(Chapter unfolds:7" Fear to Duty ")
The following day arrived. Before the sun's first rays, the disciples were assembled. Haru, Sai, Jinso, and Izuma found themselves segregated to a smaller, secondary Kalari, apart from the other students.
Nobaya soon arrived, bearing an object concealed in his hands.
"Nobaya... where are the others?" Sai inquired.
"They remain in the main grounds."
"Then why are we isolated here?"
At that moment, Master Daisho appeared.
"Master, why have you separated us from the others and confined us to this secondary ground?" Haru pressed.
The Master offered no reply but nodded to Nobaya, who placed the objects before them. The disciples stared, their eyes wide with awe and trepidation. The objects were not wooden implements, but true katanas. It was the first time they had looked upon live steel.
"A katana," Sai whispered in astonishment.
Master Daisho and Nobaya handed a blade to each disciple. The cold weight of the sword in their hands was a chilling harbinger of death itself.
"Today, balance is not merely in the mind, but in the metal you hold," Master Daisho instructed. "The true blade inspires fear. The work of a Sapahan is to transform that fear into duty. You must empower the sword with strength, but your duty must control the blade." The meaning of his words remained elusive to them.
In Nobaya's mind, the recollection of the previous day's solemn conversation with the Master echoed:
"Master, they are but boys. How can we entrust them with live katanas?"
"Nobaya, though they are boys, the hidden power within them must be awakened and energized."
"Power...?"
"Yes. These four are the source of fourspecific, unique essences lost to us across the ages. They are the remaining fragments of powers we thought long extinguished."
Nobaya stared, bewildered.
"The changes in each of them during the trials the sudden inner experience, the physical anomalies these are the symptoms, Nobaya. I sense the powers we believed lost reside within them."
"Then should we not inform Master Henzo immediately?"
"Why? Should we deliver them to the Master only to have him enslave them with relentless training, rather than allowing them to destroy the Shapta? No. They remain here. I shall inform the Master of some small diversion. You must remain with them. Only through this true training can their latent powers be energized."
Nobaya shook off the memory and focused on the students. The training began. There were no targets or opponents; the sole demand was to master the control of the blade's deadly edge.
Haru struggled to constrain his sheer strength. With every swing, the katana screamed through the air, yet he could not curb its deadly momentum. In a flash of uncontrolled zeal, he swung with too much force, nearly colliding with Jinso's blade, which flew from the younger disciple's grasp.
Sai found no stability. The pain from his affliction, compounded by the weight and terror of the live steel, made it impossible for him to stand firm. His movements were slow and imprecise.
Izuma, having learned from his prior failure, successfully quieted his analyzing mind. His movement was precise. However, when asked to apply strength, he failed to sustain the required energy, and his katana clattered to the ground. He had discernment but lacked the confluence of power and control.
Izuma's knowledge had granted him control, but it had failed to grant him the necessary power. Meanwhile, Jinso, bearing the unexpected burden of his prior success, lost the intuitive awareness he had displayed. As he raised the live steel, his stillness abandoned him, and the weight of the blade pulled him down.
All the disciples looked toward Master Daisho, dreading his reaction to their collective failure. Only Izuma immediately returned to his spot, attempting to regain control over the katana.
The Master slowly rose from his seated position.
"This is but the first stage," he announced. "Time remains. You must test yourselves. This katana is the foundation of your strength and your skill." The Master turned to depart, but paused and approached Izuma.
"Izuma," he asked, "why do you stand apart and endeavor while the others lament their lost opportunity?"
"Master, effort must precede victory," Izuma replied, his voice measured. "A bird that fails its first attempt at flight does not cease flying for the rest of its life. To fail once does not signify defeat; it signals that we must try harder. I have no need to sit lamenting, Master."
The Master was inwardly astonished by the disciple's fortitude, though his countenance remained impassive.
"You attempt to find balance, yet you fear the blade," the Master reiterated. "Remember this: transform fear into duty! Your fear will grant the blade strength, but your duty will grant it control. View this as the true beginning and redouble your practice." The Master then departed.
Nobaya approached the disheartened disciples.
"Why are you vexed? This is merely the commencement; nothing has ended here."
As the Master walked away, he raised his katana skyward, its deadly edge gleaming in the rays of the ascending sun.
"Though time is granted to you," the Master's voice boomed, "do not squander it. Find the balance through tireless endeavor. You must conquer this trial by the next sunrise."
The Master's solemn mandate ignited a desperate energy within them. They resolved to steel themselves to confront the demons the Zek. Every remaining moment before dawn became dedicated to that desperate pursuit.