Ren waited patiently, lying in bed. Although he was losing plenty of time, and the tournament for candidates was approaching, he remained calm. There were worries materializing at the back of his head that he wouldn't get enough time to prepare, but with each of those moments, he reminded himself that he was about to get his Maken, a weapon that in theory should be enough to grant him the title.

Understanding that there was not much that could be done, he never voiced those little worries and instead patiently rested in bed. Satoru and Ayako visited him regularly. The first time they showed, he had to endure a long lecture about his reckless behavior, but it was crystal clear that both were proud of the fruits born from his crazy approach to matters.

The shinshoku didn't come after that one time, which was a bit disappointing, but it also only increased his anticipation for their next meeting.

In the morning, after finishing the meal that Ayako brought him, the doctor did the usual checkup of Ren’s body.

"I think you are healed enough to leave. You should still be careful. Don't train, at least for several more days. Keep things calm. Eat well, and hydrate. If you start feeling some kind of discomfort, then visit me immediately, but otherwise... I think you are free to go," Hiroshi smiled at him.

Ren was already grinning. The confinement of this bed started to feel like a prison, and he had many things he wished to do, so this information was simply amazing.

"Thank you, doctor."

"You still owe me two hundred fifty Gin. I expect you will pay it after becoming a candidate... Until that day comes, please take better care of yourself, and stop with those insane plans of yours..." He ended up sighing.

Ren was barely even listening as he was too busy getting out of bed. He stretched a bit and put his shoes on.

"I will, doc," he assured.

It only caused Hiroshi to let out another sigh. "You want me to escort you to Satoru's house?" he asked just a second later.

"No... I was planning on going to the temple and…"

"Don't do that yet," the doctor interrupted him. "Give yourself another day or two. The sword won't run away. Although your body heals incredibly fast, you have to remember that your condition was grave not that long ago."

For Ren, that was quite an unpleasant turn. His happy expression morphed into a grim one, but he did nod, showing his acceptance. Soon adding, "I'll wait."

"Good."

Then the young warrior headed outside of the medical part of the house, followed by Hiroshi until they reached the door leading out of the building. The doctor stayed there, escorting his patient further, but only with his eyes. His expression showed that he was still worried.

Meanwhile, Ren showed how much energy he had after lying down for so long. His nimble steps were full of strength and energy. Thanks to the fast pace, he reached the district of Noroi clan in no time, and from there he headed straight to Satoru's house. The idea to change his path and head to the temple did pop into his mind. He had to wrestle with it for a moment before deciding to stay on course.

He was greeted warmly by both the old man and his wife. They seemed happy to see him back, and even Tsukiko was there in his room when he entered.

'Congratulations. I knew you would find a way,' she said in his head.

Ren waited until he closed the door before he responded, allowing the two some privacy.

'Then why didn't you tell me?' he asked as his gaze shifted back to the cat.

'Didn't I already make it clear that I can't help you anymore? You have to make your own decisions. If I were to even drop a hint, you would take it.'

'But you teased me!'

'Yes. I did, but that was different. I only reminded you of what you desire. I didn't point you at the outcome of your decision, nor did I put you on the path that would allow you to find the solutions you needed. That was all your own doings.'

He sighed, noticing that there was no point in arguing with her. Then he went to lie down on his futon because there was not much more he could do. Training was out of the question, and the visit to the temple as well. The only other idea he had in his mind was to simply take a walk, but he recognized that if he did that, he would also increase the chance of him simply deciding to go to the temple, so the safest path was to stay in the room.

Tsukiko joined him, but this time she lay beside him, not on his chest.

This was a prelude to his next two days, where he would go almost insane out of boredom, but he also endured it, knowing that Hiroshi wouldn't warn him for no reason, so following the doctor's orders was definitely for his benefit.

The time did not pass fast, but it did pass eventually, and the awaited day finally came. From the get-go, Ren was full of energy. He joined Satoru and Ayako in the dining room with a massive smile on his face. They both didn't say a thing, but they understood the source of his happiness. With a full belly, he stepped outside, followed by the old man, who, just as usual, pulled out his pipe to take a smoke.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Satoru asked, prompting Ren to look over his shoulder.

"If you want to… It's not like I need you, but if you want to come, I have nothing against that."

The old man slowly nodded. "Then I will come," he said.

They both let out a chuckle, then embarked on a relatively short journey across the district to where the temple was located. The whole city seemed to behave as if nothing was going on, but Ren understood that it was only because they didn't know about the Hearteater yet. If they did, this would definitely cause some ruckus, so he actually felt it was for the better. At least temporarily.

Just like any other time, they first rang the bell by the archway before taking off their shoes and climbing the stairs. The door slid open, revealing the already very familiar face of the miko who was clearly responsible for the entrance, although Ren didn’t know her name yet.

"Ye..." She was about to ask but only the sound escaped her mouth. "We've been waiting for you," her demeanor changed, and she even bowed deeply. "Please enter and wait inside. I'll bring Reiko immediately."

The two men looked at one another, slightly surprised, but they did enter and waited inside for a moment before the busty saiin came. She was smiling, and a slight blush graced her cheeks.

"This way, please," she guided them both through the interior of the temple, passing by many corridors, until they ended up deeply within, in a large but mostly empty chamber with only a stone altar at the end.

That is where the sword lay, covered in paper talismans. Layers upon layers seemed to be keeping the ghost inside, but the weapon still trembled as the Hearteater kept fighting for his freedom.

All three of them got closer, but Reiko stopped them before they could take the final step.

"Wait. You mustn't remove the seals before you grab the sword… We don't want this monster to even have the slightest chance of escaping," she said.

