Balance [Zenshin and Aegis ; Private]

After he fell into a deep sleep, Zen had a nightmare. It wasn't usually what people think when they hear "nightmare" though, it was more like, he had no control over something very disturbing to him. But the disturbing part wasn't any darkness, monster, or a lot of a certain thing coming after him with ominous music playing in the background, no, nothing like that, it was actually quite the opposite. It was actually quite the opposite, in this particular dream, Zenshin was alone, completely solitary in a world that had ended. He was just floating endlessly through a completely white "place", devoid of anything except him. Here, he would float forever, never seeing anything of importance or doing anything except floating for the rest of eternity. And then he woke up.

Shooting the upper portion of his body up like like someone had just rung a gong inside of his ears, he put his right hand up to his head and gripped tightly. Argh! I feel like someone tried to put my brain together with duct tape after cutting it to pieces! he thought, having gotten the worst headache imaginable. This was actually his first headache, as he had never actually gotten one that was naturally occurring, just from being smacked around by things like mountain squids and the Minotaur. Of course, never having gotten one before, it was even more destructive than it would've been otherwise. I can barely hear myself think! Ugh, at least Im still alive to feel the pain, and I haven't gone crazy Zen thought again, also thinking of those who came before him and failed.

His vision was very blurred, understandably, so he squinted his eyes to try and get a better look to his surroundings, but to no avail. Something was different, very different, and it wasn't just his violently throbbing brain, it was something inside him. Zen felt as though he knew what was missing, what had been lost, so he extended his free arm and opened his left palm. Seems like I really have passed the true point of now return... he thought a bit sadly as he couldn't make his left hand sublimate. That meant that he could no longer use ice magic, his falcon, dragon, tortoise, crocodile, his dark side, they were all gone, for the better, or worse.

Some people may have regretted their decisions in his situation, but not him, he was well aware at what he was giving up and did not plan on looking back now. After about thirty minutes, his headache was weak enough to be bearable, so he got up and squinted again. His vision finally came back, seemingly sharper than it had been before. Looking around, he noticed that he was on the crescent shaped cliff that overlooked the calm sea. Now the question remained, where was Aegis?

Aegis was sitting japanese-style on the edge of the cliff. As the cold wind blew past him, his breath, the only source of warmth present, drifted away into the merciless nothingness surrounding him. His azure figure remained still, as if a sentinel it stood guard; watching the world around, the world below and the world far away.

"There was change."

The traces of the difference remained as proof, staining the knight's black shirt red. In his eyes was the reflection of a distance. A single beacon illuminating the lands, it stood perched atop the horizon.
A breath was drawn.
Slowly, the red stains grew wider. It had pierced him, the change. Or was it the act of change? Regardless, its marks remained, ever colourful within the colourless fabric.

"But the sunrise is so beautiful."

The distant leaves shimmered as they were bathed in the golden light of a new dawn. Their glow, reflected it was, brought warmth, but he felt none of it. To the lone knight standing atop the cliff, there was only coldness. And yet, he held a smile, wry as it was.

"Change does not heal."

If it healed, it would not be what change defines; an irreversible difference from the past. That is why... what had happened would never heal. A scar of choice, the proof of meaning. It is a burden he would carry eternally and so it bleeds.

Drip.

The blood drips. There no longer is trace of the once black shirt; what remained now was a crimson vermilion. The colour of strength, the colour of passion and the colour of life. The colour of change. That same colour was dripping onto the ground.

Drop.

It soaked into the ground. And yet... he still smiled. His life dripping away, but he cared for it not. Even with that, he kept peering into the distance, into the golden beacon, so far away. It felt nostalgic. The man looked into it and grinned, surrounded by a sea of vermilion. And yet...

"The sunrise... really is beautiful."

It mattered not what came before, what followed after. All he cared for was the shimmering dawn as he drowned in his sea of a brilliant, crimson vermilion. That is all there ever was, on his cliff so high above. A man drowning, a man dreaming... of change.

He stood up. There was no longer blood flowing through the reddened fabric of his clothes, so he smiled once more.

"Good-bye. Until next time."

He bid his farewell to the only warmth in this cold, cold world. The winds blew, carrying with them his flowing coat, stained red as the knight turned back. It really was simple, there was simply never the chance to go forward. Behind him now was someone else, someone who chose to make a change, so he had no time to move on. Such was the fate of a knight, always the first to go into war and the last to come out. Always to take the blows with a smile, always to sacrifice what he held dear for the sake of the faceless and the unknown. It was truly, a very lonely thing. Never knowing whom you fight for, never knowing whom you fight against. In the end, what remains is just you and your fight. No name remembered, no cause fulfilled.

"But I have no choice."

His choice was made long ago, by the ones he fights for. That is why... he smiled. Ever meaningless, ever bright, a smile within the cold, cold world. He went back to finish his endless fight. He still had... a duty, to fulfil.

