Usually, the nightlife of the Mizumitsuru District would be bustling with singers and dancers of the moon surrounding the Mizu Fountain. Water streamed out of the dragon statues, as proud as they held their heads high toward the twin gleaming moons, whose light shimmered upon their white marble scales, the large pearl orb each dragon held, and the crystalline waters flowing from the fountain’s center into the Mizumitsuru famed canals.
They said this place was once a vast lake taking over half the district’s lands. Home to many water dragons, who bestowed blessings upon humans kind enough to clean the waters and offered prayers of purity. Alas, those once graceful yokkaebi have long left and these statues, made to serve as remembrance of an old era, pale in comparison to the genuine article.
Suzaku looks far more majestic than these things, Xiaodan thought, while casually watching the kappas bathing and swimming in the fountain. These turtle-duck yokkaebis only recently took up residence according to a report. Removing them would be better said than done. Tip over the water inside the plates on their heads and they would die in an instant, vanishing into mist like all other yokkaebis do once killed, though that would be simply too cruel.
Returning to his duties, Xiaodan stood in wait for the arrival of the key witness. A man named Liu Cao from the Changhua District sitting on the borders of Hoshikuni’s inner districts, sandwiched between Tanguan, Yanqiang, and Chiyuhara. He claimed himself to be a defector of the group affiliated to the kidnapper group. Yes, ‘affiliated’ being the key word.
Honestly, the information he might have might be second-hand at best seeing as the officers in charge of transporting him said that he looked no more than your average goon. But considering the four assassination attempts placed on him, three done in broad daylight, he must have some credible information to warrant that kind of response. If only he’d be willing to share that information without the promise of absolute protection.
If he still won’t comply, Jigokuni is an option.
However, the current situation presented a strangeness that had Xiaodan ordered his team to split up and conduct a wide-area search in conjunction with retrieving the witness.
Where is everyone? Xiaodan couldn’t put the thought past him. Mizumitsuru wasn’t known for its nightlife, but surely there would be at least a few night walkers or carriages still moving on the streets. The homeless ought to be found snoring or moaning over sleeping on the cold stone alleyway floor and the night’s breeze. And yet, there was no one, and despite Xiaodan's efforts to wake them up, the homeless remained fast asleep with a gentle peaceful look, as if they were having a good night dream.
“Zhu-senpai!”
Flash of thunder struck, impacting right in front of Xiaodan. A blue-haired woman emerged from the light’s particles, wearing the same Murikami Order uniform. Her name was Tsugumi Aoi, a rookie two years under Xiaodan, who’d recently been promoted to lieutenant. Her expression looked to be a mixture of both skepticism and perplexion.
“Did something happen in the precinct?” he asked.
“Something did happen, alright. They were all asleep,” she said, causing Xiaodan bewilderment, for there were also Third Division officers stationed there, trained to withstand mental fatigue and be on guard at all times. “It wasn’t just the officers. Even Captain Watanabe has fallen asleep and I can’t seem to wake her up. Even shocked her with a non-lethal dose of lightning.”
“Okay, maybe that was a little too far,” said Xiaodan, taken aback at how casually she spoke of it. “Anyway, how about the witness?”
“Not there,” she replied. “And I’m guessing he's not here either.”
“I’ve checked the safehouse with no luck. I wanted to ask old man Shu about his whereabouts, but …,” Xiaodan glanced over at the closed dark wares of the shop facing opposite to the safehouse, owned by a former Ninth Division officer a.k.a. Hoshikuni’s intelligence unit. “No matter. Let’s regroup with the Hakuto and the Sasaki twins.”
“Doesn’t look like we need to wait long.”
Descending from above was an umbrella made out of water and holding onto it was a woman, her long over flowy hair shimmered like sunlight to the refracted lucent rays.
“Zhu-san, Tsumugi-san!” she hurried after landing. “Something is wrong. Everyone’s asleep. Not just that. There was a commotion in Hotel Luna, so we went there and all the guests were confused because all the staff there suddenly fell asleep.”
