The Unbreakable Bow

As the arrows were shot into the enemy, the shogun went into battle position. Then, in a blink of an eye, the arrows cracked and got dismantled mid-air . The boy blinked , his arrows never cracked before. Soon enough, The offenser felt a strong feeling of a long masse on his shoulder , and the Lord was about to decapitate him and he barely stopped in front of the terrified boy.

"The only reason you're alive right now is because I am in a rush and don't want to waste my time searching for the stupid key in this wreak of a village. "

Whispered the cold voice to his ear.

"But my patience has a limit ... you look like you care about this wasteland... trust me, if I don't get the key by the time the rain has stopped, I will make it a perfectly plate plain, since we both know the key can't be destroyed. The choice is yours..."

The youth was shaking in fear . Not the fear of death that is...He was afraid of what could happen to his past eight years of wasted time and his precious village. So he said quietly:

"OK I will give the key ..."

"Show me then..."Replied Ryuji. The boy walked northwards, followed by the shogun without the distance between his sheath and the host's shoulder not changing a bit . Then they arrived at the shop.

Bathed in the soft glow of flickering torchlight, the medieval key shop at night exudes an air of mystery. The creaking wooden sign bearing the proprietor's name swings gently in the cool breeze. Shadows dance on the stone walls, casting an enchanting veil over the display of ornate keys crafted by skilled hands. The shop's ancient door, adorned with intricate ironwork, is slightly ajar, inviting a glimpse into the secrets within. The air is tinged with the scent of aged wood and history, making it a place where tales of the past linger in the quietude of the night.

The shogun looked at the place in interest while the boy walked back a few steps. The latter was took by his neck .

"I am going to destroy this place , so you better get the key and exit before I make my move ."

said the Lord in a threatening manner.

The boy entered quickly, jogging against time to a key in a key store full of the before mentioned object. Yet not much time had passed when the samurai checked his inventory, then he swang his sheath against the front wall of the store with not much force. As the door got cut in two half and the old glass of the window was shattered and filled the surrounding floor and the medieval bricks collapsed on each other , the responsible observered the remains of the once key shop of the village before he shouted in clear anger :"HE HAD STOLEN THE KEYS OF FATE, DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!!"

Not far from the raged master was the youngest, swinging his way through the village by his arrows, thinking:

He said the keys of Fate which means he doesn't have more than two , which makes me have three

This was not his first time at stealing such possessions from such close distance and risk , rather it was one of his few skills he had acquired from his long years of mischief ,along side the skill of running away from angry victims ,despite him not facing a situation where he needed to slip through an army of one hundred men.

Quickly, soldiers hurried following him and some showing up in front of him, trying to bring down the monkey thief that robbed them . Some drew out their spears and stabbed the air from which bolts of lightning will come out targeting the flying archer with absolutely negative results as they hit the sky or any solid surface they made contact to . The enemy archers as well as shot their arrows which would lit with fire mid-air and explode upon impact, yet none reached the youth.

He took a fracture of a moment look to his back to see that the warrior named Miyamoto was catching up fast , faster than any normal human would be. He was running with his hand holding the tsuka of his nodachi .Then in one moment ,he was starting to pull his long katana , when a big black mass of armor and flesh hit the boy so hard he went through a thin rooftop of a barn ,breaking it , and landing on a pile of haybay .

It was the Lord who had landed on the ground swiftly in front of his subject after hitting the teenager with his sheath like a baseball.

"Don't worry, Miyamoto, I just thought I lost him . In the end, he just a little lost scum of the eart-"

Said Ryuji just as the boy rose from the pile of animal food,coughing the haybay out of his throat.

" Looks like I missed, leave him to me , that won't be happening again..."

Affirmed the warrior calmly with a tone of disappoint, walking slowly with small, confident steps towards the risen holding his normal-looking katana not by the hilt but his decorative sheath.

Suddenly, he took a gentle foot up, and his presence shifted to the barn the boy was in , hitting his weapon against the boy's bow, who quickly reacted by blocking said weapon .The general hesitated for a moment observing both the opponent and his line of defence.

Why is he not cut in half ?

He thought before contracting his triceps muscles and pushing forward with more strength which resulted in the boy thrown away into a wooden pillar , an oak-wood fence and finally breaking a few barrels and crates with his skull and sending some rolling down the dirt road of the village.

While the boy was busy getting back on his feet and recovering from the hit , his enemy was examining his fallen foe with a mixed taste of interest and resentment.

"Tell me, what 's your name , youth?"

He asked calmly.

The person in question had just gotten back to his senses, just in time to receive the question . He was an honest guy ,he would have just told his name straight away if he knew the answer.

In his short lifetime, he has been called by various names, but if he was to choose one, there was only one that he would be proud to be known as .

"My name is ... Aefrine"

Answered Aefrine confidently..

"Tell me, Aefrine, what kind of spell did you use ?"

Questioned Ryuji , talking like the boy's life depended on it .

" Excuse me ?"

Replied Aefrine politely as he thought he misheard the question or he really just didn't understand it .

" Nobody managed to block my attacks and survived to feel its impact . You 're the first, and you better be the last . That's why I will ask again ,what trick did you use ,or is it so normal for you that you don't consider it anything special?"

He explained with a rising tone of anger .

Aefrine tried to think of a possible answer to what he was referring to . The special thing about him that matched the enemy description was his bow which he learned to make out of fin air and shooting from it his glowing arrows which he could extend it to be used as a rope or he could control its directions and speed to some degree.

I had used my bow before to block weapons, but I thought it's was nothing special. I mean, I didn't think of something, just I summoned my bow as always to save from... I-i

The boy stood there in silence.

"If you won't tell me the secret, it's OK, I will simply make sure that it will die with you ."

Said the shogun while bending his knees, getting to battle position before accelerating towards the boy , who had little time to bring back his trusted bow, block the offense and put enough power in his legs to hold his ground for a few seconds before he went flying again for several metres.

However, this time, he aimed to the highest building in sight and shot a rope. He landed on the clock tower bending on his knees, quickly gathering strength in his triceps and biceps and every other muscle in his upper body stretching his magical bow again against the fast-moving swordman who didn't wait for Aefrine to land safely and started gaining momentum with his feet , climbing the wall of nearby house preparing for a second assault.

Aefrine didn't wait for him , he released his arrow which in the moment where it left the bow it split into three then five , accelerating forward. Ryuji slashed his way through the first three with fast slices that was almost beyond Aefrine's ability to understand. However , the last two changed directions. Aefrine was controlling them with both his hands or rather his fingers by directing them ,the arrows will follow that general direction .

In that way , he tried to hit the enemy 's head from two different angles ,from behind, making them circular and decreasing their speed . Therefore, the target had plenty of time to react, not by destroying the rotating arrows but with his heavy cannons that rotated thirty degrees upwards, and with a soft bang, two small circles of purple smoke that began to disappear into the air came out ,as the Lord took off ,smashing into Aefrine. Next thing he knew, his bow has yet again saved him from an another mortal blow .