As Mark and Bastian's battle raged on in the forest, Kenshin silently observed the battle. He had kept his word and had not interfered. His face was as stiff as always but he was quite impressed by the progress Bastian had made throughout the day. 

A body that has awakened from such a powerful beast's bloodline is truly remarkable. Bastian's rate of improvement is truly astonishing.

At the beginning, Kenshin had no intention of helping Bastian improve himself but as time went on, Bastian's memories cemented themselves into Kenshin's mind. At first this was a bit tricky, due to the fact that Bastian's perspective was also included as well.

If Kenshin had been a weak minded person, he would have suffered from a mental disorder.

Overtime Kenshin realized that he liked Bastian's character. Things like the fact that he came from another world did not matter much to Kenshin. What mattered to him was Bastian's personality.

He is wise, and humble. Intelligent yet empathetic. He is very amiable. He does have quite the sense of humour but he knows when to get serious. The only issue is his obsessive nature.

Kenshin would criticize Bastian's obsessive nature at first, only to realize later on that he himself was no different. To pursue the Dao, it required a resilient heart and mind. One had to train and meditate for hours, or possibly days on end. Resulting in borderline obsession.

Kenshin had always been obsessed with swords since he was young. For as long as he could remember, a sword had always been in arm's reach for him, but that was only when it came to the matters of battle.

Bastian on the other hand was obsessive over anything he was curious over. From martial arts, to science, to the human mind to games, he dabbled in lots of things. To Bastian there was no such thing as a half measure. Everything he did, he did it to its fullest.

That aspect of Bastian, was one Kenshin came to admire and also loathe at the same time. At that moment, Bastian was obsessed with being a mage. Thus he put all of his energy into being one. Kenshin knew Bastian's personality well enough to know that Bastian would forget the reason why he wanted to be a mage, if he was given enough time. Bastian, it seemed, would continue along that path for no reason at all.

Kenshin wanted to ignore that but he could not. The reason was simple. Bastian's potential as a warrior was far too great. Unlike Bastian, Kenshin knew what yuan was, and he knew what it could do. The fact that Bastian was only planning on using the mana aspect of it, was very irritating to Kenshin.

It was like someone being having multiple channels on TV, only to spend all his time watching one channel. Or like having Wi-Fi but only going on one website. Kenshin thought himself to be an apathetic person, and normally he was, but at that time, Bastian was effectively his brother.

The duo were connected at a fundamental level. Kenshin could not allow Bastian to continue down this path of foolishness. Kenshin had no intention of telling Bastian what he knew, as that would invite a lot of trouble, or too be more accurate it would result in many questions.

Kenshin had neither the patience nor the tolerance to deal with Bastian in such a situation. Kenshin wanted to keep any details about himself private for that time and he despised talking. So he decided to come up with a plan. One which would ensure that Bastian brought out his full potential without Kenshin having to face a barrage of questions.

An incredibly powerful soul, a top grade bloodline, yuan, a mountain of knowledge that no one else in this world has. Almost a month and you have not used any of these to their full potential!

This has to stop, and it will stop today, even if it means having to put your life on the line. Only from nearing the jaws of death will one's true potential awaken.

So far Kenshin's plan had gone somewhat smoothly, but two things had made him unhappy. First was Bastian himself. Bastian had no sense of death. Or rather it was more accurate to say he did not fear it. For battle, fear of death was an essential tool to help one improve at the beginning.

It made a person bring out their full potential. The instinct to survive was a primal instinct within every creature, thus it was only natural that Bastian should have it, yet after close observation, Kenshin realized that Bastian had no fear of death. He taking on the flaming arrow was a clear example of this.

Bastian was not the only one who benefited from the exchange of memories. Kenshin had benefitted as well. It was not just Bastian's knowledge as a scientist. To Kenshin, that knowledge was somewhat useless. From Kenshin's point of view, the real gem was Bastian's knowledge on micro expressions. The knowledge that had been imparted to Bastian by his father.

That knowledge allowed Kenshin to analyze and understand people. Bastian also knew quite a bit about psychology, behavioral mannerisms, reactions, emotions, things that Kenshin thought he knew but realized he did not.

Earths knowledge in the field of studying the human mind was incredible to Kenshin and extremely useful. Kenshin saw through his Soul Force. He saw the world in an omnidirectional and three dimensional manner. So long as something was in range of his Soul Force, he could see everything about it in perfect detail.

If he so wished, Kenshin could count the hairs on the bodies of everyone present, although it would require a lot of focus. That ability, coupled with Bastian's knowledge on behavior was at that moment another powerful tool in Kenshin's hands.

The second thing that irritated Kenshin today was Mark. His strength was an unseen variable which put Bastian at risk, but Kenshin still did not interfere, mostly due to him holding his word in high regard, and also because he felt that Bastian could use this opportunity to learn just how fearsome a Teacher can be.

There was one thing Kenshin did not understand. That Bastian's soul should be constantly under siege from those ghost like creatures which induce fear. Even if Bastian was immune to the poison, he should be in a constant state of anxiety. It had taken Kenshin years of training to get used to it.

Yet Bastian had adjusted after a few moments, behaving as if nothing in the world was happening. In such situations the power of one's soul could have nothing to do with anything. So how had Bastian managed to adjust so quickly?

"Boom!"

As Kenshin was lost in his thoughts, a loud noise entered his ears stirring his mind back to reality. After Kenshin observed the situation he let out a gasp of surprise. Something he never does.

It seems this fight will end earlier than I thought it would.