The orange flames radiated heat onto Yami’s hands. Despite the intensity of the flames, the heat was gentle and didn’t burn his hands. Jitsubutsu appeared from around the corner.

“So, you figured out a way to wield flames?”

Yami nodded.

“Pretty much. I feel like with a little more training, I won’t need to use this blade as a conduit either.”

“Very good.”

As Yami continued to inspect his new gear, Jitsubutsu approached Make and leaned against a tree next to her.

“Thanks for all of this. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem. I always enjoy more company.”

Make smiled as she watched Yami practice throwing his knife.

“He reminds of him, doesn’t he Jitsu?”

Jitsubutsu nodded.

“That’s part of the reason I brought him here. You’ve always been better at recognizing life essence than me. But it doesn't stop there. They both have the same fire in their eyes and compassion in their hearts.”

Yami swung the large sword downward, stopping it just before it hit the ground.

“It seems as though I can adjust the physical weight of the blade as well. Her craftsmanship is amazing! I should have her teach me sometime.”

“Hey Yami! It’s time to go!”

The blade shrunk back into a pocket knife as Yami placed it in his back pocket.

“Where are we off to now?”

“You got a sword now, right? We’re gonna get you some professional training so you don’t just flail it around.”

Jitsubutsu began walking down the road as he waved behind him.

“See ya, Make! I’ll see you once I’m done with this brat!”

Yami walked up to Make and extended his hand for a handshake.

“Thank you, Make. I’ll be back so you can show me how you made thi-”

Make wrapped her arms around Yami, embracing deeply in a motherly hug.

“Come back anytime.”

As Yami ran to catch up with Jitsubutsu, Make walked back inside her house. Entering her room, she walked to her dresser and lit two candles, then put her hands together.

“Some visitors just left. It’s been pretty lonely recently, hasn’t it? I hope you’re doing well - I suppose you are, though. He didn’t really look like you, but you two are so similar it was hard to not notice it.”

Looking up, Make looked at a picture of a boy about the same age as Yami. He had shaggy brown hair and a stern face. Make brushed a small tear from her eye.

“Saying bye to you again was hard, but I’m sure that our paths will meet again. After all, I’m your big sister, so I have to keep looking out for you, right? I love you, Kyu.”

Yami and Jitsubutsu clomped through snow as they scaled the side of a mountain on an icy road.

“Make wasn’t kidding! This material is keeping me warmer than any snow jacket I’ve ever worn, but I’m not hot either!”

“Yami, we’re almost at the top, so I think I should warn you about this guy.”

“Warn me of what?”

“The person who I’m going to ask to train you is not like Make at all.”

“Yeah, Make is pretty weird.”

“Yami, no joking around right now. You ever wondered why he lives up in the mountains?”

“No.”

“He’s killed every person who asked to be his pupil with his vigorous exercises.”

“Why didn’t they just drop out?”

“If you try to leave before he deems you worthy, he’ll kill you.”

Yami gulped.

“Whatever he tells you to do, do it. If he says ‘Jump’, you say ‘How high?’ You understand?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, because we’re here.”

Jitsubutsu and Yami approached a large wooden door. Jitsubutsu raised his fist and pounded on the door several times. Chains and locks rattled behind the door and slowly opened, pushing the thick layer of snow with it. A bear of a man stood to greet Yami and Jitsubutsu. He was 6’ 7” and pure muscle. Despite not wearing a shirt, his thick hair was enough to keep him warm. The man looked down at them as if they were insects.

“Who the hell are you?”

Jitsubutsu extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I am Jitsubutsu, the Jinsei no Hogo.”

The man didn’t accept his handshake.

“Ah, so you’re the demon. I hoped that I’d never meet you, but I suppose I’ll start putting salt at the door.”

The man spit at Jitsubutsu. As he began to shut the door, Jitsubutsu put the front of his foot against it, stopping the man.

“I’m afraid I didn’t come here to tell you my name. I have a new pupil for you.”

The man opened the door again.

“You? I would never take you as a pupil.”

“Not me.”

Jitsubutsu pointed behind him at Yami.

“Him.”

The man stared at Yami.

“So? What’re you? Let me guess. You’ve come hundreds of miles from your little village where you’re the best swordsman in town.”

Yami looked the man in the eyes, unwavered.

“No. I’ve never trained with a sword before. Will that be a problem?”

The man stepped aside from the door.

“Come in. We’ll discuss this inside.”

