Kurou's POV
Meanwhile…
I was walking throughout the manor, long since having finished breakfast, so I had decided to do a bit of exploring around the rooms and sections of the place, I was dressed in different clothes Saika left for me as well. They consisted of a black sweater with a white leather jacket with green stripes laced from the top to the ends, sleek black jeans, and a pair of black combat boots. They weren't exactly my style of clothing, but they were stylish enough, so I decided they would do for now.
Wherever I walked, there just seemed to be more and more things, portraits, souvenirs, servants, all kinds of ancient artifacts had laced the walls or stood upon a few pedestals, looks like the old man must've been an adventurer. I chuckled to myself as I remembered my old dreams in my childhood, I had wanted to be an adventurer myself, collect artifacts, learn new things outside of Kumara Village. It was something I Ionged for, however… now Kumara Village was destroyed, it became something I wouldn't be able to come back to, and honestly, that seemed frightening.
The fact that you would no longer be able to see your friends, family, everyone who you ever held dear in your hearts, was vanquished in an instant. That fact would scare and break anyone in my shoes unless you were an orphan, or simply had abandoned your own family long before. Then there was the fact that sooner or later, I would have to explain why the hell I came here in the first place.
I decided not to let this fact overtake me, I would only look suspicious if I kept walking around like a nervous wreck. Suddenly, I saw Daigen and Saika turn a corner toward me in the halls, I smiled, glad to see them show up. Daigen chuckled at me "I see you've finally awoken Kurou, just how are you enjoying my home?" asked Daigen kindly.
I smiled and nodded at him "It's like being in a museum… you definitely were one hell of a collector, old man." I commented, Daigen just laughed heartily, amused by my bewilderment "Well I must admit I was quite the greedy youngster, none of these artifacts were won without consequence however." reminisced the elder man. A person like this… having collected this many weapons in his life, I had a lot to learn from him, I was sure of it. While I was becoming quite the weapon collector myself, there was no way he could see them, especially since they were composed of the souls of demons, just a trace of demonic energy, and I was sure I'd be kicked out, or worse, killed, and getting sent back into the wilderness was not something I was looking forward to.
The old man suddenly turned toward me "Now pardon me Kurou, but while you were staying here, I can't help but feel you're itching for something." said Daigen. I became a bit cautious, I wasn't gonna lie, I had been a bit anxious while here, especially with these damn seals which Saniki still hadn't released yet. However, I was not above lying, so I decided to just come right out with it "Yes you're right Elder Daigen, there is something I wanted to do here," I started.
Daigen nodded, his expression patient and at the same time, extremely intimidating "And that is my boy…?" he asked. I took a deep breath, about to answer before finally, quickly giving a short bow "Please, let me spar against you Elder Daigen! Forgive me if I am being rude, but I feel there is much I can learn from you here, please!" I said in the most respectful and forceful tone I could, hoping he would accept my offer. Daigen had a bit of a bewildered look towards me before suddenly laughing his hearty laugh, patting my back "My boy there's no need to apologize, I would be honored to spar with you." said the old man with apparent gratitude.
Judging by that, I was guessing he hadn't fought a battle for a long time, it made sense, considering the fact that he was so old. Not only that, but he couldn't just go off fighting, especially with the population of an entire village community that needs him. Daigen suddenly looked down the hall, where Saika seemed to had started cleaning "Saika, would you please escort our guest to the Training Pavillion?" asked Daigen.
Saika nodded with a smile and walked toward us, "If you would follow me, Kurou-sama." she said, I blushed hard, looks like I was right about her calling me that last time, and that just made me about as red as her own hair. Saika began to lead me through the halls, all the way until we had made it out of the boundless mansion that was Daigen's home. I was able to see what looked like the Training Pavillion from afar, it was nearly as big as Daigen's own mansion, and it was wooden, however, even from afar, you could tell it wasn't ordinary wood, rather, a very powerful type of wood.
Intricate designs laced the wood, ruby red and sapphire blue jewels laced different parts of the building, making for a very exquisite design, however, even a dimwit would be able to tell those were magic energy crystals. They are used to protect buildings like these in a variety of ways, whether to attack or defend against their intruders, and while I may be no expert on materials, I'm pretty sure those were the common kind.
However, with so many jewels lacing the building, they could easily make for a powerful defense, to use common jewels in such a way as that, I had to admit, Kagura village was very creative. Soon, we had made it inside, and I was shocked to see the weapons held inside the pavilion exceedingly dwarfed what lied in Daigen's home. Just who the hell was Daigen anyway, just from looking around at everything he owned, and even this place, I knew he must've had one hell of a history.
I felt a tap on my shoulder suddenly, only to find Daigen had somehow outpaced us "How did you-?" I started, but he had shushed me before I could ask my question, smirking slyly "A master never reveals his secrets." he said. Then in almost an instant took on an austere,(strict) very fierce expression, effectively scaring the living crap out of me, when did the kind old man I met a day ago become so damn scary? In a flash, he had suddenly appeared by the weapons plastered onto the walls and grabbed one "Choose your weapon, Kurou." he said sternly.
