I have a bad feeling about this…
Munisai quickly noticed the group of his apprentices gathering anxiously in the middle.
Jun holding a wooden sword, along with another one lying on the ground, gave Munisai all he needed to put two and two together.
“So that’s what happened then…” He sighed, “It was his first day in the Dojo, Jun.”
“I’m sorry, Sensei!” Jun blurted suddenly, taking a quick bow.
“I just… couldn’t stand being looked down upon like that.” She tried to explain.
Father and daughter exchanged brief, but meaningful eye contact. It was enough for them to relay information that could not be put into simple words.
“I wanted to prove…” Jun lowered her head, hesitant to complete her own sentence. The frown on her face was still evident.
“...”
Munisai noticed her inner conflict.
He knew she wasn’t a person to bully others, whatever the reason may be.
But she is not someone who would take insults lying down either.
Not from the villagers, not from Lawkey, not even from her father himself.
“I know, Jun.”
He reassured her, but his tone remained firm.
“We just need to be a bit patient with the new apprentice. This goes for all of you as well!”
“Yes, sensei!” After quickly fixing their posture, they all managed to answer in unison.
image [https://i.imgur.com/e5FTI6j.jpeg]
Munisai knew that Lawkey would not like this kind of special treatment but giving new apprentices time to get accustomed to the dojo was nothing new.
And since the boy was already receiving hate and discrimination from the clansmen, he would need some people on his side if he was going to push through and get used to life in the clan.
Munisai straightened his back and opened his eyes, asserting his presence. The tension in the air immediately tightened.
He addressed Jun as the teacher and Sword Saint, not as her father.
“Jun, take over training today! You already know the steps, make sure everyone goes through them a few times. Then practice sword swings and hone your stances!”
Hearing his strict order, the apprentices bowed and shouted again in agreement.
Munisai then turned his clutch towards the exit of the Dojo.
“And no more duels in my Dojo unless I am present!”
They waited until he was gone before raising their bodies back up.
Before Jun could start the training, she was quickly surrounded by the two other female students.
“Junjun! What was that, hmm?” Emi, the one who’s light pink Keikoji was barely holding itself together, held both of her fists side to side in front of her chest in excitement.
Her eyes were practically sparkling as her long light red ponytail swayed behind her back.
“Eh?”
“That’s right, Jun. Explain yourself this instant.” Mai, the other female student, stood with her arms crossed, demanding an answer from her supposed friend.
As if in contrast with Emi, Mai’s narrow eyes were cold, just like her tone. She wore her hair short, just above her shoulders, but it was so sharp, you’d think she could use it as a blade. That, combined with her perfectly straightened bangs, made her as scary as Kerberos to the other boys, the ones who hadn’t met the beast at least.
“W-what do you mean? We should probably start practice now-” Jun asked, then quickly tried moving away to begin the training session, but she was immediately stopped in her tracks.
She glanced behind her, only to notice two hungry monsters holding on to her shoulders.
“Spill it!” They said in unison.
The three other boys watched them from the side, knowing better than to get in the way between teenage girls and gossip.
However, one of them stood taking it all in.
He made sure to bury his feelings deep within him…
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For now.
**👑**
Munisai’s Estates
Munisai had combined the Dojo and his home into one.
When he first started teaching swordsmanship and developing the Shadow Sword Style techniques, not many supported him. So, he used his own estates as a training ground and slowly incorporated a few rooms into a dojo.
Now, the two are separated, but could easily be mistaken as one and the same from outside.
After leaving his apprentices to train in the Dojo, Munisai went looking for his new troublesome student in the main house.
He started by checking the room he recently gave him.
It had been over a week since the Shadow Queen allowed Lawkey to stay in the clan, and he managed to rest and recover nicely from his wounds in that room.
And although Lawkey had been excited to start his training, Munisai worried that he had lost his excitement after being bested by Jun.
He knocked on the door of the room gently before sliding it open and entering, despite not receiving an answer.
A sudden gust of wind from the open window was the only thing Munisai was greeted by.
He glanced around the room for clues and noticed that ‘Eclipsed Dawn’, Lawkey’s one and only beloved blade, was missing from its usual spot next to his chest box.
That kid… did he give up and run away?
Munisai rushed to the window and looked around but saw no clues of someone jumping out of it.
He was sure that nobody left from the front door, so he concluded that the kid must still be somewhere in the house after all.
Thud!
Suddenly a noise came from the ceiling. It was the last hint the Sword Saint needed.
“It can’t be…” He sighed, “I can't believe this kid.”
Munisai stuck his head out the window, wanting to confirm his consensus.
“Hey kid! Are you up there?”
“Huh?” Hearing that, Lawkey was taken aback.
He didn’t expect someone to be looking for him and to even manage to find him on the roof.
After all, even he himself didn’t know why he went up there.
He might have instinctively climbed up where he could think in peace without anyone disturbing him.
And yet, someone had found him and disturbed his thoughts even so.
However, Lawkey had slowly become fond of his new teacher in the past week, he was truly starting to consider him as his mentor.
He wouldn't just ignore the question from him.