As quickly as it left, the blurry vision and headaches came back, but even harder this time around, causing the magic-less mage, if he could still be called that, to drop to his hands and knees and grasp at his head. Argh! When will this stop! he thought, most of his other thoughts drowned out by the drill attempting to make its way out from the inside of his skull. Slamming a fist into the dirt, he tried with all of his strength to get back up. To him, it seemed like everything was just a blend of colors. The ocean, the grass, the rocks, all of them were just blended together like an abstract painting, blurred together in his impaired vision. Staying as still as he could for a moment, he could hear his pounding heart in his ears and his throbbing brain in between.

After rubbing some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, he slowly regained his vision again, just as it happened before. So this comes and goes as it pleases, wonderful. I'm sure Aegis knows how to cure this. He figured that this was because of the ritual he performed, obviously, what else could it possibly have been? That was also, most likely, the cause of losing his manipulation and amplification of ice, the most graceful of the main elements to him. Finally, he saw Aegis, whether he was too distracted by the massive headache and shot vision, or that he wasn't paying much attention to anything, he hadn't seem him until now. Nice to know that he's one to be trusted, better keep that in mind he thought as he slowly walked towards his mentor, his movements clumsy, much like an intoxicated man, until he reached him and grabbed his shoulder with his right hand.

I've lost everything right now, and the only one who can bring me back from the depths of the abyss is this man right here he thought to himself, still trying to regain his composure. There weren't many people who could gain his trust, fewer to do it so quickly, but he was forced to trust in his new guild master, whom he had no doubts about. He could've denied him many times, his entry to the guild, his apprenticeship, his very magic, but he didn't, and he would stick with him until the very end. Honor was something that really struck Zen, as it was a trait that many people lack, but not him, he deserved to be called a true knight. "Before we begin... is there anything you can do about this headache?" he said, anxious to start learning the secrets of what the new, hidden path had to offer.

"Before we begin... is there anything you can do about this headache?" -Zenshin's strained voice echoed in Aegis' ears as he used the knight's shoulder for support.
"Haha, indeed." -the azure man replied while making a step backwards to take away the support.
"I have multiple ways of curing a headache, but none of them will work for you since your "head ache" is actually less pain in the head as it is a conflict between what your body defines as normal and what your Entity says is normal. In a way, you are currently trying to reject a concept which, albeit foreign for you, is now nesting within your body. That conflict is currently being expressed through that massive headache you have and in the worst case scenario, might kill you. As I said, though, I can't do anything to help you since the only one who's got the power to remove your strain is you yourself. And..."

Backing up a few metres, Aegis closed his eyes and waved a hand. Immediately, all around appeared training equipment of various kinds. From things you'd normally see in a gym to wet straw training dummies used by samurai to typical European training dummies used by knights. To the side were countless racks upon which lied a variety of training weapons. Rapiers, straight swords, curved swords, two-handed, one-handed, one-and-a-half handed swords, flamberges, Persian spears, Celtic spears, naginatas, pikes, halberds, shortbows, longbows, recurve bows, compound bows, knives, daggers, "sword breaker" daggers, kriss, throwing knives, staves, maces, morning stars, flails and all sorts of other weapons, recreated as flawless copies of ones Aegis has discovered all around the world.
Opposite of those racks was another set of wooden stands, but they held weapons one would rarely see. Unique, hidden, mythical and legendary weapon types, armaments the knight has encountered and trained with throughout countless hidden schools. There were wave swords, retractable arm blades, unretractable arm swords, several peculiar-looking sets of gauntlets and grieves, axe-swords, runic weapons, all manners of mystical polearms and many others.

"To reform the body one must first shatter its limits. Your existence is now permanently altered, a change which might cause your death. Whether you survive or not depends on how far you can go through willpower alone, for in order to cheat death you must first challenge it!"

What Aegis was hinting was simple. Zenshin's Circuit of Recreation is not something which his body can accept because it is an already complete existence. Thus, in order to make it accept what was now part of it, its "completeness" had to be destroyed and the best method to do that is one as old as time itself.

"Physical training! Strengthen your body relentlessly to a point where it can no longer cope with it and keep on going! "Destroy" yourself from training to avoid being destroyed from what you now had."
The knight gestured towards all the equipment which lied around them and smiled. "Welcome to your new home for the next 6 months. Here we shall train your mind, body and spirit, thus strengthening your magical attuning, and that training begins now, lest of course you hold a death wish, haha."

With quick movements, the knight knelt down and looked at the wobbling figure of his student. The smile that had inhibited his lips curved into a grin, one of satisfaction and anticipation.
"Now, let's start with something lighter to warm up. Five series of a thousand push-ups each."
As he spoke those words, Aegis himself got in the position for doing push-ups, though it was hardly surprising. He was going to train alongside his student, as any good mentor would when training a squire to become a knight.

"So, shall we begin?"

"Haha, indeed. I have multiple ways of curing a headache, but none of them will work for you since your "head ache" is actually less pain in the head as it is a conflict between what your body defines as normal and what your Entity says is normal. In a way, you are currently trying to reject a concept which, albeit foreign for you, is now nesting within your body. That conflict is currently being expressed through that massive headache you have and in the worst case scenario, might kill you. As I said, though, I can't do anything to help you since the only one who's got the power to remove your strain is you yourself. And..." Aegis said before taking a step back and gesturing with his hand.