I flinched a bit, but did not disobey and looked through the weapons, there were many kinds there, spears, swords, axes, bows and arrows, nearly any kind I could think of was all there. As I looked through them, one had caught my attention, a purple katana with the design of what looked like a raging rhino on the scabbard of the sword, there was also pitch black etchings on the scabbard.
As for the butt of the hilt, there was none, for it was covered with a horn instead "I see you have found the blade Rhienzan." said Daigen as he walked toward it, looking at it with me. I grabbed the blade, examining it with awe, slightly unsheathing it, the blade was pitch black and had squarical purple markings on it. Just from touching it, I could feel the presence of the previous owner, it's said that even in death, the owner's presence can still be felt on their weapon.
It was as if you were looking into its past, all the battles it has faced, the clashes it has had, the power it's gained, in a way, it was a form of time travel. Daigen chuckled quite a bit as he watched my gaze into the blade "That blade was once owned by one of our most loyal clansmen, and make no mistake, he was very skilled, I pitied the enemies that had been killed by this blade." said Daigen, it made sense to me, who else could've used a sword with this much power? I gave Daigen a short bow as I held out the blade to give it back "Forgive me for wrongly taking it." I said.
Daigen shook his head "No need to be so ashamed my boy, infact, keep it, I'm sure its wielder would be proud for it to be used, than not at all." said Daigen. I gave a surprised look, then looked down at the blade, I would definitely make a note to train with this, and it was also something I would be able to use in place of my soul weapons. I bowed respectfully to Daigen "I'm honored, thank you Chief Daigen." I thanked, truly in gratitude for being bestowed a weapon like this.
Daigen simply nodded, then began to walk to the middle of the pavilion, it seemed he was excited to spar, I could practically see the old man's wide grin even from where I stood currently. I unsheathed the sword, purple electricity bursting from the blade as I did. I was somewhat surprised, this weapon, it was almost as if it was alive, like it had been itching for battle during all the years it was stuck in this pavilion.
However, I stood strong and got into a battle stance, sword held, Daigen smirked "I see you use the stance of the left tower("hidari gedan no kamae" in japanese), a very risky battle stance." commented Daigen. I just smirked at him Well I'm a risk taker, you got to in battle sometimes, old man." I said. Daigen chuckled at me "Indeed." said Karasaki as he entered his battle stance, unsheathing his sword. I looked at the weapon, the sword's hilt was a bright, cyan blue at the hilt, three slightly darker strands of blue cloth were also wrapped around the hilt, the blade itself however, was a very deep midnight blue, and right between it, seemed to be a circular closing.
Whatever kind of weapon that was, one thing was for sure, it isn't normal. My eyes widened as I looked at the stance he had just entered, I knew it too well it was the Uragasumi stance, the same stance old man Kaira used to use. I slightly began to grip harder on the hilt of Rhienzan, if this guy really knew my old man's stance, then I would have to be careful, the stance was a tricky one after all.
I drew back Rhienzan, purple energy bursting wildly around the blade and ran at Daigen, slashing at him, surprisingly he had blocked… with the hilt of the katana. My eyes widened, of all the ways to block a blade, this way was certainly unorthodox. I decided to shrug off my shock, he may have done that once, but that was luck, he couldn't pull that off again, how wrong I was. The second I slashed at him again, he had blocked with the hilt once more, I was completely confused and began to slash more and more at him but now he seemed to be mixing styles, blocking with both his blade and hilt.
Suddenly twirling his own sword around, and stopping when it pointed downward, he sent a very fast, upward slash toward me, I was forced to to duck under the slash, the slash somehow cutting the wall from afar as he did. My eyes widened, not only was he skilled, but had insane power as well, I would have to be careful to avoid any particularly strong slashes. Purple lightning gathered and sparked violently around my body as I lifted my body back up, I sent a very hard slash back at him a purple ark of energy shooting forth from the blade. He sidestepped out of the way of it, the ark smashing into the wall from afar, only for the wall to regenerate.
Looks like I was right about this not being ordinary wood, I grinned and began to slash at Daigen, violet energy surging off Rhienzan with each slash. Daigen slashed right back at me, parrying my strikes with his own, until suddenly slashing at me from the side, forcing me to block near my shoulder and locking me in place. He began sliding his sword right against the blade of Rhienzan and slashed, only for purple lightning from Rhienzan to engulf me and port me out of the way of the slash.
I appeared behind him and charged Rhienzan with immense energy, the energy overflowing from my body as I slashed at Daigen with great ferocity. However, he had blocked me from behind, not even looking at me as he did, I screamed out loudly, letting the energy burst and crackle even more around my body. Out of nowhere, the closing in between the hilt and blade of Daigen's sword suddenly opened, revealing a black eye with a blue slit pupil within it.
Suddenly, dark blue water had risen up around him, knocking me back far and sending me crashing into the wall, that couldn't have been demonic, could it? I examined the dark blue water for a moment, augmenting my eyes for demonic vision I stopped when I realized it was not demonic energy however, it did a good job at fooling me into thinking that with the eye it possessed. The water suddenly began to flow out from the pillar around Daigen, forming aqua spheres around his body, I quickly got up and back into my regular stance, preparing for the attack.
