《Recursive Mirror, Hidden Shadows》 Volume One Chapter 1 Nian 1999th Year, 359th Day It was dark, it was raining, and as the grey clouds above wept over the thickly forested ground they covered, now and there could be seen flickers of light both above and below. Above was lightning , evidenced by the rumbling growls that sounded like there were ferocious god sized beasts hiding in the clouds, and below was a more humble sight. This one was caused by the small brief flashes of light, the gleam of lighting glinting off a large shiny and reflective two handed sword. What was strange was not that the sword could be seen, but that it was not seen as often as one might expect for something so flashy, but since the sword was on the back of a ninja who was skilled in concealment, this wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility. Actually the ninja was aware of each and everytime that the fearsome sky electricity glinted off their sword and made them visible, and they were actually a bit ashamed about the fact. ¡®If only I had thought of grabbing some weapon sealing scrolls before I left¡¯ they thought a bit grievously in regret. But it was too late, if they wanted to reach their destination at the quickest possible speed they couldn¡¯t have wasted their time by searching around for a sealing scroll. Besides taking a sealing scroll for their weapon at a time that enemy attacks were likely was somewhat selfishly wasteful wasn¡¯t it? As at such a time they would probably end up having to unseal their sword and use it to fight at almost any possible time anyway, making the use of the seal quite futile. That was also the reason they hadn¡¯t used just a cheap easy to find cloth or leather wrapping. There was also the sad fact that after the recent attack, and subsequent theft of many precious ninja tools which included no small amount of weapon seals, they were quite leery of using anything even only moderately valued frivolously, let alone the expensive usually one use tool that was a sealing scroll. However what decided the question of whether or not to use one was not their frugality but rather just plain practicality. For in the end taking such precautions would have probably turned out to be superfluously overcautious of them. After all, the likelihood that they were being followed in the first place, and then add that to the unlikely possibility that the one who followed them was someone fast enough to keep up with their speed as well as, skilled enough that the small telling gleaming caused by using the sword without taking the time to wrap or seal it would be exploited by them, was probably quite low. Even so, every time they felt the glint of light reaching them, they had to restrain a wince. As, expected it turned out that there were no followers, and excepting one little improbable moment where lightning decided to succumb to its attraction to their large metal sword and strike, they felt that the journey had been quite uneventful. They were completely oblivious to the fact that had they told their meeting with the lightening to almost anyone else that person would have probably gone stupid from their shock, if not outright accuse them of lying, for to most people their ¡®unnatural¡¯ calm, in which they would convey it, would have only confirmed their disbelief. For what they did was quite astonishing. Their reflexes seemed to be quicker then even the lightning or perhaps they were able to predict that it would strike seconds before it did, either way when the heavens wrath rushed towards them, they calmly and efficiently unsheathed the large sword from where it was strapped to their back, and using some sort of mystical technique that coated the blade with a silver glow, they casually parried the lightning away from them, before continuing on their journey like nothing happened. After a few more hours of travel that this time was truly uneventful to anyone, finally they reached their destination, the hidden outpost containing the reason they had so desperately and with haste had chosen to go on this rushed journey in the first place. Their most important person, the leader of their mission group, and the one they secretly and one sidedly thought of as their master. As they headed toward the hidden outpost they carefully observed it, the hidden outpost was basically a treehouse, cleverly hidden by some carefully placed camouflage. This deception was the places first and greatest defense, next to the remoteness, it could be considered one of the only hideouts so far from the city while still being inside the Alliances territory. It was for good reason, while outsiders aware of it would think that it was only a minor safe house, the fact that this hideout was also the entrance to one of the alliances main treasuries, was a secret known only to those of higher clearance in the city. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. It was only because a certain report given by a trusted shinobi, who had nearly died to bring the information, that stated that the location of one of the treasuries had been exposed that so many of the licensed ninja had gone out to protect them leaving the city vulnerable, so vulnerable to the attack they had faced. Even the reflective sword¡¯s owner had thought, that it would be one of the outside treasuries that would be the probable target, and that this deeply hidden and mostly unknown one would be unlikely to be attacked. They had felt things were so safe that unfortunately they had even helped the other person currently on duty with their imagined master arrange it so that they would be paired up for this precautionary mission, and at this remote location, rather than stay in the city on guard duty as would be usually expected of them. Though now filled with regrets, they didn¡¯t really feel guilty for at the time their only thought had been that they had wanted their favorite person to be happy, and they had thought that if that woman¡¯s plan had succeeded and they had actually become their friend¡¯s girlfriend that happiness would be practically guaranteed for he had even said once in their childhood that he liked her. Never had they thought that what was considered their most protected, most safe place, their beloved city was the target all along, and the enemies was far more deadly than the simple band of thieves they had assumed they were. They should have guessed the possibility that it was far more serious and taken precautions, but it was too late now. Either the messenger was a betrayer or they had made mistake, either was probably increasingly impossible to discover, for not long before the attack they had been found murdered. Taking a deep breath, and feeling miserable for it was possible their best friend was currently experiencing heaven and what they would tell them would drop them into hell. After all what they had gone through back in the city had been their worst nightmare and they weren¡¯t even half as loyal as them. Their master¡­their best friend, the one they trusted most in this uncertain world. Having prepared themselves to deliver the message they had set themselves to deliver¡­they moved forward. First they dropped to the ground and lifted a rock that was completely unremarkable, indistinguishable from several others that also accompanied it on the forest floor. However this rock was part of the key to unlocking the defenses to the shelter, and thus its importance was made to look unimportant. They pushed the sleeve of their right hand upward and reveled what looked to be a bare wrist, but once they infused that area of their arm with a special kind of chakra a small symbol of a shuriken tattoo appeared, they quickly pressed the special ink to the stone and the stone also began to glow. They then, stone in hand leaped from tree to tree until they were hovering briefly in front of the tree that contained the hideouts ¡®door¡¯. They then in that brief second carefully aimed, and threw the rock at a specific place on the tree. Then about the same time they used a small blast of ki to move in a dive towards the door. Just as it looked like they would slam into the trunk of the tree, the still glowing stone they threw hit its target. And they passed through the bark as if it wasn¡¯t there. They landed in a crouching position and opened their eyes to see the dim inside of the hideout. They stood and with some hesitancy they knocked on the nearby wall. To their surprise a figure abruptly appeared. In unison the figure and them reached for their weapons and then relaxed when they realized who the other was the figure made motion that turned on a small glowing light fixed in the ceiling, revealing to their eyes that the figure was the familiar face of man who then stepped towards them a wide toothy grin on their handsome face. ¡°Nian, what a surprise.