Chapter 18 Breakfast Chat

-1 Hour Later-

Sitting at the dining table of Kajima's dining room. Two contrasting figures could be seen waiting for Kajima to arrive with breakfast. On one side was a young man whose head was laid in his arms while on the table, his eyes looked as if he just had his soul repeatedly ripped from him and then forcibly shoved back into himself.

His face was also red and he felt an odd glee in his heart which made him slightly blush.

On the other side was a young woman who was laughing hysterically at the sight of the young man's state.

The young man was Azi and after being both "rewarded" and punished by the young woman, better known as Shizu. He felt that he should try to stay away from her, or else he might lose his life or common modesty in the future.

When Kajima approached, Azi lifted his head from the table and saw that he had set out a spread of food with the accompanying tableware.

"Glad to see you are still alive Azi. How was it?"

Recollecting from Kajima's question, Azi shuddered at the memory of his experience and deadpanned with flushed cheeks. "No comment."

He then began to put some food from the table onto his plate. Kajima nodded to Azi in understanding of his both hellish and heavenly experience. He too proceeded to put food onto his own plate and began to dig in.

The breakfast today was an assortment of dried fruits, a porridge soup that reminded Azi of oatmeal, black bread, grilled sausages, a dark colored pastry dessert, red berries, and milk like drink.

Azi was delighted to find out that the dark colored dessert tasted like the dark chocolate from his memories. With each bite, he could feel his mind heal and with it a few trivial memories came back to him.

Even though they were unimportant details such as the color of his room, he also remembered emotions. The current feeling he got was a sense of ease since the taste of the dark chocolate made him feel at home.

Shizu on the other hand was taken aback by how Azi was able to eat such a bitter dessert and instead opted for the red berries which were overly sweet.

As the two enjoyed their respective favored food items, Kajima smiled wryly. It had been a long while since Kajima was able to have breakfast with some company and the current situation reminded him of the times he used to eat with his wife and children.

Wanting to add some casual conversation to the meal he brought up a matter he wanted to discuss. "So Shizu, what brought you to my home this morning? Shouldn't you be heading back to Kujyuri?"

Turning her head up from her plate, she swallowed the scoop of porridge she had in her mouth. "I'll be staying in Shisayama to act as the leader of the village watch and would like to request accommodations with you Uncle Kajima."

"Why?" Kajima asked. "There are better places to sleep than my old house."

"Yes, that is true, but I'll be staying here so that I am close by to act as a tutor to my new apprentice."

"Oh, that's rare. You have never decided to take on anyone as an apprentice before. Tell me who is the lucky lad?"

His attention initially on Shizu was soon turned to Azi when Shizu looked at a blissfully unaware Azi and gave him a teasing smile.

"That would be Azi, my father Ozen has asked me to help take care of him so after I suggested that he become my apprentice, Ozen thought about it, and he approved."

Hearing her somewhat teasing but serious statement, Azi was taken off guard by Shizu's statement that he choked a bit when he attempted to swallow the food in his mouth.

He was able to not choke but then commented through his reflexive coughs. "Ummm. Do..Do I have a choice?"

"Yes." Said Shizu. "But I suggest that you accept. Usually, apprentices are drawn from the academy in Yamato and the benefits are numerous. Also I am quite the teacher when it comes to combat."

"Are you going to torture me again and call it training?" Asked Azi with a deadpan look.

"Oh, don't worry, it's not like my training will kill you." Shizu said with the best reassuring smile she could muster.

But to him, her smile had the opposite effect as Azi made a horrified expression as he was fearful of how Shizu did not deny the tortube part of his statement. He imagined the kind of "training" he would likely face from his fractured memories of shounen anime that had an archetype character of a sadistic teacher who would train their students with very forceful methods.

His face turned pale at his wild imaginations and decided to move his chair next to Kajima to get some distance from Shizu. While Azi considered her to be a friend, he considered her to be a very physical kind of friend. The kind that would likely want to push him to his physical limits as a kind of bonding experience.

Fearing that he might break from her training, he averted his gaze from Shizu as he began focusing on his food. Kajima could only laugh at Azi's actions and leveled a questioning gaze upon Shizu. "So, what do you plan to teach him first? I already know what I plan to teach him."

Wiping the food from her face, Shizu raised her pointer finger to indicate the steps to her plan. "First will be combat sparring, second will be strength training, and third will be stamina training. We'll start slow and then move into sparring then actual combat training in the forest."

"I can agree to that, but I believe Azi should first learn how to disassemble animals and monsters. He would need this skill to be able to feed himself should he need to provide for himself. How about it Azi, want me to teach you first? I can also teach you how to make tools from the materials we harvest."

As he ate, Azi contemplated the two options of either the hellish training from Shizu or the more interesting lessons on material harvesting and handicrafts.

To him, there was no contest in his mind so he turned to Kajima while somewhat trying to ignore Shizu's piercing gaze on him.

"I'll go with your lesson first Kajima."

Disappointed, Shizu pouted at how Azi chose Kajima over her.

"Fine! But my lessons will be next for sure. You aren't going to run away from me that easily."

