The immense gates of the fortress opened, and the soldiers guided the men inside. It was a truly vast open area. On one side, they could see the stables for the various horses, on the other, an archery range where soldiers practiced shooting at straw dummies, and further ahead was where the weapons were stored. The sound of blacksmiths hammering metal could be heard, forging weapons and armor for the warriors to be trained there. They were gathered just before the first tower of the castle.
-Form a line! - one of the soldiers shouted. All the men then stood side by side. After all the villages they had passed through, at least two thousand men had joined the Urazaki army, just one of the several active armies in the current Crane Clan war.
After a few minutes, Lord Genichiro appeared. The silence was absolute; it was strange because before entering the castle, it had been very noisy. The immense samurai in orange armor stopped, and the messenger Norikiyo went to Genichiro, dismounting his horse and bowing his head.
-Sir. - he said respectfully.
-Norikiyo, my friend. - Genichiro said with a cheerful, incredibly deep voice, but he seemed happy to see a friend. -What have you brought me?-
The messenger stood up, now turning to the lined-up men.
-I have brought the dedicated and proud inhabitants of our beloved country. - Norikiyo said.
-I see a beautiful way of telling me you brought farmers and craftsmen. - Genichiro responded. -But did you bring me any that are truly worth training?-
The messenger approached the line of gathered men.
-All those who have awakened their auras, come here! - he shouted, his voice carrying great strength. Everyone there heard, and after a few seconds, the men crossed through the crowd. Of the two thousand gathered, there were fewer than a hundred, Alexander among them. -Gentlemen, please show your auras.-
In a second, the sound of several small explosions was heard as they all revealed their auras at once. Lord Genichiro began to observe them all, walking slowly in front of them, examining the various red auras. All those who showed their auras revealed them intensely, like volatile flames.
The enormous samurai examined each one, noting slight differences.
-Too light a red, weak. - he said, evaluating the warrior candidates. -Your aura extends too much, little control. - he said again, evaluating the nearly one hundred candidates and not being impressed with any of them until he finally stopped in front of a young man. Turning to him, a young elf with blonde hair, no more than half the height of the immense samurai, Shura.
Genichiro seemed to observe his aura closely, a dark red like blood, but his aura did not extend beyond a few centimeters from his body, though it was as intense as the others there.
-It seems we have at least one worth of training. What's your name, boy?-
Before he could answer, the messenger Norikiyo approached.
-This one seems to be a special case, sir. - said the messenger. -We spoke with the deputy mayor of his village; it was attacked by some demons a while ago, and it seems he killed almost all the demons alone, including an ogre demon.-
This made Lord Genichiro sigh in amazement.
-So you already have experience in killing, that's good. How did you kill the demons?-
Alexander lifted his gaze, looking directly into the samurai's eyes, which startled the soldiers there as much as the messenger.
-I grabbed two hoes and used them as weapons. I killed the first one with a blow to the face and another to the neck. The others were almost the same, one in the face and another in the leg. - Shura responded, his voice carrying respect in every word, but this did not seem to appease the effect of staring into the fortress lord's eyes.
-And how did you kill the ogre? - Genichiro asked, his strong voice seeming annoyed by Alexander's audacity.
-This one was really tough. I almost died several times. It was pure luck; he hit me three times with that huge club, nearly splitting me in half. He hit me so hard that I awakened my aura. - he explained. -When he let his guard down, I grabbed a large rock and struck his ankle. It was ugly; I destroyed it with one blow. He fell, and then I aimed for his head, hitting it more than ten times until he stopped moving.-
-A pretty brutal kill for a novice, admirable. But you're too young to serve in the war, why are you here?-
-I volunteered in place of my father; he was also attacked by the demons, and his leg was broken.-
-A son volunteering in place of his father, very noble, but that's not all. - Genichiro stated. -Why are you here?-
Alexander laughed, making everyone there even more tense.
-I always dreamed of becoming a warrior, of fighting, commanding armies, and achieving victories with the emperor's banner at my back. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to stop being just a farmer; I want to become more than that, I want to become a samurai. - he said, looking deeply into Lord Genichiro's eyes.
The enormous samurai laughed.