Oh darn, and here I was hoping I wouldn't have to get through this with the worst headache imaginable he thought while checking his surroundings. It seemed as though Aegis had replicated some sort of, training grounds, with just a flick of his wrist, wow. "To reform the body one must first shatter its limits. Your existence is now permanently altered, a change which might cause your death. Whether you survive or not depends on how far you can go through willpower alone, for in order to cheat death you must first challenge it!" his mentor exclaimed soon after, sounding very eager to begin. So I still haven't beaten death yet. Oh well, it's only a matter of time until I do.

"Physical training! Strengthen your body relentlessly to a point where it can no longer cope with it and keep on going! "Destroy" yourself from training to avoid being destroyed from what you now had." Well, I'd rather destroy my body than being killed by whatever you placed into me any day. Physical training and will power, is, by far, the oldest way of surmounting limits. Doesn't surprise me much that it would be suggested by a knight. "Now, let's start with something lighter to warm up-" I know exactly where this is going... "Five series of a thousand push-ups each." There it is

Getting on his hands and extended legs, parallel to his guild master, he put his arms under him, shoulder width apart, and began dropping and raising quickly. This reminds me of back in the snow... he thought, recalling a previous memory of being stuck in a wasteland with nothing but a warm place to eat and sleep. Sure, that sounded fine, but he was much younger and had not mastered the amplification of ice magic. On top of that, there was no food, he had to train to spot the white hares that adapted to survive in such a barren field of ice and snow. Before he knew it, he had already dont two hundred and fifty push ups, but the only thing that made him stop for a moment was his vision becoming blurred, and he knew exactly what followed. For about a minute, Zen was just frozen with his arms completely extended, and as much as he wanted to grab his head, that was apparently not providing adequate housing to the stranger, he didn't.

After that passed and he was back to "normal" he continued the spree of push ups and began talking to the man in front of him, "Since we're going to be here for half a year, I see no harm in getting to know each other". Starting conversations was something you had to excel at when tending bars, and especially so when you are going to be spending all your time with a single person for an extended period of time.

"Fair point. I suppose I'll go first."
Ignoring the occasional pauses Zenshin did, the knight continued the exercise as their initially meaningless conversation began. Time passed and various topics were brought up, some more amusing than others, but throughout the entire time Aegis could not help but marvel at the determination of his student. Despite the immense strain he certainly felt, he kept on doing the push-ups in spite of the impossibility of the task. 'He really is serious' he thought as Zen lifted his body for the thousandth time.

"Alright, time for a short break." - spoke Aegis to interrupt his vigorous training. And speaking of the training...
"You seem to be quite fit. Most others would've collapsed by now, yet you look like you didn't have too much of a problem with the push-ups. I'm assuming you've trained in similar ways before?"

"You seem to be quite fit. Most others would've collapsed by now, yet you look like you didn't have too much of a problem with the push-ups. I'm assuming you've trained in similar ways before?" the knight before him asked as he took a knee, finally finishing the first set. "Something like it. I was forced to adapt to harsh conditions. I guess it had its positives as well" he responded, having another thought about his past once again. Even though he finished the first set, that didn't change the fact that his arms felt sore by this point, and there were still more to come.

"What about you? Like you said, most others would've collapsed by this point. Where did you train to become a physical wall and learn how to control your own powers over 'recreation?" he asked, curious as to how Aegis got his physical conditioning.

"Haha, "physical wall"? Quite the comparison." -Spoke the knight as he sat down japanese-style.
"Well, I guess it's what happens when you train for 10 years relentlessly to make up for your faults, then another 7 to be able to keep pace with the most augmented of foes."
There was a note of nostalgia in his voice, as he spoke the knight recalled how things were long ago, before that night.
"I suppose I never really had anything else, haha." - words spoken to no one in particular, followed by silence.

"You are curious as to where I trained to be who I am now?" -The knight's voice boomed suddenly.
"Hm... well, the places were many so I may forget to mention a few, but the list would go like so: Bright mansion, Bright castle, the underground catacombs of the castle, various forests and mountains, the neighbouring country's capital and the distant lands to the east under the swordmaster Sasaki Kojirou and under Miyamoto Musashi afterwards, from whom I found Serenity, or Monohoshizao as it was called before. I have also trained in the lands to the west under the dragon knight Arthur and the legendary knights known as Lancelot, Pellinore, Galehaut, Tristan, Gawain, Percival, Bors, Lucan, Geraint, Gareth, Kay, Lamorak, Gaheris, Bedivere, Agravaine, Caradoc, Sagramore, Calogrenant, Ywain, Erec, Pelleas, Palamedes, Dinadan and Galahad, from whom I acquired the holy shield Evalach. I've also trained with Cú Chulainn, Ferdiad and their mentor Scáthach, thanks to which I discovered several great weapons, my favourite of which is Gae Bolg, the Barbed Spear of Mortal Death. Ah, I also trained quite a while with Siegfried, I believe I developed most of my abilities regarding Greatswords thanks to my endeavours with him."

As he sat while explaining, the knight gestured towards different items that were hanging on the nearby racks, but stopped after pointing towards the spear of Cú Chulainn.

