Chapter 14: New Sword.
Takeshi sat admiring the small potted flower. He held it in his lap and smiled. The old carriage driver also glanced over.
"Young man? Seeing you smile at that flower makes me curious. Does it have a connection to someone?"
Takeshi smiled, then his eyes darkened.
"Yes. This flower was a favorite of my younger sister. The trip to Kavi was for me to find this flower and plant it on her grave. She unfortunately died when a group of people in black attacked our convent."
The old man stroked his white beard, looking at Takeshi with interest. "Oh, is that so? You seem to be a loyal person."
Takeshi looked up at the old man with a surprised expression, then smiled. "Um, thank you."
"Do you still miss the girl a lot?"
Takeshi still looked down at the flower. "Of course, I miss her a lot. However, I won't let that affect my life too much. I think she would be sad if I stayed in a state of sadness."
Airi interjected with a critical tone. "You said 'won't affect' but you almost died on the mountain trying to find the flower."
The coachman laughed loudly. "It's okay, it's okay. That's a good quality. You seem more mature than many children your age. Most kids your age want to stand out and be better than others. But thinking so thoroughly like you is very good."
"You might even be more mature than some adults."
"You should look toward the future and live for those beside you in the present. Don't live in the past for those who no longer exist. I think you know that."
Takeshi nodded, his face now bearing a bright smile. "I know."
Airi, hearing the two of them talk from inside, became jealous. "I feel like I'm the only child here."
Takeshi asked the old man, his voice curious. "By the way, sir? When will we reach my village?"
"Hmm, probably five more days."
Airi immediately ran out, looking stunned, and pressed her face close to the old man. "What did you say? Five more days?"
Takeshi was also surprised. "Five more days?"
"Is something wrong with you two?"
"I'm surprised it takes so long even by carriage."
Airi pointed a finger at Takeshi, her eyes on the old man. "But the problem isn't that it's long. It's that he walked from there to the city of Kavi. If the carriage takes this long, how long did it take him to walk?"
The old man was also surprised, stroking his beard and looking at Takeshi. "Oh, that's interesting. That must have been quite a long journey for you, young man."
Takeshi scratched his head and laughed. He didn't know how to answer.
"Actually, I don't remember how long it took me that time."
Airi looked at Takeshi with even greater surprise and judgment. "Just how tough was that journey for you?"
"Haha, who knows? I just remember that I walked in the morning and slept at night."
Takeshi suddenly pointed at Airi, his face surprised, staring intently at Airi's mouth. "Hey, Airi, your four teeth are too sharp. You look like you have fangs."
Airi quickly covered her mouth, looking at the two of them. It was as if a secret had been revealed, and her face showed clear panic. But she quickly regained a little composure. "Ah... Um, I think they look beautiful. I look very pretty when I smile, don't I?"
The old man also laughed. "You look very pretty, young lady."
"Then try smiling again."
Faced with Takeshi's curious face and unwavering gaze, Airi blushed and ran back into the carriage. "Damn it, I feel embarrassed when someone stares at me like that."
"Hey, Airi? Wait, you didn't smile yet?"
Airi shouted loudly from inside the carriage. "Shut up!"
The next morning. Airi was asleep when Takeshi ran into the carriage, frantically shaking Airi. "Hey, Airi, wake up! Come outside and look! It's beautiful!"
Airi ran outside. Her eyes immediately lit up at the distant scene.
Their carriage was running on a flat road. To the left was a beautiful forest.
Large trees with shimmering golden leaves were illuminated by the sun from afar, making them even more sparkling.
"This is one of my favorite sights. It's called the Golden Forest. It's not because there's gold here, but because of the trees with beautiful golden, shimmering leaves. And notably, it only appears in June."
Passing through the beautiful forest, Airi stood up, spread her arms, and took a deep breath, as if wanting to embrace the golden aura radiating from the forest. "My goodness, it's so beautiful!"
Takeshi also sat there, nodding. "Yes, it's really beautiful."
The old man sitting next to him looked smug. "See? I told you. There are many beautiful places in this world."
SCENE CHANGE.
Kazuka was walking with Haruki on the way to Kanemaru's sword shop. Kazuka looked up at Haruki. "Hey, Haruki, are you leaving tomorrow?"
Haruki looked down at Kazuka and nodded. "Yes, I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Are you worried about Aiko? I think she'll be quite sad."
Haruki looked a little sad, his eyes containing many thoughts. "I know. Aiko will be very sad. But this is also a job that needs to be done. So I think she'll understand."
"Have you prepared anything to say before you go?"
