Asriel
‘Move!’’ someone shouts running through the camped people taking rest whilst waiting for their turn down the rockface. People are getting up in a startled panic, exhausted from the hours of running but determined to stay alive quickly collecting themselves.
Others start running towards the cliff in panic as well; I think that was Ato. One of the soul samurai I’ve been training my soul art with before the world went to shit.
‘’Was that Ato?’’ Yami asks me playing casually with his staff. I look around at the startled but precisely moving group of people. They are cold tired and hungry, the misery is as heavy in the air as the clouds of ash raining in proclamation of the burning villages left behind. The procession moves quietly, rappelling down the stony cliff section by section helped along by the presence of the samurai who now find themselves deemed 'ineffective' by their leaders thus relagated to civilian watch.
I look back trying to determine what new threat has us moving so quickly again,
‘’Out of the way!’’ someone else shouts running between the lines of the increasingly panicing civilians towards the cliff edge. A samurai bars his way with an upraised arm; a slash of light, the samurai bursts apart like a sack of blood with his blade only halfway out it's sheath.
''That was a soul art,'' I’m startled. We share a glance then move our backs to a defendable area with a large outcrop defying the sky Yami and I.
The soul-samurai jumps over the edge without a rappelling line; people are panicking now rushing forward from the back even with other samurai trying to keep order. Someone is assaulted, ground into the ground with a katana pressed to his throat, the situation is devolving fast. Someone screams having been pushed of the cliff, more people are violently being controlled by the samurai trying to regain control.
‘’Incoming,’’ Yami says as I spot the body fast falling then crashing into the ground she rolls on the rough stone face leaving a trail of broken stone, blood and flesh on the path created.
Samurai rush in towards her even as the civilians run to the cliff some manually climping or pushing others away in their rush to the base of the mountain below. Our attention isn’t on the now broken woman though but the figure floating in the air like a fish in water holding what has to be the woman’s zanpakutō in his hand surveying it.
In a scattering flash an arrow sheathed in power flies then another and another until the sky is heavy with then before the first even arrives at its target.
‘’Must be at least 2km’s’’ Yami casually mentions his staff pulled tight across his shoulders, pulling his arms as he primes himself.
The figure surveys the volley having dispelled the zanpakutō somehow, how did he do that? Zanpakutōs don’t usually enter storage rings.
The figure flies through the volley of arrows like a rock parting a stream, mana conjured bolts and gusts of air part like rain on his person; landing amongst the civilians the being crashes a woman underfoot loudly. Another woman screams attacking, with a backhand her head is crushed like a mellow under a hammer, the closest people move to attack whilst others run but the figure doesn't wait leaving broken bodies behind in heartbeats as it attacks.
The figure is large humanoid with two hands and legs but everything else about it is completely horrifying unfamiliarly. Is this just a humanoid blob of silver or a person wearing a skinsuit? Its sightless gaze eery, the impersonal nature by which it kills encouraging everyone not a trained samurai to scatter as far as possible. Blood sprays as someone is literally disarmed with a powerful yank at the elbow, a samurai finding an opening strikes perfectly with a spear but the weapon’s edge does absolutely nothing to wound the being. More blood sprays as the enemy moves through the assembling samurai like they are chafe.
A soul-samurai comes running through the mounting clatter of bodies, blade open in a strange shikai crackling with lighting type energy. Cackling light lances out stabbing into the over 2m tall silver-faced being pushing it back and leaving burn wounds on its now exposed face, hard to tell what it is but definitely seems human. Weaving through attacks whilst maiming and killing the silver-being doesn’t even make a sound, continuing the systemic slaughter of everyone around it ignoring its injury.
Another lance spears out crashing against the chest plate throwing the figure towards our hiding spot, I move in without hesitation. Amplifying with aura I explode forward my zanpakutō whistling through the air as I bring it on its head, I miss a headshot. Shit!