"Hmm... actually, it seems I didn't show many of the unique weapons I know." - Said Aegis as he stood up and walked over to several empty racks. As he extended his arm to the side, in it a blade formed, the same sword he had used a little over a week ago against Zenshin, back when they first met.
"I believe you remember this. It is Sasaki Kojirou's katana, the Monohoshizao. However, I renamed it to Serenity, as it better suits my preferences." - explained the azure man as he placed it on the wooden structure, followed by extending his other arm to reveal another weapon.
"Kladenets, the sword of Blood Torrents. Belonged to Ivan Tsarevich originally, but was somehow lost. I rediscovered it in a distant country known as Bulgaria. The weapon has its name because it holds very odd properties. Perhaps if you are interested, I can tell you about it later."
Like that, a few minutes passed in explanations of various mythical and legendary weapons which Aegis had encountered at different points in the past. The knight -enthralled by the armaments he was showing and describing- never even noticed when he lost sight of the initial topic of the conversation. As if talking to himself, he spoke of each weapon with great passion and even love, not paying much attention to his student, whether he was even interested in all the knowledge or not.

Eventually, he had recreated all the weapons he could think of, all except one.
"I also mentioned Evalach earlier, didn't I? Haha, alas, Evalach is rather... special, so I can't show it to you right now. I suppose you can only see it if you first fight me... and prove an equal foe." - explained Aegis, but suddenly grew silent for a moment.
"Ah... I got a little carried away, it seems."
Words spoken as he finally realized the huge pile of weapon before him.

Seventeen years of training for the sole purpose of physical combat... I wouldn't be surprised if he could take a slayer in a fist fight he thought while listening to the aqua haired man tell him of where his training had taken him. He's been from high to low, near and far, pretty much everywhere learning how to fight with different weapons. Zen, though, was hearing for a specific kind of weapon that he didn't hear mentioned at all as Aegis got carried away, oh well, I'll ask him about it after he's done "I also mentioned Evalach earlier, didn't I? Haha, alas, Evalach is rather... special, so I can't show it to you right now. I suppose you can only see it if you first fight me... and prove an equal foe." As soon as I can use magic again, I'll take you up on that he thought, certain that he would eventually be able to once again.

Aegis went silent, probably noticing that while he ad been speaking about his past mentors and travels, that he had created a big pile of weapons, mostly consisting of swords. "Just a bit" he responded with a grin on his face, glad that Aegis was usually not as serious like he was on top of the mountain. That didn't mean he wasn't tough, however, as a few sets of a thousand push-ups each was enough to make the strongest of men cower in the face of such a challenge. The trick to it wasn't just physical strength, that was just a part of it. No, the trick to surmounting even the most impossible challenges was in the mindset. People think impossible is a word used to describe that which can't be done, but it isn't. To him, it meant that many people went into an obstacle thinking that they would not be able to do it.

"Well, compared to you, I've only had about half the time training my body in the frozen wastes of an area similar to snowfall island. Self trained, for the most part. I developed skills of hunting, survival, an excellent ability to climb trees. Things like that. It wasn't until the passed year that I've taken up the sword and, again, taught myself to fight with the weapon. To be honest, however, I have another weapon in particular that has caught my attention in the passed year. Taking it's place at the top of my list of preferences at the one I admire and wish to master even more than the sword. That particular weapon isn't used by many, which makes it unpredictable by the few who experience the fighting styles that go with it. This weapon, is the scythe" he said, a kind of way of asking his new mentor if he could teach him how to fight with one during their half year training session.

"The scythe?"
Indeed, a peculiar choice. It is very hard to wield and there are few combat styles that specialise in scythe wielding.
"The scythe is a dangerous weapon which demands a different mindset. It has great strength when used offensively, but it's greatest is its ability to provide multi-sided offence and to leave openings that seem like a smart thing to use, but can be lethal. In a way, you could say that to wield the scythe you need to fight with little regard for your own safety. Indeed, a weapon for the bold."
As he finished his explanation, the man clad in azure extended his arm to the side, a snath appearing in it moments after. He swung the spear-like body of the scythe above his head, spinning it around his wrist twice before grabbing its bottom end with his free hand and bringing it down to the ground. With an advancing step he raised the bladeless end of the snath upwards for a blunt strike to an imaginary opponent's chin.
"Kha!"
It was a motion which he unexpectedly continued with a half-spin and a second advancing step, the momentum of which was used to deliver a lunging strike on the level of a person's abdomen. He then let go with his main hand and swung the scythe in a wide, 360 degree arc while making a third advancing step, positioning him closer to where he started at due to the half turn earlier.
"Hya!"
Using the momentum of the swing and the off-hand's wrist as a hinge, he spun the scythe so that its snath rested on his back with the blade being at head height. Due to bringing the weapon closer to himself, the momentum it had was transformed into angular one for the knight himself which he used to perform a powerful reverse roundhouse kick to the "imaginary foe" and retreat a couple of metres away with a corkscrew-like jump away. Upon landing, he was in a balanced stance with his left hand gripping the snath near its middle. From it, Aegis made an advancing full turn forward while also spinning the scythe above his head.
"Kuh!"
He swung it horizontally in front of himself, followed by an advancing full spin during which Aegis had leaned his upper body backwards and ending it with an uppercut with the blade, it's range being quite short due to the wide grip he was using at that moment.
"Kya!"
Abruptly and once again in a rather unexpected manner he jumped forwards, performing a blunt snath strike to where a person's head would be before suddenly doing a retreating full spin, the momentum of which was used to strike the ground where the non-existant foe would be standing, cracking it. That brandish was followed by a second one, identical, but with a spin in the opposite direction and ended up breaking up the ground it struck.
"Toooorya!"
With a final spin executed in the middle of a backwards jump, the knight threw the scythe down to the broken ground, completely shattering it and creating a slight tremor as he landed on his feet and immediately dashed towards the scythe as its blade dug itself into the ground.
"One, Two... Strike!"
A step, a leap and a barrel roll kick, executed in flawless succession within the time frame of a second. As the azure man's leg hit the scythe, the weapon was sent flying forth like a buzzsaw on a collision course with Zenshin himself, but suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of shimmering mana just as the blade was millimetres from his face.

