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Chapter 41: The Essence of the Shinobu
Last Updated:
2023-12-04 21:29:14
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Dragon-kissed Chapter 42: Present Day
Temujin’s conflicting feelings manifested in the fire in the center of the igloo. The flame was dipping, which signified that the element fueled by his will was weakening. It also flickered several times, which meant that his heart was being clouded by doubts. Temujin was ashamed to admit it but he disliked Sasha. He knew it was unfair of him to judge Sasha because they had just met but in his mind, Sasha represented everything he didn’t have: loving parents, a big family, a tight-knit community, an identity. Sasha was the youngest and it showed in his gentle soul and the natural way he both gave and expected affection. He had known only his sheltered world and thus had the trusting and contented aura that Temujin didn’t. And because of these things, Sasha and Aki were a perfect match. This last realization hurt Temujin above all else. It was his own fault anyway, for entertaining the slightest possibility in his mind that Aki would develop feelings for someone like him. He hadn’t ev
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The three Slayers tried to act normal to avoid raising any suspicions. Sasha suggested they have a sauna bath, which was a big thing in the north and the surest way to blend in and not call any attention to themselves. It was also time-consuming and overindulgent, in Temujin’s opinion, but Aki was all for it because she had heard of the extraordinary benefits of the sauna to the skin. They took off their Slayer suits and slipped into uniform robes, with Sasha generating a wall of opaque ice for Aki to change behind. She and Temujin folded their suits on the igloo floor after removing all their weapons and valuables, and it made them feel very guilty when Mrs. Babor insisted on washing their clothes while they plotted to take away her youngest son. Sasha only worried about their suits not drying fast enough for the trip back to Pukkitunturi the next morning, but he had forgotten Aki could wind-dry them and Temujin could probably even press them with his heat. The two young men wore d
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Aki stared at Sasha in shock. “Powerful? Is that what it feels like?” “Well… I’m no expert considering that I only started changing into the Kuma-wani last year. And on sporadic occasions at that. The thing is, when the dragon takes over, I get a sort of sensory overload. My theory is that the dragon’s very acute senses get in the way of my forming human thoughts. “Those dragons who swore off human flesh in the Days of Dragon? I’m guessing they fought an uphill battle or they had iron discipline. Whenever I was in my dragon form and swimming underwater, I could smell a few drops of blood and hear the sounds of a dying sea creature hundreds of miles away. It was like being a deity (kamuy) when your devotees are praying to you all at the same time. It’s almost enough to drive you mad.” “That’s no gift,” Aki blurts out, a hand going over her mouth. Sasha shrugged. “It sure is a distressing experience when your senses become overwhelmed. You’re robbed of all reason and unable to tell
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Upon their arrival, the three Slayers went straight to the lodge where Griffin was recuperating and found the Harpax conscious, much to Temujin’s relief, and molting. “Molting?” Temujin echoed. The village shaman nodded. “I thought Harpax eagles only molted once in their lives.” Sasha looked scandalized. “Well, how many times do they molt?” “At least five, I read on the Wakan Sansai Zue,” Sasha replied, referring to a type of encyclopedia. “He picked a bad time to have his thing,” Temujin grumbled, sounding torn. “How can we leave him behind?” “Simple. Just say goodbye to him.” “What?” “Most village shamans are chūnins from the south,” Sasha explained. “Brown Slayers. It’s because northerners value reason and science so much that they sometimes forget the spiritual side of things. Shamans from the south remind us about that spirituality. And as you might have heard, brown Slayers have the talent of zoopathy, the ability to speak with land animals.” “Land animals? But Grif
