A pale-looking boy with brown eyes, short brown hair, and slight bruises on his face was dressed in a dark dogi uniform stained with blood, dipped a mop into a wooden bucket filled with water. As he mopped, he wore a sad look on his face, seemingly reminiscing past events.
"Kibo… Kibo… Are you okay?" a middle-aged lady with short black hair knocked on a door and called out.
A man looking slightly older than the woman came in.
"He's refused to come out from his room since he heard the news. Don't you think we've been a little too hard on him? Sending him as a shadow recruit when he's barely turned thirteen, dissociating him from his friends and society for a long time doesn't sound so good, right? Maybe we should just let him pursue his dream." She said softly, trying to convince him.
He shook his head in disagreement,
"We're dissociating him for the best. Letting him pursue his dream won't take him or us anywhere. Give us some time alone please."
She left him alone in front of the door. The man spoke with an imposing undertone, "Kibo, it's best you stop hiding from your responsibilities. Sooner or later they'll catch up with you. Open the door let's have a word."
The man pushed the door, slowly opening it to reveal a young brown-haired boy sobbing with his head in-between his knees.
The man sighed, "I heard you have a great interest in arts and would like to pursue this dream despite your prestigious opportunity to be a Shadow Sentōki. I know it's a big price to pay but this price will definitely benefit you and this family. You will meet kings, great noblemen, and even defend the empire from great dangers. Who knows, you might get to be a Sentōki Shirei or the next Supreme Senshi."
At this moment the tone of the man turned soft, "I never wanted to be a royal messenger, being charged to deliver bad news the royal officials couldn't. But I had to… for the family, for us."
The boy wiped his tears away and gave the man an affirming nod.
***
In large hall way with several rooms at the sides with an inscription on every door that translated "The Sentōkis". Huge, well-bodied men wearing black armors and double katana blades in sheaths stuck to their backs constantly patrolled the vicinity.
Ring! Ring! Ring
In no longer than a second, young teenagers, all in dark dogi uniforms with white belts around their waists left each of the rooms. They all ran towards an arena except an average height boy with short curly brown hair busying himself scrubbing a sharp pointed short rod on a wood and another boy slightly taller with straight blonde hair who struggled a bit to put on his dogi uniform.
"Kibo! You've not even put on your dogi yet. The Shadow Sentōkis won't take it lightly if you miss training especially on the first day, remember what they said, at the sound of the bell….all must leave their rooms or face painful repercussions." The blonde-haired boy warned.
Kibo seemed too occupied to give a reply but he said out of the top of his hat, " I'll be there shortly, besides nobody would notice."
Before the blonde-haired boy could give a reply the bell rang again, making him zoom out of the room with his poorly worn dogi.
For a moment, there seemed to be absolute silence within the large hall and rooms, until footsteps were heard again. Kibo was surprised that there was still someone in the hallway but just concluded it was one of the Shadow Sentōkis on patrol.
The footsteps got closer and then stopped. Caught by curiosity, Kibo opened the door a little to check but there was no one there. He opened the door fully but there still wasn't anyone in the hallway. A little perplexed but he still closed the door only to be stunned by a quite terrifying voice, "I assume you're a new recruit, seeing you had the courage to try missing training. Aren't you afraid of what the Shadow Sentōkis could do to you as punishment?"
An imposing figure wore black armor with a sword behind his back. He had dark long hair with a long face and grey weak eyes that seemed dead. Kibo, after recovering from the shock, realized the figure standing before him was a Shadow Sentōki and probably a high-ranked one too. The shock he had suddenly started getting replaced with fear, "A-Am not afraid of the Shadows but I respect them as our defenders and now, my teacher."
The reply he gave quite startled the figure in front of him and then followed by a forced smile. The imposing man continued, "I will shut my eyes assuming you don't know what the punishment is for missing training but when I open them I will completely forget you are a new trainee and assume you fully know the punishment for your actions.…"
Kibo dared not wait for the man to proceed any further, and in a jiffy, he was all dressed in his dogi and out of the room.
"What an interesting figure."
The figure also leaving the room after Kibo, whispered to himself.
He joined the other recruits in the training ground, who all seemed to be waiting for someone's arrival. The training ground was a massive space divided into sections but had a quite spacious field in the middle, where the recruits were standing until two figures arrived at a podium at the forefront of the field. The man with dark long hair came forward as if about to make a speech whilst behind him a tall man with orange spiked hair stood with a look that showed he was uninterested in the current activity.
"My name is Ishiki Sochi, Shirei of the Shadow Sentōkis and person incharge of you first year recruits, He announced in a terrifying tone. His voice resounded through the field, sending shivers down the spine of the recruits, but none dared to show their fear. (NB: Shirei= Captain translated from Japanese)
"You all are recruits of this prestigious faction. The future of the Shadow Sentoki. In the future, the people out there will look out to you as their defenders. You all have no idea how much of an impact our presence has. As you must've heard by now, the things that make us different from the royal guards and military are our inhuman skills. We embrace pain and go through hardships because they make us stronger and more experienced."
While the introduction speech continued, Kibo tried to put a finger on this familiar terrifying voice, and on closer look, he figured it was the strange man that came into his room.
The imposing figure from before was a Sentoki Shirei and Shishō of the first year recruits, although he looked fearful, he also had the face of someone who just recently entered his late twenties. With his dead eyes that showed no emotions, everything added together to make him a mysterious and terrifying personality.
Suddenly, two masked men in the same black armor as their supposed Shishō carried out a huge box. (NB: Shishō = teacher, instructor. Translated from Japanese)
Shirei Ishiki continued, "Inside that box are weapons. You are to choose a sparring partner and fight with them to the fullest while we grade you all. Remember what makes us different is our ability to endure what others can't".
"Wait did he just stay spar with weapons?" A recruit said with a confused look.
Ishiki didn't mind the murmurs and just pointed forward, "You with the curly brown hair pick a weapon and come forward."
Kibo paused and expected some reactions from the others but it seemed their Shishō's eyes were fixated on his expecting him to move forward. Without much hesitation, Kibo stepped forward and picked a weapon.
Although his father was just a royal messenger, he was able to save up funds so Kibo could attend martial arts training and sword practice classes, meaning he had some experience in basic martial arts fighting and swordsmanship.
Though he didn't have an accustomed weapon like most, he decided to go with the katana commonly used by the Shadow Sentōki.
A forced smile enveloped the face of Shirei Ishiki like before as he said, "I have a special spar partner for you, "Rokene!"
Suddenly, a well-built teenager appeared also dressed in dark dogi although he had a blue belt around his waist. Shirei Ishiki added, "Rokene here is going to be your sparring partner, a third-year recruit. Try surviving long enough. Remember, the true virtue of a shadow Sentōki is doing what seems impossible."
In a lower tone, the Shirei whispered to himself, "Let's see if you don't still fear the Shadows after this encounter."