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Two days had passed since Koichi and Celia parted ways with Joel and Ryan. Koichi had wanted to travel to his master in martial training again to polish up his young experienced skills. He no longer felt the pride in being the strongest of his people after being around Joel and then meeting Ryan. He did not even want to think of what Celia might be capable of doing. Thanks to Celia the two were able to hitch hike a great distance over land by use of vehicles along the road over the last two days. Their destination was across the Transition Borderline into the medieval area of the world where he came from to a small house in the Koorychan Peaks, an area in the long link of mountains that extended out westward from around Traquo.

"Hmph... ugh... I’ll never get used to these... machines." Koichi grumbled as the two traveled along a rocky road in a truck to the southwest, "Horses are a much better and relaxing option."

"It’ll be over as soon as we get to the station." Celia told him.

Koichi sat still mumbling about different odds and ends with his arms crossed, and he bumped his head along the top of the truck as the driver came across a larger lump of the road.

"Sorry thar kid," the driver apologized, "You should keep them thar seat belts hooked up tight around here."

"Aaah! Damn it..!" Koichi growled, "Stop hurting Koichi! The great Koichi does not deserve this!"

He rubbed his hands over his head, then he lifted his left hand up, with his glove with a claw on it on, and went to slam his knuckle down into the seat. Celia noticed Koichi’s sudden anger and movement and reached over to grab his arm to prevent him from ruining the truck. She was able to stop Koichi slightly above the seat when she grabbed his arm from up above. When Koichi was assured he wasn’t going to destroy any parts of the truck, Celia returned to her proper position in her seat and began to breath deeply.

"What’s wrong with you? You look like you just ran a mile without stopping." Koichi asked.

"I don’t know..." Celia told him, "I could do it without a problem, but lately I feel like I’ve been loosing my strength." She looked at their bags on the floor of the vehicle, "The bags are even feeling like a bit much."

"That demon Ryan must have shot you with some weakness spell before we left just to keep tabs on us!" Koichi attempted to conclude, "Stupid Ryan... he shouldn’t even have his own human name! I feel so ashamed to have my own name because of him!"

"I wonder what his real name is, too." Celia told Koichi, "But Joel isn’t as bad as people take guys like him for."

"I never slept with him, so I wouldn’t know..." Koichi thought as he looked away to the side for a moment.

"Hey, are you listening, Koichi?" Celia asked, "I mean it, though. Joel was only trying to look out for what would have been best for us."

"He was only looking out for his own wants, that’s why we were going off to see his family." Koichi said, "I’d hate to see what two other Joel’s would look like anyway." He imagined for a moment the possibilities, then said, "If we ever met them I would call one Shaggy and the other Bushwad."

Celia bopped Koichi over the head and said, "Aw come on Koichi, be nice. You’d go searching for your family, too, if you never knew they existed before."

"Maybe so." Koichi said.

"I came with you to help you with my healing spells if you were ever injured in your training." Celia mentioned, "Let’s try to be nice and not talk about them behind their backs."

The truck driver looked back a moment and yelled, "Hey! Wut you two talkin’ about back thar? Summin bout them demons? Yeah, I ran over one just the other day, and let me tell you! It just got up and walked away like nothing happened to it, I reckon. It was the darnedest thing I ever seen happen out yonder!"

Koichi and Celia looked up to the front, and Celia gave the driver a slight smile as she waved at him to get back to the road. They were eventually dropped off at a Transition Station to the south of Tranquo, and they picked up horses to travel on as they passed through to the other side. It was about late afternoon when the two arrived at the path up the mountains to Koichi’s master. Koorychan Peaks was a group of mountains in the mountain chain that bore tree and plant life and misty clouds in patches all around the area.

Koichi looked up into the air, then down to the ground, and he kneeled down and felt around with his hand. He took a deep breath and shook his head, blocking any memories that might flood his head to slow his journey down. He knew that his lifetime was not unlimited as the people he met had been gifted with.

"Come on, let’s get going." Koichi said as he stepped foreword waving his hand at Celia, "We can’t stay here dreaming until it’s too late. I don’t like the town at the foot of these mountains that we’d have to stay in for the night otherwise."

Celia followed Koichi and asked, "How far up will this take up to anyway?"

"High enough to kill you if you lost your balance. Even a demon, I’d wager." Koichi told her.

"Oh... how frightening!" Celia exclaimed, looking back with a shudder.