"Johan Shien's agility-type scythe style, modified to be better suited on people with superior strength. It focuses on the scythe as a close range weapon rather than a mid-ranged one, utilizing unpredictable and nimble strikes, parries and ripostes in a seamless barrage of offensive manoeuvres. It relies on short range strikes with mid range retreats in an attempt to bait the enemy into a ill-judged attack by showing genuine openings. It has other techniques that involve wielding the scythe as a mid-range weapon in close range which I rarely use, but they represent the style's distinguished traits - stupidity."
With a light laugh, Aegis made a few steps towards his student as he continued.
"Basically, this style asks you if you know the basic rules of weapon combat and then asks you to throw them out the window. It is supposed to be one of the hardest to learn, but I assume you will have an easier time as someone who has no clue of how to wield a sword. Which is actually something I'll have to fix later on, but for now I guess I have little choice, no?"
Smiling casually, the knight went in the position for push-ups once more.
"I can teach you how to fight like that, but first thing's first. We have physical training to get back to, no?"

"The scythe?"

Zenshin nodded to him

"The scythe is a dangerous weapon which demands a different mindset. It has great strength when used offensively, but it's greatest is its ability to provide multi-sided offence and to leave openings that seem like a smart thing to use, but can be lethal. In a way, you could say that to wield the scythe you need to fight with little regard for your own safety. Indeed, a weapon for the bold."
Another nod by him. He didn't know much about other weapons, and the most he knew about scythes, he had read from books. But, as a weapon, it fascinated him, and because scythe users were VERY rare in Fiore, even the world, it was quite the weapon for him. As soon as Aegis finished talking, he created, or rather, 'recreated' a scythe in his hands, a very majestic looking one at that. The knight gave a rather impressive performance, mostly utilizing the snath of the weapon rather than the blade itself and at the end, basically launched it at him, but just when it was about to slice his face in two, it disappeared into a blue cloud. That was beautiful he thought before listening to his mentor speak once again.

"Johan Shien's agility-type scythe style, modified to be better suited on people with superior strength. It focuses on the scythe as a close range weapon rather than a mid-ranged one, utilizing unpredictable and nimble strikes, parries and ripostes in a seamless barrage of offensive maneuvers. It relies on short range strikes with mid range retreats in an attempt to bait the enemy into a ill-judged attack by showing genuine openings. It has other techniques that involve wielding the scythe as a mid-range weapon in close range which I rarely use, but they represent the style's distinguished traits - stupidity."

This time, Zen shook his head

"Is there an agility-type style that focuses more on the medium range, I'm actually not comfortable getting in that close with, say, a killer squid. The style you just described would be perfect if there was a mid ranged version of it, or is that just not how it works?" he asked, almost rhetorically.

Zenshin was next to positive that there was a fighting style like the one he described, he just didn't know of it. As, in all the years that masters of the weapon have been using it, at least one had to have developed, or at least changed, Johan Shien's style of fighting with the graceful blade.  

"I was just awaiting your word, Master Aegis" he said, getting back down into a push-up position before bending his arms and straightening them once more, one... two... three... After about eight minutes, he still kept counting six hundred fifty one, six fifty two, six fifty three no doubt that he was getting tired, but he couldn't just stop here. Zen would keep pushing himself until it was blantly apparent that his body could not push itself any further. "Soon enough, Aegis, we will take Sabertooth to the top, as the number one guild in the world. All it takes is a little time, and some determination" he said, continuing to bend his shaking arms for the next eight minutes. nine ninety nine, one thousand! he thought before his arms gave out under him and he fell face first into the warm dirt, wanting to never move them again. "As much as I'd like to keep going, my body refuses. What I'm trying to say is that my arms have ceased listening to me in regards of exercise" he said truthfully. He wouldn't even be surprised if he couldn't hold up a glass of water at this point. About a few hours later, after he woke up from his unconscious state due to exhaustion, he felt refreshed and ready to keep going, after a meal, of course. "I'm starving, what about you, Aegis?" he said, one hand on his grumbling stomach.

