On the decentralized ring of Gaia there was once three countries that reigned over it,

The now destroyed Kingdom of Asad,

The lost people…..

And the Wu-Tang dynasty,

This country of conquerors holds claim to the majority of the land of Gaia, even the area now belonging to the kingdom of Soterra used to be a part of the Wu-Tang dynasty till they negotiated a deal to give up some land a couple hundred years, around that time however there was also another piece of land the Wu-Tangs gave up, the place now called Bakufu, a fertile land sat right near the base of the silver mountains, surrounded at the other sides by magic and waterfalls and forbidden caves,

Bakufu they named it, it was a land sought out for years as some thought the god would one day pass through the area

A tentative state of sorts was constructed and some people of the Wu-Tang moved to the land over the years populating the land, after a few generations the original Wu-Tang settlers were all but gone leaving only behind the people born to the land, and those were the people who rejected their so called motherland, they claimed Bakufu as their own and a short war occurred with the Bakufu people easily overpowering the Wu-Tangs despite being lesser in numbers,

Ever since then there has been a stalemate between the two nations, the Bakufu people increasing their weapons, requiems, magic and even recognition as a powerhouse across the ring, while the Wu-Tang the opposite, they would sit back and stay in their lands waiting for the day the Bakufu people would collapse on itself,

Occasionally they would invite the chief over to the grand palace for a ‘friendly spar’ which was their way of gauging the strength of the chiefs and by proxy the people.

…..

…..

…..

*****

“If I am not then the safety of our people will be in jeopardy.” Aki finishes

(The Wu-Tang sound interesting, but…)

“I don’t see why you had to watch your mothers get killed to become stronger Aki,”

“…..

It worked out in the end, just drop it, evolving your magic requires a drastic shift in mind state, it had to be done.” She mutters

“What about your father then?”

“He died in a spar foolishly, embarrassing us, never took any of this seriously, he was only interested in indulging himself and to be treated like a king having any woman he wanted, that’s why we all have different mothers, that was what the man loved,

No, he probably loved himself more than anything.”

(He loved himself)

“That why I will always say love makes you weaker,

Are you happy with that?”

(She’s right, I can’t dent her, but–)

“–Even if we do get a little weaker, don’t you at least want to know how it makes us feel?” Shiryu finishes his thought out loud,

“No, who cares what’s the point of living for that just to end up dying quickly.”

“What is the point of being strong and living long if you no one to love?”

“Ughh,

You’re making me feel sick Shiryu, and I’m already weak as is,”

“Should I go make something for you to eat chief?”

“Auunnnghh..” she groans something indiscernible

“I will take that as a yes”

….

….

Shiryu uses this as a way to end the conversation, it was quite easy for him to understand the type of person Aki was, yet so difficult to compute why she was that way, Shiryu’s brain was trained to work algorithmically and logically, the nuances of human action were not something that could be easily processed,

The nuance that was love was not something that could be easily understood, in all of it’s different forms.

And so, a few days went by again, with the pair now deciding to not wait till they were at full strength to escape….

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

….

….

“aghk!”

“Careful.”

“I am being careful, you are the one in front, you be careful”

“Alright, I am.” Shiryu hisses up at Aki,

The two steadily climb down a rope hanging off the chunk of land in the air, beneath the ravaged Furlheim city awaits,

(I can barely see it from here,)

“I wonder how bad the damage is.” He ponders out loud,

“Stop wondering and keep your focus Shiryu, you have a bas habit of ‘thinking too much’.”

“Even if we fall, you have enough energy to use your magic to land weightlessly right chief?”

“….

Depends on how long the fall is, or if that dragon suddenly decides to step in and drain my strength away again.”

“Don’t be so negative, I rebuke that in the name of our god Kage.”

“ughh, stop it, don’t disrespect the gods like that they’re already dead,”

“I am not getting into this Kage argument with you again chief.”

“Don’t address me as chief if you speak so causal to me.”

“Ego.”

“What’s that?”

“Eee–gooo.”

“I–”

…..

Despite the hazardous nature of it all the two now semi comfortable with each other distract themselves in talk during a long climb down

And when I say long.

….

….

The platforms that held the houses in the air was close to lower cloud level, of course Aki and Shiryu had no knowledge of this when they began the decent, but their hands soon learned that.

….

….

“Echk-eckk!” Aki coughs stepping down off the magic rope, the air his foggy and humid making it difficult to see properly around,

“Is this Furlheim?” Shiryu peers into the fog as hard as can making out a severely cracked landscape almost all of buildings gone, risen to the sky, leaving behind empty plots of land.

“Haven’t been here before so I couldn’t tell you.” Aki stumbles slightly, feeling the toll of the perilous decent

“We have to find somewhere to recuperate,” she suggests

“My thoughts exa–”

“Graaghh!”

The sound of a voice echoes around in the foggy surroundings.

“What was that?” both Aki and Shiryu stay close

“Gragh!”

“What the–”

A human body leaps out the fog lunging at the two,

“A person!?” Aki tries to pull out a dagger but her swollen hands can barely grip it,

“Hyah!” So, she kicks it away instead,

The ‘human’ does not react to it in the slightest, pouncing back, making gargling sounds all the while

“This guy seems possessed!” Shiryu pins them down

“graggh!”

…!!

“There is more of them!” Yell Aki at the sight of a dozen more,

“Hiiyah!

Hyack!” She tries to taking them all on, but her hands can’t even function properly, and her body not to it’s fully strength,

“Eerrahh!” Shiryu shoulders bashes through the group but unaffected by the force of impact they just hop back up,

“What are these people, zombies?”

“We…we can’t fight them like this” Aki stammers spotting another two dozen

“We have to go back up Shiryu!”

“Can you make the climb again chief!?

Errghhhk!!” Shiryu keeps fending off the attacks

“No...my hands.”

“Hop on my back then, my scales protect my hands!”

“ggrahrrllrr!!!!”

“Hurry, they’re coming again!!”

…..!

….!!

…!!!

As long as it took for the pair to make it down they would spend even more time going back up.

Shiryu now bearing then weight of two and task of climb vertically up,

Aki in silent anguish on his back,

She had never lost before,

This was her first defeat, her first retreat, it was gutting to someone like her,

It was at that moment she felt a deep sense of emptiness,

And though it was brief, it was also the moment all her strength had returned………?