Episode 4: The Habakiri Village

It has been a while since they had departed from Tokyo and if Ichika is not wrong, they will be arriving in their destination in an hour or two. This will be the first time he went to the north so he is very excited. He can't wait until they arrive in their destination.

According to Ryoko, they will be visiting a village belonging to a clan of magicians that had existed since even before the Heian period. That is very old. He is also excited to see a real village of magicians. He knew that magic existed as Relics had their base on magic and he had seen some ninja perform ninjutsu (he was surprised that ninjas were real) but this will be the first time he will actually visit a fully magical community, even if it is a small one.

"Ufufu, are you really that excited? We're just going to Hokkaido you know."

Ichika heard Ryoko chuckling.

"Of course I'm excited! We're going to a place straight out of Harry Potter after all!"

Ichika replied excitedly. Good thing that Ryoko had put up a privacy ward and any camera watching them has been tampered or there would be problem. Then again, it's probably because Ichika knew this that he felt like he can shout so freely. Tsubasa sighed at Ichika's behavior but she has to admit, she is also interested in this magical village. She had heard about it before but she's been too busy to look it up or go there directly until now.

If anyone were to tell her that magic was real half a decade ago, she'd scoffed and say that they're delusional. But being a transforming magical girl who utilize a fragment of a legendary item through songs to fight devilish monsters, it's hard to deny the existence of magic, even if she cannot use it. She had asked before why she cannot use magic despite being something like a magical girl but apparently it is the same reason as why Ryoko can't use Symphogear despite being its creator.

Apparently Phonic Energy, the energy used to power a Symphogear, is not exactly magic like what she had thought before and there are very few people that can utilize this energy, people Ryoko termed as Attuned. Symphogear is a system Ryoko developed to specifically utilize this energy.

Tsubasa doesn't really understand much about the mechanics behind Phonic Energy but it is a kind of energy that came from external source that is then internalized by the Attuned when they use Symphogear. There are supposedly other usage in other ways but that is so far the only one she's familiar with. Besides, the study of Phonic energy itself is relatively new. As it is an external source of power, it is infinite and can be produced and processed as long as an Attuned can sing.

Magic though is internal energy that is externalized to cause a change in nature. Because it is internal energy that is used as a medium to cause changes outside, it is not infinite like Phonic energy. The power of a magician is determined by their internal magical reserve that replenishes overtime. To compare, Attuned using Phonic Energy is like a reactor that can produce a constant and infinite amount of energy as long as they sing while magicians have batteries that needs to be recharged after every use.

It's quite a shame though. While Tsubasa consider Phonic Energy as a superior form of energy due to being constant and unlimited, unlike Phonic Energy that is newly discovered and is barely understood, magic had existed for thousands of years and has a tried and true solid system. She would've loved to learn magic. Maybe one day when study on Phonic energy have advanced enough, they could try to replicate magic using their song. It has a certain romantic appeal to it too, being able to use magic through singing.

"Nee Ryoko-san, can you tell us anything about this village we're going to?"

Ichika asked out of curiosity. Both Kanade and Tsubasa also turn to Ryoko, interested in knowing about their destination. Seeing that all of them are quite curious, Ryoko decided to tell some bits about the village.

"Well, I suppose its fine. The village we are going to is called the Habakiri village ruled by the Habakiri clan. They are one of the few surviving magic clans in the East. Currently there are at most a handful of magic clans that survived in Japan and most of them are relatively weak. This is due to the purging of the magic clans done by the Demon King, Oda Nobunaga. I'll have you know that the title 'Demon King' is not just a moniker. He wields a powerful complete relic much like Durandal that Ichika-kun now wields. Sadly, we never managed to identify what relic it is as Akechi Mitsuhide, entrusted with the relic Hi no Kagutsuchi, destroyed it when he faced Nobunaga. Hi no Kagutsuchi was broken during that clash and the shards was claimed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi when they battled. It was last seen in the hand of Ishida Mitsunari and disappeared after the battle of Sekigahara."

That… was surprising. Instead of getting an explanation about the village, they got an impromptu history lesson. There was such detail in their history that didn't make it to the books. And to find out that some of their most infamous figure in history were relic users, it is enlightening. It makes them wonder who else made history using their relic.

