“One more time.”

Another sphere formed in Yami’s hand as he panted. Drilling it into a tree, Jitsubutsu rubbed his chin.

“I have a theory about how to complete it, but I’d like to spend some time double checking my sources.”

Yami sat down in the grass next to a long country road and took a breather. Jitsubutsu opened a large book and flipped forward a few pages. Placing his finger on a dot.

“This is our next destination. I have an old friend there who might be able to help us with your training.”

“An old friend?”

“Yeah. Back in the day, when I was just becoming a ‘hero’, most people considered me to be a demon - I was taboo to speak about. This person helped me cultivate my skill set and even invented some tools, such as the special notes I left behind in my memoirs.”

“I see. Was this person a Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎng as well?”

“No, which seems to drive their curiosity about us. C’mon, let’s get going.”

After walking miles down the dirt road, dusk was finally upon Yami and Jitsubutsu.

“I almost forgot that night existed. Yami, go grab some sticks.”

Yami nodded and looked around. Travelling a half a mile to a forest, Yami came back to Jitsubutsu with a bundle of wood in his arms. Jitsubutsu had already laid rocks in a circle to form a fire pit.

“Alright, Yami. Set them in.”

Yami dropped some wood into the pit, and placed the rest next to it.

“Light it.”

Yami looked at Jitsubutsu inquisitively.

“Do you have a lighter?”

Jitsubutsu scratched his head.

“What is that?”

Yami sighed.

“Matches? Flint? Anything?”

Jitsubutsu grinned.

“Why would we need any of that when we have our Sirushi Inochi?”

Yami shook his head.

“I don’t have anything like that in my arsenal. If I were Mr. P, I could form a room with fire supplies in it, but regardless, there’s no door around here. The only person I know who has the capability of creating fire is the mayor, but he’s gone.”

Jitsubutsu raised his left hand and pointed at his palm.

“You can form a variation of those spheres that contains fire, correct?”

“You want me to hit this with my Sirushi Inochi?”

Jitsubutsu waved his arms.

“No, no! That would just shoot them everywhere!”

“What do you propose then?”

Jitsubutsu looked Yami in the eyes.

“You’re the Jinsei no Hogo. You don’t need to copy everyone else’s work. You already have access to every Sirushi Inochi that could be created, so why not try to invent one?”

Yami grinned and threw off his jacket.

“I like where your head is. Let’s do this.”

Yami pulled an ink cartridge from his pocket.

“Wait, how do I know where to put the ink if I didn’t have a vision?”

Jitsubutsu laid back into the grass and closed his eyes.

“Like I said, you have access to every Sirushi Inochi that can exist. If you mess up on where the ink goes, it won’t kill you, you just won’t have control over it as a Sirushi Inochi. You can still somewhat manipulate the life essence, however.”

Yami drilled the ink cartridge into his left forearm. Jitsubutsu raised an eyebrow.

“You’re using it all at once?”

Yami panted from the pain.

“Like you said, I have access to every Sirushi Inochi, so I can just move the ink to where I need it.”

Jitsubutsu closed his eyes again.

“Don’t go too overboard, Yami.”

Yami rubbed his left forearm, then placed his hands on the bundle of sticks.

“Let’s do this!”

Jitsubutsu rubbed his eyes and sat up. The sound of a crackling fire penetrated his ears. But a far more powerful force acting on him was the bright sunshine. Sitting up and yawning, Jitsubutsu saw Yami snoring next to the sticks, which were unscathed by any fire.

“Man, he’s not doing well for being a Jinsei no Hogo.”

As Jitsubutsu reached to wake Yami up, he paused.

“What’s this?”

The cuff of Yami’s left sleeve was slightly glowing. Upon closer inspection, Jitsubutsu found that a small cluster of embers had laid themselves upon Yami’s sleeve.

“It seems like he almost had it.”

Having his leg lightly kicked, Yami woke up. Sitting up, Yami yawned and stretched his arms.

“You didn’t create a Sirushi Inochi?”

Yami shook his head.

“I feel like I almost have it, though.”

Yami’s arm began to sizzle, causing him to pat out his arm.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Nearing an old mud house, Jitsubutsu smiled.

“We’re here. Don’t be afraid to answer any questions. She’s one of my most trusted friends.”

Jitsubutsu pounded on the door.

“Hey! Make! Get out here!”

The door to the house swung open and hit Jitsubutsu in the face. A woman who appeared to be the same age as Jitsubutsu peeked out the door. Wearing her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, her blue eyes glistened as the saw Jitsubutsu.

“Jitsu!”

Make dived and landed on top of Jitsubutsu, who was now being crushed.

“Hey, Make! Long time no see!”

“It’s been too long! Why don’t you visit me more often?”

“Because you always react the same way!”

“So what makes today a special occasion?”

“If you’d stop smothering me to look around, you’d see I brought a friend.”

