The strong should rule and the weak follow or get trampled underfoot. This was the reality I had to embrace to survive. I grew in a crowded alleyway and street corners of a rural town on the outskirts of Amenohonkai. The propagation of drunkards and thugs was a common occurrence. I lived with a family of five. My mother, little sister and my younger brother.

My father was often sick, he was a miner in his younger days, he would usually be one of those selected to mine precious materials from different planets, I never really visited these worlds but his continued exposure to the toxic atmospheres and unstable mana without proper protection is what most likely led him to his weak state and unavoidably his death.

Corruption was rampant within those mining groups, so poor untrained workers who didn’t meet the mana requirement were still hired, regardless of local laws. It barely paid them anything, and they would be treated like dogs, but when you have mouths to feed, I guess most don’t really have a choice.

After he died, mother had no choice but to take up extra hours at work to keep us afloat. She was a silk weaver and, as expected, the extra workload took a toll on her health as well. This meant that most of the time, we had no one to look after us, as she would either be at work or asleep.

As young children, we quickly realized the harsh realities of the world and even though we adapted, the scars still haven’t faded.

In time, I took up the role of looking after my younger siblings, Kuro and Sara. Even though we did our best to keep out of trouble, the environment we lived in dictated that it would find us, no matter what we did. Sometimes we would get into fights with other children, sometimes gang members would set their sights on us, but I quickly made it very clear I was not to be messed with.

I was the only one in my family apart from my father that had awakened their soul fate. My father was never particularly good with magic, but I ended up becoming rather proficient with earth magic and used it to help me survive the slums. We often had to fend for ourselves, and I’ve never felt sorry for my circumstances. I just know that the hard work I put in won’t be in vain.

With time, my talents reached the ears of the local chief of law enforcement, and given the chance to attend a magic academy in Amenohonkai and once I graduated, attended the national academy in Adai. I used this as a ticket to elevate my status, although in the end I was still too average, and eventually failed my classes.

Even when I attended Idai magic academy where I would eventually encounter the geniuses of this world, the people I could never hope to overcome no matter what, I never thought of myself as weak. I often compared myself to other races, feeling somewhat proud because I was born a proud Oni of the yokai race. Slum rat or not, I had the power to decide my future, but some did not have that luxury.

Humanity was the race I pitied the most. You could be a free man one day and then snatched up and put in chains for the rest of your life. Yeah, I considered myself very lucky.

The most sought after in the slave trade, smart enough to carry out a task, strong enough to handle manual labour, enough magical prowess to be sent into a gate as fodder, but not strong enough to challenge their oppressors.

Amphibia was difficult to catch and had no physical strength for hard labour. Orcs were stubborn and would rather die than be enslaved, and goblins simply lacked the intelligence. I could see why humanity was subjected to this fate.

Fortunately, the royal family had abolished the enslavement of humans recently, only being used as a punishment for criminals. This was the rule of law, but there are still those who see it as a mere suggestion.

Ive never had a close encounter with humans until now. I believed for most of my life that yokai was superior to humans, and in terms of magic and qi manipulation, it was true.

Although with every rule there are always the rare exceptions and tales of humans reaching realms previously unheard of would occasionally go through one ear.

But I never expected to meet one of those exceptions.

At first, I thought she was just nothing but a greenhorn, too immature and naïve to understand what she was getting herself into. She looked extremely young, probably around 13. Her mannerisms were soft and prim, as if she was a sheltered noble, and she was completely new to exploration, which irked me even more. But during that last encounter, her aura completely changed and her nature became as fierce as the mana that surrounded her.

When I had struggled to even learn the most basic of magical arts in Idai, this human had learned an entire series and she had even learned Raijin no Ichigeki (single stoke of the thunder god) which was an ability only taught to those who had an extremely high affinity to thunder magic. I couldn’t help but think, “What made this human so different?”

I exited the earth dome I had constructed, the many thoughts and emotions still swirling in my psyche. We had found a place on the opposite side of the slope. Our previous encounter with the cryptid really spooked me and I wasn’t able to get much sleep.

The first rays of sunlight seeped through the trees on a distant hillside, morning dew still at its peak chilled the usually humid air.

Cedric sat next to a stump, sipping some of the tea Enan would brew during his shift. Upon noticing me exit the earth dome, he gives me a nod and a good morning.

I walked away from our camp, my destination a small river just past the tree line.

It was then when I spotted her. She sat, legs crossed, at the bank of the river. Her wavy red hair was loose and drooped down over her shoulders. Water slowly trickled down her body. Her eyes were closed, and I could see the subtle rise and fall of her chest.

Was she meditating?