"Anyway, the Habakiri clan is one of the magic clans that survive to modern time and can be said to be the most powerful of them all. The reason for this is because they are the only clan left in Japan that possess Dragrides, even if it is the standard Dragrides and not a Divine Dragride."

"Dragrides?"

The three teens asked in confusion, never hearing the term before. Ryoko realized that she had never taught them about what things exists in the magic side of the world since she had been focusing on getting them up to speed. This is as good an opportunity as any to teach them about the magic side even if only a little bit.

"A Dragride is, imagine them as an Infinite Stratos unit that uses magic. There are two types of Dragrides in existence; the ordinary Dragrides and the Divine Dragrides. To keep it simple, the ordinary Dragrides are like mass-production units while Divine Dragrides are special units. Owning a Dragride is a symbol of status among the people in magic community and any magician that possess one gains the title of 'Knight' in the west and those that possess a Divine Dragride in their family are basically the equivalent of Nobles in their society. The Habakiri clan used to possess a Divine Dragride but it was destroyed centuries ago in battle.

Ryoko paused for a bit to catch her breath and let the kids process what she had just said. After about twenty seconds, she continue talking.

"The clan still retain their great strength despite losing one of their greatest asset though. This is because the Habakiri clan is the oldest surviving clan in Japan, having existed for more than several thousand years. Local legend about them also said that they are descended from Susanoo no Mikoto and the reason for that is because they were once in possession of the sword that Susanoo used to kill the Yamata no Orochi."

Ichika went wide-eyed when he heard that.

"Wait, they were in possession of something like that?! They possess the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi that was one of the imperial Regalia?!"

Ichika nearly shouted. Tsubasa though knocked him on the head before he could cause a commotion, forgetting that Ryoko had setup a privacy ward earlier before talking about sensitive matters.

"Idiot. The Ame no Murakumo is not the sword Susanoo used to kill the Orochi. Susanoo obtained that sword inside the snake's body after killing it. The sword Susanoo used to kill the Orochi is called the Ame no Ha-"

Tsubasa's eyes also widened when she realized something important. She immediately look to the necklace around her neck, the standby form of her relic. Ryoko nodded.

"That's right, they were once in possession of the Ame no Habakiri. It is also how we found their village. I have been looking for the relics and when I detected the Ame no Habakiri, I also found them."

Once the group arrived in Hokkaido, they were picked up by one of their local agent, a glasses-wearing young woman with short green hair and an impressive bust that is further accentuated by her light green summer dress. Once she came face to face with Genjuuro, she gave him a military salute.

"Captain Yamada Maya of Section 2 IS squad Hokkaido detachment. I'm here to pick you up, commander Kazanari, colonel Sakurai."

That was unexpected. To think that such a cute young woman dressed like she's ready for a summer holiday is a military officer affiliated with their organization is surprising. While Ichika intellectually knew that their organization is technically a military organization, it doesn't really feel like one with how relaxed they are with protocol.

Hell, nobody back home use their military rank when they're in the base apart from Genjuuro and that's because he is the commander. Even then, he and the girls called him 'Genjuuro-san' without the rank. Nobody in the base even called him ensign Orimura after his first day that he sometimes forgot that he has a military rank! Maybe their branch is just that lax, or friendly.

"Maa, there's no need for such formality here, Yamada-kun. You do know that we're not a stickler for rules. Anyway kids, introduce yourself to Yamada-kun here. She'll be your guide around the village. And try to get along with her."

Prompted by Genjuuro, the teens introduce themselves one by one. Since Maya introduce herself using her military rank, they decided to reply in kind, though only Tsubasa gave Maya a military salute.

"Captain Amou Kanade. I'm the leader of the relic user squad. Nice to meet you, Mayacchi."

"Lieutenant Kazanari Tsubasa."

"It's nice to meet you, Yamada-san. I'm Ensign Orimura Ichika. I'm still new to all this but I hope we can get along."

How they each introduce themselves really show what kind of people they are.

With the introduction over, Maya lead them all to the car and began their roadtrip from the station to the village. According to Maya, the trip will take at least an hour, two hours at most, and after that they still have to climb a mountain on foot because they need to report to the front gate and from there Maya will lead them to the Kazanari villa since they will split up with Genjuuro and Ryoko because the two have an inspection to do.

