Sitting on one of the prepared futons in one of Kajima's spare rooms was Yashimu who had a somewhat exasperated expression on his face. When he witnessed the sight of Azi kissing Shizu's cheek and her subsequent reactions, he could not believe what he was seeing. Never in his life did he expect that Shizu could make that kind of womanly expression. Ever since he was 10 years old, he always remembered how Shizu had a serious expression and always spoke to him in a serious tone. She became more relaxed as she got older, but it was more that she had a layer of calm that was always hidden under her expression which became more apparent when she interacted with men. She never showed interest in any man who tried to court her hand in marriage. Those that were bold enough got a fist their face, while the ones she gave a chance were the ones she was amicable with but were so badly beaten down by her trials that they gave up and distanced themselves from her. Her main source of friends or c
Getting settled in bed like usual, Azi was being held from behind by Shizu. This time, due to Azi's kiss on her cheek, Shizu opted to hold him in a firmer grip that made him feel a bit of discomfort. While she knew that Azi was trying to tease her as payback for what she did to him in the bath, she didn't think he would do it so openly in front of other people. In front of Kajima was fine but in front of her own family made it more embarrassing. As she remembered how Azi's lips felt as they touched her cheek, it made her feel a tickle in her heart which caused her to reflexively hug Azi with a bit more force than usual. Bearing the slight pressure on his stomach, he still chuckled as he reveled in his small victory against Shizu. Hearing that he was chuckling at her expense, she did not want this little chuckling puppy in her arms from getting too full of himself. He might be older than her but he was still her apprentice. She began to nibble on his ear to get him worked up and to
As if instinctively reacting to his usual routine, Azi awoke at first light. He felt a wet sensation on his lips and that there was something soft missing from his palms. Taking stock of his surroundings, he recognized that he was in his room. He felt oddly refreshed from his recent lucid dream as it felt so real that he thought he would get completely lost in it. He slightly flushed as he remembered the finer details of his dream and he thought to himself. 'That was quite a dream. It is a good thing it didn't actually happen..... Right?' A bit of doubt sprouted in his mind, but he nonetheless lifted his body up with his hands. He saw that Shizu was lying beside him, which was no surprise. Shizu did have her top off like she did in his dream, but this had happened before when they slept together. Azi knew that she had a sloppy posture when sleeping so he played it off as coincidence. Remembering that he had to stay in bed for a month and had no pressing work, Azi began to wake Shi
After Kajima understood the current situation from Yashimu and Rulu, he sat Shizu and Azi down inna seiza posture on the floor of the dining room. As they sat on their knees, they looked up in horror at the expression of rage in Kajima's devil-like eyes. He began his tirade about the modesty that an unmarried man and woman should have and threatened to throw them out to the streets if they continued such behavior under his roof. This was countered as Azi and Shizu explained what really happened with blushing faces. They took turns as they retold their intimate moment last night and explained how it was a lucid dream. Kajima's eyes of wrath lessened as they then explained the details and learned that nothing sexual had occurred, but concern began to mar his expression. He worried that Shizu was possibly forcing Azi down the path of her choosing by constantly enticing him with her body and antics, but it seemed that Azi explained how it was his own choice. While it was an unconscious
Azi conjured his magic tethers from his arms and as they extended they began glowing a brighter color of blue-ish white that made Nosuri and Ougi squint at the bright sight. While somewhat uncomfortable to look at as the shined is more in the confined space of the workshop, they could still see what Azi's tethers were doing.The tethers that came from each of his hands began to split into smaller lines of blue light that then connected to the 15 individual square pieces that were now attached to their weapons."This will only take an hour so please be silent as I work."With those curt words, Azi closed his eyes and focused on infusing magic into the square black pieces. The rune on each square piece began to glow and soon magic power began to circulate through the internal structure of their weapons.Nosuri and Ougi stared in great curiosity, they have been all across the lands of the Empire and they have never seen a kind of crafting, forging, or thaumaturgic technique that was like
As Azi told Nosuri that he was going to smack her weapon around, Nosuri paled and began to back away from the boy who seemingly had an innocent smile on his face as he shouldered an enormous great sword on his shoulder.Nosuri had misinterpreted his words as a proposition to spar with him. After seeing the abnormal strength and skills that Azi had in fighting and thaumaturge, Nosuri felt as if she had little chance of victory in even a simple spar. Before she could say a word in refusal, her brother Ougi had cut in."Excuse me Azi, but if you don't mind? Could we test my weapon first?"Azi shrugged in agreement as he didn't have any objections. Sighing, Nosuri gave her brother a silent prayer of thanks which Ougi responded with a knowing nod. Azi then instructed Ougi to prepare himself to block one of his attacks. He was going to perform a simple vertical downward slash, so all Ougi had to do was block it with both his sabers.Ougi nodded in understanding and drew his sabers from the
After everyone had stopped laughing and bantering, Azi was taken inside Kajima's house to get a medical checkup from Elder Sung and Saki. Rulu decided to do some housework as she did not have time to go shopping today as she had enjoyed Nosuri's story for too long and the market would be closed late into the day.Kajima went to his workshop to do his blacksmith work while Nosuri and Ougi decided to train until it was dinner.Inside Azi's and Shizu's shared room, Azi sat on the futon and was being examined by Elder Sung. She examined to see if there were any abnormalities in his physical body as she knew that his stunt in the forge had likely taken its toll on him.Elder Sung saw that Azi's body did have a few new scratches and faded scars and burns which prompted her to ask a pressing concern."Didn't I give you enough ointment and creams for your little project on Shizu's weapon?"Azi embarrassingly explained that he had gone through the entire supply of ointments and creams that he
Decem 17th of 4831 AS A few peaceful days had passed and Azi was currently lightly sparring with Ougi in the clearing near Kajima's house. It was just after lunch and both fighters had a surplus of energy after eating a hearty meal. Kajima allowed Azi to spar with Ougi as he knew that the sparring he would do with Ougi would be less taxing than the sparring he usually did with Shizu. The Shizu’s usual sparring involved the use of actual weapons and Azi's use of magic which were not present in the current sparring session which was obviously evident by the lack of craters in Kajima’s wide yard. Throwing a punch aimed at Ougi's chest, Azi thought that he was able to land a clean hit but just before he made contact Ougi deftly moved the side with a single turn of his waist and then grabbed Azi's outstretched wrist in a firm grip. Repositioning himself, Ougi tripped Azi's leading foot which had caused Azi to fall forward. Ougi then used this to his advantage as he swiftly threw Azi