Stella:

"No fucking way!"

The Human and the Oni talked for almost an hour about the latter's "romantic" meetings with the Ogre Lads. The last quality Stella would associate these guys with was love-struck.

Hanaken's posture was much looser than an hour ago. "When I thought the shorty one was ten feet away from me, the guy with the hook threw a box of slugs at me!"

Stella cringed. "Ew."

"I mean, they were delicious! And the little letter tied into it was kinda cute. It read: I am hooked on your gorgeous muscles and your voluptuous mountain of a body."

"A little too sexual, isn't it?"

She shrugged. "Heh, not for an Oni!" She chuckled. "My main issue is that with being so little Oni in Sayama, people push me too hard to find a partner and rebuild the species, ESPECIALLY my-"

Then, someone cleared their throat, claiming the two's attention.

"I love that you two are all about boxes of slugs and friendship now, but I didn't hear a single THANK YOU for finding the Human's bag and healing her hand!"

Oh, right... They came back at some point...

"Excuse me!" Kreef interjected. "I was the one who had to fly all the way with you on my back!"

Gentō started sweating. "B-But! If not for my eyes, you'd never find the bag!"

Kreef rolled his googly eyes and his elongated body away from his companion.

Stella huffed. "Hey, you kidnapped me." She crossed her arms. "I'm not thanking you for doing the bare minimum!"

Before the Baku could retort, the Amikiri cawed. "Can we talk about ANYTHING ELSE?!" He shook his claws in the air.

Wait, the freaky lobster had a great idea...

"Yeah, there's something I'm curious about." Stella straightened her posture and focused her eye contact on Gentō. "Why do you want to get stronger?"

The Baku cackled. "What a slow-witted question! Are you really asking why someone would seek more power?!"

The urge to tease this walking Napoleon complex about his choice of footwear grew with each passing moment. Crocs? Really?

The girl cocked an eyebrow. "I don't know. After that humiliation, only someone that desperate would try to get me over those guards again."

Hanaken grinned. "Well, you're right on the money."

Gentō frowned and closed his eyes. "My motivations are none of your business! You're just a dream battery for me, and that's all you will know!"

Being objectified sure was fun...

"Hm?" Hanaken turned to the wall behind her. "Someone's playing the shakuhachi."

Stella blinked twice. "Playing the what?"

Gentō explained. "It's a flute made of bamboo. It has four holes on top and a fifth one on the bottom."

That description seemed familiar. However, the Human couldn't hear anything. It must have been Hanaken's heightened senses, most likely.

Before the girl could search through her recent memories, the Oni clutched her head as if it were throbbing. "Gah! My... Head! Fuck!"

The Baku's eyes widened. "I-It wasn't me, I swear!"

Kreef hovered next to her. "It's alright! We're all here! Tell us what's wrong!"

The brute's eyelids flickered like she was in a tough internal battle against exhaustion. Her chest expanded and shrank at an unnatural degree.

"Can't... Resist... Sorry..."

This happened right after she heard the flute.

OH, SHIT!

"It's the music! Clog her ears with something! Anything!" Stella shouted.

Thankfully, no one questioned her theory. The Amikiri used one of his pincers to block one hearing organ, and the Baku did the same for the other. The Oni's eyelids were now constantly open again.

"You two, keep going just for a little while." She lifted both index fingers, and then stones the size of Stella's hand burst from the earth, plugging her ears.

"Much better." Her heavy breathing slowly regulated. "What was that?!"

"That ape guy," Stella answered. "His music messed with my head and the Knight's."

The Baku slammed his fist into his palm. "The Daien, of course! He was carrying an instrument when we shooed him away!"

The girl asked. "Is this his or his species' name?"

"Species. But what are we doing about the bard!?" Gentō's desperation was almost tangible.

Stella's mind flashed with an idea. "Hanaken is resisting his siren song just by plugging her ears. You can do the same!"

Kreef's claws snapped anxiously. "Guys, I don't have ears to plug."

"Drat!" The Baku cried. "It will be just me and Hanaken?!"

"Uh..." Stella raised her hand. "I can help."

Ten seconds of silence later, Gentō and Kreef rolled on the floor, laughing.

The Oni stared at them, puzzled. "What's so funny?! Guys?!" The rock earplugs worked pretty well. "I want to laugh too!"

----------------------------------------

Gentō:

"Is he here yet?"

