Chapter 3: Trust

Kazuki followed Hiroshi outside. "Tell me old man, what could I possibly need to learn?"

Hiroshi looked at him and laughed. "I bet you don't even know how to activate your weapons, but don't worry Xanphia contacted me while you were walking back, I have designed this suit specially for you."

Kazuki looked at him. "So how can I activate my weapons and what are they?"

"Like this, pay good attention." Hiroshi closed his eyes and it looked like he started to meditate as a loud hum started to come from his direction, then his eyes flared open and Hiroshi emitted a loud yell as he smacked his hands together. "Activate!" He yelled as he pulled his hands apart revealing a weapon that looked sort of like an enlarged shotgun, if it were not for the fact it was larger than half of Hiroshi one might have thought it was one.

Kazuki looked at him in amazement. "Wow, what is that and is my weapon anything like it?"

Hiroshi chuckled. "This is nothing more than a weapon fit to my standards, a real man's shotgun if you will. Now try it, close your eyes and picture the weapon inside the suit, I cannot tell you what it is because you must find it, the weapon inside the suit is the one chosen for you and you will rely on it for every battle, but if you cannot find the weapon on your own, then I fear you are not suited for a warrior."

"I will show you that I am suited." Kazuki closed his eyes. "Visualize the weapon in the suit, the weapon is chosen specially for me, a weapon suited for me, but what could it be? What is suited for me, could it be a big gun, or small gun."

Hiroshi was staring at Kazuki. "Come on kid, we are counting on you."

Kazuki continued to think. "Wait a second, Hiroshi said that Xanphia contacted him on our way back already, he said the suit was made for me, I got it!" A loud hum sound started to emit from Kazuki.

Hiroshi smiled. "He did it, he found it but now he must materialize it."

Kazuki's eyes flared open and he let out what sounded like a battle cry as he smacked his hands together. "Activate!" Kazuki yelled as he pulled his hands away and ended up grabbing something in both hand. Kazuki looked at what he was holding and was amazed at what he saw, he was holding a blade that looked to be twice his size in both length and width.

Hiroshi looked at him amazed. "When Xanphia said you were too strong for an ordinary weapon I knew the weapon would be big, but this passed all expectations and the fact you did it in the first go, simply amazing."

Xanphia was smiling at Kazuki and clapping. "Good job Kazuki, no one ever makes it in the first try, I hear even grandpa took 3 tries."

Kazuki smiled back. "I do have a question though, not that I am ungrateful for what I just received but, if you can materialize a shotgun of that size, and I materialize a sword, does that not put me at a disadvantage?"

Hiroshi was still smiling. "Only one way to find that out my boy, get ready to fight and trust in your weapon, that is your first real lesson, always trust in your weapon, if you have no trust in it, it will fail you."

Kazuki lifted his weapon over his head. "If it is trust in a weapon I must have, than you are talking to the right guy, if I am going to put my life on the line with this weapon, than I will place every last inch of trust in it."

"That what's I like to hear, now lets go!" Hiroshi picked up his weapon and fired a slug shot the size of Kazuki's arm.

Kazuki closed his eyes for just a second before emitting a loud shout as he brought his weapon down.

A moment of silence followed by an excited Xanphia. Hiroshi looked at Kazuki who seemed as calm as ever with two pieces of the slug, one on each side of him, laying on the ground.

Xanphia was jumping up and down in excitement. "Wow, how did you do that, a bullet even a slug should travel at a speed too fast for anyone to match, especially with a weapon of that size."

Hiroshi smiled even wider than before. "It looks like you really do put your trust in your weapon, to close your eyes even for a split second would be fatal to anyone who did not trust his own power and that of his weapons."

Kazuki bowed to Hiroshi. "I thank you for that lesson and if it is not too much to ask, can we start the next one, by the sounds of it, I need to become battle ready fast."

Hiroshi chuckled. "Do not worry about a thing, Xanphia is just about to make some dinner, while she is cooking you and I will talk about what needs to be done.

