Tilting her head slightly to the side, the old woman spoke, "Ah! That's right! I should introduce myself before we begin." Lightly smiling, she placed her cup down, straightened her back, and shifted her posture, now kneeling with the tops of her feet flat on the floor, and, butt resting on her heels, she continued with a slight bow
"My name is Tomoe Akemichi. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, child."
Instantly, Damon's pupils dilated, and his mouth went dry.
'S-he she's one of them!? In Language class, I learnt about a south-eastern nation of warriors who could cut people down in one swift strike, but I thought they were a myth.'
'Ah! What was it called again? Nippon?, It's said they wielded weapons blessed by forgotten gods that existed long before the three great churches.'
'Is this the sensory test simulation?? I-I have to defeat her ?.... that's impossible.'
"M-My na- na-me is Damon Redhill!, I'm sorry for entering your home without permission, great master. It's an honor to meet someone from the warrior nation, Nippon!"
His speech became stuttered, and his body trembled as he looked at the woman before him in fear.
Smiling warmly, Tomoe raised her gaze and responded, "Oh, you know of my people? There's no need to be afraid, I won't hurt you." Pausing for a moment, she adjusted her posture and then continued, "In fact, I'm glad for the company; it's quite lonely in this land, you know, and I haven't seen someone from a central nation in a while. Could you tell me what year it is ?"
"Year ?.. It's the year 4046."Damon answered politely. Taking another glance at the surroundings, he could not help but ask, "Where or what.... is this place?"
'It's been twenty-five years, huh?' muttered Tomoe, seemingly amused. "Hmm?.... That's not a bad question, but the correct question would be 'why are you here?' right?"
"Umm... To defeat you ?" Damon said, his cheeks subtly blushing.
"Ha hahaha! To defeat me, he says, haha hahaha!" Surprised by Damon's response, Tomoe burst out in uncontrollable laughter, clutching her stomach.
Pausing her laughter after a moment, she then began speaking with a serious tone," You're here because you're meant to be, you likely have the affinities needed for my sword technique [虚哭神去], with the Universal Language, I believe you'd call it 'Hollow Cry Of The Godless'."
"It's a technique that focuses on infusing oneself in a set of perfect slashes that can only be done if the practitioner is worthy of their blade. Without both the Blade and Union affinities, it doesn't matter how many times they practice the same strikes; they won't be worthy."
Standing up, Master Tomoe walked forward, raising her hand as a sheathed sword appeared in her grasp. The sheath was dark, almost black, with faint, smooth textures of bark.
Stopping before a Red Pine tree, she placed her hand on the sheath of her sword and took a deep breath. Taking her stance, the wind picked up as her presence began to change .... now much sharper.
Click..! Soon after, the only thing He heard was a clicking sound as she had already performed a fast upward strike, completely shredding the pine tree and creating a 35-foot-long crevice in the ground ahead, causing his jaw to drop in shock.
Click..! With another click, the sword seemed to have never left the scabbard and returned to its original position.
The thought that he was getting to learn that technique made Damon's heart start beating like crazy, and his blood boil.'That was insane! How in the world did she do that! I didn't even see her draw the blade, so that's a katana!'
"Now that you've seen the technique, let us see if you're worthy to wield it. For your test, you will be heading north into the forest where lie man-eating beasts. Your task is to slay five beasts to gain the blessing of your fated blade. Once bonded, the blade will grow as you grow, mirroring your convictions."
"That sounds crazy!, How am I going to do that without a weapon? Wait! What happens if I die here?"
"Hahahaha! Do not fret, child, you will receive a carving knife made from carbon steel to use, and if you die, you'll simply be sent back to your dimension in failure. Now off you go."
Snap....As he heard the snapping of her fingers, Damon felt the ground under his feet disappear. He quickly found himself falling towards a tree before landing on a large branch with a loud thud.
"God Dammit! Could she not have warned me first before doing that? And did she just open a portal? "
Bang! Suddenly, Damon heard the sound of something Heavy hitting the ground a small distance away.
