After last night I managed to sleep like a baby. When I woke up Axel was gone like usual and I hurried to get dressed. I walked to my first lesson with Sanemi.
" You're late! " Sanemi yelled.
Across the training field, Sanemi sat leaning against a tree with a grouchy expression.
" I am so... " I tried.
" No Excuses. Grab the wooden sword. Now! " He yelled.
I quickly found the barrel of swords and grabbed a wooden sword.
" Now show me your fighting stance. " He ordered.
I bent my knees and slid my foot slightly forward pointing it slightly outward.
" Wrong. That stance will get you killed when you're fighting a demon with a Nichirin blade. Straighten your front foot and slightly bring your back foot backwards and point it parallel to your front foot. Now slightly bend both knees and hold your sword out in front of your foot. "
I did as he told me but he frowned and slouched towards me and grabbed my elbows and bent them slightly.
" That's better. " He grumbled.
" Are you always this grumpy? " I chuckled.
All of a sudden I was knocked off my feet and I hit the ground with a thud.
" Demon slayers know when to joke but even so I don''t like jokes that are aimed my way. " He grumbled.
" Dully noted. " I grumbled back.
" Get back up and assume the proper position. " He ordered.
I did as I was told and before I knew it he was teaching me how to fight with the little thin wooden sword. Sword fighting was like a violent and intense dance but I found it easy to move with the sword as if it was a part of my body and to my surprise I struck Sanemi in the gut. He stumbled backwards and looked shocked.
Suddenly clapping sounded and I whirled around to find Kanroji smiling and waving at me.
" Very Impressive! You're pretty good with that if you manage to strike Sanemi. " She said, as I put up the sword and walked to her.
She gave me a tight hug. I smiled at her aura of love and happiness. She had a way to even make Sanemi smile slightly.
" You are ready for flexibility training. " She smiled as we walked away from Sanemi.
We reached a peaceful area with blooming cherry trees in a quiet meadow.
" This is the place I do all my workouts. It's peaceful and it makes my head clear so I feel one with my abilities and nature. " She explained.
" It is really peaceful. " I agreed.
" How about we start with yoga? " She smiled, bending to unroll the two mats.
" Sounds nice. " I said.
She patted the mat beside her. I sat down and we stretched.
The rest of the time with Kanroji was tough but also relaxing. By the end I felt like I was more flexible and more athletic than before we started.
" Well, my time with you is over. You should hurry over to the butterfly mansion. " She said.
I smiled and ran off towards the butterfly mansion. When I got there Shinobu was in deep concentration near a nearby tree.
" Hi, Shinobu? " I edged.
She looked up and smiled.
" Sorry I was meditating. " She said getting up from the tree.
" So We can start by teaching you concentration breathing. When this is finished I want you to practice it at random until it becomes second nature. " She ordered.
" Start by clearing your head of all distractions and then maintain it. Then without losing concentration take deep breaths and let little amounts out then inhale more. The cycle should be repeated in that order. " She said.
" How does breathing help with fighting demons? " I asked.
" Well, to make it short and simple during battle properly-timed breathing increases the power of your fast-twitch movements and improves the recovery of your muscles. Us Demon slayers use this technique for powerful sword strikes and quick recoveries. It also can help you sense the life thread when trying to kill a demon. The line will look like a spider web it helps you find an opening to strike a death blow to a demon. " She explained.
" Wow, that's pretty cool " I replied.
" Yes, now lets begin. Clear your mind and start the breathing cycle I explained. " She said
I cleared my head and breathed in a large amount of air and started to let little bits of air out but inhaling more as I let small amounts out over and over.
" Now I am going to give you a sword and I will try to strike a blow on you. Your job is to not lose concentration while moving to dodge my strikes. Sounds simple enough? " She asked.
I nodded but doubted my capability to maintain that concentration.
She handed me a wooden sword and grabbed one herself. She started by moving at slow speeds and I managed to block three of her attacks before she started picking up speed. As she sped up I found it easier to continue concentration breathing. I felt like each long was like I was flying through the air as fast as a jet and agile as a cat. It was fun as I parried and dodged her attacks and she smiled with me as we continued our violent dance.
Like all good things my time with Shinobu was over and we put up our wooden blades.
" Are you sure you never used concentration breathing before? " She asked.
" I'm sure of it. " I answered.
