39 Going In Prepared

A few days ago.

Teacher Takuma was standing in front of her class.

"Today we will be talking about Weapon Smithing and Weapon Enhancing. Miss Akari, what is the basic definition of Weapon Smithing?"

Akari obediently stood up.

"Weapon Smithing is the fusion of standard blacksmithing, a substance or a magical ore with special abilities and properties, combined and guided together using a persons Elemental Reservoir as a catalyst. Weapons made by a Weapon Smith are called Spirit Weapons."

Akari sat down. Teacher Takuma turned to Arata.

"Arata, what is the basic definition of Weapon Enhancing?"

Arata slowly stood up, taking his time.

"Weapon Enhancing utilizes a Spirit Weapon made by a Weapon Smith, or a Spirit Tech made by a Tech Enhancer. By connecting it with your Elemental Reservoir, you can form a connection with it and bring out it's innate abilities and powers. Spirt Weapons and Spirit Tech, along with other specialized tools, are all categorized as Reservoir Artifacts. Reservoir Artifacts can be used and activated through Weapon Enhancing."

Teacher Takuma nodded as Arata sat down.

"Weapon Enhancing involves expanding your Elemental Reservoir, connecting with the Reservoir Artifact, and bounding it to you. Once bound, you can circulate your Energy through it and activate its innate abilities. Some Reservoir Artifacts will only be bound as long as the person uses it. These Reservoir Artifacts are the most common and can mostly be used by anyone. Then there are the Contractually Binding Reservoir Artifacts. These are a lot more rare and more powerful. They stay bound to the user and can only be used by them. The contract is usually only broken after death."

The class took notes or nodded as they processed. Teacher Takuma then turned back to Arata.

"Arata, you have those two small blades you always carry with you, I assume they are Contractually Bound Spirit Weapons?"

Arata nodded. The class were excited and curious hearing that he had a Contractually Bound Spirit Weapon. They had all wondered about the blades he always carried with him since they had never seen him use them.

Arata casually pointed to Ryouma, wanting to get the attention off of him.

"Ryouma's blade is one too."

The class were shocked again. Teacher Takuma nodded. She had guessed as much, and it was something he would have gotten from the Sato Clan as he started carrying it around after his interaction with Arata. And after the announcement that Ryouma was Arata's Shadowguard, this made even more sense.

Teacher Takuma looked at the two of them.

"Would you two mind coming up the front and displaying the power of your Reservoir Artifacts?"

The class got instantly invigorated and excited hearing this. They looked over at the two boys in anticipation. Arata and Ryouma looked at each other before looking back at Teacher Takuma.

"Not possible."

Teacher Takuma raised her eyebrows, glaring at the two boys.

"Why not?"

The two boys answered calmly, one after the other.

"If I draw my blade, I will die."

"And if I draw my blades, everyone here will die."

Present Day.

After a minute, Ryouma approached Arata and bowed.

"Sorry for losing my emotions, Captain. I'm ready now."

Arata nodded and walked to the carriage.

"Suit up."

The two boys were still in the school uniform so they went and got changed in the carriage. They came out wearing the Sato Clan Battle Suits. Ryouma's Battle Suit was black and red. With the Sato Clan crest on the back and the basic Sato Clan patterns on his arms. He had the Kurou no Tatsu on his back, as usual, and in his right hand he held a glowing red bow. He had no quiver or arrows, but he didn't seem fazed by that. He held a large metallic box in his left hand. Arata's Battle Suit was his standard black and white. His patterns were more intricate and detailed than Ryouma's, obviously because of who he was. The two twin daggers were on his waist as usual. He had a strange claw contraption on his right hand and was also holding a large metallic box in his left hand.

Arata then put down the box and reached in his pocket, pulling out a small black crystal. He turned to Ryouma.

"So, do you remember the plan?"

Ryouma nodded.

"Sweep the nest, figure out the Forest Drake's movements and numbers. Set up the traps and the bait, wait for night time to strike."

Arata nodded as he absorbed the black crystal into his hand. Unlike Ryouma and the other Shadowguards, the Head and the Heir of the Shadowguards were able to absorb and remove their crystal whenever they wanted. These crystals allowed for minor communication, also the Master was able to empower his Shadowguards in battle.

The communication was limited, but it was enough when you were taught the language. Through the crystals, you were able to send signals and pulses to your Master or Shadowguard that you were connected with. There were different types of signals and pulses, and when you establish an agreed upon meaning for each of them, this made communication during a battle possible. Most of the past few days consisted of Arata teaching Ryouma the code that the Shadowguards use with his Father.

Arata sent a signal to Ryouma. He felt two quick pulses in his hand. He nodded.

'Time to move out.'

The two boys rushed into the forest. The two expertly maneuvered their ways up the trees and were now moving forward, leaping from branch to branch. They constantly sent signals and pulses back and forth to ensure each other where they were and that they were heading in the right direction.

They could sense the creatures and beasts below on the ground, but they all ignored the two boys rushing through the trees. As long as they stayed quiet, it would be hard for them to be detected. The Sato Clan Battle Suits were made with sneaking, secrecy, fighting in the shadows and assassinations in mind. The suit masked your scent, Energy and also helped minimize sound. It had a hood and face mask that helped conceal your identity. When needed, it could enter stealth mode, where a special liquid would secrete from the suit, causing the light around them to be absorbed, bent and reflected around them, essentially turning the person invisible for a short period of time until the liquid dried up.

