The next day—-
Atsushi was watching his division members train in his dojo when suddenly, Nonoka entered the room.
"Daughter," Atsushi remarked. "You've returned. Finally done learning from Nyugawa?"
"Not in the slightest," she admitted. "You should see his new look, Dad."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind. You'll get it soon. What's going on here? Some new form of exercise?"
"Preparing their bodies," Atsushi replied. "They want to level up. Thus, they must be of adequate stamina and physical endurance."
"Huh," Nonoka commented. "Sounds exactly what Zaria's tryna do. What even is that 'Leveling' place, anyway? And why haven't you told me about it?"
"The Kitakyushu Dungeon," Atsushi explained. "It's where one can potentially gain enormous power, but not without cost."
"Hmm? Why haven't you used it to match Mr. Nyugawa, then?"
"Do not patronize me, child. You and I know very well that matching his full strength is impossible. And yet he holds more back, almost as if we're kittens to him."
Nonoka chuckled. "If only you knew, Dad."
She noticed Yuzuha sitting on a chair nearby, who was busy tending to a pair of green owls on her shoulders. "Oh. You've still got that elf hanging around here?"
"She has her uses," Atsushi stated.
Yuzuha turned towards them. "I have a name, you know!"
"Uh-huh," Nonoka shrugged. "Look at those doofuses in their shiny armor. Some things never change."
She watched as Kei, Yorito, and Kōga were wrestling with each other, tossing one another across the room. Hajime watched before smacking all of them on the head.
"Idiots," he scoffed. "The Kaidanchō is watching."
"Sorry…" they moaned.
Nonoka turned her attention back to her father. "Dad, are you sure they can handle it? I mean, is it seriously THAT hard?"
"Most have a good chance of dying," he warned. "But that's the price we pay as Kaitansha. With monsters dwelling in the lands, and those Mujinsha freaks running rampant, I'm sure the other Kaidanchō feel the same."
Atsushi looked Nonoka up and down. "Where is your armor?"
"Well…erm…it broke."
"It WHAT?"
The entire division turned to look at her.
"It broke, okay! I've been dealing with Huntresses, Heralds, and Beasts, okay! You'd have to expect it would crumble eventually!"
Atsushi held his head. "Reckless child. I hope that old man plans to protect you."
"I'm not five, Dad. I can handle whatever leveling bullshit that's coming up."
A voice echoed from behind Nonoka, and she jumped back. "That overconfidence is exactly why you won't reach your ceiling, Nonoka."
She turned to find Hajime glaring at her with an unimpressed look, and she glared back. "You. What do you want, pretty boy?"
A glowing prism formed in his hands. "Nothing much. How's your little Shinkaidan doing these days? Still running around like baby chickens for your Master to take care of?"
Nonoka waved him off. "You don't know shit. Goodbye, Dad. I hope you're not bringing this loser along with you."
She exited the dojo and headed upstairs. "Also, I need to grab some clothes!"
Hajime and Atsushi watched as she left, and Hajime ran a hand over his face. "Sir, why do you insist on keeping her around? That girl is far too entitled for her own good."
"She was in need of a home," Atsushi explained. "I gave her one."
"Well, it seems maybe you shouldn't," Hajime said. "One of these days, someone is going to humble her ego, and it won't be Nyugawa."
Atsushi remained silent, watching as his daughter left the mansion.
Shinkaidan Mansion—-
Omariro had Zaria, Rika, Rei, Sōshin, and Han lined up before him as he examined them. Each of them stood as still as a statue, their eyes not leaving their master.
"Children wish to grow stronger."
"Yes, sir!" they replied.
"Children must face great adversity."
"Yes, sir!"
Omariro paused. "Girl is not here."
"Yeah, uh," Rika replied. "She said she was going to visit her Dad really quickly, but knowing her, she might take a while, sir."
"Hmm. Training begins without girl. Will have to catch up."
"What type of training are we doing, Mr. Omariro?" Rei asked. "Is it combat training like we always do?"
