Chapter 3: Gohan Village (1).

"So where are we going? I know you mentioned an old sage but they can't live in the wild right?"

"I heard the sage lives in a place called Gohan Village, a village known for their rice quality." I guess it fits their name. Currently, Tamemichi and I are walking along a dirt path. Apparently, this is a popular road for merchants as it leads to many different villages and Gohan Village is one of them.

"Hmm, so what does this old sage teach?" Tamemichi looked at me and shrugged.

"All I know is that he teaches people how to fight. I think he was a samurai and retired, now he just protects his village." So we're going to be learning from a retired samurai? That's not something you can get easily, especially for free.

"How do you know he'll just train us? Are you sure we don't have to do some kind of test?" From what anime and countless movies have told me, most o the time these old sages test you before they decide to train you. And by the look on Tamemichi's face, he doesn't know.

"Well um, I don't know. I just heard this story as I was passing through a village and I acted rashly." Tamemichi sounded apologetic and I couldn't be angry at him.

"No matter, even if we do have to complete so kind of test I'm sure we'll pass." I gave Tamemichi a thumbs up and he just smiled. We continued to walk until sundown and Tamemichi caught a small bird. Or at least small by this forest's standards, the bird was around the size of a large hen.

Tamemichi processed the bird and we waited for it to cook around the fire.

"So how far away is this village?" Tamemichi stopped playing with his knife and looked up to answer me.

"I'd say it's around a 3 days walk." That's a moderate distance. At least it wasn't a one-week walk, that would suck. After some small talk, the bird was finally cooked, and after we ate Tamemichi put out the fire, and we entered the land of dreams.

I was soon awoken by a familiar mental pain and I immediately sprung up and picked up my katana.

Tak!

I narrowly dodged an arrow. I wrongly assumed it was Tamemichi but I found help fast asleep. I quickly woke him up and he looked at me with confusion.

"What's wrong Morikage?" Tamemichi lethargicly asked. I didn't answer him and threw him his bow.

"We are under attack. I don't know how many people are attacking us but they have an archer." Tamemichi was taken out of his lethargy and was alert. It was then that I felt the pain in my head spike again but it wasn't as severe as it usually was. I was confused at first because it didn't have a warning until I went in-depth and it wasn't a warning for me but for Tamemichi!

In the corner of my eye, I saw the glint of an arrow head and I pushed Tamemichi out of the way.

Tak!

The arrow hit the ground and Tamemichi nodded at me in thanks.

"I think I know where the arrow came from, I'll try and find the archer!" Tamemichi yelled as he jumped on a tree branch and disappeared deeper into the forest leaving me alone. The moment Tamemichi left I heard the crunching of dead leaves and once I turned around I was met with a masked man with a katana at his waist. I got into an offensive stance and the man drew his katana.

"Who are you and why are you attacking us?!" I didn't get a response and the masked man just drew his katana and got into an offensive stance. I felt something was off about this masked man.

Boom!

He's fast! The masked man sprinted forward with enough force to leave a crack in the ground. In no time, the masked man was in front of me with his katana over his head ready for a swing. I know I can't parry such an attack with my current strength and size so I rolled left.

BOOM!

The force of his attack was so strong that he created a small crater in the ground. His physical strength is many times higher than the creature I fought previously. I barely survived my fight against that creature and only won with Tamemichi's assistance. But this guy, he's leagues above that creature. If I get hit by any of his attacks then I'm as good as dead! Soon, the masked man swung his katana again but how was he going to hit me from 5 meters away? That's not possible, right? Boy was I wrong.

WHOOSH!

The masked man swung so hard that a gust of wind blew me into a tree.

BANG!

"COUGH!" I went right through the tree and landed halfway into another one. To say the least, my body took on heavy damage and it wasn't even a direct hit! I coughed up unhealthy amounts of blood and thought about something. My danger sense wasn't working very well right now. Usually, I would've been able to predict his attack and effectively dodge but it wasn't kicking in right now. Why?

I'll worry about that if I survive this fight. The masked man sprinted at me again and before I knew it, he was in front of me again. He swung his katana and I forced myself to jump back and dodge.

