Takeshi moved without warning.

One second he was standing there in his usual silent, stoic manner - and the next, he shot off like a ghost, barely disturbing the ground beneath him.

Kai's eyes widened; he hadn't expected the swordsman to begin so suddenly. "Shit!" he cursed under his breath and immediately bolted after him.

Nadya and Sven laughed as they watched them both rush off into the distance.

Meanwhile, it quickly became obvious to Kai that this wouldn't be a casual jog. Takeshi was gliding across the terrain, blindfolded, barely making a sound, while Kai was already pushing his body to the limits just to keep up.

They raced across rocky fields, through the dense forest, and up steep hills. Takeshi didn't even falter when they reached a cliff face; he simply leapt up onto it, finding impossible footholds with ease.

Kai gritted his teeth and scrambled up after him.

'He's blindfolded, and he's still faster than me,' Kai thought, feeling the muscles in his arms and legs scream in protest. Blood pounded in his ears. His lungs burned like they were about to explode.

But even through the struggle, he observed the swordsman keenly.

Takeshi had slowed down for him. Kai could tell. And judging by the faint stiffness in his movements, the man still wasn't in peak condition, yet to recover from everything they had endured.

'This is him taking it easy…' Kai thought grimly. 'Wonderful.'

Still, he refused to stop. Every step he forced out of his legs was a declaration of stubborn pride and competitive spirit.

Finally, after what felt like hours of hellish uphill sprinting, Takeshi came to a sudden stop at a clearing atop a small mountain.

Kai staggered after him, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. He barely had time to wipe the sweat out of his eyes before Takeshi unsheathed his blade with a whisper of steel.

Without a word, he began to move.

Each slash was slow and deliberate, cutting through the air with such controlled precision that gusts of wind exploded outward at the end of every motion. There was no wasted energy, no unnecessary movement. Just pure, focused technique.

Kai watched, fascinated and in awe, as he desperately tried to catch his breath. The air was thin, and they had just covered dozens of miles over an array of terrains, yet Takeshi appeared unfazed and was completely focused on his sword strokes.

'He's compressing all the force into the end of the swing… like a whip,' Kai analysed, his mind whirring even as his body screamed for a break.

But determined not to fall behind, he formed a rough blade from hardened blood and began mimicking the movements.

It looked easy when Takeshi did it.

For Kai, it felt like trying to copy calligraphy with a hammer in each hand.

His muscles trembled with every swing, and even when he tried to focus the force like he observed, it just ended up either sluggish or wildly off-balance.

By the time they finished the thousandth slash in each direction, yes, a full thousand controlled motions, Kai's arms felt like they were no longer attached to his body.

He dropped to one knee, breathing heavily, his shoulders spasming from the strain.

'Okay, okay… maybe that's it for today?' he thought hopefully.

But he couldn't have been more wrong.

Takeshi elegantly sheathed his blade clean with a smooth flick and turned to him, tilting his head slightly as if to say, 'We're only just getting started.'

Kai stared at him, heart sinking.

The real hell had only just begun.

What followed was a brutal gauntlet of movements and stances.

Takeshi moved through a series of gruelling poses, each one requiring incredible balance, flexibility, and strength to maintain. He'd hold a low crouch for what felt like an eternity, one arm extended forward, sword perfectly level. Then he'd shift into a side stance, muscles taut but fluid like a coiled spring.

Kai tried to follow along, but his thighs were shaking violently within minutes. Sweat poured down his face, soaking through his clothes. His body felt like it was being pulled apart at the seams.

'My legs are going to snap off,' Kai thought desperately, wobbling in a one-legged stance that Takeshi held flawlessly.

Every time he thought they were done, Takeshi would shift into the next posture without even a pause. He stumbled over more times than he'd like to admit, but he got up with a groan immediately and continued.

'If he can do it, so can I,' was what he kept telling himself.

At one point, Kai caught himself glaring murderously at the back of Takeshi's head. 'I know you can see me struggling, you blindfolded bastard.' He felt like pouncing on the man, who would likely beat him senseless.

Still, Kai gritted his teeth and pushed through it. Endure, adapt, survive. The three words hammered through his skull like a mantra.

Eventually, after what felt like days trapped in hellish yoga, Takeshi finally reached a halt.

Kai dared to breathe a sigh of relief.

But it was premature.

