Watase's Legacy

--- Chapter 11 ---

In the mountain temple, Watase Kyojuro calmly looked at the wall in front of him. It has a rack, which holds a long spear with a curved black blade.

'Father, I'm sorry, I couldn't subdue this spear...' Kyojuro thought while closing his eyes and released a heavy sigh.

'However, I have already found the right candidate for this spear, someone who'll continue the watase family's legacy.' He confidently continued with a smile on his face.

It's been precisely the following day after they met the royal family of the vermilion empire, and their activities have come back to normal.

Even though Kyojuro and Fuyumi are sad because they cannot go with their daughters and grandson, they still wish the best for them.

"Aoba came in," Kyojuro calmly said while sensing his grandson's presence, who was standing quietly in front of the temple.

Watase Aoba entered the temple and looked around for a moment because Shizuka never let him enter this place for some reason.

'I don't see anything special...' Aoba thought.

That is what he thought at first, but as soon as Aoba approached his grandfather, he suddenly felt intense dark ki radiating from a black-bladed spear.

'What an ominous sensation.' Aoba quietly looked at the spear with a curious expression on his face.

"Sit down," Kyojuro instructed, and Aoba nodded his head, sitting on a tatami mat beside his grandfather.

"..." Kyojuro.

"..." Aoba.

.

.

"So... What are you gonna talk about?" Aoba asked because they have been in silence for literally five minutes.

Kyojuro didn't open his mouth, so Aoba took the first initiative to break this silence.

"From where did you learn to wield a spear…?" Kyojuro quietly asked, which caused Aoba to frown a little because his first question was heavy.

"No, let me be blunt, how did you learn martial arts?" He continued with a solemn expression on his face.

Watase Aoba thought something for a moment and released a sigh in his heart.

"I learn martial arts in my dream," Aoba answered, which caused Kyojuro to frown and stare at him with wonder.

"Dream?" Kyojuro responded with a weird expression on his face.

Watase Aoba nodded his head and started to tell his grandfather about the astral realm, which vaguely described as a dream world where he was swimming in a million stars.

He also told him about a decayed middle-aged man in his dream, who was actually his past self, teaching him martial arts.

"A decayed middle-aged man? Hmm, do you know his name?" Kyojuro asked while looking at his grandson.

Watase Aoba shook his head and replied, "He didn't tell me his name, but he referred to himself as the heavenly demon."

"Heavenly Demon..." Kyojuro couldn't help but frown a little because those words seemed really familiar to his ears.

Watase Kyojuro asked a few questions to his grandson, and Aoba calmly replied without any difficulties because his answers were literally a mix of lies and truths.

"I see..." Kyojuro, who had been interrogating his grandson, nodded his head and released a sigh of relief.

He suddenly stood up from the tatami mat and walked toward the black spear with a solemn expression on his face.

Watase Kyojuro tried to grasp the spear with his right hand, but an intense black aura immediately crept into his body.

'I'm not qualified enough to even hold this spear properly, huh.' Kyojuro shook his head and forcibly raised the spear from its stand.

Watase Aoba looked at his grandfather with a calm expression, but he suddenly threw the spear at him.

"Catch that spear, Aoba," Kyojuro instructed, and Aoba raised from his position, catching the spear with his left hand.

'Kill!'

'Kill!'

'Kill!'

A hoarse cold voice suddenly echoed in Aoba's head as soon as he held the spear.

Watase Aoba couldn't move, and every time the hoarse cold voice said something in his head, he could feel dark ki invading his body.

'A mere weapon tried to control me...?' Aoba thought while looking at the spear in his hand.

'Don't make me laugh.' He coldly continued, and a powerful surge of ki came out from his body.

BOOM!

'Kill!' 'Kill!' 'Kill!' 'Kill!' 'Kill!' 'Kill!'

Watase Kyojuro looked at his grandson with a worried expression because, at this moment, the demon inside of the spear tried to pressure him.

However, to his surprise, Aoba's golden eyes suddenly glowed with murderous red light.

'This is bad. I should help Aoba,' Kyojuro thought while trying to approach his grandson.

"I'm fine, grandfather." Aoba suddenly responded, and Kyojuro stood there with a baffled expression.

"W-What?" Kyojuro looked at him like he was a monster or something because even he couldn't fully subdue the demon inside the spear.

"What happened to the demon..." He quietly muttered with a confused look.

Kyojuro moved his gaze to the spear and looked back at Aoba with a frown. "Aoba, swing that spear once." He calmly instructed.

Watase Aoba nodded his head, and he casually swung the spear horizontally, which caused the air in front of him to split in half for a moment.

'Sharp!' Aoba's eyes widened in wonder.

Watase Kyojuro was also shocked by this and thought about something in his head. "Aoba, you can keep that spear." He calmly said.

"Hmm? Are you sure," Aoba tilted his head in confusion because this spear is clearly a family legacy.

"Mm, It's been 50 years since no one uses it. Because if you can properly wield it, you can keep it." Kyojuro answered with a relaxed expression because he doesn't have any regrets anymore.

He suddenly opened the floor and took a wooden box full of dusty books, which are martial arts passed through the generation of the watase family.

"Here. Take these books too." Kyojuro handed Aoba a few books.

Watase Aoba looked at the books he got from his grandfather, and all of them were about martial arts, which surprised him because it seemed the watase family was not as ordinary as he expected.

"Aoba, father! We have already cooked lunch. Come here quickly!" Shizuka's voice suddenly entered the temple.

Kyojuro and Aoba looked at each other and released a chuckle.

"Well, mother called us." Aoba smiled a little, and Kyojuro nodded his head.

They walked out and leisurely moved toward the house, which is literally next to the temple.

--- [Dining Room] ---

The watase family had lunch together, and various dishes got served on the dining table, which was the hard work of three people.

As Aoba and Kyojuro entered the room, Tomoe immediately launched herself onto her precious younger brother.

Watase Aoba casually moved his body a little to dodge the incoming cannonball sister, which caused Tomoe to hit the wall comically.

"Uugh, Aoba didn't like me anymore. He dodged my love hug..." Tomoe sadly muttered in the corner, which caused Aoba to release a sigh inside.

"I don't dislike you, Tomoe nee," Aoba responded.

"Then, why are you dodging me?" Tomoe hurriedly asked.

Aoba casually showed Tomoe a stack of books in his hands, which would immediately fall if he didn't dodge back then.

Tomoe pouted a little and stood up from the floor, hugging Aoba from behind. "I'll hug you from behind then!" She confidently stated.

Watase Shizuka only chuckled when seeing this and commented, "Okay, stop right there, Tomoe."

"It's lunchtime." She continued, to which Aoba gladly responded with a nod.

'Thanks, mom.' Aoba gave Shizuka a thankful gaze.

'You're welcome.' Shizuka responded with a smile on her face because she could understand her son's gaze.

They then had a hearty lunch and enjoyed the day like usual, even though they would be away from each other for quite a long time.

'I need to become stronger...' Aoba thought while looking at his family.