ShadowSword

The sun had only just begun to rise, painting faint amber lines through the trees near the back of the old graveyard. The air was damp with morning dew, and the training ground felt unusually still, like it held its breath for what was to come.

Captain Rikuya stood alone at the center of the wide training arena, already dressed in his dark combat gear, his spear "Sai" resting on his shoulder, glinting like polished obsidian in the early light.

In front of him stood four nervous figures—Sumiyoshi gripping the sword he had finally bonded with, Akito with his paired sapphire fangs, Yuzuki spinning her twin bladed rings around her fingers, and Rukito a cutting crescent 

Captain Rikuya glanced at all of them.

"I'll make it simple," he said, voice calm but sharp. "Come at me together. Full force. Hold nothing back."

The team froze. For a second, the silence was thicker than tension."Together?" Yuzuki asked."Like… at the same time?" Akito added, confused."What if we accidentally hit each other?" Rukito blurted out.Sumiyoshi frowned. His eyes narrowed, trying to assess the captain's stance. But he had no time to think deeper.

"NOW!"

Captain Rikuya's shout exploded like thunder, and instinct replaced thought.

🗡️ The Attack Begins

Akito moved first, rushing in from the right, slashing with his dual fangs like a wild beast.But Captain Rikuya stepped aside effortlessly, tapping Akito's shoulder with the blunt edge of Sai. Akito spun and hit the ground flat.

"Too obvious," the captain muttered.

Then Yuzuki came leaping from behind, her twin rings slicing through the air like chakrams.She twisted mid-air for a mid-body strike—but Rikuya raised one hand and grabbed both her wrists mid-spin, using her own momentum to toss her aside like a leaf in the wind.

She crashed near Akito with a dramatic yelp."Ugh… I think I just kissed the dirt…"

Sumiyoshi gritted his teeth and charged from the front, gripping the hilt of his black blade tighter."No way I'm falling like them—"

He slashed downward with surprising strength—but the captain didn't even block.Instead, he stepped in close, caught Sumiyoshi's elbow, and used his own weight to flip him over his back.Sumiyoshi landed hard, groaning.

"You swing with power, but your feet scream panic," Rikuya scolded. "Not a warrior. Just a boy with a sword."

From the back, Rukito had just finished figuring out how to turn his weapon on.He came charging in while screaming, "YAAAAA!!!"He aimed for Rikuya's leg—but missed entirely and hit a tree stump instead.

Captain Rikuya didn't even have to dodge.

"...I didn't even move."He walked past Rukito like he was invisible.

💢 Aftermath of the Beatdown

All four of them lay scattered across the training ground—groaning, bruised, and utterly defeated.

Captain Rikuya stood tall, without a single scratch or crease on his uniform.

"That," he said, "was pathetic."

Akito coughed. "We… we tried to go together."

"No, you didn't. You ran like wild dogs, each barking louder than the other. That's not a team. That's a disaster."

Sumiyoshi forced himself to sit up, holding his side."But… what did you expect from us on the first day?"

Captain turned to him sharply.

"I expect you to THINK. You have weapons chosen by fate, training others would kill to receive. Yet you rush like amateurs. You don't watch each other. You don't cover each other. If this were a real battle—"

He stabbed his spear down beside Sumiyoshi's boot.

"—you'd all be dead in less than a minute."

Silence.

Then Rukito sat up and asked, "Wait… we lost?"

Yuzuki threw a pebble at him.

"No, we were just playing dead to surprise him later, genius."

Captain Rikuya smirked.

"Get up. You have one hour. Then we spar again."

He turned, walking toward the edge of the field.

"And next time… try fighting like a team."

Scene: Night Talk with Captain Rikuya – Revelation of the Spirit's Forms

The night had spread its silence across the village like a soft, dark blanket. A cold breeze carried the faint scent of pine and sweat, still lingering from the brutal training.

Team C sat cross-legged in the clearing outside Captain Rikuya's quarters. Sai had a half-asleep expression, Yuzuki was holding her side in exhaustion, and Rukito... well, Rukito was balancing a stick on his forehead, completely zoned out.

Captain Rikuya, arms crossed, leaned back against a wooden post. His black vest still carried faint traces of dried sweat, yet his expression was calm and unreadable.

"You all made it through the first day," he began flatly."Barely."

Yuzuki rolled her eyes. "It was a warm-up meant for war horses, not humans."

Rukito blinked, "Wait what? Are we getting horses?"

Captain Rikuya ignored the comment.

"You lack coordination. You lack discipline. And above all, you lack purpose."

Sumiyoshi, still gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, finally spoke, his voice soft but steady.

"Captain... why not just go for the main spirit? If we kill that... won't the rest vanish?"

The question hung in the air.

Captain Rikuya's expression darkened. For a moment, his eyes weren't looking at them — they were seeing something long gone.

⚔️ Flashback: The Past Battle

A battlefield covered in ash and blood. Screams echoing through the hills. Captain Rikuya lay among the ruins, his body broken, breath shallow. Around him, his comrades — the strongest from the previous generation — were charging at a towering shadow with blazing red eyes. The main form.

They were winning.

Until it appeared.

No... they appeared.

Six shadows. Each one pulsing with a different emotion — Lust, Betrayal, Hatred, Anger, Jealousy, Pride.

Each one cut through their formation like demons in a storm.

The warriors fell one by one, sliced, crushed, burned.

Captain Rikuya, bleeding and barely conscious, watched as a man with a lion-marked cloak — his closest comrade — lifted him up and ran. Behind them, friends screamed, cried, and fell. Again.

"Just like every time… we had to run… while our comrades died."

🌓 Back to Present

Rikuya's voice came out low and rough.

"There are seven forms of the spirit. Each represents a twisted emotion.They must be defeated in order.One by one.Then the Spirit Master must fall.And only then... can the main form be killed."

He locked eyes with each of them, especially Sumiyoshi.

"Break this order... and your blade will mean nothing.Attack too early… and you'll die for nothing.We've seen it. We've lived it. We paid the price."

Rukito, for once, said nothing. Just swallowed hard.

"Now go. Get some rest.Tomorrow... will be worse than today."

He turned his back, disappearing into the shadows of his quarters.

The team stood in silence.

"Tomorrow will be worse than today?" Sai whispered, horrified.

"I don't think I'll survive tomorrow," Yuzuki muttered, dragging herself away.

As they walked, Akito suddenly stopped. The moonlight gleamed off his sapphire fangs.

"Wait... I have an idea."

Everyone turned to him.

But he just smiled slightly, keeping it to himself.

"Let's talk in the morning."

"Just came early."