Chapter 74 Rest and Relaxation

As Ougi's fist flew through the air towards Azi's face, Ougi had a slight grin on his somewhat ever stoic face. His brow furrowed in the next moment as he did not feel the expected sensation of Azi's face against his gloved fist.

Deftly moving his less dominant left hand, Ougi caught an unexpected punch coming at his right side that was just out of his blind spot. He noticed the few strands of a familiar head of disheveled black hair.

It was Azi and he had spun to the right while using his left foot as a pivot to move out of the path of Ougi's punch. Using his small stature, Azi slouched a bit to hopefully hide from Ougi's sight as he closed the gap between himself and Ougi's right side.

Azi has been trying to improve his hand to hand combat and grappling techniques for the past two weeks and was beginning to show progress. After being constantly thrown to the snowy ground, he learned how to evade and counterattack.

But Ougi had an impressive amount of control over his body.

Ougi was a senshokenshi who was trained in many artes but he specialized in swordsmanship, hunting, and hand to hand combat. Training for a senshokenshi started at the early age of 10 as it was expected of the clan members to become independent as soon as possible. It was considered shameful for any member to not be a master of any kind of skill after the age of 16.

Those that failed to master a skill after turning 16 were not disgraced but were instead sent out into the world to find their passion. They would receive no support from the clan as this was considered a trial for the young initiates.

The only way they would be allowed back into the village was through the demonstration of mastery that they were able to take only once a year. If they passed, they would be considered full-fledged senshokenishi which was a badge of honor that all in the nation of Izuru desired to achieve.

Ougi and Nosuri were masters of numerous arts before the age of 16 and had started work as mercenaries at the age of 14. Azi, being only a beginner in hand-to-hand combat, stood no chance against Ougi in a spar.

But Ougi was impressed by his enthusiasm and ability to quickly learn. At times, Ougi would purposefully put a bit more force into his strikes but Azi would take them in stride and would rise whenever he fell.

Ougi deduced that Azi likely had a high threshold for pain and began to put more force into his strikes but kept it controlled so as to not cause any lasting injuries. Bending his outstretched right arm, Ougi aimed an elbow strike at Azi's right shoulder to hopefully incapacitate him but his brows raised at the sight in front of him.

Using the recoil of his blocked punch, Azi redirected the force into his body to allow himself to be somewhat pushed back. Leaning back, Azi kicked his legs against the ground and attempted to land a hit impromptu kick to the underside of Ougi's right arm to break his balance.

This was an action that Ougi was not expecting as Azi had mainly kept to his fists to deliver his strikes in the past spars but Azi had decided to incorporate some of the moves he learned from watching how Ougi moved.

Back flipping once, Azi had a hard time regaining his balance as he was still not used to performing such a move. This allowed Ougi to regain his stance and he pushed off the ground to charge at Azi's with a quickly formed left jab.

Azi blocked and their exchange continued for a few more minutes. Neither side was giving ground, but it was obvious that Azi was being overwhelmed as time went on.

The match ended as the two men had gotten into a pushing match against each other. While Azi had less strength when not fortifying himself with magic, he was still somewhat strong due to his daily routine of training.

Ougi was being pushed back but allowed himself to be briefly overwhelmed to make Azi slip up as he lost control of his momentum for just a moment. As Azi was starting to feel as if he was falling forward, he was suddenly sent spinning through the air.

Ougi was able to throw him to the side causing him to make a single flip in the air during the single moment he lost control of his momentum. To prevent himself from falling on his butt, Azi braced his leg to absorb the impact.

Azi was somewhat successful as he stuck the landing but lost his balance as he had started to fall to the side. A pair of hands caught him by the underside of his flailing arms that attempted to keep him balanced.

"Hahaha. I think that's enough training for today."

"Oh come on, one more time. I think I'm onto something Shizu."

Looking up, Azi saw the playful expression of his Ordained Knight, Lady Shizu. She had the day off as Manu had returned from the kengiri extermination. Her 5 brothers had told her to allow them to handle the work as Shizu's rising annoyance with the paperwork was somewhat affecting her mood.

