*In the building of Internal Affairs, Morrison is in his office drinking his morning coffee while getting settled in at his desk*
(Secretary): Sir, General Bedivere is on the line for you. He says it’s urgent.
(Morrison): Send it through, Grace.
*Morrison picks up his phone*
(Morrison): This is Morrison. What I can do for you, general?
*Morrison listens to the general over the phone*
(Morrison): Oh no. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.
*Morrison hangs up*
(Morrison): Grace, send Raika, Dust and Ryuuji up to my office immediately.
***
*Meanwhile, on the roof of the building, Jade was practicing her martial arts enthusiastically. In the basement of the building, Jin was getting a private lesson in summoning from Morgan*
(Morgan): Spirits are a collection of magic particles floating in the air all around us which gather as one to form a spirit that will follow the commands of the one who summoned them.
(Jin): Why are they bound to follow the orders of the one who summoned them?
(Morgan): A good question. When magic particles are gathered, you imbue them with your magic. Thus, when the spirit is formed, it’s like an extension of yourself. Tell me, have you ever wondered how your metal manipulation actually works?
(Jin): My grandpa described it as communicating with the metal. I’m sending my thoughts and feelings into the metal and the metal in turn tells me what I need to do to get the results I need. There have been times when I actually sense the feelings and spirit of a weapon whenever I’m working on one.
(Morgan): Hmm~, a very romanticized answer. From a scientific perspective I view it as this: When you concentrate and form magic particles you send your thoughts into the particles and they in turn manipulate the metal into the form you asked for.
(Jin): That makes sense. But, how do you explain the times I sense the feelings and spirit of a weapon?
(Morgan): I chalk it up to you having the soul of a blacksmith.
(Jin): That doesn’t sound very scientific.
(Morgan): True, but there’s nothing wrong with a little romanticizing. I’ve seen a few miracles in this world that have no scientific or logical answer to them. They were the whims of gods or the determination and willpower of fools.
*Jin smiles at Morgan’s comment*
(Morgan): Now, getting back to summoning. Observe.
*Morgan takes out his wand and begins to concentrate as blue magic particles gather at the tip of his wand and a blue magic circle begins to form on the ground*
(Morgan): As you can see, I have imbued the magic particles with my very own magic which has taken on a blueish color. It has been theorized that the color of one’s magic reflects what kind of person they are. Now watch as I summon an ice knight to my side.
*A light begins to shine from the magic circle as an ice knight begins to pop up from the ground with a sword and shield in hand*
(Jin): Woah.
(Morgan): Spirits come in all forms and sizes. The bigger a spirit the more magic you need to use to summon it. The smaller a spirit the less magic you use. Many believe that smaller spirits are weaker than bigger spirits, but that’s not true. It all comes down to the magic you imbue within the spirit. If you imbue them with strong magic they’ll fight with greater strength, but if they’re imbued with weak magic it’ll be easy to destroy.
(Jin): How many are there?
(Morgan): Over a million and counting. Spirits can be broken down into three groups: possessors, speast, and shamans. This little guy before you is a possessor. These are the ones I primarily use because they’re easy to summon. While they have the minds of children they learn very quickly and are masters at whatever it is you want them to be good at. Speast are spirits who take the form of animals. They’re a lot harder to summon and require a good amount of magic to do so. However, they are strong and a lot harder to destroy. Shamans are spirits that can combine with living creatures and inanimate objects too. It’s said that they have a mind of their own, so it’s a form of summoning I wouldn’t recommend for you.
*Jin bends down and pets the head of the ice knight*
(Ice knight): Woooooo~.
(Jin): *Chuckles* I think I like the possessors best.
(Morgan): A lot of people do. Care to give it a try?
(Jin): What, already?
(Morgan): It’s not hard if you have an idea of the basics. There are two ways to summon a spirit. One is through a magic circle and the other is through a spirit crystal.
*Morgan reaches into his pocket and pulls out two spirit crystals and hands them to Jin. One crystal is blue and has a strange marking on it while the other one is blank and colorless.
(Jin): What’s with the strange marking on this blue crystal?
(Morgan): It’s a spirit symbol. The spirit you summon using that crystal will be a spirit that specializes in that profession written on it. Give it a try. Concentrate your magic into the crystal to summon the spirit.
