You are Exalted!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.5: The cunning of Dragons and Falcons.

I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in his face. He gasped in surprise, took a step back and tried to rub it off his eyes. I curled my legs up off the ground and kicked them up into the air while at the same time arched my back powerfully. The Kippup manoeuvre bounced my body off the ground and to my feet.

The man finished to rub the dirt off his eyes and blinked at me as if he couldn't understand why I was resisting. The sole of my left feet lashed up to the side of his hand holding his knife and kicked it off into the thick vegetation.

Jeet Kune Do was not a martial art per Se: It was actually an all-encompassing way of looking at the martial arts. Pioneered by the late Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do was characterized by a fast, efficient and powerful fighting style.

I was small in height and weight, with a small reach against an adult: My speed and my legs were my best weapons. His face was colouring as rage overpowered his lust. I feinted with my right arm then quickly launched a roundhouse kick to his face as he followed my feint. I then delivered a following spinning back thrust kick breaking his nose and putting him mewling on the ground.

"You killed those two young girls after you quenched your depraved base desires! Their blood on your hands screamed for Justice!" My caste mark was glittering on my forehead and his pained eyes widened in dread.

I imperiously pointed my finger to him and named myself in Old Realm. "I am Luminous Amber! As a Lawgiver, I judge you guilty of the most heinous murder of two children and sentence you to death!"

I jumped up over him into a high somersault and landed on his windpipe crushing it. I heard his gargles and violently pivoted my foot sensing his neck breaking and his spasms abruptly stopped.

I turned to the shades of the two girls: They appeared lighter overall and on the verge of dissipating. I wasn't a Zenith, but I could offer those remnants one last thing apart a prayer. I reached with my arms and my Anima and freely given motes of Essence poured out, bringing at least a smile before the golden radiance erased them peacefully. They weren't truly sentient and their souls were out of my reach, so why was I crying?

I returned to the corpse of my first judgement. I didn't want to take the risk of a shade lingering so I used his clothes to prevent the blood from his face to spill around and hauled him deeper into the wood avoiding the grove of Verdant Wind and the Dragon lines. I frowned as I saw the tattoos on his skin. "Yakuza..." I whispered.

I buried him by using my knowledge of Thaumaturgy and most particularly the outdated but still full of helpful hints Proper Funerary Practicesfrom Creation. It enabled me to put his remains where the tropical climate should make short work of his mortal flesh and animals couldn't dig his body out. I also uttered a rapid prayer to whoever could hear me for a swift reincarnation so that he worked out his karmic debt.

It was only when I saw the buildings of the Senaga Institute that I suddenly dropped out of the red haze that tinted my vision and mind. I promptly puked out behind a bush. In the name of the Unconquered Sun, what happened to me?!

I knew that there was no Great Curse in the Worm setting, but then there also shouldn't be any type of Essence-related matters. It seemed that lines of control were directly built within my Exaltation when I accepted this task. Well, now I had all the appearance of a parahuman with a conflict bias and a traumatic trigger...

The situation seemed to be MUCH more complicated than I thought first. The Cosmology seemed coherent, but was decidedly a surprise. Creation no longer existed... Perhaps that was the key: Creation has been sublimed into Existence. It was both there and not there under the very fabric of Reality, but until one called upon those specific forces directly, they simply didn't act. They were simply present behind a dynamic balance of the Natural Order... They didn't need to act unless someone with the proper authority asked them to act.

Nevertheless, I had passed judgement on a mortal and I had … killed...

Was I feeling guilty..? No... It had been under a compulsion, but the decision was still based on me. However, it had been the easy way as I could have easily captured him and gave him to the authorities and I regretted making this choice.

At least, I hoped that it would have been my decision then. Human society had laws for a good reason. One didn't act simply because he could... Even if he had been a dangerous murderer and a rapist.

I thought that whatever Geas were present in me were there to force the issue between me and the problems of the world. No letting only the others fixed the trouble, I HAD to be personally implicated. I remembered one of the few instances when one of my past lives heard directly the words of the Unconquered Sun: "This world is broken. Fix it."

I also remembered the Ancient Pacts of Creation that still lingered and influenced this world and I remembered...

The Mandate!

The fucking Mandate of Heaven!

