Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 22
Peace at last, with Cias's enemy defeated, a new weapon required and power gained through fighting he was ready for his mind to take a break. He was still training hard but not to the level that it would cause physical harm like earlier. He admired his spear, running his hand across the golden blade, the black guard and the brown and black handle with hints of gold. It was ornate and beautiful yet so incredibly powerful and fierce. He had it when he walked, cuddled it when he slept and sat by it when he ate. It was almost as if it was his friend now, funny enough. He felt the soul that resided within his blade and felt that it was not quite there. The essence of a soul was there but with how much they fought and how much Cias beat it, it was almost like a comatose patient.
Cias feeling grateful towards the mantis now, he decided to give him a name ,"I think I'll name you… Onyx, Slicer of Stealth" (He thought that the mantis also deserved a cool title). And with just that, a little bit of the Onyx's soul repaired itself, making the weapon grow stronger. He talked to himself ,"I wonder what Cias is doing, I hope he's doing well… and what about Hiroto" he looked down and said ,"I hope I see them soon" while slightly frowning. Though he looked up smiling and then said ,"I can't wait to show them how far I've come" jumping up above the tree tops and then lightly landing on the ground.
He further refined his technique and even created a bath for himself. A little stone tub where he could put water into, and then set a fire below it to control the temperature. While he was cooking in the tub, relaxing, he breathed in and out, noticing that nothing around him was even bothering him while he took the bath. Not that it mattered because he could put a barrier up anyways, but it was as if he was oil and everyone else was water. The wildlife wanted nothing to do with him after the fight that he had had. He laughed to himself, thinking back to when he had been nearly the weakest thing in this forest, growing within this time period into being counted as among the strongest there.
The funny thing is that the animals were actually giving him food as if he were a deity in order to survive and without saying ,"Please don't hurt us, you can have this". But even if this was just fear without praise, he was happy for the generosity. It was a little lonely but the accomplishments filled that void. He was officially working on his own time, not the time of others that were trying to eat him. He had gained respect, respect that he wanted and earned through harsh training.
About a week passed, and then a message throughout Cias's and Apollo's mind rang out ,"OK boys, tomorrow at dawn I will be teleporting you guys back to the dojo, good job out here". They both jumped out of joy and hollered that they would finally see each other again. Awaiting this moment for months, they packed up all their stuff into their backpacks and the next morning, they were back at the dojo. They both ran up to hug Hiroto, happy to see him again and Hiroto said ,"Squeeze any harder and you guys'll kill me with all that strength you got down there. Apollo, I see you've gotten a new friend, and Cias, that upgraded spear of yours looks amazing." Bandit squeaked a few times, happy to see the friends of his friend, and jumped onto Apollo's back with a smile on his face.
(I can't believe how strong these boys are, I mean they're pretty much natural born prodigies compared to how stupid I was when I was younger, Cias's father and Kenji did a great job instructing them). ,"Well boys, lets get inside and talk" and thus they did all throughout the day until nightfall, the boys talking about their adventures and triumphs. Truly, everyone was happy to be together, the night ending with smiles on everyone's faces.