Aland stopped the car in a small gravel cutout in the grass. He shut off the car and got out, Kazumi followed in suit. Aland walked over to the back of the truck and lifted his sword out of the bed. Kazumi got a much closer look at it now, it was much larger up close, he could also make out small engravements on its side.
"So what are we doing here?" Kazumi asked.
"Well first we got to get you a room," Aland replied lightly, "Then we'll get you some gear and start your training."
"My training?" Kazumi replied, startled, "Woah Woah what exactly is this place?"
"This is the Soleil-Khonsu Academy of enlightenment." Aland answered, "But for simplicities sake, everyone who lives here just calls it the sanctuary."
"Everyone?" Replied Kazumi, confused.
"Well before we get to that," Aland continued, "Let's get you set up with a room and gear."
Before Kazumi could say anything, Aland had already started walking up the path towards the center building. Kazumi jogged to catch up, glancing around as he was still infatuated with the scenery. The path up was lined with flowers and torch sticks that rose well above his head.
The tower they approached was massive, seemingly designed after old Japanese architecture; Kazumi could recognize it from his time visiting his grandparents. They opened the large front doors to a lobby with a moderately sized, what appeared to be, reception desk. Kazumi looked around and peaked over to a room, which appeared to be a ballroom, and walked towards it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Aland talking to the woman who was at the desk. He looked back into the ballroom and stared at the beautiful design on the floor. It was a pattern of stars all seemingly so meticulously placed to form such an abstract but at the same time uniform pattern; and at the center of it all was the sun surrounded by the phases of the moon.
"Hey, Kazumi!" He heard Aland calling for him. "I got a room for you lets go get you settled in."
Kazumi looked back over his shoulder and nodded. He took one last look back at the floor then turned and walked over to the giant spiral staircase leading up to what he assumed was the housing floor. Aland led him up the staircase to the fifth floor. They turned and walked down the hallway. Aland stopped and opened the door to a room to their left.
"This will be your room." Aland said cheerfully.
Kazumi stared in confusion, "Do all the rooms have bunk beds or should I be expecting visitors?"
"Well, there's actually already someone living in this room," Replied Aland, "He's one of my top students so I figured putting you two together will be good to help you grow, plus he's only a year older than you." He finished.
Kazumi stepped into the room, it had a nice view of the hills all the way out to the horizon. Kazumi walked over to the desk and saw a photo in a small frame. The girl in the photo was beautiful, with curly, dark brown hair, tied back into a bun, she had bright green eyes and a contagious smile. Kazumi walked over to the window and breathed in the fresh mountain air.
"No complaints from me," He chuckled, "So when do I get to meet my roommate?"
"He should be back within a day or so," Aland answered, "Had him go on a patrol with a few other students to clear the area. Would you rather stay here or go get your gear picked out?" He asked.
"Well seeing as my curiosity has been peaked for a while," Kazumi started, "I want to know exactly what you mean by gear."
"Well then, shall we?" Aland chuckled.
The two walked down the stairs back to the lobby. They walked out of the building and back towards the courtyard. Aland stopped and took a right up a smaller path. They walked towards a short but wide, T-shaped, building. Aland opened the door and immediately in front of them was a long room that resembled a tailoring shop.
"Kazumi, over here," He heard Aland beckoning him off to the left. "First we'll get you a weapon of your own."
Kazumi walked over and stood next to Aland, before him was a wall of every bladed weapon imaginable. He looked back and saw larger blunt weapons displayed on the wall, and to his left, miscellaneous melee weapons.
Aland looked down to Kazumi, "So, take your pick."
Kazumi looked at Aland with intrigue, "Any?" He asked giddily.
Aland grinned and nodded. Kazumi looked around the display for something to catch his eye, granted, everything here was. He grabbed one of the short-swords off of the display and weighed it in his hand. He raised it over his head then mockingly slashed down, then placed it back. He went through, sizing on a handful of weapons, as Aland looked on.
Finally, he landed on an oddly crafted chokuto. It was long for a chokuto but balanced nicely. The blade was double-edged, with the outward edge being tapered, the inside edge however, was straight. The hilt had a tapered end and curved out slightly. Kazumi waved it around a few times and grinned, he liked the way it felt in his hand.
