Chapter 7: Fish Out of Water 1


    Keiji: “Don’t fall overboard!


    Yuuki: “Don’t let them get on the boat!”


    The preceptors hollered instructions from the leading canoe over the uproar of the turbulent Mizusashi


    river, added to which was the off-shore turmoil unfolding around them.


    The young sailors were too preupied to respond to the directions of their guardians. A pack ofmia


    surrounded their canoes, trying to take bites out of them.


    Lamia were hideous, riverine beasts with bulbous, smooth heads and at least three feet long bodies.


    Some were asrge as seven feet. They had gaping jaws that snapped like crocodiles, with a mouthful


    of teeth asrge as fingers. Their most distinguishing feature was that they had no eyes. They


    navigated through vibrations and smell, and their only motivation was raw flesh; hence the preceptor’s


    instructions to not fall overboard made mighty sense. Since themia were amphibious, they could hop


    onnd (or on boats, canoes and ships) with the support of their tails. And therefore, thwarting their


    attempts to get onto the canoes seemed like a priority as well.


    A month had passed since the training of the Legacy Trials aspirants had started. Summer had settled


    in with a torrid vein. The preceptor duo had decided to temper their students in a summer camp- at a


    location of their choosing. After a few days worth of paperwork and preparation, they set off to their


    destination.


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    The party had begun their journey from the base of chojo hill, where the Mizusashi and the Kurosashi


    rivers meet to form the mighty Reisui river. The Reisui torrents are so powerful that only ocean-grade


    ships could cruise through them unharmed. Therefore, shipbuilding had thrived as a prosperous trade


    in Karasuma. Many boats had sunk in the unforgiving Reisui until the vigers learnt to pay reverence


    to the river and carve resilient, deep-water boats and ships.


    Karasuma had three major ports. The Nagato port (on the Kurosashi river, north of Chojo hill)- was


    primarily a trade andmerce unit. The Minato port (on the Reisui, east of the hill)- was where the


    royal naval fleets were. The Gakuto port (south of the hill)- was for the use of themon folk. Even


    though the Daigaku had ess to all three ports, the preceptors and the Legacy Unit used hidden


    docks and jetties known only to them. Chojo hill was an extensive area with undting terrain, and to


    date, it had not been possible to map the region in its entirety.


    The river-faring party had left from a rocky, ndestine pier with five military-grade canoes. The party


    included Keiji and Yuuki sensei (the Daigaku preceptors) and the twelve qualified aspirants of the


    Legacy Trials, belonging to Mikashita-kin. Tagging along were a sub-squad of three- Lieutenant


    Yorokobi Miyamoto and two non-ranking soldiers. Kento was heir to the reigning Overlord, Senju, and


    hence, a military escort was mandatory at all times, outside the kin grounds.


    They had divided themselves among the canoes as follows-


    Canoe 1: Keiji (M, 26), Yuuki sensei (M, 23)


    Canoe 2: Shigeo (M,15), Akako (F, 16), Kento (M, 16)


    Canoe 3: Hajime (M, 20), Megumin (F, 19), Yuuta (M, 20)


    Canoe 4: Daigo (M, 20), Kafu (M, 19), Chiyo (F, 17)


    Canoe 5: Nadeko (F, 15), Illumi (M, 15), Masaki (M, 15)


    Their destination was the Bokuso des thaty beyond the marshes formed by the Mizusashi


    backwaters. As the river turned around Chojo hill from the West, it backtracked several miles into the


    south-westernnds and gave birth to the Doronuma marshes. The marshes were murky and


    treacherous, home to rabid beasts of prey, venomous reptiles and blood-thirsty insects. Some of the


    local tribes believed that dark magical beasts, capable of kitsu maniption, had also made it their


    abode. The way to the Bokuso des was a narrow creek through the Doronuma marshes, known as


    the Kegare. To enter the stream, the party had to row upstream from Minato port, in the Reisui, and


    turn west into the Mizusashi. A mile up the river’s mouth, the waters flooded into thend to form the


    Kegare creek on the left.


    It was an upstream journey, but the military-grade canoes were kitsu operated and overcame the


    resistance of the rivers with ease. Trouble arrived when they encountered a pack of hungrymia


    moving upstream. Themia make their way downstream- into the warmer waters at night and retract


    upstream in the morning- to hunt for prey. They consume anything moving- from fish to humans to


    larger animals. The apex predators of the river waters were the carnivorousmia.


