The downwards cut of the sword was one of the cornerstones of basic training, something that remained remarkably consistent across styles, so long as they placed any level of importance on the strike.

The reason was rather simple. Depending on the manner in which it was performed, it could train any number of things. If an emphasis was placed on the power of the swing, the swings would gradually become more powerful, the trainee learning how to apply their full weight and force in the one blow.

Likewise, if there was a focus on striking as many times as possible, then the sword would gradually move faster and faster as they learned how to stop the blade without letting it follow through closely. With a focus on accuracy, the attack would slowly begin to stick closer and closer to that imaginary line in the air.

An approach centered on distance, on leverage, or even on moving into other attack from that same position, they could all be trained from that strike. Perhaps it was because of that, that this movement was the one that Tenjo defaulted to whenever she was lacking in a sparring partner or a training plan, above even the signature draw cut of the Silver Crescent Moon School.

With each swing of the katana, it helped her focus a little bit more, drawing her mind away from all of the troubles that swirled around in it and onto the nature of the strike itself. Some people used, meditation as a way to forget ones worries by clearing their mind of anything.

For her though, instead it worked best to put her thoughts entirely into the sword, the multitude of elements that she could work towards improving more than enough to occupy at the expense of everything else.

Tenjo had started her training out back, in a small open patio behind the small and somewhat shabby inn she had spent the night at. As she continued, one blow at a time, the passersby that had stopped to look at her, the bustling road less than a stone's throw away, it had all faded out of existence.

A shine of sweat had developed on her face, stinging her eyes when she blinked, and the muscles in her shoulders and forearms had started to burn, making attaining the level of precision and power that she had first put into the swings harder and harder to do with each one.

When she had first begun, the sun had only just started to rise. Now it was bright overhead, beating down on her in a way that would have put any normal human at risk for burns in the lack of shade.

She wasn't sure how long it had taken her to notice that someone was standing at the edge of the small space she had taken, or that they had begun to call out her name. She came to a stop, sheathing the sword and facing them.

It was a guard, a plain looking man with a scar on his chin and no trace of aura or magic coming from him. He spoke again as she gave him her attention.

"The guard captain wants to see you," He said.

"Captain Akemi?" Tenjo asked. "Does she want me to come immediately?"

"She didn't say," He replied.

Rather than taking her back to the previous guard building at the main gate, the man led her to a nondescript building on the second floor. Tenjo stepped inside while he lingered, setting eyes on a group of five people.

On one side of a table stood the aforementioned guard captain, as well as the other two she had met with the day before, Meng and Delun. On the other side, first was the girl who had attacked her the other day, refusing to meet her eyes yet looking directly at her.

And next to her was Jing, her childhood friend from back in the village, and just about the last person she had ever expected to see here.

She froze mid-step as she spotted him, a wave of incomprehension washing over her.

"Jing?" She said. The next line was already on her tongue. "Sorry, I thought you were somebody else,"

The words were left unsaid though, as he responded in kind. "Tenjo!"

"It's been a bit, hasn't it?" He continued. "I bet you're surprised to see me here."

"We have more important things to deal with than your catching up," Delun said. "If you two amateurs want to chat, then go to a teahouse or a bar and don't waste our time."

Tenjo apologized, even as Akemi placed a hand on his shoulder with a glare.

“That’s enough,” She said. “Whether you like it or not, we need more manpower than we have. Yesterday’s events should have made that more clear than ever.”

“Yesterday’s events?” Kyu-Son asked.

Surprisingly, it was Delun who answered. “After our meetings with the three of you yesterday afternoon, the senior members of the guard came under attack by various aura capable warriors. They retreated the moment that their victory was no longer certain, but they still managed to kill some of the lower ranking guards.”

His voice was heavy, the words almost being spat out. “I suppose in that regard the captain is right. In order to prevent that from happening again, for our next move we need your help.”

“What is the next move?” Jing said. “What exactly are you asking us to do?”

"We've found out the location of their base," She said. "It seems that they've taken over an abandoned temple on the highest level of the city, and it's fairly well fortified against attacks."

"You said before that they have been working with another organization," Tenjo said. "If they attacked yesterday, does that mean they could have already met with them?"

"As much as I don't want to admit that they could have snuck in and out of the city without my noticing," Akemi replied. "It does seem that's a likely possibility. The number of aura wielders was far larger than what we had expected, and there would have been no need for a stalemate if they had that level of force available all along."

"So we can attack immediately, then?" Kyu-Son asked. "If they just got a new group, we should strike as quickly as possible, before they get used to working together, and set everything up."

"There's one problem though," said Meng. "I took a look at the temple from a distance, and the entrance is rigged to explode with enchantments woven into the stone itself, making them impossible for me to disable."

"What does that mean?" Tenjo asked. "Why would they blow up their own way in and out?"

"Namely, to stop any force from coming in after them," He replied. "They doubtless have a way out, or even a way to rebuild the corridor that leads from the street, but if we try to send an invasion force down it, it might blow them all to pieces. Even worse, it could be rigged to go off if a certain number of people not registered go through at once, and we have no way of knowing the limit or how it works."

"Luckily," He continued, "that doesn't mean there isn't a way in. As long as they can be distracted by someone holding them off, I should be able to use magical means to levitate the rest of us up to the side of the temple, so that we can catch them by surprise."

"The key word is someone," Delun said. "Meaning one person, who would have to stand against the entirety of the gang and whatever reinforcements they have received, alone."

"And in order to distract the guards who would otherwise deal with the levitation, this wouldn't be a peaceful distraction, or a casual chat with them. It would need to be a full enough battle that everyone would be involved," The guard captain finished.