-You have iron in your blood, young...-
-Shura, my name is Shura, sir. - he said, bowing his head.
-I see. Then prepare yourself, young Shura. I will train all those who have auras to become good warriors, but you, I will train personally. - he said.
Genichiro then turned, walking to one of the towers and leaving them. One of the soldiers approached.
-Men! Today you will rest, tomorrow your training will begin. - he announced forcefully. -Head to the quarters on the left side of the fortress, those will be your quarters.-
So they did, but those with auras were directed elsewhere, to the second tower of the castle. There they were guided by one of the tower's servants, climbing several stairs, and observing the interior of the immense fortress. The first floor housed the kitchen and other quarters for the servants and workers, the second most of Lord Genichiro's soldiers; it was there they would stay.
They were taken to a large room, big enough to accommodate at least fifty people somewhat comfortably; the rest were taken to another room. There were beds and some wooden chests to store their belongings, though they had brought few on the journey. Alexander lay down on one of the beds, finally resting a bit. Although he wasn't that exhausted, it was better than sleeping on the grass surrounded by insects or on the rocky ground of the mountains. He closed his eyes for a second; if he stayed there any longer, he would surely fall asleep. But perhaps due to his heightened status, his senses were elevated, and he could feel someone close to him, too close. He slowly opened his eyes; a boy was kneeling in front of him in a formal gesture, one of the lads who had accompanied him on the march to Urazaki.
"Can I help you?" Alexander asked, looking like someone who had just woken up.
It was indeed a boy like him, but much thinner and smaller, with very pointed but visibly more curved ears than his. Short brown hair, large green eyes. He wore blue clothes, visibly dirty.
"Is it true that you killed a demon ogre by yourself?" the boy asked with unmatched enthusiasm, a huge smile on his face. Alexander adjusted himself in the bed, sitting up. "Who are you?"
The boy's smile faded, his expression changing as if he had forgotten something incredibly important. He then bowed as if he were in front of a noble.
"I apologize for not introducing myself, sir! My name is Yasuo, I'm from a village near the city of Ishi, sir!" he responded with great respect as if speaking to an officer.
"Look, kid, I don't know why you're doing this, but you don't need to be so formal. What do you want?" Alexander asked, sounding a bit irritated or just tired.
"I just wanted to talk to you. You spoke to Lord Genichiro face to face, and you even looked him in the eyes! Do you know who Lord Genichiro is?"
"The Lord of the Urazaki fortress, a formidable warrior, I know who he is."
"I think you don't know anything, honestly. They call Lord Genichiro 'The Devil's Spear'; he's a true demon in battle. He killed Maeda Yoshinao at the battle of Kucho, Maeda Yoshinao! The devouring wolf!" Yasuo seemed truly amazed just by recounting his deeds. "He is not an ordinary samurai; he is Genichiro Hidesue!"
The soldier who assisted Alexander came to mind, he too wouldn't stop talking about this Genichiro, saying he was three hundred years old. Warriors don't usually have a high life expectancy, but to survive constant battles for three hundred years, he must indeed be a monster.
"He's a spearman, huh? I hope he teaches me to fight with a sword instead of a spear," Shura said, lying back down.
"You are quite demanding, aren't you, kid?" said a man observing them; he was also lying on a bed. His clothes were brown, he had little hair on his head, honestly more on the sides than on top, brown eyes like oak, and his recently shaved beard left the lower part of his face gray.
"Am I?" Shura asked.
"Yes, but I can't blame you. If a legend like Lord Genichiro Hidesue recognized you as his apprentice, it's only a matter of time before you become a bit demanding. But don't let it go to your head; the worst kind of weakling is the arrogant one who thinks he's strong," he articulated, removing a straw from his mouth.
"You seem to have experience with who is strong and who is weak. What's your name, sir?"
"Taigen and you don't need to call me sir, kid, I'm only a hundred and thirty years old," the man said in a calm tone. "You could say I have experience in judging who is stronger or weaker. I was a fisherman, fishing in Ita in the east of Gamiya and going down the river to sell in the capital. And as you know, samurai who don't fight in the war love to duel," he explained, laughing. "Shindo is movement; everyone knows that. I liked to bet at least a little on those official duels that happened. I made a lot of money; to this day, I never lost a bet in that regard. I guess it's a talent."
