A small flock of crows flew between the clouds, which slowly drifted across the sky, which gradually took on a scarlet hue - the sun was already sinking to the west.
"So, let's get acquainted. You can call me Gimmu Sensei. Tell me about yourselves — your names, and maybe a dream or two. Let's start with the lovely lady."
Jenn stepped forward.
"I'm Lee Jenn. I love flowers and blades. My dream… is to become the strongest female Renin in history, master every style, and create a technique that surpasses all others."
"A fine dream, Jenn. Who's next?"
"I am Aquill of the Tenju people. I haven't earned a nickname yet because I still haven't proven myself in real battle, but it will probably have something to do with my eagle, Erzi. My dream is to become strong enough to help our Daimyo reunite the warring provinces into the Empire of the Sun once more."
Gimmu's smile didn't change, though a private thought flickered through his mind: *Why does he assume Kato-sama even wants to restore the Empire?*
"In that case," he said aloud, "you'll need to train hard. Otherwise the Daimyo might unite the country without you. And our third friend?"
"I am Mitsunari Sai. My goal is to show the world that samurai and Renin don't have to fight — that we can live in peace."
Gimmu's grin widened.
"All of you have difficult dreams. That doesn't mean they're impossible. Stay loyal to each other and keep chasing them without stopping, and you'll get there. I already believe you will."
He glanced at the sky.
"It's late. Meet me tomorrow at six in the morning in front of the West Gate."
"Wait," Jenn said. "Aren't you going to tell us your own dream?"
"I'm too old to have one," he answered, still smiling.
*Old?* the three of them thought. *He doesn't look much older than us. How old is he really?*
"Oh, and bring supplies," Gimmu added. "The trip might take a while."
"A trip?"
"Yes. We received a signal from the Land of Grass today. I was planning to go on a mission there, and since we're a team now, you're coming with me."
All three had the same thought at once: *He's using us to finish his mission.*
"But what about training?" Jenn asked. "Don't you want to see what we can do first?"
"The best training is real practice. Talent shows itself most clearly in the field. Get a good night's sleep — you probably won't sleep in a real bed for the next couple of weeks."
With that, Gimmu leapt over the house in a single bound and vanished behind the rooftops.
"Does he even know how to train anyone?" Jenn muttered, frustration clear in her voice. "Why did that weirdo have to take us? Why couldn't we have gotten Rafa-sensei?"
"Come on, Jenn," Aquill said, still excited. "We're going on a real mission right away. How many of our classmates can say that?"
"A mission…" Jenn repeated more quietly. "But we haven't trained at all, and we don't even know what he's capable of. What if he's just a weakling pretending to be strong?"
Sai looked serious.
"We'll find out tomorrow. Likehe said — we should get some proper sleep tonight."
Aquill was half an hour late. The night before he had been too excited to sleep
— it was the first time he would leave the city of Yato, and on a real mission no less.
After tossing and turning for a couple of hours he had gone for a walk through the
quiet streets. By the time he returned home the night was almost over, and the little
sleep he managed to get was restless and short.
Early that morning, as he hurried through the streets, a familiar voice called out
to him.
"Where are you rushing off to, Aquill?" Mako asked.
"Heh… actually, I'm leaving on a mission," Aquill answered with a grin.
"A mission? No way. Hey, I want to go on a mission too!"
"Haha, maybe next time. I'm already late — see you when I get back!" Aquill
waved and ran on.
"Damn, some people have all the luck," Mako muttered, watching him go.
"Hey! Good luck out there!"
When Aquill finally reached the Western Gate, the square in front of it was
empty.
"What the… where is everyone? Don't tell me they haven't arrived yet.
Impossible. Sai would never be late—" He shook his head. "Oh no. They already left.
Damn, damn, damn. How could you oversleep, you idiot?!"
"Hey, kid. Why are you shouting so early in the morning?"
A city guard in a grey uniform stepped out of the shadow of the wall, blending
almost perfectly with the stone in the pale dawn light.
"Ah— sir, have you seen anyone pass through here before me?"
