{NEW} A Merchant's Odyssey - Chapter 30: A Meeting of Proper Scholars (Patreon)

AN: #2 for November for Tier 3.

Poll Winner from October. Beta'd by Plum.

Chapter 30: A Meeting of Proper Scholars

“Good, nothing’s broken.” Akisame finished examining Sebastian’s frame. “You can put your shirt back on.”

“I told you that before you dragged me over here.” Sebastian grumbled from within the older man’s clinic, attached to the walls surrounding Ryozanpaku, the martial arts dojo he’d ended up in. “Couldn’t you have at least removed the chains first?”

“That would be irresponsible.” Akisame put away his equipment without missing a beat. “You could have had internal bleeding.”

“I was fine.” Sebastian huffed and rolled his shoulders. “A bit stiff, to be honest, but I was used as a bludgeoning weapon for a bit.”

“Yes, well, Shigure can get a bit…” Akisame hummed, trying to find the right word. “Excited at times.”

“Does this have something to do with her thinking I’m a ninja?” Sebastian raised a brow and hopped off the table.

“Did she now?” Akisame’s naturally narrow eyes opened a tad wider as he took Sebastian in, focusing on the scars running over his neck. “If that’s the case, it speaks well of you to be intact after meeting her.”

Sebastian did a double take at that being the man’s response. “Seriously, how many times does this happen?”

“More than I’d like to admit.” Akisame sighed and rubbed his brow. “Although, usually it’s well justified, if overeager, self-defense.”

“Self-defense?” Sebastian readjusted his shirt. “She cut through steel like it was butter.”

“She does that.” Akisame nodded.

“People don’t do that.” Sebastian retorted dryly.

“Our kind of people do that.” Akisame chuckled at Sebastian’s expression and elaborated. “Martial Arts Masters.”

“You learn how to do superhuman feats through martial arts?” Sebastian asked skeptically. “I thought it was just biomechanics dressed up to look cool. Optimizing how the body generates and transfers force, nothing that actually breaks physics.”

Akisame raised an impressed brow. “Do you have a background in science, young man?”

“Self-studied.” Sebastian answered with a trace of pride.

“Admirable for someone your age.” Akisame nodded approvingly. “I wouldn’t say you are incorrect, but there are nuances to everything.”

“Nuances?” Sebastian leaned in.

The older man gestured for Sebastian to follow him outside into the courtyard.

“Indeed. I once asked the same questions about physics and biology to my martial master.” Akisame smiled in fond remembrance. “And he proceeded to prove me wrong by performing Judo forms on a bear.”

“A bear?” Sebastian stared blankly at the man.

Logically, it wasn’t the weirdest thing he’d ever heard, but the idea of a martial artist without Aura doing it was hard to swallow.

“A human wrestled a bear?” Sebastian repeated.

“Saying he wrestled the bear is a discredit when the beast was knocked out in two moves.” Akisame hummed and stopped them at the porch, within sight of Apachai’s training area, where the dark-skinned Hulk went to town on a solid boulder with his bare fists, used like deadly chisels. “The moral of the lesson was that there is more to see than what science can account for.”

Sebastian internally snorted at that before his PTSD was triggered by a pink blur. “Back, she-demon!”

Shigure stared at him, upside down and hanging from a ceiling tile that should never have supported her weight. “You…not broken?”

‘I’m getting anxiety from a color.’ Sebastian appeased his accelerated heartbeat.

“For the last time, no.” He zeroed in on the woman’s feet and tried to figure out how she was spitting on reality so he could copy it. “It takes more than that to break me.”

“Mn.” Shigure curiously followed his gaze to her display of skill, then smirked proudly. “I’ll… try harder…next time.”

“Yeah…” Sebastian answered unconsciously before blinking and refocusing. “Wait, next time?”

Before she could respond, an explosion of shattered stone sounded from Apachai’s direction.

“Apa! The wall broke again!”

“Oh, dear.” Akisame rubbed his forehead. “Shigure, if you would?”

“Mn.” Shigure waved and vanished into the ceiling, leaving Sebastian standing there, finger raised.

He turned to the calmer man. “Why did she say next time?”