Koichi began his way up the mountain path as he guided Celia with him. The mist had grown thicker into layers of fog in some areas from the last time Koichi remembered going through. Along the way they saw various trees along the way that bore markings of Koichi’s previous training stages. Some trees had blunt chopping marks from wooden swords along their surfaces while others had large chunks smashed out from their sides from more massive hits. Koichi could remember most of the scenarios he was in that inflicted this damage onto some of the surroundings, but there were other things he had a hard time remembering about or could not remember at all.

Celia was keeping up with Koichi rather well with what seemed to be many stories and levels of rocks they had climbed up. A few times she felt the need to jolt back into exhaustion due to her condition, but she pressed on trying to not seem like a helpless woman. She picked up a stick to use to walk with along the way and to kneel against with what few stops they came to. She kept her mind full of happy thoughts all the way to the top, thinking mostly of a house full of puppies to play with when she stopped to live a normal life. Whenever Celia tried discussing this with Koichi she was only given a strange look from the grunting warrior before they continued on.

Koichi unsheathed his sword and threw it into the ground as the two reached a house standing in the middle of the mountains. He stepped ahead of his sword and kneeled down and lowered his head for a moment, then Koichi stood up and picked his sword out from the ground and put it back in its sheath. The area did not seem as high as Celia had thought it would be. In fact the area consisted of mostly flattened land in the middle of the mountains, which they could view them in the background. As they advanced towards the house they were greeted by a young lady, who had dark tanned skin, black hair, brown eyes, and wore a long flowing robe with bandage wrappings around her chest, from the door. She had the same stubborn and vile look on her face as Koichi did, but she was not a girl that Koichi was familiar with from any time in the past.

"Assassin?!" They both amazingly hissed at each other at the same time.

Celia’s eyes popped wide as she heard them both react to each other in the same fashion at the same time, and she dropped to the ground in surprise.

"Speak your name now, wench!" Koichi demanded, "Why have you come?"

"I’m here as Master’s student and apprentice!" the young lady told Koichi, "Who are you? Speak your name!"

"That’s nonsense! The great Koichi is Master’s only student and apprentice!" Koichi told her.

Celia stood up and thought, "I wonder if all of the students from here come out with the same attitude?"

As the young lady and Koichi beamed evil eyes at each other, a shadow of an older man appeared from the old house, and an old man in a martial arts training suit stepped outside and faced Koichi.

"Welcome back, Son Koichi." The man greeted Koichi.

"Master. It is an honor to be under your eyes again." Koichi greeted the man with a bow.

"Many travelling winds have told me of your journey back to my quiet home." Master told Koichi, "I see you have already met my latest student. Her name is Stephanie of Trumphant."

"Yeah! See?" Stephanie said with a sly smile.

"But, but what about me as your student?" Koichi asked in pure shock.

"One must not be so selfish and keep one profession to just one line of people." Master said, "Two may learn from one another and progress with speed, as only one will progress like a slug."

"Excuse me!" Celia said, stepping up, "Does he have a name other than ‘Master’, by chance?"

Master stepped away from his house and approached Celia. He put his large hand over her and placed it on her forehead.

"I do not need a true name to be who I am." Master told her, "What is yours?"

"Celia." She told him.

"Where are you from?" Master asked Celia.

"She’s..." Koichi tried answering.

"You must let the ones being asked answer for themselves, Son Koichi." Master interrupted Koichi.

"Fonan`Kal castle, sir." Celia told Master, "Actually, I was adopted there when the king found me a little over a week ago. Koichi was assigned to be my bodyguard, but we’re one of the only ones left after a tragedy hit."

Master tilted his head towards Koichi a moment, and Koichi sharpened up as he was being looked at. Master then removed his hand from Celia’s forehead and turned away and walked towards his house again.

"Yes, the moaning earth had told me about what happened." Master said, "I was concerned for Koichi’s well being, knowing he had left my dwellings for a job at that castle."

He kneeled down and felt the ground, then looked out in the direction that Fonan`Kal once stood.

"That is why I have come back, Master." Koichi told him, "One of the reasons, anyway. We have come across great demons that everyone fears. I need to be trained more so I can gain the strength I need to defeat them."

"You realize that their purpose is to defend this world, don’t you?" Master asked Koichi, "Or do you set sights on the ones who have lost the sights of their purpose? I did not train you to be cocky and hurt others, you know."

Celia walked up to Master’s house and sat down on the steps to rest.

"I’m a demon, too." She told them, "Koichi just doesn’t like to admit it because I’m a princess."

