“Hey, old man! You’re kidding, right?”
Lawkey asked, baffled at the sight in front of him.
Munisai had led him into a dim room that was only lit by a few small luminescent rock lamps in each corner. The windows were blocked by dark blinds, making the more brighter light from the rock cliffs outside impossible to get in.
The room was small, about half the size of the bedroom he had been given a week prior. Everything from the floor to the walls looked spotless, not just from a recent cleaning, but more so that it was carefully kept so throughout its days.
On the wall directly opposite to the sliding door hung a sword with an indigo handle, and a black with some minor pink patterns sprinkled throughout.
What surprised Lawkey the most was the two seat cushions in the middle of the room. They were positioned opposite to each other, but were stretched out far enough that an average person could lay between them without touching them.
“What are those…? They’re not what I think they are, right?”
Lawkey asked, gesturing to what was prepared and put in front each of the seat cushions. A tray with some supplies and tools he didn’t quite recognize, but from the looks of it, he could practically guess what they were for.
“That’s right, kid.” Munisai answered as he took out a match box from the small drawer beside them and continued while lighting up a matchstick, “We’ll be doing some sword cleaning today.”
Before Lawkey could object to that, Munisai slowly brought the lit matchstick closer to a small bowl filled with some kind of sand, and then transferred the heating flame over to one of the incense sticks poking out of it.
“Hey, old man… I’m not here to clean anything, remember? I just want to become stronger as quickly as possible so I can keep going…” Lawkey reaffirmed, trying to remind his new mentor why he had decided to take him up on his offer in the first place, “I…I don’t have time to waste here. I need to go out and find…”
“I know, kid.” Munisai picked up the conversation, realizing the boy didn’t want to open up again, “Do you know why I had a sheath made for your sword?”
As Munisai asked him a question rather than giving him a straight answer, he carefully took a step closer to the middle of the room between the cushions, and placed the bowl with the incense sticks down.
“I don’t know, I still don’t like having it in a sheath. It takes time to take it out if I need to use it fast.”
Realizing that there was no escaping his current situation, Lawkey resolved himself to it and began to walk towards one of the cushions. He figured the faster he does this, the faster Munisai would be willing to move on into actual sword training.
“Take a seat.” Munisai said, walking to his own cushion, “Sheaths aren’t just for show. They protect the blade from anything that could be harmful for it.”
Lawkey watched Munisai elegantly put his crutch to the side as he sat down. He folded his right leg under him and above the cushion, as if sitting on it. He took out another, more stretched out cushion and placed it under his left thigh to account for his missing leg just below the knee.
Lastly, he put his wrapped up sword, Masamune, in front of him just before the tray of tools and supplies.
Not wanting to point anything out or ask questions, Lawkey just plumbed himself on his cushion too.
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As if on cue, Munisai resumed his explanation.
“A sheathless blade is prone to chip and rust.” He brought his arms to his knees in front of him, and slowly bowed forward to the blade in front of him, “Pay close heed to the fact that our loyal blades are our lasting partners to the very end. We have a responsibility to make sure they are always at the best quality they can be.”
Lawkey wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he just placed Eclipsed Dawn before his tray and tried bowing slightly forward, imitating what he’s seeing in front of him.
“Now then,” Munisai straightened his back and looked towards his student, “If you are to one day venture out and travel through this continent, it is crucial to learn how to take good care of your blade.”
“I guess, I can learn it now and just move on to sword training after.” Lawkey gave in, seeing merit within Munisai’s reasoning.
“You will be instructed to do this twice a week for the foreseeable future, and eventually to once a week. I, or Jun, will be present until you have learned the process by heart.”
“Ehh? Seriously? I could really use that time, you know?”
“Until you’ve learnt how to properly clean your blade, and the meaning behind it, you will not be ready for any sword training.” Munisai began, his tone unwavering and stern, “So, be sure to give your full attention today.”
“Hah…” Lawkey let out a long sigh of exasperation, then relented, “Fine, let’s just do this.”
“Good, now, do you know why we take the time to clean and tend to our swords?” Munisai asked, still holding his posture.
“Isn’t that obvious? They get dirty, so you clean them.” Lawkey answered, resting his chin in his palm and using his knee to support his elbow, “Someone used to do it for me, so I guess I’ll have to do it now.”
“First, sit up straight.”
Munisai talked in a calm voice, but it hit Lawkey with enough pressure to immediately do as he was told, as if out of reflex.
“...”
“I’m sure that when the time comes, you will meet many different people on your journey.” Munisai closed his eyes, bringing the tension down, “there are a myriad of different races, clans and cultures out there in the world, and learning to respect them will ultimately help you forge better and more meaningful bonds.”
Lawkey stayed silent as Munisai paused for a second.
“To find what you’re looking for, those bonds will be especially crucial within this continent.”
“... I’d rather not, but I get it. I’ll do as you say.”
“Good. Now, back to my question.” Munisai opened his eyes again, “we make sure to regularly clean our swords, not simply due to the rust or dirt it has accumulated, but to similarly bleach it from any impurities.”
Munisai reached down and began to unwrap his sword from some kind of bag cover over it.
“Listen carefully, a sword is a reflection of its owner. If you are impure, so will the sword be impure.” Munisai folded the bag cover and put it beside him, then reached down for a tool on his tray, “So, by extension, undergoing this process not only tends to your physical blade, but the one inside your soul as well.”
The one inside my soul? I don’t really get it… Sounds cheesy. Lawkey thought, missing the point.
Munisai ignored his confusion and held up the tool he had reached down for. It looked like a miniature hammer, with a longer tail that ended with a pointy edge.
“This tool is a peg remover.” He explained, “with it, you remove the little peg in your sword handle first, before unsheathing the blade.”
Munisai held his sword with one hand, and stuck the tool in one side of the handle, forcing the peg out the other side. He quickly collected it and put it safely on his tray.
Lawkey, although less efficiently, followed the same steps on his side and did the same.
“Next, hold your sword with the blade pointing upwards.” Munisai demonstrated as he explained, “Then place your hands on each side of your guard, with the thumb of your right hand on the base of your left hand. Once you have that, gently apply pressure.”
As they both did as Munisai instructed, both blades quickly breached the scabbard and were carefully drawn out.
“Now, hold your sword with your left hand in a slight angle over your left shoulder, then strike the base of your left hand with your other fist.”
As they both did that, the blade quickly popped up off the sword handle, what Munisai called a Tsuka.
After that, Lawkey followed the instructions, removing the blade part from the Tsuka. He made sure the smaller parts that connected the two, like the Habaki and Tsuba, along with his tassels, were safely on his tray too.
“Now, inspect your blade as it currently is.” Munisai instructed, “This is how it looks without any decorations, support or cleaning. Can you notice a difference?”
They both held their blades from the bottom part with a paper tissue. As Munisai inspected his own blade, Lawkey tried to do the same.
“Um, there is some rust on this part that was in the handle, but I don’t see any other differences.” Lawkey squinted his eyes, looking for clues, “Maybe it was already cleaned when you had them make the sheath for it? But that doesn’t explain the rust still on this bottom part.”
“Yes, impurities are hard to spot, even after we take off everything on top.” Munisai held his sword sideways in front of him, “That is why we have to make sure to thoroughly bleach the blade, before they can accumulate enough to be visible.”
So I wasn’t supposed to find any differences after all?! Lawkey thought, keeping that to himself.
He hadn’t realized it just yet, but soon enough, the boy will come to understand that his mentor wasn’t simply talking about swords.
At least, not just the physical one.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]