Hanaken didn't respond. Of course... Here they are, gazing upon the thick bamboo forest where a Daien bard might or might not sprout out from.

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It was ironic that a Baku needed protection from mind magic. It was not a big deal, however. This weakness would be a thing of the past if he learned to willingly tap into his full power. He had already absorbed the girl's dream again, but what was the missing component?

The Human, Stella, and Kreef were securely kept in the giant box made by the red brute. He would need her until he solved this predicament.

Hanaken's lips moved. Gentō was tempted to take off those damn rocks. They were awfully loose on his ears, rattling with each sudden movement he made.

Wait, why did she raise her weapon- Oh! The bard is here! Neat!

Yeesh, what a creepy fellow. The conspicuous cloak, the way his musical weapon was already dangerously close to his thick, dark grey lips. His dark, waist-length mane, and forest green mantle smoothly waved with the gentle breeze, revealing his reddish fur at fleeting moments.

Bright green irises broke through the Baku's thoughts. A spark of fear coursed through his tiny body, which subsided only when they shifted to Hanaken, who spoke probably something threatening to the interloper. She pointed to her ears, warning him his efforts would be in vain.

Regardless, the bard sat on the grass and then put the upper end of the bamboo flute on his lips. His toes covered and then uncovered the holes in the instrument in seemingly random patterns.

Gentō would laugh at his face until he suddenly could feel something clinging to his feet. Blades of grass, acting like an army of tiny green snakes, wrapped around his ankles. He tried to yank his legs free, but with each blade torn, five more took its place, proving to be a fruitless tactic.

Hanaken, however, bravely fought against the hazardous terrain, taking slow steps toward the puppet master. Her muscles bulged with burning determination, her veins popped with her herculean effort, and her roar was so mighty it seeped through the Baku's earplugs.

She raised her foot high and was immediately attacked by the ensnaring grass, desperately forcing it back down.

She smirked at the bard, then complied with the plants' will. However, the impact of her stomp prompted a landslide to burst from the ground and direct itself toward the Daien.

He dodged the Oni's attack, stopping his song momentarily. It was enough time for the Baku to run again and attempt to knock him down with dream mist. However, it was dispersed by a gust of wind from the flute's holes. Curses!

The bard darted towards Gentō. More blades of grass wrapped around the musician's arms, forming ten green rings on each, which made the Baku both scared and confused. The armbands slithered from their master to their target, but an earth wall stood between them.

The dream stealer got more and more anguished. His mind was blaring the urge to flee, to survive. Was his objective worth dying for?

...

Was it... worth it?

The bamboo... The hills... Now that he thought about it, Chikukei had all of it.

However, his parents wouldn't appear from thin air, not in the real world. He would see this through, and a freak with a flute wouldn't stop him!

This is it... He could feel the energy again! It was not as intense as before, but he recognized this sensation! He needed to harness it, and he needed it NOW!

Hanaken and the bard were locked in close combat. She swung her kanabō multiple times against him, but his agility was something to behold. Holding the bamboo instrument did not hinder his equilibrium while jumping and weaving those earth-shattering strikes.

After one of the Oni's swings, the Daien jumped into her thick forearm, then struck her with a powerful kick on her thick nose, making her stumble a couple inches.

"Come on, COME ON! Just... let me do one thing right!" It was right THERE! Gentō could feel something at the bottom of the chasm that represented his inner potential. It would only take a final stretch, but WHAT?! WHAT WAS HE LACKING?!

Was he... broken...?

The ground beneath him shifted. All the grass in a wide radius burrowed itself like a clew of worms, resurfacing all in a single spot. A flock of bamboo was torn from the ground and joined the wriggling mass, growing and twisting into a quadrupedal creature. The most durable material was its skeleton, while the rest was used as the tissue holding the construct together. After a tail was stitched on its rear end and the snout was fully built, thorns the size of Gentō sprouted from its paws and jaw.

When the Baku was shrugging off his previous defeat, the bard had created a wolf-shaped golem who dwarfed even Hanaken in height. It had to be a sick joke.

The construct's horrifying appearance and size were disturbingly contrasted by the silence. It lept at Hanaken with a gaping maw! However, she held the faux canine's jaws with her bare hands, abandoning her club. Her muscles threatened to burst as her strength was pushed to her limits.

And Gentō pathetically stood there...

