26 New Shadowguard

Azrail and Masahiro left the room. As Masahiro closed the door behind him, he turned to follow Azrail as the walked down the corridor.

"Young Master Arata has found such a powerful Shadowguard already. One that is the same age and has already formed a strong bond with the Young Master. And they both have a lot of potential that they are already growing into. I believe that the future of the Sato Clan is looking rather bright, Master."

Azrail continued walking as he seemed to have something on his mind. This was not missed by Masahiro.

"Is there something wrong, Master?"

Azrail stopped walking and sighed.

"He is still so young. Although this is what he has been training for his whole life, I wonder if now should be the time or whether I should push it back. Allow him to be a child, for even just a bit more."

Masahiro understood his Masters thoughts.

"It must be done. It is asking a lot from someone so young, but the longer we delay, the more likely it is that we will fail. Can you really take that risk, Master?"

Azrail stood there silently in thought for a few seconds.

Ryouma turned to Arata who was smiling.

"You did it. Although the official ceremony and induction still needs to take place, you are now a part of the Sato Clan. My First Shadowguard. And the proof is right there in your hand."

Ryouma opened his palm. The Black Crystal was still embedded in his palm. Arata continued.

"The Black Crystal is the mark of a Shadowguard. Through the Shadow Trials, a piece of my Power is within that Crystal. It allows us to be connected and sense each other, regardless of distance. It also makes the both of us stronger whenever we fight together."

Ryouma went wide eyed. He didn't expect this small Crystal had so much meaning.

"How does it make us stronger?"

Arata grinned.

"I've actually been waiting for you to wake up so I could try this out."

Arata stretched out his hand and closed his eyes. Ryouma looked at him curiously when he felt his palm go warm. He looked at the Crystal which had started glowing. Ryouma gasped as a surge of Energy coursed through him. The weak feeling that he had was slowly being soothed. He felt like his meridians were absorbing this energy and it was strengthening him. He could feel his Elemental Reservoir being replenished at a much faster rate than before. The surge then began to ease up until things were back to normal.

Arata opened his eyes and put his arm down. He grinned as he looked at Ryouma's shocked face.

"So how do you feel?"

Ryouma was completely stunned. Although his Elemental Reservoir was still extremely empty, his body had recovered a lot and he was feeling a lot better.

"How did you do that?"

Arata stretched before continuing.

"Since you are part of the Sato Clan, you can learn our secret techniques now. Like the Shadow Awareness you learnt in the Shadow Realm, the Sato Clan have other techniques that we cultivate. They are known as the Sempiternal Art's. What I just used to help heal you is the Seventh Sempiternal Art: Chaos Cells. Usually this Art drains me a lot as my Mastery isn't that high and my capacity isn't as large as my Father's, but thanks to the Crystal, which is directly connected to the Shadow Realm, I can heal and empower you without needing to worry about things like capacity. The strength is limited to Mastery though so this is all I can do at the moment."

Ryouma looked at the Crystal in his palm in awe.

"This thing is that powerful?"

Arata chuckled at Ryouma's reaction. He was smart enough to understand the strength of the Crystal just from this brief description.

"That isn't even the most impressive thing you gained according to my Father."

Ryouma gave Arata a questioning look. Arata grinned as he reached behind his chair and pulled out a sword. Ryouma's eyes lit up as he recognized the sword. As he reached out for it, Arata stopped him.

"Now I have to remind you, this sword can potentially kill you. So do not remove the blade from the sheath."

Ryouma remembered what Masahiro and Azrail had said and took it carefully. Even though he just gotten the sword recently, he was already extremely fond of the blade. As Ryouma looked over the blade, Arata laughed quietly to himself.

"Although before you start using the sword, Masahiro said that in addition to his etiquette and conduct classes he will be teaching you, he also wants to teach you how to actually use a sword as he thinks, and I quote, your form and fighting style is similar to a drunk man holding a broken bottle. Sloppy, barbaric and unrefined."

Arata had put on a posh accent as he imitated Masahiro. Ryouma laughed at the imitation, but was also excited at the prospect of properly learning how to use a sword. Being from a poor background, he never had the opportunity to use or even hold a weapon before now, so now that he had his own blade, he was itching to learn how to properly handle it.

Ryouma then looked at Arata seriously.

"Can you tell me more about the blade? Why was I able to use it in the Shadow Realm?"

Arata nodded.

"They called it Kurou no Tatsu. It was the blade of one of the Original Sato Clan's Shadowguard's. Forged from the claw of the Dragon of Apocalypse. The founder of the Sato Clan fought it and left with a claw that he gave to his most trusted Shadowguard. And now you have it, ya know?"

Ryouma looked down at the blade with a look of reverence. The fact that the Shadows had led him to such a treasure that was so intertwined with the history of the Sato Clan filled him with joy. He desperately wanted to live up to the glory of the blade. Arata continued talking.