Meditating is a common way to break through to other layers or realms and some sort of resource is required to do so. Most of the time, we use the ambient mana, but this method is slow and inefficient. If you absorb too much too quickly, you can damage your body and fail the cultivation process, so it is better to use some sort of body refinement pill or mana crystal. It is not only much faster to use this method; it is also much safer as the mana and Qi of these sources are usually stable. There are other resources one can use, but these are the most common.

I cautiously approached the young girl, trying to not alert her to my presence. The surrounding air vibrated and I could feel the hair on my arms stand on its end. The hum of static filled the surrounding air and I could see her grimace as she fought to control, purify, and absorb the wild ambient mana. Then, with a zap, the air lit up into small tendrils of electricity. She jolted awake and let a frustrated groan while shaking both her fists, almost like a small child throwing a tantrum.

“I almost had it, yet I get distracted so easily,” she said as her bright amber-colored eyes focused on me.

I’m guessing that this was my fault.

“Good morning,” she said, getting up.

“Morning.”

“Are you here to clean up? I’m just about done.”

“Yeah,” I said, almost in a daze.

She then picked up her Katana, which had been next to her all this time, and walked towards the camp.

“Wait.” I said, grabbing her arms.

She then looked at me, confused and mildly annoyed.

“Sorry bout that.” I said, racking my brain to follow up with my sudden outburst.

I eyed the sword in her hand. The hilt had an almost floral pattern. A ribbon attached to the handle, and the guard had a circular shape with winding inscriptions that gathered at the center. A mixture of red, gold and white.

“Your Katana. It looks nice. Where did you get it?”

She then cocked her head to the left, her annoyance gone. She seemed even more confused.

“Oh, this weapon………. my mother gave me this,”

She trailed off, not saying anything after. It seems I had touched on a topic she wasn’t too keen on sharing.

“I see its seems like a fairly decent grade weapon.”

She didn’t reply to this and only scratched the back of her head.

I just simply stared at the ground.

The awkward silence that emanated between us was growing unbearable,

My interactions with her haven’t exactly been cordial. So I can understand why she was wary of me.

“Is that really what you wanted to ask?” she inquired, seeming almost amused.

I repeated the question in my head.

Why did I even stop her?

What did I want to say?

This feeling? Is this jealousy? Do I want to fight her to prove that I’m stronger?

Maybe.

That’s not all, this burning curiosity, my desire to get stronger, to protect my family, to gain wealth.

I wanted to know more about this girl. How is she so strong? How can she use magical arts at such a young age? What is it that’s different and what am I missing? How can this timid, soft faced human turn into a fierce fighter at a moment’s notice? I wanted to know everything, and hopefully I can get stronger too.

I’ve decided I will use this girl to get stronger, even if it means abandoning my so called “Yokai pride.”

“I would like to apologies for my behavior towards you for the past few days. I can be very prideful sometimes, besides you really helped us in that last tussle and I truly appreciate that.”

Surprised, she backs up a little.

“I see, all good, no hard feelings, although I would say we all played our part. I didn’t do all that much.”

“Well, I guess everyone played their part,” I replied.

She gave me a tight-lipped smile, the awkward air still lingering between us.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is the name of your magical art… uh, the colorful one.”

“Oh, you mean Sacred Sky Blossom,”

“Right that.”

I’m not sure if I’ve heard about it before. It seems quite strong and is probably rather difficult to learn as it is a dual elemental magical art.

Another thing is that most magical arts are one-off abilities, similar to the Raijin no Ichigeki, but this magical art is a series meaning it has multiple forms. Based on what I know about magical arts, this one has to be quite old. Just learning one is hard, but having to create a new form and passing it down is almost impossible, so it takes quite a while for magical arts to become a series and not everyone will have similar forms.

“I’m trying to learn magical arts, particularly for wind, and it’s been a completed dud. Shit is hard and I’m making zero progress,”

Upon hearing this, she sighs and placed her index finger on her left cheek, as if contemplating her next move.

“Wouldn’t it be better to consult a professor?” She replied.

“That would be good, but I thought since we both we both have wind affinities. I’m guessing you might be of help me, well that’s if we pass this damn trial.”

“I know it’s sudden but in return ill help you in any aspect of magic or Qi control you might have issues with, even though I only hold a rare fate soul my mana pool is larger compared to others of similar realm to me.”

She perks up upon hearing this.

“Fine, I will help, but only after the trial ends and we get accepted into the academy.” She replied.

“Also, anything we do in said sessions is not to be discussed with anyone. Understand?”

A strange request, but I guess that’s fine.

“Understood.”

She extends her right arm, gesturing for me to shake it

“I’m guessing we have a deal?”

“Obviously, I was the one who asked.” I replied as grabbed her outstretched hand.

“Let’s do our best and pass, ok?” she said, a big grin plastered on her face.