<Atsumi POV>

It had been a few days since the breach and though I still had a few fractured ribs, the healing magic of the attendants has sped up my recovery. There were still faint markings of mana burn and using if the faintest bit of magic would cause pain. Sadly, it’s not something you heal easily. 

Shino had requested I meet up with her, so I was on my way there until I reached a small creek, where I spotted a few wild carp. I was busy just admiring them until the sounds of footsteps approached from behind.

It was timothy. His hair was a mess, and sweat rolled off his eyebrow. Upon seeing me, he sped up, almost falling over as he jumped over the creek.

“Hey, you are already on your feet? How are you feeling?” 

He bombarded me with questions as he struggled to find his own balance.

“I’m ok.” I replied.

“Really? You looked like you were gonna die a few days ago.” 

“I’m fine, really. No need to look so sad,” I said as I placed my good hand on his shoulder.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing to worry about now. Where are you heading?” he asked.

“I was called in by master Shino.”

“Oh, I’m actually heading there right now.”

We both crossed the river and visited the chief building in which Shino was staying. Miss Maria, who stood near the entrance, held a tray of liquor and other things the adults ate. She greeted us but only allowed me to enter inside.

“Shino will speak to the two of you separately.”

On being let inside, I could spot Shino sitting upright, taking a sip of whatever she was drinking. The chamber, scented with lavender, still reeked of tobacco. Not that I didn’t expect it.

I then greeted Mr. Florin who was also present. His calculated stare was not something I was fond of, though.

“Looks like you are recovering well,” Shino then said.

I chuckled slightly while rubbing the back of my neck. 

“I guess.”

It was strange the entire chamber seemed so serious and solemn. I thought at first that she wanted to see the progress of my recovery, but she looked so different. That air of confidence she once had was now gone. Now she simply looked tired.

“Let’s get right into it.” she said, clearing her throat.

“There will be a party assembled to enter the gate. The purpose is to exterminate the Cryptid that has attached itself to the gate and cleanse the miasma present. This will obviously include me, so because of that, I won’t be able to watch over you.”

She gestured over to Mr Florin, who still had his eyes glued to me.

“Therefore, I will leave you in Mr. Florin’s care. I trust him more than anyone I currently know, so I want you to trust in him as well. When he is to depart for Atlantis, you will leave with him and timothy.”

My eyes shot open and I could feel my heart rate increase. I almost jumped up from my seat as those words escaped her lips.

Shino, seeing my futile attempt to not show my excitement, spoke again.

“At first I thought I should let you stay with him for several months and have him return you after he has created the new seal, but I think I’ll let you experience the world for yourself. As of right now, you are too young, but starting next year I am allowing you to attend Procyon academy but that will depend on if he can provide the seal.”

What’s up with Shino? Is this truly real? 

She basically just said go out and do whatever you want. 

What’s with this drastic change? 

The Shino I knew would lose her mind if I left the temple without her permission. Now she is letting me go on a trip with a guy I barely knew. 

She narrowed her eyes while grinning slightly. I was clearly doing a terrible job and keeping my excitement in.

“Don’t get too excited if you aren’t performing. I’m going to drag you right back here, so don’t slack off.”

“Now onto the other matter,” she said as she got up and rolled up her long sleeves. “Turn around.”

She then instructs the attendants to close the blinds and leave. “Undress your upper body.”

I did as instructed and exposed my upper back. The seal placed on my neck is visible for all present to see. 

Mr. Florin then walks up to me and together they place their finger on the seal. I could feel both of their mana enter. At first I felt the seal reject Mr.Florin's mana. This caused a sharp pain to spread across my neck, and in response, my entire body tensed up.

“Sorry forgot to mention that it will sting a bit, but don’t move too much,” Shino said in a soothing tone.

They continue to drag their fingers across the seal. Each change would cause a slight twinge of pain, but eventually it subsided.

“With this, Allan should be able to open, close, make modifications, or even remove it. I am assuming you know what will happen if you open or remove the seal unprepared,” she said to the elven man.

Mr. Florin, who had been silent the whole time, examined the seal some more and, with a deep breath, finally spoke up.

“No need to worry.”

Shino returned to where she was sitting.

