TRIAL

"Who are you?"

Wazuki stares at Muto with an annoyed look. Muto stands there smiling and pushes past him.

"I did not think that so many Nobles would be asleep in a barn with stables haha!"

Soon after, everyone starts to congregate at the door of the barn where Muto is looking around. Kibe, who was asleep prior to the knock on the door, walks up to Muto.

"Hey old man! We don't want anything you're selling so could you leave?"

His eyes are virtually closed and seeing this, Muto picks his nose and flicks a booger at Kibe, who was too slow to react. The booger falls on Kibe's hair and after a brief pause, his facial expression changes and he runs out of the barn.

"AHHHHHHHHH! It's in my hair! Why did you put it in my hair!"

He runs to the river and begins to wash his hair out.

Muto laughs, falling to the ground and rolling. Soon after, Shinji speaks up.

"Why are you here, old man?"

"I came to see if you had successfully dissolved the pill but I guess there is nothing to worry about!"

Ever since Muto walked into the barn, Marlin has been keeping a close eye on him. So far, he has noticed that his guard is completely down, meaning that he does not see anyone here as a threat and that even throughout all this, he still holds the greatsword over his shoulder. With this information, Marlin decides to test Muto by changing Excalibur into the size of a hairpin and throwing it at him. He adds a bit of chi to aid the speed by which it is thrown. The hairpin Excalibur, which is headed to Muto's neck is swiftly parried and lodges into the wall on the opposite side of the barn. Muto smirks.

"Gosh kid, you have to be careful with your toys because with enough power behind it, even a hairpin can cripple a God."

Muto then stabs the sword into the ground.

Marlin, though he should be surprised, confirmed his theory. The man in front of him is comparable to his father in strength, meaning that he is at a completely different level. With that established, he thinks of going about dealing with someone like this and ultimately comes to one option, Dialogue.

"So, why are you still here? You clearly see that he is fine. Is it not time to leave?"

"Eh? Who are you to tell me when to leave? You guys are in my town."

Muto walks over and pulls the hairpin out of the wall.

"Besides, a group like yours intrigues me. Why is it that your group seems so different from the other kids that passed through here? Is it fortune or skill?"

Shinji scratches his head.

"What are you talking about, old man?"

Muto hands the hairpin to Marlin and whispers something to him. Wazuki, who has been quiet since Muto walked in, notices something when he touches the hairpin Excalibur. It was burning his hand using its dormant energy and once handed back to Marlin, stopped exerting energy. He then looks at Muto's Greatsword and with memories of his past life flowing into his mind, he uses Shadow Step to get directly in front of Muto.

"What? Do you need something, kid?"

"That Sword. Can I have it?"

"...What?"

"I want your swo-"

"No, I heard what you said. I am just not sure how to react to a brazen request such as giving my weapon to a kid."

Wazuki stares at Muto and the latter does the same. Kibe, who had just finished washing his hair, begins to walk in.

"Guys, Im back, Is the old guy go-"

He notices that the room has quieted down considerably and thinks to himself

(The energy is tense here! What did I just walk into?)

Muto sighs and then laughs to himself which surprises Wazuki.

"As expected of Mikoto's child! He was also not the type to back down. Alright! I will not be giving you this greatsword as you simply cannot handle it. What I will do is let you have my other sword."

Muto pulls out a greatsword, more so similar to the one he had before. The difference is that it had an ominous crimson red blade. Wazuki's eyes sparkled. He tries to grab the sword but Muto pushes him by the head and holds the sword at a height where Wazuki cannot reach it.

"Hold it. You have to do something for me to get this sword. Actually, I have something for each of you if you complete my trial."

"Huh?"

Muto holds up a bag and upon opening it, he pulls out a handful of high tier cultivation pills.

"These can help you get stronger. I will give each of you a pill and throw in the greatsword so will you hear me out?"

Marlin steps up.

"I need that pill so I will do it."

Kibe scratches his head.

"Wait, how do you know that he isn't sending us to our death?"

Marlin and Wazuki look at him with determination on their faces.

"I want that sword."

"I want that pill."

Kibe ultimately gives in and accepts the challenge as well. Shinji, who is already aware of the effects of the skill accepts as well.

"What about you, Ruka?"

Wazuki looks around and notices that Ruka has not been involved in this conversation. She has been sitting in the rafters with an angered expression on her face.

(She was always polite to anyone else that we met so what makes this situation different? Maybe I am overthinking it.)

"Anyways, since you accepted, let me fill you in on the details. You are to go up that hill and slay the giant beast that has been terrorizing the people of this town. Pretty simple, huh? Bring its carcass to the top of the mountain where you will find a small house and leave it there. Sounds good?"

They all nod but Marlin asks a question.

"Have you ever been up there? You sound familiar with the mountain."

"...Something like that hehehe!"

"...Alright, well let's go."

After that, they all rush towards the hill, leaving Ruka at the barn. While leaving, without turning his head, Muto says something.

"Having hate in your heart clouds your judgment and gets in the way of your goals, my dear. You are still holding on to things that happened in the past. Forgive and forget eh, my -"

Before he could finish, Ruka throws a barrel of wheat at Muto, who gets hit by it.

Muto gets up and gives a somber smile.

"Let us hope that your friends can work as a team to come back safely. This experience might make them grow in more ways than even I can comprehend."

Muto leaves without saying another word. After he leaves, tears begin to stream down Ruka's face but her angry face remains.

…

The rest of the group traverse the hill in their respective ways and after 20 minutes of searching, they feel a small tremor. Kibe determines that they are getting close to the target and rushes off with the others following him. Once they get to the area, they see the 'beast' that Muto spoke about. It was a beast which was more than twenty feet tall and had a spiked tail, resembling a club. The beast itself resembled a big cat with its upper fangs protruding from its mouth. There were also some human skulls tied to its face which was shielded with a mask-like exoskeleton.

It had not noticed the group yet so Marlin took it upon himself to sneak attack it. He turned Excalibur into a rapier and stabbed at the beast, landing the first blow

[END OF CHAPTER 16]