The manner in which the sutori before Kazi fought was truly amazing. Kazi had expected something similar, but the actual combat was even more eye opening. Unlike the scenes of choreographed moves he had initially imagined, inspired by the movies and anime he had seen in his past life, the battle was a little crude and more cruel than he imagined. A single stab to the chest didn't mean someone was dead and out of the fight, most of the attackers went down with several punctures all over their bodies and some with slit throats. Russi seemed to be a more physical combatant unlike Gear, as he would get close to his opponents to deal damage. Gear on the other hand made good use of different techniques to deal with the enemies.
Though Kazi couldn't follow him fully, he could still follow from time to time. It was brutal, but after a few minutes, the number of the enemies had reduced to almost half.
Russi and Gear jumped backwards towards Kazi and Valera to take a breath.
'These two are amazing. One is a close combat fighter, while the other can pass as a mage in an rpg game.' Kazi wondered what the swords were for, a staff or a spear would have been better, since Gear didn't engage in much close quarters. Maybe that was why he used a lot of throwing weapons which he identified to be throwing knives.
'1, 2, 3, 4... Wait, where the last guy? There should be 8 of them.' Kazi was right, but a little late to catch on. Though better than Gear and Russi who had fell for the deception.
Kazi heard a sound coming from the trees directly above him and looked up quickly. Falling from the tree was one of the men who was supposed to be standing opposite them. Kazi saw that the enemy's target was himself and not Valera, so he moved his body immediately to get out of the way.
Though a bit late, he was still able to shift a little bit and push himself off the donkey towards the back when a dagger came thrusting into the donkey's back, causing it to cry out in pain. The moment the dagger touched the donkey, the attacker used it as placement to balance himself and generate enough force to spin his body. His movement was such that while Kazi was still midair and had not yet gone off the donkey completely, he was able to reach him with a powerful kick that sent the little Kazi skipping across the hard ground like stone on water until he met with a sturdy tree that stopped his motion.
Kazi had not even seen himself get hit, not to mention defend himself. When he was finally abruptly stopped in his tracks by the tree, he couldn't keep himself awake long and directly lost consciousness. The hit was powerful such that Kazi lost consciousness and only woke up moments later.
. . .
'What is this? . . . This . . .'
'I... I see.'
"I choose these then."
"Like this, like this, like that..."
"This is the best path. . ."
"There's only one goal."
. . .
"Kid! Kid!..."
"Kazi!!"
"Kid! Wake up!"
Kazi lazily opened his eyes to see three people all over him looking worried. If a stranger were to walk by, they would think that these men were his brothers or uncles because of how they worried.
'At least, don't be so close to my face.' He saw his worried mother crying nonstop tears with little watery mucus running from her nostrils. Though it was because of him, he couldn't bring himself to sympathise with her.
Kazi tried to bring himself up to a sitting position as a soft smile appeared on his face, letting those around him know that he was fine. Seeing as he pushed himself from the ground, his mother couldn't contain herself and hugged him tightly as her tears would not cease.
'Now there's old lady snot on my clothes...' Of course, he wouldn't say this out loud; instead he patted his mother's back lovingly and assured her he was ok. Seeing her son act so strong, Valera couldn't continue acting weak and being consoled by the one she should be consoling, so she drew back and took a moment to clean her face and calm herself.
While she did that, Russi and Gear came closer to Kazi as Gear proceeded to do a little physical check.
"Waw kid, you're one heck of a talent, I'm telling ya." Gear said with a smile across his face.
"Right, there's nothing at all. You should have sustained at the very least a broken bone, maybe a couple rib, since that was where you were hit, but all you have is light bruises, and even those are not much."
Kazi couldn't help but laugh wearingly at the comments. It was true that his bones were stronger than a normal sutori's, this was because of his clan's technique which he had learned. It toughened the body and bones at least 1.5 to 2 times that of what should be normal, so it was very helpful. Also, his rigorous physical training played a vital role too. Anyway, it wasn't as though he could tell them this. Them knowing he was from the Divara clan was ok and would help alleviate their suspicions, if any, so that was what Kazi did.
"Well, I am from the Divara clan after all, and have learnt our clan's bloodline technique." The reason why Kazi used the wording 'technique' and not just saying he had awakened his clan's bloodline was because it was no secret that there was no actual bloodline awakening. Though their bloodline meant improved success practicing the technique, that was all, it wasn't even theirs to begin with.
"I see, makes sense."
"Even then, you're still good." Russi smiled and gave Kazi a head rub, just like one would to young children, only that of course, Kazi wasn't a young child at heart and in mind.
'The humiliations I have to endure... It's ok, I am a patient man.'