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There is a secret prophecy known only to Belshazzar, the first Yin-Yang Master, and senior members of the Ciconi imperial family. It declares: | {Four and four, the moon is bitten. On the last, a new kage shall rise; son of the enemy, thief of the Stork Empress’s heart; prodigious feats of all elements five. Before a dragons-tongue path, warrior-lover shall stand; light or dark seals the fate of heaven, earth, and man.} | History has proven that the “Stork Empress” is none other than the heiress to the Gold Lotus throne, Aki Rokkaku, whereas the “son of the enemy” has revealed himself to be the orphan slayer from the Vulcanus Clan, Temujin. This was the true reason the reigning Emperor and Aki’s mother forbade her from exchanging words with the red Dragon Slayer. Yet a fresh enigma rises in the guise of the Undina clansman Sasha Babor. In a world of feuding clans, any male Dragon Slayer could well be the “son of the enemy”. What lends further credence to this theory is th
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When Aki and Temujin traveled north, Griffin had to fly about five hours before landing in Pukkitunturri. This time, they would double back and cover three times as much distance by water. According to Sasha, who had learned plenty listening to his elder brothers’ stories, it would take them ten to twelve days to get to where they were going, of course contingent upon the weather. At first, Sasha wore a blue parka with long flaps on the front and back and pantaloons made of lightweight and glossy caribou fur. Aboard the ship, he changed into his Slayer uniform, which was made of the pliant material from the South, the sap of the crying wood, and hugged his neck and muscular body like molten wax. He completed the blue Slayer ensemble with a lodestone compass, a speculum spyglass and a brass sextant, which Aki recognized as much smaller versions of the same contraptions in the Imperial Academy of Science on the Ethereal Nest. Temujin called dibs on one of the bunks below deck and pr
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Because of Sasha’s ice-generating powers, they didn’t have any trouble extending the shelf life of the meat or the vegetables, and they also ate ramen, rice, and bread for variety. Cooking was where Temujin shone, far eclipsing Aki and particularly Sasha, who had been used to preserving his mom’s cooking and eating it cold. Temujin learned how to cook when he was surviving by himself in the wild, including during Griffin’s first molting period. Sometimes Sasha would summon his fish brothers to swim straight into the fishing net that their ship dragged behind. Aki was amazed by this relationship between the blue Slayers and nature. It was deeply philosophical and rooted in Buddhism, in which everything was connected and animal brothers were willing to sacrifice themselves to nourish the bodies of blue Slayers. Aki and Sasha were both content to eat their catch raw after he had cut them up in small sashimi pieces like his mother did back in Blarjokull. Temujin, on the other hand, wasn
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If Sasha ever felt homesick, it was eclipsed by his joy at being out in the real world and no longer living vicariously through his elder brothers. Aki empathized with this because she was inhaling the same breath of freedom. They were like kids released from Slayer school into spring break. Her happiness though was tempered by foreboding and not a small amount of pessimism. This was in fact a delayed aftereffect of the discovery that she had been brainwashed by her own family. Either that or the knowledge that her father’s death anniversary was drawing closer and, according to Bureau of Cosmology astronomers, would be portentously tied with an active cycle of Blood Moons. The last tetrad (what Ciconi astronomers called the series of four Blood Moons) took place sixteen years ago, six years before her father died and his empty coffin was buried in a cold stone chamber, marked aboveground by a pagoda-like tombstone that appeared to overcompensate for the immense vacuum he had left behi
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Dragon-kissed Epilogue: New Dawn
