“We’ll begin with some drills to get you warmed up, and then we’ll talk about exactly what you wanted me to teach you.” Jin said.

Jin held out a wooden katana for Sin to take and use for the training.

“I... I haven’t used a sword like this before, Jin. I usually use daggers...” She said.

“... You use daggers? Why?”

“Uh... hm... I think it’s because they’re light, and allow me to move fast while using them.”

“I see. Well, I suppose we’ll have to discuss that more in the future. For now, take this and use it for now. I’m just gonna have you exercise to warm up anyway.”

Sin reluctantly took the wooden katana. She didn’t know what part about her using daggers that Jin wanted to discuss further. Since to her, using daggers was almost always a given.

Sin glanced over at Rai, who’d taken a seat just outside the front of the house to watch. She found herself glancing over at him a lot more these days.

“Here. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. You’ll start with two-handed vertical swings, beginning from your head, and ending with your hands just below your belly button. Give each swing everything you’ve got while holding your posture.”

“How many swings?”

“As many as it takes for your arms to stop working.” Jin said seriously.

*Gulp*

Sin wasn’t expecting this for just a warmup, but since she was here now... she would do what she had to do to the best of her ability.

After all, it was quite possibly the biggest blessing of one’s life to be taught by the Sword Dancer. And Sin knew that.

Sin swung as Jin watched.

Often, he would interrupt her swings and fix her posture. But for the most part, Jin seemed rather satisfied with Sin’s swings.

After about an hour of swinging the katana, Sin’s arms were aching thoroughly.

Her grip was loosening, and she couldn’t swing it much more.

“Alright. That’ll do.” Jin said. He noticed the look of frustration on Sin’s face, which clearly told him that she wanted an explanation. But she seemed not to dare ask.

“You can ask, you know.”

“Whew. Why... why did I just do all of that?” Sin asked.

“Consider it a way for me to gather information, and to see exactly how committed you are. It was also a small opportunity for you to learn some of what Rai’s had to do in his drills, first-hand.”

Sin turned to Rai, who shot her a thumbs up. Reiki had joined him on the chairs outside.

She never knew how Rai’d trained when he was younger. If he’d done something like that, every day for years... then that would explain a whole lot.

“Here, give me that.” Jin said, gesturing for the katana.

Sin handed the katana back to Jin.

She was about to sit on the ground, but Jin stopped her.

“No rest. Not yet, at least.” He said.

“But... whew... Okay.”

“Now, tell me exactly what you want to learn.”

“So... I had an idea from when we fought against the leviathan... and it involves using magic to create a Dance...”

“I... see.”

“Is... there a problem?” Sin asked, as she noticed a hint of apprehension in Jin’s voice.

“...”

Jin looked at Rai, who’d begun chatting away with his mum.

He took a deep breath.

“... Alright. This is the second, and final, time that I will help a magic user learn a Dance. Tell me about your idea in detail.”

Sin’s eyes brightened. She knew from Rai that Jin wasn’t fond of magic users, and it seemed like there was a chance that Jin still wouldn’t teach her. But now... those worries were washed away.

“So, I have this spell called a Domain! I can basically apply any spell I want on anything within the Domain without seeing it. So...”

Sin lifted a rock from behind her using her Domain.

“I can do things like that. And this.”

She lifted numerous rocks from the ground.

They all floated in the air, before circling in a satisfying fashion.

Reiki watched the spectacle with wonder-filled eyes.

Then, the rocks all fell back to the ground.

Reiki clapped with a smile.

“That was really pretty!” She shouted out from Rai’s side.

“Thanks!” Sin shouted back.

Sin hadn’t turned around once to put on the rock display. She used her Sinful Domain to show Jin the possibilities of moving objects without looking at them.

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“What I want to do is use custom made blades, that I can imbue with magic, in a Dance. All while using my Domain. So I wouldn’t be limited to just 2 daggers, but as many blades or other weapons as I want...”