Looking towards the direction the sound came from, he discovered a pitch-black panther biting down on some other green animal. Damon wasn't sure what it was since its body was too shredded to tell. However, he did notice one thing.
'These beasts are gigantic!" In Shock, Damon remained on the top of the Pine tree for quite a while as he simply looked at his surroundings for a chance to escape.
Another twenty minutes later, Damon glanced down, and his heart sank. Somehow, the panther had gotten to the base of his tree without him noticing. Staring at the beast, his heart beat ferociously as he tried to think of something. Afraid, he tried to hide as well as possible, pressing his body against the tree.
But it was at that moment that he locked eyes with the beast.
Looking into those soulless white eyes, Damon felt an excruciating chill down his spine.
An eternity seemed to pass as the two beings only looked at each other. Time resumed as the beast effortlessly jumped, clearing the height of the pine tree to strike Damon. The jump made no sound. One could only hear the fast vibrations in the air, nothing more.
Surprising even himself, Damon reacted quickly on instinct, drawing his knife and letting himself fall away from the branch, putting it between him and the creature.
Bang! Bang! The creature's right foreleg easily destroyed the thick branch that had supported his full weight.
Damon felt a scorching pain assault his back as muscles and blood were cleaved out. Grimacing in pain, he braced his body for the impact of the fall.
Bang! Damon's side hit the ground, impacting his lungs, making it hard to breathe. The beast had torn off a huge part of the flesh on Damon's back. He was sure he would have been split in two had the branch not been there between them.
Though he knew he wouldn't actually die, the thought of experiencing that was terrifying, yet Damon didn't feel like running anymore. Ignoring the pain assaulting his mind, he quickly rose to his feet.
Bang! Jumping from the tree, the Panther regained its balance and rushed towards him. Feeling the distance between them rapidly reducing, Damon felt his mind calm as he began thinking about the strike Master Tomoe performed earlier.
In a bit of desperation, he hoped to mimic her presence to scare the beast.
As he took slow, rhythmic breaths, Damon slowly emptied his mind. At the same time, he outlined the image in his mind and focused all his attention and thoughts on it. Unexpectdely his presence began to slowly change.
Now only a foot away, baring its long, terrifying teeth, the creature felt this shift and flinched, but little did it know that small moment of hesitation would be its downfall.
Capitalizing on the moment before the beast touched the ground. Damon leaped up, twisting his body to the side. He then thrust out his blade.
Missing its target, the beast felt a pulsating jerk as tremors ran through its massive body, but it was already too late.
Its right eye collapsed inward around the blade with a sickening squelch, with the momentum of Damon's fall landing on the beast. The final resistance faded away as the blade plunged deeper, grinding against something soft and vital.
A brief final shudder ushered in the end of the beast's life, and as it gave out, it made one last muffled sound of breath in a shaky exhalation.
Huff... Huff... Huff... Breathing heavily, Damon collapsed on the already dead beast as pain shot through his entire body. His vision began to blur, but he struggled to remain awake, knowing another beast may be drawn to the area lured by the scent of blood.
Coughing blood, he tried to stand up, only to fall forward to the ground. "This makes no sense. I took little to no internal damage. What's going on with my body?"
"Well, I'd say someone slipped you some Pain Enhancer serum. It enhances your physical strength, reflexes, and concentration in exchange for reduced pain tolerance."
Hearing the familiar voice, Damon tried to lift his gaze, responding with a low mutter.
"Ma-Master ?"
But he could only make out a blurry silhouette before he blacked out.
Sighing, Tomoe gently picked Damon up, "It's funny, I'm not sure if this child is lucky or unlucky. Not only was he fed Pain Enhancer, but he also managed to immediately run into the physically strongest beast here."
"He speaks fluent Selyrian, yet with that brown skin he's clearly of Desterian descent... Was he forced to come here by an unruly master? Poor child, let us get those wounds sorted out."