By the time the sun had reached its zenith, I was ready to complete my final training. This last challenge was much more difficult than any of the previous ones. My task was to defeat the man standing before me - the current leader of our lineage. In our previous battle, I had not been able to defeat him, even though I had wielded the sword with balance. But now, I had to try again and see if I could emerge victorious.
My master stood silently beside me. He was about to say a few words before the battle began. As he spoke, my mind raced with thoughts of how best to attack. But then he quickly interrupted my train of thought.
"The rules are quite simple," he said. "You will not use your sword during this battle. We will fight with sticks instead. You may make superficial attacks, but the first one to give up will lose."
I wanted to make sure that I understood everything correctly.
"Is there anything else?" I asked.
"That's all," he replied.
