That day had finally come. The day when Hassai cut Inaki off from drinking.

“You can’t go around drinking yourself to a stupor,” Hassai said. “I am no longer giving you any money.”

Inaki sulked out of his father’s study, and found himself aimlessly walking through the castle interior. He didn’t know where to go. He felt a mixture of boredom, disappointment and emptiness. His search for salvation at the bottom of a bottle was now definitely over.

Unless, Inaki thought about the money he had that Takehito had given him that he had hidden behind his bed. No, I can’t spend that.

A week more passed of Inaki in the beginning doing nothing but a little painting, a lot of walking, and even more staring at the ceiling from his bed. His father had tried various times to introduce Inaki to the bureaucracy as he was working, but Inaki simply wasn’t interested in the government. Inaki wasn’t interested in much then, he soon found that even painting didn’t give him the same joy as it once did. Picking up the sword and holding it in his hand just reminded him how distant he was from his ideal.

Inaki spent some of the later days of the week in the Dreamspring, daydreaming about a world where he still had all of his skill. By the end of that week, Inaki did not want to live in the real world any longer. He would wake up, jump into the Dreamspring, where he could swing his sword as he pleased, and where he could be good at swinging the sword. Then he would only leave at night, and would go to sleep.

Now it was the morning when Gonten would be leaving for the Sword Exam. Inaki walked out of the castle into the courtyard and saw that Gonten was bidding farewell to everybody before climbing into the cart.

Inaki had woken up horribly late. Inaki rushed to his room as fast as he could and threw a few robes into a bag, and a few trousers too. He picked up his fixed Diamond blade and a few wooden practice swords and the money that he had hidden behind his bed and ran to the courtyard. He found that Gonten’s cart had already left, and was on the way to the sword exam.

Inaki had no other option but to sneak out of the castle with his little luggage. He thanked Okan for the fact that the cart had to move slowly while still in Tomoka due to the crowds. Inaki stepped up, and jumped into the cart, where Gonten was sitting with his unadorned sword in his lap, just observing the sword. He started when Inaki entered the cart.

“It’s me brother, you can put the sword down,” Inaki said, gently pressing down Gonten’s sword which had come to Inaki’s neck.

“Inaki, what in Okan’s name are you doing here?” Gonten asked.

“Coming to the sword exam,” Inaki said.

“Are you mad?” Gonten asked. “Before anything else you will have to defend your Diamond sword, why are you even here?”

“How could I honestly wield a Diamond sword without justifying having it,” Inaki said. He remembered the thrashing that he had gotten from the Wooden novices. “I can’t live with having an accolade for something I can’t achieve anymore.”

“But…” Gonten said.

“It’s no use arguing with me,” Inaki said. “I am coming, I will take the exam, and I will take whatever rank they give me.”

“Do whatever the hell you want brother,” Gonten said. “Just don’t get yourself killed.”

“Where are the exams being hosted this year?” Inaki asked.

“The Livion clan,” Gonten said. The year that a clan hosts the exam, their own candidates are not allowed to take the exam for any rank higher than Silver. Which is why hosting the exams is both seen as an honor, and a bother.

They spent almost the entire of that day in the cart, going from Tomoka to the Livion clan. For most of the time there was no chatter between the two of them. Inaki realized that their positions had somehow interchanged during that encounter. Gonten, even though he had only one arm, sat poised, holding his sword with the grace of a Platinum. Inaki on the other hand was sitting there, shaking, his sword with diamond on its hilt seemed foreign in his hands.

By the time the drive was done, Inaki was absolutely tired of sitting in one place. He jumped out of the cart and stretched a little bit. Livion was a city with a shorter wall than the wall of the Tomoka, but there were more men on the walls looking down. Security was definitely up during this time of the exams.

Inaki and Gonten stepped into the line to enter the city. The line seemed to be a kilometer long, since all people from all the major swordsman clans were here to take the exam to go to the next rank. There was only one problem with Inaki coming here. He hadn’t actually applied here.

