I went back and had breakfast with Teru afterwards, but ended up in the forest again as Teru dragged me out there after we ate. Teru set his pack down once he found a spot.

"Mitsuhide-sensei has been teaching you a style of iaido, more specifically, the Thunder Step One-Sword Style, which consists of it's quick-draw and one sword style. But what I'm going to teach you is something they don't really teach you in dojos, where they practice for spars and competitions. What you will learn is another component of the iaido, which emphasizes awareness and responsiveness, especially to sudden attacks-" Teru suddenly swung his sword and bopped me in the head with the sheath.

"Owww." I rubbed my head. "Not cool."

Teru continued talking as if nothing had happened. "Now our country is generally safe. Most of the time we have safe trips, but there are times when stupid or desperate people try to rob us, especially out here away from the towns and cities. A very common tactic we see is people attacking us while our guard is down or from ambushes."

"That's why you hit me." Teru nodded while I rubbed my head again.

"Another tactic that you will need to be ready for, even though it rarely occurs as much, is a plain old raid with numbers. As I said, in the dojo, you mostly train for one on ones, but in the real world, people won't be so honorable sometimes, so you will have to learn how to deal with attacks from all sides, especially after what I saw yesterday."

'So that was what the test was about.'

"I dealt with your task though."

"What would have happened if the two who grabbed you and your weapon were enemies?"

Seeing that I understood, Teru dug through his pack and brought out ropes. He jumped up onto the tree branches and tied up a couple of them so that they were spread out and hung down. After he finished tying the last rope, Teru then jumped down towards me and bopped me on the head again.

"Owww."

"Awareness."

'I'll be ready next time.' I thought.

He then tied whatever random thing he could find to the other end—branches, fist-sized rocks, even his water bottle.

"Sword up, stand in the middle." Teru said. "Block or dodge anything that comes at you."

After I stood in the middle, he began walking around and swinging the items in my direction. At first it started slow, but then he began to swing more things in my direction and at faster speeds. It was tough keeping track of multiple things from different directions, and I was constantly getting hit. By late morning I was starting to somewhat get the hang of it.

"Alright, this is enough for today, they should almost be ready to depart. We'll continue this training throughout the trip." Teru said. "Now help me take these down."

Teru jumped up onto the branches in a single leap again, while I had to climb up. While I was untying the rope, I felt my head getting bopped again.

"Hey, it's dangerous up here." I complained.

"You should always be aware, especially when it is most dangerous."

After returning to the village and having a quick brunch, it was time to leave the village. As we were preparing our wagons, Nui approached me.

"This is for you." She held out a package.

"What is it?" I asked as I accepted the package.

"It's a leaf that grows in near our village. Everyone mostly uses it to brew tea, but Momo really likes it. He gets really playful after chewing on it."

'Sounds like catnip.'

"Thank you."

We continued on our trip southeast through the mountain range after leaving the village. I had to deal with Teru's sneak attacks for the rest of the day, but surprisingly he didn't disturb me whenever I was meditating.

When the sun began to set we made camp for the first time this trip in an open area on the side of the road. While we were setting up the tents there was a rustle in the shrubs a little ways from us. A bear showed up from the shrubs and paused as it stared at us.

The other swordsman in our group looked towards Teru.

"I got it." Teru said as he walked up next to me and bopped me in the head again. "Awareness." He gestured at the bear.

Teru straighten his posture as he stepped forward and stared down the bear. The bear responded by standing on its hind legs. They continued to stare at each other for a couple moments until the bear went on fours again and took a set forward.

"GO!" Teru shouted loudly.

The bear paused and stared at him again, contemplating what to do for a few moments before it turned around and walked away. The swordsman nodded at Teru before continuing with setting up the camp.

"Good work." Supervisor Murata said to Teru after the bear was gone.

"I almost pooped in my loincloth." The young apprentice, whose name I learned was Shohei, patted his chest in relief.

After setting up camp, Teru handed me the ropes and had me set them up nearby.

"Ah, I remember doing similar training in my youth." The swordsman said when he saw what I was doing.

"Go in, we'll train a little before dinner." Teru said when I finished setting up.

"I thought we were setting it up for tomorrow, it's almost dark, I can barely see."

"That's the point."

This session was much harder and I ended up getting hit the longer it went and the darker it got. It also didn't help that I had an audience cheering me on or laughing at me while they were prepping dinner.

"Distractions are part of the training." Teru said.

By the end, I had a bruise on the forehead from where I had dodged right into a rock.

As I was eating dinner, I reflected on the training. It was tough seeing in the dark and I ended up having to rely on the tiniest hints I could to avoid getting hit. From what little I could see of the shadows, to the sounds the rope made when they rubbed against the branch, to the movement of air.

'Renji could easily do this.'

I was reminded of Renji's hint of how he could see while blind folded.

'He's using ki to feel around him somehow. I could feel things with my sword when I envelop it with ki, so maybe it's related? Maybe he's extending his ki outwards? I should try it tomorrow.'

"What time is it?" Shohei asked.

One of the coachmen shook his head. "You urban kids, can't even tell time without your fancy bells. What are you going to do once you finish your apprenticeship?"

"Telling time isn't that important." Shohei said. "And I heard Mister Okamoto say we might not have this job soon."

"That's a load of horseshit, there's no way we're losing our jobs because of that thing."

"What are you talking about?" Teru asked.

"Ah, this is your first time doing this route. Well, for years the Lord of Shimamaki City has been advocating for the ending our country's isolation to increase trade with foreign countries. Right now trade is restricted to only two port cities and they are only limited to certain rare specialty goods."

"And Shimamaki City isn't one of those two?" Shohei asked.

"Actually, it is."

"Ah, the limitation on trade." Teru said.

"Yes, the Lord of Shimamaki has gotten support from several other lords around the country, and together they urged the Daimyo to open up the country, adding with the pressure from foreign countries, he finally consented."

"I'm confused, this sounds like a good thing, it will open up more jobs and opportunities for everyone." Teru said.

"You see, there's a rumor going around in the merchant circles in Shimamaki City that during the talks with the foreign countries, they are deliberating about one of them sending people over to build a new type of trading carriage."

"Hah, they're all getting scared of some foreign iron carriage, isn't that ridiculous?" Another coachman spoke up.

"It hasn't been decided yet, it seems some of the lords are against it."

"Whatever the decision, we'll still have jobs, I guarantee it."

After dinner, we went to sleep in our tents. As I was dozing off I was thinking about the conversation earlier.

'So they're planning on building the railroad huh?'

Right before I fell into dream land, I felt a bop on my head and someone whispered into my tent right after.

"Awareness."