Seeing her cute pout, Azi thought for a moment that Shizu looked somewhat funny and cute, but reminded himself that she was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Ruminating on his options, he had to admit that he had no choice as they would be living together from now on and that would make it difficult for him to avoid her continued insistence.

Additionally, Azi needed to find a way to start earning a living and becoming an apprentice to a famous knight would be of use as he could use Shizu's connections to learn more about the world. Coming to a decision, he cautiously agreed.

"Alright but please don't be too rough on me. Remember, I wasn't a soldier in the past so fighting is unnatural to me."

"True, but you do have potential."

Shizu began to appraise Azi and she noticed that his arms were somewhat muscular but still thin. Seeing that Shizu was looking at his skinny arms, he questioned what she saw in him.

"Potential? How so? I'm nothing like a muscular soldier."

Shizu nodded in acceptance of his claims but pointed at him to get his attention.

"During the fight with the kengiri, I saw how you killed 3 gengiri with ease. You did lack some control in your actions as you seemed to have lost your cool and gone berserk. BUT!"

Moving her chair close, Shizu pressed a finger into his chest where his heart.

"I can tell that you have some grit, valor, and strength within you. We just need to cultivate it or drag it out of you somehow."

A bit flustered and fearful when Shizu got so close, Azi did heed her words. Her interpretation of Azi's previous battle made him remember that his arms and hands were glowing blue during the moments he took a hit from the kengiri. He then recalled that when he was fighting the gengiri he felt a fiery sensation in his heart.

After Shizu sat back down, Azi began looking at his hands. Closing his eyes, he began to focus on recreating that past sensation. He could feel something flowing from his heart to the tips of his fingers.

Shizu and Kajima were confused by his actions as they gave him questioning looks, but their expressions changed to impressed smiles as they witnessed a small blue glow emanate from his arms and hands. The blue glow took the form of veins spreading out like lightning down his arms and to his fingertips.

Azi opened his eyes and was fascinated by the glowing blue lines on his hands, but it soon faded as he lost focus on the sensation that fueled the blue glow. His hands returned to normal and after inspecting himself a bit, he lifted his head and met their gazes with a befuddled mind.

"What was that?"

"That would be a form of thaumaturgy." Said Kajima. "It seems you are able to focus magical energies into your body, this is a common feat done by Yamaton soldiers as a way to fortify themselves. Usually during battles, the glow is only slightly noticeable if you look hard enough but it usually goes unnoticed. Thaumaturges can do much more with magical energies. Feats such as throwing fire, summoning elementals, casting examination magic, or even using a form of telepathy are common for advanced thaumaturgic practitioners."

"This is great." Shizu added. "You already have the beginning skills of a soldier. You have already shown that you can fight and now you have demonstrated that you can gather magical energies. We should see a local thaumaturge in the village to get some lessons and see what your aptitudes are."

"Aptitudes? What are those?" Azi asked.

Getting up from the table Shizu conjured a small ball of fire in her hand.

"They tell which elements a person is able to use. The basics are fire, water, earth, and wind. The more advanced elements are combinations of the 4 basic elements that are called variants and finally there is a miscellaneous element known as colorless. Colorless is believed to be the fuel for all other elements but not much else is known as the other useful elements are more widely researched."

After listening to her explanation, Azi's curiosity peaked as the idea of magic reminded him of all the games he played and daydreams he had of wielding such a power. He imagined himself throwing fireballs or even flying through the sky which made Azi's expression change into an excited smile.

He then quickly finished the food on his plate as he washed it down with the milk like drink. With Apparent excitement on his face, Azi stood up, raring to go.

"Alright then, let's get the lessons started. The sooner I finish the first two the sooner I can learn magic."

Shizu and Kajima laughed a bit at Azi's exuberance and his acceptance to both of their lessons. His newly founded enthusiasm contrasted from his previously meek and flushed mood earlier and the two could only laugh in amusement at his childlike excitement.

"Alright my boy, calm down. I'll meet you in the workshop so wait for me there." Kajima soon stood up and began clearing the table.

Azi gave a nod of affirmation and ran off to the workshop with a bit of skip in his step. Before he moved to join Azi, he was still curious of Shizu's decision to make Azi her apprentice.

In a sudden change of character, he placed the gathered dishes down and raised a hand to Shizu to stop her from getting up. He then sat across from her with his narrowed eyes of suspicion.

"So? What is the real reason why you decided to stay? Training Azi is one thing, but I believe Ozen has some motive to allow you to stay here."

Sighing, Shizu relaxed a bit in her seat. "While you seem so laxed and open on the outside, your mind and personality are still as sharp as ever Uncle Kajima."

After pausing for a moment Shizu made sure that Azi was no longer within earshot and made her resolve to speak her mind.

"Yes, Ozen does have a motive. He asked me to keep an eye on Azi as he believed him to be a potentially useful ally, but we needed some way to keep him in Kujyuri so that he could potentially help solve the manpower issue our nation faces. Ozen and I discussed the best course of action to try to keep Azi in Kujyuri and we agreed that I should take him on as my apprentice and have him be my potential fiancé should he be able to pass my trials."

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