¡± The man embraced them in a bear hug so hard that the armor on his arms clanked loudly against Nian¡¯s sword. ¡°-Griffen stop you are squishing me¡± Came the muffled voice of Nian. Hearing something in that voice that was unnaturally calm even in the most abnormal situations, something odd that most would not be able to tell existed Griffen immediately became concerned and asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Volume One Chapter 2 Ani 1975th Year, 1st Day I came to my senses slowly. It was almost as if I had been asleep, and then slowly opened my eyes to awareness. Except all my memories were contrary to that, in neither of my recent ones was I asleep. It was strange, my head was telling me that I had never been asleep but at the same time it was saying that the only explanation of my feelings were if I had been asleep. In one set I was standing in front of¡­something? Talking to someone and I was angry, even though I knew I didn¡¯t show it. In fact it was that indifference that encouraged that person to¡­to¡­what? I didn¡¯t know? Then many persons¡­I mean people, and I was standing with them. Wait. Why wasn¡¯t standing? No I was definitely standing¡­but I am currently sitting¡­why did I think that I was standing? Pain and confusion filled my head again, but it subsided after a few moments and I could think a bit more clearly. I immediately tried to analyze what had happened to me. I went through a serious of steps and processes that felt well practiced familiar and completely alien at the same time. Part of me, felt the joy of discovery when I realized how organized and easy to think the mysterious process was making things. To the other part of me, the processes felt old hat comfortable. Needless to say both parts felt confusion that the other felt that way. It was almost as there were at least two sets of me. Since that is obviously impossible and more elucidated deduction would be to say, there was still just one me like always but that one me had two sets of somewhat different memories. One felt mostly more fresh and clear¡­the other felt¡­older¡­shall I say? But definite stronger. One younger and clearer easier to recall. And the other older, stronger and more forceful? But no major details were forthcoming. Strangely, part of the reason the older one felt stronger was because part of it seemed to¡­line up¡­no sort of overlap? Yes, the older memories seemed to share the same events as the younger ones, though those events like I said were ¡®old¡¯ and thus tarnished and faded by that age. At some indefinite point after this eerie overlap things differed but as I couldn¡¯t see that point, and neither could I see some of the minute differences between old and new where it overlapped¡­for everytime I tried my head would begin to hurt to the point where it disrupted my thoughts. However I was able to figure out a little. Basically so far the most clear was my most ¡®recent¡¯ memories¡­or what had happened to me before this strange affliction¡­Struck me? I would have said that the memories I was making right now were the most clear if it hadn¡¯t been for the pain and confusion muddling things up. So back to my conclusion. With my more recent memories, like everything else it strangely came in two sets. In one set, I had done the same things I had always done, woke up did my usual morning care and then after a brief period of spiritual refreshment I had walked to school. The current speaker had glared at me, as I had been a bit late, but as they hadn¡¯t started yet they couldn¡¯t say anything so I had just sat in my usual corner, while ignoring the silly distractions and commotion of the more rambunctious other children as usual. In the other, besides the memories of the same thing as the first set except degraded by age and missing a few of the smaller details, and having a few altered or ¡®added¡¯ additions whilst being filled with an odd nostalgia that the first definitely did not have it also¡­ The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Ow, I grabbed my head with both of my hands. It had suddenly started throbbing in pain. I don¡¯t know exactly what details the ¡®other memories¡¯ had beyond the points I already mentioned. But I knew with a solid sentiment too clear to be false that I wasn¡¯t hallucinating them. Not just my feelings but the rest of me agreed on this point the ¡®other¡¯ memories definitely existed, they were too strong for me to think otherwise. The fact that everytime I managed to think of them, I felt a great deal of pain and confusion, didn¡¯t lessen the case¡­but rather even strengthened it. Trying to subvert whatever was blocking me from the memories I tried to push past the pain and confusion to focus on just the emotions and feelings of those hidden memories. To my satisfaction I eventually succeeded in puzzling them out¡­ In the most ¡®recent¡¯ part of those memories¡­it seems I felt a great deal of sadness...hate¡­and also surprise¡­no shock¡­.maybe? I am not sure, for as soon as I tried for the details, it started to feel as if my head was going to explode. It was a pain many times worse than the others I had experienced so far. I held my head tighter, and patiently waited it out. As expected, no one asked me if something was wrong. According to both sides of my memories, it was not uncommon for me to experience pain, but it was uncommon for someone to comfort me about it, and I didn¡¯t expect them to, except for maybe¡­ow. Anyway as I was saying, I also didn¡¯t expect them to. However I knew by the shame bubbling in my heart that though feeling the pain was to be expected, it was a bit uncommon for me to react to it so obviously. As soon as I held the thought, I brought my hands off my head and into my lap. I was sitting crossed legged on the floor like the other children. And my little hands looked startling white against my black pants. I had been wearing black gloves, and had removed them at some point before now¡­I am not sure when¡­maybe it was during that period when my mind had¡­fell asleep? But can sleep happen so quickly and take place only in a few seconds? For I am almost certain that not much time has passed at all¡­since my experience...Happened. Never mind, what I can¡¯t understand or come to understand is unimportant, what is interesting however is what I feel when I look at my hands. Shock, surprise, confusion, to name a few of my well mixed feelings. For some reason when I look at my childish hands, hands that were thinner than the other children, but still, like theirs, held a hint of soft baby fat, I felt most odd. I eventually, after a few moments of thought came to the realization of the source of the odd part, I was thinking of my hands as childish. Would a child think of their own hands as childish? I glanced at the other kids from the corners of my eye, most of them had their gloves still on, and none of them were looking at their hands in confusion. Was I the only one surprised that such hands as mine existed? I continually studied them every few seconds, turning them in different directions and clenching them several times to see if they worked properly. After only a few moments of studying my hands, I was interrupted. Volume One Chapter 3 Aniani 1975th Year, 1st Day It was Aniani¡¯s 5th birthday, and they decided to make the day special by spending