17. Talking With The Captain

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"What am I witnessing?"

"The beginning of something greater, Captain."

When Ophelia heard that Taiyo and Mia were bringing someone new to poker night, she didn't expect much. She had even expected less when she saw that it was an eleven year old girl who had never played poker before.

Her doubts were revitalised when that child had played poorly for the first half hour, only to start slowly earning back the money and then start stealing the money from everyone else within the next. However, the greedy smiles of Taiyo and Mia clued her in that something was remiss, especially since they were the ones that had lost the most money.

That was because they were the masterminds behind everything that was happening.

They taught me the basics of poker the night prior and told me about the others' tells I had to look out for. Tells that I had further imprinted in my mind that I used in tandem with card counting, using my memory to reinforce the advantage card counting gave.

In exchange for the money I get, they earn a portion. 40% my way, and 60% evenly split between the two.

The only thing standing between us at this point and the 1,000,000 Jewel on the table in front of them is their favourite Vice-Captain, Akihiko, who was brought in by the other seven Vice-Captains and Lieutenants.

The stone-faced martial artist was stumping me so far, and I was struggling to find even a crack in his expression, any signs of either victory or defeat in the hands he held, and every time the deck was reshuffled I had to count the cards over again.

In my hands were Three of a Kind, and he could easily have one himself. Or, he could be holding a High Card, which would mean I could win. But there's a Royal and Straight Flush still sitting in the deck somewhere, too, meaning I could just fuck myself with this last hand.

"Remember, kid. This is all or nothing. That hand of yours better be good otherwise they get all their money back."

The cards had been dealt only minutes ago, but those words were all the pressure I could take as I lay down the set of threes, a king of clubs, and seven of spades. The hopes I had of attaining the money I desperately needed were dashed, though, as Aki revealed his cards.

All were hearts, the highest being a jack and descending to a seven. A Straight Flush.

Cheers erupted from the victims of the night's planned hustle while Mia and Taiyo broke down in anguish as easy money was just taken out of their hands by one of their friends.

"Dammit!"

"No! I was going to buy a new purse!"

The cheers stopped as they all looked at Taiyo in slight shock.

"What? They're helpful."

I just left, pockets empty and lamenting the lost opportunity to buy more scrolls and books.

The party seemed to resume in earnest behind me as the cheers grew louder and the familiar strings of Aki's samisen picked up on the edges of my hearing before vanishing as I continued walking under the walkways that surrounded the various courtyards.

My destination was the training yards, where I'd been practising everything I could in secret for the past few weeks. My mother's words were still prominent in my ears.

She told me to grow strong, and I was determined to do so.

Every second I had I spent studying. Every moment Taiyo wasn't monitoring me I trained my body and magic. Instead of sleeping, I was suffering, resting my body and forcing my mind and magic to grow accustomed to the heat of Allaheargh's Test as I meditated in the bonfire's presence.

When I arrived, however, the unexpected sight of Captain Tatsuo entered my vision. The elderly monster was sitting there in a tank top and sweats, his hair braided over his shoulder as he was holding a flask in his hands and absently watching the moon.

As if sensing my presence he looked in my direction with a quizzical look in his grey eyes. The captain took one last swig before putting the flask in his pocket and motioning to the training field where several rotating wooden dummies, obstacle courses, and gymnastics equipment stood.

"Go on then. Show me what you've got."

Taking a deep breath I took off my hoodie and rolled up my sweats, trying to prepare to entertain my unexpected, and intimidating, audience. Unexpectedly, he came down to the field with me and prompted me to attack him, holding his hands outright with his palms facing me.

"No magic. Just your body."

"I was…going to do stretches first?"

His eyebrow slightly quirked up as a ghost of a smile twitched itself onto his face.

"Good. There isn't any reason to strain yourself while training, especially since you're still in the latter stage of recovery. Lead me through your routine then, and I'll criticise when appropriate."

I did exactly as he said, leading through several minutes of toe touches, Samson, cobra, and quadricep stretches. He only criticised me during jumping jacks, side bends, and lunges.

The captain took the quiet time we stretched to instruct me on breathing exercises which helped relieve the tension I usually felt stretching much easier than usual.

Eventually, the stretches came to an end in my favourite ending pose, the butterfly stretch, as we got to end in a sitting position as a comfortable pull occurred in our upper legs. Subsequently, it also became my meditation pose.

"Why do you put in so much effort?"

My attention was pulled towards the captain as his baritone voice spread smoothly across the field.

"In all my years I have never seen a child so determined as you. Not even my fool of a nephew who tore his knee as a result of his brazenness. So, why?"

Whether it was the pressure of his gaze or the weight of his question that forced my head to hang low I couldn't answer, instead my thoughts ran through everything that had happened since Rosemary, and even what my family must have gone through in the time prior.

He just watched with patience as I was lost in my mind, unaware of my hand rubbing my lower eyelid where my synthetic resided. When my answer came out it was quiet, but held as much conviction as I could muster.

"I have no choice."

He stroked his beard as he pondered my answer, his gaze turning back to the moon.

"Is it fear?"

"Yes."

"For yourself or others?"

"My friends."

"So you still worry for those who were enslaved alongside you?"

"Yes and…no."

"How so?"

"They aren't in danger anymore, but…they could be."

"Are they free?"

"No."

"And you know where they are? You weren't fully honest with me back then, were you?"

"Yes, sir…"

"So why don't you say where they are then? Report everything to the Magic Council?"

"Because then…they would be in danger."

"I could easily do it myself then, you know? No Council involved."

"But you won't."

"You're right, lass. I won't. I may have not been born here, but my concerns lie with this city. Anything outside these borders isn't my problem. So, when do you think you'll be strong enough to save them?"

"I don't know."

"So you accept the fact that you're weak?"

"Yes."

"And when will you stop trying to grow stronger?"

"Never. I'll never know when someone stronger than me will come and steal everything away from me again. I can't stop training."

"And how much are you willing to endure to attain that strength?"

"Anything and everything."

He just stared at me in silence for some time before plucking a blade of grass and waving for me to take it. When I pinched it between thumb and forefinger the green blade immediately set ablaze.

The smell of smoke entered my nostrils prompting me to look around me. All the grass around me was ash before turning green again. A translucent orange wave of heat seemed to be trapping the leaking magic energy inside my immediate area.

"You're letting your emotions control your magic, lass," Tatsuo spoke as he stood up with a sigh, "And you're speaking dangerous words. But fine, let's put those convictions to the test. Impress me enough in these small trials and I'll take you as my personal student."

"But be warned, I've been told that my perception of "small" has been distorted by my strength." As he talked he grasped a large river stone used to line the fields that looked like a small rock in his hands, proving his point. "Plenty of people have asked to be my disciple, and none have passed. Not even my blood. But considering you seem determined to get yourself killed one way or another, I might as well show you the difference in strength that lies in this world you have to look forward to."

"And on the small chance you do pass…"

I watched as he raised the fist-sized stone up in front of his face. With a level of nonchalance befitting a slumbering drunk, he released a small and slow breath onto the rock.

That single breath, however, made me realise how much of a monster he was.

The rock melted, quickly turning into lava with the heat of his breath alone. The molten rock then oozed off his unflinching hand like water and fell unceremoniously onto the rock bed he pulled it from.

With a lazy gaze, he smirked with a small amount of pride upon seeing my shocked and intimidated expression before standing in the stance he had at the beginning, posture solid and palms outstretched.

"You can expect great gains, but pain to accompany you with every step you take on this path. If your words have weight to them, then show me whether or not you are someone worthy of becoming my disciple."

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