The punitive force arrived exactly two weeks after my hell training began. They had arrived a full week behind schedule for some unknown reason, and it only let Minamoto continue to to torture me for a week longer. However, if there was one thing that came out of it, I had more time to experiment with Life Energy.

After everything that had happened, Life Energy was a rather nice compensation.

The stuff was basically an all-around boost to everything. Strength, speed, reflexes, senses and just about anything my body could do but amplified. I felt completely different every time I used Life Energy. Like I was a different person, really. However, the omni-amplification drained my Life Energy fast enough that anything I could do with it was measured in a minute or two. Which was why I had been trying to figure out which channels and paths corresponded to which thing I wanted to amplify.

It was honestly grueling work since Minamoto had said that normally there were differences between each person’s channels and pathways that made it almost impossible for a standard pathway to be put into practice. The only thing that he knew worked for everyone were technique talismans. And those were only offered freely to students in one academy in Toshiki’s capital. An academy that I was exempt from due to the fact that I was already nineteen years old.

Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel about that. If I went to school again, it would make me feel that I was going to college in a different form. Sure, it was a magic college in a way, but I had dropped out of normal college for a reason. On the other hand, I was missing out on something juicy like a technique to fill up my currently black [status].

I sighed. There were pros and cons for both options, but I was stuck with the one I was most comfortable with, at least. Another school would have been too soon. “[Status].”

[True Name: N/A]

Name: David Wyatt

Life Rank: G

[Stats]

Body: G+

Mind: G

Soul: F-

[Class: N/A]

[Techniques: N/A]

[Skills: N/A ]

I smiled at the visible improvement. They were honestly small in the grand scheme of things, but looking at the fact that I was making progress helped stem the constant desire to just sit down and stop. My soul stat had even hit F rank after the little test to utilize my Life Energy, cementing the fact that all my stats were seemingly interconnected. How they were, though? I still had no idea.

Minamoto was truthful when he said that he had only a grasp over the basic concepts. The way I looked at it was that the body was present in the physical world, the soul in a spiritual one and the mind was the bridge to connect the two. Or that the mind was the only thing that could access both worlds? It got confusing the more I tried to figure it out, so I just stopped after just grasping the basics of each stat.

Body was basically everything physical about me. Strength, speed, durability, etc. Everything that could be trained on my physical body was literally the body stat. Soul, in a similar sense, was everything spiritual about me. Minamoto used terms like energy control, something like a sixth sense for energy and elevation of self, but I was just barely understanding what he meant. For me, they manifested as flashes of feelings that I could read from other people. Like for Minamoto, I got the feeling of a tree. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea.

My soul stat was my highest stat for some reason, so I came to terms with the fact that something was happening. However, because it was still only F rank, I could understand that whatever was happening was very minor and not worth much attention.

Finally, the elusive mind stat. I really tried to understand what Minamoto was about when he explained it. However, apparently it was linked to your True Name or something.

In any case, my crash course of Life Energy and everything else had ended today. In celebration of such a momentous occasion, I decided that watching a bunch of strong guys massacre the Oni who chased me down when I first got here would be a pretty nice gift. Minamoto had even been planning to bring me along to show me how the subjugation was carried out. He jokingly said that it was useful information if I ever ran into an Oni again.

...please don’t play with my heart like that, old man. He’s basically cursing me to see another Oni again, I’m sure.

Still, my mind was preoccupied with where I would go now. I no longer needed Minamoto to provide Life Energy to power the translating Shikigami around my neck, and I had already learned the basics of my stats. After the subjugation, I would be on my own again.

That thought hit me harder than I thought it would, causing me to pause in making my breakfast. Hurriedly, I settled the iron pan over the crackling fire before I messed something up. I had only been able to use this small divot on the floor and some firewood as a makeshift stove after the owner of the house reluctantly let me after realizing that I could cook moderately on my own. In my head, he just didn’t want to spare the effort to cook for me, too.

However, I was fine with that. The time cooking let me clear my head a bit, easing me into the day after waking up at the ungodly hour that was the morning. Something that I clearly needed at the moment.

“Okay, it’s fine. It’s just a trip. Yeah, but where to go?” I spoke to myself, wondering if Minamoto wouldn’t happen to have a map and recommendations.

“If you don’t mind this one’s advice, I would recommend leaving for Mitsuno.” An aged yet still seemingly powerful voice broke through my fog of thoughts.

[Amatsu Mikaboshi has his eyes on you]

I rolled my eyes inwardly, ignoring the annoying guy again. Give it a break, you stalker. I had been seeing this notification every now and again, and had brought it up to Minamoto to no avail. He had sadly stopped trying to figure out what god had which name or something. The most we could reason was that Amatsu Mikaboshi was some sort of minor god who was intrigued with me. Which had connotations that I wasn’t really comfortable with.

Instead, I had gotten used to ignoring him. My eyes shifted over the notification before catching whoever spoke up. They were another old man like Minamoto. His head was the first thing that stood out to me as it was oddly shaped, almost like a pear. Wisps of hair stuck out from his balding head and on portions of his chin, and his eyes were drooping a bit as if he were about to fall asleep at any time. I caught a guardless blade sheathed on the waist of his long, traditional robes before my eyes met his. They were unusually murky. It was as if I was staring into some pool of water where I couldn’t see the bottom.

Still, this was like the second old man who offered to help me. Perhaps I had an affinity with them? Imagine, no one can mess with me for if they do then they’ll face the wrath of the innumerable grandpas and grandmas that I have befriended in my journey.

I shivered. Please, please let that be wrong. Something about that thought just seemed wrong.

