Wandering Mercenaries
Union

        The morning sun peeked through the windows of the principal's office as he looks down at a transcript while seated in his leather desk chair. His back is turned away from a young Japanese man who is seated in a leather chair while he continues to read, the sun giving him the appropriate light. The young fellow's head twists and turns as he takes in the office's sophisticated ambience, an entire office made of red oak, nice silky rugs, rare books on the shelves, animal heads on the wall, and a classical tune playing in the background being mixed with the low utters of the principal reading to himself. The graying principal turns his chair around as he plops the reports on his desk and looks at the young man. "So you want to join my academy Mr. Oyama?" he asks in a low Scottish accent.

        The Japanese man dressed in black khaki pants and a tucked in red t-shirt adjust his tennis shoes laces as he pops his neck, he brings his foot down and answers, "Yes sir, I want to join your academy as soon as possible."

         The principal pops his knuckles, "Your zeal is magnanimous, and although I like that would like to ask what makes you think you're good enough to walk the graceful halls of the Tokugawa Academy?"
         
                 "Well sir, my records show my high marks and I'm one hell of a quick learner. My tutors speak very well of me."
         
                 "Right, right, the tutors... boys like you have been here before, and quickly they all drop like dragon feces. Trust me Mr. Oyama I've seen your type, and you don't have what it takes to survive in my school."
         
                 "I do!" Sho interjected, "and I will survive, because I will refuse to quit."
         
                 "You're a very stubborn and brave man, but you're also very stupid, you came completely unprepared for what we do at this academy."
         
                 "No I didn't, I have all my school supplies right here in my…"
         
                 The principal disappeared from his chair, very recently apparently as the chair was slightly spinning on it's axis. Sho takes a look around in wonder of his disappearance. "Uh, sir? Are you here?" he asks slightly not understanding.
         
                 He hears something to the back of him and above, slight stifled breathing of some sort. A vein in Sho's neck bulges as he tightens his fist, his knuckles popping one after another, and looks up to see a shadow hanging off the ceiling. Sighted; the shadow launches itself down at Sho with a yell, in a combination of fear and anger Sho yells back at the shadow as he vertically jumps up and goes into a kick. A crunch rings through the room as Sho's foot digs into the shadows stomach; the entire scene practically freezes as Sho identifies the visible face of the shadow as the principal's. Swinging his stretched out leg back around aiming the older man at a bookshelf, Sho brings his other foot back ready for a final blow. The principal however regains his composure and noticing an opening grabs Sho's groin and squeezed tightly making the young man scream in high-pitched agony as he is lifted over the principal's head and is thrown on his head.
         
                 Sho quickly gets up and while holding his testicles in one hand he makes a haphazard stance readying him for the attacker. Steps coming from his side rings in Sho's ear as he backs up and is slightly grazed by a toe of a flying jump kick to the face. Grabbing the man's foot with both hands Sho swings the principal around once and launches him into his desk; women's undergarments explode out of the desk drawers on contact with the head of the principal. Sho relaxes noticing the attacker is floored and covered in undergarments, however the principal sat up almost like nothing happened. Sho's eye twitches as he readies himself in the stance of his discipline ready for the worse; with a brassiere plopped on his head the principal observes Sho's very reliable looking stance and asks, "...Where did you learn to fight like that you rogue?"
         
                 "If you read my record well enough it is written in there that while home-schooled I learned Karate, Judo, Boxing, and can even fight with a sword," Sho says in a very rude tone, "obviously you would have no concern over such "trite details" since you're willing to grab a man by his gonads."
         
                 "I grabbed you by the "gonads" Mr. Oyama," the principals says while getting up and straightening the tie of his gray suit, "because there are no rules in fight and you left yourself open, and although you have the ability you lack experience; your groin was just one of many openings that an opponent would exploit if he had a weapon."
         
                 "You don't need to worry about me sir, I don't intend to cause trouble on campus and refuse to fight."
         
                 The principals looks at Sho like he was insane, "With that kind of attitude you'll never get anywhere, looks like you're going to need a hand out."
         
                 The old man removes the bra off his head as he walks over to the curio cabinet and unlocks it with a key from his jacket. Sho smirks as he notices a pair of yellow undergarments stuck to the back of the pervert's jacket with a happy frog face embroidered into them, but as the principal turns back around Sho's face goes to a more serious look. The old man walks toward Sho, his eyeglasses gleaming from the light, and hands Sho a bokken (wooden training sword) and a spaghetti strainer. "What's this for?" Sho asks.
         
                 "You lack the equipment needed to learn, so I will help you this once, but don't expect anymore from me."
         
                 "I don't understand; why do I need these items?"
         
                 "There's no need to play dumb Mr. Oyama, the bokken is your weapon and that strainer is your helmet, now hurry up and go to Room 149, I'll have someone see to you about the smaller details. Remember, my door is always open"
         
                 And while being rushed out of the office Sho grabbed his book bag and was pushed out of the door. He looked around trying to figure out where he was and which way he needed to go when all of a sodden the bell rings and students of both sexes begin to exit from the classrooms as they wandered around a bit. Sho turns around right realizing that he was at Classroom 120 and the numbers go up to the right. He follows the slight traffic onward as he looks around at the large almost cathedral in appearance halls, but while looking up he was sideswiped into a locker as a circle was forming in the center of the hall, two people were fighting as the cheers rang through the hallway. Sho shakes the cobwebs out of his head as he sort of drops his head in shame as he sees these two fight, but then he looks around the circle and begins noticing that in actuality almost all of the students around him were dressed in armor and were brandishing their weapons in the air. Sho didn't understand, he had no clue what was going on, when he looked on to the fight he sees that one man had been floored and he had submitted declaring the other fighter the winner. Once the winner was declared the circle no longer took shape and everyone went back to what they were doing, Sho was dumbfounded at this.
         
                 That's when Sho felt something very hard impact the back of his head flinging him into a passerby and then falls down looking up at the offender. A man with a type of gangster puff hairstyle and was wearing a blue and black quilted armor jacket looks down at Sho and with a smirk to his face says, "Hello Fish, allow me to introduce myself; I'm Ichimonji, and this is my hallway. If you want to walk in it I suggest you pay me 7 fitch... or you might be involved in a very small accident of some sort."
         
                 Sho got up and spit on Ichimonji's shoe, "I'm not paying you a single fitch, this isn't your hallway, and you can't declare ownership on something that doesn't even belong to you."
         
                 "What are you a smart boy? Ok, smart boy; let's see what kind of force you got to back up those smart words of yours."
         
                 A circle begins to form as Sho pulls out his bokken; laughter erupts from around Sho as the spectators laugh as well as the punk Ichimonji himself. Sho took this opportunity to ready his stance with his bokken in hand and rushes at the laughing Ichimonji smacking him right in the jaw. Ichimonji wises up and with Sho's back exposed on that dash he takes a spin and slashes at Sho with his Long Sword, but reactively Sho brings up his bokken and the wooden sword is sliced in half! Desperate and on his last will Sho grabbed the spaghetti strainer off the top of his head and smacked Ichimonji with it, the prongs tore into the man's face and with blood spewing out of the cuts the puffy haired gangster drops to the floor in panic, Sho takes this moment to flee the fight and get to Class 149. The tardy bell rings just moments before Sho steps into the classroom, instantaneously all the armored clad students sitting at their desk stare at Sho who just called attention to himself by coming in late. A nicely dressed male teacher of probably about 32 walked up to Sho and looks at him through his small glasses. "I would like to hear the reason you are late Mr. ..." he says in an almost quaint and quiet tone.
         
                 "Oyama, Sho Oyama."
         
                 "Ah, another Easterner, Oyama-san I am Mr. Tsao and this is my Military Tactics 101 class. Tell me Oyama-san, are you new?"
         
                 "Yes, Tsao-sama."
         
                 "No need for formalities Oyama-san, please just call me Mr. Tsao, I just use Eastern formalities as a habit to other Easterners."
         
                 Sho looks at the handsome tactics teacher who is wearing a suit and with a light brown robe over it. His eye fidgets at the unusual behavior of the teacher. Mr. Tsao then turns his head out towards the class and says, "Class, this is our new student Sho Oyama, everyone greet."
         
                 As Sho looks out to the class they all just look at him funny except for one man in the back dressed in a white armored garment and had dirty blonde hair who just looked at him and then went back to reading his book. Mr. Tsao then lead Sho to a vacant wooden desk with a chair and a flower standing on top of it. "You can take this desk," the teacher quaintly says, "unfortunately young Gerhard in no longer with us, God rest his soul."
         