[BAM] My soul weapon thumps against a meaty shoulder and bounces back at me, I miss its neck as it twists faster than I imagined anyone so large could move. My leg breaks as its kicked out from under me, I deflect a stinging backhand that has me spinning through the air, such strength! Others rush in whilst I roll out of the conflict, the lightning weapon wielder delivering a strike from close range pushing the being into the blackening stone.
Thousand times folded steel katanas do nothing to the armour or mesh skinsuit worn by the being covering its entire body, people die keeping the being suppressed. Yami moves in using hit and run tactics whilst the soul samurai delivers another cackling bright strike, a sword burst from silver-beings chest eliciting the first sound out of the strange warrior’s lips. A woman removes her smoking katana then crashes next to the body panting, another soul samurai wielding a zanpakutō in its released form.
''They are vulnerouble to shikai!'' someone shouts amists the chaos.
I wince looking down on my twisted leg, feeling the pain of the short exchange breathing out in relief as blood pounds in my own ears. Then I hear the groaning and wailing, I smell the stink of a bloody battlefield but a wail like I’ve never heard before brings me from my own misery.
I look up and see the pile of weapons now next to the dead silver-clad humanoid being, ‘’What is it?’’ I ask Yami looking down on me perched on the end of his staff.
‘’The invaders seem to be hunting for zanpakutōs,’’ he says as the wails of outraged anguish pierce the cold maintain air. Those can’t all be zanpakutōs can they? I look at the large pile, hundreds maybe thousands of glittering weapons probably taken from the beings storage item.
‘’Heads up, here comes another,’’ Yami says looking up at the sky far in the distance.
‘’Run!’’ the soul samurai woman says her katana bursting with black smoke but no one does as the figure comes crashing down. I feel the ground vibrating under me as the new one barrels through the distraught samurai like a storm, their weapons not penetrating but bogging the figure down for the soul samurai to finish.
I grunt in pain as Yami quickly sets my leg with splints from my ring, I chug down on a healing elixir. The mana within bursting with flavour as it starts working within me in a terrible itch. The woman's shadow blade is caught in a hand but ripped out taking fingers, [crunch]! Her chest caves in from a single kick. She’s dead before her body crashes into the ground another lance of lightning piercing into the large silver-clad foe's side.
The pile of zanpakutōs disappears as the large figure waves a hand over it having cut through the Awaked Warriors, Mages, Awakened Lords and Kings like they are kittens in the way of a large cat. Any rational people would be running as far from the silver mesh wearing overpowered invader as they can but the Hito are incensed at the disappearance of the soul weapons. Civilians, all armed with beautiful but useless folded steel throw themselves at the figure like madmen, spending their lives for nothing.
[Yhooo,] they cry more in outrage at the sacrilege of the invaders claiming zanpakutos than the death metred to them with every strike.
I move, my chakra pools all opening at once as I unlock the full depth of my 3rd tier Mana Awakening focused on chakra. From my root chakra I’m reinforced, from my heart healing is accelerated. I move by-passing many scrambling with madness in their eyes as they throw themselves to their death. From the solar plexus I feed my movement stepping in a gap appearing at its side.
Fuelled with heart chakra I deliver a strike connecting with its chest armour, sparks light up at point of contact. I foresee my death portended from my open crown chakra and move again depleting my solar plexus but finding an opening created by a now dead Hito senior, Psychomachy!
I deliver the chakra fuelled attack to the soul on the leg with all my reinforced strength through my soul weapon, depleting all my chakra with it. I collapse even as the large being does, its face expressionless under the silver mesh suit but groove where its mouth is open wide in a silent scream as my attack disconnect it from itself. It dies quickly getting repeatedly stabbed by the broken mob whose steel now find easy purchase in its flesh.
Someone pulls me away before I get trampled, an even larger pile of soul weapons removed from the second dead’s storage item. Each representing a dead soul samurai whose cold dead hands it was taken from, each incensing the entire Hito people to suicidal rage. Yami drags me away talking the whole time but I can’t hear a thing, I’m shivering, disoriented and my senses are addled. My soul weapon comfortably still in hand the only thing keeping me conscious.
