Mira

A year we travel the beautiful Titan Mountains, a year in which I develop and discover parts of myself I never knew could be.

I get to know Asriel the man and surprise surprise I liked him. I like Sachihiro as well, I admire him like I've never come to admire anyone before. By the time we reach some civilisation I am a mountain girl through and through.

Hunting birds by tracking them across the sky with a sling. Taking down prey with an improvised spear the Barbarian made. Scaling the cliffs to avoid danger and check on our snares. It's a peaceful kind of life, my life has never been as quietly at peace as it has been through our journey and I like it.

I smile at Sachihiro throwing a rock at his head to stop him laughing at me. We have developed a rapport and a mutual respect, I don't know how many times he's saved my life and I don't care to count. A solid dependable character that is now my partner in crime and fortune.

And he is quite virile as a man with beautiful corded muscles and thick tight abs, but besides that he is just generally useful. Aggressive in his demands, or sweet and gentle without there being a contradiction in his behaviour. Beautiful brown eyes, dark hair with streaks of blond locks here and there with the hard hands of a hard man that are as gentle as a lambs fleece.

Eventually we find ourselves in a sprawling valley between mountain openings.

A fertile valley in which green grass and crystal clear water crinkling across smooth stones and coloured fish flourishes. Flowing water reflects the light of the sun in such a way as to boast of its rich viscosity. The plants are symmetrically arranged, intentionally cultivated which means people are close.

Eventually, there is such a valley after every mountain we cross. Occupying those small gaps between each Titan with their wholesome fruit trees and exotic wildlife. Beasts like the long-tailed monkeys,some valleys filled with magical black or spotted horses that prattled about with long silky flowing manes and huge huffs. Black Friesians I think Asriel calls them.

Suddenly there is a monastery of the cults carved amongst the rocks testifying to humanities expansion even to these far off lands. Each cult hidden here with a little 'secret' knowledge and praise or worship I'm not sure which, of some of the 'dead deities' as they call them.

Dieties, Spirits that are the children of the Seven that somehow managed get to the mortal realm from the spirit realm. But such creatures are greatly diminished here, needing to take physical form or somehow get themselves worshipped as deities in order to retain a shred of divine knowledge or understanding. What are these new gods after all besides failed creatures, desperately clinging together under a single monastery.

It is said they get more power the more specific a role or aspect they take and the more devoutly worshiped or loved or feared or honoured they are. I've read on these new cults, Crysta has spoken of cults and gods.

Creepy places. Nice people we left to their own devices and moved on.

But yes finally we find the Hito People of Honshu.

These people are known as the makers of the way. A legend about their origins and how they saved humanity from its first foe, Death.

They are divided amongst villages and these villages divided into clans and these clans divided into families. And here in Honshu Asriel introduced himself and where he is from.

For the first time, I hear he is sent by a man named Malachi and here in Honshu Village amongst the blade-wielding Hito our training begins in earnest.

Staying there is a treat, a well-deserved break from the world. Something every human should experience at least once in their life. Asriel calls it a holiday, I say every day is a holy day.

We quickly learnt that our hosts are an offshoot of the Lost People of Orientia from Sandersoria, which Asriel claims aren't lost at all.

Whereas in Orientia they took ninjujutsu the chakra releasing jutsu and most of the taijutsu, hand to hand jutsu as their focus these people took the way of zanjutsu, the sword jutsu as their own. They call themselves the followers of the way of the blade and they are good at what they do.

Within the Hito is an even more elite force known as the samurai, warrior-servants of the people, the internal security. The powers that watch the powers that be and within the samurai still are the soul-samurai. I have no words that could describe these patrons of their own domains, these honoured soul-samurai with their mysterious ways.

These soul-samurai are legends to their own elites. The closest thing I can compare them to be grandmaster magicians back in Sandaria.

The sensei of the samurai in the Honshu Village we were received is Hiroyuki Sanada, the sensei of the soul samurai throughout the Hito Villages is Kazimoto, a mysterious man with the moniker of Beautiful Madman.

It is peaceful here, everything is in harmony.

We are received as honoured guests and put into beginner classes with children Sachihiro and me. We are empty vessels, we learn the way quickly, eagerly.

* * *

It is said that Kazimoto was the first soul samurai. Taking on the soul-reapers that fought for the gods during the proxy wars. The soul-reapers were one of humanity's first foes, humanity's antithesis as they were agents of death sent to Gaia to claim life, but its not just life they claimed but souls.