some quality time with their beloved mother. So after preforming their various morning ablutions which started off by preparing and then eating a lot of different kinds of bitter disgusting medicine in the form of a variety shapes, colors and amounts. There were pills, syrups, and powders to name the three main types. While some of the medicine could be taken as given, some had to be first mixed with water or another medicine first and others needed to be heated or cooled, most needed to measured and portioned out and all needed to be taken in a very specific order. Aniani had special jars, boxes and ovens to provide the temperature effects, they also were given clean plates, bowels and measuring implements by the servants every day so the methods were easy to accomplish. As to the memorization and attention to details of the specific order required, Aniani had that covered as well. As far back as they could remember, someone had always been preforming the methods in order in front of them. At first it had been their nanny, later on it had been the clan¡¯s apothecary master, and both would eventually Aniani try to do the order themselves under their supervision after doing it in front of them quite a few times. Aniani being quite the clever child was quickly able to memorize every single one of the hundreds of steps and methods required, and it wasn¡¯t long before the apothecary master stopped wasting their time supervising every performance. Probably because of the large amount of practice it could probably now be said that Aniani had gotten proficient enough that they did it better than the head apothecary master. Aniani only made and ate all the medicine with in only a brief hour¡¯s worth of time. What was more impressive was that they maintained the exact neutral expression throughout the entire complicated process. Their expression really didn¡¯t change it at all, even after tasting the most smelly and disgusting of the medicines. They just faithfully, carefully and without a single complaint consumed each and every one, and of course in the correct order. While some children would probably full of complaints for doing this just once and would be full of endless protests against ever doing it again. Not only had Aniani never complained or protested doing it they had also been most obedient and never tried to rebel in other ways. This was even after doing it so many times. And this was comparatively quite a bit of time as Aniani had been doing it or having others do it for it, every day for almost as long as they had been alive. After filling their insides with medicine they then proceeded to cover their outsides with medicine as well. They first took a warm herbal bath and then a cool mineral one. For the herbal one servants filled a tub with ¡®tea¡¯ made in the kitchens and then added a few drops of special oil. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. For the mineral one, Aniani would walk by themselves through the complicated maze of underground passages that was the clan¡¯s home to the area with the cool mineral spring and there they would bath by themselves. After the cold bath, another servant would appear with a large bottle filled with a special lotion make specifically for Aniani¡¯s skin. They would then proceed to help them rub the lotion on all the places the child couldn¡¯t reach themselves. After all of this bother which took an additional two hours of time Aniani would finally be done. After slipping on their silk robes and socks and putting their dark black hair up in the tight bun that all the children wore. Aniani would put on a sachet of healing aroma herbs and head out to go visit their aunt. The visit would almost always begin with Aniani asking this aunt if they needed anything. Sometimes dear Aunty would give them small unimportant chores to do, that she didn¡¯t want to bother the servants for, but some days including today Aniani¡¯s aunt would just return their greeting impatiently and shoo them away. Somewhat unsatisfied that they were currently not needed, though one couldn¡¯t tell it from the child¡¯s blank expression and calm though graceful posture, Aniani quickly moved towards their destination. As it was quite far from their rooms, and they were quite the frail creature, they had to take a rest break several times. But they were far from lazy and had a strong determination. So despite getting progressively tired to the point that their breaks got more frequent as well as longer they finally made it to the destination. It was the clan¡¯s tomb. It was the norm for their clan to cremate their dead and then put some of the ashes in an urn with some of the details of the deceased written upon it. Aniani¡¯s mother¡¯s urn was located not that far back. The tomb was quite bright and full of light, shockingly different for anyone who expected the stereotypical gloomy cemetery. As was common for the clan there were also many mirrors on the walls, columns, and basically gracing almost every uncarved space including the ceiling. These mirrors enhanced and shared the light which usually came from a hard to see source that was actually a glass window in the ceiling that had a tunnel behind it that pulled in light from the outside as well as storing it in some special crystals. Of course besides enhancing the light they also acted like any normal mirror. And so as the child Aniani walked their figure, would be divided into many figures copied on the various mirrors. And several of the mirrors reflected in a an odd way making it look like the Aniani portrayed was moving in a different direction then the original, or even showed multiplies of various slightly different shapes and sizes. A different child might have gotten lost or confused. This was not so for Aniani, they had only needed their aunt to show them the location they sought once, and ever after they had been able to find their way back. Volume One Chapter 4 Narator In Ancient Times Long ago, before any possible measurement of time can be comprehended there existed the world. It was beautiful, near faultless and it was also empty of all life and even the potential of it. However although no true ¡®life¡¯ existed there were many beings there that made it their home. Beings such as the Eementals, existences of great minds and powerful wills that controlled certain aspects or ''elements'' of existence itself. The ones who had ruled this world since the beginning of its existence. Thus considered the rightful and lawful rulers. But the invaders latter known as the gods did not care or even think of such truths. They started war with them, and as there were thousands upon thousands of ¡®gods¡¯ and only 12 great Elementals, after a long struggle with many deaths on behalf of the invaders side, they were finally able to ¡®win¡¯ by sealing the creatures known as Elementals away into the crust of the world. A powerful seal won at great cost, but also a most faulty seal, for it allowed some of the magic and life force of the sealed to leak out. So when the gods transferred over their dominion and created their preferred life forms¡­at the same time as an unforeseen result children created from the Elementals or rather their power were also born. Chaos children they were called and also more commonly Demons. The gods were quite annoyed by these Demons, which quickly became the top of the food chain and ate many of their creations. And now and then would destroy them as a mortal would destroy an insect a fly. However they never seriously entertained the true solution, which would be to more securely fix their seal and then kill the Demons. Partly because they utilized the excess magic to their own purposes and thus did not have to use their own energy and life force. But mostly it is believed because they were just lazy and did not want to work on so large a scale a task. And so the seal continued to leak magic and the life force of the great ones, as it slowly weakened with the unintended promise of one day releasing them. Time passed and a variety of mortals known as Humans came into the land