Only recently have I reached the 3rd tier, with the troubles at least came a power boost without which I’d likely be dead. Awakened King, I have always wanted to be an Awakened King, now I’m realising its not enough. Not nearly enough.
The weapons lie scattered there in a pile as the Hito stop their fleeing to guard them, many wailing in misery or pain getting helped up or given a clean death by the still functional samurai scattered amongst the people.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
‘’Why aren’t we leaving?’’ Yami asks watching the whole thing curiously, impassionate.
‘’The souls, we cannot leave the souls unattended,’’ a miserable voice cracks out. Alive but broken not far from where I lie. Yami grunts but ignores the man, we’ve been partnered for years but I still wonder what he thinks of us humans sometimes.
‘’The zanpakutōs,’’ I say through sending. ‘’They are waiting for a smith to handle the zanpakutōs,’’ it is anathema for anyone but a Maker to touch the soul of a dead samurai.
‘’What do they do with the weapons of their dead?’’ He ask out loud, sending having become impossible for him since we all lost our sense of time. I ignore him, as a pseudo soul samurai myself I'm hesitant to tell others the open secrets of a people I have come to admire. I have gained much from our time here, the misery and loss abound affecting me. What has all this been for? I am now an Awakened King, a step away from Imperium but I find the accomplishment hallow.
What has it all been for, ''I need to find my son.'' I whisper looking and feeling the misery around me.
*
Luthando
‘’What a waste,’’ Luyolo says throwing the sword to clatter with the pile of other such weapons being collected from the native dead. ‘’We lost two Faceless today, two!’’ he gestures getting into Noluntu’s face. ‘’You are the one who told me to give them some exercise—‘’
He blocks the punch dodging the slash to his face landing lightly several metres away, glaring and still ill-tempered but there is satisfaction in his eyes after the exchange.
‘’Come now cousin, be glad we discovered weapons that can kill even in the hands of mortals,’’ Luvuyo says cutting easily into his thumb again with a dagger he seems to have taken a liking to. ‘’The Family will reward us with Sacred Techniques and treasures to advance through the 2nd and maybe some of the 3rd cultivation stage once we deliver these.’’
‘’Do not be hasty with your share cousin, the Clans don’t use weapons for a reason so we'd only be arming our enemies, and to arm our enemies with such tools would be completely insane,’’ Noluvuyo says sauntering over to lounge on a curved couch she found somewhere. Absentmindedly she rubs her hand over the white glistering coat of whatever it’s made, ‘’we need to be very careful what we do with these and to whom we report to about these things.’’
‘’Still, the Techniques in the weapons alone would garner us—‘’
‘’I’m not saying they aren’t a great find but that we should be careful with them.‘’
‘’Mother will give me the all the elixirs in the family vaults for this,’’ Noluntu says staring greedily at a sparkling white long pin connected to a silver chain with frostbitten crystals emitting a chilling aura.
‘’None of you understands,’’ Luyolo groans. ‘’Uncle trains these Faceless himself, he’ll be furious when he finds out we lost 4 against mortals.’’ He sounds like he’s genuinely worried about this uncle of his now, maybe a way to get him killed?
‘’You can’t all be dumb enough to just give these out to your family heads could you?’’ Noluvuyo’s question tempers in volume as her eyes wonder to her happy cousins, her peers seeing only the gains they will make in cultivation when they sell these very dangerous things. Her eyes lock on mine as she realises all their blind spots, even hers though she thinks herself clever.
The modus operandi of most of the bantu-jin clans; if it doesn’t advance their cultivation they let the mortals handle it on their behalf. Even now, potentially holding tools that could potentially end immortals they only see elixirs to be exchanged. Forgetting everything we had previously discussed about loot distribution and what our nominal thite agreements in their greed to quick advancement.
‘’Enough!’’ Noluvuyo stomps [crackle] the tiles of the platform crack all around her dainty feet [rumble] the platform readjust, having gone through the bedrock again. ‘’None of you are going to be giving any of these to anyone! Do not forget it was decided this is my part of the world and all this here belongs to me, you are my guests.