                 Sho gulped as he takes the flower off the chair and then puts the chair on the floor and sits in it. Putting the flower on the top edge of the desk and then opens the desk to see that besides all the schoolbooks it was empty. Sho takes the school supplies out of his backpack and puts them in the desk. "Ok class; pull out your tactics book, and open it to page 19," Mr. Tsao declared in a much louder voice then he was originally speaking at.
         
                 Sho pulled out his book from the desk and thumbs through till he gets to page 19 and then lays it on his desk. His eyes stray off the book as he looks to his left and sees a girl wearing a pair of blue hakama pants and a white gi top that that was under a red breastplate. Sho inches his desk toward her with a happy look and greets her. The girl coyly replies back with a greeting herself. While Mr. Tsao continues to speak on the disadvantages of the skirmish formation Sho pushes his desk a little closer to the girl as he advances his face towards her ear and whispers, "So haw hard is that armor you're wearing pushing your breasts up?"
         
                 "LEAVE ME ALONE!" the girl yells.
         
                 She then enforces her yell with a hard slap that sends Sho, the chair he's sitting in, and the desk he was pushing back to their original position.
         
                 "Oyama-san!"
         
                 "I was just being nice!" Sho yells at top volume standing up.
         
                 The students leer at Sho as he looks forward and see that apparently Mr. Tsao was not paying attention to his antics as he had a slip of paper in his hand. "...The counselor wants to see," the teacher replies after a moment of silence.
         
                 "Oh, sorry," Sho responds back with a faint laugh and smile.
         
                 Sho walks out of the Classroom with the piece of paper in his hands, the door closes shut as it locks behind him. The Eastern student smacks his forehead as a sweat drop runs down his face and he exasperates, "I don't know where the counselor's office is!"
         
                 It's felt like hours to Sho as he wandered the large halls of the one story cathedral looking school. "I can't believe this," Sho speaks to himself as he looks down at the stone floor, "these halls are completely empty."
         
                 A large yet hollow thud echoes through the halls as Sho suddenly comes into contact with metal. Stumbling back and speaking gibberish he looks forward to see what he had come into contact with since he was looking at the floor. He had hit a dark metal cuirass with his head, taking a few steps back he Sho notices a guy that although could not of been much older then him. He was Caucasian and bald, under his cuirass was a dark brown tunic that covered the topper part of his pants. Resting at about his knee was a battle-axe handle that probably connected to his pants that the man had stroked affectionately. The bald person strokes his chin with his other hand and smirks; "You got a hall pass, junior?"
         
                 "Yeah, here it is," Sho remarks as he shows him the slip, "actually-"
         
                 He was quickly interrupted as the bald guy grabs the slip out of Sho's hand and says, "Thanks, I was looking for one."
         
                 "Hey! I want that back!" Sho yells.
         
                 "Well to bad!"
         
                 Sho crawls up to a door with a large red cross painted on it, bruised, bleeding, and in sever pain he knock on the door while prone. The door opens and a shoe comes down on the hand Sho knocked with making him whimper in pain. The shoe steps off as a feminine voice rings through Sho's head, "What do you think you're doing?"
         
                 Sho yells that he needs medical attention and describes in detail events that lead him to where he was now. "At least look on the bright side," the voice rings in Sho's ear, "you made it to the counselor's office."
         
                 Sho rolls onto his back as he gets a full glimpse of underwear. The woman bunched her skirt together as she drags the beaten Sho in the lobby of the counselor's offices and lifts him into a chair. Sho looks at the woman who was in her early thirties and was wearing a one-piece dress to the looks of Sho. Possibly suffering from a concussion he didn't hear a single thing the lady said moments ago and asks her, "Are you a nurse?"
         
                 "No, I work as a secretary to all the counselors."
         
                 "Why would the counselor's office have a red cross painted on the front door?"
         
                 "About 19 generations ago the painters mismatched two office doors so ever since then the door with the red cross on it has been the counselor offices, and the door with a stick figure sitting behind a desk has been the infirmary."
         
                 "Wouldn't it of been easier to move the offices?"
         
                 "Would you want to work as a counselor in a place that smelled like blood? What's your name?"
         
                 "Oyama, Sho."
         
                 "Oh, you're the new kid. I do believe Mr. Black wanted to see you."
         
                 "... Can you carry me?"
         
                 The secretary scoffs in disgust as she drags Sho through the darkened stone lobby and to the end of the wooden hall. Mumbling about how they don't pay her enough she knocks on the last door and leaves. Moments later a burly bearded man with gray slicked back hair and sideburns opens the door and yells, "WHAT?"
         
                 "Down here," Sho says weakly.
         
                 "Who are you?"
         
                 "Oyama, Sho."
         
                 Black looks down at the bruised up and bleeding Sho whose hair was ruffled up and dirt looking. He rolls his eyes as he lifts the beaten up guy into his arms and brings him into his office and drops him on the bed, causing Sho to go to sleep. About an hour later Sho wakes up to the sound of a metronome, he feels completely invigorated but gets freaked out when he realizes he is sleeping in an outrageously large bed. He looks to his left and is hit in the face by the wall so he turns right and sees the large and burly Mr. Black squeezing a doll as it's eyes comically pop out of it's head. "You must be my guidance counselor Mr. Black."
         
                 The doll explodes in Mr. Black's large hand. Getting a better glimpse at this guy Sho realizes Mr. Black is not human, he was very large in body but was even larger when it came to his feet, which were covered with hair. His face was slightly human in appearance in that his nose, ears, and eyes were like most other Caucasians but as he breathed through his mouth Sho noticed he had huge fangs "I don't mean to sound wrong but what are you?"
         
                 "I'm a lummox; you got a problem with that?"
         
                 "A lummox... that works as a guidance counselor..."
         
                 "Yeah well at least I know what I'm doing, unlike you."
         
                 "What do you mean, 'I don't know what I'm doing'?"
         
                 "Sho, do you even know what this academy is?"
         
                 "Uh... an academy for people who did wrong?"
         
                 "No Oyama," Mr. Black replies, "the Tokugawa Academy is a boarding for those who are training to be warriors, soldiers, battle mages, or any other class that involves being trained how to fight."
         
                 "Ok, so that explains why there is a Tactics 101 class, but what's with the fighting?"
         
                 "At our academy, Mr. Oyama a person isn't graded on how much he knows, but how well he performs, every student is put on a large ranking tier and depending on how well they all do they continue to up through the tier ladders. Once a person hits top tier and stays there for at least the length of one year they graduate and are given the mark that proves they were trained here."
         
                 "That doesn't make any sense, couldn't someone just copy the tattoo?"
         
                 "If you had one, you would understand."
         
                 "Ok that's it, it's finally been confirmed, this school is nuts."
         
                 Mr. Black grimaced, "This school is one of the most prestigious academies in our land; landowners, generals, and kings all pay top dollar for mercenaries and soldier who have graduated from this school. In reality the question that should hang above your spiked head isn't if this school is nuts, but are you so stupid for not knowing the purpose?"
         
                 "Look, I just read rumors of people who've done wrong that go to this school and are no longer considered scum."
         
                 "Yes, we do receive a lot of troublemakers, hoodlums, and such who seek redemption of some sort, but why would you worry? You look no older then 20, what kind of trouble could you of gotten into?"
         
                 "...I dishonored my name, and was disowned from my family. I believed attending the same school as my father and his father would bring back pride and I would be held back in their good graces."
         
                 "Your story is very meaningful Mr. Oyama, but if you continue to lose as badly are you are now the administrators will flunk you, and then kick you out. I'm even impressed you've survived this long without wearing any armor."
         
                 "Well, if I knew I was going to have to fight I would have waited another six months to enroll so I could be better prepared."
         
                 "Like it would of mattered," Mr. Black scoffed, "usually you're stripped of anything could remotely make a difference, some people are even stripped of their clothes."
         
                 Sho smirks in a perverted fashion as he envisions girls being forcefully stripped of their armor, weapons, and clothes. He stupidly laughs in a perverted manner as a bit of drool runs down his mouth, he looks around and gets a slight glimpse of reality as he sees Mr. Black grimacing at him. His dream bubble quickly pops as he shakes his head, "Well then how do people get armor and weapons?"
         
                 "Steal 'em, Make 'em, or if you're really desperate and have the money go to the shop where they hold most of the confiscated items and buy 'em."
         
                 Sho leaped out of the bed and onto his hands and knees as he bows and begs, "Please, PLEASE, could you help me out! I need more money to but things to protect myself."
         
                 Mr. Black stroked his chin; "Did you already speak to the principal?"
         
                 "Yeah all he gave me was a spaghetti strainer and a wooden practice sword; I lost both items in at the most 9 minutes."
         
                 "Well, how much fitch do you have on you?"
         