The Creation-Ruling... No... The Existence-Ruling Mandate!

I sat abruptly on the ground. No wonder I was so eager to make a new Oath with Verdant Wind or happy to renew ties between the whole Spiritual World and the Material Plane... I had the proper AUTHORITY. It was my responsibility and a dozy... I was a Lawgiver... a Prince of the Earth... a Princess of Existence... I snorted in laughter. Why was I hearing the group Queen now..?

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Before my physical exercise routine, I greet the sun as I did every morning in another life. I prayed to the Sun and what it represented for me. It was... complicated as all things dealing with faith were. If I simplified it extremely: Faith in the Unconquered Sun was my Faith in Humanity...

Contradictory, right? I was here to fix the world because Humanity failed against the Entities and yet I have faith in their success to overcome it. Oh, I knew that if Taylor Hebert wasn't affected too much by my presence, she should be able to save her world.

And I could also expand on my faith. I could profess that I wanted to protect Existence from all threats to its natural order; I had to respect my peers; I was to bring righteous anger to those of Darkness; I was encouraged to love my others, those I called closed ones and family; I should be kind to Nature; I should pity those who abuse Science; I was to show magnanimity to those weaker than me and finally I had to regret my faults and acknowledged them... Yeah, tall order and rather holier-than-you pretentious. And the Sidereals were surprised the Solars fell...

And yet... I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe in those values. I wouldn't be here if I didn't follow Compassion, Temperance, Conviction and Valour.

I was still deep in thoughts as I entered the Grove of Verdant Wind and absently changed my jogging outfit in a Blue and Green Jade yukata marked with birds and trees. It had been a few weeks since the "incident" with the Yakuza rapist. No one had discovered the body so far and his friends, if he had some, didn't appear around to search for him.

The Terrestrial Goddess was simply the warden of this patch of forest near the institute. She had been more powerful before Mankind reduced her wood to built their city, but she still retain a modicum of her former majesty. A majesty she used to have a different representative of the various Spiritual Courts of the Ryukyu Islands each time I visited her. One funny point had been the discovery that while Old realm, or Old Tongue as they designated it, was universal, most courts preferred to use the local mortal language.

"Welcome back, Daughter of the Sun." She was fond of that title for me. She turned to another spirit seated next to her on the porch of her pavilion. "May I present to you Yoko of the Many Faces, resident trickster of the Yaeyama Islands." Despite her humanoid form with red hair and green eyes, I recognized her as a nine-tailed Kitsune of the Japanese folklore, a very powerful one. Many of the Asian Spirits had Tell nearly identical to the Lunar Exalts. "Yoko, may I present my host and friend Luminous Amber, Daughter of the Sun and Sacred Oath-keeper."

I drew upon my experience to navigate the delicate labyrinth of Asian Spiritual Etiquette. I knew that I just entered the proverbial spider's web as this Yoko was superior in rank from the spirits I already met. "Greetings Trickster, it is a pleasure and an honour to be presented to you." As she revealed her signature nine fox-tails, I flared my caste mark. I knelt in front of her and I let Verdant Wind served the tea before we could speak more casually. I could read in the mannerism of the wind and wood spirit that this meeting had been... forced on her.

The green eyes of the Kitsune twinkled with mirth as she metaphorically opened fire. "Hello my dear, it's been way too long since the Heavens remember us." She waited for me to take a sip. "And what those old farts want with little us?"

I calmly finished my sip, evading her opening gambit as Verdant Wind couldn't hide a gasp. "Nothing. They didn't know I was here." She put down her cup noisily and raised a fiery eyebrow. One point to me. I looked straight in her eyes. "I am here on the behalf of more primordial forces than gods."

Yoko frowned. "More primordial than the Celestial Host, I find this part a little hard to believe, my dear." Strange that she continued to be so blunt. Kitsune were more renowned for their cunning... Or was she truly. Essence sight can be a marvellous gift as I now noted the too regular features of a normally chaotic spirit. I could have gone for the cunning thrust, matching my wits with this spirit to cut through the glamour, but I suddenly recognized the trap.

"By the Pact bound for Eternity. I hereby call upon my right as a Crowned Sun. No treachery nor tricks. Truth be revealed and spoke without malice. A meeting of equals under the banner of friendship and the eyes of my ally." The Eclipse mark burned golden on my forehead, I have just taken a high risk.

