Hidden rainfall

chapter twelve

They have just returned to the city. Sama is resting in bed, she has already been treated but she will be out for a while. Ichiro and Asahi are being treated for their wounds and Sumi is there as well so they can discuss a counter to their opponents technique. How are we supposed to beat him, Sumi said with much concern in her voice. Even you two who are the strongest in this city couldn't beat him. And I doubt that a week is long enough to get strong enough to overcome such a massive gap. Ichiro was also concerned about how they were going to do this. Father, you said you had a plan right. Yes I do. If his power comes from a demon then we just need to take that away from him. What but how do we do that commander? A special technique called corrupted seal technique. It essentially seals a seal. So in this case it could be used to seal this demon seal and that would make it inaccessible to him. And I am guessing he's not that strong without it. The one problem is we don't have that technique. But I know who does. Who, Ichiro and Sumi ask simultaneously. The master of sealing techniques, someone of shadow blood, Kurai. Ichiro and Sumi both ask the same question again but no longer in the wonder of what but in genuine confusion, who. He was a man I was once friends with but not anymore. He cut ties in favor of protecting his people. What, that's a stupid reason for cutting ties with a friend. Ichiro then turns to explain to her, those of shadow blood have been targeted in times of war. They have often been used as weapons because shadow magic is the strongest of all magics. On top of that long ago they were massacred almost to completion due to the same reason. That's horrible, she says, understanding the situation a bit better. But how come shadow magic is the strongest. It's because every element has a weakness to another element but shadow is the only one that doesn't have one. Fire is weak to water, water is weak to earth, earth is weak to wind and wind is weak to fire. Then ice is weak to light, light is weak to lightning and light is weak to ice. Shadow is also boosted during the night. Light is also boosted during the day and that is literally the only vulnerability shadow has. But if it's so strong then why can people of shadow blood be captured. Most are not warriors, only people with great darkness within themselves can use it. People who capture normal civilians of shadow blood, they do horrible things to them to awaken that darkness. To avoid this people of shadow blood hide away that is why it is rare to meet them. It wasn't too bad before the war, the commander added to their conversation. Anyways, it will be difficult to convince him to help us but there's no one skilled enough at the seal other than him. I will use my technique to try and contact him, you two focus on rest for now.
  Two days had passed since the showdown with Akuma. Sama had awakened at that point although she is far from completely healed. Ichiro is training to adapt to having only one arm. It's a detriment he won't let affect him. Asahi is focusing on contacting his old friend, Kurai. And Sumi, she is training her but off, of course. She feels bad for not being able to make that much of a difference and if she could maybe Sama wouldn't have got hurt. And if her water arts can make a difference in the upcoming fight then she needs to improve. Because she can't and doesn't want to rely on others too much. She needs to be able to stand on her own two feet.
  Hey Ichiro, Sumi interrupts his training. They were both training in the same room but they weren't training together. What is it, Sumi, she was surprised, she hadn't interacted much with him yet. She thought he was cold and mean but he was surprisingly friendly. I want you to train me in hand to hand combat. Sama had trained me to use my staff much better but I want to be able to fight without it. When I saw you fight with your fists it was amazing, you were so cool. I want to be able to fight like that. He lays her on the head, of course I can. Hey what was that for, she blushes. You remind me of when my sister wanted me to train her in the same way. She was good with the fists, but she was even better with the blade. Unfortunately we never had a katana that could handle her skill and power. They all shattered upon a few strikes. But enough reminiscing, let's get to the lesson. The key to having fists that make a difference is to either have a lot of speed or a lot of power. I use the former, with speed it becomes nearly impossible to stop the hit from happening. So you would have to either block it with one hell of a shield or use an attack to counter it. But with power this could be easier to dodge but blocking and countering becomes needlessly risky. Wait, what if I had both speed and power, Sumi asked. Some do although to a much lesser degree than to have just one. It would take decades of training to achieve both at a high level and at that point it becomes pointless. Just focusing on one would be the ideal way to achieve it to a high level. I have heard stories that some can achieve a high level of both in only a few years. But these people are rare to exist. It would be more likely for your opponent to drop dead from some disease than it is to be one of these. And that's implying that they exist at all, just like with the gods these could just be stories. But that's besides the point, Sumi which would you like to perfect. Strength, speed or a combination of both to a significantly lesser degree. Well, despite what you said I want to master both to the high level extent you say is unreachable. If it is impossible then I will reform myself to make it possible. Very well then, even if you can't achieve it, balance is what water is great for. So your fighting style will suit that. However I do believe you can achieve it. The two continued to train for two more days. But on the fifth day of their one week deadline the commander received some hopeful information.