Novis was currently having serious flashbacks to the first time he had met Arthur. The dragon carving that no one could see. An old ancient mystic weapon. Everything was the same. Any second now Novis thought he would start to hear a strange voice again.
"You can see the crest?" A strange voice said.
Novis suddenly dropped the bamboo sword letting it fall to the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" Ashley asked.
Novis face couldn't hide how surprised he was. He thought there was no way this could be happening again. What were the chances of him finding two ancient spirits residing in weapons? Worst yet, why could no one else hear them but him.
"You can hear me, can't you?"
"No, no this can't be happening again!" Novis said out loud with his hands covering his ears.
Novis was starting to think maybe he was just a crazy person. That these spirits were just figments of his imagination. Or someone with split personalities. Why else could no one hear them but him.
"What are you talking about Novis?" Ashley asked starting to feel worried for him.
Daiki then picked up the sword from the ground and smiled.
"You can hear him, can't you?"
Novis slowly lifted his hands off his ears and started to look at Daiki. Did Daiki just say what Novis thought he said?
"Judging by your reaction, you can. I was right, you are a special boy indeed."
"Old man, you can hear him too," Novis said excitedly, realising now that he couldn't be crazy.
"I wish I could, but no matter how many times I would speak to the sword, I never once heard it."
Daiki would routinely come into the praying room every day hoping that one day he would hear the sword but not once did it ever respond.
"My words were never heard then?" the bamboo sprit said.
The bamboo spirit had replied to Daiki many times but Daiki was never able to hear his answers. The spirit felt sad for Daiki.
"How did you know about the spirit inside the sword then?" Novis asked.
"My teacher could hear the words of the spirit, he said it taught him everything he knew about Kendo. I trusted my teacher's words and he told me to find someone who could hear the spirit inside. And until now you are the first person, I have met who could hear the words of the spirit."
Ashley was shocked to hear the words coming out of her father's mouth. She had never heard him speak of any of this before. Daiki knew that if he told anyone he would sound like a madman, so he kept this secret deep down. Even he had doubts sometimes weather a spirit truly exited inside the sword.
But Daiki could feel that the sword had strong energy residing inside it, but beyond that, there was nothing else. When Ashley gained interest in kendo at the young age of five. Daiki was exited and let Ashley hold the spirit sword but just like him, there was no reaction.
Ashley was too young to remember this experience and at the time she thought she was just holding a regular bamboo training sword, like every other one.
Suddenly, the sword started to shake in Daiki's hand. Daiki placed the sword down on the ground.
"Finally, my time has come, I have found a chosen one. I'm sorry about this but I must take space in a part of your mind for a while."
White mist started to appear from the sword and out came a dashing brown-haired middle-aged man. The man wore an old-style Kendo outfit made of bronze rather than leather but what surprised Novis most of all was the man looked like a westerner.
Novis had expected an Asian person to appear from the sword but instead, the man looked more like a knight from ancient times.
Novis slightly stepped back as he looked at the spirit floating in front of him. Ashley and Daiki could see by Novis's reaction something was happening but when the two of them looked towards the sword they could see nothing.
Daiki knew something was happening as the atmosphere of the whole room suddenly felt heavier than before.
"Boy, is everything okay?"
Novis couldn't hear Daiki shout though, he was too focused on the spirit in front of him.
"I'm sorry about this." The spirit said as it dashed forward towards Novis's body.
The spirit got closer to Novis's body and just as it was about to enter, Novis closed his eyes. The next thing he heard was the sound of two metal objects colliding with each other.
*Clang.
"I'm afraid this boy's mind is already occupied," Arthur said.
Arthur sword suddenly clashed against the bamboo sprit's weapon. The bamboo spirit held a thick metal rod with a point on the end. It was a similar shape to the Sword's they used in Kendo. It wasn't sharp but had good durability and weight behind it.
The clash of the two spirits weapons started to send shockwaves in the room. Even Ashley and Daiki could feel these.
"What on earth is happening!" Ashley shouted.
"It's my spirit, it's fighting against the bamboo's one," Novis shouted.
Daiki couldn't believe it; the boy had his own spirit. Now, he understood why the boy was so strong for his age. The teacher he talked about must have been his own spirit.
The two spirits' weapons were still held up against each other. The bamboo spirit had its eyes currently focused on Novis. This was his chance to finally be free and then this man in front of him had stopped him. How was this possible though?
The spirit was unable to interact with physical objects. He could escape from the bamboo sword but would only be able to move ten meters away from it. So, what was stopping him right now?
When the spirit went to invade Novis mind. His instinct was telling him something was coming. If it wasn't for that he would have never been able to block in time.
The bamboo sprit then looked up at the person who had stopped him.
"Arthur?" The spirit said.