                 "I don't have much, I spent most of it for enrollment fee; I have about 21 fitch."
         
                 "Well here's 16 fitch, which's all I have till the end of the week and you honestly shouldn't be looking for handouts anyways."
         
                 Mr. Black throws three silver pieces of fitch at Sho who catches them and examines the ten, five, and one-piece coins with a lantern on one side and the worth number on the other. "Now I suggest you go back to class Oyama."
         
                 "Ok so what is my schedule anyway?"
         
                 "Actually you stay in Class 149 and the teachers move. The only time you ever have to leave is to exchange books at your locker, go to lunch, attend the physical courses, and go back to your dorm, which is Dorm #710."
         
                 "Oh, well, thanks for all your help Mr. Black," Sho says as he bows down and dashes out of the lummox's office.
         
                 Mr. Black sighs; "He'll barely last a week."
         
                 Sho dashes out of the Counselor's lobby as he runs down the hall to the door that had a "Shop" sign written on it. Sho steps onto the hardwood floor of the shop as he looks around at the shelves of clothes, books, and other assorted supplies that weren't of any major value. He walks up to the counter and looks beyond it to see the masses of weapons and armor behind it. The cashier was reading a scroll that was making him oblivious to the fact there was a person in front of him. Sho waits a few moments as he politely waits for the server to finish reading, moments later he notices the scroll moving up therefore meaning that he was to predisposed at reading, Sho coughs as he tries to get the attention of the teenager behind the counter, finally the boy puts away his scroll as he asks Sho, "What do you want?"
         
                 With a glimmer of hope in his Sho smiles as he says, "I would like a sword and some chain mail."
         
                 The shopkeeper puts a broadsword and a chain mail shirt on the counter, Sho nods in agreement that the objects will do fine and the shopkeeper says, "That'll be 736 fitch."
         
                 Sho goes silent as he scowls at the shopkeeper and slams his fitch on the counter, "What can I get for 37 fitch?"
         
                 The shopkeeper puts away the blade and the chain mail shirt as he sweeps up the money and drops a long strip of cloth on the counter and then says, "That."
         
                 "What the hell is that supposed to be?"
         
                 "A bandanna."
         
                 "I KNOW it's a bandanna, but what good is that going to do for me!"
         
                 "Wrap it around your forehead and use it to protect your head."
         
                 "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard, how is a bandanna going to protect my head!"
         
                 The two just stare at each other apparently reaching some type of stalemate, in frustration Sho growls and says, "FINE, I'll take it."
         
                 As Sho grabs the strip off the counter he stomps out of the shop in an angered fashion, his head already buried back in the scroll the shopkeeper nonchalantly waves as he joyfully says, "Have a nice day."
         
                 Sho walks out of the shop with the bandanna in his hands as he grips the cloth in an angered fashion. He then brings the cloth into both of his hands as he flattens it between his thumb and ring fingers and brings it up to his forehead; he straightens it all the to the back of his neck and then ties a knot with both ends while the remainder of the bandanna flows down to the bottom of his neck. He walks back to the classroom with a bit more experience when it comes to direction. Wanting to see what exactly he was going to have to deal with first Sho peeks his head into the room but notices everyone is gone. Confused he takes a step in to the classroom and hears a splash of water. Taking a deep sigh, as he already feels his wet leg, he looks down and sees he has stepped into a bucket of water. "Why don't you watch where you are going new face!" an old lady yells at Sho while she is on all fours.
         
                 Sho takes his foot out of the bucket as he looks down at the old woman scrubbing the floor, "Where did all the students go," he asks, "is class still in session?"
         
                 With an annoyed scoff the old woman points to the blackboard, Sho follows her finger as he looks on to the board and sees in large print "Out To Lunch". "…It would probably help if I knew where lunch took place," Sho says as he rubs his chin.
         
                 "If I tell you will you get off the floor while I'm trying to clean it?" the old woman asks.
         
                 "Certainly, I give you my word."
         
                 "What you want to do is get out of the Academics Building and go to the building next across from the Courtyard but is adjacent to the Academics Building, now piss off!"
         
                 As Sho leaves he mutters, "Like I know where that is, can't even find a damn toilet let alone an exit."
         
                 Somehow Sho was able to leave the Academics Building as he steps out in to the sun, eyes aching from the light's sudden entrance, and sees the large plateau with a several large number of stone benches and tables that must be the courtyard. Looking to his right he sees a building that has a sign rightfully marked "Mess Hall". Sho enters the building and sees hundred of people seated at long dark wood tables talking and eating, he looks to his left and sees a room that is separated from the dining area by a wall. He decides to enter the room when he notices other people walking out with food and sees a large room where food stands were crowded with people in an attempt to get lunch. Sho walks to a food stand that is not overly crowded and notices it is a stand that specializes in foods from the Eastern Region of the Lexington Empire, his homeland. His turn quickly came as he ordered a spicy chicken and pork stir-fry plate. The cook goes to prepare the plate and in four minutes comes back with a plate full of stir-fry, sets it on a tray, and then gives it to Sho along with a mug of some type of sweet smelling liquid. Sho makes a movement to get his wallet, a gesture intending to be misdirecting as he makes a run for it, and yet strangely enough the chef told him to not bother. "What?" Sho asks, "Is there any pay?"
         
                 "Room and Board was included in your tuition," the chef said.
         
                 Walking out of the serving room Sho takes a small stroll around the perimeter of the cafeteria and comes to the conclusion that there are not any open seats left in the cafeteria. He spots one seat open in between two different groups of people talking and decides to dart into the seat very quickly before anyone notices. He takes a breath of relaxation as he puts his chopsticks into his hands and grabs a combination of bamboo chutes, pork, and green peppers he brings the sticks up to his mouth and then opens it but is interrupted by the person sitting next to him. "Hey! You!" the man says.
         
                 Turning his head to the left Sho sees the chiseled and battle worn man, "What?" Sho asks.
         
                 "Have you been involved in any wars?"
         
                 "Could you define 'involved'?" Sho asks in a very perplexed manner.
         
                 "Meaning have you ever even stepped on a battlefield at all?"
         
                 "...Uh... No?" Sho responds.
         
                 "Then you have no business here, I suggest you leave before I challenge you; resulting you in lying on the ground half dead and bleeding."
         
                 Sho sighs as he grabs his tray and leaves the seat, assuming that there won't be anymore open seats left Sho decides to leave the mess hall and easily finds an empty table at the courtyard to sit at. Looking around Sho notices that there are many table open and available for people to sit at and begins to wonder why people would rather sit in a crowded mess hall when the courtyard was available. The sun was shining nice and bright as Sho sat at the stone table and bench, he puts his elbows up on the table and begins eating his meal. A student sat down across from Sho as he started to eat, slightly looking up Sho noticed the guy was a little unkempt in appearance since his hair was unruly and besides looking unshaven he had also looked like he had not taken a bath in a few days which had to of been bad because he was a very large mountain of a man. However Sho took no heed in it as he continued to eat, the guy started to scratch his stomach that was covered by a long cloth vest and belches in Sho's general direction. The smell of his belch sneaks into Sho's nose and quickly he bolts back and gags by the horrible smell that could be compared to what a really horrible smelling foot smells like. All of a sudden other students begin to sit down at the table until Sho was shoulder to shoulder with two other people. A person ruffles Sho's hair, agitated he looks in that direction and sees it was the bald guy who had earlier beat him up and took his hall pass.
         
                 "Hey there little buddy, thanks for the hall pass, you really bailed me out."
         
                 "Right and I guess I need to thank you for beating the living shit out of me also?" Sho asks.
         
                 "You should," the giant slob of a man spoke, "you should be grateful."
         
                 A spaghetti strainer drops on the table as blood was tracked onto the stone; Sho looks around and sees Ichimonji with a large, bloodstained gauze pad on the side of his face. Sho quickly tried to get up as the bald guy kept him down. "Hey Ichimonji," Genjuro said with a devilish smile, "this the kid that made you twice as ugly as you were in the first place?"
         
                 "Yeah, he's the one that didn't want to pay up," the man with the gangster puff answered with a scowl.
         
                 "I see, well kid you wouldn't pay the toll to walk in the halls and now Ichimonji wants your ass, looks like you're going to need protection."
         
                 "Protection?" Sho asked.
         
                 "You heard me, wouldn't want to see you in an accident now... so I suggest you give me well everything in your pockets as opposed to seven fitch."
         
                 "I'm broke."
         
                 "Come on!" the bald guy responds, "You're telling me a rich boy like you doesn't even have a 20 fitch piece?"
         
                 "Not at all, I spent it on a bandanna."
         
                 "And what a bandanna it is," Genjuro smirked, "looks like it could fit my head, can I see it?"
         
