One of the later books in the Endless Quest series, inspired by the Oriental Adventures sourcebook for Dungeons & Dragons.
In it the reader plays Yori, son of the legendary samurai Toshi, who unfortunately went missing on his last quest. Despite being trained as a samurai warrior in secret, one day Yori's summoned by the emperor to pick up where his father left off: finding three legendary magical treasures to secure the emperor's power before he can be overthrown by his enemies.
Blade of the Young Samurai provides examples of:
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Yori, Toshi and Daku sound vaguely like Japanese names. Of course, this isn't really supposed to be Japan, it's a fantasy kingdom vaguely reminiscent of legendary Japan.
- Basilisk and Cockatrice: One appears in the Mountains of Fire, and can freeze you solid.
- The Collector: The Yuki-onna the player encounters has a museum made up of some of the land's most legendary heroes and magicians, frozen alive. Of course, this comes back to bite her when Yori gets the last treasure and revives them.
- Disappeared Dad: Toshi disappeared on his last quest for the emperor. Yori saves him if he succeeds on the quest.
- Koan: Succeeding on Yori's quest involves looking for the treasures in the right order, and he's guided by a series of koans that pose a riddle on where to go next.
- Nonindicative Name: The Mountains of Fire, since when you go there all you see is ice.
- Public Domain Artifact: The treasures Yori needs to find are awfully similar to the treasures in Japan's imperial regalia. We have:
- The crystal sword, Kusanagi.
- The Gem of Seeing, which lets the user see into the future or past.
- The Mirror of Omikami, supposedly the most powerful of the artifacts, but you never see how, since by the time Yori finds it, the quest is pretty much over.
- The Three Trials: Three quests, each to find one of the magical artifacts.
- Yuki-onna: The last villain faced in the quest is one.