"Dinner may take a little longer." Xanphia interrupted. "We didn't have enough ingredients so I need to go pick up some more, I am sure you can keep going with training, maybe not enough time for lesson two, but it should be ok to keep practicing."

Hiroshi smiled. "Ok, you go get the last ingredients and Kazuki and I will continue our training."

Xanphia walked off but not before winking at Kazuki when Hiroshi turned around a moment.

"Why do I get the feeling that she had enough ingredients but she wanted to do me this favour?"

Hiroshi turned around again. "Like all other shotguns, mine has two different types of ammo, the slug and the scatter, now I will use the scatter as there are no spectators." Hiroshi pumped the shotgun and started to fire volleys of little round bullets.

Kazuki closed his eyes again. "Ok sword, I put my trust into you, let us get out of this in one piece."

Then something weird happened, it seemed as if time stopped.

Then came a voice, a divine sounding voice from the sword "Call me Kaito, I am your weapon and I am your guardian. Use me like a tool and lose me like a fool, use me like a shield and I shall save you on the battlefield."

"My guardian?"

"Yes, you are the chosen one, you have a heart which is pure and nothing but good intentions."

"Ok Kaito, lend me your strength."

Time returned to normal as Kazuki opened his eyes, he started to swing the blade in several different directions as the balls seemed to bounce off of the sword. "Now I am attacking, Hiroshi!" Kazuki leaped into the air over top of Hiroshi. "Can your gun help you against this?"

Hiroshi laughed. "Looks like lesson two comes early." Hiroshi put the shotgun between his hands in the same way he pulled it out. "Defensive!" He smacked his hands together causing the gun to disappear and in its place was what looked like a portable wall made of some kind of mettle.

Kazuki's blade landed on the shield with a loud clanging sound. "What was that?!"

"That my boy was lesson two, defence. Although it may look it, it is everything but simple to learn, that is why we will continue the training after dinner."

"May I at least ask you how it is done?"

"It is done in a way similar to pulling out your weapon, you are not required to have your weapon out, but then you must call out, activate defence, activation is always needed."

"Ok, I will remember this, but I have another question."

"What is it my boy, ask away."

"When you fired that volley of bullets, I asked my sword for strength, it replied to me, it told me it's name."

"It's name?"

"Yes, it said it's name was, Kaito."

"I have only heard of something like this hap-"

Hiroshi was interrupted by a loud gun shot and Xanphia screaming.

Kazuki recognized the voice instantly. "Xanphia!" He yelled while running towards the source.

He ran through trees and jumped over bushes until he arrived at a clearing, where he saw Xanphia holding her leg which was bleeding and a man wearing something familiar to Kazuki's yet seemed bulkier.

Xanphia looked at Kazuki. "Please get Hiroshi, you are not ready yet."

Kazuki looked at her. "I don't care if I am ready or not, no one hurts you and gets away with it."

The other man looked at him. "Hah, it's just a kid, I was hoping for the old man. Anyways, my name is Suija and I will be your destroyer. Activate your weapon and lets get it on!" He was holding a pistol which looked more like an enlarged flare gun.

Kazuki closed his eyes and started emitting the loud hum.

"God, this is taking too long, say goodbye to the misses." He fired his gun straight towards Xanphia.

"Kaito, I need your help, Xanphia is going to die if I don't."

Time stopped once again. "Kazuki, I have the power to shield her, you just need the will to use it."

Kazuki's eyes opened. "Activate defence!" "I have to save Xanphia!" Before he realized it he was standing in front of Xanphia, the bullet coming straight for him. "What can I do?" He recalled Kaito's words. "Will power." He looked at his enemy and smacked his hands together. His hands blew away as if something exploded and in his right hand was a sword the size of him in length yet quite slender and on his left arm a shield, one like no other, it had an orange glow to it and surrounded him in a warm glow, but it did not only surround him, it surrounded Xanphia too.

The bullet smacked into the force field and simply disintegrated. Suija stared at him confused. "What was that?"

What is this, Kazuki mastered the defence technique without any training, and why does it have a weapon? Could it be that Kazuki's suit newer than the rest, or is something else going on here?