“Come.” Akisame patted his shoulder with a genial smile and led the way into the building, explaining nothing. “We can discuss things better over some tea.”

“No, really, what did she mean?” Sebastian insisted.

Akisame just laughed and kept walking without breaking expression.

Sebastian desperately resisted the urge to pull out a Dust grenade. ‘Don’t blow shit up; you need these people to like you, Sebastian.’

000

“So, Shigure says you wish to be my student?” Akisame opened the discussion as the two sat at a traditional Japanese floor table in a tatami-matted room next to an open sliding door.

The sounds of Apachai halping with the gate rang from outside.

“Technically, I didn’t say that.” Sebastian eyed the cup of tea like it was pure poison and casually reached into his sleeve, pulling out a replacement cup he had made while living with Yu Xiaogang. “I said I wanted to find a teacher for physical conditioning.”

He waited for Akisame to take a sip and flicked a Switching Charm under the table on his own cup. The liquid was replaced without a ripple, but this one tasted like wine.

Sebastian smiled happily and sipped as he finished. “If martial arts is the efficient path, I’m all for it.”

Akisame’s eyes flashed toward Sebastian’s cup, but the man didn’t comment. “An interesting approach.” The contemplative man rubbed his chin. “If conditioning is all you desire, you can simply join a gym.”

“Yes, but a gym wouldn’t hold the instructional format I am seeking.” Sebastian locked eyes with the man. “I am far more interested in giving the finger to physics through martial arts.”

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for before arriving, but after what he’d seen so far, Sebastian knew he was in the right place to learn.

“An amusing motivation.” Akisame chuckled and sipped his tea. “What is it you are hoping to achieve through training?”

Sebastian took a moment to consider it. “For reasons that are hard to explain, I have a condition in which if I don’t begin improving my body’s physical conditioning rapidly, I will begin to face significant health issues.”

“Health issues?” Akisame frowned and set his teacup down. “A disease? I did not find anything odd with your skeletal structure in the exam.”

“You checked me for a few minutes; just how much did you see?” Sebastian’s brow twitched before he shook his head and answered. “It’s more metaphysical than physical.”

The world actively suppressed foreign power systems, so he figured it was better to be vague.

“Oh?” Akisame hummed and narrowed his eyes.

Sebastian felt momentarily exposed, despite not feeling an ounce of Mana, and matched the look sent his way. “Hn.”

“Hm.” Akisame’s eyes began to glow white.

“Hn.” Sebastian channeled Mana into his eyes to make them do nothing. But he looked intense.

“HM.” Akisame’s eyes shone like torch lights.

“HN.” Sebastian couldn’t see shit in the light.

Akisame resumed drinking tea. “Very well, I can accept you as a student.”

“Wait, what?” Sebastian fell back and covered his eyes with his hands. “How the fuck was that so bright?!”

“Language.” Akisame tutted and casually swiped Sebastian’s fallen teacup before it could hit the tatami mats. “And day drinking is poor behavior for my student.”

Sebastian froze on the ground. “You knew?”

He sat back up, reached into his pouch, and pulled out homemade eye drops, designed for certain reasons.

“You are an odd one, Sebastian White.” Akisame chuckled and set the teacup down. “You do not show any signs of formalized training, yet you hold a confidence in the face of experienced martial artists that speaks of familiarity with danger.”

Sebastian blinked as his vision magically recovered and realized the man had him pegged.

He dropped any pretense and sat with his wrist on a raised knee. “Then why accept me so easily?”

His wariness wasn’t hidden, yet that only made the older man happier.

“Why not?” Akisame answered simply. “My requirements for a disciple are not strict, and beyond your metaphysical concern, I sense in you a familiar spirit wishing to seek truth.”

“Seeking truth.” Sebastian repeated and rubbed his jaw. “Is it not the purpose of existence?”

Akisame nodded warmly, a certain aura beginning to emanate from the seated man. “You are a scholar at heart, are you not, young Sebastian?”

The man’s posture was straight, voice calm and controlled, and he gave off the feeling of a veteran warrior with a pen in hand.

A grin couldn’t help but stretch across Sebastian’s face at the resemblance he saw when he looked in a mirror. The look of a man who would go against the world to prove a theory he believed in.