                 "And while you're at it lemme see those fancy shoes you're wearing." the bald guy said while laughing.
         
                 With all of his strength Sho pushed the bald guy off of him, stood on the stone bench, and jumped backwards off of it, "My name is Oyama Sho, and I refuse to take anymore of your crap!' he yells.
         
                 The gang of bullies look at Sho in a dumbfounded fashion for a few moments and then burst into laughter as the point at Sho. "Oh yeah?" Genjuro thundered, "What are you gonna do about it, Shrimp?"
         
                 Sho turns red with anger, he growls in disgust as he makes a fist, a vein bulges out of it as well as one on his forehead as he yells, "I challenge all of you!"
         
                 That's when the gang stopped laughing as Sho was now breathing at a stifled rate and yet in a very loud and heavy tone. Genjuro smirks, "So he thinks he can take us all on," he chuckles and snaps his fingers, "Boys! Give Oyama the special treatment."
         
                 Ichimonji and the bald guy get up and draw their weapons as the walk towards Sho. Another pair of bullies, one wielding a weighted chain and the other a staff, also gets up and arm themselves as they walk toward Sho. Sho goes into his stance readying himself however in his mind he knows he is in really deep trouble.
         
                 Just then a figure lands behind the four thugs and runs quickly as he rakes the man wielding the staff unconscious by bringing his own weapon up and clotheslining him. Sho looks ahead of Ichimonji as he saw the figure was a man dressed in white that advances quickly at the other bully who swings his weighted chain. The man avoids the attack and anchors the chain into the ground with a knife that he pulls out of his armored robe and then slams one point of his weapon that appears to be a mace into his stomach. Pulling the mace out of his stomach and grabbing his knife the man dashes ahead of the other two before the person he maimed can fall to the ground. He gets between Sho and the bullies and then declares in a manner as if he had memorized it, "As a man of honor and sworn to protect the innocent I cannot allow an unarmed to be outnumbered and overpowered by thugs, and so I will fight until I no longer am able to fight."
         
                 He was a large, tall Caucasian man; his hair was slightly combed back and kept out of his face with a pair of glasses, his eyes shined a light blue as he readjusted his armor, a white armored robe made to look like a baptismal gown with the sides removed and with reinforced shoulder pads. In one hand he gripped his weapon, a long staff with a scythe blade at one end and the head of a morning star on the other, and in the other hand he had nothing for his index finger pointed at the leader; his silver black cross ring shining in the afternoon sunlight. Genjuro bellows, "Honestly Pune, don't you have anything better to do on your lunch break then play 'Knight in Shining Armor'?"
         
                 Two other guys get up from the bench, one man pulls out a katana blade and the other a scimitar as they advance forward leaving two men and Genjuro back at the table. Pune mutters in a fashion audible on to Sho, "I'm one of your classmates, my name is Caleb, if I were you I'd play Snatch and Grab during this fight because if we have to go through Genjuro you're going to need a weapon that isn't your fists."
         
                 Sho agrees by nodding, as the bullies were getting closer Caleb dashes past Ichimonji and the bald guy and engages the men behind them. Sho dashes toward Ichimonji and dodges an axe slash and the stab of a long sword. He elbows the axe wielder on his large forehead and pushes him away. Ichimonji slashes down at Sho but misses and so stabs at him from a degree. However the target catches sword into his hand into his hand and stops it from going into his side, breaking the attacker's concentration he head butts him and makes him drop the blade. Sho then rushes at him and knocks him in the head with a haymaker, sinks his knee into his gut, and then he grabs the back of the lurching bully's shirt and pulls it over his head as he starts pummeling him till he was finally down. Sho quickly picks up Ichimonji's Long Sword but is then smacked in the back by the flat side of bald guy's axe. Stumbling forward but quickly turning back Sho goes into a defensive stance, the hilt of the sword parallel to his chest. "I am Dirk Meyer," the man with the axe says, "I come from a long lineage of axe fighters, you have no chance."
         
                 "Well I'm Sho Oyama, and one way or another I'm to kick your ass!" Sho yells.
         
                 Caleb backs up as he deflects an attack by a katana blade and pushes the fighter on to his back before charging at him and jumping off of him smacking the other bully right on the head. Falling lifelessly to the ground Caleb checks the man's pulse and sees he's dead, but he doesn't think for long because the man with the katana jumps up into the air and attacks down with a slice, however Caleb guards with his weapon bringing it up and then rolls out of the way of a stab and slice 2 in 1 attack. Standing back up Caleb swings the blade end of his weapon and slices a series of fingers off his attacker's hand making him give up. "Sho, hurry up!" Caleb yells over to Sho.
         
                 Sho's weapon clashed with Dirk's axe as they began pushing into each other, the portly man pushes into Sho with a bit more strength and then stomps on his foot. In pain the fighter yells as he hops back on one foot, he ducks as he feels an axe graze his hair, small black strands of hair fall to the ground. Sho swings the his sword at Dirk's leg cutting his right shin; in surprise the axe slips from Dirk's hand letting Sho stab his long sword into the same leg and then, while planting his foot onto Dirk's stomach, pulls his sword out of Dirk's leg and smacks him in the head with the blunt side of the sword.
         
                 Dirk falls to the ground clutching his leg in pain but more or less taken out of commission, while down Sho stripped him of his iron cuirass and wore it himself as strapped his arms into the shoulder guards. He also removes Ichimonji's belt and puts it over his own and then slides the long sword into its gold and leather scabbard. After putting on the belt he dashes past the two bodies Caleb took care of and was now standing at his. Caleb puts the mace end to the ground as he removes his glasses to straighten his hair and then put the glasses back up. "When are you going to stop hiding behind your goons Genjuro?" Caleb asks.
         
                 The final two goons get up from the seat as they prepare to fight, Caleb readies himself and Sho pulls out his long sword. The two thugs look at each other and then ran away. Genjuro looks around and notices that all of his men are no longer around, he shrugs as he says in a snobbish manner, "It's so hard to find good help these days."
         
                 "You have no one else to hide behind now Genjuro, I suggest you accept our challenge or you'll be ridiculed in front of your peers for not accepting the challenge of a lower tier fighter," Caleb drones out.
         
                 "Oh please, I know your rank Pune, you're more like Upper-Mid Tier," Genjuro scoffs.
         
                 "I may be…" Caleb declares as he points at Sho, "but he isn't."
         
                 "Well then," Genjuro says as he smirks, "you left me with no choice."
         
                 Genjuro gets up from his seated position, standing up he practically covers both Sho and Caleb in shadow because his height is so monstrous. He then unfastens a large metal bat from the back of his vest and pointed it down, the metal thud impacting the ground echoing around the courtyard. He brings the bat up into the sky as Sho and Caleb look up at it, it flummoxed to the right and in great unyielding speed they both saw it coming down quick. Caleb begins to scatter, "Scramble Oyama!" he yells.
         
                 Oyama is almost struck in fear as he sees the bat come down on him like a foreboding death prophecy and then all of a sudden he shakes off his emotions and dashes back barely dodging the bat. Now that the bat missed it's target, Sho charges at Genjuro his sword away from his body, he stops right in front of him and he swings the sword up into an arc and the blade of the long sword comes into contact with Genjuro's bat with a surprisingly large sounding thud. Sho can the vibrating hum still ringing within the sword as he is forced to drop it. Caleb charges in front of Sho as he his weapon up and blocks an overhead bat attack. Sho grabs his long sword between Caleb's leg and then strafes around Caleb and kicks Genjuro in the groin. The giant of a man drops his bat as he clutches his testicles in his hands; Sho and Caleb scatter as the large bat is dropped to the ground. With the both of them at opposite sides of Genjuro they charge at him, Sho jumps as he slashed his sword at Genjuro's back, while at the same time and tripped the leader with the staff of his weapon. Sho lands in a kneeling position while Caleb gets up in a kneeling position and they remain in their positions till Genjuro falls to the ground and then stand up glaring at each other. Sho jumps in the sky as he yells exuberantly, but Caleb on the other hand is dusting his armor off and sheathes his weapon.
         
                 Sho notices Caleb is about to leave when he sheathes his long sword and runs over to him, "Hey wait a moment Caleb," he says, "I didn't get to thank you."
         
                 The taller Caleb stops and turns back around and look at Sho, he says in a voice much more calmer in pitch then Sho's, "There really isn't any need to have to say that; I would of done the same for anyone else."
         
                 The two men look back at Genjuro who is now on his hands and knees, he's breathing very loudly muttering curse words and talking about how he isn't beaten yet, "Um," Sho speaks in a puzzled manner, "is he going to make it.
         
