Seeing Caesar"s eager smile, a strange gleam appeared in Musashi"s eyes as he turned around and led them in the opposite direction.Caesar, Ahri, and the kobold elder followed behind him in silence… they walked by the large garden and headed directly to the large mansion in the middle of the stronghold.
Along the way, many curious gazes were cast upon them by the fox-kin… It wasn"t every day they had the luxury to see the clan head.
"Oh my, is that the clan head and the empress?" an older fox-kin female nudged the shoulder of her friend and asked.
"Y-you"re right! Who are they walking with though?" the other woman asked curiously after observing Caesar"s unfamiliar face for a moment.
"You don"t you know? That is the strategist that beat Faust and Leo in a duel!" the fox-kin lady replied excitedly with stars in her eyes.
"You mean THAT Faust? The most likely person to take the mantle of clan head once Musashi steps down?" the girl asked with an astonished tone
Caesar and the rest didn"t mind the harmless gossip that surrounded around them and continued moving forward, Musashi"s footsteps didn"t halt in the slightest as he walked through the large mansion as if he was taking a stroll in his garden.
They pa.s.sed by a few long corridors and soon arrived at the most northeastern point of the mansion, they stopped in front of two large jade doors with two realistic lion sculptures on both ends of the doors, as if they were guarding it.
Musashi lifted his hand and lightly pressed on the door, he closed his eyes and let out a long breath before abruptly snapping his eyes open and sending a large wave of mana into the door.
*CREAK*
The jade doors blasted open and a huge gust of wind a.s.saulted Caesar"s and the rests face, Caesar squinted his eyes and covered his face with his hand.
After a few seconds, Caesar dropped his hand and opened his eyes wide, small cherry blossoms floated through the air as if they were beckoning him closer.
Musashi"s lips curled once he noticed Caesar"s astonished expression, "hehe, I"ve finally surprised this straight-faced man" Musashi cheered inwardly and took a step forward.
"Follow me, youngster, this is my personal training grounds" Musashi spoke without glancing behind him and continued marching onward.
Caesar nodded and closely followed behind him, while both Ahri and the kobold elder who had been shamelessly following them until now, looked at each other with a weird expression.
"Should we continue following them?" The kobold whispered in Ahri"s direction…
"That"s my grandfather and boyfriend so I don"t see a problem with me following them, but, you…" Ahri spoke in a strange tone as she scrutinized the kobold elder. If she was being completely honest, she didn"t even notice his presence until now!
"Hehe, it should be fine, right? I mean, I am their new ally after all!" The kobold elder comforted himself while striding forward.
Ahri shook her head with a wry smile and didn"t take to long to join the kobold elder in following both Caesar and Musashi through the jade doors.
Once they pa.s.sed through the entrance, a grand arena appeared in their line of sight, stone white pillar placed at each corner of the arena as well as an elegant square pattern etched on to the arena floor.
A large and thriving cherry blossom tree was just a bit south of the arena and it"s long branches just barely reached above it, perfectly shading it from the blazing sun.
*whoosh*
A strong breeze kicked up Caesar"s hair as he observed the arena, creating a perfect scene that looked as though it was taken out of a beautiful painting.
Although Caesar"s footsteps halted, Musashi"s didn"t, he walked into the middle of the arena and faced Caesar with a wide smile.
"This will be our training grounds for the next week or so, I hope you can learn a lot before the tournament because you can bet that Faust will bet training with everything he has" Musashi spoke solemnly and broke Caesar out of his stupor.
Caesar loosened the collar on his suit and walked up to the arena, "don"t act as though you have the right to teach me yet" Caesar said with a dangerous glint in his eyes, this wasn"t Caesar"s arrogance, but his pride… he wouldn"t let someone weaker than him be his trainer.
"Haha, in due time" Musashi laughed loudly and walked to the top left pillar, he sent another wave of mana inside and a small compartment opened up. Two relatively large silver chains suddenly shout out from the pillar and wrapped themselves around Musashi"s arms.
Caesar tore off his blazer and unb.u.t.toned his sleeved shirt, only a skin-tight black undershirt was left. He took out both of the swords he had acquired from the dwarven treasury and entered into a fighting stance.
"Ohoo, a spatial ring huh? That"s quite the rare object you got their boy" Musashi said with an impressed expression while also getting into a fighting stance, putting one fist before the other, as if he was a boxer.