through a random breaks in the fabric of time space. They were weaker than the natives of that world but they were clever and soon they thrived. They were a mainly peaceful folk so when they met other races most of the time there was not conflict but friendship. This friendship created fertile grounds for love, over time some mated with the intelligent and clever but the comparatively frail races brought by the gods known as the fey as well as occasionally the strong Demons. And from those unions half-Demons, and later on powerful Humans of demon and fey linage were born. For a time there was peace and all races lived in harmony. However soon the gods came up with a fearful thought, a thought that would destroy everything. It was a simple and easy to understand idea. That it was probable that the great ones would consider Demons and those of demon linage their children when they awoke or vice versa. With the invent of this idea came an even more frightening conclusion: that some of the Demons upon realizing the truth might decide to prematurely break the great seal and release the Elementals back into the world. Threatened and fearful of this possibility the gods decided to end any hope of it coming to fruition prematurely. At this time it had been quite a while since the Humans had first came¡­and many of them as is the nature of such mortals had already forgotten their origins with the exception of a few fuzzy legends. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Being weak, fanciful creatures too clever for their own good their own story telling tendencies worked against them and soon even the legends became mere myth and folklore. Knowledge is power, and thus the loss of knowledge is a loss of power a great weakness and the gods who before had been shunned by the humans who had brought with them their own beliefs now had an opening of which they could exploit. The gods searched and studied the humans, and then carefully cautiously they sent their most seductive and faithful fey as their messengers. These fey went first to the human families they felt were the most bigoted the most proud hearted, those who supported the practice of human superiority. Ones who didn¡¯t take much convincing by the seductive fey to make their leaders make the marriage of Demons and humans forbidden. Demon-Human marriages gave a mired of advantages, which included a longer life do to the close proximity of magic, and the high probability of having strong children. So to many humans the decision seemed ridiculous. However it can almost never be said that bigotry was logical. And to ensure success the most beautiful and charismatic fey always went to most poor spirited and weak hearted humans in positions of power as well and they tempted them with a new version of the truth. One in which Demons were evil, and Humans were the beloved children of gods who should fight that evil. Although it started slowly, and there were some who realized the danger and rejected the influence and fled, the gods were patient and their messengers most clever and eventually their efforts paid off. With the help of the gods those who accepted this new way became powerful and were soon able to take control of other families, then villages and even the few cities that existed back then. To the weak close minded individuals such lies was became not only believed but welcomed, and the ideology spread with a speed unsurpassed. Soon it became a view of not the minority but the majority. And so humans became a race known by their hatred of Demons and great pride in their supposed superiority. Through assassinations of those that would be against it as well as other dishonorable tricks, this dark culture strengthened mostly unimpeded, and towards the end rather than rebel the few that were secretly free of prejudice and or corruption either left or were killed. It was not a pretty thing, but to most of the other races, even the Demons it seemed mostly harmless one. For as everyone knew those of demon lineage were always many times stronger than the strongest human. When someone who has obvious weaknesses brag about their strength it is hard to take them seriously. Demons also had the power to naturally and instinctively use magic, and could teach those with thinner blood the basics. They were also naturally from the moment of their birth much more physically strong then ¡®weak¡¯ humans who would remain helpless and vulnerable for a good portion of their youth and then become so again in their old age. They thought, reasonably, that they had nothing to fear from Humans and their hatred, and the Humans that didn¡¯t hate were potential friends and mates. Some Demons even felt that the ¡®weakness¡¯ of Humans were cute. And Demons were always impressed by loyalty and some of the brainwashed humans though truthfully devoted to the point of obsession from the outside looked like loyal citizens obeying their leaders. To those that rebelled or maintained their friendship with them, the Demons offered sanctuary, however those who ¡®consorted¡¯ with demons were also painted as demons. The world became divided. Volume One Chapter 5 Nian 1999th Year, 359th Day Nian looked Griffen''s appearance over, while gathering up the courage to tell them their message. Paying particular attention to what they were wearing. The majority of ninja, became ninja because they were born to a ninja clan and were encouraged to do so, and thus the clan they came from would usually have the strongest influence of their fighting style as well as more superficial things like clothing style. Some ninja, starting from their childhood would spend much of their time deciding on what style of weapons they would use and even more time daydreaming about what sort of fashion they would wear. Then when they became adults, just like most people everywhere, they would sober down somewhat and loose most of their originality. With the exception of those invested in espionage, most ninja, where their individuality allowed, would next choose their clothing based on their own tastes of what seemed ¡®cool¡¯, classy or beautiful/handsome to them. However as can be expected a large majority possessed similar tastes or had tastes based on the tastes of others. For to most ninja ones clothing and appearance was important, especially as most ninja were basically mercenaries who made themselves into a brand to attract clients. Like some people wear a suit and tie to work, ninja also had a ''uniform'' of sorts, that didn''t usually really differ between individuals. Nian had been born to clan that compared to most, garbed their members in a style that was almost abnormal. Basically Nian''s Mirror clan generally focused on a sense of strong unity, conformity and ''oneness'' in general in almost all parts of the clan member''s lives, what was important to most clan members and Nian (though it should be noted that they were an exception in a lot of ways) was practicality and that everybody wore the same thing, thus Nian had also never cared for things such as appearance unless it was a component vital to a mission. This had never been a problem however, for example Nian, in their younger freelance days had never needed to worry about attracting clients because after letting their skills do the talking for them they had never run short of job offers and now that they were employed by the city in what was basically a long term contract they didn¡¯t even need to care about getting new clients at all. And because even later on they had no reason to change out of habit they continued to just wear their clothing in the style of their clan. In other words, the clothes they wore now were not much different than the clothes they wore since childhood with the exception of the fact that the quality of the materials used were much more valuable and expensive as Nian had only gone for the best and most suitable. But keep though it was high quality the mastery of the tailor who had created the outfit had done a great deal to hide it so only someone with a keen eye might notice the fact. Nian also wore a hood and face mask which covered their face almost completely with the exception of letting a small band of skin and their eyes peak through. This look, if used properly was intended to be intimidating towards enemies while giving off a somewhat harmless and mysterious and deceiving vibe to friends. In addition to Nian¡¯s well-hidden face, they were clothed in loose pants that looked easy to move in and a long sleeved shirt, which left only the ends of the soft leather boots and gloves uncovered. An odd aspect of the cloth that made up their clothes, was it seemed to change color slightly depending on the surroundings. When they had been in the dim forests the shade had been an almost greenish dark grey that leaned towards black.