After what felt like a year of waiting in line, they finally got to the gate. Gonten showed his own application letter. Gonten stepped in, and Inaki was about to follow in, but the guard stopped him.

“Application letter?” The guard said.

“He’s with me,” Gonten said. “He is Inaki-son-Hassai Tomoka, a Diamond.”

“Yes,” Inaki said. “I assume that you’d let in a man of my rank.” Inaki drew his sword and showed it to the man.

“It does have the Tomoka insignia, and the Diamonds look real,” The guards said. “Did you steal this from someone?”

“Even if he could steal a Diamond’s sword and live to tell the tale, doesn’t he deserve to enter,” Gonten said.

“Fine,” The guards said. “Go on.”

The two of them entered Livion, and they saw one of the cleanest places they had ever been to. It was so clean that Inaki knew that this was all because of the fact that the other clans would be coming over and inspecting the place.

The crowds in Livion were bustling. One of the more famous weaving clans had found patronage with the Livion, which meant that some people were here just to buy the famous clothes.

“Inaki, I’ve heard that over here they make robes which don’t tear from swords,” Gonten said.

“How does that work?” Inaki said.

“I don’t know, but I want to get some. Father gave me an allowance for things like these.”

“Then get me a pair too.”

“You’re not coming with me to the market,” Gonten said.

“Nah, I think I am going to go to the place where the exam is being held, just give me any of the papers I need to get to the Tomoka room.”

“Here,” Gonten gave Inaki the reservation papers and the address of the inn.

“Also,” Inaki said. “I need some money. I sneaked out here with nothing but a few robes.”

“Okay,” Gonten said, giving Inaki a few coins. “This should be enough for some food.”

“Thanks brother,” Inaki said. “You know my size for the robes right?”

“Yes,” Gonten said. “I’ll get the smallest they have.” Gonten chuckled to himself. Inaki just had a straight face, and walked away from there, towards the inn.

----------------------------------------

Gonten walked through the city. Gonten had to shop quickly, since the exams happened in the order of least rank to highest rank. So the Wooden to Iron exam would be happening the next day, which is why he needed to get good sleep. Then he would also be giving the Iron to Silver exam which would be happening the day after next. Takehito had taught Gonten to prioritize rest more than training in his routine. “Training is only telling your body it needs to improve. Rest allows your body to actually improve,” Takehito always said.

Inaki’s exam would be about four-five days from then, then after that the cycle of exams would repeat, since for the lower ranks, all applicants couldn’t be fit in one day. Gonten bought a few robes, he bought some signature wines and found that he had shopped enough for a swordsman. He walked away from there to the Livion monastery.

Stolen story; please report.

“I am here,” Gonten said. “I have come here in Takehito’s place.”

The monastery was close to the inn where they were staying, so he could just check in on the garden, and see if it was okay. Takehito had already come here and done most of the work, Gonten just had to see if all the work that Takehito had done was still proper.

It took him an hour or so, but he was soon done. Looking into the sky, Gonten realized that it was about to become late in the night. He ran to the inn and knocked on the door of the inn.

“Inaki, I’m here. Try on the robe or I’ll have to return it tomorrow,” Gonten said. “Inaki, Inaki.”

no one opened the door. Gonten ran to the owner of the inn, who after some argument gave him the key to the room.

Gonten rushed back to the door of the inn and opened the door and saw a ghastly sight. Inaki was lying asleep on the ground, a bottle of wine still at his lip leaking a few last droplets.

“Is this what you took money for?” Gonten asked.

Inaki didn’t wake up. Gonten himself had brought some wine to drink with his brother, but it looked like Inaki was already done. Gonten took the bottle away and cleaned drops of wine from his face. He had spilled so much wine onto himself, that the purple color was visible even on his black robes. Gonten just put his brother on a bed, put a blanket on him, and walked out of his room.

Gonten stepped into his room, stretching his back which was still a bit sore from the day’s sitting. Gonten then slept wearily, ready, yet anxious for his exam.