Eventually, Zen happened to wake up. Certainly took him a while to finish his nap, but rest was important during training so Aegis didn't mind. However...
"I'm starving, what about you, Aegis?"
"Ah, well, the scheduled lunch time ended around 42 seconds ago, so considering I was awake to take advantage of it, I'm fine. You'll probably pass out later due to lack of energy, but I'm fine." - casually stated the knight with a smile.
"So then, it's already been a few weeks and you can't wake up on time, huh? You know, I am not giving you food when it's not the scheduled time for it, so you should probably learn to wake up when you have to."
Shrugging, the knight turned and walked to one of the weapon racks which had spent some 20 days staring at the two's relatively masochistic training.
"Can't be helped, I guess. Whether your willpower or your urges control you is up to you yourself. Now, let's begin."

Reaching the rack, Aegis grabbed two swords, one was a blunt training one and the other was sharp enough to slice an anvil in half. The azure man returned before his pupil and drove the blunt one into the ground. "Hold this." - he urged, extending the sharp one's handle towards Zen. As soon as the man grabbed the handle with both hands, Aegis recreated something which resembled a cloth bandage and wrapped it around both of the swordsman-in-training's hands, tying them firmly together and to the sword's handle.
"What you have there is the sword Gram bound to your hands by the Martyr's Shroud. What that means is that you can not let go of the weapon until the shroud is removed, meaning you can't use your hands for anything other than swordplay until then. Haha, welcome to basic swordsmanship training. You will either die during it or I will die during it. Call it survival of the fittest if you wish, but that shroud will only break if enough of my blood is spilled. As you can see, I also have a sword, so you can guess what I'll be doing with it. The thing is that unlike me, if you stall long enough you'll die just from that, since in your current state you can not eat nor drink, nor can you do anything. Even sprinting is impaired if your arms are bound. So it's a matter of life and death, with your death approaching with each passing second."

Just like that, nonchallantly stating such outrageous things, the cyan-eyed swordsman grabbed the weapon in the ground and made a few steps back before pointing the sword's tip towards Zenshin.
"Your move."

"Ah, well, the scheduled lunch time ended around 42 seconds ago, so considering I was awake to take advantage of it, I'm fine. You'll probably pass out later due to lack of energy, but I'm fine. Can't be helped, I guess. Whether your willpower or your urges control you is up to you yourself. Now, let's begin." Oh, so he just leaves me starving. Wonderful. At least I'm not tired anymore he said, feeling his stomach churn and let out various noises similar to that out a belching man. And he wants me to draw his blood from him whi... he thought before Aegis completely covered his hands in some, wrap.

"What you have there is the sword Gram bound to your hands by the Martyr's Shroud. What that means is that you can not let go of the weapon until the shroud is removed, meaning you can't use your hands for anything other than swordplay until then. Haha, welcome to basic swordsmanship training. You will either die during it or I will die during it. Call it survival of the fittest if you wish, but that shroud will only break if enough of my blood is spilled. As you can see, I also have a sword, so you can guess what I'll be doing with it. The thing is that unlike me, if you stall long enough you'll die just from that, since in your current state you can not eat nor drink, nor can you do anything. Even sprinting is impaired if your arms are bound. So it's a matter of life and death, with your death approaching with each passing second." Well that answers my question. Even though I'm almost positive that Aegis could very well pass for a psychopath, it's his dance, and I have to follow his lead to the end he thought with a sigh while positioning his right leg a shoulder's width from his left, only slightly behind, bending both his knees.

Oh, there are so many ways to go and attack Aegis, all of them bad, but still, there are ways. How does one even go about attacking a master of swords wielding while a sharp weapon that you can't even use properly. Especially when you normally use swords with one hand. What a problem... I guess I'll just leave this life or death situation to trial and error. Not like I can choose any other of my fairly limited options. he thought before charging forward, the sword held next to his waist, pointing forward. I would never go for a head on attack like this, and I hope he knows that too... he thought before stepping off to the side with his right foot, as if he was going to turn into a horizontal slash. Instead of that, however, he went for an upwards cutting motion, trying to get the mentor to think he wouldn't go for a charge, only to be prepared for the wrong kind of attack.

It made perfect sense when he thought about it, but this was was trial and error after all, there's not much else it could be.

Smirking, the knight remained in a relax stance as his opponent charged at him, followed by a sidestep and a spinning uppercut. Aegis, had no expectations when it came to the kind of attack he would be faced with and he knew better than to assume the enemy would do only a few techniques, so he wasn't really surprised when Zen chose such a direct approach. The knight, however, had an even more direct approach. As Zenshin stepped to the side and began the uppercut motion, Aegis jumped forward and used all his mass and the force of gravity to kick him in the chest, sending him back a few metres.
"The sword is an instrument. The real weapon is its wielder. Just because in your hands lies a legendary and almighty weapon does not mean you can stand up and face me. A craftsman can create without tools, he just uses them to make his work easier."
Aegis pointed his sword towards Zenshin again.
"You should not be afraid of the tool, only of its wielder."