"So when do we start my training?" Kazumi asked.
"As soon as that roommate of yours gets back." Aland said, chuckling at Kazumi's enthusiasm.
Kazumi looked at the blade a little longer and noticed some engravements on the side. He looked closely and tried to read the writing but couldn't. He turned to ask Aland what it said when his heartbeat filled his ears once more. He turned his ear towards the doorway and could hear the faint sound of shouting. He shut his eyes hoping to hear more and heard an unsettlingly familiar sound. He knew the one back home was dead, meaning there must be more. He opened his eyes and turned towards the door, the shouting was clear in his hearing now. He looked back but Aland couldn't seem to hear it. He gritted his teeth and dashed for the door, he knew it was reckless but he didn't want to waste any time.
Aland looked up just as Kazumi barreled out the door. Kazumi ran down the path but slid to a halt and looked to his left and saw the opening in the trees leading to another section of the academy. The yelling was coming from that direction. He cut up across the grass, sprinting as hard as he could towards the noise. His feet slammed across the grass, kicking up dirt. Aland stood at the base of the hill, staring at Kazumi, he turned and ran to the housing building to get his sword.
Kazumi cleared the opening in the tree-line to see what must have been the official public entrance to the academy. He looked straight ahead and saw a tall, fit boy with black hair opening the large wooden gate. A shorter girl, with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, called out through the opening gate. Kazumi ran for the gate.
"What's going on?" Kazumi asked, sliding to a stop at the gate.
"Scorned," The boy replied, "they overwhelmed Shin's squad and they had to bail on the mission. I've never seen them follow us back to the sanctuary like this before, usually they carry on with whatever they were doing."
The girl turned and stared puzzlingly at Kazumi, "And who the hell are you?"
"Kazumi Ehrling," He replied, "Aland brought me here this morning. Now if you don't mind I'd like to be of some help if I can."
"Holy shit you're the reason he went out of his way to Boston?" The boy exclaimed.
A loud crash came from the woods and the three of them looked out past the gate.
About a hundred yards out the conflict ensued. Shin tailed his squad as they rushed to make it back to the sanctuary. Shin was a tall lean guy, with messy black hair that was white on the ends. He had a narrow face with nearly black eyes, and he had a cold, calculated look about himself. He darted between the trees, throwing down small spikes with engravings on them. They came in pairs attached to wires, creating a perimeter as he laid them.
*KWOOSH*
One of the pairs exploded into fire behind him. He grimaced as he knew the gap between him and the scorned was closing, and fast.
"ELIA, CAMRON," He shouted, "GET TO THE GATE I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"
He pulled two daggers out from their sheaths. They had two ends to them, the top longer than the base; but were balanced perfectly, with the base built denser than the top. He stopped himself, digging his heel into the dirt. He glanced around as he heard the crashing of branches in all directions. He saw the movement of one of the scorned in his peripheral vision. He tilted his head slowly to get a better view. It was slender, moving on all fours with a whip-like tail. It leaped onto the tree behind him and perched there for a moment, seething as it stared Shin down. It bared its teeth and arched its spiny back, raising its bone-tipped tail.
It dove at Shin, he darted out of the way as it buried its claws and tail into where he once stood. Shin steadied himself and readied for the scorned to attack. It snapped its long slender head in his direction and growled. Shin flipped his daggers around and dug his feet into the dirt. It jumped to his left and swag at him with its razor-sharp tail. He deflected the first strike and ducked as it swung back around to hit him. The Scorned pelted him with whips from its tail, he blocked and dodged each and every one of them. His movements were sharp and precise, he could read its attacks now. He ducked one of the swings from its tail and slashed up, cutting its tail and almost dismembering it entirely. The Scorned screeched in pain and leaped back. It bared its teeth and leaned back.
Shin steadied his breath and planted one of his feet behind him. He tightened his grip on his daggers and narrowed his vision onto the Scorned's movement. He could see and hear the slightest shifts in its movement as it readied to strike. The edge of his daggers began to glow a vibrant orange-yellow color. The scorned let loose a vicious scream as it dove at Shin.