“The staff and not the guests?” asked Tsumugi.
“Yes. Aira’s there to keep them calm, but if it’s like this then the witness could be—”
“They’re hunting him,” Xiaodan said, then seeing an earth fist flying to his way and giving him a tablet with a message. “Safehouse breached. Officers asleep. Witness missing. Currently searching.”
Receiving his message, Xiaodan immediately got to work, facing the fountain and taking a deep long breath. He recalled the lessons his father had taught him. Wind was a force of nature, constantly blowing from the largest hurricane to the tiniest breeze, spreading out the moment it made contact with physical objects in order to continue flowing.
Xiaodan placed that concept into his calculation, releasing a small yet steady output of magions. In a fraction of a second, his mind produced the results, creating winds so thin that barely anyone but him could notice, spreading them out to cover as much land as he could, surveying and detecting the slightest hint of movement, while at the same time differentiating the shapes between humans and animals. Thirty seconds later, he found him.
“This way,” Xiaodan sprinted with Tsumugi and Airi behind him, navigating through the alleyways for shortcuts toward the moving witness, who after some time, suddenly came to a halt. Two people approached the witness, fast. “Hurry, this way!”
They pressed forward, when suddenly, the ground rattled and up in the air was a shadowy figure being chased by a giant fist made of stones and rock. Hakuto was fighting, but with who? Turning a corner to an alleyway, the three arrived at their destination, alas they found the witness dead on the ground. His head decapitated and standing near him were a pair of shadowed figures, their dark robes stained red.
They saw them.
“Halt!”Airi shouted, yet the shadowed figures quickly leapt up to the building walls, their feet sprung from the two buildings’ sides before reaching the roof. Xiaodan went after them, conjuring winds to boost himself up high in one tall arc. And Tsumugi, unsheathing her blade, turned her body into pure energy, a lightning strike that zapped from one point to another, arriving there first.
A fight broke out, as thunder roared and swords clashed. Once he made it, Xiaodan immediately kicked a powerful slash of wind forward, yet halfway in, something ‘pushed’ the wind downwards, slicing the building before being blocked by Sasaki’s water which blasted from the ground to the windows. Xiaodan was grateful for her quick thinking, otherwise, his magic might instead destroy the buildings along with the people asleep within them. Still, he didn’t expect them to be capable of altering the trajectory of his wind slash.
There were seven of them, their faces covered under their hoods. Three archers and two swordsmen, but two were unarmed, one large as an ox and the other thin as a stick, the former being the one who killed the witness, whose fist continued to drip his blood.
Their formation was spread out among the few buildings in sight, however Xiaodan could not feel a gap in their defenses. Moreover, his winds detected the presence of five other figures standing idly on the clock tower several blocks away from where they were.
Could they be reinforcements or a third party lying in wait? Xiadan had yet to come up with a conclusion, but what muttered now were the criminals in front of them. To fight at full strength would result in collateral damage, though it wasn’t as if the Murikami Order had done so since the beginning.
“Level 3 Output,” he ordered, and Tsugumi affirmed, as both limited the amount of magion expelled up to the fortieth percentile.
The shadowed figures hastened to flee, when Tsugumi intercepted their escape, becoming thunder and darting into their black line. Forks of white light struck forth into branches, disrupting their positions and burning most of the archers’ arrows.
Xiaodan dashed close, his eyes dead set on the large-bodied killer. Two swordsmen hurried to his aid, but having anticipated this, Xiaodan blasted air around him and pushed them away before they could interfere. Spear thrusted forward full strength, when suddenly, a black shield appeared between them.
Ascendant!
His spear easily broke through however, or so Xiaodan thought, as the tip failed to reach the target’s surface, trapped between the layers of shards that moved as if they were alive. A curved sword formed out of the target’s right hand, extending itself into a whip, which he then swung at Xiaodan. It was fast, weightless, reaching his neck before his body could react.
