10 YEARS AGO, 10450, SPRING MONTH 2, DAY 1, YEAR 10,450 SAMURAI COUNTRY NAGASUKE.
“Yesterday was quite eventful for you, I don’t think you need to stress yourself.” Truthfully speaking, Hashna Drisnyl Tsuyo-ya was worried because she did not want him to breakdown.
“If I did not need to stress myself I would not be here in the first place.”
The Mistress clicked her tongue and then clapped.
“Okay then, have fun.”
Turning elsewhere, Skrylla Yokuta regarded his sparring partner who spoke to him.
“So, how will we do this?”
It was the 1st day of the 2nd Spring Month, there were clouds up there, but it did not look as though it was going to rain today.
Skrylla Yokuta shrugged then answered.
“We can add 5 percent to what you exhibit at the end of every week.”
Standing before Skrylla Yokuta was Jin who was happy to teach, his Jian was still in its sheath at the small of the back.
Gejiro was staring apathetically at the situation, secretly wanting Jin to pummel Skrylla Yokuta into the ground mercilessly.
Karin looked at the get up and watched her Mistress staring like a hawk, watching her young ones at what was about to transpire.
Sighing, Karin began lay on the ground and faced the sky in her own thoughts.
“Without Ko-jin?”
“Yes, and I am to also not to leave the circle.”
Drawing one around himself, he took his stance.
Jin glanced at the level of seriousness in the boy’s eyes and he smiled in satisfaction.
“Sorry for any harm I might cause.”
“Buddy, he thinks he could harm us.
Hah!”
Gejiro scowled as Jin shrugged before using 1% to lunge forwards.
And maybe if this was Skrylla Yokuta before he had started eating Unawakened Animals for food, he would have faltered after blocking the strike but he stepped in close as he did so and struck at Jin which made the older boy take a step back.
Gejiro’s gaze shifted as he had not expected that.
Yes, Jin had moved back to avoid hitting the boy but this was the first exchange.
So, what just happened?
Jin himself nodded in acknowledgment before setting into his own stance.
“Buddy, you’re the best!”
Using 2% of his strength without Ko-jin, Jin struck the first time and Skrylla Yokuta replied while stepping forward again but Jin did not fall back this time.
Instead, he sidestepped in response as Skrylla Yokuta saw in his heart Translucent Trails – and no longer Flashes Of Inspiration that distracted his vision for a split second – before ducking to suddenly jump and drag a rising slash towards Jin’s face.
Jin though, was curious as to what the boy would do next, so he cut straight down and forced the sharpened wooden blade into the ground, tip first.
But the boy only used that as a spring to twist into an almost perfectly horizontal double kick that was backed by his falling inertia, gravity, thinking and inspiration.
So, while he successfully blocked the first one and had to step back, Skrylla Yokuta used it as a rebound to position himself better and land a second that sent Jin back yet another step.
Yes, he was using only 2% of his strength but he was at least 15 levels above this guy in terms of cultivation!
“Buddy, see, you really did show them.”
Gejiro who was now staring in open shock, finally stood up to join Jin as was supposed to have originally been.
“Buddy, we seem to have scared the sluggard into action.”
Karin giggled and the Mistress laughed uproariously almost like she wanted to outdo Karin as much as to remind Gejiro that she was still observing things.
Black lines crossed his face as he set himself.
Jin silently decided to raise it up to 3% of strength because he knew if he was not too careful, he could literally snap the boy into pieces.
Even 100 would be an understatement of the disparity between them.
“Gejiro tone down your strength.”
Remembering to do just so, Gejiro calmed himself down so as to ignore the boy’s taunts.
“You have a smart mouth, eh?”
“Buddy this one is not just a sluggard but a talkative.”
“Are you avoiding direct speech due to fear?”
“Buddy, this one reminds me of a certain woman.”
Gejiro almost entirely dove forwards and Skrylla Yokuta not only spun on the spot to knock the weapon away from his front, but he also seized the initiative to strike Gejiro’s butt with his wooden sword when his body passed by.
When he wanted to add a strike to the shin though, Gejiro whirled and blocked it.
“Buddy, he is already using 5%, see how strong we are to make the powerful so shameless!”
Even Jin joined the laughter this time as Gejiro pushed forth with a slash that Skrylla Yokuta met and dissipated its force with stepping back, still within his circle.
Jin then moved to capitalize on the backward movement but the boy planted his sword into the ground before jumping in a vertical spin as he carried his sword along, making him flip end on end with the blade.
Gejiro could jump away as he had already struck before but Jin was caught in the midst of it and so he had to block it.