"How ironic." Stephanie muttered to the side.

"We’ve run into our share of good guys and bad guys." Celia said, looking between Stephanie and Master, "Actually we’re called Guardians, from what Ryan told us. He’s the Guardian of the mind, and he’s out teaching my boyfriend about our culture now. His name is Joel, the Guardian of fire."

Master turned to Celia with an odd eye and asked, "Why are you not with this boyfriend of yours, child?"

"Because when Koichi told me his desires I decided to come with him in case he needed help recovering from his training. He can’t recover as fast from injury as I can." Celia told him.

"It’s... appreciated." Koichi said, looking off to the side to sigh in humiliation.

"I see. Please, continue your story." Master said.

Celia nodded and said, "The only bad Guardian we have ever run into is the one who helped destroy my castle, but Joel killed him."

"Jealousy is not a good thing to live with, Son Koichi." Master told Koichi, "If we live in a world of hate we will scare away these Guardians, and we will not be worthy of keeping our precious planet." He sat down and said, "Please, let us sit and discuss matters further."

The three youths sat down and formed a circle of four with Master.

"The currents tell me you have had a run in with the being known as Zephelear the Monster King." Master said, "So he has begun his search for the armor of Hades to strengthen his grasp on the world. Now I understand your eager to become stronger."

"The Monster King? Master, if you plan on putting me in the middle of this, please don’t." Stephanie said.

"It is understandable as well, child." Master told Stephanie, "Zephelear is mighty. He controls every monster across our world in the air, on the land, and in the sea. His control and communication over them all is as constant as our breathing. My teachings may not even be enough to send even Son Koichi off successfully, and it is in this point that I would not blindly request that you help as well."

"Thank you." Stephanie said.

She bowed slightly, and Master nodded her off.

"Son Koichi." Master began again, "You may train here with Stephanie and I as I teach her what I have taught you already, and you may take lessons beyond what you already know now. The best advice I can ever give you is to make up your difference and become an ally to the other Guardians, not their enemy. Fill your sword with a strong heart and you will conquer all of your enemies when the time comes."

"Uh... Hm..." Koichi muttered and sighed, "That will be my ultimate task, for it will be hard to get along with... him."

Koichi pictured Ryan in his mind and how he was transformed into a singing and dancing doll.

"I hate that cocky bastard and the things he does to me." Koichi said.

"He must be talking about Ryan." Celia told the others, "He was always giving Koichi a hard time. Actually, he’s kind of racist towards humans from the way I’ve heard him talk."

Master nodded again and said, "The feeling of power and superiority over one another can do that to anyone or anything. It’s just a matter of time before the bad karma returns to them. That includes you as well, Son Koichi."

"Gah! Alright." Koichi said, raising his hands up for a moment, "If the princess wasn’t enough..."

Stephanie began to snicker for a moment, and she looked at Celia and said, "This girl looks nothing like a princess! Her clothes are much too strange and common for royalty."

"Watch your tongue, girl!" Koichi hissed.

"Um, actually, I’ve been feeling pretty used to living an ordinary girl’s life like I was around Joel." Celia said.

Koichi slumped his shoulders, eyes lost of life, when he heard what Celia had said.

"Oh don’t worry, Koichi, "Celia told him with a smile, "You can still be my bodyguard if you want!"

She patted his back, and Stephanie laughed at them.

"Looks like ‘The Great Koichi’ failed miserably after all!" she laughed.

Koichi shook his head for a moment, then looked up at Stephanie and growled, "How dare you! I will challenge you to a duel to show you my strengths!"

The two began beaming evil looks at each other again. Master stood up and cleared his throat, and he began walking towards his house.

"There will be no fighting tonight, children." Master told them, "It is late, and the sparks of a hot battle will stir the monsters in the area. We do not want provoked monsters in this area. Now, come inside."

Koichi, Celia, and Stephanie stopped what they were doing at the sound of Master’s commanding voice and nodded. Koichi sighed and slammed his fist onto the ground, and he then followed after the others into the house. Inside the house, Koichi stepped up to the middle of the living room and sat down on the floor in a spot on the center circle. This was where Master would talk to him and eat with him while they were inside when it was dark or raining. He began to feel relaxed and at home again, but he was cut short as Stephanie approached him from the side and kicked him off from the spot. She took his place and set down a plate and cup of tea and began sipping.

"Hey!" Koichi cried, "That’s my spot!"

"It’s mine! Master gave it to me!" Stephanie hissed at him.

