Author's Note: Phew! Finally finish my school work, what a hard exam! But fortunately, I could handle it. Ok, enough with those stuff. Hello again everyone, here is the chapter 9 of my story. I hope it is good for you. Our Jin will have a very memorial experience here! Let's read and find out. Thanks MasterSprintersan for reviewing my story all of my chapter (except chapter 1). Your enjoyable moments when reading this story are very good things for me to continue my writing. I would love to hear you opinion, also many other reader who is reading my story. Anyway, enough talking, it's time for story. ENJOY THE CHAPTER!


The True Heart

Chapter 9: Stronger

A very first beam of the early morning rushed into the cave, disturbed the sleep of the blond major. Rubbing his eyes over and over again in tiredness, Jin let out a huge yawn as he stretched himself, a series cracking sounds could be heard from his fatigued bones. The fire had already been extinguished by the strong wind, warm smoke flew upward from the ash of the burning logs. Jin stood up and went out of the cave, met the light breeze traveled on his skin, blew his hair. His eyes surveyed the place. Everywhere was covered with white snow brought by the fearful blizzard last night. A very terrifying kind of weather that even a person who possessed the power of ice like him has to scare of. Any unlucky person who was caught by it would be frozen to death agonizingly. Shivered at the scenario, Jin inwardly thanked the God for giving him a place to rest. With no more unnecessary think, he started to go on his way to find Hazama and eliminate him.

"I'll find him, bind him with a strong rope, and stomp on him mercilessly and finally finish him off with my Yukianesa. Yeah a slowly, painful, scarier-than-hell death. Sounds fun to me." He said to himself, entertained with his own imagination of Hazama was hit, begged Jin for sparring his life. Right after that, he hit himself on the head for being a dreamy guy. This world was damn BIG!. How could he find that little spot. No clue about where he was, no clue about his ability, no clue about where to start.

"Arrgghhhh, why isn't this world smaller? At the battle earlier, I should have asked him for the address.!" He complained.

Suddenly, he found some strange footprints on the white ground. As he examined it more carefully, he realized that was a cat's footprint. Felt glad that he had something to eat for the breakfast, the young man quickly followed the trace of the animal.

Walking ….

Walking ….

Panted…..

"Where the hell is that animal?" He muttered as he noticed that he had spent an hour trying to find the "breakfast of his". After some more time, he completely got out of the snowy land, no more traces for him.

"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath due to long time running, also felt exhausted since he haven't eaten anything this morning. At this rate, he would die of starvation before he could even touch his tongue at the prey. How irony!, the predation was killed by the prey because it kept chasing after the food and finally die of hunger.

"MEOW!" A very good sign for Jin, his face brightened. His moral unexpectedly boost up, he swear to himself he would catch that poor creature at all cost and eat him alive if necessary.

He slowly sneaked to the direction of the voice and found out a pair of ears. Yes! A cat's ear. Curling himself for the rush, Jin swiftly charged out from the bush.

"CATCH YOU!" He yelled. Hearing a sound, the cat turned to Jin

And …

Jin was kicked out, flied away and hit his whole body on a tall tree. Rubbing his head in pain, his eyes widened in surprise as he realized what the "food" actually was."

"Hey, kid. What the hell are you doing in this place?" A bass voice came out. A small figure with his head covered by his own cloth, the tail swung from this side to the other side nonstop.

"Jubei? I … I ... But … what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Humm, I was finding that Bloodedge kid. He had disappeared for about two year and it really worried me." Just when the familiar word travelled through the major's ear, his face darkened in anger.

"Where is that, bastard? I want to kill him." Raised his eyebrows at the young man's reaction.

"Calm down, kid. Aren't you two brothers?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I don't want a bad brother like him." Jin said, bit his lower lip.

"What had he done to you?" The one-eyed cat said.

"He abandoned me and spend much of his time with my sister. Whenever I ask him to play with me, he just simply refused it without thinking it twice. I want to make him pay for that. But … wait, why did I tell those things to you? ". Jin gritted his teeth.

"Well, actually without your story, I still get the information from Ragna. He told me everything when I taught him to use his new hand and also taught him how to use his weapon."

"That … Blade-shape scythe, right?"

"Yeah, that's a weapon of my good friend. He died while delaying the Black Beast, gave us more time to make Ars Armagus and form the team of six heroes."

"Six Heroes. Oh yeah, you're a member of that team, too. Also …"

"I know, Terumi."

"How can you know about what I am trying to say."

"Haaizzz, I heard a rumor that a green-haired man attack the NOL and a major escaped from the base. I immediately understand what had happened."

"So … what do you know about him." Jin asked hesitatingly. Jubei clenched his hand.

"He betrayed us, … killed my wife, her sister, Caelica, and many innocent people. I couldn't believe that he used to be my comrade."

Jin quickly kneeled before Jubei, his head touched the ground.

