The Madness of Devotion

Hailing from the Soleance Empire, Soujirou grew up a solitary life in a remote village. His father was a master Swordsman, but there was very little to do in town, except life out a peaceful life. It was quite strategically placed, making it both undesirable and hard to reach as a bandit raid target, or a location of war. His intent was clear, to live out his days in peace.

But what is peace alone to the young ones, with an innate fire and desire to grow and learn in their hearts? Boredom, pure and simple. Having lost his mother at a young age, he had always held his father in extra high regards, as a model to grow up after. There was nothing else, and nothing else that he desired.

In the village, there lived only a few other people, which were some boys his age and a couple of elders. There were no young girls, so as a consequence, he never came to fully understand the concept of love, nor did anyone introduce him to the other kind of "forbidden" love.

On numerous occasions, he'd try to play with the other children, but compared to him, they were all accustomed to life in the remote village, being laid-back, lax and favoring low-intensity play. Soujirou couldn't comprehend why, as he had been used to larger cities up until now. His father was his only connection to that kind of life, yet he was showing signs of settling in with peace, and peace alone, and consequentially boredom.

He began to plead his father do teach him something exciting and thrilling, and one day, he complied. The art of the sword would be simple to teach for his father who had practiced it throughout his life, and there may come a time where his son would need to protect himself. That kind of logic was convenient for Soujirou, who found himself enraptured in the fine arts, the dedication put into merely learning it; let alone mastering it. There was dynamicity, practice, new learnings... it was all he ever wanted in a play, and he'd be able to reach a point where he could practice this with himself all alone.

No longer feeling the company of others necessary, he didn't have to interact with those who held values opposite to his; who bored him. He had something much more interesting, a passion- purely for that of perfecting his blade, his skill as a samurai, that was the ideal he began to harbor, unbeknownst to his father.

Though he'd find satisfaction and gratification in enriching himself through the art of sword-fighting, he still fell flat on all other regards. Peace and quiet having dulled his ability to learn and adapt rapidly, and swordfighting taking most of his active attention.

Apathy begun to form under the layers of passion, and sensing this change in Soujirou, his father made the decision to send him away once he was 18, of age. In hopes that he'd find some sort of wholeness or completeness in the outside world, even if it is at the risk of exposing him to a multitude of dangers.

As for Soujirou, he felt it an opportunity to test out his skills in the real world. His new apathy being overshadowed by a new wave of passion, but not being quelled completely. In time, it could rise, or become eliminated altogether. The blade lunatic himself could only control so many variables, and his fate would soon be tied to that of others, which would drastically change the course life took him on.