“Why Mitsuno?” I asked back, staring at the old man who casually sat at the table of the guard captain’s house. He seemed so at ease and confident that I reasoned the old man was his grandpa or something. “Ah, sorry for not introducing myself, I am David.”

The old man hummed and smiled. “You may address this one as Narui.”

“Ah, okay,” I blinked, feeling that maybe this old man had a screw loose or something. The awkward air continued until he pointed a bone-thin finger towards the pan behind me.

“Careful not to burn it.”

I jumped, feeling my cheeks heat up. Immediately, I pulled the eggs I was cooking off the fire and transferred them over to a nearby plate. It was just a simple thing made of clay, but it was the closest thing I could find to a plate here. Of course, expecting them to just casually have plastic plates was too much to ask.

“Do you want something to eat?” I started before feeling the need to add, “Sir.”

Narui just smiled, drawing my eyes to the uneven and rather pointed teeth inside his cracked, thin lips. “Just tea will suit my palate. I doubt you have my preferences prepared.”

“Okay…” Carefully, I set my plate of eggs to the side before pulling out a small teapot that was already in the house. Sure, it wasn’t mine, but I’m sure that the guard captain wouldn’t mind me using it for his grandpa.

The rest of the encounter was rather lackluster compared to the introductions. I didn’t notice anything wrong with an old grandpa taking up space in his grandson’s house, and the old man didn’t really seem like he talked much. He never did explain why he suggested Mitsuno even as he stood from his chair, walked to the entrance of the house and slipped on a pair of wooden sandals before leaving.

Then, as if some magic spell had broken, I realized that that old man had been unnaturally short. My own height might be a couple inches below six foot, but the top of the old man’s head barely reached my waist.

I stood up and hurriedly tried to follow after the old man. The sliding door easily opened and I found myself looking at a street that was filled with only a couple people that were milling about. No old man was even nearby.

My poor sixth sense sensed something nearby, but the impression I got from it was muddled. Like there was something deliberately hiding from me. However, what I could parse sent a slight shiver down my spine.

I saw an army.

“You’re normally not this late.” Minamoto greeted me, standing next to a man who I could only describe as a commander.

He looked like a normal middle aged man with parts of his hair peppered with grey flecks. I was more in awe of the layers of leather armor over his body that formed a tiered cuirass. Shoulder guards and thigh guards were made of a similar style, hanging off of the armor connected to his chest and torso respectively. It was an authentic samurai outfit if I ever saw one. In addition, he even had two large swords strapped to his waist.

“What are you looking at?” he brusquely asked, frowning in my direction. He turned towards Minamoto. “Sir, I understand that you sent a message about an Oni and lost Gaijin, but are you seriously considering this is the Gaijin?”

I clamped my mouth shut to prevent myself from cursing this man out. There were tons of rude villagers I met recently, but none had been as dismissive of me as this guy. It was impressive in all the bad ways.

“Now, now, I figured that a miscommunication was bound to happen when I mentioned a Gaijin, but mister David here is not really a danger. Much less a potential threat. You trust my word, don’t you?” Minamoto kept his smile throughout the whole bit, but there was something there. My sixth sense wasn’t acting up. However, I knew something was going on as the general samurai tensed and bowed low to Minamoto.

“I apologize. It is just my nature to doubt.”

Minamoto’s feature’s eased up a bit. “No harm done. Right, mister David?”

I hurriedly shook my head. Minamoto was full of surprises.

“Yes, let me introduce this man.” Minamoto gestured to the samurai who had stood from his bow. “Nishimuro Kichiro. He’s normally more laid back, but he treasures his subordinates more than anything.” Nishimuro stared blankly at the old Exorcist, and I could tell that he was exasperated with the old man. We shared a look and promptly I nodded slightly to the man. He reluctantly nodded back.

“Now, for my newest friend.” Minamoto patted my shoulder. “David Wyatt. Ah, keep in mind he puts his surname last. It’s a bit confusing to get used to, but the culture of Gaijin’s is something that is equally confusing.”

“Come on, let us go hunt an Oni!” Minamoto cheered, pulling me by my shoulders as Nishimuro pressed a hand to his forehead. I caught around forty samurai that were dressed similar to Nishimuro mulling about next to the river I was pulled from. There were around ten other people who were dressed in long robes similar to Minamoto's as well.

“March along the river!” Nishimuro commanded. “We shall check the waterfalls that connect to this river. I want Exorcists using Shikigami to scout. Shoichi and Yuudai shall use their tracking skills to find us a path!”

Like a well oiled machine, the various members of the group began moving to Nishimuro’s command. I marveled at the fact that no one complained throughout the entire thing despite the hot sun bearing down on everyone wearing thick armor and clothes.

“Impressive, yes?” Minamoto asked, smiling as I gawked on the side.

“I-yes, though I don’t know much about leadership.”

He waved, motioning for me to follow the marching troops. I had the sinking feeling that this whole trip was going to be more training. “Now, tell me why you were late.”

I swallowed heavily as his usual jovial tone changed. “I had an odd encounter with… what was probably disguised as an old man.”

“Hmmm,” Minamoto rubbed his long, white beard. “Can you describe it?”

I nodded. “He looked like a short old man, but he really didn't seem too dangerous. But um-"

"It was probably just a random yokai popping by to scare you. They do that all the time; even I get the odd one that scares me a bit." Minamoto said, cutting me off. However, there was something off about his smile. "Don't worry about it and just focus on how the Samurai and Exorcists hunt the Oni. This is good for you."

I wanted to agree with him, but I just couldn't help worrying about it. I just hoped it was my sixth sense being faulty and incoherent.