Celia was slowly wandering around the room and through several others as she looked at the pictures, weapons, and china set up in various places in the house. She poked her head out from a room when she heard Stephanie and Koichi fighting again and started watching.

"Dirty slut! Mine!" Koichi said as he stood up and stomped his feet on the ground.

"Ha hah!" Stephanie laughed at him.

She stuck her tongue out at Koichi, and Koichi quickly reached down to pull at her tongue. He pulled it and waved it around and tossed her head down into the ground. Stephanie dragged her head up from the ground, and she covered her face and started to cry. She jumped quickly behind Koichi and got him into a lock, and she pulled the hair from both sides of his head. Koichi’s expression stretched out as Stephanie pulled on his head. When he was able to break into his senses he grabbed Stephanie by the arms and flipped her down onto the ground, and he sat on top of her and began stretching her cheeks out. Stephanie then freed one of her arms and punched Koichi between his legs, and Koichi’s expression lost all life as he dropped back to the ground with a high pitched girly cry.

"Enough!" Master shouted as Stephanie got on top of Koichi before she could hit him again.

He stepped out of the kitchen with a mitt and a teakettle, passing Celia, whom watched with a funny look on her face. The two watched Master silently as he approached them. Master took the top off the hot kettle and splashed the water from inside over the two young ones. Celia cringed at the sight of the burning how water hitting the Stephanie and Koichi, and she made sure she was out of the way as they were suddenly on their feet and running around in mad circles around the room trying to cool their bodies off. They tried wringing their clothes dry, patting themselves down, and flapping their clothes up and down on them without taking them off.

When the two cooled down enough, they ran up in front of each other, pointed at the other, and cried, "This is all your fault!"

"Greedy!" Koichi yelled.

"Stubborn!" Stephanie yelled back.

Master approached Celia and took her walking stick from her.

"Please excuse me, Miss Celia." Master said, bowing his head slightly.

He stepped over next to Koichi and Stephanie and cracked the staff over both their heads at once, but it was if neither of them had felt the impact as the stick cracked into three different pieces. They still continued to argue between each other.

"Like a two headed menace, you two do not get along." Master said quietly with a sigh.

He grabbed their shoulders with each hand, turned them ninety degrees to face the middle of the room, and pushed them both down to the ground. This ended their little fight abruptly, and Master walked to the other side of the circle and took his own seat. Celia shook her head and joined the three to the side.

"I am a teacher, not a baby sitter, children." Master told them with a disappointed look, "If we cannot be polite to one another, then you will share the seat as husband and wife."

Koichi and Stephanie both gave a look of surprise and grief, and Celia fell down to the floor with an uncontrollable laugh as she was sitting down on the ground.

"Now then, let us get on with the night, shall we?" Master said.

They both grunted at one another once more. Koichi unbuckled his sword and sheath from his belt and removed his claw and glove, and he set them both in front of him. Celia finished laughing and sat up properly, and she wiped a tear from her face.

"I wonder how Joel is doing now." She thought.

"He’s doing just fine, as a matter of fact!" said another voice in her mind.

"Huh?" she blurted out loud.

"Hello!" the voice called out, "It’s me, Ryan! The Guardian of..." his voice trailed off, then continued, "Nothing right now!"

"Oh, hi Ryan! What’s up?" Celia thought.

"Besides Joel telling me to act like a normal person and not using my powers?" Ryan said, "I just set up a psychic link between the two of us the last time we ran into each other that morning so I can keep track of you both through your view."

"That’s not a bad idea for you, but I don’t think I could live up to it with the way I look." Celia thought, "Just don’t get into the wrong places!"

"It’s okay, I won’t." Ryan told her, "I hate to tell this to a fellow Guardian, but I had to convince Joel that there were no feelings between you."

"What? Why?" Celia thought.

"Hold on there! Everything will be fine when you two get back together again." Ryan told her, "I just can’t have his mind flooded with thoughts of love and passion when I get him going, if you know what I mean. I hope you understand."

"No, not really. But..." Celia thought.

"Yeah, I know." Ryan said, "I can tell that all the action you’re seeing in Koichi’s master’s place that you miss the fun that you were having with Joel already. I’ve been watching. You still call him your boyfriend after what you said the other day."

Celia giggled out loud and thought, "Yeah, he would have a blast if he were here, too! So what have you two been up to lately? Are you still going to meet his family?"