His head lowered as Sebastian stated truthfully. “It would be an honor to learn from a senior scholar such as you.”

A short, cultured laugh escaped the older man’s chest as he ran a hand across his thin mustache. “I am Akisame Koetsuji, also known as the Philosophical Jujitsu Master. You may call me Sensei.”

Unlike a certain cowardly philosopher, the man before him carried confidence and a restrained danger that earned proper respect.

“Sebastian White.” Sebastian kept his head inclined. “I am in your care, Sensei.”

He came to find a teacher, and he found one.

A cultured laugh echoed from Akisame. A laugh matched by one coming from Sebastian.

Half the windows in the neighborhood shut at once.

It was a sound that made the other residents of Ryozanpaku twitch and turn toward the dojo it emanated from.

Sakaki cracked the top of a glass beer bottle with a grunt. “There’s fucking two of them.”

“Oh, dear.” Kensei paused in fixing his beloved camera to chuckle. “You found a proper disciple, my friend.”

Apachai shivered, and Shigure tilted her head in confusion as they froze at the gate, building blocks held above their helmeted heads.

“Hohoho.” A blond-haired giant stood at the apex of the building’s roof, his amusement only growing as things developed.

Back in the dojo, the laughter tapered off.

“Good. Good.” Akisame nodded approvingly and reached into his sleeve, revealing a journal and an ink brush. “I have quite a few theories I would like to test…” He coughed to clear his throat. “Training methods to demonstrate.”

The man was clearly trying to be menacing, but he paused when he noticed Sebastian also held a journal.

“I also had questions.” Sebastian scratched his cheek awkwardly with the back of a quill. “If you have time, of course.”

“Student.” Akisame exhaled deeply through his nose. “I have much time.”

The two looked like they wanted to pull out self-crafted ink pots and discuss the material makeup of their ink solutions, but the older man realized something and sadly put his journal down.

“Ah, before I forget, we must discuss tuition.” Akisame stated. “I understand that things can be difficult, so a payment plan is perfectly reasonable for-.”

The man was cut off by a soft tink.

“Unnecessary.” Sebastian lifted his finger from the unmarked solid-gold coin he set down. “I have much gold.”

A crash sounded elsewhere in the building, but the two ignored it as Akisame stared at the coin. “You carry gold?”

Sebastian’s answer was a second tink.

Akisame looked up from the coin at Sebastian’s unbothered expression, then back at the coins.

A third tink was the answer.

The ground vibrated, and Sebastian only felt a light breeze before the coins vanished into Akisame’s sleeve. “That will be sufficient.”

“Hold on now!” The door to the dojo was kicked in as a tall, muscled man with short black hair and a long scar across the bridge of his nose charged in. “Hey, kid, you wanted a teacher, right? I can show you some stuff.”

“Unnecessary.”

Sebastian didn’t even have time to blink before Akisame was at his side, palm raised in his defense.

“It would not be good to distract my student from proper Jujitsu, Sakaki.”

Sakaki glared at the calm man. “He wants to train his body, right? Nothing better than old-fashioned Karate to forge a blade.”

“A hard blade is less useful than a flexible, soft approach.” Akisame fired right back, rubbing the side of his mustache as he deflected. “You may discuss an offer after he has reached the advanced stage.”

“You shit, that could take years!” Sakaki tightened a fist, beginning to emanate a rough aura of violence. “Karate is clearly the superior path.”

“Jujitsu’s balance teaches more than violence.” Akisame made no threatening move, yet he too began to emit a refined aura of control. “Please find your own student.”

Their auras clashed until a third voice reached them both.

“I’m telling you, kid, these are real first editions.”

Both men paused and turned to find Kensei Ma, his arm around Sebastian’s shoulder, presenting a folded envelope.

Sebastian raised an unimpressed brow at the clearly misbegotten goods. “I told you, man, I’m not a pervert.”

“Everyone’s a pervert.” Kensei objected, waving the envelope enticingly. “Shigure likes to use the hot springs.”

“Excuse you.” Sebastian pushed the arm that was clearly trying to pickpocket enchanted pockets off his shoulder. “I’m a happily taken man.”

