Kyu
As ordered, Kyu returned to his master that very night.
"So," Master Kagerou ignited to tip of his kiseru pipe letting the cloudy fumes rise playfully into the air as he took in a deep drag, "Kyu what have you brought me?"
Kyu remained silent. His jaw taut as he supressed an embarrassed and anxious shudder. Nothing, that was his answer. He'd found near enough absolutely naut. Turns out the samurai weren't to open about their abilities and secrets. That wasn't to say there was nothing in library, it was just beyond a pain in the ass task to uncover. Either hidden between lines of texts that you'd never think to open or locked behind books he wasn't deemed authorised to access. As they were either considered too advance for an apprentice or too sacred to be freely handed over to a ten-year-old boy. It wasn't like Kyu blamed the samurai for his struggles, if your enemies wished to uncover your weaknesses the first steps where understanding you. It was by all means an intelligent and logical tactic, Kyu just wished it wasn't sabotaging him specifically, as it wasn't like he was an enemy of the samurai. He was trying to become one of the damn things. Usually this would never be an issue for apprentice samurai as most mentors would teach their students everything they needed to know. Unfortunately for Kyu Master Kagerou was as far from most mentors as you could get and what made him even more difficult were how high his expectations were.
"Not much," Kyu finally admitted. He prepared to be berated but strangely it never came.
"Tell me anyway." Master Kagerou took another drag of smoke.
"Are you sure you should be smoking that with Inei and Akari in the next room?"
"Pay attention. The samurai's power?"
Kyu sheepishly nodded, before composing his answer. A last-minute combination of whatever research he achieved and the legends he'd heard as a child compared with what he'd witnessed himself firsthand. "… At an overview it can be separated into two aspects, Paths and Weapon Arts. Paths can be thought of as the element or source of a samurai's power. Such as, samurai who wield katanas of fire being part of the Path of the Blazing Fire. Weapon Arts are techniques created for warriors to access the power of their Path … they can greatly vary, ranging from attacks or defensive techniques to even providing almost magical effects to a warrior improving their capabilities as a fighter."
After finishing his explanation, Kyu shifted back and patiently, but nervously, waited in the dark for his master's response.
"Anything else?"
"No," Kyu admitted, his voice strained.
Master Kagerou paused for a moment. Then he chuckled and a grin shone through the darkness. "Better than I thought you'd do. Did you put most of that together through myths and legends? If so I'm impressed."
Kyu felt his brows furrow and mind spin in bafflement. His master was impressed with his failure? "I don't understand."
"Don't stress Little Shadow," Master Kagerou replied, still lightly chuckling. "The truth behind our power is kept mostly hidden for good reason and is only shared between master and apprentice. The task was nigh impossible, I was just curious to see how you'd respond. Especially with such little time."
Kyu stared wide eyed, speechless. "… So I … pass?" he eventually got out, subduing the irritation he knew would get him nowhere.
"You have. You have proven yourself worthy of my student. Now I'll shall prove myself worthy as your master," Master Kagerou shifted into a more comfortable position and gestured for Kyu to do the same. "Your understanding of Paths and Weapon Arts is adequate for now and will serve you well as you begin learning your own. So for now tell me what you were able to learn of the origins of our power. How we were able to acquire these abilities."
"During my research I wasn't able to uncover anything," Master Kagerou nodded like he expected this outcome, "but, the legends say they were gifts imbued into us directly from the gods so we could protect Akuresh."
Master Kagerou nodded again. "There are some truths in the legends however, there are also some lies and exaggerations sown into them throughout the centuries. So take what they declare with a pinch of salt."
"A pinch of salt?"
Master Kagerou wavered away his confusion. "Just a saying from our home back West, simply means don't take something completely literal. Now before I explain, what do you know of the Founding Blades."
"Nothing."
"Then that is where we shall begin. The Founding Blades are unique relics, more so then even kaezium blades. They're weapons born from pure myth. The roots of the Paths and founding powers of our samurai clans. The Founding Blades are the true origin of the samurai's power. The legends you know are not completely false, the Founding Blades were the first kaezium weapons forged in Akuresh millennia ago and were each imbued with the power of a god. From there the Founding Samurai known as the Pillars harnessed the power of our gods and created the Paths and Weapon Arts we still wield today."
Kyu nodded along mesmerised. However he then stumbled in thought. "Wait, so the gods only helped forge one weapon for each Path?"
Master Kagerou nodded, as he took in another deep drag of his kiseru.
"So how do we have entire clans of samurai able to wield the power of the gods? In Akuresh's prime age did we not possess thousands of samurai in each clan?"
"Ah, well there are two unique aspects of the Founding Blades, that standard kaezium blades don't possess. Firstly, they can imbue the power of the gods contained inside them into other kaezium blades allowing them too to harness the power of the Paths and Weapon Arts. Secondly, the Founding Blades gift their wielder an exclusive Weapon Art we've declared as the Founder Art, a devastating and immensely powerful technique that truly place the Founding Blades above any other kaezium weaponry."
As much as the latter piqued the child and warrior inside him it was the first fact that held Kyu's attention in a choke hold.
"I understand that once a weapon belongs to a Path it's permanent no matter how many times they're reforged. But how do they imbue their power into other weapons initially?" Kyu inquired.
"Thought that might be what stole your mind," Master Kagerou chuckled, "Well, as they're forged of kaezium whatever damage they undergo as long as it isn't too extreme they'll be able to regenerate using Retsu. Using this trait the Founding Samurai discovered if shards of the Founding Blades are forged into other kaezium weapons the newly forged creations with be able to harness the power of the gods too, belonging to the Path of their Founding Blade."
"What if you were to imbue a shard of a kaezium blade that weren't one of the Founding Blades? Could that not also gift a Path into a powerless weapon?" Kyu asked trying to wrap his head around his master's lesson.
Master Kagerou shook his head. "Nothing happens, not even if you use a greater mass of the imbued blade. Imbuing the power of the gods onto further weaponry is an ability unique only to the Founding Blades."
Even though a hundred more questioned flooded his mind Kyu stayed quiet and nodded.
Master Kagerou puffed out another cloud of smoke and then looked to the night sky and shadowed trees outside. "That's enough for today," he declared. "Go get some rest, your training begins in the morning."
Instantly all of Kyu's dormant exhaustion struck him and he wasted no time collecting his sword and making his way into the bedroom. Despite his caution he accidently woke one of the sleeping children after nudging their futon.
A young girl was startled awake.
"What's wrong?" Inei asked.
"Nothing," Kyu replied ruffling the girl's hair and lying down in the futon beside her and her younger sister. "Just got in from a lesson with your grandfather."
The hands of sleep still firmly holding onto the girl she instantly gave a tired nod and drifted back off, like Kyu had never appeared. Subduing a chuckle, Kyu quickly followed suit and left sleeps embrace claim him.