With a blink of an eye, months had passed for Lawkey and the Kage Clan.
The days had come and went pretty much the same as before.
In the morning, Lawkey woke up frantically as Jun found him passed out somewhere around the house. They ate breakfast together, sometimes with Munisai and sometimes with their friends, and then they jumped into practicing the Principles of the Shadow Sword Style School.
At night, they would practice some more until Jun would retire to bed and Lawkey would continue alone until he exhausted his energy completely, finally able to pass out into his nightmares.
When he occasionally left the house, he was met with the same kind of hostility he had gotten before, except for a handful of individuals. He had still felt someone watching him from time to time, making him feel anxious, but he learned to cope with things and keep a low profile.
With no major incidents happening around him, the outrage about his stay has somewhat lessened, allowing Munisai to be around more to assume his mentor role as promised. He taught everyone, as expected, but he also made sure to educate Lawkey on all kinds of necessary information he needs to know in the future. Some of that information was related to other races, clans, or the overall state of the Tartarus continent and how to go about traveling it.
Truth be told, Lawkey wasn’t too keen on those types of study lessons, especially not when they seemed more like a trick to force him into practicing writing and reading. Nevertheless, he had put up with it and continued to work diligently towards his goal.
In fact, after he had met the Shadow Queen under the moonlight that one night, he threw himself into training even harder than before. The results of that were beyond anyone’s expectations.
However, he hadn’t been the only one working hard and improving.
“Duel!”
Munisai stood in the Dojo between two of his students, signaling them to start their bout.
On his right was the tallest student in his Dojo, Yasuto. He still had his long hair neatly tied into a topknot behind his head, while also wearing the same traditional blue Keikogi.
His opponent however, donned a dark magenta Keikogi and had his light brown bangs covering half of his face from the top. It was extremely rare for anyone to ever see Kojiro’s eyes directly.
“!”
That’s why Yasuto felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he saw the glint of blood-red through Kojiro’s bangs. Even after Munisai announced the duel, the supposed shy student had just been simply standing there, silently glaring at him.
Nevertheless, Yasuto gripped his black Bokken tightly between his fingers and kicked off the ground under him, launching himself forward.
The contrast between his usually shy friend and the current monster in front of him exuding a scary aura, made him anxious, sure. But even so, he had to fight.
As all the other students stood on the sidelines watching with suspense, Yasuto quickly closed the distance between him and his opponent.
Going for a more unconventional opening, he swung his sword in an upward slash at Kojiro.
One Shadow Sword Style - Sixth Stance!
Early Spring Moonrise!
“!!”
As his sword got closer to his opponent, Yasuto was quickly shaken to his core when despite him being the attacker, he was still met with a pair of glowing blood-red eyes focused directly at him.
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And in that split second of hesitation, Yasuto suddenly lost sight of his opponent completely.
“?!”
THUD!
“Point! The duel goes to Kojiro!” Munisai announced, having witnessed everything clearly.
“Whatttt?! When did Koko beat Yuyu?! I didn’t see a thing!”
“Were you daydreaming again? Maybe some pain will open your eyes!”
“No, I couldn’t see it either, Kojiro was too fast…”
While Emi and Mai had their banter, Jun kept her eyes focused on the aftermath of the duel.
If the top apprentice couldn’t see it either, that probably meant it would have been unlikely for her to have had a different outcome had she been in Yasuto’s shoes.
Was Kojiro always that fast…?
“...”
She thought to herself as Lawkey looked at her from the side.
He had been sitting on the ground, watching the duels take place one after the other.
First duel was Mai and Zenga, he would rather not remember what happened during that duel, out of respect for the guy slumped on the ground behind them.
Then Jun and Emi had a duel, where the top apprentice showed off some of her skills to outperform her opponent. Although, it had seemed like Emi was enjoying getting outsmarted by Jun, even tried stealing a hug every now and then.
And now, to everyone’s surprise, Kojiro had won against the responsible Yasuto in mere seconds after the duel started.
I knew it, this guy is…
Before he could finish his thought, Munisai called out to him.
“Hey kid, you’re the only one who hasn't had a match yet. Do you want to challenge someone?”
Since he was the only one left, that meant everyone else had at least fought once already. All the matches had been picked at random, and it just so happened that Lawkey was left without an opponent.
With his luck, it wasn’t something that surprising really.
“...” Lawkey contemplated for a second about who he could challenge, then suddenly stood up.
If he had to pick one to fight now, there were three choices he would want to go up against.
But for now at least… There is only one option! He thought to himself as he glared at his opponent.
“Of course I will challenge someone!” He declared, pointing at the one he was about to call on, “It’s obviously you, old man! Let’s have a duel!”
“?!”
“What?! Lulu, you can’t do that!” Emi put both her hands in front of her mouth in an exaggerated gesture.
“If you’re looking for death, I can help.” Mai showed off her needles again.
“Fighting Sensei seems fun, but it would be very difficult to show him your progress if you can’t keep up with him…” Yasuto tried to reason with him.
“Listen to the others, Law, going up against dad now would be counterproductive…” Jun said, her eyes sharp, “We’re having these duels to show him our progress, you know what that means, right?”
“....Zzzz…”
“...”
Zenga and Kojiro simply waited in silence, each for their own reason.
“I know all that.” Lawkey said, taking a step forward despite everything they said, “But the one I have to beat here the most is him!”
“...” They all stayed silent, seeing the gleam in his eyes. He had made up his mind already.
“Heh, fine, kid.” Munisai said with a chuckle as he took off his Haori, “Step up to the left. Jun, preside over the match, will you?”
“Yes, Sensei!” Jun gave in and moved forward too.
Yasuto and Kojiro, not having had their chance to yet, quickly bowed to their teacher and began to walk in the opposite direction, about to pass the other two walking towards them.
“Kojiro, how come you were so into the duel today? I knew you’re half vampire and all, but that was really fast. Did you use the Eighth Stance at the end?”
“Yes… sorry… I just don’t really like to build up a sweat…”
Yasuto and Kojiro chatted as they passed by Lawkey and Jun to switch places.
Hearing that part about Kojiro’s race made Lawkey’s ear twitch for a second, but he quickly turned his focus back to the present.
By the time everyone had taken their place, Munisai had managed to get ready and stood in front of his opponent.
“Are the two combatants ready?” Jun asked, raising her voice.
In response, the two bowed to each other, then to their presiding referee.
The other students watching all stood with anticipation in their eyes.
Then Munisai took a near perfect stance with the support of his crutch, hunching slightly down with his black Bokken held diagonally in front of his chest.
Lawkey had taken a similar fighting stance now, unlike the last time the two had dueled.
“Okay, then… Duel!”
**👑**
On the surface of the Shadow Valley’s ravine, some unusual activity was taking place around the same time as the duel.
“Hey! Is this really the place?!”
“It should be…”
“Well, there is no one here!”
Most of the adventurers had made a long journey clad in gear and weapons from top to bottom, while the rest had traveled light, with only cloaks to cover themselves.
“Wasn’t it enough that we had to walk all the way here?! What now?!”
“No choice but to wait as we were told. I’m sure we’ll get some kind of signal or something soon enough.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Stop complaining and take a seat already!”
“Where the hell should I take a seat in this place, we’re barely standing as it is!”
They weren’t wrong, there were dozens of adventurers waiting all around in the crowded area.
Their patience was quickly draining away.
They had come here for a simple reason after all.
Revenge for the ones who had sent them here. A vengeance that had waited for fourteen years now.
They just had to wait for their guide to come get them.
For the one who had invited them here in the first place.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]