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Right now as they stood directly under the light, the color was nearer to being grey and it had lost all hints of green. This was part of the reason for their success in blending in the forest despite the handicap of the sword. Other than several leather bags and pouches strapped about their person including the large shiny swords sheath, they were mostly free of accessories. They had a neat appearance despite it becoming slightly ruffled due to the hug and the whole get up just screamed ninja and I would say, though technically Nian''s appearance was quite unimportant, especially considering the type of ninja Nian was, it did suit them quite well. Griffen on the other hand was a completely different case. I said earlier that most ninja just like all other kinds of people usually ended up falling the trends of the majority or following the style of their clan''s. Well Griffen was an exception on both counts. Neither of his parents came from families that were even anywhere related to any ninja clans, and rather then settle on his own style or follow the majority...when it came to Griffen''s sense of fashion you would either think he didn''t have any or rather that he had too many. Almost every day he would change what he was wearing, or at the very least how he was wearing it. He rarely if ever bought things custom or personally made from professionals, with the exception of a layer of armor which he always wore underneath his clothes, he had the habit of buying everything he wore second hand and what he bought wasn''t usually built for ninja''s. A large part of the reason he changed outfit''s so often was probably because, the usually civilian quality clothing couldn''t stand up to the wear and tear of a Ninja''s daily work. Griffen unlike Nian, had no clan to restrict his fashion choices and also seem to have very strange ideas of what he felt looked ¡®cool¡¯, ideas which changed depending on his mood and what he could dig out from second hand stores and various unknown locations. In this current scene, Griffen¡¯s head was mostly uncovered except a long brown and red checkered scarf wrapped partially around his neck and forehead like a clumsy turban, which only slightly kept his long wildly curly black hair in check. The rest of his almost shockingly colorful clothes would easily deceive most who saw him, into thinking that he was anything but a ninja. Especially as though the pattern was ordinary, the colors of the bright orange shirt and violet and blue pants clashed obnoxiously. Besides the eye burning outfit he also had a large old looking leather bag strapped to his back along with several staffs, a hammer, a sword, and several more exotic looking weapons. Nian after getting a satisfying eyeful of the rest of what Griffen was wearing carefully studied each of the weapons, one by one. It had become Nian''s habit since child hood to study and observe what Griffen was wearing every-time they saw them. To most people Griffen''s appearance called to question his sanity among many and most¡­well¡­were the less kind sort of thoughts. To Nian, Griffen''s clothing was a puzzle they could never solve, something mentally stimulating and comforting in the way that it kept their always busy mind occupied, at least for a little while. Griffen was not surprised about this strange behavior as he was well used to his friends many eccentricities, in fact he even helped him with the process by stepping back and spreading his arms and even spinning in a circle once or twice and taking various poses, all the while his eyes were focused on what he could see of his friends face. Though most would find what was happening right now something especially strange. Specifically other ninjas who didn''t know the pair well would be completely flabbergasted at a minimum. However for the two friends such a scene was a common way of greeting that had started not long after what Griffen thought of as friendship, and Nian as a friendly master-servant relationship first began to become close. Eventually they completely finished analyzing or overserving, and knew that they were pushing the boundaries of what was considered normal even for them, and so they reluctantly stopped. Volume One Chapter 6 Ani 1975th Year, 1st Day I was interrupted from my obsession with my hands when I sensed, someone also glaring at them. I looked up and realized it was our speaker¡­after a few moments of thought and logical deduction, after all they can¡¯t possibly be confused by my hands for the same reasons as me can they? I came to a reasonable conclusion, they didn¡¯t approve of the fact that I had taken my gloves off. Embarrassed, in a flash they were back properly on my fingers, and I moved both fingers, hand and gloves back to their correct positon on my thighs. A posture that most of the other children held. The glare from the woman speaker stopped, and I automatically went back to analyzing my thoughts. ¡®Other children?¡¯ I asked myself, why do I feel funny to think of myself as a child? Wasn¡¯t I obviously a child? And why do I suddenly feel that wearing my gloves feels uncomfortable? I had thought that I had gotten used to wearing them long ago, they shouldn¡¯t feel so odd to wear. Soon however my thoughts were interrupted by the sheepish appearance of the last of the other children. Unlike myself? Who my memories tell me was just slightly almost late, they were all most definitely late. One was even accompanied by a guardian, either a young father or an older brother. That poor fellow looked most shamed of all, and I felt a bit of pity for him. Or to be more truthful I found the probable idea behind his current behavior and motivation interesting and wondered as part of a mental challenge to myself whether being late or possibly accompanying a child to their school was indeed something to be embarrassed about. He soon left right after the kid he was accompanying sat down, in a group of other kids, mostly boys who I assumed were his friends. Strangely along with the ¡®pity¡¯, I also felt a bit of unaccountable anger¡­I would note this strange sensation down in my mental notes and decided that I would attempt puzzle out the reason for it later. Right after I decided this, I had to stop thinking temporarily as my head suddenly felt painfully funny, sort of like it was stuffed with too much¡­something? I decided to leave off thinking any further until I had more ¡®room¡¯ to put things in or at least until I felt like I did. To my surprise and confusion (?), the speaker just suddenly started to speak a few minutes after all the children had sat down. I don¡¯t know why, but for some reason I was expecting something different. Like maybe an introduction where the speaker gave their name, and an explanation or summary of what they were going to be talking about, but there was no sign of that. Whats more that expectation itself felt a bit odd as if it didn¡¯t quite suit myself or what I was observing. But anyway, despite my odd expectation there was no prelude or explanation. One moment the speaker was standing there stonily in silence, in the next they were orating some sort of legend¡­one that I found familiar enough that it somehow bored me. Though my conflicted mind also insisted that I had never heard it before. As my attention was not quite as caught as I would have expected, having presumably never heard it before¡­I once again fell back to looking around while trying to make as little movement as possible. This place where we were holding school? Well where we children were receiving an education at least, even though the visual did not quite match up with my inner definition of school I could feel in the back of my mind amongst my other set of memories, we were most definitely at least being taught.