“’Tis a sin tah suffer such a numbskull as ye live,” Captain Fang said, “but it appears we be a perfectly even match. Ye know as well as I do ’tis futile tah resort tah our mother element.” The pirate could barely stand in his exhaustion and was leaning on his sabre. Sasha was also down to his last reserves of energy. He was poised low on the ground, ever ready to strike with his shinobuken held horizontally in front of him, his left hand behind. “Were we in a trainin’ dojo where ye’ve been raised,” the captain said, “no one would claim victory… BUT HITHER IS NOT A DOJO!” Captain Fang thrust his amputated right arm and released the harpoon on the end of it. As a matter of fact, Sasha had earlier grabbed a handful of salt when he tumbled forward across a drying pan. Now he swung his left hand from behind him and flung the salt to the captain’s eyes like a sumo wrestler purifying the ring. Sasha felt a certain amount of pleasure when he heard the captain utter a pained squeal. In a s
Dragon-kissed Chapter 89: The Cleanup
Yuriko poked her head inside the hole in the roof. The building was a temple. Its ceiling was high above the floor and the whole place, although spacious, was empty. There were plenty of Everlite crystals to keep the temple well-lit. She regretted that she didn’t bring a grappling hook. She made the hand seal of Pyō the Great Thunderbolt to execute a Kyūbanjutsu (Suction Pad). It was one trick she inherited from her clan and had been useful during her stint as a cat burglar, till she scaled the hull of Captain Fang’s ship and became a stowaway. She channeled her ki to the soles of her feet and created partial vacuums on them so they would stick to any flat surface. The suction was enough to let her stand completely upside-down on the temple’s ceiling, her braided hair hanging down from her scalp. “Thanks for dropping in.” Yuriko gasped. Aki was across from her and also upside down. With the better lighting, she looked formidable in her white Slayer suit, at ease and back in her ele
Dragon-kissed Chapter 88: Rooftop Fisticuffs
Aki leapt from roof to roof. Her tabi boots touched the tiles lightly before pushing off. She was harnessing Karamijutsu (Body-lightening). Without warning, a tile she was stepping on broke and she slid straight down to the edge of the roof, only managing to grab the gutter in the nick of time. She was dangling there when Yuriko appeared on the incline, just a few feet away, crouching and fanning out a set of throwing knives. Apparently, she had launched a projectile that broke Aki’s foothold. “Fancy a prince tah rescue ye, princess?” “I’m not a princess,” Aki replied through gritted teeth. “I’m a SLAYER princess!” With a back flip, Aki brought herself upside-down with her legs spinning in a wheel kick. Yuriko held her forearms up in an X shape and the casings of her katars blocked the kicks. Aki landed right in front of her. They were soon locked in hand-to-hand combat; something rare for Stork Slayers who emphasized defense over offense, evasion over brute strength. Yuriko projec
Dragon-kissed Chapter 87: The Teacher
“What took you?” Koumori-shishou asked. The old man remained seated on the driftwood, his back still turned and exposed to the newcomers though all three of his students had sprung to their feet. “Cor blimey! Whar be our manners?” Captain Fang said sarcastically, drawing a water-saber that he instantaneously generated out of an empty, solid scabbard. “Apologies fer keepin’ ye waitin’.” The saber was made possible by the Undina Clan’s Mizu Funsha no Jutsu (Water Stream), which produced a very high-pressure jet of water that was as strong and sharp as regular katana. “Well,” Koumori-shishou said, “we would not be very good Slayers if we threw away fifteen minutes of head start, would we?” “Maybe you’re just stupid,” Ganzorig said. “It was precisely the light in your pipe that led us here.” “Death on a hook is food in the eyes of a fish.” “Be ye sayin’ ye lured us out here, ye treacherous cur?” Captain Fang roared. “This shall nah end well fer ye.” “As I be a soul,” Kosano said, “
Dragon-kissed Chapter 86: First Class
They sat around Koumori-shishou on the moonlit beach. Like real students, Aki thought excitedly. Sasha had returned to his human form and was still half-naked. Apparently, shrinking back down was relatively easier than blowing up to the fearsome scale of Dragonkist Ryūjin. The master sat on a large piece of driftwood. He took off the tunic-like uniform of the Dark Emperor and revealed his usual attire underneath: the saffron robe and pom-pommed surplice of the hermit monks, the Yamabushis. From inside his sleeve, he drew out his shakujō staff with the six rings. Like Aki’s bō staff, it could be retracted and extended. Next, from his slightly hunched back, he produced his straw conical hat and placed it on top of his head. Finally, he unclipped his one-toothed geta sandals from his belt and put them on. He was completely transformed. Aki clapped and Sasha muttered, “Wow.” Koumori-shishou bowed with a flourish. “You’re a true master of disguise, shishou,” Aki complimented. The monk