As Jitsubutsu attempted to enter, the man put a hand on his chest,

“Not you. I won’t allow a demon into my house.”

Yami looked at Jitsubutsu who nodded.

“Go ahead.”

As Yami walked into the courtyard, the man shut the door behind them.

“Follow me.”

As Yami followed the man, they walked into a large dojo. The man sat behind a wooden table, and Yami followed suit.

“What do you plan on learning here?”

“How to wield a sword, sir.”

“Then perhaps you should go to a blacksmith and have them teach you. That’s not what we do here.”

“Then what may I learn here?”

“How to become a blade. You will not learn how to use a sword here. Instead, you will learn how it is to be a sword.”

“Then I’m even more interested.”

The man looked down on Yami.

“The name is Muhai. You will address me as ‘Sir’ unless told otherwise, got it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. I have a zero-tolerance policy for failure, punishable by death.”

Muhai picked up a wooden rod and inspected it.

“Since you’ll be learning what it means to become a blade, don’t waiver when I treat you like one!”

Muhai threw the wooden rod at Yami, who blocked it with the palm of his hand. Muhai shook his head.

“Looks like we’ll have another failure.”

Muhai stood up and walked to a door that led into a hallway.

“I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

Yami quickly caught up with Muhai. Walking down the hallway, Yami passed many beautiful bedrooms that were fully furnished.

“Ah, here we are.”

Muhai opened a wooden door that led into what could be simply described as a prison. The floor, ceiling, and walls were concrete, and there was a window with metal bars, allowing the freezing breeze to flow into the room.

“This room is all yours. Feel free to use anything you have on you to furnish it, but don’t take anything from the other rooms or stay in them. That’d be rude to your host.”

Yami gulped.

“What did I get myself into?”

“Alright, you’ll start right away. Go get two cedar trees, leaves and all, and bring them to the courtyard. You have one hour starting now.”

Yami nodded and took off down the hall.

Running through the dojo and through the courtyard, Yami passed Jitsubutsu who was leaning against the wall outside.

“Hey! Yami!”

Yami didn’t stop running down the mountain as Jitsubutsu caught up to him.

“Well? Did he let you in?”

“Yeah, which is why I’m running! I have to get two cedar trees to him within an hour, so I don’t really have time to stay and chat!”

“I see, so he really does have no control… Well, it seems as though I shouldn’t hang around because he’ll certainly kill me otherwise, so I’ll head back to Sylphera. When you complete his training, come find me. We’ll go from there.”

“Alright. I’ll be back soon!”

As Yami and Jitsubutsu hit the base of the mountain, they went in different directions.

“Good luck, Yami. You’ll need it.”

After 50 minutes elapsed, Yami entered the courtyard with a tree in either hand. Muhai didn’t acknowledge Yami’s accomplishment.

“Cut them up into logs. You have 10 minutes.”

Yami looked around. There was no axe. Pulling out his knife, he prepared to transform it into a sword when Muhai grabbed his wrist and plucked the knife from his hand.

“And from here on out, no tools.”

Yami looked at the tree.

“How am I supposed to chop this? He keeps saying I need to become a blade, but what does he mean?”

Yami pictured himself wielding a sword and slicing through the trees with ease.

“If I had one of my blades, I could easily hack this tree up, but with just my hands, I have no edge.”

Yami looked down at his hands. Staring at them, he suddenly gasped. Muhai kept watching intently. Yami picked up his right hand and straightened his hand, then swung at the tree using a knifehand strike. As the edge of his hand hit the tree, Yami infused a small amount of life essence into the edge he was hitting with to successfully cut through the tree. After a few minutes, Yami had finished chopping the trees up. Panting, yami looked down at his hand to see that it was bleeding from the scraping it had endured.

“Do you understand now,” Muhai yelled?!

Yami turned to see the wooden rod being thrown at him once again. Slicing his hand through the air as the rod approached him, the road was cut straight down the middle and split in half.

“Now you know a little about being a blade. You’ll continue tomorrow. I’m going to get some rest.”

Yami watched as Muhai walked into the dojo. Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, Yami looked around.

“I’m so hungry, but I better not ask for food…”

Yami reached down and got a large handful of snow and ate a small portion, then put the rest in his pant pockets. He then ripped some bark off of the tree and began to gnaw on it.

“This training is gonna be rough…”

As Yami walked through the door, he saw that Muhai had laid a line of salt at the entrance.

“And maybe it’s best that I don’t show I’m the Jinsei no Hogo…”