Jin listened carefully. He thought about it for a few moments before speaking.

Sin waited patiently.

“... Then we’ll have to have that conversation a little earlier. Meaning we have to talk about it now.”

“Huh? Which conversation?”

“You said that you use daggers, right?”

“Yep!”

“You’re going to stop wielding daggers from this point forward.”

Sin’s heart dropped.

It wasn’t like she was angry, or frustrated, or even upset. But Sin was just shocked. Completely and utterly shocked.

As she composed herself, Sin begged the question.

“Why??”

“There’s a few reasons.”

“Please, tell me.”

“First of all, your body isn’t suited to them.”

“What? I’ve trained my whole life using them though!”

“As much as your teachers or tutors would have had you doing so, it doesn’t mean that your body’s naturally suited to them. You could be an archer with a massive natural build that would be more suited to the style of fighting of say, a juggernaut.”

“Okay... okay... well... then what’s the next reason?”

“You’re slow.”

“Ouch. I can see that you’re not sugar-coating anything here.”

“You’re not a child, so no, I won’t sugar-coat it. You wanted me to teach you, and this is how I’ll do it.”

“No no, it’s fine... I might be a little upset but if these are the weaknesses you’re noticing then... I think I need to hear them.”

“Good mentality. Now, the last reason is really simple. This only came up after you told me your plan. If you use daggers, which are effective only at the shortest ranges, then you shouldn’t use blades that are going to be effective at all ranges.”

“... Eh? What does that mean?”

“Your goal is to transform how you fight... to learn a Dance that would make best use of all of your abilities. Your daggers would become redundant. For now, while you’re still learning, you’ll have to keep using them. But once you’re comfortable with your new style of fighting you’re going to have to stop using them.”

“Okay... I hear you. Uhm. About what you mentioned about my body before... what weapon would I be suited for?”

“There’s a few options, but with your plan you won’t be needing any of them.”

“I don’t really... get it. But I know one thing... I don’t think I can just ditch my daggers like you’re saying.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve spent literally my whole life learning to use them, and how to apply my techniques with them in mind. It’s not so easy to just stop using them.”

“And that’s not what I said either. While you’re here, I want you to learn to use your daggers as a part of your planned fighting style.”

“I TOLD YOU! HE’S TRICKY WITH HIS WORDS!” Rai shouted from his chair.

Sin quickly realised that Jin explicitly said that she’d have to stop ‘wielding’ her daggers.

“Ah... You really are tricky.”

Jin frowned.

“I simply speak thoughtfully. That’s all.” He said. “Now. You’re going to have a lot of work in front of you if you want to make this Dance a thing.”

“I know. But I’m willing to put in the work!”

“As you should. For the time being, you won’t be able to call it a Dance. In fact... it’ll take you 2, or maybe even 3, years to internalise the Blade Dance, as you’d call it.”

“Only 3 years? Didn’t Rai train for all of his childhood to learn the Dance?”

“He’s on a different path. His understanding of the Dance is still basic, and lacks the real depth of a Dance. He’s also only mastered a simple 1-sword Dance. For what he aims to do... it will take him a lot longer to accomplish. Your Blade Dance however, is very simple in comparison.

I suppose the other thing I should mention is that a Dance is only what one makes of it. It’s a technique that I created, and one that I’ll continue to hone. But other people’s Dances are... offshoots of mine that I’ve helped them create. Their movements are similar to mine, and their conceptual understanding of fighting comes from fighting against me.

Rai wants to learn my Dance. He might make changes to it that make it something of his own, but his end goal is to stand beside me.

For you, just because you’ll have learned a Dance, doesn’t mean that’ll be the end of it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You can learn your Blade Dance in 2 years, but it will be weaker and less versatile than your Blade Dance in 4 years. Balance also doesn’t play a major role in the story of your Dance. Which means it’ll take you less time to master it.”

“Balance again... what actually is that, by the way?”

