13 Getting acquainted

(An: chapter eleven notice had a typo. There won't be any powers beyond breathing styles)

--A few minutes later--

We found ourselves in front of Shin's wu unit and they were truly a sorry sight to lay eyes on. Even if nobody in my unit was normal I was sure that I would rather have them guarding my back. I am able to roughly judge somebody's combat power by looking at them which is why I let somebody like Genki into the unit even though I wasn't quite sure how he moved around or used a bow. Akuma and the tomo twins both radiated an aura of power despite their initial appearances. Although Akuma seemed to have some mental obstacles he clearly knew how to use his unique weapon based on the stance he assumed when walking which looked casual but in reality he constantly ready to leap into combat.

Most of Shin's unit just screamed weak to me. The Wei brothers looked like they barely knew how to hold their swords and their wu chief was pathetically weak going off of the feel I received from him. Certainly not what you would expect from a veteran of war. Shin was stronger than when he participated in the battle of the royal palace but was still what I would consider strong. Based on the rough feelings I got, the Tomo twins could beat Shin as he was now and they were the weakest in my unit.

Moving my gaze to Kyou Kai I was met with a calm façade that hid a bottomless pit of rage. She was by far the strongest in her group but was held back by the incredibly small amount of breath she currently had which would be released in a small amount of time making her much less powerful in a war that could extend for hours on end. Her saving grace in that situation would be her quick mind allowing her to direct the soldiers nearby to fight instead of herself so that she could recuperate.

All of these thoughts were processed in a matter of seconds allowing me to greet Shin once we got close.

" Hello Shin, its been awhile, what have you been up to " I ask trying to get along with the blockhead until he was more mature and could handle a proper conversation.

" Oh hey Yoriichi, I have been traini..., Giaaannnttttt" He shouts after turning around and coming face to face with Genki for the first time and almost losing his eyes in a action reminiscent of Enel's iconic surprised face from One piece.

"Hahahahahah" laughs Genki finding Shin's reaction to be amusing.

"This is Genki, our group's archer" I say while pointing at Genki. "The guy with the weird spear is Akuma and the two twins are both called Tomo" I say finishing introducing my group.

I can see that the two Bi brothers and their wu chief Taku Kei are feeling intimidated by out group's presence even when we aren't actively releasing any of our intent or aura. Shin is mostly just surprised by the oddness of our group and soon starts grinning once more. Kyou Kai gives all of us a serious look with her gaze lingering on me for a extra second before she turns away.

" Well my name is Shin, the two guys over there are the Bi brothers" he introduces himself before pointing at the Bi brothers one who looks very dorky with his giant buck teeth and facial hair that tells the world he is a virgin. The taller one looks a little bit more solemn than his brother but emits no air intimidation whatsoever indicating his status as a greenhorn of war and death.

" The short guy is called Taku Kei and he is our leader and the short depressing guy hasn't said his name yet" finishes Shin before sending what he imagines to be a evil look towards Kyou kai who simply turns her head further away causing imaginary fumes to rise from Shin's head.

"Good to see you Shin, maybe we will meet before the battle again" I say turning away and waving behind me leading my group away.

--A few hours later--

It was now night time and our group was sitting in the tent provided for each wu and getting to know each other a little better since we would be fighting together shortly. Everybody in the tent already acknowledged each others strength as after I received orders for the front with the other Wu chiefs I led my group to a little clearing outside of camp where we demonstrated a few of the skills we knew in order to build trust. The twins had demonstrated remarkable teamwork skills and a high level of swordsmanship that focused on speed, dexterity and confusing the enemy so that they couldn't focus on one target. Although they had yet to enter the realms of the top few hundred in China they would have no problems crushing the common foot soldier, an impressive age considering their age of eleven something they had previously stated.

Akuma had also demonstrated a high level of skill with his spear and his combat style focused on high levels of speed and precision with a large focus on offence much like the twins who lacked any real defense. His combat prowess would put him around the top 100 of china when he was serious as far as I could tell.

The biggest surprise for me was Genki as he went above and beyond my expectations for him. His skill in archery was truly astounding as he managed to accurately hit specific trees from over 500 meters, often splitting the tree in two with arrows that bore a larger resemblance to ballista bolts than an actual arrow. This is a huge advantage for any commander as he would be able to take down enemy generals from across the battlefield if they were with their troops. The best part is that it looked as if he could shoot farther but chose not for some reason. It was especially important considering that even the best archers during this time period couldn't shoot further than 150 meters on flat ground.

After Genki had retrieved his arrows I gave a demonstration of Sun Breathing which stunned all four of them as the normal human eye wouldn't be able to follow my sword no matter what they did. What followed was a brief spar in which I defeated the combined team of Akuma and the two Tomo within 10 seconds cementing my position as the leader of the group but it may as well have been a defeat since it looked like I made the Tomo twins even more fanatical

Back in the tent we were getting to know each other better. I went first and described my goal which was to find my dream and whatever it was accomplish it in a manner that made my name go down in history. Genki's goal was to do things that made him laugh and follow wherever the earth led him or so he says. The two Tomo in a predictable manner stated that they wanted to fight strong people and become as strong as the could in their now signature smile. Akuma only said that he wanted to do things he found fun or interesting while looking bored. After getting to know more superficial things for a few more hours we went to sleep as we had a long way to march in the upcoming days.

--The following day--

We have been marching for a few hours at this point but we still have a few more days until we reach our target which will soon be conquered by the Wei army forcing us to change course. Nobody here knows that yet so people are still in high spirits and dreaming of chasing glory in a one sided siege.

"Hey look over there, more people" shouts one of the Tomo pointing towards the right from Genki's Shoulder. Both of the Tomo ended up sitting on Genki's shoulder which he didn't mind since their size made carrying the not much of a problem.

A few minutes later our company is out of the brush and we are confronted by the sight of a massive column of men marching. 'So that's the fourth army' I muse while taking a measurement of what I can see from this distance. The sight of seeing this many men at once is certainly impressive but I can't say the same about the soldiers that make it up considering that most of them are conscripts and not true soldiers. We eventually join up with the army and continue marching.

"Halt, halt, all units halt" shouts a messenger who had rode up to our section of the column before continuing in a loud voice "All squad leaders gather". Once the squad leaders nearby had gathered the messengers inform us that we will be marching to Ashui castle to join up with the first and second armies before marching on Rongyang castle due to Wei having captured Wan castle which was our initial destination. After I get back to my squad I inform of them of the change which doesn't really bother them.

--The next day--

Shin met with Heki who passed by today and they talked for awhile before Heki continued onwards to Ashui castle for the strategy session that would take place under Duke Hyou the supreme commander of this campaign. We also received the orders to head to the Dakan plains where the actual battle would take place. By this point people were at each others necks and the only thing preventing a brawl from taking place was martial law.

--Five days later--

Today was the final day of marching and was also the day that we would start fighting against the forces of Wei. A few hours later you could almost feel the change in the atmosphere signaling that we were very close to the battlefield. Moments later we are on a cliff overlooking a filed of blood sweat and tears. You can see the corpses littering the battlefield from where we stand.

'Time to rack up achievements' I think before our unit descends to the plains in order to be organized under thousand man commanders before being sent into the battlefield.

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Thank you for reading this and sorry for the rapid developments at the end of the chapter. I didn't have as much time to write today so I skipped some dialogue that would have broken this chapter into two.

Special thanks to everybody who left a power stone, comment or review becuase that means a lot to me and gives me encouragement to keep writing.

This chapter covered manga chapters 50-52

(1806 words)