"What are ya dilly dallying for, boy? Follow me."
Noah followed the old man across the dojo, straight to the weapon rack on the wall.
"Try holding these one by one. Don't skip a single one, and decide which one you want after trying out all of them."
Noah looked at the katana collection in awe. They were spotless and seemingly expensive.
"Am I allowed to use these? I thought we would start with wooden swords or something."
Noah looked at the old man with suspicion. He chose this dojo because it was not one of those Eternal Dreams dojos that started popping up ever since the game conquered the world.
"Regretting your choice now, boy? You did this to yourself."
The old man waved the contract in the air as he mocked Noah.
"It's Noah, my name."
The old man nodded, but didn't reveal his name. Noah tried out every piece of the katana collection until he found the one he thought suited him the most. It was the most ordinary-looking out of the collection.
There was no fine craftsmanship and special materials. It was just a normal katana with a Tsuka wrapped around in white and green fabric.
"You brat. Don't just choose one that matches your clothes."
"No, I tried it out and I think it is easy to hold."
The old man nodded and grabbed the katana to take a look at it before passing it back to Noah. They walked back to the center of the building.
"Now, you're going to swing this katana until I tell you to stop. Ya kids swing those swords around in that game. Not stopping for one second to think about what you're supposed to feel. So I want ya to concentrate on the swing."
The old man left the training area and sat down inside another room, along with the girl in the black and white hakama. The girl stared at the ground for a while before gathering the courage to speak.
"Grandfather, have you not given up yet?"
The old man looked at the girl with a gentle smile on his face as he patted her head.
"I did. At first, I refused the boy, then he came back and gave me this paper. Take a look at this contract. It states that the conditions apply even after my death. For now, let us hope that he won't regret this decision later, otherwise we'll be stuck with a suffering, unmotivated bum. HAHAHA!"
"This is not funny. You should have declined him."
"Shiori, you're so young, yet I can already imagine you as a grandma who still swings her katana every day. However, life is so much more. Why don't you try talking with a boy of your age sometimes? Maybe, that'll help ya progress with the sword."
The old man walked back inside the dojo, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts. Noah still swung the katana. It has only been a few minutes, but the perspiration on his forehead started bothering him.
"How long do I have to do this?"
"Ya can only stop once I tell ya to stop. Don't ask me how long you have to do this ever again."
"Fine."
Noah grunted and continued swinging his sword.
'We'll see who gives up first.'
He swung and swung. One hour passed, and it was time to eat something. Noah was hungry, but didn't stop. The old man and the girl ate in silence as they watched Noah swing his katana.
Hours later, his swings became much slower. Noah was dead tired and barely held onto the katana. The old man observed him in silence until Noah was about to let go of the katana.
"Don't you dare! You will never let go of your weapon. Learn to depend on it."
Noah gripped the katana and continued. Yet again, hours passed in silence. The sun disappeared on the horizon, and sunlight became the only source of light inside the dojo. The old man walked back to his room and fell asleep.
However, Noah didn't even notice it as he continued to swing away. He was hungry, and his arms barely moved, but he ignored it. At first, concentrating on the swings was hard. It was boring and repetitive.
However, there was nothing else he could do inside the dojo, so he decided to test himself. Soon, Noah fell into a concentrated state without noticing it. The girl finished sweeping the dojo and sat down in a corner, observing as Noah continued.
"My grandfather is sleeping. Do you plan to swing that sword for the next eight hours?"
The girl asked Noah.
"Yes, there is nothing I have to do besides this and playing Eternal Dreams."
"My grandfather said that I should talk to someone of my age because all I do is swing the katana. He said that focusing on other things would help me better sometimes than just focusing on one thing."
Noah nodded, not understanding what the girl wanted to say. It was true that people needed to do something different sometimes to gain a new perspective or to get inspiration, but he didn't understand why the girl told him this.
"Can I help you with something?"
The girl shook her head and left him alone. Noah continued swinging his sword and thinking about the random conversation that took place earlier, when a sudden realization struck him.
'A different perspective, different... another. THIS COULD WORK!'
Noah stopped swinging his sword, and his stomach growled. He didn't eat anything all day, and his hands were bloody from the training. He was barely standing but still had enough in him to place back the sword from where he had taken it and return home to eat something.
Meanwhile, inside the dojo, Shiori looked at the blood-soaked handle of Noah's katana and fell into deep contemplation. It's been a while since the last time she stopped practicing. She thought that maybe Noah would bring a change to the dojo.
However, it was way too early to think about the future based on a day of hard work. Noah still haven't proved anything.