Shin bent over backward, narrowly missing being struck by its claws. He brought his daggers up and in one swift motion, dragged both of them along the stomach of the creature, cleaving it wide open.
The scorned screamed as it went sailing through the air, slamming into a nearby tree. It lay motionless on the ground and Shin breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to run for the gate...
*WHAM*
He felt the shock ripple through his body as he was sent flying through the trees. He slid across the ground for a few more feet before finally coming to rest. He lay there, stunned, his whole body was tingling and he could barely move. He heard the Scorned that had struck him cry out a deep demonic roar. He turned his head to see it rushing him. It had massive tusks on a thick stubby head. Its arms were like that of a gorilla with large meaty hands. Its legs were thick with feet like an elephant.
Kazumi looked over into the woods after waving Elia and Camron into the sanctuary. He saw Shin lying helplessly as the Scorned grew closer. He knew it would gore Shin if he didn't do something, and fast.
Kazumi darted out into the woods picking up speed quickly as he ran to reach Shin before the Scorned did. He gripped his sword with two hands, he didn't know how he was going to stop that behemoth, but he knew he had to. He was almost to Shin but so was the Scorned, it huffed and bellowed as it lowered its tusks to the ground.
Shin looked and saw Kazumi running for him, "Get the hell out of here!" He ordered, breathlessly.
Kazumi shut out Shin's request and brought his sword over his shoulder. It began to glow a bright white as it was enveloped in a white haze. He slid to a stop over Shin just as the Scorned reached him. As the two crossed one another Kazumi swung his sword, cleaving through the Scorned; sending its head flying. Its body slammed limply into the ground. Kazumi stood there panting, his whole body felt shaky and weak. Shin stared in amazement at Kazumi.
Kazumi turned and outstretched his hand to help Shin stand. Shin got up, still in disbelief at the performance Kazumi had just given.
"Well good to meet ya," Kazumi chuckled aridly.
"Believe me," Shin replied, "The pleasure is all mine." He outstretched his hand to shake Kazumi's, "Shin Saito, I'm the class captain."
Kazumi replied in a grin, "Kazumi Ehrling."
The woods rustled behind them, the two of them turned sharply to look for what had made the noise. They saw the Scorned that Shin had previously incapacitated beginning to get back onto its feet, the wound now fully healed. Shin's eyes widened as he saw two more Scorned approaching from deeper in the forest.
"How good are you with that sword?" He asked nervously.
Kazumi stood back to back with Shin, positioning himself as they became surrounded, "Not good enough." He replied.
"Can you use that ability regularly?" Shin asked.
"I don't even know what it is," Kazumi chuckled gravely, "It just kind of happens. I doubt I'll be able to use it again any time soon, sure as hell won't be able to save our asses with it."
The two gritted their teeth and prepared to be attacked. The lanky Scorned lunged at Kazumi and he blocked its claws with his sword, it was all he knew he could do. He ducked as Shin swung around from behind him and slashed at the scorned, but it was no good. His dagger deflected off of it's head as it hissed in irritation. Kazumi thrusted forward with his sword into its stomach. The sword was stronger than the daggers and broke through the surface of its gut, however only a few inches through. Kazumi planted himself and kicked back at the scorned and it fell backwards, growling.
The two repositioned themselves as the other Scorned from the woods approached.
"Run for the gate," Shin said rigidly, "I'll keep them off your tail, at least one of us will make it back."
"Like hell," Kazumi replied, "I came out here to help and that's what I'm gonna do. I didn't save you back there just for you to get ripped apart out here saving my ass."
Shin answered sharply, "We can't beat these things, they'll rip us both to shreds if we try. I doubt Aland would be too happy with me being the reason you end up dead."
They had no more time to argue as the three scorned now towered over them, with the one Kazumi had decapitated slowly beginning to regenerate. The two stood their ground and Shin reached for something from his belt.
"That one is about to become and incredibly big problem." Kazumi pointed to the soon-to-be recovered Scorned.
"Yea well I have a temporary solution to these three that might give us a shot at getting away, but it's a slim one." Replied Shin. "On my que, run."
Kazumi nodded and shifted his footing. Shin pulled out a set of the napalm trip spikes from his belt. He let go of one of the spikes and it hung from his hand, waving lightly. The Scorned approached them, the three of them growling and gnashing their teeth.