Thunder struck and Tsumugi appeared by his side, blocking the whip with her sword, which Xiaodan followed up with a lesser wind slash, but like before, its direction got altered to the buildings. Again, Airi protected the civilians, avoiding the battle to prioritize the safety of the sleeping civilians.
“Back to the dance?” she asked.
“No need to say it twice.”
Xiaodan returned to the frey, only this time, taking precautions of the ascendant’s abilities. Light as feathers, tough as diamonds, yet fragile like glass. These were the properties carried by ascendants’ shards. Not to mention their seemingly everlasting replenishment, quick to draw out, and the capability to form it into anything they wished. This was the Eitr of the Prima of Existence, but there was one other thing about Eitr that perplexed intelligent minds around the world.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
But putting that thought on hold for now, the two started fighting once more. Swords, spears, and arrows clashed in a dance across the many rooftops turned battlefields. Despite Xiaodan and Tsgumi now using their magic solely for mobility and utility purposes, this game of cat and mouse persisted in stagnation with neither party gaining the upper hand.
Their teamwork was exceptional, destroying every trick he and Tsugumi came up with through pure skills, utilizing their number superiority to the fullest while remaining cautious as to not give out an opening. Their chances of their escape, though currently unlikely, appeared to be more plausible the more time went on. But what would be the determining factor?
In addition, something had been bugging Xiaodan, who wondered why they employed that tactic yet? They could’ve ‘pushed’ his or Tsugumi’s positions or knocked them out of balance, disrupting their momentum and would in turn give them an opportunity to escape. And yet, nothing of the sort had been done.
There must be a condition placed on it or a limiter.
An ascendant’s Eitr was tricky to figure out. Not due to the lack of information available, for that was just a front made by the Valdrasjornn Empire. The universal ban on divulging the secrets of Eitr was constructed for the sake of their own protection. Although attempts were still made by curious researchers, their results never once saw the day of light, as all the ones who carried it vanished without a trace. Spirited away as some called it.
For some reason, only those who’ve fought with or against an ascendant could tell—No, it would be more fitting to call it a chance to comprehend the true existence of the ascendant in question. And thus, relying less on instinct, Xiaodan fought while trying to gauge the exact principles of their Eitrs’ hidden principle.
Three lesser wind slashes headed toward their limbs. Each one sent back toward Xiaodan, who blocked them with a wind wall. Then Xiaodan matched his momentum with Tsumugi’s to launch synchronized attacks, while setting up traps ahead below the floors in order to disrupt their movements. Maybe cause one or two to fall after being blasted up in the air.
“Hoppa,” the bloodied ascendant said, and the entire group leapt over the traps.
He can see it?
While baffled, Xiaodan remained unfazed. Sharpening the density of his wind magic, Xiaodan directed Tsumugi’s lightning forks out on complex maneuvers, before having them head straight toward their hearts. Alas, their courses were once again ‘pushed’ to the direction of the buildings which Sasaki quickly saved.
Now for a change, the targets were their limbs. Again, they were ‘pushed’ aside. Once more, Tsugumi’s lightning struck, only this time directed toward the floor beneath them in order to disrupt their movements.
The thin-looking ascendant made his move. Shards shot out of his back, formed into glass-like tentacles that reflected no moonlight, each quickly moving to the lightnings’ aim, absorbing the brunt and promptly shattering before vanishing back into nothingness. Their movement continued to be unhindered.
So, it’s like that …
The ascendant replenished his shards and now took offense, sharpening each tendril, and sent them straight toward Xiaodan. However, this was no problem, for the black tendrils moved at a rather predictable matter which he could easily dodge. But, whether it’d be luck or unluck, earth fists flew and destroyed each tendril, as a familiar silver-haired man with a giant grin entered the fray.
