Outside a building sitting on a plain with grass that spread seemingly to the ends of the earth, a white-haired man chopped wood on a stump while a tall blue-skinned man wearing a fanged gray steel mask and long gray hair practiced with his katana not far from him.
"Isshin…" Arian said, and Isshin stopped, turned, and looked at his summoner.
"Are you not supposed to help?" Arian aimed his axe at the blue-skinned Oni Ronin who was over two times his height.
Isshin turned and was about to resume his practice when Arian kicked a stump, one he planned to turn into firewood. It didn't have roots like this one he used as a chopping block.
Isshin tilted his head, revealing his side profile. The braids by the sides of his face danced as his katana gleamed. He moved like a blur, slicing the stump into several even pieces and kicking it into the air.
They flew and fell on the chopping block, stacking on each other.
Arian opened his arms wide. "See? You're good at this."
