Shi came to a while later inside his bedroom. He looked out the window and saw that it was dark out. Shi sprinted down the stairs and made his way out to the ramparts. He looked around the area outside the walls, the field of bodies was still there.
As Shi walked back to the castle, pain shot through his right ankle. Shi used a touch of magic to split his makeshift ankle cast apart, tossing the broken pieces aside. Shi headed towards the small town that was connected to the castle.
After about 30 minutes of searching the town, Shi found an armorer's shop. He knocked on the door before entering. The shop was filled with half-finished armor pieces and rolled up design papers. On the far wall stood a bunch of stands kitted out in full armor, ranging from light leather armor to heavy full plate armor.
Across the room was an older man sleeping in a chair at one of the few open tables in the shop. Shi took a piece of design paper and a pen and spent the next few hours working on a design for an ankle brace at one of the other open tables. He left the heel and the front of his foot out of the brace, then put straps to adjust the tightness.
As Shi put the finishing touches on the design, he heard movement to his left. He looked over to see the man getting up. The man froze when he saw Shi, slowly backing up behind one of the tables.
"Don't worry, I'm just a customer," Shi said, bringing his hands up to show that he wasn't holding any weapons. "What do you want?" The man asked, edging towards the main table. "I need you to make this," Shi said, tossing the ankle brace design on the main table.
The man took a look at the design, then turned back to Shi, some of the suspicion leaving his eyes. "Alright, 1 Koban, and I'll do it." The man said, rolling up the design. Shi snorted, "That's, ridiculous, 3 Nishuban." "Are you joking? That won't even cover the materials to make it! I can drop the price to 7 Nishuban, just for you." The man said.
"5, and I'll turn a blind eye to you using my design for your own benefit." Shi said, turning to walk out before the man could reply "I'll be back in a couple of days with the money, have it done by then."
Shi limped back to the castle then collapsed into his bed, quickly falling asleep. After waking, Shi spent the next couple of days playing with his mana. Shi went to the armorer's shop after a couple of days and got his brace, paying the man as he left.
After putting the brace on, Shi tested out a variety of movements to see how his ankle fared. It functioned, but it wouldn't be able to handle Shi's max speed if he had to plant his foot. Tests complete, Shi headed into the castle to find Seizon.
"You know the drill, get Daisan and Hyousuke to round up the men and have them meet me at the gates," Shi said when he found Seizon, before heading out towards the gates. While he waited, Shi practiced his mana sense, trying to get a clear picture of his surroundings.
After a while, Seizon, Hyousuke, and Daisan appeared with the men in tow. They joined Shi up front and everyone started the march north. As they marched, Shi continued practicing his mana sense, alternating between walking with his eyes open with walking with his eyes closed, sensing the mana within the world around him to avoid obstacles.
After a while, they arrived at a town. Shi and his party stopped at the walls, before Shi started to speak the gates opened. A small group of men stood behind the gates, "We sent someone to get our town's head," one of the men said, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Alright," Shi said, settling in to wait.
After a while, two men came to the gates and bowed to Shi. "What brings you to our city, my lord?" One of the men said, a slight tremble in his voice. "I'm taking the rest of Kyushu, this town is just my first stop," Shi said.
"Our town is in complete support of you my lord." The man said, the tremble becoming more evident. "Good, as a token of your loyalty, would you mind giving us some extra supplies?" Shi asked the man. "Of course, my lord." The man said, some of the fear leaving his voice.
Shi's party left soon after, supplies refreshed. They continued on to the next town, Shi continuing to practice his mana sense. The next town went similarly to the previous one, with them swearing fealty to Shi and resupplying him.
Shi improved on his mana control throughout the march from place to place. Over the next few weeks, they traveled throughout the island of Kyushu, going from town to town to resupply. All of the towns had heard of Shi's resilience against the Eikyo family so none dared to oppose him on his journey.
After multiple weeks of travel, Shi had taken all of Kyushu. Him and his party went to the strip of land connecting Kyushu and the mainland of Japan. As they started the crossing, an army came into view in the distance.
As they approached the army, a man came into view. He was tall, with semi-long white hair and thin glasses over piercing blue eyes. He stepped forwards towards Shi and bowed shallowly. "I am Hikaru Eikyo." He said, staring directly at Shi.