Jason walked across the grass, feeling refreshed and relaxed once more. Around him walked the other recruits, several of them having formed cliques and were chatting among themselves. Although he kept his eyes focused forward, he still heard what a few of them talked about, and a few jokes in his direction. It was hardly surprising and he didn’t actually care, guns and he would never agree with one another. A couple of them laughed, but he paid them no heed.
They were led by one of the Cipher Pol 5 officers who called himself Lord, a large man with curly, blonde hair. He had gathered them after mass and immediately led them away from the castle away from the docks they had arrived from the day before. Leading them through the forest, they soon reached a large courtyard. The ground was hard packed soil, almost like hard set sand, and the yard had a few small wooden buildings placed on the edges.
Lord walked onto the grounds and turned to face the group of recruits, waiting for them to array themselves in a line formation with their backs against the edge of the courtyard.
I am here to teach you martial arts. Lord spoke in a normal tone, yet his voice reached all of them easily. Specifically Rokushiki.
A few of the recruits let out a brief whoop of excitement at the mention of the Six Powers, or Rokushiki as they were more commonly referred to as. Another officer might have punished them for such interruptions, but Lord only smiled and waited for the sounds to die down before continuing.
Have any of you practiced Rokushiki before? Lord asked, to which about half of the recruits raised their hands. Good, how many of you have learned at least one of the forms.
Half of the hands fell down, but Jason was among those whose hands remained up. Lord nodded, seemingly impressed. How many, if any of you have learned two forms?
This time all but two except for Jason himself lowered their hands. Notably both of them had been making fun of Jason before.
Three? Lord asked, to which the other two hands fell, while Jason still held his up. Lord looked directly at him, nodding to him directly before starting to turn away. Very good, I-
Sir? Permission to speak? Jason moved his free hand up to salute the officer as he spoke. Lord turned back toward him again.
Granted, recruit.
I actually have learned four forms. Jason said, prompting Lord to actually look impressed, although a couple recruits actually seemed to find the claim funny, as they chuckled. They probably thought that someone who was as bad at shooting as he was maybe inept in other forms of combat. They must have forgotten he placed near the top of all the physical tests earlier in the day. Well, he didn’t mind that they underestimated him.
Bold claim. Lord said, his eyes darting in the direction of the laughter. We have the rest of the day, so how about we try something different? Why don’t we put it to the test? You three who found his statement so funny, let us see you prove how funny it is. After all you have four forms among yourselves, so that should be a fair match up, would you not agree?
Lord gestured and Jason stepped forward together with the three of the others. He noticed that they were one of the groups that had talked against him the most. Inwardly he was smiling, but he was careful not to let his face betray that emotion.
The same could not be said for the three opponents. A mixture of anger and mirth adorned their faces. One of them was much shorter than the others, but he had claimed to have learned two forms. Head shaven and his body compact, Jason made sure to keep him in mind at all times.
Number two was tall and lanky, with short cropped dark hair and a long angular face. The last recruit was a woman, shoulder length blonde hair and a small round face.
You others, up against the fence! Lord shouted for once, before turning his attention to the four combatants. Any death blow should be stopped right before impact, and then the target will forfeit. You may tap out at any time. All ready?
The three others, standing next to each other about ten meters in front of Jason nodded, as did he. Lord nodded, then struck his hand down.
Begin!
Short guy started walking forward, while the tall guy ran to Jason’s left and the woman ran right. All three held their hands up before them in a guarding position as they started approaching him together from all three angles. Not wanting to be overwhelmed right away, Jason decided to pick what he saw as the easiest target. Turning and jumping left he extended his index finger on his right hand, shooting it towards the tall man’s chest.
The man barely reacted in time, hitting Jason’s arm in the side and missing his chest but instead digging into the man’s right upper arm. Grunting in pain, the man stepped back and allowed Jason to momentarily turn around and face the two that now came bearing down on him. Their eyes now showed a hint of fear, the mirth gone, but the anger still remained.
While the short man showed no hint of any form yet, the woman’s hand was formed into a Shigan, finger extended like a dagger ready to strike. Hoping the tall man was distracted by the pain in his arm for a few seconds at least, Jason rushed toward the short man.
To his right the woman came in, trying to take advantage of the advantage in numbers. Jason merely swung his right hand, finger still coated in red, sending a spray of blood to her face. Likely she had assumed she was not close enough yet for an attack, for the liquid caught her right in the eye, and for a moment there was only Jason and the short guy. Using the momentum of moving his right arm, Jason struck his left hand forward in a Shigan, aimed toward the short man’s upper torso. However unlike the other man, the short man didn’t try to parry or dodge, instead he stopped still. His entire body tensed, Jason’s attack only cut through his shirt, leaving a thin scratch of blood on his chest. A shock ran up Jason’s arm, the pain of hitting a wall he could not break.
Immediately the man’s body untensed and he moved forward, delivering a well placed punch in Jason’s lower abdomen. In the last moment before impact Jason tensed up just as the other man had and only felt a shock reverberate through his body as he was struck. It did however carry more force than his own attack and Jason was lifted a few feet off the ground and sent flying backwards.
Untensing as he flew through the air, Jason turned his head and saw the tall man kick the air toward him, sending a wave of cutting air flying toward him. The Rankyaku attack was guaranteed to hit him if he didn’t change his direction and given that he was airborne they likely thought they had him now. Just before impact Jason kicked the air, sending him upwards, before flipping around and using Geppo to send him to the ground just before the tall man as he set his leg down.
Shock across his face, the tall man tried to raise his leg to strike again, but Jason landed inside his reach and placed his extended finger against the man’s throat, whispering a single word. Dead.
Immediately he turned to face the two remaining, and the woman was already closing in on him again, both index fingers pointed forward. The short man was still standing in the previous position and only not reacting to his partner being eliminated. And so Jason decided to take on the woman, both index fingers extended to points as he rushed to meet her.
Determination covered a lot of fear in the woman’s face, knowing that she was outmatched, she likely hoped to stall him long enough to let the short man catch up. Jason had other plans however, as when they reached each other he crossed his arms. While she aimed for his body, Jason struck inside her forearms. And so, he dug into her arms, not only damaging both of her limbs but also stopping their attack. Even worse, before her attacks stopped, his fingers had dug long trenches in her arms. See a medic.
It was all Jason could say before a heavy mass crashed into his body, slamming him against the ground. The breath knocked out of him, and still pressed to the ground, Jason groaned in pain. He didn’t have time to tense up again before a fist struck him in the face, then another. Only by the third strike was he able to perform Tekkai, once again only feeling the shake of the strike.
The short man straddled Jason, and kept punching. Jason had a feeling his Tekkai would let up before the man’s fists would give in, and so he thought furiously, as he was unable to move due to Tekkai.
He saw one chance, and decided to take it the split second after another punch struck him. Releasing his Tekkai he kicked the air furiously, and to his relief the Geppo sent him careening out from under the man’s legs, free from his attacks. Rolling backwards and onto his feet, Jason sought out the man again. Seeing him stumble to his feet, Jason smiled and took his chance, his feet swiftly tapping the ground as he disappeared in a blur.
At the same time Jason reappeared before the short man, finger placed against this throat, pressing into his soft skin. Dead.
A silence fell on the courtyard, lasting several seconds. Jason looked around, seeing Lord tending to the two he had wounded, but eyes still shooting over to the two last combatants. Finishing a bandage on the woman, Lord stood up and clapped. The rest of the recruits finally came out of their stupor and joined in on the applause.