"Alright," Kirin said, his voice regaining its usual authoritative tone. "You've done enough swings with a daito, and a shoto is a necessary addition for a proper daisho. Pick a set that calls to you."
The blades shimmered with energy as their surfaces seemed to ripple as if they were alive.
Their whispers began echoing in my mind.
Each set one sang a different song. One set sang of conquest, one of battle, one that emanded to take the world. One to teach every person how to wield a blade with grace.
Each one sang a chorus of a different tale of battles fought and victories won.
The daisho, elegant and balanced.
This kind of pairing spoke of precision and control with ferocity.
They all vied for my attention, their voices a chorus of whispers and promises of power and potential.
But one set, the daisho, called to me with a resonance that echoed deep within my soul.
It was the first one I saw.
They spoke of a gentle embrace of protection. Love to counter and rebuff all woes. The will to work through diplomacy along with chosen partners in administration and combat both.
I moved towards the velvet cushion.
Their blades, forged from a darkly glowing obsidian-like metal that seemed to move. As it pulsed with an inner purple fire and gave the feeling of a calm ocean of redirecting force-.
These were mine.
Their hilts were wrapped in Golden leather that gave the feeling of the sun and a coldly sure ocean of purple leather that neared pink.
The strange thing is that the hilts seemed to shift and move so that every time I looked away the hilts on the shoto and daito impossibly swapped with each other.
They felt warm and familiar in my grasp.
They could never be simply weapons; they were extensions of my own will.
They shoved my own determination to protect those I loved into the power of my strikes, I could tell.
"The 'Steadfast Loyalty of a Lady on Each Arm' set?" Kirin Edo's voice broke my reverie by chuckling. I turned to see his eyes glittering full with unending amusement. "Well, no one said you had to be unpredictable. Take 'em, loverboy."
I took the katana without protest.
"That's definitely not its name, Kirin, stop playing around." I frowned up at his smug face, "That sounds dumb and the blacksmith who made these swords however many thousand years ago wouldn't know who would take them."
"Ah, But the first person to wield the set named them, and he always had a lady on each arm. They were also always the same ones, hence loyalty. You, my friend, are just like him."
I felt their weight settling comfortably in my hands.
I don't care what Kirin thinks.
I knew what I was about.
I was about Anna and Jessa.
I turned to the blades and examined them.
Okay, fine, I'm just like whoever this guy was.
These blades were not simply tools of destruction; they were symbols of my commitment, my promise to Anna and Jessa, my vow to protect them, to fight for them, to rewrite our shared destiny. And with these blades in hand, I felt a surge of energy fill my limbs, as if a renewed sense of purpose flooded me, I felt like my will to face the trials ahead had somehow increased. The weight of the world rested on my shoulders, but I was ready.
REMEMBER!
I was the Sword God Emperor's Successor.
STOP TRUSTING SO EASILY!
I would not be denied.
"I feel like you just thought something highly egotistical." Jessa declared with a deadpan look spread across her face.
"You're too damn perceptive."
---
Seven loops have passed, so I really needed to figure out how to start using Ki.
Right?
I know Anna and Jessa have been through about thirty five loops by now, but I'm growing fast too.
I opened my mouth to ask a question.
I was about to give a genuine inquiry about whether or not there were any more sword forms besides the initial forms he had shown me thus far, but then Kirin raised his hand.
The gesture sent a chill through my spine and cut off any words before they could even fully form.
He had other plans, clearly.
A shit-eating grin that promised further hardship spread across his face and the corners of his lips twitched upwards while his eyes showed that they had seen more than mine ever could and he was going to use that against me in whatever way amused him most.
He then declared, "Get on it, kiddo!" in a tone that was clearly meant to be dismissive, but also that contained just enough humor to make me think that he was secretly enjoying what came next.
Truly, the sword God Emperor was the worst teacher who ever lived.
It was a phrase he used, I knew, to both dismiss my questions and to get me moving, and I also felt that he was giving me a challenge as much as it was a direct order.
Then, I felt the motion of my body twist unnaturally as Kirin waved his arm. I knew, from that strange and horrible sensation that made the muscles in my gut clench, that I was about to be displaced through time and space once again.
My near-question turned into a choked gasp as it felt like reality itself decided to go on vacation again.
I felt as if the world around me had been ripped apart like cloth being torn to shreds. The world twisted in a way that might have been euclidean if someone had vomited on reality right before it turned into existence and I could feel my stomach churn and the taste of bile fill my mouth.
Then, as abruptly as I had begun my motion through unreality, I found myself sprawled on the hard-packed earth just outside the city walls. I felt the rough grit of the earth scrape against my skin as I landed, each nerve ending in my body protesting the sudden halt.
The familiar weight of the coin pouch settled against my thigh with a soft clink.
To me they felt as if they were a tangible representation of the battle I had fought to get those gifts.
The needlessly violent way I went about in apologizing to the women I loved.
I knew that Kirin was messing with time, but I wasn't sure if he was erasing realities that didn't suit the goal of killing the prime devourer or letting us loose in timelines to do damage to them as a training exercise.
Or something else.
I didn't want to know.
No matter what, I would focus on the idea that all of this was some kind of simulation because any other more likely solution made me want to vomit.
The ends sometimes justify the means, but-
My mind jolted towards the faces that of the guards-
Of the innocent guards and merchants I had enacted murder upon for simple trinkets.
The lives I had ended to make a step towards gaining all the power I needed to acquire the ability to approach the starting line of the qualifications needed to protect those I loved.
Each coin was a small reminder of a life I had taken in a world that no longer existed as time erased it.
It was a grim reminder that I would do it again without hesitation if it was necessary.
It would be necessary.
I didn't want it to be.
But it was a fact.
Deep down I knew that something terrible was happening in every way.
I pushed that thought aside as I stood, the weight a constant source of unease and a driving force at the same time.