*Jin nods, holds the crystal firmly in his hand and begins to concentrate his magic into it. Silver magic particles begin to gather towards the crystal as it starts to glow and takes on the form of a spirit. When the glowing stops, the crystal takes the form of the ice ninja from yesterday only its ninja outfit is silver, its eyes are gray, and the body is a darker shade of gray*
(Ice ninja): Soyo?
*The ice ninja looks around and looks up to see Jin where it smiles and leaps in the air with excitement to give Jin a hug*
(Ice ninja): Soyo!
(Jin): Hey, it’s the ice ninja from yesterday. How you doing buddy?
(Ice ninja): Soyo!
(Morgan): Actually, it’s no longer an ice ninja, it’s a steel ninja now.
*Jin looks up at Morgan with confusion on his face*
(Morgan): When you imbued the crystal with your magic you overwrote my magic in the crystal thus turning the ice ninja into a steel ninja.
(Jin): Whoops. Sorry about that.
(Morgan): Don’t be, consider it a gift for your hard work yesterday. It seems that you and that spirit have formed a good friendship. Take care of it for me. I’m sure it’ll serve you well.
(Jin): Thanks. Now what about this other crystal?
(Morgan): Now that is a blank crystal. You can summon whatever spirit you want with that crystal. Just think about a possessor spirit that will be helpful to you.
*Jin stares at the crystal for a few seconds thinking over what Morgan just told him. He sets the crystal on the ground and begins to focus his magic into the crystal where it starts to glow and take the form of a possessor spirit. When the glowing stops a possessor spirit appears with a hammer in its hand, a solid grey bandana covering the top of its head and a scar on the left cheek. The body and eyes of the spirit were the same color and size as the steel ninja except this spirt had light grey overalls on that complimented its white shirt. The steel ninja jumped down to greet the new spirit and the ice knight came over to say hi as well*
(Steel ninja): Soyo.
(New steel spirit): Soyo.
(Ice knight): Woyo.
(New steel spirit): Soyo!
*The spirits all high five each other and begin to talk with each other*
(Jin): Hey, they’re getting along.
(Morgan): So, you summoned a blacksmith spirit.
(Jin): Yep. I’ve always wanted an assistant to help me out on my projects. Now I’ve got a pair of second hands to help me out.
(Morgan): Well done, Jin. You’d make a pretty good summoner.
*Raika comes running down the stairs in a hurry*
(Raika): There you are kid! Grab your things and get ready to head out now.
(Jin): Why? What’s going on?
(Raika): I’ll explain on the way, we’re going on a search and rescue mission.
*As Raika rushes back upstairs, Jin gets his bag ready as his spirits watch him*
(Jin): Alright guys, time to go.
*In a flash of light, the two steel spirits revert back to crystals that are silver and have different marks on them. Jin goes to pick them up and places them in his utility belt*
(Morgan): Be sure to keep those crystals safe. If they break you won’t be able to summon the spirits and if they sustain too much damage they’ll disappear on their own.
(Jin): What if I used a magic circle?
(Morgan): Don’t even think about it. Magic circles require a solid understanding of how they work and how to use them which you don’t have. You could summon a dangerous out of control spirit that’ll attack you and everyone in the area.
*Jin nods to Morgan and takes off running up the stairs to meet with Raika. Meanwhile, on the roof of the building, Jade was taking nap on her back in the shade snoring loudly with her mouth wide open. Not even birds or the noise from the streets below could wake her up*
***
*About an hour later, Jin was on a grassy mountain path with Dust, Ryuuji, and Raika making their way to Messner Village. The sun was blocked by the clouds and the wind was blowing. As they walked up the mountain path, they all couldn’t stop thinking about the mission they were given*
*Flashback*
*While Jin was learning how to summon with Morgan; Dust, Ryuuji and Raika were summoned to Morrison’s office*
(Ryuuji): You wanted to see us Morrison?
(Dust): If this is about that mugging downtown, I can explain.
(Morrison): No, but I’m making a mental note to talk about that later. It’s about Sanada.
(Raika): I was meaning to talk to you about that. He should have been back by now.
(Morrison): Unfortunately, he and the spies are being held up. We’ve just received word from a spirit bird that they’re stuck in Messner Village. A group of mercenaries has taken over the village and is holding everyone hostage. Nobody gets in or out. The leader of the mercenaries is this man, Kor Milo.