The spheres suddenly shot toward me, I quickly began running, engulfing my sword in purple electricity and slashing at each continuous aqua sphere being sent my way. The energy around me becoming more and more destructive and wild the closer I got, as if the blade couldn't contain its desire to cut its opponent, I was starting to think the blade really was alive.
When I made it close, I slashed at the pillar with all my might, the blade clashing against it for a while before I managed to dispel it with the lightning around my body. My eyes widened as I looked upon Daigen now, who was now covered in a very deep blue full body armor with white reins, and a gigantic jewel in the center of the chest, with an eye similar to the one embedded in his blade. I watched Daigen with fear in my eyes as the cobalt blue aura around him surged violently.
Some of the energy that sparked out from him would destroy different parts of the walls as well "So that's the power of your weapon, I was wondering what was up with that eye." I said as I gave a glare in Daigen's direction. In battle, as hard as it was to believe, glares were normal, however, unlike enemies, glares simply didn't mean much with allies or friends. It was simply showing our resolve, our will of steel, our respect, and acknowledgement for each other as warriors. As for his sword, that had changed greatly, it was no longer a sword, rather, it was now a double spear, gigantic thick blades on each side.
The wrapping of the light blue hilt still there, but now seeming a bit rougher in material. Daigen chuckled at me as I commented on his transformed weapon "I see, well then, you see it now boy, my spirit weapon, Muietsu-Kirijoku." he said. I sweatdropped, not only was he old, but his weapon's name sounded twice as so, and yet somehow, I still felt he was holding back.
If I payed close attention, he was definitely stronger than before, but just the new weapon form itself and the armor were new, "Now then.." he said as he picked up his weapon, which had been rooted into the ground. Daigen had then twirled the spear around at great speeds before he lowered his body and used the exact same battle stance as before, then rushed at me, suddenly vanishing into thin air as he did. My eyes widened and I tried augmenting them to look around, I saw a blur zipping around the area, seemingly bouncing off the walls as if to put me in a daze.
Daigen had then instantly appeared in front of me and slashed, I blocked his strike, however, the gigantic double spear caused a colossal earthquake just on impact. The double sword still managed to cut me right across my shoulder, then again, if I hadn't blocked, I wouldn't have a shoulder, how I'd like to have that ice flame spaulder right now. He proceeded to slash again, the blade cutting across some kind of invisible water as it came at me. I slashed back as purple lightning gathered all around my body, turning my clothes, hair and eyes purple.
A lethal explosion took place from the few minutes we had clashed, an ocean of water splashing everywhere as well, creating a shockwave so strong that even Saika was forced to create a barrier to defend against it. Daigen slashed away at the water in front of him, panting heavily until seeing me rush at him while covered in powerful royal purple energy. He leaped out of the way as I charged at him, I stopped myself into the air, purple energy still crackling around my body fiercely as I did, which was letting me fly in the air in the first place and I dashed at him.
I kept slashing at him as fast as I could, however, he blocked whatever strikes I sent until I finally managed to cut his shoulder as well. I grinned at him "An arm for an arm, Chief Daigen." I joked, despite my grin, he laughed and covered his double spear in water, sending very fast water slashes at me now. I charged even more energy into Rhienzan now and slashed back, we now had gotten to the point that we were parrying each others strikes.
I used a spinning slash on him, knocking him back, then sent a roundhouse kick at him straight after. He grabbed my leg, stopping the kick from connecting and had then began to fly down towards the ocean below us, throwing me right into the ground below it. The water beneath us opening up and only revealing one circular open spot in it, I channeled violet energy to my feet, managing to skid a bit above the ground, albeit crashing into the water, however, I rushed at him once more. We kept sending blow after energy filled blow toward each other, the intensity of the fight keeping the water opening around us wide.
Daigen suddenly stopped himself after one of my blows sent him reeling back and raised a hand in the air, spears of water forming around him, he held his hand back out and the spears all flew right toward me, I held my sword out, energy forming at the tip and I began sending blasts of violet energy at the spears, the blasts destroying them all. The energy around me suddenly began to envelope me, getting so strong that the energy began to resemble flames.
I rushed at him with all I could, the inferno of flames glowing ever more brightly the closer I got to him. Daigen smirked as turquoise blue energy rose around his body, the blades of his sword extending slightly before he finally slashed. Both of us clashed at that point, the clash causing electrified water to splash around and crash into the walls of the pavilion. I could tell that I wasn't the only one breathing heavily after that, so was Daigen, we were both looking at the visages of ourselves in the smoke as we stood, waiting for either one of us to drop.
I smirked, confident enough in my ability to think I would still be standing, Well, sadly, I could be quite the dumbass sometimes. Right as I began to relax my body, blood had suddenly began to spurt forth from my back, , I knew I was now doomed the second I had started this match, I let a bitter grin cross my face, it seemed I wouldn't be able to take my revenge for Kumara village, however, it was a nice thought to think about…