"Huh? No, I haven't, haha. I guess I'll just let my emotions guide me then."
"Oh, we're here. Let's go see your new sword!"
Haruki kicked open the door of Kanemaru's shop loudly. The loud noise from the door startled Kanemaru, who was dozing at the table. "What the hell? Who is ruining my sleep here?"
Haruki and Kazuka walked in. Haruki walked first, placing a bag of money on the table. "That's enough money. Where is the sword we need?"
Seeing the large bag of money, Kanemaru's eyes lit up. He pointed toward the back room. "It's in my room. Go get it, kid."
Kazuka ran into the room, his face clearly excited. He walked out holding the box containing the sword. He opened it, and inside was a sword. Kazuka picked it up, his eyes shining.
"Woahh, that's great!"
The sword's blade was a little wider than normal swords. In the middle of the blade was the figure of a snake, running along the blade from the hilt to near the tip. The hilt was a cylinder with intertwined patterns. The guard (tay chắn) of the sword was shaped like two wolf heads. And the end of the hilt was a small sharp point.
Kanemaru pointed at the sword, his voice bored. "I made the snake and wolf shapes on your sword because I was bored. I thought it looked good, so I left it. Otherwise, I would have fixed it."
Haruki also exclaimed, "Oh, you did a good job!"
"If I start working, it's definitely going to be top-notch."
Kazuka excitedly ran outside. "I'm going out to test the sword!"
Kanemaru called back. "Hey, wait a minute! Go practice in my backyard. You don't need to run outside."
"Ah, okay, thank you, sir. This sword fits my hand perfectly. The weight is just right too."
"Of course! I'm a master blacksmith. I can tell just by looking at you holding it."
Running to Kanemaru's backyard, which was very crude with only a few straw dummies. Kazuka began to close his eyes, mobilizing his energy.
He recalled what Kuroha had said the day before. A forest scene appeared. Kuroha was walking around Kazuka, who was standing with his eyes closed, holding a sword. His posture was like he was in a state of combat.
"Now, you need to shape the energy, Kazuka."
"Imagine that the energy inside your body is a large block of metal, and you are a blacksmith. What you need to do is shape it. Then, transfer the energy into the sword, but still remember its shape."
"Right now, you can't transfer energy into the sword and then shape it. So, just do it this way first."
Kazuka's body glowed. The sword he was holding also glowed. The blue light from his body flowed into the sword. Kazuka suddenly opened his eyes and gritted his teeth. A crescent-shaped horizontal slash flew out, cutting through a small tree trunk, then flying toward a large tree, leaving a large mark on the tree.
Kazuka immediately panted. The sword also fell to the ground, and he knelt, breathing continuously. His body was completely drained of strength.
"What... What was that? Why am I so tired?"
Kuroha clapped her hands, complimenting him. "Very well done! That slash was quite powerful. But you were too hasty just now. Your body hadn't absorbed much energy yet, and you dared to pour all of it into that slash. If it were a real battle, your opponent would kill you."
"So, I ran out of energy, Sis?"
"That's right. It's best not to put all your strength into one slash."
Returning to the present. Kazuka gathered his strength and swung a slash that flew straight toward the straw dummy. Upon seeing it, it was clear that Kazuka had learned from his mistake. He had loaded enough energy into his body. The slash was stronger than the one Kazuka had launched before, and it flew at a faster speed.
The dummy was cut in half by the slash, then flew toward the wall, causing it to explode. Hearing the noise, Haruki and Kanemaru ran over, their expressions quite surprised by Kazuka's display. As the smoke and dust cleared, the wall was revealed with the top half blown off.
Kanemaru was furious, pointing at Kazuka. "Hey, you kid! How dare you destroy my wall?"
Kazuka was surprised by the slash he had just launched, then turned around and laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be that strong."
"Saying sorry is enough? Go pay for the damages!"
Haruki stood next to him, stroking his chin in awe. "Oh, that's really interesting. You've only been learning to use energy for six days, and you can cause a slash like that. That's fast progress."
Kanemaru looked at Kazuka in disbelief, then back at Haruki. "What did you say? This kid only learned for six days and can slash like that already?"
"You're surprised too, aren't you, Kanemaru? So am I."
Kazuka tilted his head to one side. "Huh? Is that true? Kuroha keeps telling me I'm still too weak and need to practice more."
Haruki turned to leave. "You still need to try very hard, Kazuka. You've got your sword, so let's go home."
Kanemaru angrily followed. "Huh? Who said you could leave? Go pay for destroying this wall!"
Haruki also got angry. "Pay for what? You told the boy to test his sword in the backyard, and now you're complaining?"