“A scout. Got away. Going to tell the king. Larger army arrives soon.” Kesshō informed, using all her knowledge to try form understandable sentences with as few words as possible.

“That’s not good.” Yuki nodded.

“Nothing to worry about, yet.” Sora shrugged popping out of thin air. “I also noticed that and sent five ninjas to pursue him, if we are lucky then they will catch up to him and silence him for good, otherwise, we are in for a lot of trouble.”

“Kesshō, you rest for now, we will see what to do about this," Kurai ordered her.

Kesshō nodded and walked away, glancing back as the others walked towards the room Kesshō had met them in the morning. She didn’t get a clear look at Kurai’s wound, but she was certain he wouldn’t be able to fight well for a while. Regardless, it was already turning nighttime and Kesshō needed to learn some things from someone.

Following the path Kesshō returned to the flower field where she had met Lyranse. She scanned the entire area, searching every bush and tree, but still found nothing.

“Looking for someone?” A voice asked from behind.

It was a young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a white robe with the symbol of a red bird in flames on the chest. Even without the robe Kesshō would have been able to recognize him because of his patterns.

“Seems like you are using your gift well,” Lyranse observed.

“Gift?” Kesshō asked.

“Yes, your eyes. It took me a long while but I have come up with a name for them, The Soul-Seer’s Eyes," Lyranse announced proudly.

Kesshō tilted her head, not understanding what he meant.

“I am quite certain you can see the white and black colors in people along with an orb of light near their heart, that is something unique to you. In the entire history of the world none have ever possessed such powers, not even the goddess of chaos,” Lyranse explained. “Their function is quite simple, as the name suggests, they can see a person’s soul. The orb of light is the actual soul, the amount of white and black is what escapes me thus far, the patterns however represent that person’s thoughts.”

“Thoughts?” Kesshō echoed.

“Yes, thoughts. If you can master reading the patterns then you will be able to tell what someone is thinking, you will be able to see their soul and figure out their skills, strengths, and weaknesses. I must say, it is one of the greatest powers that has ever existed,” Lyranse informed.

Kesshō nodded, understanding what her eyes were capable of, but they weren’t going to be of much use in the upcoming battle.

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“Teach me, fighting arts.” Kesshō requested.

“That I can’t," Lyranse replied.

“Why?” Kesshō questioned.

“As I had said before, I do not agree with The Creator’s plans regarding you, but I do not wish to interfere much either, teaching you how to fight would be great interference,” Lyranse answered.

Kesshō didn’t want to give up this easily, but she could tell Lyranse was not going to give in to her demands either.

“Nothing to be sad still. If The Creator’s plan goes well, which from his level of preparation I am certain it will, your life would steadily improve," Lyranse reassured. “As for these people, their fate is sealed, nothing you can do will change it for them.”

Kesshō nodded but still didn’t say anything. The Creator might have planned better things for her in the long run, but she didn’t wish to let the people submit to their fate. She would rewrite their fate herself if need be, with, or without any help.

And thus, Kesshō began to train. Her Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, Kyojutsu, Bōjutsu, and all her hybrid skills. There was visible improvement every hour of training and she submitted herself to a merciless training schedule from the first light of morning till midnight. She trained all the skills she had been taught as well as ones she learnt herself. She was making improvements in her Kenjutsu to the point it didn’t seem like the original Kenjutsu she learnt anymore.

Mei had mentioned to Kesshō that Kenjutsu was the art of the sword, and many swordsmen created their own sword style. There were many types of Kenjutsu, usually named after elements of the world and a few times their specialty. And from what Kesshō could tell, she was on the path to develop a new type for herself.

Her new Kenjutsu was starting to come together in just two days. It worked on the principle of her Taijutsu, using the enemy’s strength against them. Kesshō pondered over the name for the entire day while training, before getting one she liked as it turned nighttime.

‘Tsuki Kenjutsu’, ‘Sword style of the moon’. Kesshō got this idea because of how the moon reflected the sun’s light onto the earth, not having any light of its own. Yuki had explained this to Kesshō on one day and Kesshō was able to relate it to how her sword style works.

Kesshō also continued to train her Taijutsu and Kyojutsu, not her Bōjutsu however. In the first battle, she didn’t even need Bōjutsu, her Kyojutsu and Kenjutsu were more than enough. Everyone else was also busy so there was no one to teach her new things either, and Lyranse also already refused to teach her any fighting arts.

The day of the deciding battle was getting closer and she knew it wasn’t going to be easy, not with her level of skill. She trained day in day out, mainly her Kenjutsu. She also realized that wielding a katana and a wakizashi together slowed her movements by quite a bit, and her claws and scales were enough to compensate for her wakizashi. She decided on not using both at the same time, but still keeping both in case she ever needed to.

She was trying to learn new things, infuse her hybrid abilities with her fighting skills, but it didn’t work well. She was still certain that her flames and venom would be able to deal a large blow to the enemies. Her tails were also deadly as they were, but she had figured that they can be deadlier. All it took was a stinger, and some venom, and now her tails could also inject or spray venom.

As for how it happened, is unknown to Kesshō. While practicing her venom accuracy her tails had also joined in all of a sudden. It doesn’t even surprise her at this point, there are already many things which she doesn’t understand about herself.

While practicing her Kenjutsu all by herself in the morning many days after the first battle, Kesshō heard the unmistakable sound of a horn being blown, the one that warned everyone about enemies approaching, which only meant one thing.