Kensei opened his mouth to reply in surprise before he shivered as a line was cut through the dojo, the envelope falling into finely shredded cubes.

Shigure glared from a ceiling tile, sword extended as she prepared to lunge. “Kensei. Die.”

Akisame held up a hand in tune with Sakaki.

“Shigure, not another room-.” Akisame started.

“Oi, my room is next door, don’t you dare-.” Sakaki was rushing to say.

Shigure’s sword rang.

“That’s my cue.” Kensei bolted like a jack-in-the-box.

Crisscrossing lines cut across the room, faint sword marks giving off a sense of cutting the world apart yet stopping only an inch deep into the wood.

Sebastian felt the hairs on his arm split as his Aura didn’t even react to the lack of a threat, and he blinked as his instinctive Shield Charm was diced. ‘She did that like it was fucking butter.’

Sure, his magic was restrained, but with his raw Mana, it was the equivalent of a fully trained Auror.

None of the masters in the room missed the faint shimmer of the shield, yet none commented.

Kensei tried to retreat while Shigure charged and Akisame and Sakaki attempted to restrain the deadly woman.

To Sebastian’s eyes, they were little more than blurs and dangerous vibes, but at least he wasn’t the target for once.

‘Hm, this was the right world.’ He rubbed his chin and studied what he could with his senses, realizing these people used pure physical force and technique to achieve something beyond all his abilities combined at his current stage. ‘If the training is effective enough for me to achieve even half of that, my problems should be solved.’

Realizing he wouldn’t get much else from them, he turned his attention to the fallen cubes of paper at his side, which just so happened to show quite a revealing piece of an image with what was clearly Shigure’s pink kimono hem at the edge.

“Hm.” Sebastian picked it up and hummed like a tourist appreciating fine art. “Nice perkiness.”

“I quite agree.” A new voice commented from his side.

Sebastian turned and blinked at the crouched form of an Australian’s wet dream of Superman, if that Superman also bench-pressed freight trains.

The long, blond, bearded man wore a green robe that did nothing to hide a physique Arnold Schwarzenegger would shed a tear over.

Warm blue eyes met Sebastian’s stare, and the man smiled like a kind grandfather. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Sebastian nodded, casually accepting that this dude could kill him before he could realize he was dead.

The man’s eyes shifted to the image in Sebastian’s hand.

Sebastian looked between the man and the paper before ultimately handing it over. “Here you go.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you.” The man chuckled and took it between two giant fingers before crushing it into nonexistence, not even sparing the air in that space. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to let such things out and about.”

A part of Sebastian’s mind desperately tried to understand the physics he was witnessing, even as another part was beating the first with a newspaper and a picture of Neo’s boobs to distract himself from that insanity.

“By all means.” Sebastian blankly waved to the pile of shredded paper.

The man only exhaled, and Sebastian had to throw an arm in front of his face as a windstorm erased the evidence and simultaneously paused all the fighters in the room, who, frighteningly enough, also missed his presence.

Akisame was deflecting a sword with his palm and supporting Sakaki, who had Shigure in a chokehold, while she had a sickle chain wrapped around Kensei’s leg as he was halfway to vanishing into a floorboard.

All four turned at once.

“I do believe that’s enough.” The man rose to his full height, almost brushing the ceiling, which Sebastian was just realizing was unnaturally high for a typical building. “You are setting a poor example for our young friend here.”

The masters separated and stood apart as Akisame bowed his head. “Apologies, Elder.”

The others didn’t say anything, but none looked like they objected.

‘Elder?’ Sebastian took in the power dynamic and was suddenly hit with a familiar whiff that made his expression furrow. ‘If this is another Elder Lu situation, I’m fucking leaving and finding this guy’s enemies.’

“You should all take after Apachai.” Elder tutted with a wagged finger and pointed toward the window. “He has been dutifully repairing the gate.”

Everyone turned to look, and Sebastian blinked at how the fuck he missed the Hulk’s dark-skinned brother staring over the ledge like a peeping child.

An eight-foot-tall child failing to hide his bulk.

“Apa, Apachai was found!” Apachai panicked in surprise and ran off. “Apachai fixing gate!”

A crash rang in the distance, and a collective sigh was heard around the room.