‘’Don’t even think about protesting Luvuyo, you gave up your share of any loot right when you took the honour of first battle twice! And you silly witch I see you pulling away those weapons into your necklace put them back!’’
‘’Make me bitch!’’ Noluntu hisses still disappearing the weapons around her with quick waves of her hands. I move off of the platform signalling my Alpha Faceless to execute my orders and it’s off as fast as possible.
I Blink, appearing at the end of my range flying downwards to land amid the rocky peaks. I grin, I really hope they kill each other. I put on the Cloak of Mqhayi, turning invisible under the artifact I proceed forward through the dark night, running like crazy amidst the rocky peaks occasionally manoeuvring through the meadows quickly to confuse my route, falling rocks and rustled leaves marking my passage.
I have to run up some of the mountain faces making it unavoidable to use mana in my passage, my cousins wouldn’t think to track me by mana anyways.
I mostly run through the high mountainous cold peaks without any form of buffing so nothing of me can be traced, not with the Cloak on my back. Jumping over wide crashing waterfalls and chilling icy peaks I discover they have element using mountain goats here, some 3rd level mana evolved wildlife natives here and there but nothing that can track my passage. Certainly nothing that should want to.
I enjoy myself rushing through the varying mountainous terrain, proud to have gotten away with so much from right under their noses. And soon I will claim my bonus prize if what my Faceless discovered was described accurately.
The temple is carved out of the mountain face with pillars artfully carved that connect to the raw mountain rock blending into it seamlessly. I hang on a vertical rock-face with my fingers clawed into the stone for purchase while I spread my senses over the place surveying the empty stone courtyard from up here. There are 24 hidden protectors scattered about the place each able to obscure their levels somehow but their aura’s are easy for me to read.
Mhmm..., the strongest of them is a level 4 evolved sitting at the entrance of an indistinct cave a few kilometres behind and above the actual temple building. I head towards the cave mouth scrambling up the sheer rock catching crumbling stones and lose pebbles with air before they make noise. I’m invisible to sight, sound, scent and mana so long as I use none.
But still the level 4 evolved opens his eyes to stare right at me as I approach the guarded cave, cutting blades of air cover the gap between us[whistling], becoming nothing but a cool breeze against my skin as I activate my elemental defence, scattering it. [ moaning whistling air]
How did he sense me? I jump from rock-face to rock-face crashing into the scattering stone.
Voom
A vacuum of space where I was calls blades of cutting air scoring into cold stone as I Blink. [crackling] The ice at his feet crackles scattering like glass as he keeps his footing despite the impact; arms crossed he’s pushed back creating two furrows into the rocky ice before stopping as my wind attack wanes. [splash splash] He shakes his arms out scattering steaming blood having taken the full attack with his body, impressive.
I Blink behind him slashing through the cold air with a chop.
Thrurrrrr, there is a thrum.
For a moment our eyes cross, the full force of my strike perfectly balanced with the staff in his grasp blocking my forearm.
Dzooo BAM!
He is propelled through the air and slams bodily into snow, ice and rock loudly; I’m sure he had one of the curved swords before but he blocked me with a scythe. I look downwards sensing the quick movements of reinforcements heading this way, I Blink inward, [sizzle].
I take a stumbling step back from the cave entrance having being repelled by something; ouch that smarts. Purge; like snapping bones the mana of the enveloping trap crackles as it’s scattered away. I jump into the cave quickly and like a veil is lifted my senses delve deep into the temple. Weapons, thousands of them arranged in rooms cut into the stone. Each weapon lovely placed as a centre piece of an altar, each weapon radiating silent power.
All mine for the taking, I move quickly.
Crackling and crashing is audible at the entrance of the cave, a struggle of some sort taking place instead of my immediate pursuit, good. I kick in the first door I come to Blinking in after the second kick shatters the barrier from its hinges, I grab everything on the little shrine. Blink; grabbing everything on the second one and everything on the third in the chamber.
