Seijuro makes his way towards the training grounds for the final time, his hands were sore and they had small blisters on them,
Cleaning yesterday wasn't easy at all.
To his surprise, he sees Lily yet again, training before him, however this time, she's trying to perform the speed feat from yesterday,
Does she ever get tired..?
Lily's eyes remain closed, and her face forms a scowl, the vein in her forehead becoming visible, as she grits her teeth. She opens her eyes, only to see she's still in the same position. She lets out a loud groan and stomps the floor with her foot,
Damn it! It just doesn't work! How did that.. that.. clown, Yoshiki get it down so quickly!
"Looks like you're training early." Lily turns her head to look at Seijuro, her eyes glaring into his soul.
His smile slowly fades and he chuckles nervously,
I forgot that I beat her yesterday… looks like it did bother her after all.
Lily ties her hair back into a bun,
"Listen, I don't have time for your crap today. Just train, don't talk." She says sternly,
"Yes ma'am." He salutes jokingly,
"Pathetic." She mumbles to herself, as she crosses her arms,
"Good morning!" Lisa runs over to them smiling widely as usual,
"How are you both feeling!"
"Great, Captain Lisa."
"Can we get on to training now?" Lily continuing to glare.
Lisa nods,
"Looks like someone is excited to train!" She giggles, but Lily lets out a small growl,
"Ok today, we're looking at battle strategy! Sometimes having enough stamina, speed or strength isn't enough! Outsmarting is just as important as having superior physical characteristics. My lieutenant, Tenma-san! Will be the one to guide you."
As Lisa states this, the same man from yesterday appears, wearing the same dark purple haori and sleeveless top. He places one hand on his waist, smiling at them proudly,
"So you're the boy that unleashed the kings? If it wasn't for Captain Lisa, I would have personally asked the Master to decapitate you." Seijuro blinks in confusion,
"Nice to meet you too, Lieutenant Tenma."
"I don't like smug behaviour and it's Mr Tenma to you both. Now! Let's move onto the training!" He suddenly vanishes, leaving a smoke cloud behind,
He sure is fast..
Both begin to walk in the direction of the sparring ground, when Lisa places a hand on Lily's shoulder,
"Sorry Lily-san.. but you haven't been able to perform a Matter Dash yet. So.. you can't progress." Lily let's out a sigh upon hearing this.
She is filled with annoyance, anger, and disappointment in herself and she reluctantly nods her head. Seijuro looks at her, feeling quite bad for Lily, however he turns around and continues advancing.
After reaching the sparring grounds, he sees Tenma lying down on his side, his head resting in one hand and the other placed on his knee,
"Too slow." He stands up and stretches,
"So.. your mage type?"
"Physical." He begins looking Seijuro up and down and pokes his arm,
"You sure?" Feeling slightly insulted, he replies sounding more rude,
"Yes I'm sure. What's yours?"
"Doesn't matter. Now.. to show you an example of utilising battle intellect over pure brawn." Seijuro turns his head, to see 10 kuroi lying under the cherry blossom tree,
"Now take a seat in that small hut over there." Tenma points to the side, and he obeys.
Tenma's hand glows dark purple and he begins tapping each kuroi, the dark matter passing into them, giving them life. He pulls his daggers out from his sides and gets into his stance,
10 kuroi.. me and Lily could barely handle one..
"Each of these Kuori possess high Nightmare Level strength. If outnumbered or the opponent is stronger, using your head may increase your chances of survival. Observe." All the kuroi charge at him,
The markings on the kuroi.. there's more of them..
Tenma suddenly leaps into the air, from his small pouch on the back of his waist, he pulls out two kunais, each of them exploding forming a smoke cloud. He falls into the cloud and Seijuro can only wait for the obstruction to disappear. A sudden gust of wind clears the smoke to reveal Tenma, cleaning his daggers and all the kuroi on the floor,
"Now.. Yoshiki Seijuro.. what did I just do to make things easier for me?"
"You leaped into the air to analyse the battlefield, seeing where each kuroi is placed. You then threw two Kunai in the exact centre of them all, to engulf them all in your smoke cloud. After falling, you knew where all of them were placed, so dispersing them was easy." A small smirk appears on Tenma's face,
"Not bad. Quite smart in fact. Looks like Captain Lisa and Captain Frank taught you well. Now.. let's see how you perform against three low boogeymen level Kuroi. You don't posses smoke kunai. The best thing to do against groups, create a diversion and then strike, similar to how I did. Maybe one of your techniques would be useful here."