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It was a stone room, the walls the floor and even the ceiling were made out of smooth stone material, I am not certain but the effect looks natural rather than manmade. However the entrances and exits were completely obviously created by human interference, being of bricks stacked and cemented in the shape of a square arch. The room was quite big, it looked like it could fit hundreds of adults, but other than the speaker there were just a few at each of the two entrances, and a few others leaning against the walls. ¡®Instructors¡¯ my mind told me when I looked at the later, guards when I looked at the first. The speaker stood in front of the children who all sat in the middle, including myself who had chosen a seat towards the back. At first I had thought there were 20-30 children, but when I took the time to actually count them all I came up with about 50. This was probably not because I lacked observation skills but because, not only new children had been constantly entering up and until that point but also considering the fact that, after some consideration I myself was included in that number. For despite my odd objecting feelings I couldn¡¯t deny that I was also a child. We children were wearing as mentioned, black pants and gloves, we were also wearing long sleeved black shirts and soft leather pants along with black boots. Though I got a funny ¡®exposed¡¯ sort of feeling when I touched my face, none of us were wearing anything on our heads. However some of the adults including the current speaker were wearing things on their heads. In fact most of them with the exception of the speaker had their faces mostly covered their mouths and noses covered by the wide necks of their shirts, and their eyes overshadowed by hoods, leaving only a small strip of skin and their eyes bare to the air. There were other things that separated the adults from the kids such as the various weapons I could barely tell was hidden throughout their persons, and which my intuition told me was only the tip of the iceberg in regards to what was hidden, as well as the various large bags and summoning scrolls strapped to several groups of adults. Something that both the adults and the children had in common were the necklaces. Yes, everyone including myself were wearing little mirrors on necklaces, most sat proudly in front of their shirts but a few, I predicted judging by the similar chains, and myself as an example, had theirs tucked into their shirts instead. Looking at the mirrors or their chains, I started to get a strange feeling that made me realize something else, something hard to describe. Although I didn¡¯t feel this was strange to me at all, I had the sudden comprehension that this fact was unique to others, and by others I didn¡¯t mean any of these people. As it wasn¡¯t a very helpful feeling I merely noted it down as an observation that was somewhat new and separate from those I had made before, before dismissing it from my head but as it was one telling of my current situation I will share it with you. It was this; all the adults looked almost exactly the same. I mean all of them had the exact same face, and what¡¯s more judging by my eye they were all about the same exact height and all of them had a similar build. Even the women didn¡¯t really look different from the men or possibly the men were not much more distinguishable then the women. Then there was the tidbit that I was somehow able to identify who was a man and who was a women in the first place, when something told me that most people wouldn¡¯t be able to even somewhat accurately guess. For example though I am not sure yet how, I realized that I had immediately been able to identify the speaker as female, though she was indistinguishable from her compatriots, from a purely visual standpoint. This wasn¡¯t because my eye sight was bad, actually far from it. I found my vision to be quite amazing in and of itself, for not only was it quite clear, using it I could detect minute differences between the mostly identical adults and use those differences to distinguish one from the other. Neither was it because my ears were failing me, for actually my hearing was also quite good, although you must keep in mind that I don¡¯t think I detected the gender based on sound either. I based that conclusion on the fact that despite making any effort to speak loudly I could easily hear the instructor¡¯s voice. A strange though lovely, the voice was not obviously not male and it was definitely not female either but somehow between the two. Everything about the adults was androgynous at best, and utterly genderless otherwise. After really thinking about it, I realized the identifying feature was not quite physical it was something about their¡­aura maybe? What did that word mean and why did I know it? In any case despite the lack of sex characteristics or maybe partly because of it? Another feature of these cookie-cutter people had was their beauty. Volume One Chapter 7 Aniani 1975th Year, 1st Day The tomb was mostly empty but here and there, especially in the halls for the more recent dead could be seen other mourners. Most of them were adults who didn¡¯t so much as glance at Aniani, though a few were accompanied by children, all at least a few years older than Aniani. Strangely these other children¡¯s reflections in the mirrors were fuzzy and distorted so much so that some of their reflections looked like ghosts and for the majority of the teenagers it was barely visible. As for the adults it was like they didn¡¯t have any reflections at all. Mysterious and shocking as these sights were, Aniani was quite familiar with them and wasn¡¯t bothered by them at all but even took them for granted. To them it was all quite ordinary. They didn¡¯t even take a second glance at the sight and instead steady and surely made their way into the hall of dead were the deceased from around five years ago lay. Every hall of the dead was organized in the same manner, on the columns would be marks that indicated years and on the walls behind the commons were shelves that indicated months ordered in the first month lower and the latter months higher. Conveniently for the child sized height of Aniani who was actually a bit short for their age, the urn they sought was on a ground level shelf. Aniani knelt in front of it, and silently prayed as well as held a silent conversation with them. Surprisingly to some the conversation the child had with their mother was not at all childlike, although it was mainly a report on what they were doing, it was done in a robotic and emotionless seeming way and rather than describe things based on how ¡®interesting¡¯ it was or how much fun they were having, interspersed with complaints like a normal child would. Aniani instead stated calmly each and every action they had taken yesterday, along with their thoughts and opinions described with words like ¡°efficiently¡± or ¡°capability¡±. They did not seem sad, angry or even happy and comforted their face was like always a blank slate. It was especially still because their mouths didn¡¯t move, for they had held this ¡®conversation¡¯ entirely through sign language. Once they had finished their summary report to their mother, or perhaps their ritual organization of themselves, they just stiffly stayed in the same upright position and stared at the urn for a while. On the urn was written the concise summery of their mother¡¯s life from birth till death. Aniani had luckily learned how to read by the time they had started to get curious about their mother around 2 years ago, and thus since starting these occasional grave site visits it hadn¡¯t been long before they had the whole biography memorized, including the parts you had to turn the urn to see. While they had the whole thing memorized, being a child, even if an abnormal one, there were some things written that they didn¡¯t completely understand. However they loved those parts the most, because the parts that they already understood probably would never change, but in regards to the parts which were currently mysteries, they were openings that could possibly allow Aniani to learn more about the mother they had never really known.