“Alright Allan, can you let me speak with Atsumi alone for a bit?”

Upon hearing this, Mr Florin nodded and left the room.

“Atsumi, is it ok if we speak for a moment?”

“Sure,” I said.

“For what reason do you learn magic? No, for what reason do you learn to fight?”

Her question made me tense up for a moment. The gears in my head started turning as if to answer her honestly. 

I have been learning magic ever since I awakened it at the young age of 7.

Since then, I  learned how to use it in everyday life, including in battle. To really think about it now, apart from a deep fascination with how magic worked, I never really had a reason to learn it.

As a disciple of the gate guardian, even if I was kept at arm’s length by most people here, which would often make me feel lonely, my life here was pretty ok. Maybe it was the feeling of freedom it gave, or maybe it just helped me pass the time. I can’t really say. 

This was the answer I would have given a few days ago, but now the only factor I could think of was…

“I want to be an explorer, just like my mother.” 

Shino sighed as if she expected this answer. She looked at me and narrowed her eyes, and her entire demeanor changed.

<Shino POV>

Hmm as I thought, maybe it is better to just keep her here and live a normal life, but I don’t want to force her, she will have to make that decision on her own, not to mention I needed the ticking time bomb nestled deep within the depths of her soul to be tamed or sealed away, as her chances of losing control increases as she gets older.

“Is that so? Let me tell you a half-assed resolve won’t get you far in this world, so you must ensure this is what you really want. This world is cruel, vile, and will steal from you even if you have nothing left. If you have nothing of value to offer, you will be forgotten and thrown aside. If you stand out too much, many will desire you, much may envy you, though that last part may sound good. In your case, it is not.” 

I stopped for a moment and took a sip of the rice wine Maria had just brought in. The slight sourness and fruity aroma were enough to calm my building frustrations.

“Do you know why that is Atsumi?”

She shuffled a little and then stared off into space, but didn’t seem to have the answer.

“It is because you are human.”

She tilted her head, confused and slightly lost as to where I was going with this conversation.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

I got up from my seated position and began to pace around the room.

“I have tried my best to harbor an environment of mutual respect here, but in this reality, humans are seen as an inferior species. They, no, we, don’t live as long. We don’t have as much innate mana as the so-called higher races, and even though we are larger in number, we still fight amongst ourselves. In some nations, we are commodities, slaves, property and have no rights. As a half-human half oni-yokai, I am often told by others that it is because of my yokai lineage that I am where I am today. Even those such as your mother and father, who broke through the realms of what was thought to be unattainable by humans, were told to stay in their place.”

I went on giving her no time to catch her thoughts or her words. I wanted to make sure she understood.

“Humans are born with weak souls and weak bodies. We lack the absolute authority over mana and Qi the other races seem to have.”

“Have you heard of fragments?”

“No, I haven’t,” she replied.

I took one last sip of my rice wine and returned to my table to refill the glass.

“Throughout history, there were human children born with souls so powerful and mana so dense and pure that their weak bodies could not handle it. These children are called Untainted fragments. I believe you, Atsumi is such a child.”

“These children throughout history have been heavily sought by all races and have led to kidnappings, deaths of entire towns and even wars. What I am saying for a fact is that most of the time, tragedy follows close behind these children.”

“Why are we hunted? Aren’t we useless if we can’t use our own power?” Atsumi asked.

“For many reasons, some were used as batteries, some as objects of worship. I have even heard of rituals where the souls were ripped out and placed in an unborn fetus of the desired race, basically a forced reincarnation. In the end it's always the allure of their mana”

Atsumi looks at me wide-eyed, as if she thought such things weren’t possible. She seemed unsure of what to say next.

“I am telling you this, not to scare you, but to implore you to be very careful where you tread. I will also emphasize that you do not use your mana in front of those who are called ‘Aspects’, they will see through the seal right away. You will recognize them by either a Rune on their cheek or forehead or by their eyes. Aspects all have special eyes. I don’t need to explain it, as they all look different from each other, but you will recognize it when you see it.”

“Saying this will you promise me to do these things. I know it sounds hard, but that is my condition for letting you go out into the world.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, here.” I handed her a golden blade.