Dragon-kissed Chapter 85: The Emperor of the Dark
From the strong rocking movements, Aki could tell they were on a small boat. Her captors were using oars. All at once, the bag was pulled from over her head and the wind coating was removed from her mouth. “Get your stinking hands off me or I swear you’ll lose them!” Aki blinked to adjust her eyes. It was still night. Have they arrived in Dragon’s Horn already? “Spoken like a true warrior-princess,” said a familiar voice. Aki couldn’t believe it. She strained her eyes in the dark. “Temujin?” she blurted out. “That’s right. It’s me.” “But I thought…” “I had some help,” he said, gesturing to a second figure behind him. Aki let out a frightened gasp. In the pale moonlight, she could make out the Dark Emperor! “Oh, don’t be alarmed!” Temujin said. “It’s just my master, Koumori-shishou.” To Aki’s great consternation, the Dark Emperor swept back his hood and took off his iron dragon mask. An old man with slanted eyes and a long wispy beard like a mountain goat’s was beaming at her
Dragon-kissed Chapter 84: Hard Truths
“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” Aki asked Sasha. They had eventually given up hope that Temujin would return. As much as it pained Aki to admit it, she knew he would succumb to brainwashing. Most Slayers did, sooner or later. “Well, at first they were pointed south like us but then they made a U-turn, which explains why we didn’t see them coming. My guess is they’re now taking us to Dragon’s Horn. It’s a big and busy trading port, for all things legal and illegal.” “They’re gonna sell us as slaves?” Aki said in horror. “No, we’re much too old to be submissive. But they know you’re the heiress apparent so they’ll demand a princess’s ransom.” “A princess’s ransom? How much is that?” “Let’s just say they’re gonna try and bleed your empire dry.” “My grandfather would never allow that. I’m sure he’ll have imperial soldiers waiting for us when we reach port. I’ll have these pirates arrested before they even—” “They probably wouldn’t tell anyone about you just yet. The
Dragon-kissed Chapter 83: Torture
In the afternoon, after their cheerless and tasteless brunch, the captain came down to the brig to grace them with his presence. Aki was right, the four most important people on the ship were: Captain Fang, the Dark Emperor, Kosano and Yuriko; in that order. But because they were pirates, it was easy to imagine incessant politicking among the last three. The entire crew was of course curious about the young Slayers who had kicked their butts, but they were under strict orders to stay on their posts and perform their duties. Nevertheless, Aki recognized Zaterra and Ganzorig; the first was endlessly cutting his nails with a dagger. Temujin also noticed his cork backpack slung on Zaterra’s shoulder. “Hey, that’s mine!” Temujin shouted, gripping the dragon-bone bars of his cage. “Finders keepers,” Zaterra replied and stuck out his tongue. “Give it back to him!” Aki demanded. “Be yer companions knowin’ yer secrets in this here bag?” asked Kosano. Temujin fell quiet. “Cat got yer ton
Dragon-kissed Chapter 82: Prisoners
They were held in separate cells down the ship’s brig. Aki’s and Sasha’s were adjoining while Temujin’s was across from theirs. Each cell had an additional feature. For instance, Aki’s had a water barometer to monitor the slightest change in atmospheric pressure if she attempted to form winds inside the ship. Sasha’s had a quicksilver thermometer to keep the room temperature in check. Last, apart from confiscating his flint and steel, the pirates put Temujin in a cell with the fire-proof bones of a red dragon for bars. In case the prisoners showed any signs of defiance by using their powers, the pirates also had a weird-looking contraption like an electrically charged spear. Sasha figured it was a weaponized version of the Leyden jar. If it touched their prisons (the conductor), it would discharge tens of thousands of volts. This last piece of technology suggested a link between the pirates and Tamerlane’s research on the fifth element, but all of them pointed to the fact that the cap