“Something that will bring Rai closer to his true potential.”

Sin stared at Jin.

He spoke softly, and seemed to be well grounded as a father. But...

When he spoke of Rai being so far away, and having to learn such an abstract concept just to get close to him, Sin felt like Jin was... on another level.

The gap between her, Rai, and Jin was so large that it made her feel unbelievably small.

The idea of a god popped up in Sin’s mind.

A being so fantastical that none could confirm whether they existed or not.

She likened Jin to something close to a god.

Goosebumps.

Sin felt goosebumps line her arms. Then they caused excited shivers across her entire body.

This was it. Her goal.

The strongest in the world.

It stood right in front of her.

“Then... tell me what I need to do! Show me the drills, the training, everything!” She said, fully determined to reach him. To surpass him.

“Woah woah woah, relax for a second! You’re gonna get wrinkles if you stress your face so much.”

“Oh... oops.”

She calmed herself down as Jin thought about what to do next.

Once he had an idea in mind, Jin began.

“You’ll have to follow a regime I set out for you. Do your drills as I’ve specified and-”

“WAIT! I have an idea!!” Sin shouted.

“Right... no need to shout though.”

“Sorry! But, what if I had dad set up a portal here?! Then I could come by, every day, and we could do daily lessons! Rai could come by more often too!”

Sin was incredibly excited. She had butterflies in her stomach that brought about a joyful aura as she spoke.

But... Jin squinted his eyes at her. He clearly didn’t like the idea.

“Your father... having access to my home... through a portal? You understand how that sounds, right? What happens if he’s caught? If the council learns that he’s in league with the Sword Dancer? He’ll die a gruesome death, just for that.”

It came down on her like a ton of bricks.

“But... but... I thought it would work... Sorry...”

“You and Rai have to be discreet. You can’t just disappear from Aurum every day, or someone will notice. If they follow your trail, then it’ll end up being the worst-case scenario.”

Sin nodded.

“I didn’t think of it properly...”

A black wisp of mana circled the ground beside her.

Out of it, came a person.

“I bel-”

The wooden blade met the newcomer’s neck.

“Who are you, and how did you get here? Speak fast or you’ll lose your life!” Jin asserted.

He’d reacted in an instant.

“I’m Lilly. Sin’s sister. I came here through a wormhole I’d set up on her rings. Please forgive the intrusion.” She said calmly.

Sin turned to her sister, to see Jin’s katana already up against her neck.

“Wha-...”

Sin didn’t know how to react.

Jin turned to her.

“Is she lying?”

“... N-... No! She’s my sister! And... I didn’t know about the wormhole, but I think she’s telling the truth about that because she used to appear whenever I called for her even though I never knew how!” Sin quickly replied, speaking at unprecedented speeds. “Lilly, what the fuck are you doing here?!”

Jin slowly removed his blade from Lilly’s neck.

“You were far too calm in that situation.” He said. “Where’d you train?” He asked Lilly.

“Dad taught me deception and deceit tactics... which was accompanied by torture training. I wouldn’t react even if you cut off my limbs.”

“Unsettling, and a soldier... interesting. Kallad’s preparing for war, it seems.” Jin mused.

“It also seems you know far more than he let on, Sword Dancer.”

Sin watched the exchange, but she had no idea what was actually happening. She understood what the words that they were saying meant, but she didn’t get any of the context, at all.

“I interrupted you before. Please continue.” Jin said.

“I was simply going to say that I believe I have a solution for your problem, sister.”

Sin hugged Lilly, throwing her off guard.

“... At least see me off next time. Dummy.” She said.

Lilly returned the embrace after a moment.

“... Sorry.”

Sin let go after she was satisfied.

“HI LILLY!” Rai shouted from his chair, seemingly unperturbed about the fact Lilly had shown up out of nowhere.

Lilly looked at him, smirked for a second, then looked back at Sin.

“Right... what was your solution?” Sin asked.

“Dimensional magic.”