The two boys soundlessly shot from branch to branch, progressing quickly through the forest. Arata sent out a signal for Ryouma to stop as he landed on a branch. He sent another signal out to see where Ryouma was. As he paused, waiting patiently in silence, he heard a roar. He heard instantly the sound of creatures below him scattering and running away. He knew that that was the roar of a Forest Drake.

They were close.

Arata sent out a signal to continue with caution. They both moved through the forest at a significantly slower pace. The leaped from tree to tree, pausing and scanning the area with each leap. As they made their way through, the roars became louder and were heard more often. More Forest Drake's. They were getting extremely close now. Ryouma sent a signal to Arata causing him to pause and look in Ryouma's direction. Although he couldn't see him, the crystal told him where Ryouma was.

He then saw that a few trees away from where Ryouma was, a creature was resting on the ground. It was the size of one of the horses that brought them here. It hard large wings that were wrapped around it like a blanket. Bright emerald scales covered its body, the scales forming spikes over its head. The creature yawned, exposing its sharp fangs.

A young Forest Drake.

Arata sent Ryouma a signal to wait. Ryouma obliged. Arata silently made his way closer to get a better view. He could now see Ryouma who was silently staring at the Forest Drake. Arata gave Ryouma the signal to wait. He jumped over to Ryouma and handed him his box. Ryouma now held the two boxes and understood. He was to wait here while Arata scouted the nest.

Arata rushed forward, bouncing from tree to tree. He saw another group of Forest Drake's on the ground. He sent another signal to Ryouma, showing his location with three additional pulses. Ryouma understood. 3 Forest Drake's at that location. Arata continued to search around the outskirts of the nest, sending the location and numbers of the Forest Drake's. Arata moved swiftly and efficiently, no wasted movements.

He found the nest and circled around it, staying on the edges of the nest, the border of the center area. He circled around to find all the Forest Drake's on the outskirts and sent their locations to Ryouma. Arata found that they were all spread out in a very organized manner. They had distance between them that they would be invisible to someone that walked through unknowingly, and then they could ambush them. They were also just close enough to each other that they could rush over if there was an attack.

They wouldn't expect anyone to be in the trees or in the sky as this was their territory, they were powerful and arrogant. No creature would be dumb enough to move about above a Forest Drake, so that made it the safest place. And with the Sato Clan Battle Suit and techniques, silently moving around was quite easy for Arata.

Arata quickly rushed back to Ryouma and grabbed one of the boxes from him. They moved out and began setting traps around the nest. The border around the centre of the nest that Arata had found was their "net". They set up traps quietly and efficiently. Arata had spent time with Ryouma during the past few days, teaching him how to set up the traps. He already had a good understanding of traps, so he picked it up quickly. After setting up the traps, they met up by the first Forest Drake they encountered. They began setting up their second trap. The locations of all the Forest Drake's were known to the two boys as they rushed around to all the points, setting up traps in the trees above the Forest Drake's on the outskirts. The two boys then met up and climbed down from the trees. They were now right on the border of the inner part of the nest. From here, they could see a large collection of trees folded over each other to create a shelter. They could hear the roars and sounds of both baby Forest Drake's and large powerful ones.

This was the nest. They both nodded at each other before entering. They stayed low and snuck around through the shrubbery. The trees in the area had been cut down so that the sun could come through. This made it impossible for the two boys to continue into the nest in the trees, so they had to move through on the ground. They weren't trying to attack just yet and mainly focused on reconnaissance.

Arata sent out a few signals to Ryouma who immediately went over to the side where there weren't many Forest Drake's. He found a small bush and placed his hand on it. When he removed his hand, there was a small flame, slowly setting fire to the bush. Ryouma rushed off before the fire become noticeable.

The Forest Drake's turned and began to roar angrily. They were vulnerable to fire. Seeing the fire, a few of the Forest Drake's went over to see if it was a threat and to put it out. Amidst the chaos, Arata sped into the large nest. He found some decaying flesh on the side and hid behind it while holding his breath.

He looked around the nest. There were a large number of baby Forest Drake's. But that wasn't the terrifying thing. Perched on large branches above all the baby Forest Drake's were 9 large Forest Drake's. Arata guessed that they were the elders of the Clan, the Bronze and Silver Ranked Forest Drake's. 6 of them were definitely Bronze Ranked while two were Silver. Then there was the one in the middle. Because of it's size and it's position, Arata knew that this was the strongest one here. He was unsure as to whether it was a Silver or Gold Ranked. He hoped that he was Silver but he needed to prepare for the worst.

As he was thinking about the plan from here, he took another look at the flesh before him and grew sick to his stomach as he realized that he was face to face with the decaying head of a young girl. He looked over at the baby Forest Drake's and could see them tearing away at flesh. Arms and legs of humans. He quickly sent out the signal to Ryouma to retreat as he escaped as well. They met up close to the village, away from the nest. As Ryouma saw Arata's pale, grim face, he checked on him.

"Captain, are you OK? What happened?"

Arata stayed silent for a while as he looked up at the sky. It was slowly turning dark. The image of the little girl and the baby Forest Drake's happily eating the villagers replayed in his mind. Arata shook his head and stared angrily in the direction of the nest.

"Once the sun goes down, we will begin."