Peace of Mind

Kenji woke up, sweating. He remembers what he was thinking the previous night and knew what he had to do. Kenji wanted to start the war. He wanted to be part of it so he could avenge his mother. Kenji realized how far he had come. From a lonely village kid scavenging for food, to a swordsman to took on challenges every day. He sighed. He wrote a note, left it on the floor, grabbed his bag and sword, and he left. He didn't want to trouble Kushibo and the old man because he knew they were much stronger than he could ever be. He thought and thought the day away. He was on the road once again. He had been walking for a few hours, and it was now evening time. "If I don't find some shelter, I'll be killed out here," Kenji thought to himself. He found a small hut with a mud roof and run down walls to camp in. He didn't want to feel ashamed anymore. He knew that he had to do some personal practice before he could come back. He balled up his fist. He couldn't stand the feeling of being weak. Of being powerless. He kept to himself for the next few days. He occasionally went out to search for food in different abandoned huts and villages. One night when he was sleeping, he heard footsteps. The footsteps came from the roof of the hut. He picked his sword up and walked outside. Suddenly, he was launched into the air. He landed on the roof. That's when he spotted it. There was a bright red line on the floor where he got launched into the air. It said "BOOM" on it. He realized that this was no ordinary demon. The demon was crouching right in front of him. He had only a kimono on. He had a paintbrush in his hand with red paint still on it. Kenji was furious. That's when he realized he had dropped his sword when he was launched. If he went back down, he would blast back up again, and if he tried to fight the demon bare handed, he would surely be killed. He thought for a second. He slowly put his fists up. He already knew what the demon could do. Although, the silence was piercing his soul little by little. He noticed the demons mouth was stitched shut. Kenji started talking. "Did your boss do this to you?" The demon slowly nodded. Kenji couldn't help but feel sympathy for the demon. "I'll make this quick and painless," Kenji said as his hand lit up. It wasn't an element. A red glow flowing around him and surrounded his hands. He was focusing his energy into one point. He ran toward the demon. He kicked at the demon, but it grabbed him and slammed him onto the floor. The demon jumped and kicked Kenji through the roof and into the hut. Kenji pushed the demons foot off and spun swiftly, kicking the demon and making him stumble back. Kenji focused more energy into his hands. He ran toward the demon with the same plan. Well, the demon thought it was the same plan. At the last second, he switched the energy to his feet and jumped into the air. He flipped and kicked the demon on top of the head. Kenji repeatedly kicked and punched at the demon to immobilize him. He lit up his hand using the energy and air around him. He mixed it and punched the demon in the face. The force of his punch made his own hand hurt. He drew his arm back. The demon was no on the ground. Kenji started to sweat. The demon was so fast that he didn't noticed that the demon had written the words "FIRE TORNADO" under him. Kenji quickly ran outside as the hut blew up. The demon slowly walked out of the burning building. Kenji lit up his whole body again. His energy whipped the air rapidly and was emitting an aura that reached the tree line. Kenji put out more energy and charged toward the demon. The demon had written "LAUNCH" on his back. He flew into the air. He was headed straight for the flame tornado. He suddenly realized that energy was coming out of his feet. He made a soft landing on the ground with the energy and looked at the demon with fury visible in his eyes. He walked toward the demon with his aura flowing. His body had black marks all over it. He was visibly struggling to stay still. He charged toward the demon. Kenji felt as the life flew through him. He punched the demon in the face, kicked it in the gut, and grabbed his wrist. He threw the demon into the burning tornado. The demon tried to write on him, but Kenji had ripped his arm off. There were already red markings on the ground from earlier saying things like "BOOM!" and "FLY" Kenji walked over all of them and nothing happened. He was pushing his energy through them to muffle their effects. Kenji jumped behind the demon. The demon swiftly turned and stretched his arm out, but Kenji had already grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Veins were visible on his arm. He suddenly dropped the demon. His marks were gone, and he was back to normal. A skinny, tall loser. Kenji started to breath harder. He tried to focus his energy, but he couldn't. The demon picked him up by the hair. The demon was going for an attack. That's when the demon noticed Kenji's eyes flash red for a small second. By then, Kenji had already kicked him all the way into the hut. Kenji felt a weird piercing pain. "Using that much energy was too much, huh," Kenji said to himself. He walked toward the hut. The demon rushed out and wrote in large letters, "DEATH BY EXTREME PAIN" on his back. Kenji focused his energy into his back. The black marks appears there and muffled the effect. He only felt a little twinge. He started to cover some of his body with it. He was prepared. He would do anything to defeat the demon race, even if he had to become one.