Ahri, who was at the side, glanced between Caesar and Musashi worriedly before trying to walk up the arena and personally referee the battle, however, as she attempted to walk up the steps, a translucent barrier stopped her from entering.
"Haha, how could we let a woman stop a battle between men, just wait out there sweetheart, I won"t rough him up too much" Musashi spoke sarcastically and looked at Caesar provocatively.
Ahri knew she wouldn"t be able to break her grandfather"s barrier, so she took a step back from the arena and held her hands tight as she observed their battle anxiously.
The corner of Musashi"s lips curled as he slowly lowered his right hand and drooped the chain down by a few inches, he dragged the chain on the ground as he walked around Caesar in a circle.
Caesar matched Musashi"s pace and they slowly circled each other, Caesar"s eyes radiated a deep crimson as he patiently examined all of Musashi"s weaknesses, he could easily see a few blinding red dots located in his abdomen, right shoulder, and left thigh.
"Your eyes are interesting, I"ve never seen nor felt anything like them before, alas, your tricks won"t matter in front of absolute strength!" Musashi said as he flung the chains on his right hand towards Caesar with pinpoint accuracy.
The chains moved at an incredible speed and Caesar barely had enough time to raise one of his swords to block it, he didn"t even have enough time to notice the strange violet mana covering the chains before it was too late.
*CLANG*
The chain, as if it was alive, wrapped around one of Caesar swords and easily yanked it away, Caesar"s brows furrowed once he realized he couldn"t win the battle at a distance so he immediately charged forward.
"Smart move kid, but it"s not enough!" Musashi roared and swung the chains on his left hand towards Caesar"s feet, they loudly sc.r.a.ped the ground and created sparks as they moved.
Caesar"s eyes madly rotated as he lightly hopped and dodged the chains sweeping through the ground, however, he didn"t have time to rest as Musashi launched the chains on his right hand toward Caesar like a spear.
Caesar, whilst still in mid-air, leaned backward and easily dodge the chain that aimed straight for his chest, he maneuvered his body once more and spun around in a 360 while stabbing through one of the chain-holes with his remaining sword impaling it into the ground.
Caesar didn"t stop there and launched off the ground, creating two large pieces of ice in his hands as he charged toward Musashi, who was only a few meters away from him.
Musashi smiled sinisterly and manipulated the chains that Caesar had dodged to attack him from behind while also charge forward with raised fists.
Caesar barely dodged the chains from behind him by slightly tilting his head, effectively using his opponents attack against him, however, contrary to his expectations, Musashi expertly maneuvered the chain and it once again moved toward him.
*tsk*
Caesar clicked his tongue and used his ice to help launch him forward to Musashi at an even quicker pace, closing the gap within milliseconds, Caesar struck down with both of his pieces of ice at the same time.
*CRACK*
Musashi, at an even quicker speed than Caesar, raised his knee and cracked both pieces of ice to smithereens, he then proceeded to lift his leg at an even quicker speed and drop kick Caesar to the ground.
Caesar opened up his eyes wide as he attempted to block, alas, it was too late and the kick hit him dead center on the chest.
*BANG*
Caesar launched into the ground and coughed up a large amount of blood, his eyesight started to fade as all he could see was a blurry image of a man walked towards him until all he could see was darkness.
Musashi stood over the unconscious Caesar with furrowed brows, although he made that fight look easy, he had actually overexerted his old body to win in such an overwhelming way… he wanted Caesar to taste his first defeat so he could grow even quicker.
"Grandpa, what are you doing!?!?!" Ahri asked frantically and rushed to the unconscious Caesar, but, before she could reach him, Musashi flung him over his shoulder and walked away.
"Don"t worry, I will heal him… if you truly care about him, let me do this" Musashi spoke with exhaustion clearly in his voice.
Ahri bit her lip and begrudgingly nodded her head, seeing her acceptance, Musashi quickly flash stepped out of the area and entered into his room.
*cough*
*cough*
Once entering his room, he heavily coughed into his hands and a few drops of black blood could be seen on his palms…
"Sigh, it would appear my time is truly coming to an end" Musashi sighed deeply and placed Caesar onto his bed before walking into his closet and coming back out with a few herbs.