“Yours truly have arrived!” Hakuto shouted, breaking through the formations’ center and aiming his braced fists at the bloodied ascendant, shattering his shield completely and reaching in for a quick jab. Alas, he was forced to retreat by the black tendrils shooting at him.
“Always the showoff,” Xiaodan said. “What happened to the ones you were chasing?”
“Lost them at an intersection. They just vanished, though now we know why.”
They trade blows once more with the shadowed figures.
“Can’t say it’s worse than our last roundabout,” said Hakuto. “Lost half of your hair to that waxbloom bandit.”
“Managed to make it look decent at least,” Xiaodan replied and waited for a response, but none came from Hakuto, who was looking the other way while raising an eyebrow. “Tsumugi, my hair’s fine, right?”
“No, I hate it,” she said.
“Thank you for being direct,” Xiaodan made a note in his head. His self-esteem hurt somewhat. “Anyway, it doesn't look like they’re losing steam. Eskan stamina is really scary.”
“Our vice-captain giving up?” Tsumugi smirked.
“Maybe we can finally see something behind that stone face,” Hakuto joked.
“You two …,” Xiaodan observed the path ahead, sending winds to grasp the district section’s plan. After two seconds of looking, he found it. A way to win. “Hakuto. Level 4 Output. Block their path ten blocks away from here.”
“How big of a blockage are we talking about?”
“As tall as the eye could see.”
“Sure thing, vice-captain!”
Hakuto took the streets and went ahead.
“It’s going to cost a lot,” Tsugumi mentioned.
“Still within expectations,” Xiaodan said. “Tell Airi to join Hakuto then get Aira to come here as fast as possible. Also to have her focus on the area around my position alone.”
“So, that’s your game. Take care yourself then, senpai,” Tsugumi turned to lightning and headed down.
“No need to tell me twice,” Xiaodan continued chasing the group of shadows, simultaneously conjuring magical winds left and right to keep them going toward a certain direction. Should be right about … NOW!
The floor quaked and a ten-storied earth wall rose right in front of the shadowy figures, blocking their path forward. As they tried to flee from the sides, two other walls rose as well as one behind Xiaodan, creating an enclosure in which there was no escape but up. However, that was within his calculations.
A lid was made, formed out of crystalline water that refracted the twin moons’ light. And when the shadowy figures thought they could go down and take a hostage or two, they would realize the faint gleaming reflection beneath their feet. One of the swordsmen tried to pierce through it, only for his sword to bounce back.
“There’s no escape!” Xiaodan announced, simultaneously releasing thin winds covering the trap.. “Please, surrender. There is no need to make this anymore difficult.”
A cage formed out of magical earth and water. However, maintaining them required focus of an unprecedented degree, especially when faced against the two capable of destroying wood and clay like it was nothing. But just because the cage was now tough, didn’t mean it was invincible.
Xiaodan and the two ascendants could still break through the cage if either desired, however the three knew it would be futile. Xiaodan’s presence would continue to thwart their escape.
His spear tapped on the ground, eyes focused on trying to pick up whatever movement they would make, especially toward the ascendant with tentacles, whose Eitr Xiaodan had figured out. It was one of the determining factors that prompted him to use this method of capture.
“Your Eitr is pushing or perhaps redirecting the course of non-physical strikes initially sent toward the body,” he exclaimed, confidently. “And yours is to detect hidden traps or something similar.”
Xiaodan got a reaction from the two. It seemed his guesses were dead on. The ascendants' composure faltered for a moment, but regained upon them taking up arms. Seemed like they decided on duking this out. Taking offense, all seven charged at Xiaodan in unison, likely on the premise that they could do a one versus seven.
However, Xiaodan persisted throughout their onslaught, using his martial arts to expertly dodge and counter at every beat of motion. Using the water floors as platforms and jumping up the earth walls to launch an aerial strike. His spear launched, struck, and returned through magic, facing his seven enemies in this seemingly impossible dance.
