Michael

‘’You’ll be fine, just do what your friend did since he survived,’’ Andrew says patting me on the back as the two large men drag a barely alive Max out of the arena sands with his entrails dragging behind them from the gut wound still seeping blood.

I’m standing stock still in shock at how quickly and how vicious that fight was to my earthly perspective. I’ve always had a limited perspective of combat I'm realising at this moment but now I somehow followed everything that took place in those 16 seconds to the extent that I’m surprised at how skilful Max actually is to have lasted that long. His catatonic body disappears behind revolving doors, I spot Shea on the other side and breathe a little sigh of relief with the surety that he will survive.

I know these fights are a sort of a rite of passage for any foreigner that visits this wondrously strange city, but would Saya's father really let his daughter’s guests be killed by his friends? Would Damage or Shea adhere to such hospitality? I don’t think they would and John somehow found out that very few foreigners that are someone’s guests have died in an arena fight on Paradisum, most of the few that do die are usually just too cocky.

‘’Listen, Adrea’s a sweetheart so you treat her like any good woman. Just give her a good warm-up before putting your all into it,’’ Sigrur says unhelpfully to snickers from the others.

I roll my shoulders back loosening, ignoring the idiots as my body swells with blood.

These little shits aren’t taking this whole thing seriously enough but I phase them out as I adjust the grip on my spear, testing the balance for the umpteenth time. My vambraces are a loan from Ikigai, the smile she gave me when she mentioned charging interest if they save me a broken forearm still haunting at the back of my mind.

‘’Alright it’s time,’’ Mirabalis says walking into the waiting area. I nod and walk out wearing a steel breastplate, spear in hand and sword on my left hip with my glock on my right, just in case.

*

Sachihiro

[Zzzzz...!] [zzzzz...!]

I look up quickly with a cladding myself, frowning as a ringing sound permeates the air unpleasantly. It’s as though someone is ringing a sword far away but the sword is screaming in protest cutting through every other sound with its deluge of protest.

[Zzzzz...]

‘’Do you hear that?’’ I ask Soal who lifts his head and pauses a moment trying to catch any particular sounds from the air around us.

‘’Hear what?’’ He finally asks moving back to sorting books back onto the shelves.

I place my hands over my ears and as I suspected the ringing isn’t effected even as it threatens to shatter my teeth. My aura and spirit are clad about me bellowing out yet having no effect on the intensity of the screeching-

I look around the library and the few people that are here seem to be minding their own business not doing anything out of the ordinary.

‘’I’ve got to go, I’ll send Zhen’s kid East up to help watch the library.’’ I say even as I walk casually out the building. Kata is on my waist as no Barbarian warrior really goes anywhere unarmed and to many a short axe not startling so I keep it close.

I like to promote the image the younger generation have of me, the persona of being harmless, of being a second husband without a Rage controlled by a dominant wife. Selah is suddenly within my awareness trying to follow me but two things stand out tonight, she is alone and she is trying to be stealthy. I grin and am off at a jog as I follow the disturbing sound to it's source.

I mostly ignore the people around me as I increase my pace, weaving through people, creatures, trees. I increase my pace slightly and smile as Thandeka is left behind unable to keep up whilst staying hidden. Selah is also being less stealthy as she increases her pace, also weaving through the people of Libero, the outer city.

I send to Ikigai as I feel her stirring at my movement, ‘’its fine, just investigating something’’.

She doesn’t respond but I feel her coming anyways, I smile to myself as my bloodthirsty 19 year old daughter racing towards me in all speed. The few foreigners I notice try to keep their heads down not drawing attention to themselves, they don’t know that every Tribesman can spot a foreigner on sight no matter what they do. A benefit of the Tundra being claimed I guess.

As soon as I break through the canopy of trees that unofficially mark the edge of the outer city I lengthen my strike and take a deep breath. There is a joy and freedom in running, in pushing and testing the body.

I remove Kata from my waist and whirl the throwing axe around my hands expertly as I run. There is no chance of me dropping it, not an artifact weapon bound with my own spirit energy even as I run towards the hills at my full pace. The wood of the handle is familiar to me, comforting, as though made for my hand. The weight and balance are perfect such that I know I can throw Kata and hit a target 200m away.

I spin it in the air and catch it with my left hand even as I run, Selah breaks through the trees at breakneck speed trying to keep up with me running at speeds she probably never suspected I could reach. I grin at her perseverance even as I perceive Ikigai far to the west trying to intercept me ahead, at least she knows she has absolutely no hope of catching up to me if she follows directly behind.

I wonder what if she hears what I hear.

I feel the phantom touch of a person I’ve never mentally spoken to trying to connect with me and I let it through. ‘’You cannot run from me forever Sachihiro, I’ve about lost my patience with you,’’ Selah sends angrily and I snort even as I increase my pace slightly.

