CLACK! CLACK!
The straw dummy found itself the victim of another late night practice session.
Jun had been there for a while to relieve some of its torture, but she eventually retired for the night, making sure to reprimand the culprit to not stay up late.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
The boy swung his black Bokken over and over again, not uttering a single word.
The events from a few days ago still lingered heavily on his mind.
What even was that? It felt like… His thoughts occupied his mind.
CLACK! CLACK!
With each new swing, another image flashed into his mind.
Memories of the ones that saved him, the ones he made promises too.
“?!”
Then, without warning, he was interrupted by a sudden cold chill running down his body, forcing him to turn around.
He looked down at his own shadow, still not fully trusting his senses.
“...”
But then, a purple-ish black and green butterfly suddenly flew in his line of sight, hovering between him and his shadow.
“?!”
His eyes quickly lit up.
He had been waiting for over a month, wishing for a moment like this to happen.
“Is it you?!” He asked, quickly getting closer to it.
But the butterfly simply flew around him before choosing a direction.
“I guess not…” He mumbled.
Or maybe she doesn’t have the energy to talk anymore…
He had no way of verifying if the tri-colored butterfly in front of him was someone dear to him, or just a random one with the same color that happened to wander in.
Realizing that made him tighten his grip on his sword.
I shouldn’t be impatient… She said not to rush… He thought.
Whether the butterfly in front of him was a planned encounter or an accident, he nevertheless knew what he had to do.
He took a step forward and followed its trail.
Just as he trotted behind it outside of Munisai’s estates, it quickly led him to the main road where he came face to face with two guards.
“Ah! It’s the kid from back then!”
“What are you doing out this late?”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t be wandering around at night, especially considering the current situation…”
“...”
The two guards quickly walked up to the boy after noticing him.
While they acted familiar with him…
“Who the hell are you two?” He had no idea who they were.
“This kid…!” one of them responded, “He forgot about us!”
“Now, now, let’s calm down.” The other kept his composure.
“And after everything we went through together…!”
“It’s only natural, we barely talked to each other. It’s not like it was the best time to anyway.”
“...” Lawkey silently watched them go back and forth.
“All right, let’s introduce ourselves properly!” The more responsible guard stepped forward, “I’m Tsutomu! We fought alongside you during the Kerberos incident.”
“And I’m Ichiro! Make sure to remember it!” The other one said, adjusting the light armor he was wearing, “You’re lucky Jun somehow found us then, even though we were patrolling a sector away from the main road.”
“That’s true, I wonder how she did find us then.” Tsutomu held his chin, “It must’ve been a coincidence.”
Hearing all that, Lawkey quickly remembered the two guards that came with Jun during the fight, but…
“Fought alongside me?” Lawkey said, raising an eyebrow, “You two got sent flying with a single hit from that oversized pup.”
“This cocky kid is really getting on my nerves!” Ichiro’s veins quickly became visible on his forehead.
“Hahaha, Let it go Ichiro.” Tsutomu laughed, holding his stomach, “It’s not like he’s wrong. We have a long way to go.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Why are you laughing?!”
“...”
Lawkey wasn’t quite sure how to talk to them, he felt a little taken aback by their friendly tone.
They’re not the same as those villagers…
“You know, seeing you is reminding me of our time as Sensei’s students too.” Tsutomu scratched the back of his head, “Those were some good times… It’s too bad he doesn’t teach an older age group.”
“We’re supposed to be training by ourselves after mastering the first few Principles and Stances, but it doesn’t quite feel like we’re making much progress.” Ichiro added, stretching his arms in the air.
“I wonder how Sensei was so strong at our age, or even younger.” Tsutomu wondered, “He earned the title of Sword Saint pretty young too.”
“I heard that he eliminated an entire species of monsters from the valley!” Ichiro’s eyes lightened up, “The Umbra Spiders! They’re totally extinct now! They were supposedly really big and annoying!”
“Imagine that, sneaking into the valley all alone only to do that…” Tsutomu held his chin again, “Is that kind of courage and drive what is holding us back, I wonder?”
“I bet if Sensei was alive back in the old days, our clan wouldn’t have lost the first war and had to go into hiding!”
“YAWWWWWWNNN!!!”
“?!”
The two guards were suddenly interrupted by the boy about to fall asleep next to them.
“You’re just talking and talking…” He said.
“You really are a brat, huh?” Ichiro pointed out.
“Hey, Chichibo or whatever…” Lawkey smirked and held his sword in front of him, “I’m sick of that straw dummy, let’s have a duel!”
“Huh?!”
“Don’t even think about it. That’s too dangerous.”
“What happened to improving? Or you two want to be sent flying again next time too?” Lawkey mocked with a snicker.
“Ahhh!” Ichiro scratched his hair as the corner of his mouth twitched, “Fine, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
“Hey!” Tsutomu held back his friend, standing in front of him.
“Let me go! We’ll only be using our sheaths or wooden swords, no Sign either!” Ichiro pushed Tsutomu off of him as he addressed Lawkey, “That work for you?”
“...” Lawkey paused for a second, “Does no one want to use their Sign here or something? Fine, that works too.”
“I’m stopping this the second it gets out of hand, understand?” Tsutomu declared, as Ichiro stepped forward.
Lawkey adjusted his fighting stance, applying his training.
Ichiro naturally took a stance of his own, holding only his sheath to fight with.
“Duel!” Tsutomu announced, wasting no time.
Lawkey immediately rushed forward, holding his sword to the side.
For the last month or so, he had practiced the first Shadow Sword Style Principles almost every single day.
