Needless to say, Kotaro was shocked at the sheer speed of the Neo-Shadow as it dodged the Parry. He thought about dodging but unfortunately, his mind thinks faster then his body can react, and got his chest scratched and bleeding as a result. Fortunately the momentum of his blade was supported by gravity and struck it down anyways. When the battle was over, he took a deep breath and sighed, an act that was made somewhat uncomfortable thanks to the wounds on his chest. There were a few cuts on his leg as to be expected, holes in his black jeans that needed to now be sewn shut. But they weren't as bad as the ones on his chest so he chose to ignore it for now. He then noticed how Isadora gotten rid of her heartless group, and needless to say, was quite fascinated by her skill, and most especially the look in her eyes as she destroys her foes. The emotions she let out showed the difference between the two, making Kotaro almost envious of her...passion, for lack of a better word. "[i]Not one emotion reserved. Either she's really dedicated to the darkness, or she really hates these things.[/i]" Kotaro thought. When they were both finished, he stood up straight looking at Axeus, He first stated that he accepted the two as his apprentices, to which Kotaro wanted to give thanks to him for, but figured words could irritate him as it did for that woman that led him here. As such, he simply nodded as his way of saying his thanks, before listening what could only be described as his first lecture to them both. A lecture about pain and what pain would create in the heart. When he met Tamius for the first time, he recalled him denying the treatment Kotaro would give him for pain. Throughout those days he just beared the pain as the injuries slowly healed. "[i]Find life in Misery...was this what he meant?[/i]" Kotaro asked, still not necessarily getting it. However, his thoughts were interrupted when the darkness crept into his wounds and created an unspeakable pain, enough to make him cough blood. He was caught off-guard, as it felt like an icicle pierced his chest. His ears still listened to Axeus as he tried to bear the pain as his friend bore his...easier said than done, far easier. "[i]Use the power, to control others... use pain, to control others...acheiving our goals...through pain?[/i]" Kotaro's noted these in his head, and now he was starting to understand, or at least he believes so. As the pain rushed through him, his mind was rushing with thoughts of logic, and agony, making it hard to keep track of them. When the darkness ceased its attack, Kotaro dropped to one knee, gasping for air as his head was still something of a mess, but it was starting to stabilize and come back together, one last aftershock of the nerves and those then stabilized as well. He slowly got up, and went back into position. The healing of cure actually was painful at first as the nerves and skin regenerated on the spot, but by the end he felt like he never got injured in the first place. As he listened to his master speak to him, he was amazed by what he said, though he didn't know what amazed him more: The fact that simply throwing a Keyblade is a technicque in of itself, or the fact that there was a better way of performing the act of throwing it. Maybe it was modesty thinking, but he didn't think it was as grand as that. After all, all he did was do the most sensical thing he could think of with a magic sword. He then heard that Captain Veros will be his teacher, immediately making him freeze up. "[i]...Oh dear, looks like it was a good thing to be learning about pain after all.[/i]" He thought. He heard Axeus mention that he expected him to get this done by the morning, to which he nodded. For a moment, if only a moment, pride entered his thoughts. It was just a matter of learning how to throw properly, right? How hard could that possibly be? He then heard what Axeus said next. He recalled that people believed that apprentices of the dark were treated harsh, but at least his master was kind enough to explain to him the reason for that harshness. He gave a smile as he was dismissed and gave a salute. "[b]Yes Master. ...I won't let you down![/b]" He said, that gentle smile on his face. He walked over and followed Veros as was told. --------------------------------- "[i]Out of the frying pan...into the fire.[/i]" He thought as he followed her to the training room. Needless to say, this was rotten luck for him as well. Of all the people he was sure Axeus had under his command, he made his personal trainer the one who clearly hates his guts the moment he stepped on to the planet. That said though, maybe that was the point. Dark Keyblade warriors are warriors above all else, warriors need harsh training to be prepared to fight like Axeus explained, and who is harsher than someone who hates your guts? They entered the Training room and... "[b]Wow...[/b]" He said with a smile of awe on his face. He was not expecting something like this. This place looked absolutely amazing, the sunlight giving a proper shine to it. Everything looked practically clean and new. There was only one thing here he knew nothing about though, those cylinders. Whatever those were they were heavily related to magic, shown by the energy they give out...Charge stations perhaps? No, that doesn't seem right. Before he could think on them any further though, in comes the voice of Veros verifying his name, to which he looks at her and give a quick nod. "[i]Not another word, Kotaro... You don't need to give her another reason to want to throw that keyblade of hers at you...[/i]" He thought. He then listened to her explanation of how Strike Raid works. Seeing it himself, he was quite amazed by the boomerang effect of the keyblade. It didn't occur to him to consider it being able to return to him, if only because boomerangs are bended the way they ae specifically for that purpose while keyblades are completely straight. Still, it's worth a try. He nodded to her as she claims it's his turn. Summoning his keyblade he looked at the dummy. "[i]A link with my weapon, ...requiring control over it. Got to focus...[/i]" He thought. He took a deep breath and sighed. When he was ready, he threw the Keyblade as he did before seeing it spin almost perpetually towards the dummy and indeed cleaving it in two. But now came the hard part as he tried to focus on calling it back to him, extending his hand out towards it, thinking that might help to control it, moving his hand a little to the right he noticed as the Keyblade started to change directions and steer towards the right. Then a little to the left. As he felt he was getting somewhat of the hang of this, he tried to figure out how to call it back to him. As if like a chain he pulled his left hand to his right side, hoping that would pull it back to him. Instead it pulled a hard right causing Paradise Sealed to smack right at a Magic Conductor before dropping to the floor. "[b]...Uhh...Well, At least I know how to steer it now. Now I just need to have it come back.[/b]" Kotaro said, somewhat calm, or rather trying to keep calm since it's easy to believe Veros might have temptations to hide his corpse right about now. "[i]No tolerance for failure...Lets just hope beginner mistakes doesn't count as that.[/i]" He thought.