" You're a natural, I don't think I have much else to teach you. I guess this could be just a sparring and sword practice. " She shrugged.
" Sounds good to me. " I shrugged.
" You better hurry over to Gyomei, He may be blind but he can see in other ways. " She smiled and waved.
I found running easier and faster using concentration breathing. Before I knew it I found the big and gentle giant that was Gyomei.
" Hi, Gyomei. A beautiful day isn't it? " I asked.
" It is indeed, you're looking faster and stronger already. " he commented.
" Thanks. I feel a lot more stronger too. " I replied.
" You'll find this lesson quite the opposite of the ones you've had so far. " He commented.
" That sounds lovely. " I replied.
" I don't know if it will be as enjoyable as the others but it might be productive. " He said waving at the rock beside him with a flat smooth top.
I sat down and he faced me in a crisscrossed position, I followed suit and looked at him.
" I want you to close your eyes and tell me what represents you. "
I closed my eyes and cleared my head. Nothing popped up.
" I don't know I can't feel anything that describes me. " I said furrowing by brows in concentration.
" That's okay. If you ever have a dream where something or someone whispers to you in a dream and you see something that something could be your breathing style. " He said.
" Right now lets just focus on a deep state of meditation okay? " He added.
I Reached the meditative state fast and let the noises of the wind, the swaying of the trees and the trickle of a babbling brook nearby.
We sat there in a state of zen for an hour and then the time was up and we came out more refreshed than before.
" It was great to have taught you today, I look forward to trying again tomorrow. " He said as I walked towards where Obanai would be waiting.
" You too! " I yelled at him as I ran.
I soon reached Obanai who lounged in a tree in the middle of the forest.
" Hello. Welcome to your training course. " He said.
" This forest is your training course in which you will have traps and things that will try to stop you but you're not going to stop until you scale that mountain from here and back. " He informed.
" HUH!?! " I exclaimed, surprised at his strict command.
" I don't recall stuttering. " He said in irritation.
" Sorry. " I muttered.
" The way to learn to move on the ground and in the air is to realize that if you fail you will most likely die in the attempt. Think of it as your parents throwing you into the deep end of the pool and leaving it to you to survive or drown. But this is much more painful if you fail. Well, what are you waiting for? " He ordered.
I ran the way he pointed and when I was far enough to where I couldn't see him was where the first challenge came.
Out of the blue I tripped over a string and with a gasp almost nearly got chopped in half by a swinging blade. I flipped over the blade and jumped on the trunk of a tree and pushed off and began jumping from branch to branch.
Before long the next thing came and I tripped over a wire in the branch I was jumping from. I fell from the tree and a few seconds later I hit the ground, falling into a hidden hole. I looked up to find a huge boulder hurtling towards the hole and with a rush of adrenaline I managed to leap out before it could crush me.
I ran again and managed to escape more and more of Obanai's death traps. Soon I was starting to go up the mountain but to my horror something other than a blade came rushing towards me.
" HOLY SHIT, IS HE TRYING TO KILL ME!?! " I screamed as a type of arrow with no head but a sharp point came flying towards me striking me in the leg and shoulder. I gasped in pain and slipped off the branch falling to the forest floor.
I hit the ground and started pulling out the arrows and continued, but not as fast and painless as before.
I found it easier to move despite the pain by cursing Obanai up and down as I moved through his killer training course.
The time going up and down the mountain was worse than before. I managed to escape but ended up falling, getting cuts, adding to the bruises, and time, after time, after time, of falling flat on my face. I managed to memorize where the traps were as I went back down the mountain and back to where Obanai was perched in his tree.
His eyes widened as I jumped and snatched his book from his hands and threw it to the ground, stomping on it over and over.
" YOU JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!! " I screamed.
" Well your not dead are you. " He said jumping down and comming at me with his fist.
He shouldn't have come at me with hand to hand combat because when it came to a fight like that I was the boss.
His fist came to an inch from my face when I grabbed his wrist and moved behind him pulling his arm backwards and pushing it forwards. His face hit the floor as I held his arm behind his back pinning him to the ground with ease.
" IF YOU EVER TRY TO KILL ME AGAIN I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL, I DON"T CARE IF YOUR A HASHIRA OR NOT. " I snarled at him like a beast.
I let him up and walked off pissed and not at all feeling nice.