"Or luck."
Taigen laughed.
"That could be it too. The gods maybe didn't want me to starve, but there's something I learned," his voice now more serious. "The most arrogant are rarely the most powerful, and the weakest always like to flaunt their power. Now, young Shura, do you want to be weak or strong?"
Alexander was quiet for a moment, he looked at the fisherman Taigen, staring deep into his eyes.
"I want to be strong," he replied.
"Then stay humble. The samurai who stand out the most are those of humble origins, but not those who forget them and gorge on riches as if they were born nobles. These lose their way, and their blades rust. But those who remember their roots, embrace them and use them as fuel for their strength, these are the ones who are truly strong, and their blades will never see rust," an impressive speech, it moved Alexander at least a little. But it was true; even in the normal world, those who forget their origins lose their strength, their motivation, their fuel, and those who remember them stand out and grow stronger. Some examples even came to mind, like a certain soccer player from Brazil.
"I'll remember that."
"Well, it looks like we have new dogs," an arrogant voice said from the doorway. Three men, wearing beautiful and shiny clothes made of silk, one wearing a large red coat, another a long yellow coat, and the one in the middle a beautiful dark blue kimono.
Everyone averted their gaze, and a perfumed smell entered the room, but at the same time, it seemed rotten, rotten because all its nobility seemed to be stolen by arrogance.
"Wow, they stink, it smells like a mix of horse shit and rotten fish," one of them laughed, covering his nose.
"Honestly, I don't know why Lord Genichiro insists on these pigs from the sty; they're weak and dirty, they stink of shit, they're not worth his time."
They entered the room; all the men there recoiled, shrunk, looked at the floor, and stepped aside. Three noble boys with clean, shiny, and fragrant clothes made of silk, white smiles on their faces overflowing with the rottenness of their souls, empty gazes that saw those men not as people but as insects in their path.
As they walked among the beds of the men sleeping there, one of them stopped, the one wearing a beautiful and detailed blue kimono, looking at the boy with blond hair and blood-red eyes, Shura.
"So you're the demon slayer who became Lord Genichiro's disciple?" he said, staring into his eyes. His eyes were violet, a thin face, yet demonstrated a certain strength and elegance at the same time. Long hair the color of lime, tied in a bun on top of his head with a gold ribbon. "What's your name, farmer?"
Alexander stood up, a few centimeters taller than him, looking deep into his eyes.
"Shura," he replied, extending his hand. "And yours?"
The nobles accompanying him fell silent, their eyebrows raised as if they had seen a ghost. Alexander noticed this, maybe noticed too much because he didn't react to the punch that hit him in the stomach. He fell to his knees, groaning in pain, then took a kick to the face, falling completely.
"Look at this country boy's audacity. Let me tell you something... Shura," he said with disgust in his voice, kicking Alexander already lying on the ground, one, two, three times right in his stomach. "Here you're not going to be the hero of stories you think you are; you're a farmer, a peasant, and you'll always be a peasant."
He stepped on Alexander's head.
"My name is Ogura Katsushige. My clan is the clan that controls the province of Gamiya, you're from Gamiya, which means I am your master," he said with a proud, arrogant voice. Then he removed his foot from Alexander's head. "You took Lord Genichiro's attention from me, so you're going to suffer, but I won't kill you, I'll torture you until you learn your place."
He said, spitting on him. Then he turned and left the soldiers' quarters.
"I'm going to take a bath; these mangy dogs made me dirty," Ogura announced, and the other noble boys followed him.
After they left, both Yasuo and Taigen went to Shura, trying to help the boy who had been cowardly attacked. Due to his Vitality and Resistance status, it didn't cause much physical damage; it hurt, but the bodily injuries were minimal. But the problem wasn't the body.
I never believed this, thought it was just a thing from movies or stories; this never happened to me... being insulted this way... But this is how things are here, merit is for the strong, because everyone else will judge you by your origins, and here my origins are humble.
Alexander stood up, and only one thing passed through his mind, just one thought.
These guys... I'm going to kill each one of them.