Two weeks passed. Yaksh, who was eager to learn advanced swordsmanship from his grandfather, was looking forward to the start of the training while gathering firewood from the forest near the village.
When he returned to the village, he saw Vicky the blacksmith and his grandfather standing outside the house. They saw Yaksh approaching. Greyhat called out to him to try his new sword, made by Vicky.
The sword was a sturdy, double-edged longsword—but purposely made smaller to be comfortable to handle for a twelve-year-old. Vicky then glanced at his grandfather's sword, which was still a thousand times better than Yaksh's.
Vicky noticed it and said:
"Don't worry. That old man's sword is a high-quality blade, just like yours. Once you're able to form the bond and awaken its power, you'll be able to turn your sword into something even better than his."
Yaksh nodded and excitedly asked his grandfather to start his training as soon as possible. Greyhat then looked toward Yaksh and told him to go prepare his gear.
Yaksh excitedly went inside the house to bring out his gear.
Vicky went back to the capital.
Greyhat brought Yaksh outside the village to the forest near the den of fire wolves—a medium-ranked monster.
Greyhat took out his sword and leaped toward the entrance of the wolves' den. A total of five wolves rushed toward him, but he calmly took his stance, bending his knees and holding his sword at the level of his hips.
Then, he unleashed a single horizontal slash—cutting all five wolves in a blink of an eye.
He then saw Yaksh, completely mesmerized by the sword slash. It was neither any grand technique nor any kind of aura move—just a simple horizontal slash, executed so perfectly that it took out five mid-ranked beasts.
The time and effort Greyhat must have put into practice to execute such a clean cut flashed before Yaksh's eyes—as if he had a sudden realization that he was a mere pebble standing in front of a huge mountain.
His heart was pounding. Sweat flowed down his face. His eyes remained fixed on the sword.
Greyhat then patted him on the back to bring him back to his senses.
He asked Yaksh:
"So, what were you thinking after looking at that slash just now?"
Yaksh looked at his face and replied:
"I was thinking about only one thing at that moment."
Greyhat asked:
"And what might that be?"
Yaksh said:
"It was beautiful."
Greyhat, with a smile on his face, then told him to try the same sword slash with his own sword.
Yaksh, with full concentration, tried to mimic the movements. But to no surprise, it was just a plain slash. With close to no experience fighting with a sword, it was just an empty movement—no better than that of a third-rate swordsman.
Greyhat then told him:
"Practice this same sword slash every day until you can perform it perfectly—even blindfolded."
Yaksh nodded and rushed back to a small clearing in the forest near the village, where there were no monsters to disturb him. He started to swing his sword—the same move again and again—until his hands started to shake, his legs trembled, and his body gave out.
He swung his sword non-stop.
The next day was the same.
And the day after that as well.
He kept at it for one month. Greyhat took him to the forest a few more times to show him a few more moves, but even after all of that, Yaksh wasn't able to master the first horizontal slash.
Until one day...