One could notp permanently kill them using physical or magical means. Like demons, they could only be banished or trapped in such a way but returned once more to exact vengeance hundreds of years later. Being banished by valiant warriors giving their all but always returning to reap more souls.

The only way to truly kill a soul-reaper is to use the power of your soul it was discovered and thus began the path of soul magic in those days. A path that was previously unheard of amongst the Hito progenitors.

Soul magic is an obscure magic even to this modern day because it is very difficult to define or understand. You cannot choose to specialise in soul magic when going through Awakening but It has to choose you, and it's a fickle thing. It might even disappear after a while.

Legends say soul-magic was a sentient magic in those days, bestowing itself to a few individuals each generation. But choosing which of the wielders children oit allowedto inherite a piece of that magic.

A piece was enough when thousands of years after the death of the last known Soul-Mage the same enemy returned, and could only be combatted by a Soul-Mages's descent.

As the legend goes Kazimoto is one of those descendants and he became the last of them to survive. Using his living soul and ether he manifest the first zanpakutō, the soul sword out of pure desperation. Thus started the way of soul warriors to combat those ancient horrors of death.

The first zanupakuto was a sword so beautiful and perfect that it gave rise to an aristocratic warrior way of life dedicated to this weapon and mastering it. A warrior creed that rose and did it's best to copy the weapon.

Inspiring the katana in the process, inspiring many weapons and objects that tried to emulate that first sword made of soul and from there the way of the sword was born. A blade folded no less than a thousand times in its forging was the best the Hito could accomplish in imitation. Their best epitome of a souls cutting edge.

Till this day soul forged weapons are the only known physical weapons that can permanently harm soul reapers spawn. And these weapons can also release lost, bound or haunted souls. Resulting in the soul-sword wielders being a sort after commodity, especially in the underworld.

If any of those stories are true, that would make Kazimoto at least 17 000 years old. I'm a sceptic but the stories are nice and put the kids to sleep.

As chosen of old when the Hito and the Oriental people separated. Taking zanjutsu from their ancient patron the first Chein-long as if predestined to do so. Soul-samurai are an essential way of life down there, in the Underdark, the world beneath the world. The so called Underworld of myth.

These Hito speak of myths and legends with such easy conviction you'd swear they were there. I'm a sceptic but I cannot deny the wonders this society keeps hidden amongst these hidden valleys.

The feet of forming a soul-ether blade was costly, resulting in Kazimoto needing to spend millennia to fully heal his soul. From then on the discipline of the soul samurai emerged, but using celestial metal instead of ether to make the swords.

Resulting in an initially inferior product, but one that allows the soul of the wielder to heal quicker and eventually rival the original soul sword. There were several villages of these followers of the way among the mountain valleys.

But we were hosted on Shimane, also called 'The Home of The Gods'. There these Hito people keep a great secret, there a mineral vital for the forging of a zanpakutō can be found. Yes, celestial ore. An entire hill of it.

Here we spend another year as students of these people.

An entire year. The first five months dedicated to a weapon and the next five months dedicated to a taijutsu, a form of movement that arms the body. Hiro took the sword as his weapon of choice, Asriel the staff, and me the sickle chain or kusari-gama as it's known here. A very difficult weapon to control yet I find myself drawn to it.

Needing a dancer's grace and balance to control once released, maybe I won't feel like a meathead with this. A delicate mix of both zanjutsu and taijutsu. I and excell at it.

Taking it up as an extra activity even during the physically challenging but rewarding jutsu movement lessons.

While I'm here I make actual friends. Friends that are mine and don't judge me and look down upon me because I was a slave. People to gossip and giggle and laugh with, I didn't even know I could giggle before.

The wives gossip about how often the men pilgrimage to visit the dryad grooves. How sweet the winter wine harvest this season, simple things.

All gossiping and joking aside though the women worried. For apparently fucking a dryad to climax took a lot of mana and spiritual energy from the men. Leaving them tired and uninterested in coupling for a while. It isn't just an exchange of canal pleasure.

The dryads are infamous for keeping the men content, these are retirement villages of some sort for the Hito Asriel and I speculate. The men are happy and this energy is used to produce stronger grooves or more dryad. Proliferating all of Gaia with immortal protectors of nature and balance.

It is at this time that I start a relationship with Sachihiro and we have a child.

A red headed, brown eyed little Barbarian girl we named Vigdis, my warrior goddess.