"Due to the immense power of the Dragon of Apocalypse, it requires a lot of power to wield it. While we were in the Shadow Realm, it was in and surrounded by it's Element so it could absorb Energy from it's surroundings. However, once we left the Realm, it reverted back to normal and absorbed the Energy of its user. Your Energy, ya know? Father says that as you grow stronger, you will be able to wield it for longer lengths of time until you are powerful enough to wield it indefinitely. Currently, Father says you can use it for just over a second before it kills you."

Ryouma frowned. A second? That's nothing? What can you do in a second? Arata giggled at Ryouma's facials.

"There is one more thing that Father wanted me to check. Can you activate Shadow Awareness?"

Ryouma shrugged and nodded. He closed his eyes and concentrated the Energy in his eyes. He circulated it like when he was in the Shadow Realm. After a few seconds, he was still circulating the Energy. It felt different now and he was having trouble activating it. Arata had already activated Shadow Awareness and was observing Ryouma. He could see that although Ryouma was circulating the Energy in the correct way, he didn't have the right amount of Energy to activate it.

"You can stop, you won't get it."

Ryouma opened his eyes. He was now disappointed and slightly depressed. No only could he not use the sword, but now he couldn't activate Shadow Awareness. Arata saw that Ryouma was feeling bad about not being able to use Shadow Awareness and spoke up.

"You are circulating it correctly, but your Energy is slightly weak right now. And not being in the Shadow Realm obviously makes it harder to activate it. Father said that once you have a proper grasp on Shadow Awareness, I am to teach you more Sempiternal Art's. So for now, just practice it until you can freely use it."

Arata then stood up.

"Well we are late so we should probably head back to the Institute, ya know?"

Ryouma nodded and then he froze.

"Wait, did you just say that we are late?"

Arata nodded.

"Yeah, so what?"

Ryouma went pale. Arata stared at him confused.

"Are you OK?"

Ryouma looked at Arata with fear in his eyes.

"I think we should just stay here for today, Captain. I don't think going to class is a good idea right now."

Arata frowned at Ryouma's demeanour. Then he thought about Teacher Takuma and it clicked in his head. He laughed.

"Oh come on man. She isn't that scary. Come on, let's go."

Before Ryouma could stop him, Arata had already gotten up and walked to the door. Ryouma sighed and got out of bed, hurriedly put on the clothes by the bed, grabbed the Kurou no Tatsu and ran after Arata. Hyosuke was waiting by the front door for them. As they approached, he smiled at Ryouma.

"So you're one of us now, huh? Not bad kid. Now you are just one step away from being a bona-fide Shadowguard."

Ryouma looked at him confused.

"I thought I was a Shadowguard? What is the last step?"

Hyosuke looked at Arata and they both grinned evilly. Hyosuke laughed as he put his hand on Ryouma's shoulder as he walked out the door with them.

"You need to cause some havoc of course. We at the Sato Clan and the masters of the shadows. Darkness. Of course we need to cause some chaos."

As Arata and Hyosuke were laughing, there was a loud slap sound as Hyosuke was pushed forward. He rubbed the back of his head as he looked around.

"Stop corrupting the new member."

Ryouma felt a chill go down his spine. The deep voice seemed to come from all directions. It was jarring. Hyosuke grumbled as he rubbed his head.

"Such a teachers pet. Go be a perv somewhere else."

Arata chuckled at Hyosuke. He turned to the confused Ryouma.

"Another one of Father's Shadowguard's. You will meet the others at some point, ya know?"

The Sato Clan just continued to impress and keep Ryouma intrigued. A carriage was by the door. Unlike when Arata left with his Father, there were no other servants besides Hyosuke so he was still acting comfortably. They got in as Hyosuke sat up the front to drive.

They arrived back at the Institute. As Arata got out of the carriage, he had once again donned his arrogant demeanor. Arata had explained things to Ryouma in the ride over. Hyosuke also mentioned a few things for Ryouma to consider now that he was a Shadowguard, a representative of the Sato Clan. Ryouma walked behind Arata, fully embodying the look of a bodyguard. There were still students around as not everyone had a class on at this time. They all recognized Ryouma as he was rather well known throughout the Institute, but most didn't know who the person he seemed to be following was.

As they neared their class, Arata knocked twice before just opening the door and walking in. Teacher Takuma was clearly in the middle of explaining something when Arata just walked in. He half heartedly bowed.

"I believe my Father has already informed the school the Ryouma and I would be arriving late. Apologies."

Arata then walked to the front desk and sat next to Akari who looked at Arata and Ryouma with relief. She had been worried all morning about how they were doing and was extremely relieved to see that they were both fine. Ryouma bowed politely to Teacher Takuma before going to join Arata and Akari. Teacher Takuma, however, stopped Ryouma.

"I was informed that you would both be late. But that means nothing to me. You were both still late. I'm sure you understand what that means, Ryouma."

Ryouma looked at Teacher Takuma with a terrified look. Teacher Takuma smiled evilly as she walked on stage.

"Ryouma. Arata. Get up here now."