Kingdom: The Black Moon Assassin

As always, theory is a good foundation before diving into practice. That's why Jun was thoroughly instructed by years of experience in the art of the Black Moon Dance.

This sword style was based on a brutal approach to killing; regardless of the method, every movement in this art was aimed at killing opponents.

Silent, fast, and fierce, it had no comparison with other sword styles because it was literally based on massacres.

The first part of the dance taught one to protect oneself; what is the fastest way to do so? By killing the enemy quickly. A single sword movement should be aimed at cutting any limb, damaging the artery, and causing the enemy to bleed out.

After the theoretical instruction, Jun went straight to practice, this time using only wooden swords.

Needless to say, he lost in a lamentable manner; round after round, his movements were ineffective in penetrating Trevor's defenses.

"Jun, your sword can be faster and more powerful. As you gain more experience and use your inner energy more naturally, you'll have no rival in the ceremony."

"Well, I think this round was much better than the last." Jun felt his whole body burning, but his inner energy made it less painful than it should have been.

He could be much better; he was not only getting used to the clothing under his black tunic but also to moving in this kind of footwear, which was very comfortable but made it difficult to be silent.

His sword speed was fast, with more force than a ten-year-old should have, but experience needed significant improvement.

The man named Trevor was powerful, seeming like a mountain Jun couldn't scale, at least not in two years.

It was understandable; the age difference was the problem, and from what he had heard, even if they were good, they wouldn't have considered participating in their era's blood ceremony if given the chance.

It was a bloody competition; those who participated would strip every feeling from your body and prepare you for the outside world.

Jun wasn't sure if that would work for him, but he didn't want to think about it now as he reviewed the sword art movements.

After reviewing for a few hours, Jun approached Trevor and asked, "What do you do besides training to pass the time?"

"We become stronger to be ready for the Blood Mix Ceremony." Trevor said it with a different sparkle in his eyes.

"What is that supposed to be?" Jun was confused; there was still much he had to learn.

"Obviously, we must have relations with women every nine moons to produce new descendants. If our child is a boy, he will be trained in our clan, and if a girl, she will be in the Shiyuu clan." Trevor said excitedly about the ceremony.

Jun nodded slightly; it was impossible for the clan to maintain its members being all men, and the same went for the Shiyuu clan, which was composed only of women.

"I thought we would kill each other if we tried to connect."

"That's only for the representatives of our clans in the outside world; each winner tends to be very arrogant, and over time, they end up fighting to the death."

Jun shook his head slightly; it seemed that no one had noticed that the excuse for the representatives of the clans to fight was being influenced by the union.

If Jun won, he would have to claim a woman from the Shiyuu clan, but this would offend that murderous woman and lead to violence. The same would happen if the woman wanted to claim a man from the Haiyue clan, causing a fight over who was less arrogant.

That's why Jun would avoid any relationship with that woman connected to him if he won the Blood Ceremony.

He'd be playing with his life if he sought out a woman, considering there were many in the outside world.

"Listen carefully, Jun; our sword style can be infernal in the outside world, but the villages, especially those competing in the Blood Ceremony, will know the most cruel ways to counter us." Trevor knew that many trained their representatives to know how to defeat those from Asura Village.

Jun listened carefully to these life-saving tips.

"You must be fast, strong, and above all, have great endurance. The rumors that you have been the best in your training so far are suppressed in this village, but remember, the other member of this clan could be your greatest enemy."

"I understand that well." That's why Jun would live alone, away from most, who could be the other selected for the ceremony.

If he mingled with other village members to kill him, he'd have many problems; it was one of the strategies he would use if he had no other options.

"Just need to train the coordination of your inner energy with your movements; the rest is easy given your strength."

"Understood."

...

The afternoon returned, and Jun learned a lot about the forest, sensed the smells, the ground, and became even more familiar with himself.

Upon returning to the cabin, two burly assassins were waiting to welcome Jun as he deserved.

"The twins?"

At the end of Jun's gaze, there were Trevor and Vera at the door of the old cabin.

Jun tried to figure out why they were there but couldn't come up with any plausible reason, so he walked toward them.

Crack!

Hearing the rustling of the grass, the twins' eyes turned towards Jun simultaneously.

Soon after, the twins, seeing Jun, bowed their heads and greeted him.

"I talked to my brother about our training, and he was moved, so we're here to help you with the cabin repairs."

"And I'll help." Vera seemed to be the more sentimental of the brothers.

Upon hearing those words, Jun's face showed some doubt. "Aren't you two supposed to be guarding the gates?"

"Vargo sent us."

"He asked us to help you, saying a representative of our clan couldn't live in a cabin where they used to raise chickens."

Jun's expression didn't improve; he knew that old man Vargo wasn't exactly pleasant to him.

As an elder whom Jun couldn't understand, he tried to find the reason behind each of his actions.

"Are you guards?"

"The best in this forest." Vera was excited when mentioning his job.

As Jun continued to be concerned, a thought crossed his mind. He looked at the twins.

Suddenly, Jun looked at them in bewilderment.

There was no way to trust the surveillance to these idiots.

The old man must be suffering from dementia if he truly put these two in charge of guarding.

They were strong but foolish; assigning this task to them might be somewhat tragic for their great skills.

"So, should we start repairing it? What do you say?"

"I'm good at nailing."

Jun nodded slightly, then walked toward the cabin and found out that they had never kept chickens there.

"Have you ever dreamed of flying?" Jun suddenly asked, wanting to confirm he wasn't in one of those immortal novels.

"I dream of being a bird."

"I tried to fly, but that's only a privilege of roosters."

Jun gave up on these twin brothers; he didn't want to argue with them, wanted to tell them roosters don't fly, but he remained silent, focusing on improving the place where he'd stay for the next few years.