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. She had died not that long after Aniani¡¯s birth. Around the time Aniani was finally satisfied with the time they spent at their mother¡¯s grave and had stood up to leave, most of the other children of the clan of Aniani¡¯s age were being woken up by their parents or older siblings and quickly assisted with getting ready, before they were escorted by whoever was free to the place the clan had set aside to educate their children. And it was to that place that Aniani was also now heading to. The way to get to the education center location, was a bit complex as it was one of the most protected places in the clan hide out and thus was like a maze, but Aniani was well used to the trek, as they had been traveling it by themself ever since their aunt had escorted them the once and never again. Though admittedly the first few times they had occasionally needed to look for fellow students and their guardians and then follow them part of the way, because they had forgotten some of it. Aniani wasn¡¯t well liked by the general people of the clan for various reasons and most of them felt uneasy around them partly because of that, but luckily most of the people they had followed hadn¡¯t noticed them, or if they did they either weren''t those sorts of people and if they were they ignored them. One time though there was one who did notice, and also did not ignore them and they had quickly gathered their charge into their arms and took off at speeds so fast that Aniani had no hope to keep up. However luckily in that case, they had remembered most of the route by that time, and though they had been late they had managed to get there before class had really started, though, it was a close enough call that it had still put them into the bad books of the instructor who had been lecturing at the time. Probably as a punishment, the instructor had called on them for questions quite frequently, and sadly though they had already taught themselves to read with the help of their uncle, they had been still an ignorant child quite lacking in knowledge and thus unable to answer, at least to the instructors satisfaction. Half the questions had been about the lecture itself, and although they had remembered quite a lot of what the instructors had said and despite the fact that the questions had been asked right after the lecture they had been quite far from remembering it all, and when they had forgotten a major part that that instructor had immediately pointed out. Many of students had laughed at their mistake, and the after looking like they would have laughed if they hadn¡¯t been a fully trained adult, the teacher had chided also them. But although their face was like a mask, Aniani had the feeling that they were also smirking or possibly laughing on the inside. This time however Aniani was if not exactly on time then definitely a little early, which was proven when they got to the stone room where the lecture portion of their education took place and found only a few other students, their guardians casually still there and talking with the instructors. After a brief glance to take the sight in, they were speaking too low for Aniani to hear them. Aniani went to sit in the spot they usually sat in which was near to the center of the space set aside for the students to sit in. They were careful to insure that their positioning would be likely to line up with the other children when they came in. The instructors liked to see even rows of students. There was a time that Aniani had seen one rambunctious boy thwart this seating arrangement and the teacher had forced them to sit in front of the front row directly in sight of the instructor, and had picked on them for most of the questions, as well as for the slightest ¡®posture¡¯ violation. Volume One Chapter 8 Narator Long Ago However the gods were not done with their plans. They sacrificed some of their own magic and gave a small portion of it to the humans. Though it pained them greatly, apparently it didn¡¯t pain them as much as doing it themselves would. Next they gave to their Human ¡®children¡¯ certain enlightenments, lessons and instructions on how to use their new powers. They also gave their children essentially a higher technology then the Demons had. It was the ability to consciously use the natural magic in the air to strengthen themselves. Though the Demons could do that instinctively, and knew how to control magic that they already had, they didn¡¯t know about cultivating that power artificially or in any way outside of it happening naturally. So for quite a while they were behind Humans. For humans used their new knowledge quite innovated to create even more innovation, and with the spark from the gods they began a blaze of fire. Mages came into existence, ones who controlled the natural magic by acting as a catalyst and guide to magic through the authority given by the gods, one of many gifts one of the weaker languages of gods. Warriors also came to be, ones who cultivated their inner magic inside first, they would consume the outside magic and make it their own. The same way they would eat food and turn it into their own energy. And finally Hero¡¯s came to be, when a few of the slightly less lazy gods sacrificed a bit more of themselves to create a weapon that would use magic in ways similar to how gods used it. It wasn¡¯t long before the majority of humanity declared war on demons and those of their linage. It wasn¡¯t very logical, after all Demons were like Humans and like all peoples, beings with souls. Some were good some were not so good and a few were evil. There was no good reason to declare war. But the gods had already polluted their minds with lies on how the Demons had stolen more ¡®fruitful¡¯ land from humans. How they stole potential wives from human men, (to the single ones: that is why they didn¡¯t have a wife), and worst of all they said such disgusting lies as, demons stole and ate children, or demons liked to kill and torture Humans for entertainment. And so unsurprisingly war quickly turned into genocide. Humans on the side of Demons, went undercover to learn the new magic technologies, but by that time Humans were quite far ahead, and how is one expected to learn new things when you are in the midst of fighting a war? Demons were also nowhere near as fertile as humans, in the past they made up for this through their long lives. However war has a tendency to cut life short. Their population quickly fell, while the Human population growth rate on both sides remained more stable.