What a strange place!

After helping the family out of their predicament and being fully impressed with her unbelievable strength and mysterious powers, the family question if Zahna is someone who has trained at the legendary location known as Korin Tower. The mention of which piqued her interest but unfortunately they didn’t know of its exact location, ‘I should ask Baba more about it sometime...’ They only knew that it was somewhere north of the Fukurou forest, the very place she had found herself in when she had arrived in this world.

The young mage inquired about what to do with the bandits which prompted the family to reveal that they had a means of contacting the local authorities to come and pick them up. Thankfully they also had rope to bind them with, for as it had turned out they were quite an adventurous family but this was the first time that they had been victims in a robbery. Zahna had decided that she would continue north, scouting out the area between the palace and her new destination, Korin tower. And with that, she left them. Taking back to the air on her broom, this earned her even more cheers. Waving back at the family, she departed.

Flying northward, she traveled in the direction of the forest in which the mysterious tower was said to be. "Well, even if it's not as impressive as they said I can still use it as a landmark!." After flying for just over an hour, something large was starting to come into view on the horizon. There was a tall white decorated pillar that stretched towards the heavens and disappeared into the clouds. “I’ve never seen something so tall, wow!” With surprise and astonishment, Zahna was overwhelmed by such an odd structure.

The closer she got to it the more the carved reliefs were discernible, as was a small village at the base of the pillar. A perfect place to seek answers she figured, as she adjusted her course for the inhabited area.

From below a commotion started stirring. People dressed in light leather clothing looked up into the air, they saw something flying closer. Some people began readying their weapons. Yet one exaggeratedly muscled man, taller than all the rest, stood firmly with his arms crossed as he waited for the arrival of this new visitor. Several people had dropped what they were doing and took shelter inside their homes. “Upa, keep your distance. We don’t know what their intentions are.” The powerful looking man turned to a buff young man, who had a similar face as himself, as he said those words.

Nearer and nearer she came, slowing her speed as she did. Zahna noticed how defensive these people were acting, ‘Maybe they have to deal with bandits out here too?’ She saw that their houses were quite simple and didn’t see a car in sight, which made her even more curious. She landed at the base of the tower where a very strong looking shirtless man stood, beside him were younger men and women who all were armed with spears and other simple looking weapons. But even though they seemed to be quite wary of her, Zahna didn’t let it shake her. Afterall, they might think she herself was a bandit.

“Why have you come here, stranger?” the apparent leader of the group of warriors asked. His voice was deep, gruff and commanding. His stature alone was intimidating, and the fact that he wore no shirt gave little to the imagination as to how strong he was. He had a fanged necklace around his mighty neck, and his dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. His face was marked with red paint, and his cool mocha colored skin was marred with battle scars. Most prominently was an ‘X’ shaped scar on his right pectoral.

“Well, I usually like to do introductions first. But I’m looking for Korin tower, that it?” she pointed past the man and at the ivory pillar.

He glanced back at it before narrowing his eyes on her, “Are you a warrior?” He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Well, I am a magic knight…so, yeah I guess you can call me a warrior. Or you could just call me Zahna!” she had a cheeky smile and finished with a giggle.

The tall chiseled man held a hand out briefly to the warriors who had their spears at the ready, prompting them to take a more relaxed, less intimidating, stance. “Zahna? Well then, you can call me Bora. We are the guardians of these sacred lands. So, Magic Knight, why do you want to find Korin tower?” His stoic gaze was like a cold drill, piercing the depths to uncover the truth behind this strange new visitor, as many in the past had not been kind.

“Hehe, I just wanna get stronger.” She clenched her fist and lifted it to meet her eye level, “...No, I want to be stronger than the strongest. I won’t let the past repeat, and for that I will need strength beyond what I’m capable of.” A smile formed on her lips, one corner of her mouth higher than the other, revealing her canine.

Bora frowned, his eyes lit with warning. “You seek power but to what end? We have seen ruin at the hands of those seeking only power…So, why then?” The mood became more tense, the warriors seemed to grip their weapons tighter as sweat began to fall from some of their foreheads.

Zahna’s smile fell as she grit her teeth, tears started dripping slowly from her eyes. “There are people I need to protect…You look like people who understand that.” She wiped her tears away and pointed her finger directly at Bora, “You’d do anything to protect them, I can tell! And they’d do anything to protect you!” She stood upright, in a practiced stance and joined her right pinky and thumb at the tips and held the other three fingers out straight as she pulled them sharply over her heart. “Where I come from this symbol is a reminder of my promise to protect those who I love, and those in need.” Her eyes were like spheres of golden dancing flames, enrapturing the guardians as they stood agape at the sincere proclamation.

Bora relaxed his stance, arms hanging at the sides as he looked at her with an approving grin “If you want to get stronger, then you should climb the tower without that broom…But first” He waved to the others prompting them to make a large circle around the two as he took to a combat pose, “Let me test your mettle!”

Zahna tossed her broom to one of the bystanders and adopted her own stance, “Bare handed, no tricks! And no crying when I beat you!” The combatants smiled at each other before they each dashed forward, ready for anything! And the crowd was ready too, cheers of excitement were let loose as Bora’s name was chanted. Upa withdrew from his hideout among the treeline and took a front row seat. Brave faces popped out of homes as the clash ensued, many began to gather to watch this martial bout.

Surprisingly, for her small figure, Zahna was going blow for blow against the tower of muscles she was facing. Looks of astonishment and wonder plastered the faces of the onlookers, for beneath the apparent visible mismatch clashed two great warriors with thunderous results! Upa was amazed at his fathers progress since the fateful day that Mercenary Tao had defeated him, and was completely dumbfounded as to how this young woman was able to match his great strength. ‘He could beat Tao easily these days, and yet…This woman is able to hold her own?! What fearsome power she wields! It reminds me of Goku…’ Upa scratched his head at the thought.