บท 73: Chapter 73 - Safe zone
"Yo, you want to take a look? You can get closer if you want," Ryu said with an inviting smile. The small group of children looked at each other cautiously, before deciding to accept Ryu's offer. "What are you working on?" One of the kids, one with gray eyes and white hair asked while looking up at him. He seemed to be the leader of the small group.
Wait... Something was weird. This kid looked to be about Ryu's age, so why did he look so small? That was until he realized something, he was looking down on a kid that looked to be about his age. Quickly activating Miru to take a look at himself, Ryu discovered that his body's appearance changed, presumingly from the divinity he gained.
He now looked like a man in his early twenties, his body packed with lean muscles like a swimmer. His face's features turned sharper than before, and any imperfection in his body disappeared. "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one," Ryu mumbled under his breath as he posed a little.
"...Are you crazy?" The child asked while backing away. "N-no! Come here if you want to watch, you won't get a good view over there," Ryu scratched his head in embarrassment. "What are you working on?" The child asked again while he and his group slowly walked near Ryu.
"I'm trying to create a certain weapon, but it's harder than I thought," Ryu said. "You don't look upset, though?" The child asked curiously. "Well, yeah. It's been a while since I had to master something all on my own, I like the challenge," Ryu grinned.
"Anyway, how did you get your injuries?" Ryu asked, his expression turning a little more serious. "Oh, these? Some bastards were bored so they beat us up. Don't worry though, today was only a light beating so we're fine," the child replied with a sarcastic laugh.
"Why don't you kill yourself and return to the world of the living? It must be better than here," Ryu asked the kid. "You can't return by killing yourself, it's a rule implemented to keep the balance of that stupid cycle," the child explained.
"Is that so... By the way, I forgot to ask your names," Ryu said. "I'm Nadare," the white-haired kid introduced himself. "I'm Arashi," a girl with blond hair and sea-green eyes introduced herself. "I'm Kettei," The final boy said in a shy manner. He had a plain appearance, with black hair and brown eyes.
"Nice to meet you. Do you have any safe place to sleep?" Ryu inquired. "Safe? Here?" Arashi raised an eyebrow as she looked at Ryu as if to make sure he was serious. "I guess not. If you want to, you can stay here. I'll create some place for you to sleep, and no one will bother you here," Ryu said.
"Are you sure?" Kettai asked nervously. "Sure, it's no problem. I can also teach you how to defend yourself if you want to. Oh, and if you see any other kids, tell them about me. I'll take care of anyone who wants shelter," Ryu said.
"...What's in it for you?" Nadare asked suspiciously. "Do I need a reason? It's not like I find it difficult to protect all of you, so I want to help you if I can," Ryu smiled. "I hope it's not arrogance speaking," Arashi said. "It's confidence. Believe it or not, I'm probably the strongest guy here. And it won't hurt you to give me a shot, right?" Ryu winked at the annoyed girl.
"We'll take you up on that offer. Can you start teaching us some self-defense now?" Nadare asked. "Sure," Ryu said as he waved his hand, summoning several of his Shinobi. "These guys will teach you everything you need to know, though it'll be grueling," Ryu said to the shocked trio that just watched a couple of men appear out of thin air.
Suddenly coming up with a new idea, Ryu examined the trio with Rikai to gain information on their abilities and potential. He knew that his Shinobi had more than enough experience and skill to turn these kids into monsters, but nurturing them according to their strengths, weaknesses, and potential would bring much better results. And so before the group departed he instructed each of the Shinobi on how to train each of the kids.
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"Ugh..." The trio returned late in the evening with sick expressions on their faces. "I take it you enjoyed that?" Ryu chuckled as Arashi glared at him. "You still have enough strength to glare at me like that? I see you can handle more difficult training," Ryu said sadistically as Arashi's face froze.
"But in all seriousness, how was your first day?" Ryu said as he conjured some food for the hungry kids. Though normally spirits didn't need any food, those with high spiritual power needed to eat in order to refill their reserves.
Although those kids didn't have particularly high spiritual power, Ryu instructed his Shinobi to train them with some techniques he picked up from the wielder of the Zunpakuto he examined. As a result, their spiritual power grew a little bit from training.
"It was... Intense," Nadare said between large bites. 'Just intense? It seems I really should tell the Shinobi to step up their training,' Ryu thought. "What about you, Kettei?" Ryu inquired. "I've never done something so hard in my life... But it felt good. It felt like I was finally taking a step in the right direction," Kettei said in his weak voice, but there was a new gleam in his eye.
"I'm glad to hear it. I'll make you into fine warriors in no time. But you should go sleep. You did some very harsh exercise today, you should rest. I made you some rooms so you should head there to sleep. You'll resume training tomorrow morning, so sleep well," Ryu said as the trio hurried to bed after hearing they'll resume training in the morning.
'This is nice, I wonder if more kids will come,' Ryu thought as he headed to his own bed.
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