Gonten woke up the next morning before the sun. He ran out of the inn room to the garden outside the inn and just ran through his basic katas. He practiced the Sagestance kata, the Tigerstance kata, and the Fundamental Five katas, just making sure he remembered all the steps. When applying for the exam to go from Wooden to Iron, you had to submit any two stances you are comfortable with, Gonten submitted Tigerstance and Sagestance. But the Fundamental Five katas you were katas you were expected to know like you knew how to breathe.

After practicing for some time, Gonten was extremely confident about his ability in the katas. He just hoped that his modification to make them suit his one handed style would be proper.

As the sun was about to rise, Gonten ran to the exam center. The exam center was filled with hundreds, thousands of men—and maybe a hundred or so women—mostly younger than Gonten. In the current ranking system, if all the clans in the Province started with a hundred thousand novices, out of those hundred thousand would get their metal blades and become swordsmen. From those hundred thousand, maybe eighty-thousand would become Iron, another small reduction. From those eighty thousand, maybe forty thousand would become Silver. This was where most people plateaued in their journey as swordsmen. Out of those forty thousand swordsmen that became Silver, maybe four thousand would become Golds. Out of the four thousand that become Golds, only four hundred of those become Diamonds. Forty of those become Platinums and only four of those become Sages. The swordsman exams worked to make sure that this proportion of rankings are all maintained, a ranked exam.

Gonten knew that as the elder son of Hassai and a disciple of Takehito, didn’t know where he would plateau, but if his life so far was any indicator, maybe Silver itself. But for now, Gonten had to join the eighty, then the forty thousand.

One of the examiners walked in. The Platinum of his hilt glinted in the lamp light of the cramped entrance hall. He was a tall man, very muscly, with short hair and a thick neck.

“Hello everyone,” The man said. “My name is Kazuma, and I will be your head examiner for today. That’s all you need to know about me.”

Gonten had underestimated how much place more than a thousand people took up. The room was so cramped that Gonten didn’t have the space to draw his sword.

“For the first phase of three of the test, you will go in, and show katas. The next phase will be the written test, then the duels. There’s a lot of you so don’t take a lot of time.”

Gonten waited and waited for his name to be called on to go into the room and show his kata. After an hour or so of waiting, nothing. He was getting tired of standing there.

It was also extremely hot in the room, since there were no windows. After an hour or so of waiting, and waiting and waiting, finally Gonten heard his name being called.

Gonten stepped through the crowd and walked through the door which led to the much smaller room, but which felt a lot less cramped since there were much fewer people.

“Okay, you, come here and show us the Fifth Kata,” The examiner woman said. She was a Diamond, but tall and big with a few grays in her hair.

Gonten stepped forward and began the dance of the Fifth Kata. It was extremely easy, he executed it without a fault. But looking around him, Gonten saw imperfection. They were doing it mostly correctly, but were making small errors. The error some people made was to assume katas were just a collection of moves with the sword, no, a kata is a rhythmic dance. Tomoka children are made to practice the Fundmental Five katas to the beat of the drum. Each step is supposed to flow into the next. These men and women didn’t have that.

Gonten finished the kata and stood straight, while those around him were making minor errors. But when you’re a swordsman, you bet your life on each slash. Not even minor errors are acceptable.

“You, Gonten, you do your… Sagestance kata? Who is your teacher.”

“Takehito-son-Ganryu Koji,” Gonten said.

“Wow,” The examiner said. “Then I must see the Sagestance kata.”

The Sagestance kata was a much slower kata, deliberate with each movement. The goal of the Sagestance was to be defensively offensive, inversing the Tomoka saying that a great offense is the best defense. The Sagestance believed that a great defense was the greatest offense. A stance meant to protect oneself and others instead of to lash out at others.

The kata reflected the same, being extremely deliberate, due to this to inexperienced eyes, it looked like an easy kata. Once Gonten was done with the kata he was sighing and heaving.

