Mixing in the paint is not something to be done by a person with no experience, you can't measure out the exact amount of water, charcoal dust and sap that you need to mix. Add too much water and the mixture will be too runny to paint properly with, add too much charcoal and the mixture will be too grainy. Add too much sap and you won't be able to get the mixture out of the bowl because of how sticky it is

And the reason why it can't be measured out is because the sap is always a different consistency.

'I don't even think that I need to add water to this thing.'

Sitting outdoors, Ken is stirring the ink inside a clay bowl. He had been prohibited from doing so inside the house following an incident that had left a permanent black stain on a section of the floor.

Fortunately for Kenki, the evening brings more bearable temperatures. He carefully adds a small amount of powdered charcoal to the mixture. It's crucial to add the charcoal gradually, as it tends to clump up otherwise.

'The sap I got this time around isn't even sticky. Damn, I don't want someone to come crying after the water dries off and the ink cracks and the paint flakes off from the wood. But then again, what I'm selling is worth only four coppers. And that’s considering that a loaf of bread is around five coppers.'

'Even if I'm still a child and even if it makes perfect sense for the paint I use to be absolute garbage. Even if it would be considered outrageous to get angry at a six year old for such a thing…'

A great sigh escapes the boy's lips as he dumps the contents of the bowl on the nearby grass. He does his breathing exercise, calming himself from the temporary frustration.

"Hup!" Ken stretches as he stands up.

'Better go find another tree before it gets dark, the ones I use for the paint are kind of rare.'

Dusting himself off, Kenki picks up his tools to go store them. Isamu, his father, had reluctantly given him an extra key to the shed after the staining incident.

"Ken!"

Just as Kenki finishes locking the shed, he hears the distant voice of his bigger brother calling out to him.

"I'm here" Ken shouts as he runs to the house.

"There you are Ken! Come on, something big is happening!" Daiki excitedly waves for his brother to join him and starts jogging away. Kenki quickly follows, curious about what he wants to show him.

'Something big? That’s a first for this village… Well, If I exclude the abandoned farm.’

His brother leads him outside the village, venturing further than Kenki had ever been before. He finds it unusual– alarming even, but his concern subsides when he notices the stream of villagers also making their way along the same path.

Their short journey led them to a cliffside where, by the looks of things, around than half the village had congregated. More than a thousand men, women and children. It doesn’t sound like much until you actually gather them all up in one spot.

'What the hell is going on?'

Daiki firmly grabs his brother’s hand, ensuring they don't get separated as they enter the bustling crowd. It doesn’t take long for them to find the rest of their family. Though, as they make their way through the crowd, Kenki couldn't help but eavesdrop on the villagers, catching snippets of their conversations with his ears.

"How long has it been since cultivators fought for this village?"

"Out with it you old fart, you were right there when the challenge was declared."

"I heard that the challenger is a woman."

"Maybe you got bashed over the head! I heard that the cultivator isn't even human. One of them cats. Lyraxi, they call themselves. There's a whole continent full of them down south.'

Recognising the owner of the voice, Ken gives the carriage driver, Bjoramu, a complicated look.

'Nevermind him… The cultivator was challenged? What does that even mean? From everyone's behavior it seems to be a normal and expected thing, have all the villagers gathered to watch?'

The duo find their parents close to the edge of a cliff. There's a solid three or four meter distance between the people present so they don't have to worry about being pushed off. Yun is sitting on Isamu's shoulders.

'Hai…I can fancy a guess at who the challenger is.'

"I'm back," Daiki announces to the rest of the family, signaling their return.

Linua turns her attention towards them and offers a warm welcome. She wordlessly reaches out her hand to the younger of the two brothers who gladly takes hold of it.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

As Kenki gazes downward, he observes bare rock formations devoid of any traces of moss or vegetation. A stone quarry, he hazards to guess—as the stone required for the construction of the houses in the village must come from somewhere.

He catches a glimpse of two figures positioned in the middle of the quarry. One of the figures is a man clad in white garments, boasting dark hair and wielding a large vibrant green sword. He's too far for Ken to see any other significant features.

And the other figure…

‘I knew it!’

… is clad completely in black and wielding a bow.

“Oh, I recognize that look in your face Kenki.” Linua says as she squeezes Ken's palm, shifting his attention to her.

“Ehehehe..." Ken awkwardly scratches the back of his head. ”What’s going on? Daiki dragged me here but didn’t explain why, there’s going to be a fight between cultivators?”

She nods her head in affirmation. “Indeed. It’s an Au Raki.”

“Au Raki?”

“Yes, it’s a contest of strength. As I understand it a cultivator can challenge the guardian of a village, becoming its new guardian in the case of a victory and being forever banished from it in the case of a loss… I think.” The woman sighs. “The last Au Raki happened before both me and your father were born so this is a first for us as well.”

‘Oh, I see. And I’m guessing that the winner gets a chunk of the spiritual wheat the village produces.’

“We don’t have to worry?”

“Not at all Kenki, this is a good thing for the village. We are here simply to bear witness to their battle.”

Feeling movement in his peripheral, Ken homes in on one of the two figures– The swordsman. He is walking forwards towards his opponent in a, dare Kenki say it, menacing way. The woman, in contrast, moves away from the man, maintaining a noticeable physical distance between them.

It all happens so fast that the boy nearly misses it. In a blur of motion, the swordsman lunges forward with astonishing speed, launching an attack towards the challenger. The blade cuts through the air, accompanied by a wide surge of dull green energy that slices into the solid stone below and appears to make contact with the woman.

