Back To Training

Taku started. "General Maka."

"Don't call me that behind closed doors." Maka interrupted. "Just call me Sister Maka or just Maka. I don't really mind."

"Oh..." Taku was shocked.

"What's with these two and just dropping honorifics?" Taku thought to himself.

"Ma-Maka... Will you be an instructor at the Elephant Foot Guard?" Taku asked.

"Yes, I will be," Maka answered truthfully. "But don't worry I won't be in charge of you or anyone who might be around you. Because if I was, I doubt you little brats can take it."

Even though Taku was merely ten years old in appearance, his mentality was that of a grown man. So being called a brat by a girl who was probably younger than him, made him feel as if his pride was being shredded.

"Before you ask anything else, let me ask you something." Maka looked intently at Taku and then asked. "Which weapons do you plan on using?"

This question caught Taku off guard. There was so much going on at the moment that he didn't even have the idea of which weapon he thought would suit him more. He was silent for a while because back on Earth he only did Martial Arts and specialized in close hand to hand combat, so he had never really thought about weapons.

Looking at the little boy who was deep in thought, Maka couldn't help but smile. "Your close combat is very good and it can be a valuable asset to you. But at the same time weapons also have their advantages. If you want to be a close combat specialist I won't stop you, but only if you choose a weapon, or two to use as well."

"I really know nothing about weapons," Taku said honestly. "Maybe you could help me out?"

"Sure."

...

Saru at the moment could barely keep his calm as he walked. He finally arrived at the pond and tried his best to calm himself but to no avail. He finally threw the idea at the back of his head and called out. "Bhure!"

"Yes, Lord Saru." The minute Bhure appeared, he was shocked beyond measure when he saw Saru's current expression.

During his time working with Saru, he had only seen him like this once before. And that was when he had found Maka.

"Looks like that kid is one hell of a gem." Bhure thought.

"Bhure, that kid you brought is one hell of a gem. I'm so happy that I could die now and feel as if my life has been worth it."

Bhure looked at Saru in shock. "Has this guy finally lost it...?"

"Don't look at me like that! I'm not crazy." Saru snapped. "Or at least I think I'm still sane, okay fine, let's do it like this. I'm going to tell you part of what's going on, and at the end of it if you can still keep your current state of mind I'll help you get a promotion."

Bhure was excited. "All I have to do is keep calm right? I was trained for this. Easy promotion here I come."

Bhure looked at Saru in anticipation.

"Okay then. You asked for it." Saru started. "He reached the fourth level..."

The minute the last sentence was finished Bhure dropped to his knees. "B-b-but he's 10 years old, how is that even possible?"

Seeing this Saru couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Anyway, I need you to do me a favor. I want to take this kid in as my disciple, but at the same time, I want him to join the Elephant Foot Guard like Maka. I want him to join the Intermediate class and train there for a couple of years. I fear that if he enters the class for nobles he'll be taken away by some stupid clan. I want him to be the least noticeable person there.

I know you have a brother who is an instructor there. I want you to have him wipe out any information about how outstanding this kid is. And I also want this kid to be personally trained when it comes to weapons."

Bhure sank deep into thought when he heard this. "To have my brother wipe the information is the easy part. The part about personal training is the issue. It's not that no one will be able to do it but the price of it is too high."

"You know for a fact that money is not of any concern to me," Saru spoke whilst smiling. "Wait here and give me a minute. I need to learn which weapon he wants to use."

Bhure looked at Saru's departing figure and couldn't help but smile. Saru on the other hand was filled with anticipation. The minute he got by the door he couldn't help but halt before he opened the door.

This was because he heard Maka talking about weapons. "She beat me to it."

"Since you are good at close combat it's best if you chose a short sword and your primary weapon. But my advice is that you should also pick a weapon that will help you in long-ranged fights. The most suitable one for that is a spear. So what do you think."

Taku looked at Maka in amazement. Before this, she had cataloged every weapon he could think of and gave him the advantages and disadvantages of those weapons. After that, she picked the two weapons that would most likely be suitable for the way he fights.

Saru who had only heard the last part of her explanation nodded his head in approval and then walked away. He didn't even wait to hear what Taku had to say about it, because he was already too satisfied with Maka's suggestion.