"Got it." The kuroi now glow dark purple, and Seijuro unsheathes his blade,
"When you're ready." Seijuro gives Tenma a nod, before the kuroi charge at him,
Diversion, then strike.. I'll have to charge my blade with as much dark matter as I can..
Seijuro brings his sword above his head,
"Wani's Hurricane!" He brings his blade downwards and a flurry of the same strike move in the direction of the kuroi.
They jump into the air to evade his attack, however he closes his eyes and places his left foot backward, and his right foot forward, his body leaning slightly forward as he clutches his blade to his side,
Like water..
Seijuro takes a deep breath and in one quick motion, his sword pierces straight through one of the kuroi's chest, causing the dark matter disperse from it and the dummy to collapse onto the floor,
That's one! I used Matter dash with my eyes open this time!
Seijuro lands firmly on his feet and the other two kuroi do as well. They immediately advance towards him, one throws a roundhouse kick, however Seijuro ducks. He quickly performs a backflip to gain some distance, and readies his blade to his side,
"Ryu's Breath!" The kuroi narrowly evade his strike by moving backwards slightly.
Seijuro quickly readjusts his grip,
"Wrath of Tatsu!" His sword strikes right on the heart of the dummy causing it to fall lifeless on the floor,
He's using each technique in quick succession.. not giving them a chance to even think.. this kid isn't too bad..
A small smirk forms on Tenma's face, as he takes another sip of water,
One left..
Seijuro immediately charges in its direction, knowing the kuroi is still not prepared. In a desperate attempt, it throws a punch at Seijuros jaw, however he ducks and thrusts his sword directly into the heart of it. The final kuroi falls to the ground and Seijuro smiles proudly, not even a drop of sweat formed on his body nor was he even grazed in the battle,
I've gotten stronger.. much stronger..
Tenma claps his hands together,
"Not bad. You got potential. Maybe the master was right about letting you live. Remember, using techniques like that in quick succession is good and all, but make sure to not over do it. I'm sure you're aware of what happens if you run out of dark matter." Seijuro nods confidently and Tenma taps his head quite hard repeatedly,
"Great! Let's check up on your friend, see how she's doing."
"Could I ask something?"
"Go ahead, Yoshiki Seijuro." Tenma takes another sip of water,
"Were you like me once? A dreamcatcher?"
"Yes, I was. Pretty much everyone here was once like you. Don't tell me you thought we just spawned with this strength?" Tenma chuckles which causes Seijuro laugh a bit too,
"Some of us are blessed with talent. Some of us are not. We don't let those things get to our head. Those that are blessed with talent should inspire those who are not to work harder, or those with talent to acknowledge their skill. Likewise, the ones that do work hard, inspire those with talent to do equally the same, to appreciate their gifts and to motivate those who are not so lucky. That way it's a perfect balance of hard work and talent. Each inspiring each other." Seijuro looks down, taking Tenma's wisdom as they walk,
"You're right, thanks Mr Tenma."
"Don't mention it." He takes another sip of water.
After a while, they reach the training grounds to see Lily, still attempting the Matter Dash and Lisa trying to talk to her. From the distance, they can see Lily get up and storm away,
Looks like Lily still hasn't been able to use Matter Dash yet..
Lisa notices Tenma and Seijuro walking towards her and turns to face them, smiling as usual,
"The boy performed well. And he understood most of it quite quickly in fact. He's got potential, Captain Lisa."
"I always knew he did, Tenma-san! Great work!" Tenma nods and looks down at Seijuro, smiling at him,
"See ya around, Seijuro Yoshiki. Hopefully, in a different coloured haori too." Seijuro smiles and nods as Tenma suddenly vanishes from sight,
"Oh! That reminds me! Follow me Seijuro-san!" Captain Lisa runs over to the lockers and grabs something out of it. She was holding a new, green haori,
"Your one is ripped, so I asked for another one for you." Seijuro smiles and takes the haori, taking off his ripped one, and putting the new haori on,
"Thanks, Captain Lisa."
"I'll give Lily-san her one later. You should.. go check if she's alright, then come back to training."
"Sure thing."
Seijuro leaves with a bright smile on his face,
A new haori.. and I performed great today..
Seijuro unsheathes his blade, he gently caresses the Ren's toy at the bottom of the grip, before sheathing it again,
Don't worry Ren.. soon.. I'll be strong enough to face them..