what just happened

" u..hu..." I flickered my eyes open letting out a deep groan.

My whole body is aching right now as if I walked around carrying stones on my back. I raised my back to sit upwards, but a sudden pain in my ribs forced me to lay down on my bed.

b..but this isn't my room?

I looked around trying to recognize the place, but I had no idea of my whereabouts.

" what happened before I got here? "I muttered to myself, rubbing my head to remember what happened.

" BAM !! " a sudden barge to the door made my heart leap, almost giving me a heart attack.

" Shizuko !! " Yui and Kanji, who almost broke my room open rushed to my side and hugged me tightly.

" Shizuko, I was really worried about you....are you feeling any better ? " a sincere expression was written all over Yui's face, scrunching her eyebrows with a worried look.

" I'm doing okay, but....what happened last time ?"

" You fainted while training after expelling lots of blood. your body must've been exhausted " Hisashi entered the room with a never-ending frawn on his face, I wonder if it's permanent.

" oh is that so....does that mean I'm exempted from training dear master * sniff * " I slowly glanced at Hisashi with a pleading face and the ' puppy doll ' eyes trying to appeal to him, but instead he furrowed his eyebrows expressing anger and annoyance.

" I'll be waiting for all of you outside, dress up quickly and get ready for training ! " he slammed the door as he exited.

I had of course expected this response, but I just thought it was never too late to try.

I started changing into my training cloth once everyone was gone. I indeed learned a sword technique, but other than that, I have a very long way to go to meet the Emperor's standards.

It took me a while, but I finally arrived at the training area, a place where exhaustion has no bounds.

" Since everyone is gathered, even though some of you are very late... " he paused only to give me a cold-eyed stare and continued

" I'll be teaching you the 1st sword technique kn___."

" but we learned the first one last time? " Hisashi was cut off by my questions which made him furious

" first of all that was a warm-up done to stretch muscles, secondly don't ever cut me off while I'm speaking again! "

" Sorry sir... ( warm-up ! I fainted from exhaustion last time!? ) "

The obedient part of me apologized to Hisashi and continued to listen to his lecture.

" as I was saying, the first sword technique is called The Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu Technique "

" the Muso Jiki Eshi wha~~t ?? "

" Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu is a technique centered on Iaido. Iaido was the technique the Samurai used to develop their trademark simultaneous draw and cut motion, as opposed to cutting from a normal stance after having already drawn his sword. Iaido is intended to develop a spirituality combined with the battlefield technique of taijutsu. Eishin-Ryu was for training in sitting and standing techniques as well as fighting against multiple foes.... " words I've never heard of were consecutively blabbered into my ears. I've never been more bewildered in my life than now.

All I could do was listen attentively and pretend to understand everything our generous master is saying.

•

•

•

It's exhausting and more tiresome than using physical labor. I carefully glanced at my training partners who were fixated on their notebooks, writing every single word Hisashi utters. I'm....supposed to do that too...?

Before I could ponder on my thoughts, a skillful show of fire behind our training area grappled my attention.

A boy, having crimson red hair and scarlet eyes, his white-toned skin shone bright and the flares from the fire glazed his surrounding. tiny sparks of flame rained down as if they were snow, he smiled ear to ear as the droplets landed on his hair and head.

His___. " Thwack !!! "

An overwhelming blow on my head knocked me sideways interrupting my peaceful panoramic view. I lay on the ground for a moment and raised myself upwards. in front of me was a man with a permanent frown -- Hisashi, I wonder how long my skull will endure the agony.

" Shizuko! I guess you already know everything since you're busy doing other things, if that's the case, would you mind revising our lesson for today " knowing that I would fail, he made me stand up and revise the whole lesson.

" ee...I...." it would be a miracle if I answered at this point, not only that, Hisashi can apparently 'read minds' so he ordered me to sit back and listen attentively next time, and as a punishment... I have to train twice as much as the rest.

Evening shadows deepened into blue and purple. the last ray of sun skimmed the surface creating a beautiful sunset scenery.

We exited the training area as we watched the horizon drain of color. Yui and I held each other's hands, talking about stuff that doesn't concern the guys.

As we arrived at our cabin, Hisashi exited our site leaving us nothing but golden freedom. Yui suggested we look around, outside of the cabin that is.

As we were strolling outside, Yui began to tell me about the Jade Phoenix gem and the sword techniques

" You know, the Jade Phoenix gem isn't such an easy item to restore .... "

" Really! why? "

" Because...." she picked up a strange bug from the ground and enlightened the surrounding with its light. A bug circular in shape, its front was obsidian black, shiny like the rock itself while the backside was dazzling as if it were a lamp attached to the bugs behind.

" wh-what's t-that !? " I darted aside

" oh this, let's just say it's a light source hehe ~ " I can sense a pinch of a lie in her smile as if it wasn't only for the light source...

" A-anyways, as I said before, Jade Phoenix gem is located at the heart of Vare's land, A prestigious land that dominates most of the lands in our world. it's the place where most creatures like fairies, chimeras, Pontianak, Griffin, Phoenix, and much more are located there"

" Ponta...chime.... ?? "

hmm...perhaps it's not them, but I who can't understand their language, because what she said had no upshot of comprehension in my head.