Instead of being struck however, she dissolves into wisps of dark, black smoke, vanishing from sight in a manner that reminds Ken of the replacement Jutsu from Naruto.

A screeching wave of sound crashes into the villagers shortly after the strike.

"My ears!"

"Dear emperor, I didn't see what happened!"

"Did one of them already win!?"

A flurry of chatter spreads amongst the villagers after the disappearance of the hooded figure. Eyes darting around in a search, Ken is one of the first to find her. Suspended in the air, not flying but standing in place. Idly he notes the trails of light coalescing in the palm of her right hand, converging into a single shape and forming an arrow.

She nocks it to her bow and takes aim.

As the arrow is released a high-pitched whistling sound pierces the air, resonating through the surroundings. It is swiftly joined by an onslaught of similar whistling noises as more arrows are launched in rapid succession. Her arm blurs from the speed of her movement, turning almost invisible, the projectiles are let loose one after another so swiftly that their sheer quantity forms white strings in the air.

Ken has to cover his ears to protect them.

'That whistling sound has to be intentional, no way in hell are your attacks so loud on accident. It feels like she's firing a machine gun right next to my head.' He doesn't even need to turn around to know the reaction of those around him. Much like him they’re also scrambling to protect their sensitive ears from the whistling onslaught.

The woman's relentless attack is swiftly countered as the swordsman releases several waves of energy aimed at her. She effortlessly side steps each strike, continuing to fire arrows without pausing.

'She's using the light of the sun to hide herself! It has dimmed a bit but is still bright enough to obscure her. Considering that the arrows aren't flying in a straight line it must be difficult for him to pinpoint her location…'

From that point on, the battle appears to be settled. It continues with a flurry of intense clashes, filled with noise and visual spectacle. However from Kenki's perspective the excitement wanes, turning outright boring at the end. 'She's just… staying out of his effective range and pelting him with arrows. He doesn't have the ability to walk on the air like her so all he has to fight her is that slash of green energy. And then there's that thick cloud of dust forming because of her attacks.'

In a sudden turn of events, a barrage of sword energies erupts from the cloud, numbering between ten and twenty. These projectiles streak through the air, each one now seemingly endowed with a life of its own as they home in on the archer.

Once more, she transforms into a wisp of black smoke the instant before the blades hit her, vanishing from sight. Moments later she reappears near her original location, firing only a few more arrows of light before ceasing her assault.

She stands in place, expectant and observing the scene below her. After a long moment she drops down, finally allowing gravity to do its work.

Ken picks his ear.

"Are you alright Kenki?" His mother asks him.

"Mm, Yeah. It's just that everything was so loud."

"That it was," his father responds, copying his son as he takes a look around. Many of the other spectators are either cursing or have their ears still covered with their hands. The action does little to block the sound produced by the explosions and whistling arrows but it at least made them bearable– especially for the seniors of the village.

It isn't long before the woman resurfaces from the cloud of dust below. Taking a step in the air she leaps up, rising dozens of meters in a moment. Soaring over the villagers gathered around the edge of the cliff, she lands on the empty land behind them.

A heavy thunk resounds all around as she drops the body of her opponent on the ground. He's bloodied and battered, half of his clothing is missing while the rest is in tatters. Several arrows of light stick out of him– arrows that appear to be steadily fading away in the same way that a cube of ice melts in a pot of hot water.

Nobody dares to move or utter a word, feeling the cultivator sweep her gaze over everyone. Ken looks down at his feet when he feels her eyes lock onto him and stay, a pressure settles on his shoulders and starts pushing him down, as if the gravity pull around him had suddenly gotten stronger.

'Just chill, she recognizes you. You did draw a portrait of her after all.'

The rustling of fabric can be heard as the cloak covering the cultivator is dramatically removed and thrown to the side.

"Bear witness, mortals!"

Ken lifts his head, doing his best to keep a straight face as he lays his eyes on the archer cultivator

'Of course... it's a catgirl.'

Behind her a long and thick tail wider than his arm could be seen, on her head a pair of animal ears.

"This one’s name is Zhang Dongmei, inner disciple of the Twilight Blossom sect. Make sure to remember that!"

"I have defeated Ragna Zephyr in honorable Au Raki, following the will of The First Emperor I am now the guardian protector of Northern River's Village"

The gaze of hundreds of eyes follows her as she suddenly begins moving forwards. Men and women instinctively part, making way for her as she progresses through the crowd.

'Wait, she's got her eyes locked on me!?' Ken alarmingly notes, feeling his heart skipping a beat at the realization.

"Boy" she authoritatively points to him, "Pack whatever you have, I want you to be in front of my new residence at first light tomorrow."

"Eh?"

"Am I understood!?" He feels the pressure over him sharply rise, to the point where he feels his knees buckle.

"Yes, I– I'll be there!" He manages to stammer out.

She nods as she lifts the pressure off him, transforming to black smog once more and disappearing from sight for good this time around. Ken falls to his knees, heavily breathing and covered in a cold sweat.

'Holy shit, I thought I was going to die! It felt like that time when Ren grabbed my arm, except it was about ten times worse!' He vaguely feels his mother and father rushing to his aid. After the pressure exerted on him by the cultivator he can barely hear, see or even smell. Only his sense of balance and touch remain somewhat undisturbed.

'...I just draw portraits and harvest crops! What the hell did I do to draw her attention!?'