"Don't think so. I only just came on duty, so if anyone was here earlier… well,
anyway, I've got to get to the Southern Gate." With that the guard turned and walked
away along the wall.
Aquill looked up at his eagle.
"Erzi, go up and see if anyone's on the road. I hope they haven't gone far."
The white-headed eagle spread its wings and soared into the sky, disappearing
from sight within moments. "Well, look who it is — one of those little fools." A familiar, mocking voice
came from the outer side of the gate. "Pity it's not the samurai, but this one will do.
The samurai is probably nearby anyway."
Four figures stepped out from behind the gate. In the centre stood Renji, his
nose still slightly swollen. The other three were strangers, but the markings on their
clothes clearly marked them as warriors from the Land of the Wild Winds.
"What do you want?" Aquill asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "Wasn't
yesterday enough? And who's the backup you brought?"
"Shut your mouth, you bastard! You're all going to pay. Where's that damn
samurai?!" Renji's eyes burned with rage.
"You'd better watch your tongue around him," Aquill warned. "One broken
nose might not be enough next time."
"I can see this brat really is annoying," one of Renji's companions remarked
coldly. "No matter. He's not the first talkative fool I've silenced."
The warriors from the Land of the Wild Winds began rolling their shoulders
and loosening their wrists. Aquill's breath caught. This was his first real fight.
"Get it together, you coward," he told himself. "Get it together. Come on. You
can't show fear before the fight even starts."
While he was still steeling himself, one of the opponents lunged from the left.
Aquill barely had time to react before another struck from the right. The force of the
blows sent him staggering sideways.
"Damn, Renji, he's just a weakling," one of them laughed. "What a
disappointment."
"I can't lose like this… Come on, get up…"
A second heavy blow to the stomach drove him further back. The enemies were laughing. Desperation flared in Aquill's chest. He released his Re-Ki. Wind
swirled around him in a sudden, sharp gust, forcing the nearest attacker to step back.
Aquill used the opening to drive his elbow into the man's solar plexus, then twisted
and kicked. The warrior staggered, but immediately answered with a powerful swing
of his weapon. Aquill barely managed to dodge; the air whistled past his ear.
Erzi dove from above, talons outstretched, trying to distract one of the
attackers. The warrior knocked the eagle aside with the hilt of his sword. Erzi cried
out and wheeled away.
Renji charged in from the side with his twin short blades. Aquill created a
dense current of wind to push one blade aside, but a second warrior was already on
him. A brutal kick to the ribs knocked the breath from his lungs. He rolled across the ground and pushed himself up onto one knee. Blood was already seeping from a cut
on his forearm.
The three adult warriors pressed forward methodically. Their Re-Ki felt
heavier, more grounded. One controlled the element of Earth, raising sharp stone
spikes from the paving. Another wielded a rougher, more violent form of Wind. The
third simply reinforced his body with Re-Ki, turning every strike into a crushing
blow.
Aquill parried, dodged, answered with short bursts of wind, but he could feel
himself losing ground. The difference in experience was too great. His breathing
grew ragged. His knees trembled.
Renji smiled viciously.
"Finish him. Make sure he never raises his eyes again."
One of the warriors raised his blade for the finishing blow. Aquill tried to lift
his arms, but his body no longer responded quickly enough.
At that moment a sharp voice rang out from the side.
"Hey! Four against one is a bit much, even for you."
Mako burst onto the square. His red eyes burned with irritation, and flames
were already dancing around his hands — the element he controlled best. He must
have heard the noise of the fight and come running.
"Mako?!" Aquill gasped with relief.
"Don't just stand there," Mako snapped, thrusting a palm forward. "If I'm
already here, I might as well help."
The flames flared brighter. Mako sent a dense fireball at the nearest warrior,
forcing the man to leap back, his cloak already smouldering. Aquill, given a precious
second to recover, rose to his feet and strengthened the wind around him, scattering
the stone spikes the earth-user was trying to raise.
Now there were two of them. Fire and wind worked together — Aquill's gusts
fed Mako's flames, making the attacks wider and more dangerous. Renji fell back,
clearly not having expected another Academy student to appear. The older warriors
grew more cautious, but they did not retreat.
