here's where things got interesting.

Since the magical creatures of the beast clan weren't very intelligent, they couldn't replicate many of the techniques used on them by Kiatto.

However, over the years of using their natural energy, the beasts had memorized the sequence and were able to activate certain states on their own, without being urged by their master's prana.

With Leviathan, the situation was completely different.

Time after time, Stas allowed Levi to feel how he activated her natural energy in a particular way with his prana.

After that, he stopped influencing her and gave the snake a chance to try the same thing on her own. The process was slow, but it was progressing.

There weren't many Kiatto techniques, but all of them were exceptionally useful.

"Leviathan. Scale Strengthening!" They were currently working on perfecting the acquired knowledge.

The snake tensed and activated her natural prana, causing the scales to be covered by a semi-transparent barrier, trembling around her body.

Strike!

Stas lunged forward and attacked the pet's head with his foot, which she blocked with her tail.

The prana-charged limb met the tail covered in natural energy, producing a deafening boom.

A short sparring session ensued, where Leviathan had to twist and turn like a viper on a frying pan to avoid getting punched or kicked in the head.

Stas's speed was still much higher.

"Now, the reinforcement," he commanded, backing away a few steps.

Levi obediently canceled the scale strengthening and began to charge her muscles. Responding to her will, the snake's body gradually began to grow, pushing the scales apart.

A dozen seconds later, Leviathan was one and a half times her original size.

"Attack!" The human and snake launched themselves, swirling in an astonishing dance. Their movements were so fast that it was sometimes hard to tell whose limb was where.

Even though Leviathan lacked experience in such fights, Stas was also far from the strongest in hand-to-hand combat.

In these battles, Levi, using her physique, especially liked to trip up her opponent, forcing Stas to "monitor" even the space behind his back.

"Enough!" The fighters disengaged. "Now, both techniques at once."

Leviathan frowned mentally and concentrated. Keeping two structures of natural energy in her body simultaneously was challenging. And at the moment, she was not coping well.

But she still tried.

Finally, the energy currents settled exactly as Leviathan wanted.

'Snake...' Imitating her master, Leviathan straightened up sharply, throwing her body towards the trees: 'Strike!'

The tail, charged with natural energy and accelerated by strengthened muscles, struck like a whip, cutting down a couple of nearby trees and sending clouds of wood chips flying.

Unfortunately, control over the techniques disappeared immediately afterward, returning Levi to her previous speed and strength.

"Not bad," Stas nodded. "Now telekinesis."

Levi concentrated again. Her muscles ached, but what she was about to use barely depended on them.

The felled trees, creaking and shedding branches and leaves, began slowly rising into the air.

Levi stopped only when they hovered higher than all the nearest trees. A tremor of tension ran through the tip of her tail.

'Push!' The tree trunks were flung forward several tens of meters. The place where they landed was filled with panicked bird cries and flapping wings.

"Hmm." Hearing Stas, Leviathan, with bated breath, anticipated the results of her exam that followed three moons of learning.

The earthling had spent these months not only training his pet but also studying his own earth techniques.

"You're ready," Ordyntsev finally decided.

'Hooray!'

"No hugs!" Stas warned quickly.

But who would listen to him at such a moment?