Training- Arc (3)

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As the sun reached its highest point of the day, I sat with my eyes closed in the middle of the garden. In front of me, Tsukuyomi lounged with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, guiding me through my meditation with a calm voice.

Despite the god's lounging and smoking, I was extremely satisfied with his abilities as a sensei. Believe me, my jaw dropped when he came to the garden to train me. The slimy wannabe from before had transformed into a serious-looking scholar. He wore a midnight blue kimono and radiated a powerful, respect-demanding aura.

If it weren't for his quirky nature, chain-smoking, and the smell of sweat and alcohol, Tsukuyomi would have been almost unrecognizable.

"Focus on your breathing. The sun breathing technique isn't the best for mist abilities, but it's not the worst either. Feel how the blessing of my sister burns in your heart and let it flow with your blood through your veins to your brain. Concentrate on nothing else around you."

It was easier said than done, especially since I had to passively smoke more than a toddler in a rundown bar. But after a few minutes, I felt a change; my mind and spirit felt invigorated and fresh. I nodded without opening my eyes, and Tsukuyomi continued.

"Now use your senses to perceive the mist in your surroundings, see how it moves and..."

I jerked my eyes open and tried to see the mist, but the only thing I saw was a fist coming closer. Just before it hit my face, it stopped, and Tsukuyomi flicked me on the forehead with his index finger, which hurt strangely much.

"Ouch!"

"You're not supposed to look with your eyes, you idiot! Use your inner senses. Use your blessing to see the mist! Now start over! Nod again when you're ready..."

I closed my eyes without grumbling, and after a few minutes, though much shorter than before, I was back in the same mental state and nodded.

"Okay, this time use your blessing and keep your eyes closed! Focus on your surroundings, how the mist is inhaled and exhaled by you. On its changes, its swirls around objects or people. Try to sense how I too inhale and exhale the mist..."

And believe me, I tried hard, but no matter how long I sat there, nothing changed. In my opinion, it was because the only supernatural thing about me was that I could see through the mist from birth. But according to Tsukuyomi and even Amaterasu, I was just being too stupid and was incredibly untalented in any kind of mist manipulation.

The day drew to a close, and Tsukuyomi ended the training a bit earlier than planned.

"That's enough for today; no master has ever fallen from the sky. Rest your mind completely for the rest of the day and relax... meet up with friends or whatever you do in your free time. We'll continue tomorrow. Besides, some pretty girls are waiting for me in a bar in Okinawa, so... see you!"

And the god disappeared before my eyes. Since I had no friends, cough cough, I discussed my progress with my parents over dinner and then went to bed early, practicing Tsukuyomi's exercise a bit more.

What I didn't know at the time was that he was still watching me briefly, and when he saw me continuing to train, a small proud smile could be seen on his face before he teleported to Okinawa.

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Two long weeks passed without a breakthrough in my training. Neither my Shishi Sonson nor my mist manipulation improved significantly. But then, unexpectedly, I had a breakthrough. Unexpected because it came in mist manipulation and not, as I had expected, in my area of expertise, swordsmanship.

As before, I had my eyes closed and was in my heightened mental state thanks to Amaterasu's blessing. The flow, as I had dubbed this state, now came almost automatically when I closed my eyes, and in seconds. But this time it was different because, despite my closed eyes, I could 'see.' All around me, a milky gray mist swirled around objects and filled my lungs with each breath. I could feel the mist. Excited, I tried to recognize Tsukuyomi, but what I sensed made me abruptly open my eyes, my heart racing in panic.

Through the mist, I caught a glimpse of the god's true form. A huge, imposing man with broad shoulders and a well-trained body. And let me tell you, one should idolize the Japanese godly physique over the Greek one... A nearly four-meter-tall mountain of muscles looked at me with three deep blue eyes in which the entire starry sky seemed to sparkle. Two eyes where they belonged two and one was situated on Tsukuyomi forehead. But immediately, a wall of mist formed before the figure, and I opened my eyes.

"Calm down, Amateran-kun, a mortal should never see the true form of a god. You can consider yourself lucky that this is only an avatar of mine; otherwise, you would have simply burned."

"But back to the topic! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU FINALLY MADE IT! Took you long enough! But you were able to see the mist! Now you just need to achieve the same with open eyes and learn what the different swirls and changes in the mist mean... then no one will be able to deceive you so easily," Tsukuyomi said with a proud smile on his face.

Over the past two weeks, he had increasingly become a proper sensei, although I would attribute this more to my mother's divine Okonomiyaki than to our student-teacher connection.

"That's enough for today; we don't want to overstrain your little underdeveloped head. Besides, I promised to help you with your swordsmanship..."

Excited, I jumped up, overjoyed with my success and the help Tsukuyomi would hopefully provide. After two weeks and falling on my face hundreds of times each day, I was on the verge of doubting myself. But that hopefully ended now.

"Your new technique is good, and your execution has few flaws. Draw your sword; we will have a little sparring session," Tsukuyomi commanded, and out of nowhere, he drew a long, thin katana.

With a broad grin, I transformed Hikari no Ken into its blade form and stood in front of the god. My feet took a slightly modified form of the classic Kendo stance, which best suited my Kenjutsu. Both my hands gripped the hilt of my katana firmly. I was ready.

In contrast to me, Tsukuyomi stood in a relaxed posture, holding his own katana loosely in his right hand.

"Let me first tell you a bit about myself and my swordsmanship. Unlike mortals, gods do not use breathing techniques. However, all breathing techniques are derived from our own swordsmanship and emulate them. My swordsmanship gave rise to the Moon Breathing. A form of Kenjutsu that specializes in ranged attacks and quick, light strikes to make opponents bleed out from wounds.

Why am I telling you this, you might ask... Knowing Amaterasu, she never told you such things. She tends to project her own knowledge onto others..."

I nodded and cast a reproachful glance toward the sun.

"Your Sun Breathing, as you can probably guess, is derived from Amaterasu's Kenjutsu. It is based on a fast and powerful sword dance and was refined over long centuries but only as a ceremonial ritual. Consequently, you have noticed the shortcomings of the Sun Sword Dance; it was never originally intended for combat. This is not a criticism; it is a deadly and effective form, and you have recognized and initiated the right step. You take the Sun Breathing and create your own Kenjutsu based on the Sun Sword Dance and your own ideas, even if they are borrowed.

Stealing from Manga...A brilliant move, if I may say so.

Your Shishi Sonson is technically almost perfect; you just need an opponent to train it on. No matter how often you use it against a training dummy, only a real and dangerous situation often reveals one's mistakes.

Therefore, your reward is a daily practice fight before lunch, where you can strike with full force. But enough talking, attack me. And do not stop your sword; attack with the intent to kill!"