“Yeah, I’m here. What do you want, old man?”
“What are you doing on the roof? How did you even…” Munisai stopped himself and sighed before continuing, “never mind that, just come down here before you get hurt, kid.”
“...”
Lawkey looked up towards the sky, before casting his eyes downwards again.
The moon wasn’t anywhere to see. Not just because of the foggy nature of this continent’s sky, but more so of how deep the Kage village was located into the ravine that was known as the Shadow Valley.
Lawkey sat silently for a bit, staring at the blade he was holding in front of him. He had reflexively picked up his sword before climbing to the roof.
It made him feel safe, perhaps because it contained a lot of memories or perhaps it just gave him a sense of dependency.
The most likely truth was perhaps both of these things.
Before Munisai interrupted him, Lawkey was thinking about the day he had lost everything dear to him. The Leviathan’s massacre, the Undying Elder’s overwhelming power, Kerberos’ rampage, the many deaths of his loved ones…
It all lingered in his mind, the constant nightmares did not help either, but he kept that part to himself.
Nevertheless, the boy had responsibilities now. He can’t just wallow in misery.
I’ll keep my promises… don’t worry… He had compiled too many of them to simply ignore.
He rubbed his neck with one hand, and tightened his grip on Eclipsed Dawn with the other.
“Fine, I’ll meet you at the entrance!” Exclaimed Lawkey as he stood up on the roof.
Despite being on the leaner side, the roof tiles beneath his feet began to come out of place.
“The entrance…?”
It took Munisai but another second before he realized what Lawkey meant.
Even though he couldn’t see the kid from the window, he had already experienced his impulsive and reckless actions firsthand.
He knew he was up to no good again.
“Kid… Don’t you dare jump down! You haven’t fully recovered yet! Just come to the window so that I can help you down!”
“You worry too much, old man!”
The corners of Lawkey’s mouth went wide as he prepared himself to take the leap.
“Easy is for the weak, remember?”
Munisai’s eyes widened as he recognized the phrase. The kid was quoting himself from when he was fighting Kerberos alongside him.
That had been the first meeting for the soon to be mentor and student.
Lawkey knew Munisai wouldn’t have forgotten it so soon.
“This is different!”
Clack, clack, clackclackclack!
Munisai tried to negotiate but it wasn’t a second later that he started hearing crackling noises from the roof.
The kid had already jumped and was sliding down the roof tiles towards the entrance of the house, getting closer and closer to the edge.
image [https://i.imgur.com/4bCYGb5.jpeg]
He didn’t wait for the edge and jumped in the air, putting more distance between him and the ground.
Munisai moved his crutch as fast as he could, rushing through his house.
Thud!
The one-legged man could only hear a loud noise outside as he got to the entrance.
He slid the front door open so fast he almost broke it.
His eyes were narrow and worried about what could have happened, but to his relief, he found the kid safely landing on the ground with remnants of shadows swirling around his legs and sword.
The renowned Sword Saint almost fell to the ground as his body quickly relaxed and released all the tension it was holding onto.
I’m really getting too old for this…
“Kid, you almost gave me a heart attack.” He sighed.
“Don’t you dare do that ever again! Understand?!”
“Relax, old man.” Lawkey smiled, “I just wanted to use a move I’ve been thinking about.”
He rested his sword on his shoulder and donned a cocky grin.
“I think it turned out pretty cool, want me to show you?”
“Absolutely not!” Munisai shot back, “And today was supposed to be your first day of training?”
“What?” Asked Lawkey jokingly, “are you chickening out already, old man?”
“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“...”
Lawkey stood silently, not knowing if he’d gone too far.
Munisai quickly noticed the shift in his new students’ eyes.
He was starting to consider the impact of his mentor’s words now.
Munisai knew the kid had a lot to learn, and it might take a while, but he wouldn’t want him to change too much.
After all, his decisiveness and recklessness were part of his charms.
They’re not necessarily a bad thing if he learned to control them. They could end up saving someone’s life one day.
Even if the consequences were permanent.
His missing leg began to ache, the occasional phantom pains, but he quickly ignored it.
“But that’s fine, easy is for the weak anyway, right?” Munisai chuckled with a smile.
Lawkey couldn’t help but grin at that. His excitement for training had already been replenished.
“So, what kind of rigorous training do you have planned for me old man?”
The Sword Saint turned around facing the inside of his house.
“The kind you won’t like…”
“Huh…?” The boy felt an eyebrow curl up.
“Follow me.” Munisai declared.
“...”
After a moment of deliberation, trying to figure out what his new mentor meant, Lawkey curiously ran inside following him.
“And from today on, you will be addressing me as Sensei!”
“Sure, old man!” responded the cocky new student, donning the usual smirk on his face.
The Sword Saint let out a sigh of exhaustion.
image [https://i.imgur.com/IGZ34Gi.jpeg]
It had only been the first day, but he knew the journey he was about to set out on was going to be a long and exhausting endeavor.
He couldn’t have been more right. He didn’t know it at the time, but…
It wasn’t just this boy, nay.
All kinds of shadows were on the rise.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/R6F1fnu.jpeg]
image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]