It took about a week to prepare for the journey, with most of that being persuading my mother to let it happen in the first place. She wasn’t happy about staying behind while I went off to train, but she didn’t have much choice in the matter. First, the emperor didn’t want his strongest hero gone so long. Second, if she remained her the enemy targeting me would take longer to realize I was gone, as everyone knows she wouldn’t leave me alone for more than a few days.

And finally, my grandfather and her do not get along at all, I was only four when we last went there, but it felt like they would kill each other at any moment if they stayed in the same room. I wasn’t sure why, or what had happened between them, but whatever it was meant I was free to go train there without mom tagging along.

I strapped my sword to a large backpack of supplies, then slipped it over my shoulders and headed outside. Xinyi and Lei waited for me there, already finished packing. After he had heard from my mother that we were going to the monastery, he insisted on joining us.

“I need to stop being such an embarrassment if I’m gonna find a girlfriend!” he said to me then.

The three of us, now joined up and ready to go, began to head down the road, heading north. We only got a few blocks down when I heard someone calling out for us to stop, which I assumed was my mother, but I was wrong.

Bai Cai, panting heavily already from the short jog, caught up to us, wear a backpack of her on.

“Take… me… with you!” she pleaded as she caught her breath. “I… I don’t want to be the only one left behind!”

Her eyes aimed past me, looking up at Lei. Ah, so that’s how it was. I nodded silently to myself, then looked over to my companions. They were, predictably, concerned.

“We’re not going for fun, you know?” I ask the young girl, who nods.

“I know that… I promise I won’t slow you down!”

“Fine, but if you get in the way I'm sending you back here, got it?”

She nodded again, and now the group of four headed out of the city. It would be a fairly long trip to the mountains where my grandfather’s school was located, especially on foot. However, we wanted to avoid unneeded attention, so we couldn’t afford to rent a carriage as much as it would speed things up.

Sticking to lesser used roads and pathways, sometimes making our own, we slowly winded our way to the northern mountain ranges. With each passing day, our destination grew larger.

Two weeks into the trip, we had stopped for the night at a small village to get some proper rest, as well as resupply. It was nice to be able to sleep in a real bed, even if it was cheap. The inn also had a large, public hot springs bath.

I sank into the hot water next to my friend, Lei. My sore muscles from the journey finally feeling some relief. I took in a deep breath of the moist warm air, letting my body practically go limp.

“So how much longer do you think it’ll take to get there, Zen?” Lei asked me, stretching out his shoulder muscles with a deep sigh. “I thought we’d be there by now.”

“If we could use the main roads, we probably would be.” I replied, sitting up a bit. “But when a group of criminals is targeting your life, it’s best not to stay in the public eye.”

“True enough… how are you holding up, anyways? A lot happened to you recently, a lesser man would be pretty shaken.”

“Good thing I’m not a lesser man then, isn’t it?” I flashed a smirk at my friend, who rolled his eyes back at me.

Behind a wooden wall, I could hear the sounds of the girls bath. I tried to ignore them, but every time I heard them giggle I felt extremely self conscious. I ended up getting out early because I couldn’t stand it any longer.

The next day we headed out before the sun was up, leaving the road to cut through a small outcropping of trees that couldn’t really be called a forest. Even with the rougher terrain, it would cut days off our travel time.

The journey was surprisingly easy, and we encountered no major roadblocks. Nobody tried to attack us, nothing ever slowed us down, and we arrived in the town at the base of the mountain a week later.

After sleeping in town, we began to walk up the mountain path. Stairs were carved in the whole way, so it wasn’t that difficult a climb at all. And finally, the long trip was over, and we had arrived at the front gates.

It wasn’t a secret martial arts school or anything, but I doubt they would let us in for no reason. I approached the guards and bowed to them.

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“I am Yi Zen, grandson of Yi Gho, I request entry for myself and my companions.”

One of the guards bowed and headed inside, and after a few minutes returned with an older, but still well built man. It had been a long time, but I still recognized him.

“Yo, grandpa!” I waved to him, and he scowled at me for my casual tone.

“Still haven’t learned to respect your elders huh, kid?” he approached me. “What’s the matter, did yer mom kick you out or something?”

“No sir, I’m here to train.”

“You? You’ve come to train?” He was noticeably shocked by my words. “Have I gone senile finally? There’s no way the lazy Yi Zen said he came to train, surely?”

“I can assure you grandfather, you are completely sane.” I knelt on the ground before him and bowed my head deeply. “Myself and my friends here have traveled for a month in order to train here, to unlock the secrets of the ancient Dragon Sword School!”

“Oh? And what will you and your friends do with these secrets?” he asked, clearly a test to see if we were worthy of his teachings.

I stood up, looking at my grandfather straight in the eye with as serious an expression as I could make.

“I tried to live life in the background, thinking that if I avoided conflict I could maintain my peaceful life… but recent events have made me realize what’s truly important to me. I learned I wasn’t strong enough to protect what I care for the most, so I wish to improve myself, so I never feel that helpless again!”

“Mm, good, I can sense your resolve in your words… what about you, young lady?” He looked towards Xinyi.

“When I was little I was orphaned and alone, but I met someone who saw something in me. He said I had what it takes to be a warrior, but then he disappeared… I want to live up to those expectations, become the swordswoman he thought I could be, and find out why he vanished! Oh, and that man might have been Yi Gon...”

