Sachihiro

I congeal mana within my chest cooling my burning insides with another inhale.

[WHHHHHH...]

Breath wheezes out of me in a steam of evaporating water mana, I calm my racing heart taking in my surroundings as my focus again widens. The abhorrent clump of spirits locked in a perversion of death are still here within reach and my insides boil to cleanse the stain of them from Gaia.

[WHHHHHHH...]

Two crumpled forms lay close by, one out cold the other slowly trying to get itself up. There is no sign of the figure in the reflective face-mask and bodysuit, nothing else living is anywhere near as far as I can tell. I let down my guard falling to one knee as fatigue takes me.

[WHHHHHH...]

The Rage melts away exhaustion taking its place as my abused body starts to tremor in protest from this most recent exertion. My mana is low from the continuous use, my flesh burnt from within by spiritual energies continuously depleting while refilling in the pendulous feasting Honour was partaking in. What was happening to me?

My other knee and front torso drop with me catching myself on hands and knees while Honour burst apart as pieces of starlight melt into my skin. I’m exhausted but also brimming with energy. Just brimming with it, what the fuck was that?

I get up with titanic effort hands trembling, why are these two here, what is that thing, who was that flying guy?

I start limping away from all the strangeness, one thing I agree with the Faceless guy about is a need to get out of here fast.

I rid myself of the kilt as I go. Naked, I progress to the escarpment wall standing as high as a mountain climb between me and where I want to go.

Getting semi-comfortable with my back against the wall and bare ass of cold stone I extract the orb from storage, looking within for a way to communicate. A way to contact my librarian is there, as easy as writing a letter with my mind. I move with care so as not to irritate any wounds, I miss how convenient those healing potions were, having clothes, having food to eat and water to drink. Luxuries I enjoyed for too short a time before being reduced to this state of injured tired destitution.

Mfff, it’s funny how I could potentially die here from thirst or starvation yet I have a fortune in library points and no way to use them to my physical benefit. Wait...

Didn’t the librarian say there were some teleportation privileges for level 6 members? I’m a high-level member now and I’ve neglected to check how that could benefit me besides being just higher reading access.

Summoning the orb I bring to mind the new features that weren’t available to me before. There is a lot.

I duck rolling tossing the creature across the cave.

[BHH], the lacerations that spurt across my naked flesh rattle my teeth pinching my bladder with urine. Fuck that hurt, another swipes missing my arm receiving a kick in the side for its trouble as I sweep with my feet.

With AfterImage I punch my heel into the gaping maw of teeth bearing down on me, aura cladded the combination of spirit, aura and chakra devastatingly effective.

KRRR, the flesh along my calf tears as teeth sharper than razors spread the meat of my lower leg open. The thing is dead with my foot shot through its head but it finished my leg in terms of usability.

I pivot punching into the teeth bearing down with a left hook. The crunch of shattering bone, the rip of tearing flesh leaves two dead canines and me in much worse condition than I was just a moment ago. The scent of fresh blood is almost a sweet tang at the back of my throat in the sudden quiet that pervades the cave tunnel.

I did everything right, I moved perfectly using its dive moment to throw it across and used their own moment and speed with spirit-chakra empowered strikes to go through their defences. But my arm and leg are fucked, I use mana manipulation to control the blood so I don’t lose any.

They’re dead of course but if they have more friends in this hole I’m fucked, how do they have such sharp teeth anyways?

*

I crawl pulling a barely conscious Tex into the tunnel behind me, we're almost into shelter. The cave is low and narrow but there aren’t many places to shelter and I need to rest, the scent of blood has me dropping Tex and reaching for my gladius with my good hand. It’s dark but not pitch black in here, whatever calls this place home can’t be worse than all the shit out there.

Nothing comes, nothing even moves as I wait crouching with blade ready and back against the wall. I sheath my blade grab Texas’ collar and go further into the tunnel, finding a semi cosy half bowled area slumping carefully. My naked blade stays right next to me as I close my eyes and start concentrating on Astraea.

I need to accumulate religious power to help me heal, to ward this place. Power to replenish that I lost whilst trying to keep those creatures off of us and for that I need Astraea and Mortala, the beings I chose to guard my spirit.

‘’I saw you when I was dying. I saw you first as a ball of pure light, beautiful, warm, soft light that was powerful yet comforting. Pure. I remember the traits I knew you stood for as clearly as if I were there right now. Purity of purpose, purity of thought, purity of being. Innocence, to be without guilt. How could anyone or anything be without guilt in a world of struggle? Yet that is what you represent with your presence, that is part of what you stand for. Purity, innocence, healing.

