When she touched the handle she could start to feel things she could not see before, Kogasa handed it to her since she was the one who forged it. Youmu as a new teacher was there too. She could see now, with the help of her now upgraded sword, that Youmu's swords existed in more than one plane at a time. The nodachi Roukanken existed in the physical plane and the one kept exclusively for souls, she could not only kill with it but slice that person off the reincarnation cycle, the wakizashi was to be feared less but to be respected more, it was connected to Youmu the same way her ghost half was.
The hihi'irokane in Shichiten Shichitou now allowed her to sense more things she ignored before, Youmu was the most obvious one. Sanae's magic was closer to her own than she had thought, Kanako's parentage with her was now obvious. Kogasa was also someone to be respected, a youkai whose strength depended on humans but her existence depended on the umbrella.
She had touched hihi'irokane before, but the nodachi was part of her, an extension of her body and her soul, the ore recognized her as its master. No wonder why Index was so sensitive of mana flows. She was thankful of getting back her spirit in one piece, until she started training with Youmu. Momiji in comparison was still a carefree wolf, Momiji met her limits and respected them, Youmu broke them.
She was even faster than her first teacher, her size didn't affect her skill with the blade. Though the hardships she was enduring in Hakugyokurou were comparable to the ones her friend was enduring in Makai. Lady Shinki agreed to accept a catholic in her world, she was no enemy of the church as many thought, the devil was a rogue from god but she agreed with his methods. She just wanted to keep devils in a place they'd like, a twisted personal heaven. Oddly enough that place, hell for humans, was a perfect place for learning magic.
Kaori had no use in a twisted world like that, she had nothing to learn from it. While her friend, the fire magician, Stiyl Magnus could learn a few things. The magic the demons at Makai used was no different from that of the church magicians and angels. They learned it from the same source, they at one point were too, magicians and angels from god. Some humans who later became demons and the first angels that reveled.
The perfect teacher for Stiyl was another magician who handled the same element he did. She had used it for longer, one of the first witches who used fire as a prime weapon. Yuki agreed to take him under her wing, only because she was ordered by the goddess of Makai, she would have preferred to slay him. Shinki liked catholics, few of her servants did.
A snowy hell, oddly enough it was the perfect place to train a fire mage. One has to control its own body heat the whole time, one slip and you are dead, constant practice even when resting. –Stop staring, she is here to make sure you don't try any of your tricks. Church puppet –She spat on his direction, Yuki was not alone. She had a blue haired friend, a white dress and a pair of wings. He dared not to ask, he preferred to stay quiet with those two.
–What do you want to learn? –… –He won't speak Yuki. Why do you have to put up with his kind? –Lady Shinki told me to… She said something about a fair game –She just wants to have fun with us… He is weak I can tell –W-well… I don't want to do this either –We still have to follow that order –Isn't following the devil's orders worse than following god's commands? –You finally grew a tongue! Don't you get it? We could kill you if we wanted! She is just asking for a favor, she has been so kind to us we can't reject you. –She has tempted you with fake desires and –Want me to freeze his tongue? –I'm alright Mai… We kind of expected this.
–God forces orders dear. He even tests your kind to see how you respond –Mai was still respectful as an angel –You have sinned already dear, if it was for god you would stay here forever. –Sinned? I have repented from those sins! –No you haven't fiery fellow. You attacked one of his council members and you are here to try again. That's why Shinki accepted you! –Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it foil the plan? –No. You'd still attack the same person you attacked before! Even knowing who it truly is! God is cruel, he cares about the whole, and hurts the few to keep the most happy! –Yes he does! And I accept that punishment.
–You don't! Kazami Yuuka is the one you attacked! Tell me you agree with her methods? She is proof god is a cruel being! –You are lying! There is no way… –Shinki told us about it… She didn't know at first but she is a member of god's council. Seraphs don't care about people and you know that, that's why saints exist. – Mai undoubtedly had knowledge about angelic bureaucracy –… –So it looks like my student finally started opening his eyes!
–Let me continue… God cares about the whole universe, humanity is a dot on it. Though your race called the attention of a few angels –I know that already –Shush! Those angels saw also that some Seraphs just saw them as tools, and god followed their advice. Why do you think early religions had sacrifices? –… –They convinced a certain seraph to give humans freedom, so it advised god about giving them independence. –Don't tell me… –No that one isn't Yuuka… It's Amaterasu.
–The god of the sun? –Hasty as every religious man. Many mythos explain only a piece of the whole picture, I'm explaining it in therms you would understand. God, following Amaterasu's advice, fueled some human magicians with his power. –The saints? –Yes! Some angels agreed to fuel other saints. So far god had only fueled 10 humans in whole history. Saints are humans sent to earth to protect their own race from god's command… And at times from fallen angels who see them as tools too. Practically saints are humans with the permission to ignore god's command, in order to protect humanity.
–Yuuka wants to use us as tools then… –On the opposite, she is the second seraph who wanted to see humans free… Though she sees them as a whole not a compound of individuals. –… I still disagree with her methods –Amaterasu does too, but their end is the same –You see why Shinki allowed you in? –… –There must be another way –Mai smiled, that thought was the same that brought her into Makai.
–Fire is not about life… Fire is about change, fire is about destruction. The sooner you realize the true nature of fire the sooner you learn how to handle it church boy. –Mai left the place, the place got a bit warmer –… Yes she is the reason this place is a cold hell. Why else would I live here? –I didn't ask –You were going to! –Am I that predictable? –I've known Catholics way too well. So first lesson! Change the same way fire does!–There was no warning, she just started attacking him with danmaku.