She doesn’t give up but instead runs harder behind me, her long legs eating up the distance, her hair billowing behind her like a cloak in the wind. Her twin swords on her back don’t hinder her movement as of course she also wields artifacts, she is fast as well, much faster than I suspected as the gap between us doesn’t increase as I suspected it would.

Why does Selah the Jotna-Fae want me so much anyways, I don’t understand what she sees or wants to pursue me so consistently for so long? It’s flattering, and any red blooded man would be all over her in an instant so why me? I'm quite busy with my household as it is so no, I'm not interested in whatever the girl is offering.

She persists though, she has beautiful smooth long legs that are well defined in muscle and womaness. Her thighs are thick and wholesome like most women, her hips inviting like most femlae fae, her skin tone captivating in its many shades of pink to blue as the heritage of the Jotnar and fae seems to take turns conveying her differently from one day to the next.

Nope! Not interested in whatever she's offering. There has been a lot of strategic mating amongst the clans through the years trying to get our numbers up while developing the strongest offspring. Of course of late it's been much more deliberately done with all these new bloodlines, abilities and Barbarian numbers getting lower than they've been in centuries.

If I'd have to take another woman Selah wouldn't be so bad. She's definitely has a unique lineage, the strength of her body and will testiment to her keeping up with me like this.

She stands at approximately 1.9m in height, taller than me and strong like all Jotnar. Her father the fae Chaos, a fae I remember well from the Never Ending Battle. Her mother I don’t know but a Jotnar hybrid with the Ancestral Beast they are breeding with up there, this Yeti that has such strong beautiful people.

I admit to myself that I want her, but why does she want me so much? I realised long ago that women are a weakness of mine and any woman that pursues me this single mindedly is suspect, she definitely wants something and I trust my mates and ma to be more level headed about such decisions and neither have yet advised me to allow this Jotnar fae into our family.

[...zzzzz...]

The sound is consistent, not getting louder or softer even as I run towards it. I cover many kilometres, reaching what is considered the wilderness outside the direct influence of the city like I've just left the protection and shadow of a huge tree. Another thing we tribespeople are instinctively aware of while in the Tundra, the beginning and end of all territorial boundaries.

The shrugs are low lying here, the terrian more rocky with twisting hills open to flat plateaus. The mountains loom in shadow beyond the horizon, where the sound is coming from.

After another 30 minutes of hard running Selah starts falling behind, her breathing laboured and her movements not as smooth as before. Strong, fast and beautiful but not with the depth of stamina all Awakened Barbarians have, interesting.

I would slow my pace to accommodate her usually, but whatever is making that wail is coming from the mountains, from the direction of the Hito settlement of Honshu. I increase my pace again instead of decreasing it, visibly increasing the distance between us even as I feel Iki getting close also being left behind. I need to hurry, I suspect I know what that wrecked wail of ringing metal is, and I need to hurry.

*

Ikigai

I scowl as the old man leaves me in the dust, the few beasts that were stalking me skirting back as I flare my aura. It's insulting that the creatures that lurk at the boundaries between the towns of the Tundra and true wilderness think they could take me, but da for some reason is very touchy about me keeping my power cloaked. The ass has left me behind though so screw him.

I run on at a light jog, swerving towards the woman that was chasing him as I realise I know her. As we eventually see each other having both been left behind she re-sheaths the sword she had naked waiting to see who I was.

‘’You are Awakened,’’ She says in that strange accented voice a lot of the Jotnar born in Jotanheim have.

I don’t answer that as my neck reddens at having given myself away in my outrage, I shouldn’t have flared my aura so fully, when da hears about this...

‘’When did you Awaken, how old are you?’’ She asks studying me; she’s tired and angry by the looks of things. I grin at the sight.

‘’You’re the one that wants my da, the others have been talking about you at home.’’ I say to divert attention and she almost completely forgets her previous line of questioning as expected.

‘’What have they been saying?’’ She asks seriously, hungrily.

I shrug and start walking through the darkening night towards where I still feel da to be going; she walks close behind me keeping pace. This one must really like dad, I should have paid closer attention to what mama Shea, Kuyoki and Mira were saying about her... Ah yes!

‘’Your name is Selah, da likes you,’’ I say nodding having remembered something.

‘’He does?’’ She asks completely surprised and I frown at that trying to ensure I’m getting this right.

‘’Well, my mother Shea likes you as well so she has been taken out of decision making.’’

‘’Wait, wait. Slow down,’’ she says accelerating and walking besides me, ‘’what decision making?’’ She asks with big beautiful eyes looking down at me, I think I see what they see in this one, she’s gorgeous.

I frown suspiciously, ‘’what do you want with my da anyways?’’

She closes up her previously easy to read face as though I caught her unaware before. Her anger slowly returns as though she is remembering some great wrong done to her by some man.

We walk in silence for a while but I can’t help but notice that she hasn’t turned back yet, what does this woman want? It’s at least another two days before we reach Honshu and she might not even know that’s where we are heading, the Jotnar are a strange lot.

Do they all pursue men this directly?