He closed his eyes, tensing and flexing every muscle he could. He screamed, he shouted random nonsense, anything to unlock what was RIGHT! IN FRONT! OF HIM!

...

......

No success.

He was still just the weak, good-for-nothing Gentō.

Tears broke out from his eyes. Maybe he could feed the grass with those so it could end his miserable existence at once.

His sadness... His anger... His frustration... All of it made his head throb as a memory ruthlessly flashed before his eyes.

----------------------------------------

320 Years Ago:

"Sit down, Gentō."

He was at the office of Ms. Nera, the head of the Dragon's Guard, recently renamed after Queen Malka's election. He was a young, bright-eyed Monoke at the time.

Even though time had long since claimed her life, Gentō remembered her all too well. She was a Crane monoke. Her black and white feathers accentuated her elegant, serious attitude alongside her red and yellow robes.

She had long since retired from military work, opting for a comfy desk job overseeing the Guard's financial state and relocating the necessary funds and missions to its many squads sprinkled throughout Sayama. She was one of the few whose work was directly involved with the Queen's, so they met weekly, if not daily.

The Baku had a crush on her, even with her advanced age. Ironically, he had her beat on the actual quantity of years under their belt. Monoke lifespans were so disorientating, sometimes.

The actual office was blurred, unimportant next to Ms. Nera. Whatever words would come out of her greyed beak, Gentō would engrave them in his memory in a heartbeat.

"I had personally accepted your entry into our training program due to what your people represented in Monoke history. You carry a heavy name under your shoulders, Baku."

Gentō's heart fluttered. Her praise was-

"However,"

What?

"Your performance was..." She hesitated. "Below every standard of every captain who you trained under."

It wasn't a lie that the Baku went over tens of different captains of different species. However, he thought it was only a matter of time before he could truly shine!

...Right?

The Crane's usually indifferent eyes were full of compassion. "You've spent almost a year with marginal improvements at best. Maybe..." The three feathered fingers at the tip of each wing tightened around each other. "It's time to realize you're not fit for us."

No... NO! This was absurd! He was a Baku, by Tizohi's antlers! He can't be tossed aside like this!

"Madam, with all due respect, I cannot be kicked out! M-My skills are-"

"Your skills are not what we're looking for, Mr. Gentō." And the ice queen returned. "Dream manipulation is useless if your control of it is so poor. Your mist has the same effect as a soldier trained in hypnosis."

He couldn't believe it. The Crane was practically calling him worthless.

"Please, madam! I want to help my fellow Monoke! I-I need this!"

He needed to be worthy of his legacy, to feel like his parents did right by doing everything they could for his survival.

However...

"Not everyone is built for combat, Mr. Gentō. Not everyone can defend our people the way only a soldier can. If I'm honest, the Baku name blinded you to where your worth lies."

Where his... His worth lied?!

Damn her... DAMN HER!

WHO WERE SHE TO KNOW WHAT HE WAS OR NOT WORTHY OF?! SHE KNEW NOTHING OF HIM!

He thought the Guard would be different from those bullies who mocked him for his poor abilities and physical prowess.

Ha! The joke was on them! Gentō was destined for more! And he would find out his worth on his own if necessary!

No one would tell him what he can't do!

----------------------------------------

Present Day:

"No one will tell me what I can't do..."

What was he thinking?! He almost fell into their rhetoric! Forget Ms. Nera! Forget anyone who saw him as a measly disappointment!

No, Gentō would push past his limits. He would smash the wall created by society and atomize its remains!

No one will determine his worth because he was a FUCKING! BAKU! THE LAST OF HIS PEOPLE!

Saniya overwhelmed his senses. His eyes could only see a blinding purple, his snout was bursting with his mist, and his body twisted in response to this monumental power!

No, he couldn't fall victim to his hubris AGAIN! He needed to concentrate, to guide this energy to what truly mattered. And now, stopping the freak who was threatening her friend was the main priority!

As if it were carved into his instincts, his body morphed and expanded in size, tearing his clothes apart. His arms stretched and thickened, and his hands closed into hooves, all obtaining an orange coloration.

His snout elongated far beyond he expected, and two horns sprouted from its tip. His body was so heavy he couldn't stand on two legs anymore.

Both the Oni and the Daien stared at his perfect form with awe. Fear, in the latter's case.

Gentō grinned. "My turn..."