[BOOM] a cloud of dust rolls in from the entrance even as I Blink to another door and start to kicking. My mana is repelled from seeping into the stones and there is resistance against my domain as though this place has a domain of its own to contend with mine. There are three altars in this chamber as well, a dark cave with lit candles before each shrine honouring a weapon and memento mori of some kind. I Blink from shrine to shrine to shrine looting without even cataloguing what it is I’m taking.
[Zzzzweee] I duck under the slash that scores deeply into the stone, my assailant an elderly looking woman standing at the chamber entrance some 10m away. A second then third slash distorts the air between us as she swings her weapon, by a hair’s breadth I evade. Mana Barrier taking momentum out of the third slashing attack but not stopping it. [Tchn] I Blink within my own Domain [Trchaaa] the warrior projectile vomits her guts as my fist twists into her abdomen.
I may not be a cultivator but no rural conjuror from a mana starved backwater planet is going to look down on me. [WAM] I kick the warrior in the ribs moving to the next closed chamber as she crashes bouncing like a rag doll against the cave stone. It takes two kicks before this door crumbles opening to reveal the treasures within-
[Tshweeeeee] my ears ring very unpleasantly, a sound pervasive as it cuts its way into my mind against my Mental Fortitude. I stumble back gritted teeth, the world unsteady as the woman with the short sword held overhead gazes at me with suicidal determination. The weapon distorts the air around itself in visible transparent pulses creating a sound that has my bones rattling out of my muscular control.
With focused control I pulse my Domain forward away from me [pulse] washing the stone the air in my mana’s control all around. The very stones fight me and to my horror the attack doesn’t fizzle away, it isn’t mana with which I am being attacked but something else; I find myself with one knee on the rough floor.
Me, a 6th mana evolved being brought to his knees by a 3rd mana evolved being using an ability that grates at the very core of who I am. I witness blood gush out of my ears as my eardrums pop, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I try to hold myself upright, Reconstruction doing nothing to put me together under the onslaught. Even without working ears the sound keeps grating at me harshly, vessels popping in my eyes as I blearily witness the woman limping towards me like some wrathful executioner.
What kind of ability is this? I can feel the woman’s full power and aura unleashed as far as it can billowing out of her weakly, only a 3rd level evolved without a doubt. How then am I being suppressed like this, is her weapon’s technique truly that potent, what kind of power does it rely on if not chi or mana?
She slashes towards me still some distance away, I try to evade but my body responds sluggishly [kraaa] something cuts into my torso scoring me to the bone. The wound burns cold, the impact having pushed me to my feet such that I’m now leaning against the wall. I manage to conjure an Energy Beam within my hand [ZOOM] shooting it out at the pulsing weapon.
The beam scorches the warrior’s hand disrupting whatever ability she had going on, I move without hesitation. I Blink, grabbing her head and jaw from behind [Ka-Traa] I pull her head from her spine throwing it towards the entrance. Two other warriors are entering the cave mouth flanking towards me, one of them the 4th level evolved with the scythe I thought I left debilitated. How resilient are these people?
Reconstruction stops the bleeding but does nothing to close the wound across my chest and arms, I’m weary of their tricks but I’m a bantu-jin. No mortal is going to look down on me and live-
[Boom] The cave entrance expands exposing the cold starry night with a large silhouette enveloping it a moment later.
‘’Think you could hide your little scheming from me?’’ Luyolo says with a wicked grin on his face as he walks forward. Shit, I thought I left them too occupied to worry about following me. He is immediately attacked by one of the warriors but moves past them easily [crack] I hear the unmistakable sound bone break.
A vacuums of power pulls my attention towards the 4th evolved scythe wielder now facing off against a warrior in the 2nd realm of cultivation. The mortal has no chance but maybe he could gain me an opening to escape-
[B-A-NK-] I hear nothing else, I feel nothing else, I see nothing else as all my senses shut off.