                 "If he wasn't I'd probably have to help him," Caleb declares, "However he will unfortunately live."
         
                 Sho gives Caleb a funny look; his mannerisms were very confusing to him, while he was willing to help Genjuro at the same time he was wishing him dead. He scratches his head as he tries to put the two contradictions together, but he can't make heads or tails out of it. "…I see," he says perplexed, "but at least allow me to get you lunch or something."
         
                 "I already ate Oyama."
         
                 "Please just call me Sho," the young man smiles as he brings his hand up for a shake.
         
                 Caleb takes Sho's hand into his own, grips down on it, and shakes. Just then a yell is heard, the tow let go of each other's hand and look back to see Genjuro now up, he charges at the two of them and knocks them down, he turns at Sho's prone body and brings the bat up over his head, "I'm going to kill, you little shrimp!" he yells.
         
                 Immediately after the sound after the sound of a chain rattling rings as something begins to encircle around Genjuro's neck, it then tightens around as Sho notices the folds of skin between the links as it begins to drag the giant man back making him drop the bat. Sho and Caleb get up as they see the origin of the chain but they don't see a person pulling it. "For shame on you Genjuro, you should know better then when you are defeated!" an ominous and very young voice echoes through the courtyard like it was a ghost.
         
                 "Dammit, let go of me," Genjuro says in a violent matter.
         
                 "I refuse to until you say you are sorry for what you have done."
         
                 The chain pulls tighter forcing Genjuro to his knees, "Why should I say I'm sorry?" Genjuro yells, "They challenged me!"
         
                 "Because all you do is prey on the weak, now say you're sorry!"
         
                 "Alright, fine, FINE! I'm sorry, I'll leave the shrimp alone from now on, there happy?"
         
                 "Not yet," the voice says as the chain pull back harder.
         
                 Genjuro struggles for a few moments but then he finally blacks out, the chain is quickly pulled back from Genjuro's body as it disappears. Sho had watched the entire ordeal from a distance; all he had noticed from the incident was that the chain looked like it was at a constant state of being pulled yet no visible person was in fact pulling the chain. "This place gets weirder and weirder with every moment," he says to himself.
         
                 "You look you can use a drink," Caleb says as he shakes Sho by his one shoulder with one hand.
         
                 "Yeah, I could really use a drink," Sho says still confused.
         
                 So moments later Sho was sitting on a vacant bed inside the boarding room that Caleb lived in. The young man removed his armor as he pulls out two glasses and fills them with a yellow fluid that he was pouring out of a jug while he was sitting on his own bed and hands one to Sho. Gratefully accepting the glass Sho looks at it for a few moments and is kind of unsure whether he should drink the surprisingly cold drink. He takes a small whiff of the substance by wafting it into his nose. Described best as a lemon scent Sho takes a small drink from the glass and almost cough because the drink is so strong. "What is this?" Sho asks as he reluctantly drinks it and flinches.
         
                 "Hard Lemonade," Caleb answers as he drinks it without budging, "it's my fathers own recipe, he brews it in our village and sells it. He sent some for me to enjoy since I'm away from home. What do you think?"
         
                 "It's very strong, I never tasted anything so sour in my life."
         
                 "I added a bit of lemon juice into his brew, I feel it taste better this way."
         
                 Sho swirls the fluid around in his glass as he drinks a little more of it, he sort of relaxes as he sits more comfortably on the bed. "So what, you live in this dorm by yourself?" Sho asks.
         
                 Caleb pours himself another drink, "I used to have a roommate," he answers, "you know how Mr. Tsao was talking about the person who used to sit in the desk you do now in your class?"
         
                 "Yeah, Gerhard," Sho replies, "what kind of stupid name is that?"
         
                 "Gerhard was my roommate, actually we were childhood friends before that. Both of us were cadet knights and we both came to this school to avoid going on any other really pointless quests to attain knighthood. Looking back I realize how gifted of a knight he could have been and frown because he is gone."
         
                 "Do you think that maybe Gerhard's ghost saved you today with that chain?"
         
                 "Ghosts? I'm sorry Sho, but I don't believe in ghosts."
         
                 "Then maybe you would like to explain what happened to Genjuro? That chain came out of nowhere!"
         
                 "Genjuro wasn't attacked by a ghost, he was attacked by a Mystic. Some are able to render themselves invisible for small amounts of time." Caleb declared.
         
                 "Wow that's actually kind of impressive," Sho says as he drinks his lemonade.
         
                 "I don't see anything impressive about that."
         
                 "Why? Can you turn invisible?"
         
                 "No, but as much as I'm told to judge a group by one individual I do not like Mystics," Caleb says as he snorts
         
                 "Why? What has a Mystic ever done to you?"
         
                 "Gerhard was ruthlessly murdered by a Mystic during a challenge, he had disarmed his of his sword and maimed him badly, Gerhard submitted because understood he was beaten, but the Mystic did not stop. He stomped on his incapacitated corpse and let him suffer until he finally put him out of his misery by snapping his neck."
         
                 "So? That was just one Mystic."
         
                 "Like I said, I know I shouldn't hate a group because of one, but these Mystics have absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For all we know each Mystic is high on their own power."
         
                 Sho was not a racist, seeing Caleb acting this way was very new to him and almost seemed contradictory to his calling. Of course Sho didn't bear the same attitude about Mystics however, after all one just saved his life. Sho took another drink from his glass and continued talking for hours upon hours to Caleb. Finally Sho looks out of the window and sees it is no longer daylight. "I should probably go now… I need to find Dorm #710," Sho says as he gets up."
         
                 "Sho," Caleb speaks, "You're standing in Dorm 710."
         
                 "…How is that possible?"
         
                 "Do you want to know what I think Sho?" Caleb asks.
         
                 Sho nods as he gestures Caleb to go on, "I think that if Mr. Black put you in the same class as Gerhard once was in, you sit in the same desk that Gerhard was in, and is giving you the exact same schedule as Gerhard had, then it is blatantly obvious that he was going to put you in the exact same room that Gerhard once was in."
         
                 "…So I'm replacing Gerhard?"
         
                 "Perhaps attendance wise, but there is no way possible you would ever be able to replace Gerhard. But I suggest you start considering this place home for the next few years."
         
                 Sho decides that chances are Caleb was right, that Mr. Black was in fact replacing all of Gerhard's aspects with Sho. Shrugging at whole idea Sho removes his cuirass and places it at the foot of his bed and then unfastens his belt and leans the scabbard against the armor. He removes his dress shoes and places them under the bed and then loosens his shirt and removes the socks as he lies down on the bed and stretches out. Caleb was already lying down and attempting to sleep, his back turned to Sho since there beds were parallel to each other. Caleb closes his eyes but he wasn't able to go to sleep. He turns in his bed and looks over at Sho who is lying on his back and is looking up at the ceiling. "Having problems sleeping Sho?" Caleb asks.
         
                 "Yeah," Sho replies, "I guess I'm not very used to sleeping on a bed and under a ceiling, for the past few months all I had to put me to sleep were the stars."
         
                 "How long have you wandered till you came here?"
         
                 "It's been about seven months since my parents disowned me."
         
                 "What ever could you of done to piss off your parents enough to disown you?"
         
                 "I dishonored my own family name, because of me convictions of lecherous thievery has arose on our stake… I know for a fact that there is no way for me to change the past, but I thought… I could be brought back to the good graces of my family if I did this… do you understand what I'm saying Caleb."
         
                 "There was no response from Caleb as he slowly inhales and exhales, Sho turns his head to see Caleb's eyes closed and now asleep. Sho relaxes a little more as he closes his eyes and quickly goes to sleep. It seemed like moments later that Sho was awakened by a slap to the face, his eyes dart open to see Caleb dressed in his armor. Sho blinks a few times and shakes his head; sunlight peered into the window giving the room light. "How long have I been asleep?" Sho asks with a yawn.
         
         "About 9 hours, come on its time to get up, we have class today."
         
                 Sho quickly darts up as he tucks his red shirt into his pants and puts on his socks; he is about to pull his dress shoes out from underneath the bed when a pair of high mid-shin black leather boots clunk down next to Sho. "Put these on… they were Gerhard's," Caleb says.
         
                 Sho loosens the strap on the side of the boots and puts them on as he tightens them and then zips up the cover. Feeling some pressure on the back of his calf he loosens the belt loop on the back of the calf and looks down, to see they feel really comfortable. He puts on his cuirass and then puts on the belt, making sure it was brought snug to the scabbard. He puts on his bandanna and is then given a pair of black armored fingerless gloves by Caleb; he puts them on and fastens them. He looks at himself in the mirror and strikes a muscle-flexing pose. "Oh yeah," he says to himself, "I oughta be punished for looking this damned good."
         