BOOM!

His katana struck the earth and created a small crater. Although I dodged his attack I didn't come out unscathed and I noticed a cut above my eyebrow. Blood dripped down my face and some of it got into my right eye, causing me to close my eye. I wiped the blood away, but my vision was still blurry and red so I now have to fight with 50% of my vision. Can you even call this a fight? It's more like me trying not to die from a single blow.

I tightened my grip around my katana in determination. If I was going to die at least I died putting up a fight! Running away is only going to hinder me! I got into an offensive stance and deeply inhaled. The dust from the previous attack cleared and the masked man stood still. He pointed his katana at me and provoked me.

"Come." His voice was deep and beastly. If it wasn't for his humanoid figure I would think he was some sort of demon. Him having on an Oni mask doesn't help either. I didn't respond to his provocation and just sprinted forward with my katana at my side. Once I got in close quarters with him he raised his katana for a swing and for a brief moment I saw words above his head. These words were in some type of runic language but I could understand. They translated to 'Overhead Swing'. I don't know the context of those words but the masked man raising his katana over his head was evidence. Those words must've been what he was intending to do! I quickly pivoted on my left foot, dodging his incoming swing. Now that he was open, I swung my katana upward, making a deep cut from his chest to his shoulder. I then jumped back to dodge an angry arm swing.

Maybe I can win this! I gripped my katana and prepared to spring but I stopped in my tracks once I heard him speak.

"King Yama Technique, Unending Despair." The masked man stabbed his katana into the ground then the whole world turned black. I couldn't see nor hear him so I held my katana deathly tight.

"Forfeit. You haven't even awakened your Intent. You have no chance of winning, Morikage of Koishi." His voice was omnipresent I even heard it in my mind. How does he know my name? And what is Intent?

"I don't know how you know my name, but I won't give up. I can't give up." I heard him laugh before he responded.

"Very well then. Prepare, you're going to be in here for a while." What? At those very words, a black spike shot at me, and when I tried deflecting it with my katana it broke my katana and stabbed me in the stomach. It went out of my back and the pain was unbearable.

"AAAAHHHHH!!" My screams of pain echoed throughout this black space and I heard him speak.

"That was one of ten thousand." 10,000? Soon another black spike came and it stabbed me in my shoulder.

"Two." Another came.

"Three."

"Four."

.

.

.

"Seven thousand five hundred." How long has it been? Hours? Days? Years? Decades? I don't know. I lost my vision at the five hundredth spike. I can't even feel the pain anymore. My mind has grown numb so I've been speaking to myself this whole time. My mind should have broken a while ago, yet I've always kept myself together. Despite all this, I still have a small hope. The hope of escaping this place and beating...no...KILLING whoever this man is. If I ever leave I'm going to rip him to shreds with my bare hands, he will know pain that day. I felt something pierce my body which means another spike has stabbed my body.

"Seven thousand five hundred one." Now how am I going to leave this place? I can't move anymore and my katana is broken. I heard him mention something about Intent. What is Intent? I'm going to guess it's some kind of energy. Well, then how do unlock it? And if I do unlock it how do I use it? I was taken out of my thoughts by the calling of my name.

"Morikage!"

"MORIKAGE!" Tamemichi? Did he get trapped in here too? It was then that I felt a sharp pain coming from the back of my head. My world shifted and I was back in the forest.

"What happened?" I looked at my body and I was perfectly fine. No injuries except the previous ones and my katana was intact.

"I'm guessing he put you in some kind of illusion. When I arrived here you were on your knees with your eyes rolled back." Tamemichi told me as he helped me get on my feet. His body was riddled with small cuts, so it seems he had a difficult fight as well. I got into an offensive stance and the masked man stood in front of us.

"Tch, seems like Kesami was defeated. We'll meet again, Morikage Shijou." The masked man turned into black mist and was gone.

"Who were they?" Tamemichi asked and shrugged.

"I have no clue, they attacked us out of nowhere. But there's one thing," Just thinking about what that masked man did to me made me angry, "I'm going to kill him."