"Mr. Jubei, please accept me as your student and teach me to become stronger." Jubei was surprised at his words.

" What doing really want on the whole."

"I want to save the world from this horrible man. Revenge for everyone he had killed." The cat-man looked at Jin, his eyes full of determination. He let out a sigh.

"Alright, alright. Follow me."


At Noel's house.

"NOEELLL! Breakfast is ready. Come down here and eat." Makoto said cheerfully but received no respond from her friend.

"Noel, wake up, it's 7 a.m already. If we don't hurry, captain Tsubaki will scold us for the lateness." She said, knocked the door. But there was nothing but a silent reply.

"Haiiizzz, I'm coming in." The brown-haired girl opened the door.

"Noel? NOEL ?..."


Back to Jin's place.

"First of all, you must have a better fortitude to stand in the battle for a longer period. Also you will be able to perform your technique several more times." Jubei said, Jin went after him.

"And I have an unique training plan just for you…. Now, sit down." The major did as he was told. He folded his legs, sat properly.

"Ok, what's next?" He asked.

"Just sit there, breath slowly and make sure that you make NO MOVE or else I will hit you." The cat-man sat pulled out a stick from his shelves

"WHAT! HOW CAN THAT USELESS HELP ME? THAT WAS A WASTE OF TIME" Immediately, Jin received a hard smack on the head. Jubei sighed in disappointment.

"Listen kid. When you enter a battle, you usually get angry and your breath gone faster, harsher. The wave of your breath will partly affect your stamina if you don't breathe correctly. When you make an attack, if you strike at your opponent and at the same time, you breathe in. Your flow of strength is coming out for the hit while the air current you inhale go in the opposite direction. It will weakened you hit and make you feel hard to breathe. But if you strike and also exhale at the same moment, you may pull out the strongest hit. That's why you must practice to have a good breath. Now sit down again" Jubei said, sat down next to him.

"Now, inhale … sl..o..w..ly ….d..ee..ply… (Jin took a long breath) then … ex..h..a..le … st..eadi..ly.

"Good job, now do it repeatedly. Don't stop until I tell you to." Jubei said

"Wait! But I have to …" Once again, Jin got a hit on his head.

"Don't complain. DO IT NOW!" Then he went silent, his eyes closed. Jin looked the cat man. His breath was so light that he couldn't even hear the sound of it. His chest popped up and down very slowly as if he wasn't moving at all. Nevertheless, when Jin took a careful look, he noticed that Jubei's breath indeed was very deep and long. Jin slowly closed his eyes, his mind gradually drifted into the space of calmness and silence where he could find himself in the past, grumbled in unpleasant because he couldn't play with his brother. But thought again, he found himself somehow … too selfish. His sister was sick, if he were Ragna, maybe he would do the same thing. Jin saw that it was necessary to apologize Ragna, Saya for his childish, self-centered behavior.


Meanwhile, at NOL

"Does anyone have any signs of him?" The general said, receiving the head-shaking from his soldier.

"We have looked for him everywhere but .." suddenly, a soldier ran into the room, panted heavily due to running fast.

"General … I .. I ..have …"

"Relax, man. Now tell me your about report."

"An old man said that he saw a blond-haired man in a blue uniform with long sleeves who went toward Frozen Hell. I think that was major Kisaragi."

"Ok, SQUAD 1, follow the direction of that guy. Squad 2, follow me. The rest continue your searching." He ordered

"YES SIR." They saluted in unison then scattered to several directions.

"Damn it. This guy is so troublesome! And you too, Vermillion. What if you are caught by Hazama?" The general muttered.


Flashback

"Sir! Sir! Makoto yelled as she approached the General. He was sitting on his chair, patiently waiting for some news from his soldier on the retrieval of major Jin Kisaragi.

"What is the matter, Lieutenant Nanaya."

"Lieutenant Vermillion … she … she has disappeared." His eyes widened.

"WHAT! How could she … HEY, YOU TWO CALL THE ONE THAT GUARDED HER THAT NIGHT." Later the soldier that has his shift the previous night came in, he rubbed his head painfully.

"What did you do last night to make Miss Vermillion ran away?" He yelled angrily

"I'm very very sorry sir for my carelessness. She said she want to go find major Jin. I did stop her but .. she knocked me unconscious with her gun.


At a forest.

The blond girl was walking slowly along the pathway, carefully examined every inch of this place. She wiped off a small branch of tree that blocked her way.

"I find you and protect you from that man. Please be careful, Jin". She whispered


Stage 2 of the training

Jubei looked at his student sitting quietly, his breaths were steady, calm. His hand rested on his knee. A relaxing expression was shown on his face.

"Hey kid, you can open your eyes now." Jin opened his eyes as the cat man lightly knock the stick on his head. The first basic step of training had been completed. There were more and more things waiting for him ahead. He slowly stood up, felt his own body a little bit lighter, his movement wasn't so heavy like before.