Without a word Shin threw the trip spikes at the middle scorned and whipped his dagger in tandem. The wire wrapped around its neck as the dagger imbedded itself into its throat, splitting the wire.
*KWOOSH*
The spiked exploded into fire and Shin and Kazumi were tossed back. They rolled and got to their feet and began to run. The screeches of the Scorned split the air, as they writhed in pain. The two that stood to either side of the middle one began to run for the boys as the body of the third dropped to the ground and burnt away.
"What the hell are those?!" Kazumi puffed as he sprinted.
"I'll tell you later just try to get to the gate!" Shin replied.
The Scorned began to quickly close the gap between them and the two boys. Shin looked back, knowing they wouldn't make it in time. Shin took his last dagger by the tip and whipped it at the Scorned that pursued Kazumi. It struck it in the face, causing it to stager. The lanky scorned was almost on top of him now, he felt around for something he could use to defend himself but he had nothing. Kazumi looked back in desperation as he saw the Scorned almost to Shin.
Aland leapt from the top of the gate, slamming down on top of the scorned that pursued Shin. His sword plunged deep into its back, igniting its skin. He kicked it up and back into the woods, raising his sword like he had done before, and blasting it with the bright fiery attack he had previously used. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as the Scorned that had been pursuing Kazumi now lunged at him. He cleaved it in half with a single swing, then leapt into the air slicing it to pieces. He trusted his arms outwards, creating a gust of hot wind, blasting the chunks of the Scorned through the air as they burnt up.
He landed lightly on his feet and looked at the two boys, "Are the both of you ok?" He asked.
"We're fine sir," Shin answered, "but there's still one more, and it's adapted to Kazumi's ability." He continued.
Aland looked over silently at the Scorned that now stood menacingly, staring them down. Aland raised his sword over his shoulder, planting his back foot. The entire sword began to glow like hot metal. The Scorned bellowed and began to charge, Aland held his ground.
He shifted his foot and exploded forward faster than either of the boys could see. He cleaved the scorned in half and it erupted into a fiery cloud as the cut exploded.
Shin stared in amazement as he had never seen Aland use such power before. Aland walked back over to the boys and waved for them to return back inside the gate. They all breathed a sigh of relief as the gates shut behind them.
"Well," Aland began, "Life or death situation out of the way, let's introduce everyone." He pointed to the boy who had opened the gate, "This is Michael, he's the head gate attendant and an old student of mine." He turned to the short blonde girl, "And this is Maria, our armory attendant."
"Glad we can properly meet." She said with a smile.
Aland turned to Elia and Camron, "This is Elia and Camron, two of our patrol members."
Camron was around Kazumi's height with a square face and short brown hair. He grinned at Kazumi, "Thanks for saving our captains ass out there." He laughed.
Elia outstretched her hand to shake Kazumi's. Her hair was the same golden color as Maria's but much shorter, she had a round face with a small nose. "Nice to meet ya', I'm Maria's older sister." She said.
"So should we get to training-" Kazumi began to say, when suddenly his body seized up, he felt like a blade had just cut through his neck.
Kazumi ducked and jumped to his left just as a long blade swept the air where he had once stood. He looked up startled at the man standing over him, smiling.
"So he really does have quite the potential doesn't he." The man said.
His voice was soft and low, he looked much younger than Aland but spoke with the same level of wisdom in his voice. He had long black hair with streaks of grey that hung past his shoulders. His face was cleanly shaven, and much more slender looking than Aland's. He had dark skin that was clear but seemed worn.
The man put his odachi back into it's long sheath, then reached out to help Kazumi up. "My name is Naeem Khonsu, I am the other instructor of this academy." He said politely. "Now, you said something about training?"
Kazumi grinned and took Naeem's hand, hoisting himself up. Aland and Naeem began walking towards the courtyards. Naeem looked back at Kazumi, now talking with Shin, Elia, and Camron. He grinned at Aland and nodded.
Kazumi and the three others talked about training as they walked behind the two instructors, laughing along the way. Kazumi knew this was his new life, and he would soon call this place, Home.