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Chapter 34: Dodge Training

I think I'll have at least one more chapter in the village after this one. Ibaraki still needs to chat with some of the villagers and iron out motivations. I would have done so this chapter but I wanted to set what the kids where doing before I went into that. Takehiko and Akeno get their own little training arc which I'll update their progress next chapter. I hope the soul and concept talk was coherent and yes, the soulscape was shamelessly based on Malevolent Shrine then reskinned and repurposed for Ibaraki. I regret nothing! Seriously though it was the closest base to what I wanted to build upon. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter Text

After I announce the feast, Akio clears his throat and addresses the crowd, "Alright everyone, you know the drill! Hunters go scrounge up some food!"

There are some cheers that ring out and a group starts heading out into the forest. Akio looks at me, only now realizing he's taken over out of habit, I shrug and gesture for him to continue. Deligation is something I need to get more used to anyway.

"Right, Emi-san, grab the others and start fixing sides!" An older woman nods, whistling sharply as another group breaks off.

"Hayate-san, break out the new bottles that have been brewing!" A younger Oni nods vigorously, a wide smile appearing as he rubs his palms together in anticipation.

"Oh, I can't wait for the Chief to try the new brew! I think this one will turn out to be the best yet!" He bows to Akio then again but more deeply toward me.

I glance at Akio with a grin, "I see someone in the village has been focused on what's important."

He snorts in amusement, mirth in his eyes. "We wanted to commemorate your reign somehow. Hayate-san decided that since you showed an interest in saké from a young age he should develop a speciality brew for you."

"If it's good I might need to officially designate him as the village brewmaster for his diligence." I muse aloud.

"He'll be over the moon, as well as insufferable to the rest of us." I pat Akio on the shoulder. Not my problem, buddy.

I make a note to memorize the names of everyone when they come up. It would be awkward to be caught out on the fact I don't know hardly any of their names.

I survey the crater that I made with Akio's body in the centre of the village. "Oi, Kiyoshi."

The man in question jogs to my side. "Yes, Ibaraki-sama?" 

"Help me out for a second, okay?" He nods and I start to use Senjutsu to return the environment to the way it was before. Kiyoshi picks up on my intentions right away and immediately goes to work to support my efforts. The crater disappears but soon grass and flowers start to grow all over the place. Not helpful at all nature. 

Actually…

Refocusing, I change the goal I'm aiming for and the grass flattens out, becoming softer and thicker. The flowers creak as their shapes warp, explosive growth rippling out through them. Instead of flowers, trees start to grow and I try to bend their shapes to produce benches and tables. It's a novel idea but neither I nor Kiyoshi is able to pull it off yet.

He looks upset at the fact he couldn't manage it so I grin at him and pat him on back, "It's something worth practising now that you know what you can't do. Looks like we have to do it the old fashioned way after all."

"Akeno, Takehiko, you guys help chop these down and make some furniture too. Takehiko, you cut them down, Akeno you shape them into planks with magic." Akio and Kiyoshi form a pair and start to do the same, while I work by myself.

A chop at the base separates the trunk from the roots, the stump forming a seat. I catch the tree and set it down to actually prepare into a workable material. Placing my palm on the trunk I coat it in a ring of Ki and create a sharp edge. From there I force the ring to flow along the trunk, shearing off the branches.

What next?

Keeping the ring of Ki wrapped around the trunk, I tighten it and start to spin it. This creates a sanding effect, stripping the bark off the trunk. Once I'm left with a decently smooth cylinder I form Touki around my hand, manipulating it into sharp Ki blades on my fingers. A quick swipe along the cylinder makes five similar planks. I'm not happy with the fact they aren't the exact same though.

I place a hand on one of the planks and smile. Even though the wood is 'dead' its Ki hasn't faded completely. It's fading at a rapid rate but I can still manipulate it. As long as that's true I can form the wood into any shape I want through forced growth and removing the excess. After a couple of minutes of playing around, I have a pile of perfect planks.

Looking around at how the others doing gives me a surge of pride. Takehiko has been busy chopping down the trees and dividing them into manageable pieces. He's even practising his forms at the same time. From there, Akeno shapes them into planks. She's repurposed a wind blade magic circle to make a circular saw and is maintaining it while feeding the planks in by hand.

Akio is ripping the trees out of the ground and chopping them up with his claws. I can hear his chant of 'Ora Ora Ora!' from here. Kiyoshi is using Senjutsu in a similar fashion as I was to shape the planks after his companion mangles them. Akio is more precise with his strength than Yaeko but that isn't very high praise.

I take the pile of branches I made and build a fire pit in the centre. After that I notice three Oni staring at the piles of wood. "Yo, what are you guys up to?"

"Ah, apologies Ibaraki-sama, we were wondering if we should be building tables and benches with the wood you have provided?" A closer look shows they all have a set of woodworking chisels on them. Right, of course, we have craftsmen for this. If we didn't we wouldn't have buildings, stupid.

"Yep, make sure everything is ready before the others are done." They begin working in a flurry of movement and I'm left with nothing to do for prep work.

' Don't sulk, it's u