Feeling the strike of the kengiri pass through his body, Azi felt his insides churning and a stinging pain in his arms as they began to bleed his red blood onto the ground. A sudden, but light, impact was felt on the backside of his head and soon darkness overcame his vision as he swore he heard a voice call to him. In this moment, memories of his hellish experience in that black void filled his mind as the darkness had surrounded him again. He braced for the pain and soon enough it came in waves. Again, Azi felt nightmarish pain and he screamed and cursed at the situation he was in. He then remembered how he had once dulled the pain, so he tried to control his senses. While his attempt to focus his senses only caused him to experience more pain, he endured and strained himself to focus. Feeling as if his mind was splitting in two, he continued to try to maintain his sanity. He couldn’t let his mind break, if it did then he would not be able to return.“Return? Return where? SHIT
Feeling a soft sensation writhing in her arms, Shizu awoke from her sleep as her eyes began to open. Looking around, she could tell that she was in her tent but she was startled by the sight of Azi's drooling face nestled into her chest. While she would usually pulverize any man that would try to be so intimate with her, she remembered that she took up Azi's offer to hug him to sleep. Looking closer at him, she felt like his face seemed a bit cute as his smiling face seemed so at ease and at peace. Deciding to indulge in Azi's antics, she began petting Azi's head and ran her fingers through his disheveled black hair. ‘His hair is so soft and he feels so warm. Maybe I should keep him as a pet in my personal guard. I’m sure the girl would love to pet him as well’ Letting that joking thought stew, her mind clicked and an idea came to mind. She knew of her father’s recent activities of recruiting or hiring vagabonds and orphans to bolster the nation’s workforce with new blood. She al
After sending her soldiers to rest in the village barracks, Shizu made her way to the village chief's house and began to look for her father. After being told by a servant of the house that Ozen was in the study, she rushed over to see him. While Yashimu was supposed to be in charge of giving the final report, Shizu wanted to give the report so she could make a request of her father. Opening the door to the study, Shizu saw that her father was sitting at a table as he was going through and reading reports. Her mind went back to remembering Azi's comment about kings sitting on their thrones as other people did the work in the field. She didn't want to admit it at the time, but Azi was right. During Ozen's initial appointment as King of Kujyuri, he was an outgoing man who fought wild monsters to reclaim land for their nation in the years before his next appointment as a Great General. With his accomplishments he was given the alias of Land Reclaimer by the people. Ozen was also loved
After Shizu concluded her discussion with her father, she began packing her bags as she was going to move into Kajima’s house to monitor Azi. While packing, she thought of a training schedule for Azi, but realized something important. ‘How am I going to convince him?’ Initially, she proudly thought that Azi would take her up on her offer to be her apprentice, but remembered that her standing with him was not even close to the level of friends. As she began to realize that she might have not thought this through she shook her head to dispel the negative thoughts. ‘No, even if he doesn't accept. I can test him with my trials. Wait!’ After tightening the string on her bag, she made another realization. She remembered Ozen saying that she had to win Azi’s heart and thought back to the times she courted a man. But all she got was a blank which left her somewhat flustered. She had no experience when it came to charming men or even getting intimate with a person of the opposite sex. Be
-1 Hour Later- Sitting at the dining table of Kajima's dining room. Two contrasting figures could be seen waiting for Kajima to arrive with breakfast. On one side was a young man whose head was laid in his arms while on the table, his eyes looked as if he just had his soul repeatedly ripped from him and then forcibly shoved back into himself. His face was also red and he felt an odd glee in his heart which made him slightly blush. On the other side was a young woman who was laughing hysterically at the sight of the young man's state. The young man was Azi and after being both “rewarded” and punished by the young woman, better known as Shizu. He felt that he should try to stay away from her, or else he might lose his life or common modesty in the future. When Kajima approached, Azi lifted his head from the table and saw that he had set out a spread of food with the accompanying tableware. "Glad to see you are still alive Azi. How was it?" Recollecting from Kajima’s question, A
Kajima was surprised by Shizu's declaration of suggesting Azi into becoming her potential fiancé. The last 4 who Shizu gave a chance had failed to even pass her standards, let alone her first trial. When the 4 attempted to show how "worthy" they were, each of the 4 men pestered Shizu until she allowed them to take the first trial even though she told them that they were not ready. But their persistence was truly admirable but was short lived. The 4 potential candidates were able to get Shizu to begrudgingly allow them to attempt the first trial. Originally, Shizu would keep the details of the trials a secret, but wanted to get it over with quickly so she revealed what the first trial was. Hearing that they only needed to survive a strike from her and to then land a flow up strike, each fiance believed they could succeed as they were experienced fighters. But things didn't turn out well. The 1st candidate had his arm broken by Shizu's first umbrella strike and he surrendered after no
Starting his first lesson, Kajima held a gengiri carapace and was conversing with Azi about the different uses of a carapace. Kajima showed Azi some armor pieces made from multiple gengiri carapaces weaved together into a scale mail pattern. The pattern was unique as each piece of gengiri carapace were like smooth scales with edges that were sanded down to fit together in a perfect alignment which made it seem as if there were no gaps between the pieces. Azi could see how much attention to detail Kajima gave in his work since it seemed that not even a piece of sand could get in between the carapace pieces. Hefting the armor onto himself, Azi was surprised by how the chainmail-like armor felt only somewhat heavy. It was on the much larger sides as his stature was smaller than the average person in Yamato, but even with the added weight he felt he could run comfortably in it. As he was taking it off, Kajima rummaged for a few more books and answered Azi. "Gengiri carapaces are lighter
After setting the table with food and drink, Azi was about to take a seat but before he did Shizu pulled out a chair for him. Accepting her gesture, with a bit of hesitation as he was still somewhat scared of her, he sat in the chair and was pushed in by Shizu. She then pulled up a seat next to him and began to pour herself a cup of sake. While Azi wanted to tell Shizu that she should not drink in the middle of the day, he remembered how Shizu had a silver seal and he imagined her childishly commanding him to let her drink in peace. ‘Is she really a knight?’ Is what he thought as he witnessed Shizu drink so casually and in such a lackadaisical manner. Shrugging off this thought, Azi sighed in exasperation and grabbed a meat skewer. He began nibbling on it and savored each bite as he could taste the heavy and robust taste of the meat’s fat spread across his tongue. An uncontrollable smile formed on his lips but was soon broken as Shizu had offered a cup of sake to him to wash down th