This was actually an attempt made by her brothers to spare them from her wrath and tyrannical attitude that would come about during the times she was overworked or annoyed.

Today, Shizu was joined by Rulu and Nosuri as they oversaw the usual training that Ougi and Azi did every morning to afternoon. Shizu was somewhat worried that Azi was pushing himself again and wanted to make sure that his physical and mental health were holding up.

Seeing the glint in her apprentice's eyes, she sighed and placated Azi's over enthusiastic mood.

"There is no need to rush Azi, you are making good progress. Or? Do you want me to make you stop?"

Azi's whole body stiffened up which caused her to laugh in amusement at the reaction she got out of him. Shizu had a bit of a violent and overbearing streak when it came to getting what she wanted. Azi was her main victim these days so he knew of the kinds of means Shizu would potentially use to get him to stop.

Azi pouted a bit as he again felt that he took a hit to his pride as the eldest among the group of people but sighed in resignation to his fate. He could feel that Shizu was lifting him up and moving her hands to get a better grip on him.

Off to the side Nosuri and Rulu looked on with wry smiles and giggled a bit as Azi was being cuddled from behind by Shizu. Rulu felt that the sight looked heartwarming and she was happy at how happy her older sister looked.

"It seems that will be it for today's training with Azi. Sister! Would you like to train as well? It's still the early afternoon."

Ougi approached as he wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. Nosuri somewhat tensed a bit as she was not as deftly skilled in hand to hand combat as her twin brother.

"Umm, I think it would be best if I focus on my duty to protect Rulu."

"A noble reason. I see that you have your priorities in order dear sister. I will join you." Said Ougi half convinced.

Moving behind Nosuri to cover her rear, Ougi hid his teasing tone and expression.

Rulu could only laugh wryly at the brother sister comedy act but her attention was brought back by the outcry from Azi.

"Let me .... GO! Ugh!"

Azi struggled a bit in Shizu's embrace, but the strength that Shizu had was overwhelming and Azi felt that using his magic for such a simple matter was overkill.

"Don't you like it when I hug you?" Asked Shizu with a mocking smile on her face.

"Yes, but that's when we are in private. I'm not some pillow you can just hold onto whenever you want!" Retorted a somewhat red-faced Azi.

"Oh just enjoy it. Not every man could enjoy what you are experiencing. So just relax a bit."

Shizu then lifted Azi up from the ground and began walking with him in her arms to the opened entrance of the house. Shizu had agreed with Kajima days prior that Azi needed to loosen up from his training and enjoy his life a little.

Azi seemed to be a workaholic as he was either reading, sketching, sparring, or talking business with other people all day long. So Shizu opted to use her day off to spend time with her potential fiancé.

She planned to give Azi a bath as he was somewhat drenched in a layer of sweat that she could feel through the fabric of her clothes. She had asked Kajima for permission prior to interrupting Azi's sparring match so she headed inside.

Increasing her grip on Azi to ensure that he would not escape her, Azi started to feel a foreboding sense of deja vu. He resisted a bit more fervently but was placated as Shizu had whispered into his ear that she already got permission, but Azi complained about getting his opinion which Shizu off handedly ignored.

Rulu watched as Azi was carried away like luggage which made her ask with reddened cheeks.

"Should we stop them? I don't think this is morally right."

Nosuri shrugged her shoulders as she felt she had no reason to intervene. This was compounded as Ougi added.

"From what I have observed. Lady Shizu and Sir Azi seem to have a healthy relationship. I find no issue with her actions but you are welcome to stop them."

Rulu thought for a moment and debated whether she would intervene but remembered that there was business in the village she needed to attend to. This took her mind off of what she was previously concerned about as a more pressing matter had been recalled.

Rulu asked if Nosuri and Ougi would accompany her into the village as her escort, which they wholeheartedly agreed to.

Azi was soon left to his fate and was at the mercy of Shizu's hands.

"NOT AGAIN!" Cried Azi.