Chapter 10: Chapter 10- Weight of The Sword(2)

1. Oi. Oi. You up kid?”

I heard a grumpy-sounding voice ringing in my ear.

His voice seemed to get grumpier and grumpier as I felt a soft-feeling material beneath my body.

It felt like I was lying down on a bed.

Wait, I was on a bed.

Where am I-

“AWAKE!”

“Uwah!”

The voice shouted before I felt a cold liquid jolting me awake.

I opened my eyes to see an old man holding an empty cup.

“Did- did you just throw water in my face?”

“It was the only way to wake you up.”, the elder man responded.

I scanned the room to see where I was.

It was unfamiliar to me. To my right was a window that displayed the forest I’d been familiar with for the past-

…

Now that I’m thinking about it- just how long have I been stuck here?

“You. How long have I been here?”

“Name’s not “You”! Alright kid?”

“But if you wanna know then you’ve been in my care for three days now.”

It wasn’t exactly helpful but with that info I know I’ve been trapped in this forest for at least 55 days.

55 days.

Close to two months now.

I wonder how everyone is back in Tokyo.

And my sister…

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“The properties of the forest are… very distorted.

“The further you go, the more time works differently.”

“To the outside world, most likely it’s only been a few days.”

A few days? Did the mana affect the environment so significantly that the forest became a near completely separate dimension of the forest?

“So don’t worry. You can spend as much time in the forest as you want but come back as if you were barely gone at all.”

“That’s… thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”, the old man replied as he stood up.

“Now…”, he pointed toward the forest.

“You can repay me by leaving.” 

“Huh? Wait, no no no. I can’t do that just yet!”, I replied in desperation.

“I’m looking for something- a shrine! I need to find it!”

“...”

“I had hoped that wouldn’t be it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me ask you something… how resolute are you on this goal?”

“What? I-I…”

“...”

“I will do whatever I must to complete my objective…”

“If I don’t- then I don’t think I can go on with only this power.”

“I need it to protect those I wish to.”

The old man wore a pained look on his face.

But it didn’t seem to be for me. More like for himself.

“Very well then- I’ll do at least this one thing for you.”

“What are you saying now?”

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve taken in a student.”

“Student?...”

“Young man- I have many names but you may only call me by one.”

“Okay…”

“I shall only permit you to call me Master- ok?”

“Wha- what are you rambling on about now?”

“Of course, you can also call me Keitoshi.”

What? Did he just say…?

“Master Keitoshi.”

***

I stared at the old man who seemed to be no older than 60 years old.

“Y-you? Grandmaster Keitoshi?”

“I- I- how?!”

“I told you, didn’t I? The properties of the forest are vastly distorted.”

“Does that mean that you’ve been here- ALIVE- for less than what it has been outside of the forest?”

“How long has it been outside of the woods?”

“About 40 years since the last time anyone saw you in action.

“Is that so? It’s only been about 6 years for me.”

Six years?!

Even then, how could you just live like this for all this time?

“I had the mages of my clan imbue this place with magic so I could freely live in peace.”

“But then a lousy human came and managed to knock it all down.”

Oi. Despite knowing the efforts I made to get here he still has the gall to say that?

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“Look. What I’m looking for is-”

“My sword style, yes?”

“Y-yeah.”

“...”, the old man took a long pause.

“Young man- I am not an easy man.”

“Grant me your faith and I will bring you 

“Give me your soul and in return, I shall give it back to you in pieces.”

“That is the result of my tutelage.”

“Not one of my disciples has made it out of my training without suffering intense harm. This will be a grueling process.”

“...”

I mistakenly took the time to consider it, but I realized that I don’t have a choice.

“I don’t care at this point. I’ve starved myself for the past- what? A month now?”

The old man smirked in satisfaction.

“Very well.”

The old man magically made a staff appear in his hand and then aimed it at me.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a student.”

As the man walked out of the room, I suddenly felt a strangely ominous sense.

As if I had just signed a death warrant…

***

“Kahhk!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“Focus your mind and body.”

“You mean what’s left?!”

It’s been three days since I have been training under Grandmaster Keitoshi.

For the second hour today now, I have been concentrating on balancing on one hand.

Next, he made me train blindfolded.

“Don’t mistakenly take the time to focus on how and where you will strike.”

“Focus on one simple technique and hone yourself to adapt to your opponent.”

Despite the cruel training, Keitoshi was wise and efficient.

Eventually, I began to follow his words.

Instead of thinking about how I would strike my opponent, instead, I thought about simply striking my target and only adjusting the technique to match my strategy.

I was quickly improving.

However- it’s still not enough.

“Your technique is improving but the impact is too unstable.”

“What are you on about now?”

“I’m saying you put too much force into your sword. Control yourself. Only output the amount of force you need, not the amount that you only know will do the job.”

“Grasp the weight of the sword.”

The weight of the sword.

I took up my weapon once more and thought about his words.

‘Grasp the weight of the sword.’

I took a stance at the foot of a nearby tree.

I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing.

At that moment, the entire world became trivial to me except for myself and my weapon.

The sky was blue.

The Sun was shining.

The wind was breezing gently.

But most importantly, my sword weighed 1.09 kg.

The ideal amount of force I need to bring this tree down is…

Got it.

Shing!

I opened my eyes to see the tree still standing tall in front of me.

I thought maybe I had missed but-

Crack! Whish!

Instead, the tree fell into another tree beside it.

What remained was a stump that owned a perfectly flat surface. 

“Good. You’ve grasped it…”

“Now clean up your mess you fool!”

I noticed the tree that I had cleanly cut through now ruined the scenery of the quaint woods.

It was quite an achievement.

Just a few days ago, I could barely dent a tree with my strength.

With the training, I’ve gone through-

I could feel myself right on the tipping point of !

The mana within me was igniting like fire.

I was sure of it, by the time I’m finished with training-

I’ll be on the level of the main cast!

Just as I thought, Grandmaster is amazing!

“What did I just say you brat?!”

“You just barge into my personal space demanding my help and you repay me by ruining my habitat?!”

“GET TO WORK!”

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