Budo sat on the engawa, his face frozen as he stared wide-eyed into the courtyard.
Before his very eyes, a very weird phenomena was happening to his daughters and Inyen. Pebbles on the dirt ground hovered faintly before settling back down. As a faint trace of pulsing aura were emanating from their skin.
They were actually feeling it—tapping into the latent energy Merun called Ki.
...Would it be possible for him as well, after all?
"L-Lord Budo...?"
A timid voice broke his trance. Budo blinked rapidly, turning to see a young household servant bowing nervously nearby. Noticing her frantic expression, Budo quickly softened his face and asked kindly, "Ah... forgive me. What is it?"
"Martial artists have arrived outside, sir," she stammered, holding her hands tightly. "Everyone from the major houses is being called for an urgent announcement at the grand pavilion."
"What for?" Budo asked, a sudden spike of urgency rising in his chest as he set his teacup down.
The servant swallowed. "It's... from our Master, Iaiashin."
———
It had only been a day since the tension-filled Steel Convergence, and the nobles were deeply curious about what on earth the acting matriarch was summoning them for so suddenly.
Carriages bearing grand family crests rolled through the estate gates one after another. Nobles stepped down onto the stone pathways, exchanging tense greetings. Even the head of the Yamaguchi household arrived with a grim, stiff face, despite the humiliating debacle he suffered the day before.
No one dared ignore the call.
The Iaiashin household always acted in the best interest of the entire Clan. Their unshakeable trust in her credibility and her fierce love for Kinzoku left absolutely no room for doubt.
If Master Iaiashin called a gathering, everyone would attend the gathering.
Inside the grand hall, the lavish banquet tables, fine wines, and celebratory decorations from yesterday were completely gone. In their place sat row upon row of black tatami seat cushions. The air was suffocatingly tense; time after time, a meeting of this size never brought good news.
It was an unspoken truth—everyone in the hall was already expecting grave developments. The only question was... what.
The heavy wooden doors slid open once more as the Iaiashin family household entered the room.
Several clan heads offered respectful nods at the sight of Inyen, acknowledging the Matriarch's daughter. But some of the nods vanished the second their eyes landed on Budo, Nashi, and the peasant family she had adopted into her house. But they quickly looked away, actively avoiding locking eyes with the champion, Moretsuna, who towered quietly at the back, while the good natured clan heads greeted them with sincerity.
Without making a scene, Budo and his family simply stood along the side of the hall, waiting for the announcement to begin.
Finally, Master Iaiashin arrived.
She stepped smoothly into the room from a side entrance, taking her place directly in front of the gathered noble heads and families. The hall fell dead silent.
"Thank you for assembling on such short notice," Iaiashin spoke, her clear voice ringing through the vast pavilion. "I will be direct. A major development has emerged since the last meeting of the Sekigaharan leaders."
She paused, letting her sharp gaze sweep across the anxious faces of the nobility.
"The Nindo Clan's scouts have confirmed the discovery of an uncolonized, living dungeon in the Severian Plateau—a realm rich in purified subterranean energy and sacred esoteric materials. However, a natural realm-barrier locks this dungeon, restricting entry strictly to Martial Apprentices."
Gasps rippled through the rows of cushions, but Iaiashin pressed on smoothly.
"The campaign is immediate," Iaiashin continued, her voice cutting cleanly through the rising whispers in the hall. "I have pledged a force of exactly one thousand Martial Apprentices to represent Clan Kinzoku. Furthermore, I have already finalized the roster."
As her words echoed, a line of household servants stepped smoothly into the aisles between the rows of cushions. Moving in sync, they placed a tightly rolled, wax-sealed scroll in front of each household head.
Unrolling the parchment, the clan leaders stared down in confusion.
Quiet murmurs rippled across the pavilion as they scanned the lists of names from their respective branches.
One noble raised his hand, looking up hesitantly. "Forgive me, Matriarch Iaiashin... but how were these names picked?"
Another house head immediately spoke up, gesturing to his scroll. "I share the same question, Matriarch. May I request to add more names to this list? My household holds plenty of capable martial apprentices eager to fight."
"There is no need," Iaiashin replied smoothly, her expression unreadable.
She turned her sharp gaze toward the second noble, her tone carrying an understated, absolute authority. "I personally selected every single name on those scrolls. I know the name, the martial art, and the path of every single martial artist under the Kinzoku banner. They were chosen specifically for the exact demands of this mission."
A heavy silence fell over the hall. The two nobles stared at her with widened, deeply honored eyes. To know that the acting Matriarch held such intimate knowledge of their household's young warriors was both a profound sign of respect and a subtle reminder of her caring about the future seeds of the clan.
Without another word, both elders bowed their heads in humble acceptance.
"Now," Iaiashin said, her eyes sweeping over the gathered patriarchs, "this campaign is our chance to completely outperform the other clans. The spoils harvested from the Severian Plateau will be distributed strictly according to our contribution in the war. These spoils are rare resources used in manufacturing high-grade health potions we can use as the foundation of our coming rise. Return to your estates immediately and ensure your designated apprentices are at their absolute peak, equipped with your finest gear."
A deep, contemplative mood settled over the house heads. The potential rewards of a continent-shattering dungeon were enough to make any patriarch's eyes burn with ambition.
Before anyone could stand, Iaiashin offered one final, irresistible incentive.
"Furthermore," she added, her lips curving into a faint smile, "the most outstanding martial apprentices of this campaign will receive personal lessons at our very own Noble Martial Academy from our Champion—Moretsuna."
Every single head in the room snapped around in unison.
Shocks of surprise and disbelief flashed across the faces of the nobility.
To receive personal guidance and form possible connection to not only the Champion of the Steel Convergence, and the Iaiashin family was a prize that could rewrite a young martial artist's entire future.
They thought they had lost the opportunity when the young Nortisugu Yamaguchi had become his student, but now, there was a chance for their own saplings to bloom as well!
Standing along the side wall, Merun blinked, caught entirely off guard by the sudden, casual task assigned to him.
He looked at Master Iaiashin as she winked as him, as if to say:
You owe me
And he did.
"I might teach the secrets of my light techniques." he said, sweetening the deal.
Feeling a wave of intense, greedy eyes lock onto him, he merely scratched the back of his neck and shrugged with a dry chuckle.
"So... goodluck."
Master Iaiashin's smile widened gracefully as she tucked her hands back into her white sleeves.
"That is all. Thank you for assembling on this fine morning. We depart tonight... I hope you all prepare yourselves well."
The other nobles looked back at the Furutsu family, realizing the Iaiashin household only had one martial artist that could represent them in the upcoming war.
The winner of the Martial Apprentice bracket, and controversial figure in the clan: Mikan Furutsu.
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a/n.
I've been rewriting and updating the whole novel from the Prologue since I'll finally let someone I personally know read it. Some things might be different that what you might remember.
Thanks for reading!