The shadowy figures too used the terrain to their advantage, but at times it would become a mistake, with Hakuto and Airi sparing what little focus they had to alter the shape of their constructs. Straight walls turned wavy and the water floors would suddenly become pure liquid, causing one of the swordsmen to fall to the ground and be rendered out of commission.
Now only six were left—no, four. Xiaodan had taken care of the two archers. Their bodies laid unconscious alongside their broken bows and daggers. That being said, it left several wounds upon his body, with a considerable two arrows having stabbed his right shoulder and a sword slash on his left knee.
Xiaodan thanked his stone face for this occasion, because his wounds really hurt. The shadowy figures really knew where to target, but to show it would only serve to their advantage. To become a Murikami Order was to show no weakness, and that he did. Standing tall and straight, with his spear pointed toward the remaining four.
“Again, please surrender peacefully,” he calmly intimidated.
“Nei pav,” one of them said.
Seemingly in a last ditch effort to win, the large ascendant charged forward, the thin ascendant leapt overhead, and the two swordsmen went in for the flank. Three swords aiming for his neck, waist and legs; seven tendrils darting through the air toward his back and head. Xiaodan let them. Intending to not cast a single spell, for he needed not to.
“Took you long enough.”
Swords and tendrils cut in half, as their bodies crashed into something, incapable of escaping the thin translucent cubicle surrounding them. The tall earth walls vanished along with the gelatinous water surfaces. Hakuto and Airi descended down in their own style of fashion and were followed by Tsugumi and Aira Sasaki, Airi’s twin sister, who wore glasses and whose yellow-hair was cut short.
Xiaodan spoke in sign language, “You’ve improved yourself, Aira-san.” He referred to how the barriers were now composed of multiple hexagons forming a cube rather than simple flat squares, allowing for better shock absorption. The tentacle ascendant, who’d turned his tendrils into a fast-rotating drill, failed in his attempt to break through the translucent walls.
Aira smiled, when a pair of arms suddenly tucked her from behind. “That’s my sister for you!” An ecstatic Airi embraced her sister tightly to the point where Aira appeared to struggle breathing.
Aira quickly conjured up a sign that said, “LET GO OF ME!” before slamming it right on her sister’s face, causing Airi to finally release Aira from her death hug. If only it ended there, as Aira began barraging her sister with a bunch of slurs through sign language.
“Hey, Xiaodan,” Hakuto whispered. “Translate for me. What’s she yapping about?
“Learn the language yourself,” Xiaodan grabbed his cheek and pushed him away. “Also, I need you to check up on the guy who fell. See if he's alive or not.”
“Only if you promise me a drink.”
“This is work,” he stated, but the silver-haired man didn’t seem to budge. “Fine … we’ll go for a drink next week.”
“Alrighty. You better get that stomach ready cause we’ll have a blast!” Hakuto leapt down the building, to which Xiaodan then rolled over his eyes. The one whose stomach should watch out for was Hakuto himself. One shot and that was all it took to bring him to a drunken state.
“Hehehe …,” the thin ascendant let out a chuckle from within his translucent cage, confident and arrogant-looking as if trying to proclaim that Xiaodan and his team had yet to twin. He then spoke in broken Heishitai, “You … capture us … should be.”
“What is he saying?” Tsugumi approached him, when suddenly, she fell. Her body fell just like that. Unprecedented and way too sudden.
“Tsugumi … san …,” Airi followed suit and so did Aira, both sisters fell on top of each other, unoving, but fortunately still breathing.
It didn’t stop at them, as both ascendants as well as the swordsmen also fell prey to slumber, and not long after, Xiaodan too was affected. The years of training to always stay on guard ceased to be in a blink of an eye, and as puzzling as it was, Xiaodan could find no wrong about it. He was just sleepy. That was all there was to it.
He felt sleepy and thus he needed to sleep.
He felt drowsy and thus he needed to sleep.
He felt exhausted and thus he needed to sleep.
He needed to sleep.
He needed to sleep.
He needed to sleep.
I need to sleep.