“Is this true, Zen?” my grandfather asked me.

“Him or someone else from the school, but the description she gave us certainly fit father’s appearance.”

“You there in the back, Lei.. yes? I’ve met you and your father before, but you likely don’t remember me.” my grandfather continued his evaluation. “Your father… he is okay with you training in an outside school?”

“Of course not, I told him I was going on a journey of self discovery, he has no idea I’m here. But that doesn’t matter to me, I just want to stop being so weak… how can I get a girlfriend if I never get the chance to look cool in front of them!” Lei clenched his fist, holding back tears. He sure was intense for someone saying something so idiotic.

My grandfather laughed, the first time I had ever seen the serious man do so. He walked over to Lei and slapped him on the back.

“What a stupid reason, boy! But I like you, you didn’t hesitate even a moment to say it, a true, decisive man of action!”

While he laughed, I noticed our fourth member slowly walking off down the stairs. Bai Cai, moving solemnly, began to leave.

“Where do you think you’re slinking off to, Bai Cai?” I called out to her, and she stopped, looking back over her shoulder at me.

“I’m going back to the capital, I… I don’t belong here.” she responded, her voice sounding one step away from crying. Her lower lip quivered, and her hands were balled into fists. “I-I don’t have any reason to be here, I’m not a fighter, I’m just a useless girl who followed you all on a whim…”

“That’s fine, grandpa is a lolicon, so there’s no way he’d turn down someone with such a tiny body.” I casually reply, crossing my arms smugly.

“..!”

A silence fell over the area, the only noise being a sharp wind blowing through us.

An open palm slammed into my gut and I went flying into the natural rock wall behind us. My grandfather’s movements had been too fast too see, and I had no time at all to react to his attack.

“Don’t slander your grandfather! My god, kids these days have no tact at all...”

“Didn’t you ever learn to hold back, gramps? I can’t train if you break my bones on the first day…” I grumbled, staggering to my feet.

“If that’s too much for you, maybe you should go home.” he retorted, heading towards the gate. “Anyone else who thinks they’re up to break themselves apart and be reborn in dragonfire, feel free to follow me.”

“I’m definitely not backing down now, I’ll show you whose weak!” I yelled at the back of my grandfather’s head as he walked away, chasing after him.

Somehow, we had made it inside, but now the real struggle would begin.

After being shown to one of the bunkhouses where we left our packs, one of the warrior monks directed us to the main grounds, where my grandfather waited with another student around my age. He wore clothing I didn’t recognize, and carried a thin, curved sword with a small round handguard…

“I didn’t expect to see someone from the eastern islands training here, you’re quite far from home, aren't you?” I asked the swordsman, and his dark eyes seemed to stare right through me.

“It’s rare to see someone who recognizes where I’m from at a glance, have you been there before?” he asked, his voice very soft and calm, almost like a woman’s.

His voice matched his face, which was, I hate to admit, rather attractive… Xie Jie was originally from there as well, right? They both had very feminine features, at least to an outsider like myself. His long black hair was tied back in a ponytail with loose bangs, mostly to get it out of the way for training, I’d think. And he wore a white headband over his forehead.

“Never been, but I fought an assassin from your land a few months back, he used a sword shaped like yours, and I’ve seen traders from overseas selling those clothes before in the capitol.”

“This is Sonoda Tatsu, the second son of a man who I met in my travels, he wished to improve his school of swordsmanship by studying under a different style.” my grandfather explained. “They were already a master at the age of ten in the style practiced by his family’s Dojo’s.”

“Dojo?” Xinyi looked curious at the foreign word.

“Ah, that’s what the land of the rising sun calls their training halls.” My grandfather seemed happy to answer her question. “Anyway, Tatsu here has only been training for a few months under the Path of Four Dragons, so with a bit of extra work you should be able to catch up to him and train together.”

“Grandfather, I know this might seem like a stupid question, but what exactly is… the Path of Four Dragons?”

“You really weren’t taught anything, were you?” he sighed, taking a pipe out of his robes and placing it in his mouth. “The style practiced here has four branches, learned from the ancient dragons that once roamed the land. The Crimson Dragon that strikes down his foes with intense flames, the Marine Dragon, that flows like water and avoids all attacks, the Thunder Dragon, who strikes his foes with impossible speed, and the Stone dragon, unmoving and resolute.”

“I was only ever taught about the Crimson Dragon moves, as they worked the best with my sword, I suppose.“ I paused, thinking for a moment. “If there are two blades named for two of the paths, Crimson and Marine, what of the others?”

“The twin dragon blades were completed mere months before the smith passed from this world, I’m afraid. A third blade for the path of Thunder was in production, but unfinished, and remains enshrined here. And plans for two more existed, the Stone path’s blade, and an unnamed blade to unite the four as one.”

This was the first I had heard of any of this, did my mother just not think it important to tell me, since I didn’t take an interest in fighting anyways?

“I knew I still had a lot to learn, but it sounds like I’m missing all of the basics as well.” I looked down at the palm of my hand, closing it into a loose fist. “But I’m here to train, so that’s what I’ll do.”

My grandfather nodded to me in silence, and officially, our apprenticeship had begun.