Seijuro and Kuroi clash, their blows cancelled out by the equal amount of force. Seijuros face is blank, there was no sign of frustration or anger, his mind was clear.
His movements are flowing better. Well done little brother.
Lisa thinks proudly upon observing his performance for a second time.
"Wrath Of Tatsu." Seijuros sword emits a dark purple aura as he thrusts forward.
In response to this, kuroi deflects it and throws a punch directly to his face. Acting quickly, Seijuro ducks and readjusts his grip,
"Ryu's breath." This time, his sword cuts straight through kurois hip, separating his legs from the upper half of its body.
In an instant, it regenerates and Seijuro charges in to finish the job,
"Wrath of…" Something grabs his leg before he can finish his technique.
Seijuro looks down to see another kuroi, the legs have regenerated to form another one. A sharp pain across his face interrupts his train of thought, the other kuroi had landed a blow across his face, and he is now swiped off his feet.
He quickly rolls back and gets onto his feet,
Two kuroi… I don't know if I can do this… I don't remember Captain Lisa covering this part about kuroi duplicating…
Seijuro cools himself down by taking a deep breath, he decides it would be wiser if he stayed on the defensive and find an opening, rather than simply attacking. The two kuroi charge, Seijuro is pressed back due to the amount of attacks being doubled. He continues to dodge, each blow grazing his skin slightly causing small cuts. To create some distance, Seijuro performs several backflips and lands firmly on his feet,
I'm not going to win on brute strength alone. I'm going to have to out-think them!
Seijuro observes both of them as they begin to lunge closer towards him,
"Azure!" Seijuro slams his sword deep within the ground, forming a barrier around himself. One of the kuroi is knocked back due to coming into contact with the barrier. Seijuro now turns to face the other one, who has slowed down to avoid touching the barrier, letting its guard down.
Seijuro immediately takes his sword out of the floor and dashes forward,
"Wrath of Tatsu!"
I'm about to do it. My sword is going to reach it's heart!
The sword pierces straight through kurois heart, causing the dark purple aura to start radiating off the kurois body and it falls to the floor lifelessly. The other kuroi rises to its feet and charges in again, Seijuro takes another deep breath,
His aura… it's… grey. He's beginning to control himself. This boy… he truly is something.
Frank smiles, the amount of progress Seijuro has made and how he is now learnt to control his own emotions warms his heart immensely.
"Kiyohimes Vengeance."
The dummy slows down and tries to keep with the constant slashes, however it's body is separated into many pieces,
I have to hit its heart before it can regenerate!
"Wrath of Tatsu!" Seijuros sword immediately pierces the heart, the same dark purple aura radiates off the kurois body and it falls to the floor lifeless.
Seijuro looks down on them both, breathing slightly heavy and sheathing his sword behind him, he turns to face the Captains and the Master and bows slightly,
"Well done, Yoshiki Seijuro." Kyousuke begins clapping, which causes the Captains to do so, all except Yuto.
Seijuro glances at Lisa and Frank, smiling warmly and mouthing the words "thank you" towards them,
"Does this mean I have my first mission now?"
"You do, and as Captain Koyama Rose suggested, you will be paired up with Koyama Lily. Osaki Frank will fill you in later in more detail about it. Congratulations on your promotion to dreamcatcher. Do try your best and good luck." Kyousuke smiles warmly before leaving.
Partner? They didn't tell me I would be paired up, but I'm still grateful for getting a second chance. Hopefully this Lily is strong too.
Yuto kisses his teeth and leaves, followed by Koji.
"Not bad kid." Kenji says,
"You showed true commitment and courage boy. I am impressed." Ivan states putting a hand on Seijuros shoulder as he states this, before turning around to leave,
"Young Seijuro, you surprised us all." Frank chuckles a bit,
"Well done Seijuro-san!" Lisa unexpectedly wraps her arms around him tightly and let's go,
"Thank you, both of you, truly. I guess you were right about clearing my mind. It really helped. I felt more fluid in my movements. But I didn't know I would be paired up on my first mission. You guys didn't forget to tell me that, did you?"
"Of course not little brother! The Master has just devised a new plan that's all. It involves the dreamcatchers to be paired up."
"I'll go inform my sister of the news, she'll be waiting by the training grounds tomorrow in the morning. Well done Yoshiki." Rose taps his shoulder and smiles, before leaving.