                 "Hey, pretty boy," Caleb interrupts standing in the frame of the door, "we're missing class."
         
                 Sho looks over at Caleb and then dashes out of the room and into the hallway where he follows Caleb to class. The two make a run for it, dodging the morning fights that were occurring since they didn't have any time to waste. They approach their room and sit in their seats just in time for the tardy bell to ring. A short, portly red haired dwarf stands up from the teacher's desk and strums his beard as he puts on his glasses. He approaches the speaker's pedestal and coughs, "Ok class, my lecture on the founding fathers of this academy is starting, and I suggest taking notes."
         
                 The class groans as they begin taking out notebooks from their desks, "The Tokugawa Academy was founded in 978 Pre Dark Age by Diego Reyes, who had turned his grandfather's training facility into…"
         
                 Sho rolls his eyes as he takes his pencil and grinds the tip of it into his desk in boredom, he slightly sighs to himself as puts the pencil in the fold of the desk and balances his head on the palm of his hand. He stares at the teacher for a few moments who to Sho was now speaking in an incoherent that didn't even resemble English. He looks over and sees the same pretty girl sitting next to him that he saw the day before. Quietly he moves his desk next to hers and looks at her beautiful black hair. In a smooth and relaxing tone he says, "How's it going?"
         
                 She whispers back, "Do you mind? I'm trying to learn."
         
                 "No I don't mind at all, I just wanted to say, you really got it going on. I've never seen a can so luscious in my life in my entire life."
         
                 "I beg your pardon?" she asks quietly.
         
                 "So tell me, are you flowing?"
         
                 "…No, I'm not.
         
                 "Oh," Sho says with a devious smile, "so you're the kind of girl that likes it dry, that sounds fun. How about you ask to go to the bathroom and I'll meet you there in seven minutes."
         
                 "You probably don't even know where the bathroom is," she says as a snappy comeback.
         
                 "Come on baby," Sho continues on, "you look like the kind of girl who needs a good beef roll and a couple of rice balls in the morning, I know never feel right without dipping my fingers in the honey pot a few times.
         
                 "Come here Oyama-san," the girl says with a devilish smile and her finger in a come hither motion.
         
                 Sho inches slowly in glee, he smiles as he brings his head closer to her mouth thinking that she's going to whisper sweet nothings in his ear. Surprisingly the girl grabs Sho by his neck choking him, Sho makes noises as she shakes his head. "If you ever do that again I swear I will make you urinate blood… out of your ass." She says in a whispering and sweet manner.
         
                 She then lifts Sho up in the air like he was a rag doll and slams him into the floor his desk moving back to it's original position. Nearby students look down and see a prone body that has made a giant indention into the cobble stone floor. "OW!" Sho yells.
         
                 "Mr. Oyama," the dwarf says, his lecture now interrupted, "if you cannot keep quiet I will have to ask you to take a breather outside."
         
                 "I'm sorry Mr. Bushy Beard sir," Sho says improvising his teacher's name, "I had just accidentally fell out of my desk… I dozed off, I'm really sorry."
         
                 "That's Mr. Boucher," the teacher says, "and I suggest you maintain your equilibrium during my class."
         
                 "The student sitting in front of Sho raises his hand and says, "Oyama didn't fall out of his desk, he was thrown into the ground because he made a pass at Ouehara."
         
                 Sho stands up and clocks the student on the back of the head with a textbook that was under his desk, "Shut up brownnoser, you're cramping my style."
         
                 Of course such a display of slapstick comedy made the class burst into laughter. Mr. Boucher gets angry as he takes off his shoe and uses it as a gavel on the pedestal; the class quickly comes back to his attention. "My suggestion, Mr. Oyama," the teacher says, "is to sit down and remain silent."
         
                 "Fine then I will."
         
                 "Good."
         
                 "Fine."
         
                 "Very delightful."
         
                 "Indeed."
         
                 Getting the last word Sho sits down in a good mood, "Excellent," the teacher immaturely replies back.
         
                 "AH HORSESHIT!" Sho yells.
         
                 Almost seconds after his emotional outburst Sho is pelted in the head by Mr. Boucher's shoe. "Hey! What the hell was that for old man?" he yells.
         
                 "Just shut up before I have to mess up my other wingtip."
         
                 Sho snickers as he smacks the guy sitting to his other side and whispers to him, "Little does he know, my bandanna took more of that hit then me."
         
                 Yet again Sho is smacked with another wingtip shoe, this time it hits him on the side of his face. He holds onto his face in pain and rubs it to make it feel better. "Did your bandanna block that one Mr. Oyama?" Mr. Boucher asks in a satirical tone.
         
                 It was hours later when the classes were over and it was now time for lunch, Sho exits the classroom with tape over his mouth. He stands to the side of the door as the other students leave and trailing them is Caleb. The cadet knight looks down at Sho and says; "I think you can remove the tape off of your mouth now that the classes are over."
         
                 Caleb grabs a hold of the tape and tears it off of Sho's mouth quickly, Sho winces for a few moments as he wipes the adhesiveness from his mouth. Sho looked at Caleb in a bad manner because he tore the tape off to quick, Caleb looks down at Sho. "What? Were you expecting me to tear it off slowly dragging out the pain, you're not even crying."
         
                 "You could have been a little more softer."
         
                 "Oh quit complaining, it's lunch time."
         
                 "You better be getting me my food."
         
                 The two sat down for lunch outside in the courtyard, Caleb eloquently place a napkin in his lap as he eats a steak. Sho on the other hand tucks a napkin into the collar of his cuirass and was devouring a rack of ribs. The two did not speak while they ate; Caleb ate silently while Sho makes guttural eating noises as he ate. Strangely enough Caleb finished first and was punished with the dishonor of watching Sho eat like a wild animal. "I thought you said you were birthed from a landowner and his wife." Caleb comments.
         
                 Sho stops eating as he holds one rib in his hand and with a full mouth asks, "Yeah, so?"
         
                 "Well I'm just saying I would of thought that the son of a wealthy landowner would be a little more courteous in his eating manner, an would not require a troth."
         
                 "Hey!" Sho yelled, "I'll have you know that I haven't eaten this good in the past seven months, so back off!"
         
                 Not expecting a better explanation from what appears to be a complete jackass Caleb disposes of his dishes and utensils. Eventually Sho indicates he is done eating by licking the bones, he throws the dishes and bones away as he wipes the excess sauce off his mouth with the napkin tucked into his armor and disposes of it. A sound of someone grunting in pain echoes through the courtyard as the body of a kid no older then 15 is tossed onto the eating grounds of the courtyard. Looking kind of bruised and beaten up he tries to get up however as he stumbles to get up and go into a fighting stance a large metal bat is hurled at him at an alarming rate. Having no choice the child covers his face with his forearms and takes the hit as he is knocked back seven feet and falls on his rear. Appearing out of the shadows Genjuro walks towards the young man, the large dirt man picks up his bat as the child looks up at Genjuro and sees the bandage wrapped around his neck. "So tell me Little Baby Gerard, how does it feel?" he asks.
         
                 "I refuse to give you the pleasure of knowing how I feel," the child answers back.
         
                 Sho's ear picks up as he hears the voice of a child, he looks to his left and sees the kid talking and quickly links it to the voice from yesterday. Sho concludes that Genjuro is fighting the kid to save face for the humiliation he faced the day before. "Come on Gerard," Genjuro belts out, "all I'm asking for is an apology and for you to say that I am the strongest man in this entire academy and you're just a little piss ant."
         
                 "I refuse to say I'm sorry because I have no regrets for my actions, you had it coming," the child says and then yells, "and I know even the smallest of ant can destroy a mountain."
         
                 The boy aptly named Gerard pulls something out of his clothes that look like a hook and chain as he throws it in a looped fashion aimed at the head of the giant. However Genjuro blocks it with his bat, the chain wrapping around it, he lifts the bat into the air and throws it hard to the ground the large metal thud of the bat making a larger sound then the boy hitting the ground. "Your stupid Mystic tricks don't fool me, junior," Genjuro smirks.
         
                 Picking the bat up the slob places the fat end of the Tetsubo on the boy's chest and lightly presses down. The kid starts yelling loudly as sweat flows down his face as he tries to grab a hold of the instrument and push it off of him, but is failing miserably. Sho runs over to Caleb and says, "We have to help that kid, he's going to be killed!"
         
                 "I'm pretending to not notice, if a Mystic dies then that really isn't to much of a loss."
         
                 "But what about your code of conduct?" Sho yells, "weren't you trained to defend the helpless?"
         
                 "He's a Mystic, he's far from being helpless."
         
