39 What happened to all our food?

"There was an incident 4 years ago on the same day the Demon Kings woke up. My uncle, the sixth Shadow was fighting the DKs along with his highness and the other guardians at that time. I myself and thirteen more S-Rank Protectors were holding a barrier, making sure that none of the dark energy could make its way into the city under any circumstances." Shin looked as if he was in a trance while he said every word clearly.

"By the time I and my uncle came back home, only ashes remained of my uncle's house. The traces of my aunt and cousin's bodies were found in the ashes but we could only find their actual bones. Nothing remained of the house, not even the pillars. It is obvious that a fire that large would obviously leave nothing but bones. What happened exactly is still a mystery to us." Shin sat up as he remembered the past.

"My uncle wasn't able take it…yes, the Shadows are known for being emotionless but that's not the whole truth. Anyways, after that I was immediately made the Shadow guardian on the orders of his highness as he knew the state of my uncle. I am responsible for continuing the line of Shadow's, so even though I was in a broken state myself, I had to take it up cause my uncle was in a way worse state than me." Izumi was starting to regret having reminded Shin of yet another one of his tragic incidents in life.

"Why didn't anyone get the news of the event?" Ken asked curiously as he looked at Shin.

"Do you remember those lines about the Shadows?" Shin diverted his attention towards Ken as he said.

"Fall into the shadows and they will push you back into the light."

"But hurt anyone in the light and you will be pulled back into the shadows." Ken nodded telling Shin that he remembered those lines.

"If the world knew that the Shadow isn't looking after it or even is distracted, then the darkness will rise among people and the urge to do shady things will increase. Unlike the other guardians and the King, we have to take care of everything in silence. We can't expose anything or share our pains with the world like the others." Shin smiled awkwardly as he said those words.

"I am sorry." Izumi apologised in a soft tone as she sat up.

"You are always tied up with some responsibility, yet you smile Shin. What will you do if you are stripped of your responsibilities as a guardian and a protector? Do you have something in particular brother Shin?" Ken sat up as well after sensing that the atmosphere had tensed up.

"Even if I am stripped of all those responsibilities, I still have one more promise to fulfil and a responsibility that I will have to carry until a certain person is ready." Shin smiled mysteriously as he answered Ken's question.

"And that is?" Izumi stroke her short shoulder length hair to the back of her ear as she asked sensitively.

"Time will tell you everything, I can't tell you guys yet. You will know sooner or later but I guarantee you that you will get to know it." Shin stood up and stretched his body as he said those words.

"Good night guys, the training is going to be tough, so go sleep while you still can." Shin waved his hand as he made his way slowly into his tent with one hand holding his coat over his back.

"I have always thought that being a Shadow guardian is an honour and an easy life as they could easily defeat anyone and do anything they want to." Izumi looked at Ken as she said those words.

"But now…I feel kind of guilty as if I committed a sin by thinking that way." Izumi held her chest as if it was heavy while she looked at Shin.

"Well, the feeling of guilt is mutual." Ken said slowly as he looked at Shin making his way to his tent as if he was just a normal person.

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"Get up you both. Come at me again." This was a line that they were hearing over and over again from Shin since the morning and it is already noon.

"I pinned you both to the ground around a hundred times since the morning. Remember that if you think you can't win with what you are doing now, then you have to shift tactics. Do you guys think you can beat me in melee?" Shin wasn't out of breath even after taking on both of them since the morning whereas Ken and Izumi were panting heavily as sweat covered them all the way from top to bottom.

"Think. Adapt. Implement."

"Do not forget to follow this order whenever you face a foe you think you can't beat." Shin folded his hands behind his back as he taught Ken and Izumi how to fight.

"We are going to do this again tomorrow morning. We are going to do this every morning and try to take me down in a new way everyday. Plan it out everyday how to approach me. Finally the day when you both can put me in a tough position, we will head out into the world again. Now, time for lunch." Shin dropped his serious face as he said the last sentence.

"Am I glad that we can finally rest for a few minutes? The answer is 'yes'." Ken sighed as he sat down after he sheathed his katana.

"Who said you can rest? You don't have anything to eat Ken." Shin grinned as he sat down on a log of wood and started preparing a fire.

"What do you mean by that? We just hunted in the morning. What happened to all our food?" All the colours on Ken's face were drained as he said those words.

"I put all the meat in a box and hid it in the forest. You will have to go and find it. Until then, I guess you will be starving and by the way you can't eat anything but that meat I hid. I will be watching." Shin smiled as he roasted a frog and ate it right in front of Ken.

"You are such a sadist brother Shin." Ken gulped his saliva as his and Izumi's eyes were fixated on the roasted frog.

"If you guys want to eat, you better get going." Shin finished the roasted frog as fast as he could and stood up to face the both.

"Tracking and thinking of ways how to find clues is a basic training for what you are about to face in the future. You both can forget about your lunch if you can't find that box." Shin gave them a grin as he pointed towards a direction into the forest.

"You can start from going into the forest from this direction."

"Think like me. Think where I would have hid the box so that it would be harder for you to find. Look around you for clues if I passed by that place. I made it easy for you as it is your first day. So get a move on it you both." Ken and Izumi walked into the forest as soon as Shin finished giving some pointers.