The Clearing of the Mind, The Cleansing of the Spirit, The Honing of the Techniques.
With the help of Jun, the other students and Munisai on occasion, he was able to grasp the basics of the Stances.
And now was the time to…
One Shadow Sword Style - First Stance!
Endless Night!
He immediately corrected his grip, holding the sword with both hands, and swung the black Bokken in a sharp diagonal downward swing at his opponent.
Ichiro for his part had stood waiting, and then quickly moved his sheath to counter.
One Shadow Sword Style - Eighth Stance!
Morning Phantom Dance!
He quickly countered the swing and directed it out of the way, making sure to use that momentum and turn his body around to position himself in Lawkey’s blindspot.
Now all he had to do was deliver a blow to the head.
“?!”
However… That wasn’t the first time Lawkey had experienced that Stance and fallen victim to it.
Realizing what would come next, Lawkey quickly twisted his ankles in place, readjusted his grip on his sword and swung it upwards at the coming attack.
One Shadow Sword Style - Sixth Stance!
Early Spring Moonrise!
CLACK!
The two attacks clashed together, both pushing against the other with neither showing any sign of stepping back.
Then, suddenly, Ichiro jumped up to put himself right above Lawkey.
He wasted no time.
One Shadow Sword Style - Third Stance!
Sudden Winter Rainfall!
He unleashed a quick flurry of slashes down at his opponent.
“!!”
Lawkey tried to block them, but he was quickly forced to step back, and eventually to one knee.
Having finished his flurry, Ichiro landed on the ground and immediately spun around to position himself behind the boy.
“Had enough yet?” He asked, holding his sheath behind Lawkey’s neck.
“...”
“All right! That’s enough!” Tsutomu clapped his hand, “The duel goes to Ichiro, but you did pretty good kid. Considering you started practice a month ago, this is exceptional progress.”
“I have to agree with that.” Ichiro added, “I didn’t really expect you to be this good already.”
Lawkey listened while looking down at his clenched fists.
This was the third time now… He thought to himself.
He was right, of course.
First he lost to Munisai, then Jun, and now to this guard.
This isn’t working…
“?!”
Lawkey stood up, his aura rising along with the shadows around him.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
“I’m sick and tired of being restricted like this! Let’s have a proper duel already!”
Lawkey shouted as he rushed at Ichiro again, this time, shadows engulfing his sword.
“Stop it!” Tsutomu shouted, but to no avail.
Although taken aback, Ichiro quickly managed to block the attack, but found himself getting pushed back from just the clash.
“How…?!”
Tsutomu quickly jumped in, swinging his own sheathed blade at Lawkey.
“I said, enough!”
Lawkey quickly dodged it by jumping back and putting some distance between him and the two guards.
As soon as he landed, he swung his engulfed blade horizontally in front of him, sending a wave of shadows at the two guards.
One Shadow Sword Style - Second Stance!
Evening Autumn Moonbow!
Lawkey watched the wave of shadows travel the distance, but it was quickly swatted upwards by Tsutomu’s upward slash.
“Huh?!”
Despite his confusion, Lawkey dug his feet into the ground, preparing to jump forward again.
“Stop it! You’re just going to make trouble for Sensei!” Ichiro shouted.
“?!”
That brought Lawkey to an immediate halt.
“Think of what the other villagers would say if they saw us! What are they going to do?”
“He’s right, let’s put an end to this. You got what you wanted right?” Tsutomu added, “From that last move, It should be clear now that you need more practice before you can use your Sign with the Stances. Don’t rush it.”
“...”
Lawkey tightened the grip on his practice sword and narrowed his eyes.
Only now had he realized the consequences his reckless actions might have had.
He clenched his teeth, remembering what Munisai had told him after the Sword Purifying Ceremony.
“Until you have made sufficient progress on the Shadow Sword Style’s Stances, and learned how to better cleanse your inner blade, you are to leave your sword in this room and only interact with it during the Sword Purifying Ceremony.”
He had just made a mistake that contradicted all the Principles.
“...”
Tsutomu noticed his inner conflict.
“It’s fine, kid. We’ve all been there.”
“No… I shouldn’t have done that…” Lawkey muttered while ruffling his hair, “My bad…”
“Look at that! The kid can apologize!” Ichiro mocked.
“Stop it, Ichiro!” Tsutomu reprimanded, “As for you, Lawkey, right? Don’t worry about it. Just don’t let Sensei find out, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“...”
“All right, we wasted enough time here. We need to resume our patrolling!”
“See you around, kid! Go on back now, don’t stay up late!”
The two guards waved as they turned their backs to him and walked away.
For a while, Lawkey stood in silence, contemplating alone.
Except, he wasn’t alone.
“!”
The butterfly quickly appeared out of nowhere again, flying around him.
“What do you want now? They didn’t seem able to see you, or maybe they didn’t care to mention it?”
He murmured, then began to follow the tri-colored butterfly’s trail as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
They kept going for a while, with Lawkey getting no telepathic response whatsoever.
And finally, after walking through alleys and houses, they finally made it to their destination.
A field of flowers around a small pond. It all sparkled under the glistening moonlight.
Lawkey had attempted multiple times to find the moon from so deep into the valley, but he never could. That’s why his eyes immediately went to the sky, the clear full moon far away reflecting in his pupils.
Quickly reminding himself to focus, he looked back down to find the tri-colored butterfly, but it had now hovered over to the edge of the pond, where Lawkey noticed a silhouette.
A female figure standing in the pond.
He couldn’t make out any details due to the strong moonlight shining through, but he had to make sure.
He took a quick step forward.
“Hey! Is that you?!”
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]