“Is there no way to defend yourselves against the counterattacks?” Jing asked. “Surely it can’t be that hard to stop some arrows and the like?”

“All magical effort will be focused on lifting that many people,” Meng explained, “And if they use anything of the sort such as large rocks, then the people of the city below will be taking the attacks as well, even if we can somehow defend ourselves from the barrage physically.”

He quieted at the response, and for a moment no one spoke at all, letting the harsh reality of the situation sink in.

Tenjo was the first one to reply. “That means that the strongest person should go, doesn’t it? In order to have the best chance of pulling it off?”

“Indeed,” Akemi replied. “Although I would be willing to do so if you refuse, that isn’t me. My aura may be at the level of a disciple, my skills are behind that, to the point someone more dedicated but less powerful like Delun here is my match. The best pick would be one of you, so I’ll let you two, or you three, discuss that.”

The three guards stepped outside, although Tenjo could still hear their conversation in the next room faintly. Delun was offering himself for the role, and Akemi and Meng were both shooting him down.

For a moment no one said anything, and then Tenjo pulled Jing into an embrace.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see a friend," she said. "It may have only been a few days, but it felt like a lifetime."

"Well, I thought if you were going to set off on your own, I might as well come with you," she replied.

"Even knowing how dangerous things would be?" she said. "This isn't a pleasure trip, or even a standard martial journey. I don't want to get you involved in something that could turn out poorly for you."

"I figure that with you involved, nothing is going to be easy," he responded with a grin. "Why would this be any different?"

"You mentioned that there is another group that's working with this gang," Keu-Son interrupted. "Would they by chance happen to be the same one that you got those bandages from?"

"Yes," she said. "Or at least, I think so. They captured my older brother, and I'm trying to get him back. The message I found on the body of the one I fought, the one who I killed, said that he would be brought here to Oukon, which is why I'm hoping that he's been held here with this gang."

"In that case," Kyu-Son said, "I'll give you a hand, to make up for that unbalanced fight the time before."

"It was a fair duel," Tenjo responded "I won't begrudge your victory as being unfair."

With that, she bowed deeply to the other woman. "You can consider me to be in your debt."

Kyu-Son blinked in surprise, before giving a bow in return. "If that's the case, then I'll let you be the one to take the hard job. I trained for fighting one strong opponent, not a hoard of weaker ones."

Tenjo let a sigh slip out of her slips, quiet enough that only she could hear it. "I will do my best, though I may not have the level of ability needed."

Jing clapped her on the back. "That's the Tenjo I know. Always acting humble while throwing yourself into the hardest challenges, no matter how avoidable."

"Well then, I suppose we better call the guards back in and tell them," He continued.

The rest of the plan was relatively simple. Tenjo would serve as a distraction, and would only need to draw the full attention of the enemy for a couple minutes at most. The guards would wait until a minute after she went in, in order to ensure that all of the gang members had focused on her, and then Meng, with the help of a few lesser mages, would lift the platform up from the side, in order to attack them from behind.

And that was how she found herself all alone on a desolated street high in the sky, wind channeled down the high buildings whipping at the edges of her clothing and making a chill sink into her while she stood there.

As Tenjo stood in front of the doorway, her sword already drawn and held loosely at her side in one hand. The gate up around her was decorated with images of the imperial dragon, its delicate surfaces somehow impossibly undamaged by the passage of time, despite the wear visible on everything all around it.

The eyes carved from black gemstones stared down at her from the head in the center, pools of darkness positioned above a mouth filled with pure white fangs; the way that the last of the sunlight reflected off them making it clear they were razor sharp.

The statue was like an embodiment of the hostility that she could feel radiating from the temple. Her heart had started to beat more loudly, a cold sweat forming on her back under her robes. She shook her head, forcing her eyes away from the carving and back down to the hallway in front of her.

"This was the only way," she told herself. "I'm the one most able to do this, to give everyone the best chance."

A phantom pain assailed her from the already healed wound in her wrist, as if to prove her wrong. Tenjo flexed it, testing, and the sensation moved to her side, before settling in her chest under her ribs.

Her other hand closed on the sword. She didn't need any of those reactions of her body to tell her the truth that she so badly didn't want to admit. No matter how hard she tried, that feeling was unescapable, manifesting as the looming image of the dragon, the random pains that didn't really exist, and the cold sweat and panicked breathing.

She was scared, terrified of what she was about to do. Stepping forward into a group of experienced criminals, who would be more than happy to kill her, leveraging their numbers with no sense of honor or concern for fairness.

It was a hopelessly unbalanced situation.

Surely no one would call her a coward for refusing to do this. But Tenjo knew that if she backed down from it being unfair here, then she would also back down next time, even if it wasn't quite as unfair.

If a force that was much stronger than her was too much, then why not a single warrior who was beyond her? If a warrior beyond her, then why not one clearly stronger? If one clearly stronger than her was enough, then why not one somewhat stronger?

She was afraid, but if she allowed herself to back down, where would she be able to draw the line? If concern for the danger of these situations became able to stop her, how long would it be before even a fair fight, even a fight where she had the advantage, even a fight where she had any chance of losing, was enough for her to run away?

Tenjo could feel it, a reality every bit as certain as the fear that bore down on her. She wasn't brave enough, not nearly. And because of that, if she stepped back once, she would do it again, and again, and again.

So instead she lifted the sword to a ready stance, and stepped forwards.

One step after another, and again, with her nerves screaming at her with each one, with each movement of her legs another chance for her muscles to rebel as she forced them to go onwards, until she had crossed the entirety of the long passageway, and there was no longer any chance to go back.

And the her hands tightened on the silken handle of her blade, and Tenjo stepped out into the open courtyard, coming face to face with a force that she had no hope of matching.