“As I was saying.” Elder continued like he had a point in the first place. “If you all want to stretch your muscles, please take it outside the city. Of course, I can accompany you if you prefer.”

The smile he gave the others made each veteran visibly shudder.

Kensei stepped forward without further prompting, removing his hat and scratching his balding head with a nod toward Shigure. “Sorry, sorry, I took that joke a bit far.”

Shigure narrowed her eyes, then put away her sword and looked away, not seeming more bothered than that.

“Good, good.” Elder nodded in approval, standing tall with a billowing flap of his robes. “We are all friends here.”

The emphasis the man put on setting a peaceful vibe wasn’t lost on anyone, and Sebastian noticed everyone beside Elder giving him a look.

“Ah, if it helps, I’m pretty normalized to chaos.” Sebastian scratched his cheek, undaunted by the attention. “I blow my lab up at least half a dozen times in a good week.”

That comment drew a round of raised brows, though Akisame was the only one who seemed proud of it.

“Aren’t you a bit young for that, kid?” Kensei spoke up and dusted off his hat. “You should be chasing women or something at your age.”

“I already told you I’m taken.” Sebastian countered with a judgmental gaze. “I can appreciate good quality art, but why would I keep looking?”

The shorter man coughed and idly hid the wedding-ring tan line on his finger. “Doesn’t she worry for you?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“My girl’s love language is stabbing things with sharp objects.” Sebastian deadpanned. “She is the true danger in my life.”

“…” The man’s teeth clacked shut at that, a look of something like familiarity crossing his face before he reached forward and patted Sebastian on the shoulder. “I like this one.”

Sebastian could tell the man was clearly misunderstanding something, but before he could respond, someone else spoke up.

Sakaki snorted in agreement. “He’s got balls; no objection from my end.”

“Fun.” Shigure half-smiled, eyes shining, yet that smile made Sebastian scoot behind Elder’s bulk.

“Woman, I’m not your toy!” He raised his fist in protest.

Shigure only seemed more excited.

“So everyone is in agreement?” Elder ran a hand through his beard with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “In that case, forget setting an example, everyone.”

Akisame immediately noted what was about to happen and raised a hand. “Please don’t-.”

He didn’t even finish before the other three vanished, and Sebastian was suddenly hanging upside down by his ankle while wrapped in chains.

“I’ve got him!” Sakaki shook Sebastian like a caught snake. “About those lessons, kid, I could show you a few things. It’d only be a gold coin per punch.”

“How stingy, I could offer real footwork for that price.” Kensei was blatantly trying to pickpocket Sebastian’s coat pockets. “Why are these all empty? Sakaki, are you doing it right?”

“You think I don’t know how to make someone cough up lunch money?” Sakaki looked offended and shook Sebastian harder. “Kid, where’s the gold?”

“Change.” Shigure was crouched and poking his cheek with a finger. “Gravity...fun.”

“-let them loose.” Akisame finished with a facepalm.

Sebastian’s brow twitched violently as he was treated like a piñata, his gaze shadowing over. ‘Don’t murder them, Sebastian, you need to steal their secrets first.’

“Should we try the windmill?” Kensei asked after failing to find anything in Sebastian’s pockets. “I can put him back together if you get rough.”

“Oh, that’s good; the last guy’s arm never recovered right.” Sakaki grinned and prepared to swing Sebastian’s body.

His gaze met the rough-looking man’s as he spoke flatly. “I was never a fan of freshman hazing.”

Sakaki laughed shamelessly. “Sorry, kid, traditions exist for a reason.”

“Yeah, about that.” Sebastian willed his enchanted pockets to open. “I didn’t introduce myself.”

A dozen round objects fell out, and the bright grins on Sakaki and Kensei’s faces quickly froze as their pupils shrank at the hand grenades.

The beeping grenades without pins.

Shigure was more experienced with Sebastian and was already halfway across the room the second an object left his coat.

“I’m Sebastian White.” Sebastian smirked viciously and stuck a middle finger through the chains. “And I hate traditions.”

“Holy-!”

“Crazy m-!”

Kensei and Sakaki moved in a blur, but Sebastian expected it and willed them all to go off at once.