"Children will not focus on combat," Omariro explained. "Children will focus on fundamentals."
"Fundamenals?" Zaria questioned. "Erm, what are those, sir?"
"Fundamentals of Kaitansha," he explained. "Come. First test balance."
With a snap of his fingers, a bunch of tall poles appeared inside the dojo.
"Sir? What is this?" Rika wondered.
"Balance. On poles."
Without warning, he teleported each of them atop a pole, and in quick fashion, they all fell to the floor. Han rubbed his face.
"I wasn't ready for that, sir…" Han lamented. "Is there some trick to this?"
Omariro teleported them back into the poles. "No trick. Only focus."
Zaria tried to center her weight, but she ended up snapping the pole under her legs. Rika tried to stabilize herself, but she wobbled and fell face-first onto the floor. Rei managed to stay up a little while longer, before her pole gave way. Han stumbled and landed flat on his back.
"Children have failed."
"Look, Master!" Sōshin announced. "I've got it!"
They watched as Sōshin balanced himself with one hand, remaining perfectly centered.
"Boy has good balance," Omariro noted. "Potential awaits."
"Aww," Rika sighed. "Sōshin's starting to get better than me in everything!"
"C'mon!" Zaria assured her. "If he can do it, so can we!"
Nonoka entered the dojo, sweat on her face. "Sorry I'm late, Master! It was tons of traffic and monsters, y'know!"
She noticed the poles. "Oh…is class in session?"
Omariro tapped his staff on the ground. "Girl late. Girl must now balance on two poles."
"Is this some acrobatics class? I dig it! Sign me up!"
Before Omariro could teleport her up, she climbed one pole and placed her foot on another before flipping over and landing with a hand on the top of two poles, mirroring Sōshin. The kids stared, shocked, as Omariro nodded in approval.
"Wow, Friend Nonoka!" Sōshin complemented. "You're really good!"
"Meh," Nonoka shrugged. "I'm very athletic. How are you doing this, though?"
"Hehe! It's easy! My family taught me!"
Zaria, Rika, and Han simply stared, shocked. Rei clapped her hands. "Wow! Our friends are doing really great!"
"We need to lock in," Zaria insisted. "Come on! Let's try again!"
Once they got back on the poles, the other students slowly began to balance themselves before falling onto the ground.
Rika rubbed her face. "Master, this is so hard…"
Omariro snapped his fingers, disappearing. When he reappeared, he was balancing atop his blade, which in turn was balancing atop the pole. He had a cup of coffee in his hand.
"W—what? Now you're just showing off, Master!"
"Children must learn," Omariro ordered. "Again."
The four got back atop the poles, slowly but surely keeping their weight more controlled. Zaria attempted to switch her feet but she ended up smacking into the wall.
"Ugh…what's our next lesson, sir?"
"From balance stems endurance," Omariro explained. "First, students must pass."
Four hours later, the kids all began to balance themselves, with Sōshin accomplishing it with one finger.
"Really, Little Bro?" Rika groaned. "Are you showing off too?"
"What do you mean, Big Sis?"
Omariro tapped his staff. "Adequate. Endurance next."
The kids hopped down.
"What will that be?" Nonoka wondered. "Like, a ton of pushups?"
A little while later, they were outside squatting with weights. Each one had rocks attached to the ends. Instantly, Han, Rika, Sōshin, and Rei collapsed, while Nonoka buffered herself and managed to stay up for a little while before falling as well.
"Huh," Zaria noted. "This ain't so bad."
"Squat," Omariro commanded.
Zaria did so with ease, while the others watched, annoyed.
"She's so lucky this is her natural advantage," Nonoka muttered. "Would be nice to have super legs, no?"
"Didn't you say you were athletic?" Zaria retorted. "Why are you crying now?"
Omariro had two truck-sized rocks at the ends of his weights as he squatted them with one hand, with Zaria struggling to keep up with his pace.
"Sheesh, sir! Could you…maybe slow down a bit?"
After more hours of trying and failing, Omariro gathered the kids toward a nearby hot tub.