"Head home, young Seijuro, you've earned the break." Frank smiles.
Kenji forms a portal in front of him, and Seijuro leaves with a smile on his face.
He appears directly at his front door. He lets out a relieving sigh and knocks on the door. He beats quick footsteps approaching the door and it's swings opens. Standing at the doorstep was Seijuros worried mother,
"You're back! I was so worried! It's almost midnight! What were you doing!" Seijuros mother hugs him tightly and begins checking him to see if he's injured, gasping when she sees a mark on his face,
"What happened to your face?!"
"I'm ok mom. I just had a little test that's all." Seijuro's mother frowns at this,
"Do they beat you up as a test? Now let me go get the ice. I'll be right back!"
Seijuro feels slightly happy and his heart feels a bit warm by this remark from his mother. It reminded him of how himself and Ren would come back from playing in the nearby woodland, and their mother would scold them for dirtying their clothes. He unsheathes his sword and looks at Rens toy attached to the grip,
I'm finally going to be on my first mission Ren. Don't worry… everything is falling into place now…
The next morning, Seijuro is back at the fear foundation, and is making his way towards the training grounds. He looks to see a young lady, who seems to be around the same age as him. She had blue eyes, and she was wearing standard training gear, like himself. Her hair was long and black and like Rose, had a flower in her hair, however instead of a rose it was a lily,
Guess that's Captains Rose's sister then.
Seijuro approaches her and she now looks at him with a cold expression,
"You're Seijuro Yoshiki, right?"
"Yeah… you're Lily?"
"Yeah, you don't sound too happy about it."
"No no… it's just I didn't know I would be partnered up that's all."
"Yeah neither did I. If it makes you feel better I ain't too keen on it either." She crosses her arms and looks him up and down,
"So, what's your story?"
"My brother Ren was transformed into a fear by one of the kings. I'm here for vengeance, that's all." Lily scoffs and rolls her eyes,
"You really think you can reach that level? Do you know how many people share that same dream of yours?" Seijuro frowns slightly at her remark,
"I don't care about other people. I'm here for Ren that's all."
"I can already tell you're a stubborn one. You do know the kings surpass even the strength of Captains, right? You can barely beat two kuroi from what I've heard."
"You don't know anything of me." Seijuro clenches his fists slightly,
"Yeah and I don't want to know. You might be my partner, but I'm only doing this for the sake of being promoted out of a dreamcatcher. Let's just make that much clear."
"Let's just find Captain Frank." Seijuro walks past her and towards the main building.
Frank was sitting in his classroom marking some exams when he looks up to see both Seijuro and Lily,
"The new dreamcatchers." Frank now readjusts his wheelchair so he is facing Seijuro and Lilly, whilst grabbing a file from his desk,
"So where's our first mission, Captain Frank?" Lily asks, sounding more polite then when she first spoke to Seijuro,
"You're going to like where it is young Seijuro. Near the outskirts of Lunar Village. There's been an uprising of Boogeymen in that area, you both will clear them out. And before you go, take this." Frank hands them a map of where they need to be and what looks to be a box with a button,
"Install your dark matter within it, then press it, if you come into contact with anything higher than that of a boogeyman. Do not engage with a nightmare or anything higher. This will notify a Captain to your co-ordinates, specifically me and Lisa. The horses are waiting for you outside."
Horses?
Seijuro and Lily both nod and then walk away. Upon exiting, they see Lisa and Rose holding the reins of two horses, one black and the other brown, while smiling brightly at them both,
"Good luck to you both!" Lisa smiles, handing one rein to Seijuro as he begins to gently pet the horses head,
"Look after yourself little sister." Rose taps Lily's head causing her to frown,
"I'm not a baby sister. You don't need to do that." Rose sighs at this remark,
"Of course. Be careful." She hands the rein to Lily, who climbs onto the horses back, she then looks at Seijuro and smiles smugly,
"You do know how to ride a horse, right?"
Seijuro rolls his eyes and smiles smugly back,
"I grew up in a village famous for horses. Of course I do."
In an instant, Lily takes off on her horse, galloping at a near full speed,
"Better take after her, Seijuro-san. Be careful!" Lisa states while smiling warmly.
Seijuro nods and smiles back, before taking off on his own horse following Lilys tracks.