In the small room, Taku didn't take long to agree with what Maka was saying. He knew nothing about weapons, to begin with, but the girl in front of him knew quite a lot. So he decided to put his faith in her.

"Maka, about this soul manifestation, do you know anything about it?" Taku asked.

Maka shook her head. "That's not my forte, we should wait till Master comes back and he will explain everything else."

Taku nodded his head and the room went silent. But it didn't stay like that for long, as Saru walked in a couple of seconds later.

"Everything is sorted," Saru spoke. "You will travel with Maka to the Elephant Foot Guard in three days. Do you have any more questions?"

Taku asked. "The Soul Manifestation, how does it work?"

"Oh, that thing. I'm sure he told you that you don't need to chant anything to activate it. There are a series of movements you have to do with your hands in order to activate it. But after some time you'll be able to manifest your soul into anything with just a thought. But that is only after you have mastered the full set of hand seals.

All the information should be in your brain. I advise you to start looking into it after a few days of rest."

After he was done speaking Saru left the room again and left the two youngsters in the room alone.

"You must be hungry." Maka started. "Go take a bath and I will take you to have some food. You shouldn't overexert yourself too much in the following days. Just try your best to rest."

Maka also stood up and left after saying this, leaving Taku alone. Taku at the moment was still in pain, but he couldn't help but smile at how it all turned out. He didn't know what the future held, but he was eagerly waiting for it. He rarely thought of it, but the idea of taking over the world still lingered on in his mind, patiently waiting for him to acquire the tools required to achieve it. Taku was not a perfectionist, but he was thorough and careful. He would not take action until he fully understood this world.

Even though he was excited about the future, he still couldn't help but think of the past.

"I wonder how the people on Earth are doing. Was there cultivation in my old world... as if!"

Taku had a long-expression on his face when he thought about his home. He couldn't help but wonder what he would've become if he hadn't died. He calmed his mind and got up slowly from the bed.

And then he suddenly burst out laughing.

"If there are cultivators on earth with abilities like here it would explain the UFO sightings. So it actually might have been two people fighting or just some guy flying."

...

Three days went by in a flash, Taku and Maka were now on their way to the Elephant Foot Guard. At first, Maka wanted to fly there, but Saru had insisted that they go by foot. This was because he wanted Taku to experience the world before he went into the Guard.

They had to pass by dozens of villages before they could get to their destination. One of those villages was Taku's old village.

They didn't go through the village, instead, they just went past it, but it still triggered some nostalgia from Taku. Taku and Maka were wearing simple animal skins thus the villagers simply took them as passersby. Due to his experiences, Taku had changed quite a bit. His body had gotten slightly taller and his temperament had changed completely, thus no one could remember the young man. No one in the village liked him enough to care about what happened to him. As far as they were concerned they had one less burden to worry about.

Along the way, Maka explained to Taku that he needed to rest a bit by looking at nature. Which is why they took their sweet time reaching their destination. The surroundings were soothing to Taku, and he realized that Maka's words were quite true. He felt his mental state improve bit by bit and he felt more and more invigorated as time passed. After a while, Taku entered a trance-like state.

"Oi. Wake up."

A voice brought Taku out of his trance. One look at his surroundings made him realize that he was now back to the area with huts, with Maka nowhere in sight.

"What happened?" Taku rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the situation.

"You were standing there like a lifeless retard, that's what." It was one of the bulky men who had been abusive to the children during registration. It amazed Taku just how similar these men were. They were all bald and buff. There were only slight differences between them.

"Where the heck did Maka go? Damn it she abandoned me. I still have a ton of questions to ask her. Flip!"

"Brat, follow me. The training is about to start." The buff man started walking away. Taku wanted to ask what training, but after considering where he was he swallowed his words.

"Sigh, I have no control over my destiny at all. It's all because I'm too weak. I need to get stronger. No matter the cost."

Taku had long realized that in the Gutu Empire power was everything. Now however he had truly accepted this in his heart.

As the duo walked, the buff man looked back to see why Taku was so silent.

"Hhmm? Are those the eyes of a ten-year-old?"

The man would not admit it to anyone, but he was somewhat intimidated by the look in Taku's eyes.

"Looks like this batch will be interesting."