Chapter 4: Hell and High Water

"Well, now that I've partially awoken my spirit," I replied after dodging a massive green blob of spit. "Can you help?"

"You've got a point," Moye answered. "Fine, I'll buy you some time until you fully awake your spirit. Just know that I won't hold long, since my power scales with your spirit level, and it's not at its highest."

Moye then flew away from me and faced her edge against the lizard. In a flash, she dashed into the lizard. It realized just in time to duck its head, but the slash cut off its tail, and with the tail, its balance point.

"It'll be a bit before it can recover," Moye turned back to me after shaking off the blood. "But you can't leave until you kill it. Take this time to call your spirit."

I nodded and closed my eyes. I thought about what represented me for a good minute. Nothing came to mind other than kendo.

I took a deep breath and tried to link my heart to my soul. To my surprise, it worked. I looked up above my head to find a sword glowing night-black. And it was broken.

A broken sword?

"Um, what does this mean?" I shouted to Moye.

"What do you mean? You awoke your spirit," Moye replied. "Now, fuse your spirit with the sword spirit."

"The sword spirit? You mean, you?"

"Of course. Unless you want to merge with your father's broadsword or your brother's rapier," Moye answered.

I focused my mind, and "told" my soul to become one with the sword. The sword was instantly covered in a black light, and without running it through my brain, I dashed towards the lizard. I positioned the sword to point at its head. The lizard sensed it and ducked immediately, but my arm suddenly made a circular motion and ended up decapitating it.

It was as if there were two of me, one from my brain which was still processing what happened, and the other from my soul.

"*Kitano Shichiseiryu, Sorahoshi," I said, as if the voice wasn't mine; the information just came to me naturally. "This is only the first strike of seven?"

"No," Moye denied. "Shichiseiryu is only one sword style of the family. Many more await you."

It was a little while before we finally reached the lake.

"What now? Who's the boatman?" I asked.

"He's right there," Moye pointed towards a bulky figure on a boat.

"Huh?" I walked over, only to find my eyes looking into the eyes of an imp. "What the-"

I was interrupted with a pitchfork coming right at my face. After barely dodging the attack, I silently cursed Moye. There was no use asking her. This has almost become routine.

"Come, spirit!" I yelled and called my spirit out once again.

"That's the spirit!" Moye cheered as she fused with my spirit. "No pun intended."

"Now's not the time-" I started, but was cut off when the imp puffed a breath of fire at my face. I ducked, and once again, started dashing towards the imp, guided by the sword. This time, the sword was thrust uncountably in front of me, soon making a sieve out of the imp's torso. Its corpse then collapsed, and so did I after draining all of my spirit.

"What's the name this time?" I muttered; no spirit was there to tell me this time.

"It's the second strike of Shichiseiryu, **Ryuseigun," Moye floated above me. "Good job. You made quick work of him."

"Yeah, thank- wait a second," My eyes suddenly widened. "Wasn't I supposed to convince him to give me a ride?"

"Yeah... I wouldn't call that convincing, but... it works," Moye sighed. "I guess I have to navigate you. Oh well, I guess it's all for the better."

After I recovered, we boarded the boat and set sail for the Land of the Cherry Blossom, which, according to Moye, was similar to Japan. It took a while to get out of the bloody lake, which was connected to the Worldedge Seas. Maneater whales and mutated seabirds, sharks, and even small piranhas were constantly on the hunt.

It felt like forever before we finally arrived at the Land of the Cherry Blossom. We stranded the boat at the bay of a town named Mantamachi and stepped ashore.

"Welcome to Mantamachi!" We were immediately greeted by the townsfolk. Surprisingly enough, there weren't any difficulties in communicating.

"Uh... yeah, uh, thank you," I quickly composed myself. "Do you by chance know where I could stay?"

"That I know too well. There are quite a few taverns here," The man nodded. "All depending on your budget."

Bloody hell. Another problem emerges: I don't have a penny on me.

"You're right, hell was pretty bloody, eh?" Moye said.

"Wow, good one. If only I wasn't already broke- wait, you can read my mind?" I yelled.

"Of course. Our spirits are linked together,"

"Are you okay?" The man looked at me as if I was some maniac.

"Sorry, I was suddenly imagining things," I scratched my head. "Uh, do you know any way to get some... cash?"

"Oh, is this your first time in Sakura?" The man said as he examined me carefully. "Well, you can convert foreign currency over there."

He said as he pointed to a large pub with a counter on the side.

"Can I sell some animal products by chance?" I asked.

"Yes," He gestured towards a huge marketplace. "If they're just hunting or fishing catches, they go there. Monster products go to the guild three blocks in the market's direction."

"Thank you," I gave the man a slight nod of appreciation.

After getting a few sharks I saved for food and the lizard and imp bodies, I started making my way towards the market. The three sharks sold for one gold and fifty silver, enough for two nights' stay at the best tavern in town. Still dragging the huge lizard and the imp with a huge bag, I departed for the guild.

*Kitano Shichiseiryu, Sorahoshi: 北野七星流 · 天星指路
**Ryuseigun: 流星群