“Shoji.” He called.

His shadow, like any others, was behind him. A long copy of his silhouette draped in front of him based on his position from the sun. It followed his movements then suddenly,

A flicker,

The shadow got darker until it became something of a void. A black that almost glowed from the amount of light that it sucked away. It warped and changed.

Its hands broke, snapped and twisted. The cracking and popping sounds audible.

His shadow moved like a being out of a horror story. It’s neck snapping. Its horns in cracks and pops, moving until it became a jutting spike out the center of its forehead. It shifted violently with unstable ripples of shadow popping slightly out of the now black hole in the ground.

its shifting until it became a silhouette that wasn’t his own. His bald head grew a mop of hair. In an inky leap his bodyguard tore from his shadow.

Made entirely of flesh and bone.

He walked with purpose to get in front of him then leaned into a practiced bow.

He stood in his choreographed bow. His chest slowly rising and falling with hard air being pushed out of his lungs. The oni’s smile was almost infectious as it stood there proud of itself. And that would’ve been the feelings the chief felt as well.

Instead of the epic silence he knew Shoji wanted, he chuckled to himself as a few of the pink Imps began to cry at the spooky shadow man.

Shoji shot them a dirty look.

"Yes, Chieftain." Shoji said, ignoring them.

Shoji was still dripping with the black ichor. Dripping off of him, it turned to black steam whenever it hit the ground. "I need you to bring TodoDemo in here," The chieftain said.

Shoji looked back again at the group of pink imps. Then made a face like he had sucked on a lemon. “What’s the matter?” He asked the question, but he knew the answer. Shoji didn't respond. He was never the best at speaking his mind. Even when they were kids, the man had trouble talking to people around his level.

He was better when he was tossing his weight around. Or talking to new recruits, but the man would always get so tongue tied when it came to his peers. He was just so in his own head.

It was an odd trait for a named monster like himself. But it turned out, the reason for this was actually very simple.

His talent.

He was born with a powerful talent for being a ninja. Unlocking a powerful rare affinity at such a young age. Being an oni and swearing fealty, he was incredibly good at following orders. Sneaking around and knowing when to hit at the right time. Without question, this made him an incredible soldier and the best bodyguard.

But a horrible advisor.

He held too much in, preferring to stay cordial in front of him then move when he thought the chief wasn’t watching. Problem was, he was. The chieftain had to know everything about those around him. Their moods, their daily structure, their loves. Their hates,

And he’d known shoji for long enough to know plenty of those.

He put his hand on his general's shoulder, "Tell me what’s on your mind." Shoji tried to hold his tongue. One of the chief's tattoos and one of Shoji's glowed in succession. Shoji swore under his breath and decided his comfort was more important than his private thoughts.

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"Why bring her here, Chieftain?"

"To gauge the talent of these children."

"But… why?" He wasn’t talking about the ability. The excitement the council had given once she’d hit her evolution let him know that wasn’t the problem. It was Shoji's pride.

The chieftain sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Because…" He explained for the fourteenth time. "There may be good talent here, Shoji. We could be throwing away valuable members and never know.”

"I think it’s showing our weakness." Shoji said against his better judgment. The man looked in slight pain at each of his words. Like each word was hot against his mouth. "One… exception… doesn't give a theory basis,” He spat the word exception out with a nasty amount of venom, “His words have clouded your mind, chieftain.”

He took a deep bow, being sure to keep the posture that told the chieftain: You are still the boss.

The man silently appreciates how much Shoji tries to keep his professionalism up. Even after having to choke out words he still bowed. Biting his tongue and never complaining unless asked to. The chieftain admired it.

The matching tattoo on his body and his general were helpful for both of them, but he knew the power difference was something his friend was annoyed with. He’d wished, but never expected, to be standing here. If things went right shoji would’ve had more time with their king.

But sometimes things don’t work out the way they should.

He looked over at the babies scanning them after listening to his generals advice. It was a big ask. Asking his entire camp to change their entire perspective this soon. He truly hadn’t given them many reasons to like his rule, and plenty of reasons to question…

Hm?

His eye caught the area of the lessers. Two out of the five of the small pink imps were still crying, but that wasn’t what he was focussed on.

In the little group besides the ones crying there were five of them. One was laying on the ground, tuckered out. Just resting. One of the others was huffing small puffs of smoke out of their mouth, Long ram horns wrapping around its head. And another at the front.

The child had huge green eyes. Staring at him with a sort of raw focus that he didn’t usually see this young. And…

The chief's eyes widened.

How had he missed this one in his visits?

He motioned for his guard, walking toward the pink imp. The two made their way forward and walked over. He hadn’t thought that these could appear this early. Usually it took at least a few works to appear. But for it to start now…

The chief grinned.

He watched the child's eyes turn to surprise as he and Shoji walked towards him. The child then slowly shifted its body to the right, trying to get out of the chieftain's gaze.

“...”

“...”

“Chief?” Shoji Shoji said, “Why are we near this lesser imp?”

The chief said nothing, staring down as the child and watching the bead of sweat drip down from its forehead.

Hmm.

Interesting.

So that’s how it's going to be.

“The blessing of knowledge.” The chieftain says.

“Blessing of knowledge?” Shoji said.

“It’s what the black markings on his arm means.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just do,” The chieftain said, “It comes with the [Wi–”

The chieftain stops itself. Realizing that he was about to say something that he’ll probably regret. He could probably trust Shoji but a boy with this mark… Nah…

That could be a problem.

He had enough titles and blessings that no one would question why he would be able to do anything. His body had collected them from being a hard worker and a chief of a village.

“Blessings usually appear in tier ones. To have any kind of marking from birth should’ve been reported to me…” He frames the statement as a question.

“The mother probably just didn’t care enough,” Shoji shrugged, “or, they didn’t want to present their lesser child to you.” Shoji said. The chief had a sneaking suspicion that that would be his reason.

Shame.

But that was normal… He looked down at the essentially petrified child. Now that it was here, it was going to be raised by the village. There was no way of tracking where the child came from.

It was shaking from how scared it was. You could’ve been convinced they were freezing. The chief was saddened. The blessing had made the child much more aware of their situation. There was a good chance it could understand every word. Blessings like knowledge and power were quite… potent.

The chief nodded.

“Let’s return later at night and bring Todo. I have a feeling this batch will impress me.”