Though it is called the Kazanari villa, the only one to ever use it is Ryoko. Genjuuro bought the villa for her since she does visit the village often enough and it is a peaceful place. That is news for Tsubasa though. She never knew that her uncle bought a villa for Ryoko. Then again, those two do sometimes act as if they are in a relationship, though both would deny with a straight face that there is something between them.

"Speaking of which, Yamada-san said that she's the captain of an IS squad. I didn't know that we have IS units as part of our military force. Do we even have an IS squad in Tokyo?"

Ichika said. He brought up the topic since he remembered that he had never seen any IS unit back in their base in Tokyo. As far as he knows, Section 2's military power consists only of them, the relic users. Then again, he never went to any other branch and he was busy juggling his training and ordinary life to ask more than what he's already told. Though since they have time to spare and it finally came to his mind, he decided to bring it up and the one who decided to enlighten him is Yamada Maya herself.

"Section 2 does use IS as part of our military strength. With the limited number of core that exists in the world though, it's not like we have a lot of IS squadrons in service. In fact, we have only around two active IS squadrons with each squadron consisting of four units."

Ichika blinked at that explanation. Eight cores officially in use? That is a lot. That would actually make Japan in possession of the most amount of cores considering that IS Academy have some in use, not to mention the representative candidate and the representative pilot themselves. If he is right, there are more than ten active IS cores in Japan's possession if that's the case and that is a lot since there is only 467 IS cores in existence and they are distributed throughout the world.

There are around 197 countries in the world last he checked, though some are barely able to be called one and only became one due to special circumstances. If one were to try to divide the cores equally among the countries of the world, they would barely be able to give three cores to each countries. Even if some countries are not included, three would be the most they are able to give. To have at least ten to twelve or even fifteen active IS cores in Japan, is that alright with the other countries?

"How did we get so many cores? If we include the cores used by IS Academy and the one officially given to Japan, we would have like around fifteen cores or so in our possession. Wouldn't the international community say something about that? Or did the UN approve of this?"

Maya is troubled on how to answer but a single look and a nod from Genjuuro allow her to continue to speak.

"Orimura-kun, what I am about to tell you is classified information but since the commander have given me the permission, I can tell you what the government have been keeping from the public."

Maya took a deep breath to calm herself because she's about to reveal an international secret. Authorized or not, she need her own mental preparation to reveal a fact that not everybody could know. Depending on who knew, this could cause an international incident.

"Nearly four years ago, there was an incident in America involving the Abyss. Back then, the Symphogear system is still under development so our main weapon to fight the Abyss is the Infinite Stratos. Seven Abyss was spotted near Colorado. In response, America sent 3 IS to intercept them and Canada sent 2 as reinforcement, fearing that the Abyss threat might spill into their own country. Both countries send the best pilots they have. The result is mutual destruction of the two sides along with… the destruction of all five IS cores.

Ichika and his peers gasped. To their knowledge, there is no known thing that could destroy an IS core. But then again, Abyss is pretty much an unknown thing. That is troubling news though. That would mean that instead of four hundred and sixty seven, there is now only four hundred and sixty two cores in existence. But then, how does that lead to Japan possessing such a large number of cores?

"As if in response to this incident, in the following year, Shinonono Tabane released a new batch of cores, this time numbering a thousand and five hundred IS cores meant to be used to fight against Abyss. The release of this new batch of cores is kept a secret and utilized for our military forces to combat the Abyss. It was made clear that it was the purpose of the new cores as Shinonono Tabane left a message to us along with the new batch. 'Do not break them this time.' She said. She knew about the Abyss and the incident that nobody but those involved should know of."

That… was a very surprising reveal to everyone. They didn't expect such secret to be kept by the world government. Then again, they are talking about politics. Lies are always made daily. But more surprising to Ichika is that Tabane actually made more cores and that she likely knew about the Abyss threat. He always thought that she has a screw loose in the head and that she doesn't care about anything other than his sister or Houki. But perhaps there is more to Tabane than he realized.

"We're here!"

Maya announced as they came to a halt by the roadside at the foot of a mountain. Everyone got out of the car and took their luggage. But when Ichika look around, he didn't see anything to indicate that they're near any settlement. All he saw are trees and the road.

"Ano, Yamada-san, there's nothing here."

Ichika pointed out. Kanade and Tsubasa also didn't see anything but trees and the road. That was when Ryoko decided to explain to them what they are seeing.