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Such harsh stimulation provoked evolution, particularly in the short lived humans¡­those humans that used magic increasingly had their lifespan extended and that extension was usually at least partially passed down to their decedents. Not that anyone noticed for young death became more common than old age, still that fact in and of itself started to bridge some gaps at least for one side. As a result of Human and Demon lifespans becoming more equal, a great impediment was removed to Human-Demon marriage. And many couples bound by the life and death of war emerged, and as a result many more Half-Demon and Humans of Demon linage also appeared. Soon the Human-Demon side grew increasingly tired of war, weren¡¯t they in the end fighting themselves? After all an increasing portion of their population had human blood. While the Human side grew more enthusiastic egged on by the gods as they were. Finally the gods becoming bored of the fight they started, decided to finally get directly involved and end it. They gave 7 carefully chosen Heros great and near godly powers, and with them the Hero¡¯s cast a spell to seal away the Demons in a similar way that the gods had sealed away their Sires the Elementals. They succeeded for a majority of the Demons, many of the weaker demons outrightly killed and only a few of the more powerful Demons, particularly those far away from the epicenter escaped it. Without the true firepower of their forces the Demon side knew that they would soon lose. So they made the smart decision, they grabbed their kids and a few mostly small precious belongings, and led by the few remaining pure Demons they ran away. Far away. The sealed Elementals had by this time forced themselves awake and seeing the atrocities done to the ones they considered as their children were quite understandably incensed. They created a distraction, by fighting at the seal. The concerned gods immediately sent their Hero¡¯s to stop their fight against the ¡®small fry¡¯ Demons and go to strengthen the seal. The Demon¡¯s that were now sealed with their ancestors, were in trouble. They were not the same as their ancestors. While most of them could survive indefinitely without eating, to do so was something to be avoided if there was any other option for they became greatly weakened and pained by it. In order to save them from their weaknesses their elders who were quite kind, especially when seen in comparison to the ¡®gods¡¯, used their power to quiet their hunger and as well put those into a sleep from which they could not even feel the passing of time. The Elementals also sacrificed a large portion of their newly regained strength to create a new continent, one for which the few remaining Demons and those of Demon lineage could live in peace. A paradise to those intended for it this land would nurture them, make them stronger. For those not intended for it on the other hand, the Elementals made it so, the Garden was if poison. Because of its nature the land was said to be filled with treasure and opportunity so despite the poison many of the enemies who knew of it, could not help but be filled with endless thwarted greed. An extraordinary place came to be called ¡®The Elemental Garden¡¯. As to how one became a chosen of the garden, is a story for another time. This is just one of many stories or legend told to the children of the various family and clans that dwell in the Garden during their education. Of course the version they were told was a much more watered down and simplified version. Even so, what I think is a good point to make is that compared of many outside of the Elemental Garden what these children are receiving can be considered so Volume One Chapter 9 Nian 1999th Year, 359th Day Wanting desperately not to start the conversation, not because they themselves would feel bad about recalling it, but because they were expecting a negative reaction from their friend and they could feel somewhat bad about that, after doing their usual almost routine habit they referred to as ¡®Griffen weapons and gear observation¡¯, Nian tried to stall for time by asking the first thing they could think of. ¡°Where is Yuri?¡± Right after asking this, they realized with a start, that there might be certain implications to the fact that Griffen had come out to greet them without Yuri. Not that long ago, and before the whole bad news had even started, Yuri had taken Nian aside and shared a secret with them. Apparently she was in love with Griffen and had been for some time, and had decided since things had seemed somewhat peaceful back then that now was the time to confess her love to him. So with a bit of hinting and prompting to Nian, who had originally been scheduled to take the guard shift with Griffen they had swapped times with no one the wiser, and Nian remembered the scene of them in a restaurant Yuri with a bright smile on her face asking them to wish her luck. Had she asked yet? Nian wondered, though the curiosity they were burning with was even enough to distract them from the current situation, for some unknown reason they didn¡¯t ask the obvious and more personal question, and just looked around with their eyes as well as with their other senses for the woman. ¡°She stayed back in the surveillance room, stop changing the subject, Nii tell me what happened.¡± This time his voice had completely changed from the joking then comforting tone of earlier. It was cold and serious. Just when Nian was going to reply, a beautiful woman¡¯s voice called out to them from above, a small door having had appeared from the ceiling. ¡°Actually Griff Yuri is right here.¡± With a light thud, Yuri hopped gracefully to the ground, and casually placed her slender white hands on her curvy hips. Like Griffen most would not say that the word ¡®ninja¡¯ came to mind when looking at her. A waterfall of silky bond hair dusted her shoulders, and framed her delicate heart shaped face, from which peered a pair of dazzling emerald eyes. Her best and bulging ¡®assets¡¯ were flattered greatly by the tight body gripping red silk mini dress she wore, as well as her close second best assets her jade smooth white long legs, ending in tiny feet in shiny little sandal high heels, that Nian knew to have an intriguing purpose beyond fashion, that of being used as deadly blades. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She was a woman that possessed beauty that would make the tongues of most men roll out of their heads, if they didn¡¯t choke on their own drool first. However she was also a proud kunoichi (female ninja) of her [Nightshade] clan as well as being a valued member of Griffen''s three man team. She was very far from being just about her looks, actually to her, her beauty was just one of many tools in her arsenal. After seeing her, Nian tried to give her a look filled with meaning, which she seemed to understand as she smiled and slightly shook her head. Shocked, Nian raised a single eyebrow in question, and seeing this the woman gave a small shrug. Seeming to be completely oblivious of the silent conversation that had just taken place Griffen said. ¡°Now you see that Yuri is here, safe and sound can you tell me what brings all the way to the most isolated of the hideouts? I can¡¯t think it¡¯s just because you missed us.¡± Knowing that they could not put it off any longer, Nian sliced off what little emotions and personality they possessed and said in an almost robotic voice. ¡°6 hours ago the Capital City of the Alliance was attacked. We were mistaken, what the enemy wanted to steal, was not treasure nor ninja arts but our energy stores.¡± Griffens warm soft harmless aura suddenly became bright and as sharp as a blade. ¡°Fatalities?¡± He asked in an equally neutral tone of voice. ¡°XX dead, XX fatally wounded and XXX with non-threatening but decommissioning injuries, and XX with at least minor wounds. Besides most of the energy stores, a great deal of miscellaneous ninja tools and supplies were also taken, as can be expected the most taken, were on the valuable side. However it has been judged that the energy was their main goal and the other loot was just a bonus. ¡° Griffen didn¡¯t say anything for a moment then asked deceptively calmly, but Nian could hear the slight hoarseness in their voice. ¡°Anyone we know?¡± Nian paused momentarily before, replying. ¡°¡­affirmative.¡± Griffen shut his eyes tightly closed and clenched his fists, then after a long moment he slowly walked over to the wall and then with a movement quicker than the average eye could see he punched the wall. ¡®Thud!¡¯ Nian could tell as he carefully stepped back to his old position, after inadvertently taking a step towards them in concern, that the skin of their fist was broken and that it was bad enough that it was starting to bleed. With his eyes still closed Griffen asked in his emotionless voice. ¡°Nian, give me the rest of your report on the current situation.¡±