Ren nodded, and then finally approached the altar. He grabbed the handle with his left hand, alongside a handful of the paper talismans, and then pulled it out of the rest of them, only to switch hands. As soon as the sword ended up in his right hand, it burst with black smoke.

This took him by surprise, but what happened after was even more shocking. A whip of iron razorwire shot out, wrapping around his whole arm and digging deep into the flesh. The pain squeezed out a short scream from his mouth.

"ARGH!"

Then the blade itself changed. It got slightly wider, and teeth-like hooks emerged from it, creating something similar to a saw-blade.

A few droplets of blood fell on the ground, but that was it. Nothing more changed. Still, the old man and the saiin were both in shock.

"I've never seen something like this," Satoru whispered.

"Me neither," Reiko added.

"What the hell is this?" Ren complained, with his face twisted by pain. It was not terrible, and he was able to withstand it, but the discomfort was significant. "How do I make it stop?"

"Maybe... Put the sword away?" Satoru asked, shrugging his shoulders.

At first, the idea seemed ridiculous since the weapon changed its form, but as Ren looked at the saya, it also was different from what it was before. It seemed to morph in synchrony with the katana.

He did put it back, and the razorwire retracted into the handle, letting go of his hand, but the bloody marks remained.

"I'll bring bandages..." Reiko said before she rushed outside.

"What was this?" Ren hissed at Satoru as soon as she was gone.

"I'm not sure… But I'm not an expert. I only saw this process once before, and it was very different. It was back when my son captured his spirit. We could always ask somebody who is better informed," he pointed out.

"Like who?"

"Isamu seems like the best person. He is very old, made many Jujins before, and probably knows everything that is to know about them…"

"Then we are going to pay him a visit, but first, I need to stop bleeding everywhere," the young warrior complained.

The old man had to hide the smile that blossomed on his lips. He even turned around, so Ren wouldn't notice. Moments later, Reiko returned and saw the slightly awkward situation, but she ignored it completely.

"Stand still," she instructed before beginning to bandage Ren's wounded hand. It soon was covered with fresh fabric, streaked with red here and there, but the dressing seemed to be enough to stop the bleeding.

"Thank you," he whispered, causing her to blush even more.

"I'm happy to help," she responded. "I hope you will heal quickly..." she added before planting a kiss on his cheek.

He looked deeply into her eyes, and the two of them froze, trapped in that moment.

Satoru cleared his throat, breaking the magic. "We should leave," he said.

"Y-yes," the young warrior stammered, tearing his eyes away from the beautiful maiden with a lot of effort.

"I'll take you back to the public entrance of the temple," Reiko said, stepping away from him.

Then she did what she said. While the two men left the building, she returned to the mysterious interiors.

"She likes you," Satoru pointed out the obvious as the two of them were putting on their shoes.

Ren didn't respond, wondering if there was a way for him and this strange saiin to be together, but he didn't voice those thoughts.

The old man took his silence as a suggestion that he didn't want to have this conversation, so he stopped talking. In silence, they began their journey to Isamu's house. It took a moment to get there, but soon they went inside the iron fence and began climbing their way uphill until they were abruptly stopped by the window bursting open.

The blacksmith was about to scream at them, but as he recognized the two, he stopped with an open mouth, glaring at them, and then his demeanor changed.

"It's you… What do you want again? Isn't it enough that you took my precious sword?"

"We've come to seek your wisdom," Satoru informed.

"Wisdom? What do you want to know?" Isamu asked, slightly surprised.

"This young man transformed his Jujin into Maken, but the weapon behaves weirdly."

"Weirdly? Come inside, and show me… Or even better, I’ll come to you," he said before vanishing inside. He slammed the shutters back before disappearing.

Moments later, he came through the front door and approached them. His eyes were already fixed on the sword by Ren’s belt. Just like that, the three found themselves in the middle of the open field surrounding Isamu’s house, right under the blue sky.

"Show me your Maken," Isamu urged.

"I don’t want to," Ren responded, making the blacksmith frown. "It hurt me last time I held it in my hand," he quickly explained.

"Hurt you? I need to see this. This is an even bigger reason to show me," he insisted.

Ren gritted his teeth before sighing heavily as he gave up. Then he grabbed the handle, pulling the weapon from the saya. The razor wire immediately whipped out, entangling his bandaged hand and digging into the flesh. He groaned out of pain.

"Remarkable," Isamu mumbled as his eyes widened.

"Remarkable?" Satoru asked.

"Yes… Use the sword, son. Cut the air," the blacksmith urged.

Ren was surprised by this request, but nevertheless, he did follow it, slashing the air vertically. Not only did the power of his hand surprise him, but the attack was nowhere near normal. Burst of invisible, wind-like energy slashed quite a bit of the soil in front of him, scaring Satoru, who stepped back, surprised by what happened. His eyes widened.

"Such power," the old man mumbled.

"Yes," Isamu agreed, and his lips twisted into a smile. "This Maken hurts you, but it also makes you stronger. It seems like the spirit inside is furious at you. Maybe if you can somehow calm it down, then the harmony between you and the weapon would increase."

"How can I do that?" Ren asked.

"Time. Meditation and time. For now… You should invest in a good iron glove," Isamu let out a chuckle before turning on his heel and heading back home.

The young warrior didn’t seem happy with what he learned, but the old man placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him down.

"He said his piece. We shouldn’t bother him beyond it… Let’s visit Hiroshi for some ointments and bandages, then go home. Tomorrow… Tomorrow we will try to find a blacksmith who can make you such a glove…"

Ren at first wanted to protest, and he even opened his mouth to do so, but then simply nodded, acknowledging the situation.

Guided by Satoru, he began the journey to the doctor.