*Morrison presses a button on his computer as a hologram projection of a man’s head appears before the group on Morrison’s desk. It was a human with dark skin, brown eyes, long black hair tied in dreadlocks, and a blue tribal tattoo over his right eye*
(Morrison): Former member of the Gyrostarks’s Empire Liberation Army. He joined the army at the age of 16 where he served on seven liberation campaigns before officially leaving the army at the age of 28.
(Dust): And unofficially?
(Morrison): Dishonorably dismissed. He was a bully to young recruits, had anger issues, disobeyed a superior officer, threatened to kill another officer, and assaulted three superior officers without warning. He was arrested and thrown in jail, but before the day of his trial could arrive, he escaped and has been on the run since. He started his own mercenary group called Coffin Nail, a shady group of individuals who follow him without hesitation and aren’t afraid to kill on command. This mission is of the utmost importance. Not only is one of our own in danger, but the spies contain vital information concerning the Hargus Kingdom. Your mission is to go to Messner village, find Sanada and the spies, and return them safely.
(Ryuuji): Roger. We’ll save them.
(Morrison): I know you will. I want four of you to go on this mission, so choose a fourth member for your team.
(Dust): Anyone you had in mind?
(Morrison): I’ll leave it up to you, I trust your judgement. Dismissed.
*Dust, Ryuuji, and Raika leave the room and walk towards the elevator*
(Raika): So, who’s gonna be our fourth member?
(Dust): Amarti and Zia are busy so we can’t ask them for help.
(Ryuuji): Morgan has a lecture within the next hour or so and I’m not sure where Jade is.
(Raika): That just leaves the kid.
(Dust): I guess it has to be him. Go pull him away from Morgan’s boring lecture, we’ll get the supplies ready.
(Raika): Oho~, so you’re giving him a chance to shine?
(Dust): He’s done some good stuff this week, so why not reward him?
*Dust, Ryuuji, and Raika enter the elevator and head down*
*Flashback Ends*
(Jin): So where exactly is Messner Village?
(Ryuuji): Well it’s right on the border of Paradigm Mountain which is between us and Hargus. However, the village is considered Hargus territory.
(Jin): Why haven’t they sent any knights or soldiers to the village? I’m sure they know about the takeover.
(Raika): Who do you think hired the mercenaries in the first place?
*Raika’s statement made Jin freeze up as he came to the conclusion everyone else did. Hargus allowed Coffin Nail to take over the village and have no intention of sending help*
(Jin): They know about the spies.
(Dust): Exactly. They knew that our spies would take the mountains to avoid passing through checkpoints and knew that the mountain passage leading to Messner Village was the only way to reach Brister territory.
(Ryuuji): Since the village is considered Hargus territory we have no authority to send our knights there. We have to request help or permission from Hargus to send our knights. Relationships between our kingdoms haven’t been good, so they would outright deny us permission. If we requested their help it would open up an investigation exposing our spies, and if we sent official knights unannounced it would be declared as an act of war.
(Jin): Which means we’re the only knights who can act on Brister’s behalf.
(Dust): Yep. However, if we get caught or die Brister will deny any association with us to protect themselves. So, word of advice rookie, don’t die.
(Jin): I feel like that’s been my motto this whole week.
*As the group continues to climb the mountain path, Jin decides to change the conversation*
(Jin): So, what’s this Sanada guy like? He’s the only member I haven’t met yet.
(Raika): Curious huh? Well for starters he’s my partner and a swordsman. He’s a quiet guy who only speaks when he has something to say, can brew some good tea, he’s one of the few people who can beat Morgan in shogi, and he’s a real-life samurai.
(Jin): Samurai? Like those ones you see in the movies?
(Dust): Same ones only cooler. Getting excited?
(Jin): How’d you guys meet him?
(Ryuuji): He was in my special unit during the rebellion along with Raika. Unlike me and Raika who became knights through the system, Sanada was granted the title of knight for his heroic deeds during the rebellion just like Dust here.
(Jin): You’re an honorary knight?
(Dust): Yeah. Me, Amarti, Zia, and Jade come from outside the kingdom. We got caught up in the rebellion thanks to this idiot right here.
*Dust directs his eyes to Ryuuji who grins embarrassingly while laughing*
(Jin): Man, those titles are rare. They’re only awarded to people who have shown great valor in battle and service to the kingdom. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of the title being granted to outsiders. You guys must of did some amazing things during the rebellion.
(Dust): We did. Maybe we’ll tell you about it someday.
(Jin): So I take it Sanada was born outside of the kingdom too?