"Magical settlements are generally protected from view by a multitude of barrier spells. The most basic of them being an illusion spell that kept the whole village hidden. Then there are spells to mislead those who doesn't possess magic, making them go around but never reaching the village. There are other defenses but these are generally the basic defenses used to keep normal people away."

Ryoko then reach into her pocket and pull out three sets of glasses. She gave one each to the teens. They put them on and suddenly they could see a path in front of them, surprising them. Genjuuro himself already has a set that he is now wearing.

"These are enchanted magic items I made for our people here so they could see where the path is. As for how to pass the barrier without being a magician, here."

Ryoko again took something out from her pocket. This time she gave them rings. The teens put on the rings on their index finger.

"With the glasses and rings on, you simply need to walk through the barrier. But keep on the path. This is the only way to the village that we can safely use as this is the main gate. If you stray from the path, the rings will be overloaded and shut down. You'll get lost and we'll have to spend hours finding you guys."

"Overload? Why is that?"

Tsubasa inquired out of curiosity.

"The main path is not as heavily fortified as the rest of the mountain. If I recall, apart from the field to keep away normal people, the path only have detection field and several barrier fields. The rest of the mountain though have a multitude of barriers and traps should anyone manage to get past the initial illusions."

That means the safest and least fortified path is the front gate so visitors have to pass through this road if they are friendly. Magic can really do a lot of things. The group began walking until Ichika look back, remembering that they still have a car left by the roadside. He blinked when he saw their car sinking into the ground. There's a small elevator shaft that took the car under the mountain and once the car is out of view, the shaft closes. That was another surprising thing.

After ten minutes of walking, they found a staircase leading up the mountain. Ryoko lead them up. It took them twenty minutes of climbing to see what appears to be a gate at the top of the staircase. Once they reached the top, they saw several guards dressed in kimono and a haori with a sword each waiting for them. These must be magicians of the Habakiri village, though they look more like samurai than magicians in Ichika's opinion.

When they saw the group, the guards tensed and place a hand on their respective sword. But when they got a good look at who is leading them, the guards relaxed. Ryoko walk ahead of them and talk with the guards. Once they reached the top, the guard allow them through the gate without much fuss. Once they pass through the gate, Genjuuro and Ryoko parted ways with them. They have inspection to do.

"Come on, the village is this way."

Maya told them, pointing at another path. Ichika is rather tired of walking, especially after climbing for so long, so he hope that they'll reach the villa soon. The teens follow Maya into the village. That is when the magic begins.

Calling the place a village is wrong. What they are seeing is not a village but a small city, a city from around the Meiji Restoration era from the looks of it and about as large as a ward in Tokyo. Ichika had watched enough period drama to be able to tell.

"Whoa! When you guys said village I thought we're going to some rural areas in the mountain but… I don't think you can call this place a village."

"It has been called a village for a long time so the name sticks."

Maya explained. She then led the teens into the 'village'. The first area they pass through appear to be the land meant for agriculture. This is when the group finally see real magic in action.

Farmers in the Habakiri 'village' don't use plows or sprinkles to plow or water their fields. Ichika was amazed to see two magicians extending their hands toward the ground and then the earth move, plowing themselves without the need for any device or exerting more strength than needed.

On another field, he saw a magician casting a spell that manifest as a magic circle over the field and started raining down water to water the field evenly.

He look at another direction and saw several magicians picking fruits from trees by the dozens using magic. In another location, there are also people trimming the trees using what appear to be wind if what he saw is any indication. He doesn't know how but it happens.

This is a magical village. The face of another side of their world. He already felt like he's in a whole different world already.

Right, this took a while but I finally got this done. Anyway, this is more info dumping and world building chapter and there's a lot to cover. Magic. Well, it's just something added because I feel like it would be a good idea to identify the decisive difference between IS pilots and Drag Knights. For this reason alone, I made up a basic magic system to be used by the magic/Bahamut side of the crossover. I also added the number of IS cores in this story to a total of 1900 cores and more might be made in the future. This might seem like overkill but with so many deadly things in the world, especially the enemies, I think this is reasonable. I mean, Abyss aside, have anyone seen the power level of Symphogear villains? Let me tell you; when the higher ranking Symphogear villains make their move, it would take more than a dozen IS to even stall them.

Anyway, I can promise that the next chapter will have more action since Ichika and Zwei Wing will encounter Lux and Yoruka. Imagine how that would go.