Zenshin took a hefty foot of force to his chest before stumbling back quite a bit, "The sword is an instrument. The real weapon is its wielder. Just because in your hands lies a legendary and almighty weapon does not mean you can stand up and face me. A craftsman can create without tools, he just uses them to make his work easier." Looking at the blade of the sword in a rather inquisitive way, he could only think, So this is a legendary weapon. Huh. Interesting. His stomach made another gurgling sound, reminding him of his humanly needs. Snapping his attention back to Aegis, he responded "If I couldn't stand up and face you, I wouldn't be here right now". After that, he charged back at the swordsman, but instead of leaning to either side, he extended his left leg outwards and attempted to slide into him, holding the weapon's blade upwards, for if he fell, at least some part of him would land on the weapon.

'It seems he either learns really quickly or this is quite the coincidence' - thought the azure knight as he saw his pupil's second charge.
'But I very much like his determination.'

Aegis made a single step to the side, turning his body 90 degrees and performing a beat parry, knocking zen off balance and making him continue the slide on his side. The knight continued the spinning motion into a full spin and used the angular momentum to do a single-handed downward swing at Zen's location on the ground.
"Duelling requires foresight. Foresight requires improvisation. Improvisation requires reaction. Reaction requires experience. It's the chain which we call "swordplay", if a single link is missing, then the whole process falls apart and you die. Each link is identical to the next, yet they differ for their location in the order is different. Much like that, each of these traits comes as a derivative of the previous one, all of them forcing you into a specific course of action which can be simply classified as "correct". If you lack a link, you don't have enough comprehension of what is right and what is wrong, thus you die. Combat is all about death and grace is all about defying it. Learn grace and wisdom."

Zen closed his elbows, taking the impact of the blunt weapon to his arms before rolling like a log and standing up while shaking his arms. "Dueling requires foresight. Foresight requires improvisation. Improvisation requires reaction. Reaction requires experience. It's the chain which we call "swordplay", if a single link is missing, then the whole process falls apart and you die. Each link is identical to the next, yet they differ for their location in the order is different. Much like that, each of these traits comes as a derivative of the previous one, all of them forcing you into a specific course of action which can be simply classified as "correct". If you lack a link, you don't have enough comprehension of what is right and what is wrong, thus you die. Combat is all about death and grace is all about defying it. Learn grace and wisdom." he said, explaining the true meaning of 'swordplay'.

"Then I need as much experience as I can get" he said, tracing back down the the main point. Grace and wisdom. You can never learn too much, but grace. Well that's hard to accomplish when your hands are bound to a weapon. Slowly walking up to his mentor, he payed very close attention to Aegis' movements until the point where he was standing face to face. Raising the weapon above his head, he brought it down hard, in a single overhead strike. He wasn't trying to cut Aegis anymore, oh no, he was now trying to cut through Aegis.

As Zen walked cautiously towards Aegis, the knight simply remained in his relaxed stance and observed him.
"Everything your enemy does..."
The knight used his sword to parry the powerful overhead attack, unable to deflect it as it held greater force. He used his blade to guide it to the side and spun, using the imminent proximity to Zen to try and strike him with a backhand punch.
"... Is an opportunity!"

"Everything your enemy does..." Aegis said, his voice trailing off as be blocked the strike. He's about to try something Zen thought, paying more attention to what his mentor was doing and saying. ""... Is an opportunity!" he exclaimed, breaking and guiding Zenshin's weapon, or rather, the one he was using off to his left side, before doing a clockwise spin to use the very close range to his advantage and punch his face with a back hand. "I agree..." he said in a hushed voice, allowing for the sword to be led instead of fighting against it. Because of the complete relaxation of the sword's grip, the force that was used to push it away held a greater impact, something he would use to his advantage. Zenshin, like the man he was fighting, spun, but much faster due to an external variable giving him the force he needed. Also unlike Aegis, he spun in a tighter position, the weapon close to him while he moved in a counter clockwise motion for the horizontal slash that he was almost sure would hit. Was this the opening I've been waiting for? he thought, his heart racing at how Aegis would block or avoid being struck.

Aegis was impressed by how fast Zenshin could adapt to the situation, but there was still one more mistake that impaired him. As the two spun in opposite directions, Aegis' speed was being beaten by that of his student. 'Perhaps now he sees the advantage of defensive fighting' - thought the azure knight as a smirk was formed on his lips. As he was finishing his manoeuvre, Zenshin's blade was already close enough to show whose attack would hit first. However, Aegis had seen this coming when he parried the overhead swing, for it was too easy to parry it. The force of both swings was redirected into angular momentum to perform the spin which Zenshin further hastened by contracting his body so that the spin is "tighter". Truly, it was an excellent manipulation of the enemy, it was almost perfect. Almost.

Aegis had sensed the incoming horizontal slash and used the momentum of his own spin to bend his left hand, the one to which he transferred his sword, to a 90 degree angle and he then let go of it. The sword was lightly tossed upwards, upside-down, managing to just barely intercept the incoming slash with not its blade, not the cross guard, not the hilt but the pommel. That makeshift block resulted in a bruise, but not a wound, but more importantly it gave Aegis an opening bigger than the one he showed. The knight finished his spin, punching Zenshin in the face, used his left leg to kick him in his calves and turned back using that same left foot so that he can deliver a powerful straight kick to Zen's body as it was completely airborne.