The fight intensified. Mako covered Aquill with bursts of fire, preventing the
enemies from closing in, while Aquill used the wind to knock them off balance and
create openings. Several times they managed to push the attackers back. One warrior
received a painful burn on his shoulder; another was thrown against the wall by a
powerful gust. But the experienced fighters adapted quickly. The earth-user raised a thick
stone slab to shield himself from the fire. The wind-user began extinguishing the
flames with sharp opposing currents. The body-enhancer simply walked through the
heat, ignoring the burns, and landed a heavy blow that nearly knocked Mako off his
feet.
Aquill felt his strength beginning to fade. Mako was breathing hard as well —
maintaining the fire drained a great deal of Re-Ki. They were still standing, but the
advantage was slipping away once more.
"Damn it…" Mako muttered through clenched teeth. "They're stronger than I
thought."
One warrior was already raising his weapon for a strike at Aquill; another
prepared to break through Mako's defence. One more moment and it would have
been over.
Then the air above the square suddenly compressed.
A figure dropped silently from the roof of the guardhouse and landed between
the two students and their attackers as lightly as if he weighed nothing at all. Blue
hair stirred in the breeze. A bright, almost radiant smile was fixed on his face.
"Late, am I?" Gimmu said calmly. "Sorry about that. I was a little delayed."
The warriors from the Land of the Wild Winds instinctively stepped back.
Even Renji's confidence faltered for a second.
"And who the hell are you?" one of them demanded.
Gimmu tilted his head slightly.
"I'm their teacher. And I really, really hate it when people attack my students
in a group."
"Whatever, just take him down, guys," Renji said..
Everything happened too quickly for the eye to follow. Gimmu was beside the
first warrior before the man could even raise his weapon. A short strike with the heel
of his palm — and the opponent folded in half, unconscious before he hit the ground.
The second tried to thrust with a spear; Gimmu simply knocked the weapon from his
hands, spun, and drove a powerful kick into the man's chest, sending him crashing
into the wall. Stone cracked.
The third managed to swing his blade. Gimmu did not even dodge. He caught
the edge with his bare fingers, held it motionless, then disarmed the man in one
smooth motion while driving a knee into his stomach. The warrior collapsed.
Only Renji remained. He stood pale, eyes wide, gripping his short blades so
tightly his knuckles had gone white. Gimmu turned to him slowly.
"You already received a lesson yesterday. Apparently it wasn't enough."
Renji attacked with a desperate cry. Gimmu stepped aside, let both blades pass
harmlessly by, and flicked his fingers against the boy's neck. Renji crumpled without
a sound.
Silence fell over the square. Four bodies lay motionless. Gimmu brushed his
hands as if he had just finished a light warm-up and walked over to the two students.
"Still alive?" he asked gently.
Aquill nodded, breathing hard. Erzi settled carefully onto his shoulder. Mako
still held faint tongues of flame in his hands, but was gradually letting them die out.
"Yeah… thanks," Aquill managed. Then he looked at Mako. "You too."
Mako only snorted and looked away.
"Don't get used to it. I just don't like it when they pick on our people."
Gimmu's familiar light smile returned.
"Good work, both of you. Especially considering you were up against adult
warriors. Now, Aquill — get ready. Jenn and Sai are already waiting for us on the
road. We're a little behind schedule, but the mission isn't going anywhere."
"Hey, what's going on here?"
The guard Aquill had spoken to earlier came running up together with three other guards.
"Ah, Kiro, perfect timing. We need to figure out why
soldiers from the Land of the Wild Winds attacked Academy students right outside
the walls of Yato."
Gimmu turned and headed for the gate. Aquill stood for a moment longer,
looking at his new teacher, then glanced at Mako.
"You coming with us?"
Mako shook his head.
"I've got my own master and my own team. But… if you get into trouble
again, try not to die before I show up."
He turned and strode quickly back toward the city. Aquill allowed himself a
small smile, adjusted Erzi on his shoulder, and followed Gimmu.
The road to the Land of Grass lay ahead.