"Actually we’ve stopped at a city along the way to rest, and we’re helping them run out a bunch of crooks controlling the place. A big ol mafia you might say." Ryan told her, "We’re having problems finding their hide out and where they’re blocking all of the city’s natural resources, but I can’t sneak into peoples’ minds and find out the easy way if I’m going to live up to my word."

"Oh. Well, good luck with that!" She thought.

"Thanks." Ryan said, "I did include a connection in Koichi’s mind, but I don’t think he’d take talking to me very lightly."

"Probably not." Celia thought.

"Hey, if you were able to get a grip on that other girl there I could transfer my connection from you to her, and I could figure out what she’s like." Ryan told her, "But that wouldn’t be a very good idea, because it’d be possible that I wouldn’t be able to contact you ever again until we met face to face." His voice faded away for a moment, then it came back, "Well, we’ve got to get going. I’ll keep Joel updated here, so don’t worry. Talk to you later!"

"Bye!" Celia said out loud.

The three others in the room stared blankly at Celia as she blurted a good bye out loud.

"Is she on drugs or something?" Stephanie asked, "Or is she always like that?"

"Don’t ask me, I just protect her." Koichi said, "I don’t get her race at all."

"Oops! Sorry. I was having a day dream there." Celia said with a smile and blush.

"The spirits in a dream speak with wisdom." Master said with a nod, "We must listen to them every night with great attention."

Celia stood up and yawned, then said, "Well that’s about as much fun as I can take tonight! May I borrow one of your rooms for the night, Mister Master?"

Master stood up and creaked his back, then walked towards the right hall.

"Of course, Miss Celia. You may take the room over there." He said, pointing at a room towards the back.

Koichi and Stephanie quickly beamed looks at each other.

"I must get to my old room before this girl takes it from me as well!" Koichi thought.

"I must get to my own room before this freak tries taking it from me!" Stephanie thought.

The two jumped to their feet at the same time and made a mad dash for the left hallway, and they found themselves suck trying to get in. Stephanie was able to loosen up and squeeze herself through the door and into the room first, and Koichi was left behind in a disappointment.

"Aah hell!" Koichi said, "Why don’t I just give up now? Master, may I have another room?"

Master walked up towards Koichi and looked long and hard down at him with an angry look on his face.

‘Son Koichi, I am disappointed." He said, "I thought I had taught you better in the years that you were my student. Now that you have returned from your journey I have found you to be nothing but a scoundrel who calls himself honorable."

Koichi began to shrink back in shame from listening to Master’s mighty voice.

"You may have your room back." Master told him, "You must share it with young Stephanie so you both can understand and build upon your teamwork."

Koichi jumped back and asked, "Share a room with her?"

"I assure you that there will be nothing that comes between you two." Master told him, "You only need to work together as partners while you train. This will be your lesson for the time you stay here, Son Koichi, and when you leave you will understand why you must work together and be friends with these so called evil demons."

Koichi shuddered violently at the thought and nodded slowly. He turned around and made his way slowly for the room and knocked on the door.

"Uh, now how does one apologize?" Koichi wondered. He stood up and spoke towards the door, "Um, Miss Stephanie? I must have a word with you."

There was silence for a moment, then Stephanie responded.

"Fine, come in. Let’s see if there’s anything useful that can become of that spit hole of yours." Stephanie told him.

Koichi cringed in frustration and looked back at Master quietly. He nodded and entered the room. The room had not changed much since he had lived in this very room. The bed had shifted positions, and the window had been covered and locked tightly. The shelves on the walls were also covered with Stephanie’s possessions. Stephanie stood on the other side of the bed with her hair down from the pony tail lock she had it in. She waited with a short temper for Koichi to speak up.

"You’ll never believe what Master just said we had to do." Koichi grumbled as he stepped foreword a few steps, crossing his arms, "He wants us to stay in the same room and learn how to be partners." He looked away to the side and said, "There, I said it. Hmph."

"Oh really." Stephanie said.

She kneeled down and picked up a knife that was kept in her bed.

"How nice of him to suggest that." Stephanie said as she slowly stood up again. She lifted up the knife and said, "You can’t trick me that easily, assassin!"

Koichi jumped in shock and dodged the quick knife as it was thrown his way. Stephanie began to grab surrounding objects from the room and threw them at Koichi one after another. Pots, pans, clubs, and more knives flew towards Koichi at a horrendous speed, and he made his best effort to dodge them one after another. The whole house could hear the crashes and bangs from the room as the attack went on, and soon enough Koichi was hit by a large stone in his gut from Stephanie’s barrage. He slammed into the door behind him, and his clothes were locked into the wooden architecture from several more knives. Stephanie approached Koichi and raised one of the knives that missed him, and she stuck it right above his head.