“This sword once belonged to your father. It is called the Blade of Runic Echoes and it is an A-class Crystal sword made from ore and pure mana crystals. It’s an earth and lightning elemental blade and brings about an aberrant-type magic called thunder terra.  Though I must warn you can only use it a few times before the mana leftover from your father runs out.”

“Why is it here?” Atsumi asked.

“He doesn’t need it anymore, so he left it here,” I said with a shrug.

I could see she had a storm of thoughts swirling in her head.

“Is there anything you wish to ask me?” I asked.

Atsumi seemed unsure, most of what I have told her was new to her and maybe she hasn’t fully grasped everything. With a look of curiosity and worry, she spoke.

“You have given me my father’s blade. I still don’t know him all that well and I know he doesn’t want to meet me, but I would like to go meet him at least once.”

I sighed. I expected this. 

Atsumi thinks her father has abandoned her and Mina, but Mirion thinks they have both already died. Although Mina, who was Atsumi’s mother, died because of a curse placed on her, Atsumi was still alive.

I knew it was cruel. I  lied to both of them but I wanted Atsumi to have a normal life, a life away from the one he had brought upon himself. A life of constant fighting and death. 

I believed that Atsumi, who was a full-blooded human, had a high chance of being an average person, but I was completely wrong. 

She awakened wind magic at the age of 7, lightning at the age of 8, and then water at the age of 9. This, on its own, separated her from most of the children her age, even amongst the other races. 

Then it happened, at the age of 10, her fate soul fully blossomed to life and her innate magic sprang out. The image of the peaceful and ignorant life I hoped for her completely shattered at that moment. It was a once in a millennia type awakening that was so intense it almost killed her in that moment.

“Master?”

Atsumi broke my trance, and I raised my head to meet her eyes.

“When you graduate, I will allow it. I will even bring you to him.”

And when that day comes, I will apologize to both of you.

Atsumi, somewhat satisfied with that reply, didn’t push any further. Instead, she asked me another question.

“I know you are reluctant to answer this next question, but after saying that I am one of those children I need to know, what is my fatesoul?”

This question, too, was inevitable. Each person is born with a unique soul. The purity of one’s soul dictates the purity and density of their mana, and as the rarity increases, so does the purity.

“Do you know all the fatesoul rarities, Atsumi?”

She traced her fingers as she counted all fatesouls.

Common

Uncommon

Rare 

Super rare

Epic

legendary

Mythical

Planetary fate

Stellar fate

Celestial Fate

“Correct. The first seven would always appear in each generation, while the other two only appear every three to five centuries. A celestial fate soul, however, has only ever been mentioned in books and ancient text, presumably from the lost ages. 

I then looked her in the eyes, half regretting my decisions yet still pushing forward.

Well, that was the case, until you were born.”

Her eyes widened as the realization hit her.

“Yes, you are the first person since the lost ages to manifest a celestial fatesoul.”

 

<Allan POV>

I sat on a balcony overseeing a small yard. Shino was next to me.

“You seem out of it. The girl hasn’t even left yet and you already look like you miss her.”

“I’m just worried. Honestly, the girl is sometimes too reckless. Hopefully, you keep her in check,” Shino said, glaring at me. “I want her to live her own life, but I also want her away from the ugly politics that’s about to unravel here.”

“Is that, so I replied?”

“This place is no longer safe, not to mention those Idai bastards are bound to set their sights on her eventually, and if it came to that, heads might roll.” Shino said.

I never expected her to think that far ahead. It’s a common tactic for this new governing party to take young maidens and relatives of gate guardians as either concubines or as bargaining chips to keep the respective gate personnel in check. Atsumi, who was closely related to Shino, would be especially at risk of being targeted.

Not to mention she had the potential to become quite attractive, just like her mother, and when that happens, they won’t hesitate to snatch her away.

Shino weighed all the options and chose what she thought was best for Atsumi, even disregarding her own emotions and wants. Looking at her and seeing her worried face. I felt somewhat sad.

“Damn, I better make this work,” I whispered.

“Hmm, what was that?” Shino asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Anyway It has been a stressful few days and frankly I am exhausted, goodnight Allan.”

“Goodnight.”

Shino then got up and went to her room. Leaving me alone to bathe in the moonlight.