"Wow! Master. I felt easier to go, to move his body."

"Yes, that is the goal we are heading to. In the battle, you will get a very good advantage of your opponent if your speed is higher. The first step is to connect all of your system with the air wave you breath in. Now, you can cut the rock over there with ease since you can utilize all of your strength in one hit. Ok, now follow me to the next place." The major walked after him. They went to a wide field. In the middle of the land, there was a very thin staff thrust perfectly straight into the ground. There was a small white plate on it.

"Now, we shall advance to the next step of your training. You will practice to keep your balance. In the battle, slip your feet and you will die. This time you will have to stand on this stick on one leg try your best not to fall down." Jin came near the staff, swabbed his hand and formed an icy stair for him. He slowly moved up and placed his right foot on it while his left leg held in the air to maintenance his pose. However, his body kept moving shaking until he couldn't stand it and feel down, his back hit on the ground.

"Ouch! THAT HURT." He yelled, rubbed his back.

"Oh well, you will need to concentrate with all of your mind. Just close your eyes, and breath slowly just like last lesson." Jin again climbed to the staff, remake his position, his eye shut down. He started to inhaled slowly,

Then exhale ….

….Breathed in

…Breathed out

…Breathed in

"This kid surely is a very fast learner. I'm confident that he can defeat Hazama at this rate." Jubei smiled as he saw the improvement of his student.


1 month later

"Hayyaaa" Jin yelled as he crush the stone with his hand, then he leaped on his feet, quickly drew the sword from its sheath and span one round, cut down all training dummy in one strike. Right then, he swung his weapon to his back, instantly blocked Jubei's sword that were slashing down. He pushed the cat man away. The two stared at each other before charging forward, clashing their blade, made a flashy light. They fought for a whole day nonstop until Jubei gave him a sign to stop.

"Excellent! Now I shall give you my last lesson. Then your training will be perfectly finished." Jin grinned, felt enthusiastic to hear what that lesson was.

"You will have to learn to control your emotion. I will make you look after Taokaka and Bang Shishigami for one day." After hearing those names, Jin fainted.

Later

"Wake up, wake up, brat." Jubei said, splashed a bucket of water over Jin. He quickly got up, coughed irritatingly. Then he wrapped himself in coldness.

"But .. but …Taokaka … and ….BANG!" He couldn't believe in this what he had heard. This goddamn lesson was challenging his patient. He couldn't stand those overexciting people for even 1 hour. 24 for hours of hell, this must be a cruel joke of his crazy master. Looked at the expression on his face, Jubei broke into a hard laughter.

"Hahahaha … Just kidding, you don't need to do that. But you need to remember this clearly. You're very strong. Nonetheless, you're easily pissed off. You really need to control your emotion. The more calm you are, the stronger. Your fury may cloud your strategy and your judgment. It will be very dangerous for you when you deal with a tough opponent like that Hazama thoughtlessly. If you can keep your head cool, you will be able to defeat him with your eyes shut. Your training is finished. I have nothing more to teach you." Jin bowed his head in respect.

"Thank you very much, I really appreciate your help." He said then left away, continue his seeking for the traitor.


At Noel's place.

She was sleeping peacefully under a huge tree. The sound of the wind whistled in the air, blew her hair. Suddenly, there was a black, green hole appeared and enlarged into a man, laughing like a mad guy. Sensing his appearance, Noel directly pointed her gun to his direction.

"Hohoho, hello our sleeping beauty, What a nice night in here. The sky is full of stars and today a great shining star has joined his starry friends up there." Noel was confused with his words.

"What are you doing in this place?"

"Oh, I just want to make friend with you, is that ok?" He said, reached out his hand.

"Stay back or I will kill you. Where is Jin, what did you do to him?" She asked, her grip on the pistol gone tighter.

"Humm… I don't know, maybe he go joining with his friends … Hahahaha!" Her eyes widened, was he really mean … ?

"Wait, earlier you said there was a great, shining star went to the sky, right?"

"Yes, I said that."

"You mean … Jin is …" Hazama showed his sinister grin

"YOU BASTARD !" She yelled, fired her gun furiously. But all were stopped easily by him.

"Yes! Yes! That's it. Shot me with all of your hatred if you don't want me to kill someone you care, oh maybe that Makoto girl would be a nice target." Noel continued her killing attack.

"EAT THIS, YOU EVIL! LASER BEAM!" She shouted, a blue light formed at the tip of the guns. But before she could understand anything, Hazama appeared behind her and with a brutal knock on the head with his elbow. He completely knocked her unconsciously.

"Tch, such a noisy puppy!" He chuckled, grabbed the girl's collar before disappearing into the darkness with an insane laughter that broke the night silence.


A/N: Awww! Maybe this one is a little bit boring but who knows, this is Jin's training after all. The next chapter will be much better. That is a promise, there will be a big fight. I'm looking forward to seeing your reviews.

Thanks for reading.

Cardlover95