(Raika): Yes. He was born in a settlement within the Loman Empire. Unfortunately, the settlement was attacked by Eclipses and he was one of the few survivors. He was only a kid when the attack happened. Lost his mom, dad, and older sister in the process.
(Jin): Sorry to hear that. What happened to him?
(Ryuuji): His father was a member of the Wind School, a school that trained people in the swordsmanship of wind. One of the masters there was a close friend of Sanada’s dad and adopted him. Sanada spent his years learning the ways of the sword and combined that with his own wind magic. He managed to become one of the best swordsmen the school ever produced.
(Raika): Don’t sell him short, Ryuuji. He is the best swordsman. It’s because of him that I can properly use my energy saber. His skills are second to none, he can move as fast as the wind and takes out his opponents with the precision and honor of a samurai. That’s why everyone calls him the Wind Samurai.
*As Jin took all of this in he became more interested in meeting Sanada. He couldn’t help but get this cool image of him in his head after hearing what everyone said about him. He was especially interested in meeting him with the way Raika talked about him as he never heard her talk that way about anyone*
(Jin): *Inner Thoughts* Could Raika have a crush on Sanada? I mean, from the way she described him he sounds like a great guy and Raika is. . .well an attractive woman. Okay, she’s a little scary, but I’m sure any guy would be happy to get with someone like her.
(Dust): Get ready guys, there’s the village.
*The group quickly gets behind a large rock nearby and looks up the hill to the wooden gate of the village which is being guarded by mercenaries who each have rifles*
(Ryuuji): Two guards are guarding the gate.
(Raika): I can take them out from here.
(Ryuuji): No, the gunfire will alert the others if they go down. We need to sneak in unnoticed.
*As everyone ponders what to do, Dust notices the river and how a stream leads to a cave that goes underneath the village*
(Dust): There’s our way in.
*Dust points to the river and they all follow the stream which leads into the cave. Once inside the cave they see lights on the wall that illuminate the cave for safe passage. They soon come to the end of the cave and look up where they see a well that will lead them into the village*
(Jin): Okay, great, but I don’t think we can make that.
(Dust): Good thing you’ve got me.
*Dust shoots a grappling hook from his wrist which latches on to the well*
(Dust): Grab on.
*Raika, Ryuuji, and Jin grab onto to Dust’s shoulders and arm before Dust pulls them up to the well where they grab onto it and take a peek up to make sure the coast is clear. They all look up and see that the village is maintained well. The streets are stone, the buildings are made of wood, and they have metal street lights which use magic light stones to light up. They don’t see any people out in the open, so they climb out of the well and quickly run behind a building to avoid being seen and raising suspicions*
(Raika): Something’s not right here. It’s the middle of the day and nobody’s out.
(Dust): The mercenaries have this whole town spooked. Let’s meet Sanada and get an update on the situation.
(Jin): How? We don’t know where he’s at in this village.
(???): You don’t have to look far.
*The group turns around with Raika putting her gun in the face of the stranger and the stranger pointing their sword in the face of Raika*
(Raika): Sanada?
(Sanada): How nice. I haven’t seen you guys in days and the first thing you do is point a gun in my face.
*Raika lowers her gun and puts it away while Sanada does the same thing with his sword*
(Raika): You know I don’t like it when you sneak up on me like this. How’d you know we’d come up the well?
(Sanada): I saw you from outside the village. Ryuuji. Dust. It’s good to see you both again. I see we have a new face among us.
(Jin): Hi. I’m Jin Hephaestus.
(Ryuuji): He’s our new recruit for the order.
(Sanada): I see. I apologize for not being there on the day of your arrival. My name is Sanada Kudoyama, please feel free to call me Sanada. I know this is late but allow me to welcome you into Shadow Eye. I am sure the members of the order have caused you trouble, but just know that I look forward to working with you.
*Sanada bows his head to Jin*
(Jin): Oh. . .no. . . uh, thank you for having me.
*Jin bows to Sanada as well*
(Dust): Save the greetings for later. What’s the situation here?
(Sanada): Bad. Come on, I’ll tell you about it more at the hideout. This way.
*Sanada leads the group down a street where they unknowingly are being followed by a mercenary*
Author’s Notes: And Sanada has finally entered the picture. I’m glad I was able to tie-in the previews into the main story. Sorry there wasn’t much action this chapter, but you got to see some world-building. You learned about spirits and Brister’s relationship with a neighboring kingdom. I’ll be sure to bring the action next so look forward to a good showdown.