    Setting off kitsu sequences could damage and sink the boats, and hence the young sailors had


    refrained from doing so. They had tried to fend off the gnarled creatures with their swords. But as the


    lamia crashed against the canoes, the sailing kitsu ingrained into them started dwindling, and the boats


    slowed down. The preceptor and military sub-squad canoes had gained thirty feet distance over the


    last canoe. Canoe 3 (Hajime-Megumin-Yuuta) and Canoe 4 (Daigo-Kafu-Chiyo) were not far behind.


    Canoe 2 (Shigeo-Akako-Kento) and Canoe 5 (Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki)gged, as they could not fight the


    creatures off fast enough. Themia besieged the canoes, slowing them down. It was only a matter of


    time before any injury or mortality took ce.


    One of themia clinging to Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki canoe exploded, and Nadeko screamed. Blood and


    viscera sttered against their boat. Everyone else looked for the source and saw a roughly thirty-foot


    longnce made of kitsu extending from the preceptors’ canoe. It looked like a bolt of lighting, white as


    ivory. Yuuki had funnelled raiki into a kitsu synthesis weapon, which he held on to with both arms. A


    kitsu sequence had manifested the weapon, but it weighed as much as a thirty-foot woodennce


    would; one could wonder what inhuman strength Yuuki possessed. He could change the length of the


    lance at will and skiver themia from a distance. One by one, he started impaling the vicious


    creatures. Unfortunately, they were a pack of at least two dozen, and one casualty was reced by


    anothermia almost immediately.


    The canoes had slowed down to a drift. Argemia managed to jump onto the Shigeo-Akako-Kento


    canoe. The young ones hurled themselves to the opposite deck, avoiding its snapping jaws. Kento


    realised that no amount of taekkyon ability could put down a five-foot-long beast like the one before


    him. While he considered jumping off the canoe, Akako went ahead, formed a fistful of kitsu and


    punched themia on its head. The beast clicked and cackled, momentarily disoriented. Then it hopped


    into the air once andnded on the boat. The impact levered the canoe to a nt, throwing Kento and


    Akako into the water. Meanwhile, several smallmia had already clung onto the Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki


    canoe.


    While being twisted and turned by the river torrent, he looked around and saw tworge shapes


    approaching him in the water. This is the end, he concluded.


    Three events happened simultaneously. Lieutenant Yorokobi jumped into the water. Yuuki shortened


    hisnce and pole-vaulted from the river floor, which catapulted him to the siege area. The third event


    was so surreal that the other young sailors could not believe their eyes.


    Keiji was running on water.


    It was so fast that it seemed as if he was gliding on the current. The preceptor reached the site within a


    couple of seconds, and withouting to a halt, he squatted on the water surface, all the time


    skimming, ankle-deep; and plunged both arms under, yanking out two of themia- that were around


    the drowning Kento. The creatures convulsed and disintegrated in his hands. The miraculous Keiji ran


    on further, reaching the Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki canoe. He circled the boat as if it were firm ground,


    plucking off the smallermia- which exploded with his touch.


    Yorokobi had swum underwater to rescue Kento, seizing him by the middle and hoisting him up onto


    the canoe again. On the other side, Yuuki was trying to heave Akako- who, in shock, clung to him


    tightly. Shigeo had to pry her off the preceptor. Yorokobi and Yuuki restored the kitsu operations of the


    canoes, and they caught up with the others soon. Within five minutes, they were back on track, and


    Kento and Akako hade to.


    They had reached the turn into the backwaters. As they entered the Kegare, the water seemed to turn


    clearer, and the current became idle. Themia did not follow the party into the creek. There must have


    been more daunting predators, this side of thend.


    The canoes sailed close to each other in the narrow creek, propelled only by the operating kitsu. The


    young ones shared their horrifying experiences.


    The military sub-squad and preceptor canoes sailed ahead. Yorokobi, from the abutting canoe, looked


    deep in thought.


    Keiji: “Lamia have never been this bold. They aren’t this strong in the east. Something''s not right here.


    What do you think, Yuuki?”


    Yuuki looked around at the harsh natural surroundings and took in the acrid smells.


    Yuuki: “I have a feeling we are going to find that out soon.”