Trials of Destiny: Way of The Sword

Jin finished his bath and got changed into a black robe with a red spider lily design on it. After he finishes changing, he leaves the bathroom and heads to the main space within the house.

There he saw Stella; she was sitting alone reading a book on different flowers, and she looks up and sees Jin before putting her book down and walks up to him. "I hope the water was to your liking." "It was fine enough to cleanse one's body." Stella nodded slightly. "Well, If you're going to be practicing tonight like you did last night, can I join? I've never learned anything to use martial arts, but I really want to start." Stella asked confidently and filled with spirit and determination.

Jin stood there for a little bit, thinking, "Hm, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a sparing partner for a while, while I'm here at least. Have you ever wielded a weapon before?" "I've tried to use a katana in the past to learn with, but Master found out and took it before I really got anywhere with it." "Alright, no worries; if that's the case, we'll just begin with the basics of movement." Jin walked outside, feeling the cold breeze calmly flowing through the world. It was a slightly refreshing feeling to him.

Stella followed him outside, taking off her shoes since Jin didn't have any on either. "Alright, with the movement I'll teach you, it's called "swiftless feather." It's a technique that is all about footwork and movement. It doesn't have anything to use offensively, at least not by itself." Jin does a small amount of the technique himself before explaining more about it. "The things you need to learn are how to breathe properly, having your body and mind functioning simultaneously, and having a calm and peaceful inner self. If you have any doubts or any other thoughts than this, it will not work. It took me around 3 months before I got the sense of it, so don't worry if it takes a few weeks." Jin felt potential within Stella; if she could open her Ki to the first stage, she'd most likely become greater than him if given the proper instruction and information. Jin was distraught at first to train her but decided that maybe she could be of help instead of an enemy. Around 4 hours later, after constant practice and fixing her form constantly, Stella somewhat understood the basics of the movement. Though she was extremely tired afterwards. "I think I'll head to sleep," Stella said, letting out a yawn after her training. She left the yard and went to her room. "...only 4 hours and she understood it? Even if she had great potential, to be able to understand even somewhat that quickly."

Jin smiled and looked up at the star-filled sky. "Master, this may not be the path you wished for me. But, having met such an interesting person, and the way I feel... I must continue down this path no matter what. To avenge you, and to avenge the other palace brother's and sister's. I hope you'll understand if you can hear me." Jin sighed slightly and began his own training. Abel, who was watching everything through his window in his room. "It seems as if I have gotten lucky with this... His potential is amazing. Yet, I can't feel an ending to that potential. That is the scary part of this being. a being without a possible limit... I like the idea of it, but to actually have someone living within the same space as one of them. This is truly the luck of the Lord."

Abel walked over to a safe and opened it to see his weapon covered in bandages, hiding it from the world. He sighed before pulling it out and unwrapping the bandages from it. It revealed to be a spear of some unknown material. He gripped it within his hand tightly, and the spear started to glow green. Abel left his room to go outside and met with Jin while holding his spear. "Jin, let's have a spar. I want to see how far you've gotten in your training. From what I've seen, it seems like you've had a good master or teacher when it comes to technique, footwork, and the way you swing your sword."

Abel gripped his spear tightly, getting into a stance ready to fight. Jin smiles at him and drops the wooden sword; he pulls out the tanto Roshio had given him and gets into a stance. "Before we start, may I ask what stage you're at?" Jin asked, looking at Abel. "I'm at hexagon." Jin smiled, but his eyes widen at the words. "Damn, he's higher than me... even if it's only by one stage, I don't think I'll be able to win this."

He thought to himself for a moment before rushing Abel, trying to use his Swiftless Feather and combining his Slashless sword techniques together, and begins to pummel Abel's spear, not able to find any openings in his defense. "Damn, this Abel guy is hellishly strong compared to me... We're only one stage apart though." Abel counterattacked one of the tanto's strikes and was about to stab Jin in his left shoulder. Jin noticed it slightly and jumped back, dropping his weapon to evade the attack. "So he dropped his weapon to stay alive instead of trying to take the weapon with him... intriguing coming from such a young man."

Abel dashed forward at Jin, increasing his power, and used the technique "47 slashes of sage." His spear turned into the color of sage and went for strikes with the tip of the spear. Jin dodged some, got hit with others, and jumped back to dodge the rest. Jin breath was starting to get heavy as he looked down for a split second to check his bleeding. Within that second, Abel was already on Jin again, going for the same technique again. Jin's eyes widen as he instinctively grabs the spear, stopping it before he jumps away and runs towards his tanto, picking it up and getting into a stance again. "Fuck, I only looked away for a second, and he was already on me again. He's fast, he has strength, and he has the advantage of range with a spear. How the fuck can I win this? No, don't worry about winning your foolish self. Focus on reading and gaining knowledge from this defeat." Jin thought to himself before dashing at Abel again.

Jin used Swiftless Feather and appeared behind Abel, going for a slight cut on his leg. Abel noticed it and jumped away, dodging the attack, but Jin appeared instantly in front of him before he could even land on the ground. Abel's eyes widen slightly at the sudden agility of Jin. Abel tilted his spear, blocking the attack, and backed off, wanting to gain more distance between them. This continued on for several minutes of a cat and mouse chase around the yard. Abel activated his hexagon form around the yard, trapping him and Jin within a barrier he made using the hexagon stage. Within this barrier, all attacks from the user who activated it are increased by 1.8%, and agility is increased by 1.1%. Abel dashed at Jin using a different technique, "Blood Hound's Den." Abel is using the walls of the barrier to create a path forward into Jin's face, directly hitting him with his palm. Jin fell to one knee, hitting the ground. Jin wasn't even able to see the path Abel had taken to get such a speed advantage. Abel continued to do this, hitting Jin repeatedly, giving Jin the only ability to block everything. "Shit, what the hell is this bullshit?" Abel did a final palm strike and included the "47 slashes from Sage" with his palm, knocking Jin out onto the ground, and Abel stopped his barrier and techniques. "This young man... He took a lot more to defeat than I was planning on using. He does have the potential to be lethal to this world. Maybe not now, but it's worth letting him stay a while longer and maybe training him to the next stage."

Abel thought to himself, seeing Jin unconscious still standing on his knee on the ground before falling over onto his back after a few more seconds. Abel walked away and asked Stella and Gray to carry him back to his room. "Gray, do you know why... why they fought anyways?" "How the hell should I know? It was intense, though. Seeing this guy who's around our age being able to keep up with Master even though it wasn't for long at all. Impressive, is all I have to say about it." Stella sighed silently but helped Gray carry Jin to his room, and they laid him out on the bed. "I'll go get his tanto and bring it in here for him as well." Gray said before leaving and goes to pick up the tanto.

The tanto suddenly surrounds itself in a purple energy, shocking Gray as he was about to pick it up. "W-what the hell?" Gray left to get Abel. "Master, can you get Jin's weapon and bring it to him... I couldn't do it." Abel lifted his eyebrow in curiosity and left the house to pick up the tanto, and the purple energy began to surround the tanto again and shock both of them. "Huh, such a weird tanto. I haven't heard of anything like this." Abel said to Gray. "Let's just leave it here for Jin to get himself in the morning or whenever he wakes up." Abel and Gray walked off to the house, going their separate ways after entering.