                 "You're being a dick Caleb; that kid saved our lives, the least you can do is return the favor and not spit in his face, but you're not even going to do that. I pity you."
         
                 Sho runs out toward the ordeal to help the kid, Caleb punches the table, "Shit! He's going to get himself killed like that."
         
                 "Hey!" Sho yells, "Stinky!"
         
                 Genjuro turns his head, "Oh, it's you, look here I'm going to keep my word and leave you alone. So don't come around here unless you're willing to start a fight."
         
                 "I suggest you leave that kid alone, if you don't I might have to put you in a world of hurt."
         
                 Genjuro loosens up off of Dyluck as his attention is diverted to Sho, "You win one fight and you believe you're head master of the ranks?"
         
                 "I may no be head master of the ranks, but I pretty much beat you yesterday so if I were you I'd leave the boy alone before you make me angry."
         
                 "You got a lot of balls Oyama, I hate balls!" Genjuro says as his attention has been completely diverted from the kid.
         
                 "Yeah well, Caleb let's start this," Sho goes into his stance ready to pull out his long sword when realizes that Caleb has not yet replied.
         
                 "Uh… Caleb?" Sho ask as he turns around and sees that Caleb is not backing him up.
         
                 Sitting at the bench Caleb was eating some ice cream out of a small bowl, "You're on your own this time Sho."
         
                 "Looks like your friend won't be here to help you out this time," Genjuro snickered as he brought his weapon up.
         
                 Sho looks up as he sees the bat racing down at him, Sho rolls out of the way of the metal weapon as it slams into the ground. Sho draws his long sword out as he deflects an attack with a spin attacks Genjuro's waist with a slash. Genjuro hops back; the kid notices Genjuro's heels are about to land on him and quickly rolls out of the way as he tries to catch his breath. The roguish fighter is quickly hit by a hard strike by the instrument of destruction, as he is knocked sideways like a rag doll and lands face first in the sand of the courtyard. Sho rolls onto his back and gains his senses as he feels that his armor took most of the damage.
         
                 He looks up and sees Genjuro charging at him, Sho grabs his long sword by the hilt and brings the blunt side of it up since he knows Genjuro will strike on him predictably. He brings the side higher and is wincing in anticipation for the impact; he hears metal colliding with metal but feels no force at all. He opens his eyes and sees Caleb blocking the attack intended for him with his staff. Sho gets back up on his feet and while sneaking dashes between Caleb and Genjuro and head butts his opposition in the stomach making him stumble back. Genjuro quickly grabs the attacker by his cuirass and brings him near his rear where he passes gas in his face and throws him at Caleb. The knights dodges his ally, and while holding onto his weapon near the mace end, swings it at Genjuro missing horribly.
         
                 A crashing sound echoes through the courtyard as Genjuro grabs onto his side in pain, he delivers a hard kick to Caleb making him fall to his knees and turns around to see the first person he was harassing. With dried up blood on the side of his face and a black eye he sneers and gives a look that most wouldn't believe kids were capable of giving. "You thought I was finished with you Dyluck?" Genjuro sneers back, "In all reality the fun has barely started."
         
                 Dyluck goes into an orthodox stance and stands their silently waiting for his opponent to do something. Genjuro charges and swings his bat going straight for Dyluck's body mass, the hit connects as Dyluck winces, groans, and grunts and grabs the bat around his arms and digs his heels in as he refuses to let Genjuro have full control of his bat. While Genjuro is putting all his weight into trying to get a force stronger then Dyluck's grip the Mystic starts yelling as he steps back very slowly. Genjuro's entire body began rotating as Dyluck continues pulling back and then when he feels the large man's grip letting go he pulls back disarming the giant of his bat as it and Dyluck are flung backwards making Dyluck fall back and pinning him to the ground with the large metal object.
         
                 Genjuro sees Dyluck pinned underneath his weapon and as he is about to go get it he feels something pierce his back, he screams in pain as he feels a knife has been plunged into his back. He turns around to see Dyluck charging at him as he makes a quick upward slash with his scythe blade cutting the large man's pant leg and then spins the staff smacking Genjuro's side with the morning star. With a flick of the wrist he brings his scythe blade back around making a deep cut at the lower part of where Genjuro's rib cage joins. Caleb hops back and brings the blade part back and thrusts the mace end at Genjuro who dodges the attack, grabs the weapon, pulls on it bringing Caleb closer, and then grabs the knight and throws him into a pillar.
         
                 Sho regains his senses and gags trying to get the smell of flatulence out of his nose as he gets back up from his prone position and runs at Genjuro, he slashes at Genjuro's waist and then dodges the man's attempt to grapple him. Seeing the hand of the large man near him Sho slides his blade over his hand causing a large gash. Dyluck notices he is still under the bat and by throwing his weighted chain at a table and pulling his way out from under the large weight. Sho quickly rolled under a hammer swing and stabs downward into Genjuro's foot making him trumpet like an elephant. In fear of getting stomped by something the size of a large tree trunk, Sho pulls out the sword from his foot and runs back to receive a massive elbow to the crown of his head.
         
                 Dyluck unleashes a hard jumping roundhouse kick to large man's kidneys and then climbs up Genjuro's back, grabs the hilt of the dagger in his back, and twists it. Genjuro twists his back really fast knocking the young man off his back; the giant then pulls the knife out of his back as the monk gets back up very slowly. The martial artist runs at Genjuro and leaps high into the air with a flip and descends at Genjuro with his foot out in preparation to kicking him in the face, however Genjuro stops Dyluck in mid-air by throwing the knife as it sinks into his abdomen and he falls to the ground hard. Just then Caleb and Sho have gotten back up and have positioned each other at opposite sides of the large man, they both nod in confirmation as they charge him; Dyluck quickly opens his eyes and flips back onto his feet and launches up into a large jump as Genjuro looks up at him as the other two take out their weapons and slash at him from his front and back. As the two run past him Dyluck brings his foot out and plants it into Genjuro's forehead and causing him to fall on his back, Dyluck lands on his feet and then stumbles forward onto his knees. Sho and Caleb look down to see Genjuro's cut and battered body lying on the ground unconscious.
         
                 "Wow…" Sho says, "He looks dead."
         
                 Caleb puts his fingers to the giant's neck ad feels a pulse, "Eh, it's ok," he adds, "he'll just never be pretty again."
         
                 Sho and Caleb sheathe their weapons as they help the young mystic up off of his knees as they help him to stand. He turns around and looks at the other two fighters while they look at him. The boy was at least 14 and was dressed in a black button up gi with white buttons and a pair of black gi pants. He wore white socks and a pair of slip-on shoes, thrust into his shirt was Caleb's knife in which apparently Dyluck has not taken a notice on. His hair was cut short and not exactly combed in any particular direction. Standing at no more then Five feet and five inches he seemed light on his feet but had a very somber and haunting look. Even with the dried up blood stains and the black eye it seemed that just like Caleb he to of witnessed some type of violence first hand however unlike the knight it seemed to of taken a larger impact on him. "Well now," Caleb remarks, "looks like even a Mystic needs help sometimes."
         
                 "What's that supposed to mean?" Dyluck ask.
         
                 "Well last time I noticed I was pretty sure most of you Mystics shunned all the so called 'inferiors'."
         
                 "Caleb," Sho was about to say before Dyluck raised his hand up, an Eastern sign requesting silence.
         
                 "I don't know where you believe you got your information from," Dyluck says in a stern but soft-spoken tone, "but I or most Mystics for that manner are not as strong as we appear."
         
                 "Oh really?" Caleb says in a mock tone, "Then what do you have to say about that knife dug into your gut?"
         
                 Dyluck looks down and notices that there is in fact a dagger thrown into his stomach, he pulls it out without a single grimace, groan, or whimper as he gives it back to Caleb. Caleb inspects the knife and notices there isn't a single speck of blood on the blade. "In all honest I'm very luck it was just a knife, were it any bigger it probably would have killed me," Dyluck declares.
         
                 "That's impossible it was lodged into you; it wasn't moving a single bit!" Caleb yells.
         
                 "Look I'll show you in a few moments but it does look like we're causing a scene, I have some drinks in my dorm room, maybe you'd like one?"
         
                 Sho interrupts with a joyous, "Yes, yes I would."
         