‘’All nice virtues to think about and healing is very practically useful, all things I lack which is why I chose you as my deity when push came to shove. I chose the things I lack hoping you could help me be better in those areas and I haven’t been disappointed. Even now as I focus on you and speak/pray/praise you I feel myself healing, it's absolutely amazing.

''You're amazing, right now I feel your presence when like fresh urine in frozen winter. Your healing is a balm to my broken bones, a caress to my broken flesh. This is amazing, you are amazing Astraea. Thanks for making this so easy, now I have someone to talk to and it heals me, gods you're probably a beautiful woman as well. The perfect woman, all due respect and highest honour intended of course. What I mean is you have attractive attributes, I mean talking to you is nice. It feels nice.

''Is this prayer, am I praying is this all it takes to please you? This certainly pleases me.''

Ahhhh, the last of my wounds mend seamlessly. That was nice but strangely left me more exhausted than I was when I got here.

I watch the two men enter the cave loudly, the bigger one arms himself dropping his companion. One arm broken at its side as it holds its short sword ready to attack, good draw technique.

They move further in and slump not far from me in a fairly defendable position and then strangely the warrior starts mumbling under his breath. Colour blooms around him as a spiritual presence blooms from within him, at a visible rate his wounds start healing as I watch. A sorcerer, very dangerous.

I watch until he heals completely, wards his surrounding in a complicated film of interwoven spirit and falls asleep.

I study the film as closely as I can. I can barely feel the two people within it but I know they’re there, nice trick that.

I wake with a start, pain reminding me of everything that happened. My open wounds are stinging harshly under the breeze blowing in from the cave mouth but nothing else seems to have changed. I need to arm myself, I need to dress.

Carefully I skin the two creatures that attacked me using their own teeth. Four canines sharper than teeth have any reason to be allow me to do a fairly good job skinning and laying out the skins to dry. I need more time to recuperate.

Carefully I get myself into a crevice away from the wind and get back to sleep.

‘’What do you want from me?’’

‘’Nothing,’’ the leaner guy says with a half-smile not getting up from his supine position.

‘’We were hoping to travel with you,’’ the warrior says. He has a strongly dense physique that speaks to his resilience, the calluses on his hands indicative of a lifetime of handling a sword and shield. He stands at about 1.8m probably weighs around 100kg with clear unflinching eyes of a veteran, all his minor injuries have already healed and the rest well on the way to mending even as I watch.

They only have one short sword as a weapon between them, well made and well maintained. A stabbing and slashing weapon with a rounded wooden handle thick at the base of the blade but no true guard. It’s well used, a few chips and dents evident on the blade

‘’I don’t know you.’’ I don’t know them but I remember them running from me when first I landed here, the first people I’d seen since the underworld not to attack me.

‘’I’m Nathanial, this idiot is Texas.’’ The warrior says inclining his head and making a gesture of introduction. The most interesting thing about him is the spiritual presence shrouded about him like a garment, two different presences in fact. They keep my spiritual perceptions from seeing deeper into him but they themselves are as clear as day.

‘’I don’t know you I don’t trust you, travel by yourselves.’’ These two are no direct threat to me I judge, them both being only in the 2nd tier and neither being more skilled than me from the little I can see of them. But there are many ways to be a threat and takedown stronger prey, besides, I don’t know their agenda and can’t risk bringing unknown strays anywhere near my family.

‘’You saved our lives, you’re obviously severely injured. Please, let us help you, let us help each other.’’ The warrior insists on letting some of his weariness through in his aura, can aura lie?

‘’What do you want from me?’’ I’m curious, I haven’t had an interaction in which I’m the stronger being with more resources in a long time. Is this how I come across when I meet stronger beings, did I appear as a beggar to the Blacks, to Draug?

‘’You’re obviously strong; we need your strength to survive. Everything has turned to shit, our homes are no more our people are no more. Please, we have nowhere to go and a much better chance of surviving in numbers. Watch each other’s backs.’’

‘’As I said, I don’t know you. Leave me be.’’

He slumps back down gazing at the rocks above, he looks tired, pitiful. In contrast, the other one has a broken leg, a broken hip a broken arm and a number of lacerations but looks to be in peaceful bliss as he snores lightly in sleep.

I extinguish the light from the orb sinking us back into darkness, looking through the level 6 fast travel and teleportation spells I now have access to. Hopefully, I can find something to help get me where I need to be quicker.

I delve into research as I wait for my wounds to get better and the skins to cure enough to be tolerable. What happened with Honour in that cloud, I was cleansing those ghosts and I gained spirit energy for it.

Sigh.

There is still much I don’t know about zanpakutos. So much to learn about what is possible for me. I am being. Getting comfortable in a lotus I lock back into the healing mudra.