Pre-Battle Problems

A man stood up in the dead of night and looked around the room he was in. There were a few people who were asleep next to him so he quietly picked his way through them before exiting the room, cringing in fear as the door squeaked on its close.

He looked around the corridor that he was in now, nothing but silence greeting him. All of the guards who weren't sleeping were out on the walls with none patrolling the inside of the castle, perfect for what he had to do.

The man slowly made his way up the castle, making sure he wasn't seen by the few people who were awake. It was difficult since he couldn't stop himself from shaking in fear.

He had to do this, if he didn't he would surely die tomorrow. This was the only way for him to survive. The man paused at the door he was looking for, unsure of himself. "Come on, this isn't just for you, this is for the sake of everyone here. What's the life of one kid compared to the lives of the thousands in this castle?" He told himself silently.

The man steeled himself before slowly opening the door and silently slipping into the room. He looked around the room until he found what he was looking for, Shi. He slowly approached the sleeping form, slowly summoning a steel spike.

He came upon the sleeping form, steeled himself, then launched the steel spike through the form's chest. The spike went through Shi and stuck into the floor with a soft thunk.

The man summoned another 3 steel spikes and launched them through the body as well to make sure Shi died. He then reached out his hand and grabbed the blankets covering the body, ripping them away.

Under the blankets was nothing but another 3 blankets, rolled up to resemble a sleeping child. The man turned and tried to sprint out the door, only to see the real Shi appear out of thin air next to the door, closing it. "Now, I'd like to know who sent you." Shi said, approaching the man, smiling.

"No, please, I had to do it, if I didn't kill you everyone here would die." The man said, backing away. "Oh? Do you think this is the first time I've had to deal with something like this?" Shi said, continuing towards the man.

"K-kill me if you want, b-but everyone here will die tomorrow. Y-you can't possibly defeat the Eikyo family." The man said, his back hitting the wall as he tried to keep retreating. "You know, I keep hearing people say that I can't do this, or it's impossible to do that," Shi said.

"But even if the odds are impossible, or my death is certain, I'll kill every single one of the bastards who tries to stop me. If God himself came down to keep me from killing Akio's army tomorrow, I'd slit his throat and hang him from my walls as a sign of my defiance. I've died once already, and I'll be damned before I die again without achieving my goal." Shi said, standing inches from the man.

"Wait, died once, what the fu-" the man started, before Shi slit his throat. Shi grabbed the man's body and took it towards the window in his room. Shi put the man under zero gravity before putting his body out the window and letting it hang mid-air for a second. Shi summoned 2 steel spikes which he used to pin the man's body to the wall of the castle that faced Akio's army.

Shi turned from the window and went to work burning the bloodstains off the floor before going to sleep. Shi woke up a few hours later and slowly armed himself for the day to come. Shi strung his bow before putting it on his bed and turning to his karambit.

Shi got out a whetstone and slowly sharpened his karambit until it was sharper than a razor. He then put the karambit on the bed next to his bed and oiled its sheath before starting a small fire and setting the freshly oiled sheath next to it to dry.

Shi then turned to his kunai sheaths, oiling them and putting them next to the karambit's sheath to dry. Shi turned to his kunai, sharpening them all to be as sharp as his karambit. Shi took out a leather strap and used it to strop the kunai and karambit, putting the finishing touches on the knives' sharpness.

Over the couple of hours it took to properly sharpen everything, the sheaths had dried so Shi grabbed the karambit's sheath and fastened it around his waist, sheathing his karambit on his hip. Shi then grabbed the first kunai sheath and strapped it to his right calf, sliding 5 kunai into their slots in the sheath.

Shi then grabbed the next sheath, strapping it to his left forearm and sliding another 5 kunai into it. The next sheath went on his upper back, holding another 5 kunai by the nape of Shi's neck. Shi grabbed the final sheath, which was much bigger than the others, went around Shi's midsection, the kunai's handles hanging out where Shi's shirt ended for easy access. This sheath held another 15 kunai that Shi slid up in their sheaths.

Shi then grabbed his bow and slung it across his back, grabbing a large quiver of arrows and slinging that across the other side of his back. Prep work done, Shi left his room and headed towards the walls.

Shi made it to the walls to see his men all lined up at the ready. He found Hyousuke pacing by the gates. "Hyousuke, get Daisan and Daichi and bring all of them here," Shi said, yawning casually.

Hyousuke nodded and rushed off to find the men. After a little while, he returned with everyone. "Alright, Daichi, watch your men today, one of them might be a traitor," Shi said when they arrived. "What makes you think that?" Daichi asked.

"Oh, you know, only that," Shi said, pointing towards the green-core mage that had attacked him's body hanging on the wall. "I see," Daichi said, visibly taken aback by the sight of the body.

"Other than that, Daichi, I need your men to play it safe, killing as many men as possible while keeping this castle safe from the mages." Shi said, dismissing Daichi with a wave. "Daisan, Hyousuke, I need you two to stop those bastards from breaking through the gates," Shi said.

"Alright, are you going to go hunting like last time?" Daisan asked. "No, not this time, I'm going into the thick of it today." Shi said, stretching and cracking his back. Daisan nodded and left to tend to the men.

Shi jumped up on the wall to get a good view of the outside and waited. After a little while an arrow flew at Shi. Shi caught the arrow and smiled, it was time.