As Touma launched his flare, Azi exited Shizu’s tent. He had been sleeping for the past few hours and he felt a bit better. After being awake for 5 days straight, Azi's mental exhaustion was peeking. Ironically, due to his experience in the black void he was able to adapt to the uncomfortable feeling of sluggishness that persisted in his body by dulling some of his pain receptors unconsciously. Azi had no idea that he was doing this as the black void still seemed like a lucid dream to him. Seeing Shizu at the center bonfire of the camp site now turned small fortress, he approached her. Shizu noticed that Azi was awake and asked as he approached with a still sleepy expression. "Morning Azi, or more like good night, how is your body? Are you ok?" "*Yawn* Still a bit sluggish but my stamina and magic energy are both restored by about half. What happened while I was asleep and what's with the stone walls?" Shizu explained to Azi about the cursed bait and the current situation they n
"Lady Rulu, we should soon be arriving soon to the source of the distress flare." Said Nosuri who then turned to her brother to ask him a question. "Ougi! Can you see any sign of them in this storm?" With a spyglass in hand, Ougi bounded up out of an open carriage window and was now atop the carriage's roof. Ougi swept his sight across the expanse of snowy plains and noticed an unusual sight in the distance. "No Sister, but I see some stone walls. They must be man made as they aren't natural. We must be in the right place. I suggest we head for the wall and follow along its perimeter." The pair of mercenaries, Ougi and Nosuri, were skilled fighters but also trained scouts from their father who took up hunting as a pastime when his children were in their youth. Nosuri and Ougi were no strangers to navigating in heavy weather, so using what they learned as children they slowed the pace of the caravan to ensure that they did not deviate off course to their intended destination. Yash
After Shizu and her squad of 5 mounted soldiers were able to successfully eliminate the remaining monsters that trailed them, they retreated with Rulu, Nosuri, Ougi, and the survivors of the caravan's vanguard. They still had gengiri on their tail but since gengiri were considerably slower than Kengiri, Shizu's group did not have to worry about being attacked from behind. Azi on the other hand, moved to the destroyed caravan's rearguard. Luckily Yashimu and his four brothers were holding their own, but the soldiers were less fortunate. 5 kengiri had appeared from the snowstorm and made quick work of the 10 rearguard soldiers. Yashimu and his 4 brothers were quite skilled and worked well together so they were able to hold out. Unfortunately, team work could not overcome the ever increasing number of gengiri, so Azi had to act quickly and looked at the white scaled gloves on his hand. Coming up with a quick idea, he dashed to Yashimu's side to tell him his plan. "Yashimu, I am dete
Hearing Shizu’s concerned tone to retreat, Azi turned around and began running to the fort’s wall. He had expended much of his magic energy and was unable muster another infusion into his legs as he had not fully recovered. As he attempted to run, he also felt sluggish as his body was still fatigued but knowing that the situation was dire Azi attempted to infuse any amount of fire elemental energy just one more time into his legs so that he could make a long jump to the wall. When he was 10 meters away from the wall, a bout of dizziness and a heat began to overtake his senses. He fell forward into the snow on all four. He felt sick and when he felt his forehead with the back of his hand, he could tell that he had a fever. Azi cursed in his mind at the luck he had. 'Damnit, not now. Just a few more meters.' He attempted to crawl the rest of the way but the feeling in his body was getting faint. The fur coat he wore helped to insulate him from the snowstorm, but his lack of magic
While Shizu and Kajima lead the expedition party in repelling the incoming attack. Rulu, Yashimu, and Touma were bringing Azi to Shizu's personal tent. Along the way Rulu requested that Nosuri and Ougi bring water, clean towels, and what medicinal herbs they could find in the camp. As they entered, Touma and Yashimu set Azi down onto Shizu's cot. Azi was still shivering but his body was warm and sweated an incredible amount of moisture from every pore on his body. This reminded Rulu of the time she saw her mother ill in bed. She was only a child at the time, but she remembered the helplessness she felt that day. She was a different person now. She could do something. She! Could help this person. With a compassionate tone, Rulu commanded. "Touma, if you have any magic energy left, I need you to cast detection magic on the boy. I need you to monitor his pulse and examine his magic channels." "Understood." Touma gathered white motes of light into his hand, which then began to sprea
Chapter 57 Behind the Darkness In a secret chamber in Kujyuri's capital, numerous young men were sitting around a round table. These men were some of the ordained knights of Kujyuri who took part in Ozen's council. While the men here did not make up the entire council, they made up a good majority of it. A heavy atmosphere permeated the chamber as everyone had grim expressions on their faces. One of those faces was council member Jerome who was in opposition to Ozen. After a recent one on one discussion with Ozen, Jerome was ordered to command a force of 50 mercenaries himself to transport supplies to Shisayama. He was setting out in a few days, and he loathed Ozen's order. He would much prefer the comfort of his home in the capital with his wives, rather than the countryside bum of a village like Shisayama. Remembering that he would likely have to meet Shizu the Man Killer, he sighed in exasperation before he broke the silence. "So how was the operation in Shisayama?" "If you me
The pair of Azi and Shizu eventually released their lips from each other's necks from their nibbling. They now had a crimson red mark adorning the sides of their necks. The two locked eyes and saw the saliva on each other's lips. Both lick their lips which prompted them to move in for a kiss. *Bang* The door to Azi's room suddenly fell off its hinges and in came Kajima who had a pile of people lying on the floor behind him. Shizu was the first to notice the entrance of the uninvited guests and saw that Kajima was standing beside the futon they were in with a frown. Shizu was about to turn her head to meet Kajima's eyes, but a resistive force prevented her from moving her head. She noticed that Azi had firmly held the back of her head as he continued to move his lips closer to her own. Azi's eyes were glazed over from their long intimate exchange of nibbling and Kajima's sudden entrance was not enough to wake Azi from his stupor. "Wait Azi, n-not here we are in publ.....mmmh" S
After a "refreshing" bath, Shizu and Azi now sat on a large couch with Kajima who had the new residents of the house taking a seat on the other couch across from them. On it, sitting from left to right was Rulu, Nosuri and Ougi. They all looked on with wry and awkward smiles as they witnessed the eye-catching event in front of them. There sat Shizu, Kajima, and Azi, but the last person was not sitting on the couch. Instead, he was sitting in Shizu's lap as she cuddled him from behind. Azi was slumped back into Shizu's embrace like a worn-out doll. He looked as if he had just lost a battle in utter defeat and Rulu swore she could see a wispy ghost somewhat floating out from his mouth. His embarrassment was also very much visible to everyone as the steam that emanated from his head was definitely not a product of the hot bath. Rulu and the others could only wonder what Shizu had put the small boy through to bring him so low. Rulu's thoughts began to wander as her cheeks began to tu