The room exploded with a variety of elements, the roar ringing through the neighborhood and startling a certain blond-haired teenager who was just arriving home.

“Everyone!” A smoking tatami door was kicked open as Miu Furinji arrived in a school uniform. “What happened?!”

Thick, multicolored smoke filled the room, and Miu shivered as a freezing burst of air escaped from the exit she made.

“Hohoho~.” Elder’s laughter rang through the smoke as a sudden gust cleared the air entirely, revealing a chaotic display. “Welcome home, Miu. A new student has joined us.”

The blue-eyed teenager blinked and took in the scene.

A college-age blond man in a white pirate/lab coat was being restrained by a combination of Sakaki and Kensei, with Akisame trying to intervene, while a starry-eyed Shigure was watching from a ceiling tile.

“Why can’t I knock this kid out?!” Sakaki had Sebastian in a chokehold. “Go to sleep already!”

“%@*&!” Sebastian responded unintelligibly with a purple face, spite in his eyes.

“Sakaki, stop shaking him!” Kensei was trying to remove Sebastian’s jacket, but it kept getting stuck for reasons beyond his understanding. “I don’t know how this infernal coat works!”

“Would you all please stop irritating my disciple?” Akisame was doing his best to pull Sebastian away from the two. “He is only responding to your threat.”

““He’s the threat!”“ Kensei and Sakaki responded in unison.

“Fun~.” Shigure whispered loud enough for them all to hear as Tochūmaru, her trained mouse, held up some shuriken for her to add to the chaos.

“…” Miu took everything in and looked at her grandfather, her eyes beginning to water. “Grandpa, our finances can’t afford more repairs.”

Elder’s laughter stopped short, not at the words, but at his granddaughter’s tears, and he slowly turned to look at the troublemakers who caused the mess.

Sakaki, Kensei, and Sebastian shivered as one.

A dull thunk rang through the room.

Everyone blinked at the solid gold brick that fell out of Sebastian’s pocket.

Even Sebastian blinked.

A gust passed through, and the brick was suddenly in Elder’s hands.

“Have no fear, Miu.” Elder smiled brightly with shining white teeth. “We can get that new dishwasher you wanted.”

“Really?!” Miu’s sadness vanished as she clapped her hands together. “Yay! I’ll go make dinner!”

She ran off, completely forgetting the carnage behind her.

“Phew, good one, kid.” Sakaki wiped his forehead and patted Sebastian’s head. “But you got any more of those bricks?”

Sebastian responded with more grenades, making Kensei and Akisame scatter, but Sakaki was too slow from his position.

“Oh, you little shit!” Sakaki’s roar echoed with the fresh explosion.

“Hohoho.” Elder stood outside facing the falling sun, his green robe billowing heroically as he tossed the gold up and down. “Best to watch this one closely.”

The nearby Akisame nodded, also gazing into the setting sun and ignoring the subsequent cursing and explosions ringing behind them. “I sense much weight on his heart.”

“We cannot decide his path for him.” Elder’s fingers blurred as the gold brick was split into fine slabs. “But for now, I must exchange this.”

“I wouldn’t trade it in Japan.” Akisame commented simply.

“America is easier.” Elder agreed, his form vanishing in a fading outline as his voice hung behind. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

Akisame hummed, rubbing his mustache with a contemplative expression. “My disciple requires physical conditioning, but where to begin?”

The man’s gaze fell on an old tire in the corner of the courtyard before his eyes gleamed.

His disciple paid well for his tutelage, and Akisame would be a poor sensei if he didn’t deliver properly.

Chapter End.

AN: IT'S ALLIIIVVEE! MERCHANT IS ALIVE!

I too am alive. Colonoscopy is done with, 2/10 experience, would not recommend. The sedatives tho... did you know they use medical Fentanyl for sedatives? I told the doctor i didn't wanna feel nothing and he gave me a manly nod. I blinked and the clock moved forward 90 minutes, and when I tell you I could write a whole story about a fucking orange being the first thing I remember, I am not joking.

I'm hopefully moving into a new apartment I can lease in a few days. Fingers crossed.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I have more chapters to get out this month, and I plan to fucking get it done.

Next poll goes up tomorrow.