Upon exiting the fenced arena, Kurusu's ntal state was shattered. He felt like a complete failure, but after so comforting words from Aya, he managed to regain so composure and followed her to where Kenshou was standing, joining the group of onlookers.
Just as Aya had said, when he was inside, his focus was entirely on the battle, leaving little room for other thoughts. But once outside, as a spectator, things felt different.
From the outside, not only was he watching the fight between the samurai and the Kabane inside the enclosure, but his attention was also drawn to Altair, who had been providing comntary the entire ti.
When he was inside, the sound of Altair's voice had been re background noise, sothing he barely noticed. But now, outside, there was no escaping it.
Standing next to Aya, observing every detail of the fight, he also listened to every detail of Altair's comntary.
Kurusu began to notice sothing strange. The Kabane inside wasn't particularly strong. From the outside, it seed slow and sluggish, much less agile than the samurai he trained with. But whenever a samurai launched an attack... especially when the Kabane appeared unable to defend itself... whenever Altair uttered words like "It's over!" or "It's dood!" the Kabane would suddenly move with unexpected agility, dodging attacks with uncanny precision.
No wonder Aya had said sothing that felt strange. This wasn't just strange... it was outright bizarre!
Kurusu's shattered confidence started to co back. As an observer, watching other samurai struggle in the sa way he had brought him a small sense of satisfaction.
'No! I can't have such thoughts! I'm a samurai, and this training is about upholding our honor. How can I be happy watching my comrades suffer?'
But as Altair continued to spout his comntary, Kurusu couldn't help but laugh... especially when the other samurai, who had begun with eager anticipation, now looked on with disappointnt. By the end, they too had started laughing, and Kurusu found himself unable to hold back a smile.
'Well, I can't be blad for laughing. Everyone else is doing it too.'
What had started as serious training for honor quickly turned into a ga, with samurai betting on who could be the first to defeat the Kabane. This Kabane had beco an insurmountable obstacle for every warrior who entered the arena. No one had managed to land a blow on it... sothing completely absurd.
To speed things up, Altair reduced the ti for each samurai from ten minutes to just three. Three minutes... enough ti to clear the 1-10th floor of the dungeon! Surely defeating one Kabane in that ti wouldn't be a problem, right?
And yet, not a single samurai could pass the challenge.
By the end of the day, more than a hundred samurai had taken their turns. They'd even stopped for a lunch break. Yet no one could land a single hit on the Kabane.
The Kabane, with Altair's help, had achieved over a hundred consecutive victories!
As the evening fell and all the samurai had taken their turns, Altair himself entered the enclosure and with a single kick, sent the Kabane back into its cage, declaring the day's training over.
Every samurai present had participated, even Kenshou himself, but like the others, he had failed to land a hit on the Kabane.
Watching Altair easily kick the Kabane into the cage with just one blow, the samurai had mixed feelings. It felt as if all their previous training had been in vain. At the sa ti, they grew even more in awe of Altair, realizing that not only was he strong enough to crush samurai with a single punch or destroy a train with one cannon blast, but he could also control others with just his voice.
According to so of the defeated samurai, every ti they prepared to strike the Kabane, hearing Altair's voice made them feel like sothing was wrong with their bodies. They couldn't explain exactly what, but it always caused them to miss their attacks. In this feudal society, where belief in curses and spirits was common, it wasn't long before the samurai began to believe Altair was a kind of supernatural being capable of controlling people.
Altair was quite pleased with this result. He had been using the samurai as a way to test his skill. The Kabane had been captured by him using his passive ability to lower his presence, and while the samurai were indeed training, they were also helping him explore the extent of his Poison Buff ability.
After watching over a hundred samurai for an entire day, Altair was surprised by how effective this ability was. In so ways, it seed to operate on a rules-based power, similar to his ability to lower his presence. As long as he could speak it, it could happen.
Altair was satisfied with this outco, deciding that the samurai would continue to fight the Kabane in the coming days, while he would continue to provide comntary. He began experinting with the limits of his ability... predicting broken swords, sudden rain that caused samurai to slip, or even the unlikely chance of being struck by lightning.
Of course, he found that his skill couldn't create things out of thin air, but it could certainly cause events to unfold with objects or people already present.
Over the following days, the samurai experienced various setbacks. So twisted their ankles, others had sudden muscle cramps, and so even had their swords break mid-fight. Yet the Kabane remained undefeated, with only its steel mbrane covered in the countless slashes it had endured.
After a week of training, a new Hayajiro 1arrived at Aragane Station.
Because of Altair's orders, any incoming Hayajiro had to wait outside for clearance before lowering the drawbridge. This new Hayajiro arrived and could not imdiately enter, waiting instead on the bridge outside.
The samurai who received the request for entry didn't lower the drawbridge but instead quickly reported to the manor, informing Altair of the Hayajiro's arrival.
"Altair-sama, the rebel Amatori Biba has arrived outside the station!"
It was the very arrival Altair had been waiting for.
"So, he's finally here."
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The Hayajiro are locomotives built to transport, people and goods between stations. They are also used as mobile protection from the Kabane.
Known Hayajiro: Koutetsujou, Fusoujou, Kokujou.
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