Chapter 28: Road to War I

The next day, Kazi woke up, and after going through all the normal morning stuff, bathing, brushing and all, he took his things that were already packed and left his tent. He headed towards where all the others were gathering.

When the time reached about 6:30 am, all of them were separated into the different units heading to the different battlefields. Of course, they would be travelling by foot, so each unit only had about 20 to 35 sutori in it, and even then they were further divided into two or three groups to avoid clustering that would signify that they were travelling in such huge numbers, the enemies could ambush them if such information reaches them.

Kazi already knew his mother would be in a depressed state and all, but though shit it was.

Coincidentally, Kazi, Linx, and Koro were all in the same sub group, so they stuck together as they travelled. Koro who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut soon started making small talk with the other two about what the war would be like at the frontlines and whether they would have to fight there or just assist in the camps.

While he was busy running his mouth, Kazi and Linx couldn't help but keep alert to whether there would be any enemy sutori in the perimeter, after all, they had left the safe walls of the tak.

The fact that they were travelling on foot really put them at risk along the way, and Kazi for one was expecting some kind of cliché happening of being attacked on the way there as it always happens in stories and even in real life.

The tak should have something that could transport so many people, maybe not all, but a couple units. They probably did, after all they were a major power, but then again, using it to transport an expendable unit was probably not in their best interest, so that wasn't going to happen, this was probably similar with the other taks also.

The first day went smooth, and Kazi had worried for nothing, also, having his sensory technique active throughout the day really exhausted him since he wasn't used to it. It didn't consume any of his ora, but it was mentally tasking to have it active like that, especially because it sort of covered a wide range.

Each group set up camp separately and would be checked by the leader of the unit after that was done. The leader of this unit was a second class sutori that looked stern and hardened. 

The second day was pretty much like the first, nothing eventful.

On the third day, they finally reached the border where the war was happening, though they were still far from the camp a little, even then, this was the war zone, so chances of encountering the enemy had gone up. 

"You guys be careful now, the enemy could appear any moment, be on guard." The leader of the unit had come to make sure no one was slacking. Usually he would be at the very front of the three groups leading the way after all. This also prompted Kazi to have the thought that maybe now everything would fall into place, and it did.

Surely, less than thirty minutes later after the warning, the event occurred.

At the moment, they were walking along a paved road that went through the dense vegetation and shrubs with small trees. Koro was running his mouth as usual and keeping not just his teammates engaged, but also the rest of the group. Kazi and Linx still had their senses alert as always, and it was worth doing so.

Linx, once he sensed something, he immediately looked at Kazi with a side eye to which Kazi noticed.

"Second class level, four." Kazi said in a low casual tone and Linx acknowledged with a nod. 

The sutori ranks were from low to high as Third class, second class, first class and classless. There are some ranks in between, but those are not too common.

The ranks themselves are gotten after proving that one has reached certain level of strength depending on what they specialise in, so for those who focus on using their bodies or weapons, they would take appropriate tests such a splitting a boulder or something, while those who focus on using techniques would as well show the strength of their techniques. Apart from that, the major thing checked is the amount of ora one possesses.

Think of it this way if these were all mages. A two circle mage who can cast two three circle spells is still a two circle mage in ranking, and a three circle mage who can only cast one third circle spell is third circle regardless, even though they would probably lose to the two circle mage. That said, when Kazi says second class, he is referring to the amount of ora he senses from them. That way, if one of them intentionally hid their ora by suppressing it, Kazi would have misjudged, but that was something to factor in anyway.

Kazi who lacked the energy to alert everyone tapped Koro on the shoulder.

"There are four enemy sutori up ahead." He had his usual expression on, so Koro didn't really feel the urgency of what he just heard immediately.

"Wait... WHAT??" This had caused everyone's attention to draw towards Koro. " But, how do you know they are enemy though?"

It would seem that Kazi didn't need to answer the question, several throwing knives came flying towards them the very next instant.

In the normal world where humans have the strength of chickens, a throwing knife as a weapon might seem like an outdated tool, but that is a misconception. Even in the real earth, simply having a knife thrown at you even by a total noob who only knows how to boil water in the kitchen could result in injury or a speedy trip to the A&E department, having it thrown by an expert, the type you find on youtube, that could take you through the A&E department and into more obscure parts of the organisation, how you feeling the ICU for after the brain surgery... or even send you straight up to meet your creator. 

Now, imagine someone with the strength of a buffalo that could throw a stone at the speed of a bullet being fired from a pistol, probably easily dodge a speeding bullet and kicks whole boulders across lakes like kicking aside a delusional chiwawa that thinks its temper can compare to testosterone overdose... suddenly, anything being thrown becomes super dangerous... even masculine seeds produced right on the spot can become bullets... if you know, you know.

. . .

While the rest were in a daze, Kazi jumped to the front of the group and used the new technique he learnt while in the two weeks training camp, 'Gush of Wind Technique.' Just like the name implies, it channels the surrounding air and sends it towards the direction the user wishes as a string gush of wind. It is a defensive technique primarily.

One thing with this world was that there was no activation word for casting these techniques, so you would have to constantly guess what the opponent would use and be prepared to counter attack or defend yourself at any moment.

Kazi's technique was effective and the several weapons thrown towards them all got blown off trajectory while others were sent flying back. While he did this, Linx ran forward with two daggers in hand.

Kazi followed right behind him, and Koro soon did the same.

Kazi had gone in expecting his opponents to be people who have far more experience fighting than he did. Once he spotted one of the enemy, he noticed that she hadn't seen him, but that soon changed after she turned back. She only got a little glimpse of Kazi before he disappeared right after passing a tree it seemed.

'An enemy, she thought.' As her senses immediately jumped into full alert.

The very next moment from behind her, she heard the sound of thrown weapons cutting the wind and dodged them in time by jumping up, since they were aimed low in case she bent down, but then after the knives came a burning ball of fire the size of a large berry. She immediately pulled her hands together into a clap, and a wall of earth rose from the ground to obstruct the trajectory of the flame, causing it to stop after colliding with the wall.

'Trying to use such obvious tricks and attack from the back, you're too inexperienced kid.' She taught, when she heard the sound of wind cutting behind her. This time, all she could see after barely turning was a white crescent shaped energy running towards her even faster than the ball of fire. 'The FUCK...'

*Cut

Her body fell to the ground in two halves as her face disfigured in disbelief of how she died.

'That's one.' Kazi thought to himself before disappearing from where he was.