Make picked herself up off of Jitsubutsu’s chest and locked eyes with Yami. Standing up and brushing herself off, she extended her hand.

“Hi! I’m Make Masigai! Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

Yami reached his hand out and shook hers.

“Yami Shinpai. Nice to meet you.”

Make’s eyes widened.

“This life essence… It’s familiar…”

Jitsubutsu stood up.

“Make, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

Make turned and grabbed Jitsubutsu’s cheek.

“All you ever do is ask me for favors! Why don’t you do something nice for me?”

“Sorry, sorry! Let go!”

Make let go of his cheek and crossed her arms, sighing.

“What is it?”

Jitsubutsu rubbed Yami’s hair.

“This little guy needs some new gear. You think you can help us out?”

“Sure thing! I’ll just need to take some measurements.”

Jitsubutsu pushed Yami towards Make.

“You heard the lady.”

Make held the door open.

“Please, come inside. You can stay for dinner as well.”

“Thanks, Make.”

Yami followed Make into a dusty back room.

“Sorry the workshop is a little messy right now, I haven’t been doing as much research as of recent, but I can still operate just as well.”

Make sat down in a chair.

“So, what kind of gear do you need?”

Yami shrugged.

“I’m not sure. This is the first I’m hearing of it too.”

Make reached out to Yami and rubbed the fabric of his shirt against her fingers.

“I see. You don’t have anything specially made for life essence?”

Yami shook his head.

“Do you use anything other than your fists?”

Yami reached behind him and retrieved his two knives. Make inspected them in her hands.

“They’re a little too worn to save these… Would you mind if I used these knives as the design, but made them from scratch?”

“Sure, whatever works.”

“Alright. I’ll take some measurements for your clothes now.”

As Make held a measuring tape up to Yami, she would occasionally say turn, which Yami would do.

“It seems like she’s taking a lot of unnecessary measurements, but I’ll listen to Jitsubutsu.”

“Pants off.”

“What?”

Yami took off his pants and tried to ignore the woman.

“She’s just doing her job. It’s not like she’s going t-”

Yami jumped out of his skin as he felt Make’s fingertips slide into the elastic band that held his underwear to his waist.

“Wait are you doing!”

“I need to measure your genitals if you want me to make you special underwear.”

“It’s okay, I don’t need them!”

Make threw Yami’s pants back at him.

“Then we’re done here. I’ll get to work putting all of this together. Go ahead and rest up for now. It should be done by tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

As the sunshine of a new day shone on Yami’s face, his eyes fluttered opened. Wiping his eyes, Yami got out of bed and stretched. Walking outside to a nearby river, Yami washed his face.

“Hey, Yami!”

Yami turned around to see Make holding a fresh set of clothes with two blades on top.

“Hey, Make. Are they all done?”

“Yup! Custom fit and ready to go!”

Yami slid off his clothes and placed the new set on. His jeans were replaced with black track pants, and his jacket was replaced with a black, white, and orange jacket. His undershirt remained white. Gripping his blades, Yami noticed that they were heavier, yet appeared to be the same.

“So what’s special about these new threads?”

“They’re custom made. Infuse some life essence into them, and you’ll see the effects.”

Yami emitted some life essence into the fabric. In return, he felt as though the air around him was being reflected off of him.

“The jacket and pants offer superb defense from most attacks, and your undershirt acts as a disperse mechanism to help mitigate any attacks that make it through the barrier. They also have great durability, traps heat well, but also allows you to remain cool, and are relatively waterproof.”

Yami gripped his rainbow throwing knife, which although it felt heavier, it seemed as though it had the same center of balance. Transferring some life essence into it made the knife seem to float in the air. As Yami threw the knife at a tree, it slide right through as if it were butter. As it landed into the river, Yami felt it tugging at him, and tugging it back towards him brought the knife into the palm of his hand.

“I made your throwing knife with a richer material than you had, but made sure to give it the same feel. Depending on how much essence you feed it, you can make it heavier, but it will still feel light. It can become so sharp that it cuts through everything, and you can pull it back to you, given there’s nothing in the way.”

Finally, Yami gripped his pocket knife. It seemed the same, but pouring life essence into it proved Yami wrong. The blade grew to an astonishing length, and the handle transformed into a hilt.

“Your knife is, for the most part, the same until you give it some essence. It transforms into this sword, which, just like your throwing knife, make sharper using more life essence.”

As Yami felt the sword slowly absorb life essence from the palm of his hands, his eyes widened.

“Make, can I give this whatever form of life essence I want?”

“So long as it is your own. I created it with the idea that only you or I could wield it.”

Yami gripped the hilt tightly. Imagining the flames protruding from his hand, Yami poured an abundance of life essence into the sword.

“What’s all of this noise?”

Jitsubutsu turned the corner of the house to see Yami wielding the sword.

The blade was covered in flames.