“Amazing,” The examiner said. “Just wait for them to finish too.”

Gonten stood there, watching as the others did their own signature katas. They somehow executed these katas better than the Fundamental Five, which meant that they didn’t allocate enough time to the practice of the fundamentals.

“Now that you have finished with katas that you have practiced all your lives, take these scrolls and learn these kata and show us them now,” The examiner said.

Gonten sheathed his sword and accepted the scroll in his one hand. He stepped back and read the scroll. It was an extremely easy kata and remembering the moves would probably be more difficult than actually executing it.

Gonten went through the moves, and after practicing it a few times, he knew that he had it down perfectly.

“You’re already done?” The examiner asked.

“Yes,” Gonten said. He gave the scroll back to the examiner, drew his sword with his one hand and began executing the kata, having already modified it to suit his one handed style.

“Wow,” The woman said. “Not only did you learn the kata that fast you also adjusted it to your disability, brilliant, brilliant. Now just you wait. I hope you are smart on paper.”

Thank god Takehito taught me how to write with my left hand properly. Gonten thought as he waited for his peers to finish. It felt horribly weird to Gonten. He had given this same exam so many times, and failed every single time, when he had had both his hands. Had it taken losing his hand to become a good swordsman? No, he knew what it had taken. Takehito made him love the sword instead of hate it. Loving the blade made a huge difference in his progress.

Gonten soon moved on to the next phase, the written exam. It was as easy as Gonten had thought it would be. It put him in a few scenarios and made him write out what he would do in them. It also asked why certain stances worked the way they did, working on the more analytical side of swordsmanship.

The exam was two hours long, and Gonten finished the exam in less than half an hour. He gave the paper to the examiner and found himself waiting once again for the next and final phase of the exam.

Soon it was the turn of the duels. In the duels round, it didn’t matter whether you won or lost, it only mattered how well you fought—that was only for the Wooden to Iron exam.

Gonten’s opponent was a man the same age as Inaki, he was much taller though, and much thinner. He looked like he was a skeleton under his robes.

“My name is Jaer-son-Gorr Thoro,” the man said.

“Hi, my name is Gonten, and I am sorry.” Gonten introduced himself. “Begin the duels,” The head examiner said.

Jaer was enraged by Gonten’s earnest preemptive apology.

Jaer rushed at Gonten. Gonten swatted away a few sloppy sword strikes. All telegraphed easily. Gonten himself slashed at the man not even using any stance and he had to step back. Gonten stepped forward and slashed, Jaer tried to dodge, but it might as well have been useless. Gonten kicked the man in the shin and slashed, he blocked it, but that was enough to throw him off balance.

Gonten put the tip of his sword on the man’s neck and said, “Please yield.”

“I yield,” Jaer screamed. I yield.”

Now Gonten had to wait once again for the other rounds to finish. A few hours later, after sunset when the results were being announced. Some duels had gone on way too long.

They all once again stood in the large yet cramped room.

“I am going to first announce the names of all those who didn’t make it, since that’s easier than announcing the names of those who made it,” Kazuma, the head examiner screamed.

He announced what seemed to be a hundred, two hundred names, and they were all out of the line. Gonten remembered hearing his name at this time all those years ago.

“Now, I am pleased to announce that in the test to Wooden to Iron, this exam has seen the highest score in its history. A perfect three hundred out of three hundred, by Gonten-son-Hassai Tomoka. Clap for him everybody.”

Gonten ran up to stage, and offered his unadorned sword. The man pulled a string and a fountain of molten Iron began to drop from a spout on the stage. The examiner put a part of Gonten’s sword into the fountain, and that part was covered in Iron. Then the man moved the sword under a fountain of cold water, the wood of the hilt should’ve burned, but they cooled it quick enough, that there was a solid coating of Iron on the top of the hilt.

“Gonten-son-Hassai Tomoka, you are now an Iron,” Kazuma said.

Gonten could barely hold in his tears as he walked away from the exam center.