"Do we finally get a chance to relax?" Rika pleaded.
"Children will continue endurance," Omariro stated. Will withstand one hour in hot tub."
The kids all switched to bathing suits while Omariro got in fully clothed. One by one, they dipped their feet and legs into the hot tub, and the second they did, everyone but Rei and Han got out.
"Eek!" Rika screamed. "It's burning!"
Zaria rubbed her legs. "Ow. Ow. It's gotta be like, over 300 degrees!"
Nonoka waved at herself to cool down. "Sorry, sorry! Just give me a moment…"
Sōshin rapidly moved his legs. "Must keep moving, Friends! Will reduce the burn!"
Rei and Han submerged all the way to their necks. Rei gave the others a confused look.
"Is it really that bad…?" Rei wondered.
Han simply sat there, washing his hair. Zaria took a deep breath, slowly jumping back inside as she winced. "Ow!"
Rika dipped herself beside Omariro, clinging tightly onto him for comfort as she withstood the heat. Nonoka jumped onto Zaria's back, attempting to evade as much heat as possible.
"The hell are you doing?" Zaria hissed.
"Shut up! It's hot!"
"I'M hot!"
Sōshin got into the water, moving his body as fast as possible to keep the heat from spreading. Omariro sat in the center, before sinking his entire body below the water.
"Sir! Wait!" Rika begged. "Ahh!"
She fell into the water as well, immediately getting up and rubbing her eyes. Omariro remerged from the water, sipping more coffee.
The kids all called out of the hot tub as the sky darkened, pouring buckets of water on themselves to cool off. Ziz landed atop the house, analyzing the situation.
"It would seem one has begun training once more," Ziz noted. "Thou's children look ready to break."
"Children will endure," Omariro assured. "Dungeon will be harsh."
"One must admit that the Sea Beast would enjoy overseeing this. It is unfortunate that one is busy protecting the seas."
Omariro glanced from Ziz to the students. "Beast can help train."
Ziz lifted an eyebrow. "How does thou plan to use one such as myself?"
Soon after—-
The students, rocks tied to their bodies, pushed forward down the street as Ziz sent a wave of wind gusts at them, causing them to fly back and crash into the nearby trees.
"One has not had so much fun in ages!" he boasted. "Thou's students are rough in technique."
Zaria gritted her teeth and stomped forward, while Rika slowly crawled her way forward, inching closer and closer to Ziz.
"Oh?" Ziz noted. "Thou's smaller frame bears resistance to my winds. For how long can one keep it up?"
He sent another gust at Rika, which sent her tumbling, but she recovered. The kids all marched forward, the winds growing stronger and stronger.
Rika used her nails to dig into the concrete, pushing her body until she crawled past Ziz and reached Omariro. "Finally! I passed one! Yes!"
Zaria was next, followed by Sōshin, Nonoka, Han, and then Rei. Once everyone was set, Omariro gave Ziz a nod, and a wave of wind returned each of the students to their original positions.
"Hah!" Ziz snorted.
"Children inside," Omariro declared. "Final lesson done."
The kids returned to the living room, sprawling on the floor. Omariro appeared in front of them.
"Children have shown potential," he praised. "For children to move to next step, children must prove worth."
"How, sir?" Zaria questioned.
Omariro sipped a cup of coffee. "Must snatch coffee from hand. One day to do it."
They all shared a look.
"Wait," Nonoka realized. "We have to snatch that cup of coffee from YOU?"
Omariro nodded. "Once done, lesson advances."
He slowly made his way upstairs, taking a sip before retreating from view.
"We're so screwed," Nonoka complained. "Master will never go easy on us."
"It's fine!" Zaria promised. "We just go in, politely rob him of his coffee, and give it back! How hard can it be?"
Emerald made a mocking noise from his cage.
"Good luck," he taunted. "Catching that old man off guard will be impossible. Trust me, I've tried."
The kids' faces all grew dim.
"We're never passing this lesson, are we?" Rika lamented.
"Probably not," Zaria shrugged. "Probably not in the slightest."
——