                 Dyluck enters his room, which is a dormitory in the Theology Wing of the Tokugawa Academy. Sho looks in and notices that his room is about size of his dorm only it wasn't crowded as his since there was no visible bed. On the walls were displays of weapons and scrolls as well as drawings of people, objects, and scenery. Pushed off to one side is a desk that has books, scrolls, and old pieces of parchment stacked on it. A few well-placed lanterns unlike the energy that lit the common dorms lighted the room. As Dyluck enters he removes his shoes, Sho and Caleb were about to enter also when Dyluck stopped them and instructed them to remove their footwear in his room. Caleb looks down on the floor and notices that there are several soft mats placed on the hard wood floor and guessed that Dyluck didn't want them to be tracked with dirt. After the few moments it took for Caleb and Sho to remove their intricate and long boots they entered the room and saw that Dyluck was already seated and setting up hard clay cups for the three of them on his coffee table. The two men sit at different sides of the table on the floor, now seeing that if they had to sit like this with boots on it would be sort of uncomfortable, Dyluck pours a fluid from a hard clay jug into the three cups. "Ok, so explain how the knife didn't pierce your skin," Caleb demands.
         
                 "No, first explain what I'm drinking, THEN tell me about that other stuff," Sho interjected.
         
                 "The drink is a brew of tea, Northern Spirits, and several different herbs that can be used to help focus."
         
                 Sho appeared t be cautious, "Sounds like some sort of crazy brain juice to me."
         
                 "It's really good, and is a good way of relaxing… or having good dreams before you sleep." Dyluck says with a smile.
         
                 Sho makes a few murmurs of uncertainty, "If you don't drink it," Dyluck adds in a serious tone, "you'll be insulting my hospitality and I will be forced to hurt you."
         
                 Sho panics as he takes the cup and drinks the fluid, he makes a face to show approval, it was not a very hard drink and it made him feel happy. He puts his cup down and makes a motion to fill his cup up again which Dyluck willingly does. "I thought you said that you Mystics weren't like that?" Caleb asks.
         
                 "I was just joking, did you know Mystics have a sense of humor too?" Dyluck asks.
         
                 "Alright tell me how you did it, now."
         
                 Dyluck unbuttons his jacket and takes it off to show a garment that he wore over an undershirt; he zips it down and takes it off as he throws it at Caleb. He catches it and sees that it is surprisingly heavy. "I wear an additional lining under my jacket, the outer layer is tightly quilted cotton much like quilted armor, behind that is a layer of chain mail, and then the last layer is tightly woven silk which does very well against arrows."
         
                 "Wait a moment, how do you know all that?" Sho asks.
         
                 "My Armorer teacher told me."
         
                 "Hmm, well it's kind of an eye opening experience to realize that a Mystic wears armor," Caleb says.
         
                 "I don't understand why you thought a Mystic wouldn't wear any, even we have to protect ourselves," Dyluck declared, "only the ones full of themselves don't wear armor because they think they are so fast that they can deflect any attack, but no one is that fast, quickly those Mystics are humbled when they lose a limb or die."
         
                 "I stand corrected although you stupid Mystics learn to kill a man with your bare hands."
         
                 "Nonsense, Mysticism is a way or life; a religion, we believe to fully understand our bodies can we truly understand our world. In fact if you really wanted to be you could be a Mystic and hone your mind and body to the state that brandishing that weapon can be like moving your fingers."
         
                 "And what is your Mystic Style?"
         
                 "I study 'The Path of Versatility' although I generally stay unarmed I was taught the general ideals of most weapons and should be able to use what's given to me."
         
                 Sho interrupts, "So you know the general idea of almost any weapon?" he asks, "What can you tell me about mine?"
         
                 Sho pulls his long sword out and gives it to Dyluck, putting it in his hands he takes a look, "This long sword is mostly used to slash from side to side or chop from up and down. It can also be used to thrust since the end of this sword is sharpened to a point. Where'd you get it?"
         
                 "I took it off some guy I beat up."
         
                 "Whoever used this sword before you put it through some rough times, although it is generally maintained the quality isn't that great and has gone through some very half-assed repairs, it could probably break really soon."
         
                 Sho frowns coming upon the realization that his sword could go at anytime and notices the chain in Dyluck's jacket and makes a very small question about it. "The term is manriki gusari or 'weighted chain' you can use it as both a weapon and a tool," Dyluck answers.
         
                 Just then a knock was at Dyluck's door, he hops over the table as he walks over to the door and opens it to see a student messenger. "Your counselor wants to see you, he also said bring your friends."
         
                 Dyluck looks over as Sho and Caleb and then says to the messenger, "These guys aren't exactly my 'friends'."
         
                 "Look, Mr. Black doesn't care if you're all brothers he want all three of you in his office now, you must be in real trouble."
         
                 "ALL THREE OF YOU ARE IN THE ABSOLUTE DEEPEST SHIT THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Mr. Black yells at the top of his lungs.
         
                 Sho was seated with his head down hiding his bleeding nose and bruised lip, while Caleb was putting a gauze on the part of his head that was bleeding from a large scrape, all Dyluck could do is sit there and listen to the large counselor yell at them. "Do you people understand what constant group fighting will lead to?" he asks but then answers anyways, "More group fighting! Then everyone will split into their little groups and face each other… in other words. 'GANG VIOLENCE!' One of the many rules of our illustrious academy is to NEVER FIGHT IN GROUPS! This academy is a place of learning not a center for Gang Violence!"
         
                 "But sir… we're not a gang," Sho responded before Mr. Black gave him a rude look.
         
                 "It doesn't matter if the three of you are in a gang or not! The fact remains that the three of you defeating Genjuro is going to set off his friends and they'll attack you, then you'll attack them back and then all the scrolls from her to the mountain tips of North Cross will say a gang war has erupted here and I REFUSE TO HAVE THE PRESTIGE OF THIS ACADEMY RUINED BY A MYSTIC, A KNIGHT, AND SOME DUMBASS WHOSE JUST HERE!"
         
                 "Gee, now I feel worse because I know for a fact that I'm not either a Mystic or a Knight," Sho says as he sighs.
         
                 "I honestly have no other choice then to expel the three of you."
         
                 Caleb interjects, "I've been here for three years! I've never given you any problems at all and now you're throwing me out?"
         
                 Dyluck adds, "I'm quite possibly the best Mystic in my class! I refuse to leave!"
         
                 And then Sho concludes, "And Yeah! I just paid my tuition, why do I have to already been thrown out?"
         
                  "Well… maybe you don't, we've been considering starting a work program at the academy, for people who are becoming mercenaries after graduation. The idea is to take what you've learned from these hallowed halls and make a lucrative business out of it."
         
                 "And what's this all have to do with us?" Caleb asks.
         
                 "If you three stay out of trouble, maintain a decent credit balance, and continue to go up the ranks individually."
         
                 "So wait," Sho asks, "You're saying that you want us to not learn, take tests, or anything of those other things associated with school, and in return we get to travel and make money?"
         
                 "Yeah," Mr. Black answers.
         
                 "And still pass?" Sho ask.
         
                 "Well that is the point Oyama."
         
                 "Well it sounds very easy, but there's always a catch. However until I realize what this catch is I guess I have no other choice since I refuse to quit," Caleb says shaking his head in anxiety.
         
                 However Dyluck doesn't seem to agree with this, "I'm only a kid I can't go to work by myself!"
         
                 Mr. Black added, "Who said you were doing this by yourself? All three of you are going to form a party to do this."
         
                 Dyluck jumps out of his seat, "But sir! I don't know either of these two people!" he yells, "that knight thinks I'm evil and that guy… well… LOOK AT HIM!"
         
                 "Hey! For your information, I'll have you know I'm a very hospitable and responsible adult!" Sho yells.
         
                 "You better get used to it Gerard, for the next few years they'll be the only friends you have," Mr. Black adds.
         
                 Dyluck says nothing, he doesn't really want to go, but he doesn't want to fail either. He looks on the bright side and sees that Genjuro will no longer be a threat and nods in approval. "Now I want you kids to move to Room 923, it's a larger dormitory with it's own bathroom and is usually kept for the rich boys. However you WILL be paying rent on it. Move today and rest up tomorrow, because the day after that…I want to see you in my office before the sun rises for your first job, and then I better not see your mugs in my office till you're done."
         
                 Mr. Black gives all three kids room keys and they leave his office, they are now standing in the hallways of the counselor's office, they stare at their keys and then they stare at their newly acquired roommates, but yet no one says a word to each other. Sho finally breaks the silence as he says, "So I guess we're stuck with each other."
         
                 "Apparently so," Caleb commented, "although I honestly cold think of better things I could be doing with my time I guess this isn't so bad."
         
                 Sho sticks his hand out and Caleb puts his hand over Sho's, they both look at Dyluck who is still silent. He rolls his eyes as he says, "…Well at least I actually have someone to call a friend."
         
                 He puts his hand on top of Caleb's and then Sho says, "No matter what; always remember that we are now partner, and therefore we need to be friends."
         
                 "You're right…" Caleb adds, "This is our union."