"Damn you, woman!" Koichi cried.

Stephanie walked away and pulled out a long curtain to cover the rest of the area of the room. She blew the candle out, and the room darkened into the colors of night. Koichi struggled for a moment, then slumped down.

"Umm, can someone get me off? Anyone?" Koichi called out.

"Enough of your babbling, stranger!" Stephanie hissed, "I have much work to be done in the morning!"

"No, really!" Koichi said, "I’m a swordsman. The Great Koichi is not trained to sleep hanging from a wall. Master never trained me this way!"

Silence entered the room, and all that could be heard was Stephanie’s rustling in her bed behind the curtain and the crickets from outside.

"Hello?" Koichi called out once more.

He finally gave up and slowly went into a painful and discomforting sleep. The cool mountain air and breeze soothed his body and spirit through the night with the sweet smell of dew that covered the area. While he was asleep he could feel his body flopping over the surface that he hanged from as Stephanie passed through the door during the night to do her nightly business. He only moaned slightly in his sleep as he shook about for a moment.

When the night had passed and the morning sun’s light filled the house on top of the mountain, Celia and Master had gotten together in the living room for breakfast. Master had set them up with a bundle of bread and milk for the first meal of the day. He called for Koichi and Stephanie to come out and eat with them. Stephanie had woken up to the call and dressed in her training robe again, and she made her way out through her door after slapping Koichi in the face. Koichi still slept like a baby after his two wake up calls, but he quickly came to his senses when the door he was hanging from was slammed. The knives came loose, and Koichi fell to the ground with a loud crash. Koichi shook his head, brushed his hair back, and walked out towards the living room to join the other three.

"Good morning, students." Master greeted them.

"Hail, Master." Stephanie said with a slight bow.

"Ugh... my back doesn’t feel right." Koichi muttered.

"Good morning Koichi! There you are." Celia greeted him. She walked over to Koichi and put her hands over his back and said, "Let me get you back into shape."

She began sending healing waves through her hands into Koichi’s body, and Koichi began to ease up from the pain of his night. Stephanie could only sit down and eat her meal with a disgusted look on her face as she sat down properly next to Koichi in their seat.

"I see." Master said, nodding his head, "I see why you brought her with you. She is a healer who may help lessen your time of pain as you train here so you may work as long as you like."

"Never had her use her spells on me before, though." Koichi muttered. He shaped up quickly and blurted, "Err, thank you, princess!"

Master smiled slightly and nodded his head once more.

"Very well then." He began, "You two will begin your training together today. We will hear no excuses, only good results. We must focus and become one with our surroundings. I must go down to the city today and refill our supplies for the month, children, but be warned. The shifting earth keeps me informed of what happens everywhere."

Koichi and Stephanie nodded with obedience under Master’s commands. Celia returned to her seat position and continued to eat her bread and drink her milk. Master stood up and approached Celia, and he put his hand on her shoulder for a moment to get her attention.

"Miss Celia, if you would not mind coming with me to the town below." Master asked.

Celia nodded and said, "Oh sure. I’d love to see another town! It’s just another piece of the world that unfolds around me." She thought for a moment, then said, "Oh my, I’m starting to talk like you now!"

Celia stood up and giggled. Master retrieved his bag of money and goods to sell, and the two departed from the house. After a few minutes had passed, Stephanie stood up and stretched. She picked up her breakfast and moved to the other side where Master would normally sit.

"Finally they’re gone!" Stephanie said with relief.

"You will not sit as my master." Koichi said.

"Oh, you’d be surprised!" Stephanie said, snickering at him for a moment.

"No. I bow to no woman as my superior in combat." Koichi told her.

"Not even demon girl over there?" Stephanie asked, "You know, the only way to settle things between us is to have a duel to see who really is better. A practice duel, to be more along the proper lines. Wouldn’t you agree?"

Koichi sat silent and watched Stephanie as she moved across the room. She picked up a wooden sword from a rack and tossed it at him, and Koichi caught it. She removed a wooden sword of her own and walked outside, waving at him.

"I will not give in to anymore hatred or deathly temptations." Koichi thought, "Master is right. We must get along and work together. Only, I will put this girl in her place first. Once I do she will have no choice but to respect what training under Master is about."

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