And using the same move as he did on the Kangaroo, Skrylla Yokuta pulled his weapons close to make a smaller target so that he landed 3 strikes.
The first shifted the hasty block, the 2nd made it shake and the 3rd caused the Jian to lower until Jin’s shirt now had a cut on it.
“Enough!” The Mistress seemed fine to leave it in Skrylla Yokuta’s favor as she seemingly enjoyed Gejiro’s frown.
“That was about in incense worth of time.”
“Mistress Of Oniga,” Skrylla Yokuta scowled as he regarded the lady.
“My buddy is not satisfied.”
“You want more?”
“He wants more.”
Hashna Drisnyl Tsuyo-ya was not sure if the boy was mentally stable because of how he related to his sword.
But all this only added to her guilt.
If only she knew that this was how he regarded his sword before she met him.
But how was she to know that?
“Fine, continue!”
Like that, they went on and Skrylla Yokuta ended up with a few marks on his skin, Jin had a few cuts on his clothing and Gejiro with a black eye.
However, that healed up as it was one of the benefits of Ko-jin or Divine Energy.
They had learned a bit too as the Mistress knew that regulating their prowess helped with control and control helped with accuracy.
In the evening too, he practiced with Jin and Karin before his cauldron bath, his Sword strokes, meditation, visualization and breathing techniques.
The week flowed by and Skrylla Yokuta gave them an impression that he was as stable as Mount Tai.
In fact, so far they were not yet thrilled, as in;
“Buddy, let’s have some fun.” What he did next startled them because he began smiling till his lips were stretched and all his teeth showed, and his eyes bulged from excitement.
This only made Gejiro, Jin and Karin shift uncomfortably, but they attacked nonetheless.
Karin opened the spar with a thrust and Skrylla Yokuta ducked under it before springing upwards for a rising slash.
But Gejiro cut its intended path with a downward stroke.
Skrylla Yokuta then ran towards his immediate proximity, kicked off Gejiro’s knee and chest before Karin’s face and finally turning his body to kicking Gejrio’s cheek so that Jin missed a stab.
Finally, he threw out his heel towards Jin’s neck, and hooking it after rebounding off Gejiro’s face, Jin was supposed to fall with him.
Jin, though, threw himself into a back flip so that Skrylla Yokuta had to repeatedly dodge his stabs by swiftly crawling away after landing.
Ending with a roll, he sprang back up to do a 180 in retaliation but Jin was gone from his sights!
As much as her circle allowed, Karin rushed in with a thrust with as much she allowed her might against him but he stood his ground this time and focused all his strength into his hand, aimed at hers’ by throwing 3 strikes focused on her hands.
2 were actually at the front and back of her wrist but the 3rd landed at the hilt of her weapon and knocked her Gladius away from her hands.
Then, allowing Gejiro’s stab to miss, the onrushing shoulder knocked him into Karin’s lungs and took her breath away as he positioned his forced approach by slanting his form to successfully make her trip to her back.
Next, Skrylla Yokuta struck at her reaching hand that intended to grab her weapon, redirected Jin’s Jian to strike at Gejiro and make him step back in a dodge before finally slashing at Karin’s other arm that intended to once more grab her falling Gladius that he then knocked higher into the sky.
Following, he jumped back to avoid Gejiro’s diagonal cut before.
So that Skrylla Yokuta had placed both his feet upon Karin’s knee which stopped her from rising back up before jumping in a vertical spin that kept away Jin and Gejiro’s weapons away…
Barbarically, Skrylla Yokuta cut at her lying figure with reckless abandon although he managed to avoid anything too vital.
That is, until he suddenly ducked and avoided a strike from Jin while positioning his sword to block Gejiro’s Short sword as he grabbed his hand.
And throwing his body back, Gejiro’s once advancing body was then vaulted over himself and now crashing into Jin who was also coming close.
However as this had been done above Karin’s body she had still been incapacitated.
The Mistress began clapping at this point.
Proceeding to pepper Karin with his strikes, she cried out in frustration as he had made sure to return her weapon to the skies once more.
So, Gejiro rushed in to help with a heavy-handed strike that had the potential to behead him, but the Ghost trail made Skrylla Yokuta seem as though he had seen the attack beforehand as he spun to avoid it.
In fact, he followed up by knocking it away before twirling on the spot and rising in such a way that Gejiro’s groin took the brunt of the damage before it clashed with Jin’s Jian that was descending point first.
So, after that attack was blocked Jin threw it to his free hand and struck to which Skrylla Yokuta stopped with his own weapon.
The 3rd strike however, did not land as Skrylla Yokuta’s blade was against his neck.
“ENOUGH!”