"Nothing beats countering a counter attack, but what if that same counter attack is countered as well? Never assume your strike hits, for that means lowering your guard." - spoke the azure man as he dug his foot under his sword as it lied on the ground before tossing it up and grabbing it with his right hand.

His attack did make contact, but only left a bruise after Aegis employed his ridiculously improvised maneuvers, or, "special tactics", as Zen would come to refer to it as. His face made good friends with the back of Aegis' hand, and his calf with the front of his leg, sending him into the air. Pretty sure what was coming next, he jerked his body to the right, holding the sword out in front of him horizontally, the blade being kicked by the sword master with high impact, relatively, sending him flying back and rolling awkwardly on the ground because of the sword he was bound to. "Lesson learned." he said, a bit dazed from all the spinning he had been doing in the small amount of time. Standing up again, there weren't many things that he hadn't tried yet. A deceivingly direct attack, a counter offensive one, a direct one. His favorite of the three was the one in the middle, as he would know exactly how to react from the one who made the strike first. So, he stood there, staring at Aegis with slightly hardened breathing. His body was reaching its limits, but he just hadn't realized it yet.

With a smirk, Aegis suddenly lowered his stance almost down to the ground and darted forward, sprinting full speed until he reaches Zen, passing by him while trying to strike his knees with the blunt weapon, immediately after turning around to strike him in the shoulder, possibly numbing his arm if he hits properly.
"Duck!"

Zen watched the masterful swordsman charge him, though, he wasn't panicked, he was just focused. His goal was to draw blood, and he would accomplish this goal, or die trying. Setting an imaginary metronome in his head, he knew that anything sub perfect timing with the maneuver he was about to try would hurt him more than if he just directly took the attack. Aegis was now very close, and as soon as the mental metronome struck the center and made an echoing click in his now stable mind, he hopped in the air and bent his knees up as if doing a cannon ball into a body of water. Quickly outstretching his legs as soon as the blunt weapon would be under him, Zen would stomp on it, Aegis going to fast to even think he could react in time. Now for his arms and legs... he thought while turning the upper half of his body quickly, counter clockwise as if he was going to horizontally slash his mentor. Of course, he knew better than such a direct attack after such a fabulous counter, so this was merely a diversion to him real plan. Once Aegis thought he would deal with the legendary blade coming his way, Zenshin would have already cocked his head back and launched it full force at the center of his master's face, still keeping his guard up all the while, ready to try and counter anything that would happen not according to his mental plan. Never assume you're going to hit...

'My, he really does learn fast. Perhaps the 6 months I initially planned to train him are too much.'
As the knight's thoughts were analysing his student, he in turn finally did something effective. With praise-worthy timing, and foresight, Zen used his own mass to disarm Aegis and immediately spun around to slash at him. The knight felt the blow coming so as he passed by his student, he leapt forward and turned 180 degrees to his left in an attempt to avoid the slash and although he mostly succeeded, the sword's tip cut into the area of his diaphragm and left a long, albeit quite shallow, wound.

The cyan-eyed swordsman landed on his back a few metres away and immediately used his momentum to do a backwards roll and recover into a kneeling state before grinning.
"Good, you finally began to fight me seriously. Now do you see what combat is? When you jumped, you put everything on the line to be able to what you just did. You had no way of knowing if I wasn't going to do an uppercut, cleaving you in half before you even know it, so what you did was absolutely stupid. But you felt it, didn't you? For a brief moment, something deep inside you told you what to do, and you chose to listen to it because you could sense it was right. That is combat foresight, it is the only safe way to perform complex and acrobatic moves in combat without dying for it. Remember that feeling, for a swordsman is 20% skill, 20% reflex and 60% instinct. Build your instincts through experience and never doubt them."
The knight lifted his knee off the ground and stood up. A cool wind blew, fluttering his coat only to reveal his newly acquired wound.
"Perhaps I should mention that the Martyr's Shroud demands 3 litres of my blood for it to release you, so you'd have to do better than that. Haha, you disarmed me, so now it's your move." - he stated, provoking Zenshin by extending his hand towards him, palm facing upward and bending his fingers a couple of times; the 'come on' gesture.

"Perhaps I should mention that the Martyr's Shroud demands 3 litres of my blood for it to release you, so you'd have to do better than that. Haha, you disarmed me, so now it's your move." he said, causing Zenshin to widen his gaze. Three liters? God, that's enough to kill him. He isn't kidding around, is he... he thought, raising his weapon. More than half of one's instinct is combat... I can do that he thought again, raising his weapon and quickly jabbing twice at Aegis. Normally, he would have let Aegis arm himself again, for the fight to be fair, but even when he was against a disarmed weapon master, the fight still leaned in his favor. By no meas did he think he was safe just because Aegis had lost his hammer, he could still nail him if he wasn't careful. Just as careful as ever, he winded the weapon up quickly and cleaved in a downward, diagnol motion, aiming to leave a gash from Aegis' left shoulder, to the right most part of his stomach. Round two... and would you look at that, my headaches gone he thought happily, still focused on his opponent. One break in concentration and it would be three liters of his own blood spilled onto the wrapping.