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“What I do with my innocence is my choice, master. You cannot make the decision for me.” You speak carefully, for you have no desire to upset Sanao further as you help him into his home. “But you are my teacher, and I am your student. I have served you loyally for years now and I will continue to serve you to the best of my ability, all I ask in return is that you teach me all that you know – not only how to shape steel, but how to defend myself and this village.”
“That knowledge serves no purpose,” Sanao grumbles. “To fight is to harm yourself, by endangering your body and by staining your soul with violence. It is no use to you, boy.”
“Let me decide that for myself,” you insist. “Should these barbarians wish to kill us, I want to have a chance against them. I want to be able to save as many of our village as I can, should it come to that. Trust that I will only risk my body and my soul if I have no other choice, master. You know that I am not a fool, and that I will not act recklessly.”
A defeated sigh comes from your old teacher as he slumps on top of a stool, weary from the journey to the shrine and back and tired of arguing with his own student.
“If that is your wish. Every time the sun rises, I shall grant you my sword for a single hour and I will teach you how to wield such a tool. Yet I shall not give you a sword of your own, nor allow you to make one for yourself – I will only grant you my blade once I trust that you can carry it with wisdom and not stain its steel for foolish reasons. Am I understood, Nayen?”
“Yes, master. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.” He doesn't know of the sword that you stole from the titan's fingers, buried only a dozen feet from where you are standing. You have no need for his blade.
“Then once I have my breath back, let us begin.”
Over the course of the next several weeks, you spend an hour each day learning the basics of swordsmanship from your master. It seems as though the five elements are as important to combat as they are to craftsmanship, for there is a stance for each element. Water, to be intangible and evasive, to flow around an attacker's assault. Wood, to bend without breaking, to parry without being overpowered. Earth, to remain unyielding, to push forward no matter what. Metal, to maintain a keen edge, to punish your enemy's recklessness. Fire, to lash out and destroy, when it is time to strike decisively.
According to Sanao, all combat boils down to these five stances, though they may appear different at first glance and are known by different names throughout Ionia. To fight well is to know when to flow from one stance to the next, to know which stance counters another, and to know how to punish your foe for their choice of stance. Despite your master's words of caution, you find yourself enjoying every hour of training – there is something fulfilling, almost spiritual, about holding a sword in your hands as you stand at the ready.