Without a word, Takeshi turned and began heading back down the mountain.

Kai stared blankly after him for a moment before realising that the next part of the training was waiting for him back at the cabin.

The entire way they had climbed up, they had to go back down.

Through the brutal cold, where the air was painfully scarce, down rocky slopes that were practically vertical at points.

It sounded easier, but it certainly wasn't.

Kai's legs were pure jelly, and he ended up tumbling down most of the way, tripping over loose stones, slipping on ice patches, losing strength in his knees more times than he could count.

More than once, he completely lost sight of Takeshi, the silent bastard, vanishing through the snow and fog like a wraith.

Not wanting to lag too far behind - or worse, get lost - Kai gritted his teeth and activated his Blood Vision. The world shifted to crimson hues, and he caught faint traces of Takeshi's presence like a distant red haze darting through the mist.

'At least someone's having a good time,' Kai thought bitterly as he half-fell, half-ran downhill.

Eventually, battered, frozen, and clinging to whatever scraps of energy he had left, Kai stumbled into the clearing near Takeshi's cabin.

The waterfall above the broad lake thundered down nearby, mist rising into the chilled air.

And there he was.

Takeshi, kneeling by the water's edge, sharpening his sleek katana with smooth, steady strokes.

He must have been waiting for a while. Of course, he made it look like he was just casually passing the time.

Sensing Kai's arrival, Takeshi stood without a sound.

Blade gleaming, body poised, expression unreadable.

But the training wasn't over.

Without giving Kai a second to recover, Takeshi left his blade on the ground and stepped into the lake, moving toward the waterfall.

Kai cursed under his breath, blinking sweat and melted snow out of his eyes. The lake was freezing as he stepped within and trudged after the swordsman.

He watched as Takeshi stepped underneath the roaring cascade without hesitation. He didn't react in the slightest as he settled atop a large rock directly under the waterfall.

The force of it was immense. The water slammed into his body with bone-crushing pressure, yet Takeshi simply sat down cross-legged beneath it, hands resting lightly on his knees, meditating as if he were sitting in a quiet field of flowers.

His body was lean and taut beneath his soaked clothes, muscles rippling with a strength born from relentless, painful discipline. It wasn't about raw bulk - it was refined, deadly efficiency.

Kai swallowed hard.

He hesitated at the edge, staring at the wall of water pounding down from above.

'How bad can it be?' he thought as he stepped forward.

He found out immediately.

The moment he crossed under the waterfall, it felt like a giant hammer smashed into his back. He gasped, spluttering, barely keeping his feet under him as he struggled to climb onto the rock that Takeshi was sitting on.

After slipping down numerous times and almost drowning under the powerful torrents of water, Kai finally managed to sit beside Takeshi. But even that was difficult.

'What the hell?!' It was like trying to meditate while being mauled by an angry river.

The water battered Kai's head and shoulders relentlessly, forcing him to keep adjusting just to stay upright. Every breath he took was filled with water spray. His whole body was being crushed under the unrelenting force.

Meanwhile, Takeshi sat like a monk carved from stone, utterly unaffected.

It was the perfect mystical swordsman training scene. Elegant. Graceful. Serene.

And then there was Kai - shivering, coughing, half-drowning, half-suffocating.

'This is some cliche swordsman training,' Kai thought bitterly. 'Where's my sudden enlightenment moment, huh?'

He didn't feel any benefit and couldn't understand the point of it, unlike the previous training he'd done with Takeshi.

It just felt like he was torturing himself.

But he refused to leave.

No matter how much his muscles ached, no matter how much his body screamed to crawl away from the merciless waterfall, he stayed.

Because he knew.

If he couldn't endure something like this, he'd never be truly strong enough to overcome anything. And Takeshi's training isn't just about physical strength. It was about sharpening the spirit until it could cut steel.

Or at least that's what he told himself to make him feel less like a stubborn fool.

'I'll keep up… no matter what.'

And so he sat there, bruised, battered, but refusing to break.

Meanwhile, Takeshi remained still and silent, as if he hadn't even noticed the storm raging around them, and somehow, Kai felt like the blindfolded man was silently smiling at him.

'I hope the others are struggling as much as I am,' Kai thought bitterly, as he recalled Sven and Nadya laughing at him after he agreed to join Takeshi.

And that they were, as they also undertook their own training...

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