And it paid: Yoko morphed suddenly into a... DRAGON! It... no... He was a towering 25 feet long with six limbs above me, blue and golden scales thick as an armoured plate and a mane of dark blue foam-soft fur around his neck. His reptilian emerald eyes, the only thing he kept under his kitsune disguise, gazed down on me and a little amused smile curved the right side of his impressive maw... especially the fangs.

I didn't move despite my full body tensing and the subtle change of the yukata weave in unseen Moonsilver to boost my defence. I heard Verdant Wind to my side, completely flabbergasted. "Lord... Lord Seiryu!?"

Oops... I didn't have anybody here, but one of the leaders of the Five-Fold Spiritual Court of the whole Asia and a Lesser Elemental Water Dragon. Although there was nothing lesser in his presence right now, especially to a new Exalt with only the flimsy protection of an Oath of Aeons past.

"You could have ask for more than just a meeting of equal and friendship hardly mattered when Oblivion threatened, Exalt of the Sun." The dragon coiled upon himself to lower his head nearer to my level. We were entering into the meat of the subject.

I nodded. "I could have and then proven that I was no better than an "old fart" to you." He laughed, shaking the area with his mirth. An honourable but cunning foe with a sense of humour. As fluid as water, both on an Essence and willpower level. Secure in his power but not afraid to go in the field. I worried many high-power people with my encounter with Verdant Wind.

He inspired deeply. "Your scent is pleasant and strange. You're an unknown and yet my being recognizes you. Your blood is of Mankind and yet you bear the unmistakable signs of the Divine. You called on non-existent Pacts that could have granted your heart's desire and you used it for your protection and the protection of your friend. You are a riddle my dear."

"I am a chosen of the gods, noble dragon. But I am not here to destroy or replace. I am here to repair what is broken and build for the future. I am here to ensure a proper future for the Natural Order."

"Under whose authority and patronage can you speak of such things?" He showed more than a hint of fangs. Ha..! Here was the reason of his confrontation. Abandoned by their Celestial peers, the Terrestrial Gods could not and would not suffer a heavenly mouthpiece. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same: There was a cold war between the Spiritual Plane and the Celestial plane. Which also meant that proxies of both sides existed.

"I am Luminous Amber, a Harmonious Voice. Under the Pact and my own Honour I say that I hold the Existence-Ruling Mandate. Forged by the Most High of the Ancient Gods and gifted to the Lawgivers long before this Age. Still existing but no longer used... Until now."

Silence... Deep silence... The kind that seemed to be louder than a Heavy Metal concert... And seemed to stretch for an eternity.

Seiryu nodded slightly. "Very well, Oath-keeper, your word is registered and acknowledged. But this is the kind of things that can only be discussed with a full court. I will inform my peers of your existence and nature." He turned to Verdant Wind. "My apologies to you, Warden of the Grove for impinging on your domain. I met beforehand the Kitsune Yoko and asked to replace her to meet your guest. I own you a favour for my deception, would you ask me something now or hoard it?"

Verdant Wind had regained her equilibrium during the little diplomatic dance and was serenely seated near newly versed cups of tea. Ever the gracious hostess, she served us before taking a sip. I could sense her pondering on the Lord Dragon's words. "If it is all right with you Lord of Water, I would give it to my guest as she was the one who asked me to prepare those encounters with my peers."

Once again Seiryu showed amusement as he turned to me. Well, what could I ask of a dragon? "Among the things I need to do there is the recovery of arts lost to the world. My most pressing need is to shore up my weakness in the Arts of War, especially Martial Arts. Is there any such lost treasure nearby?"

The dragon tapped a claw on one of his fang and frowned in concentration. "There might be... Yes! There is such a thing and very near indeed." He turned to me and I didn't like the twinkle in his eyes. "During the battle of Okinawa in World War II, 175 Japanese soldiers chose to commit suicide rather than surrendering to the Allies forces. It was in the ruins of the Tomigusuku Castle which were more destroyed during the battle. Some of the shades of those soldiers lingered and they draw power from a hidden treasure in the ruins. Accessible through the Shadow-world, there is a scroll that describe a whole Ancient Martial Art that is rumoured to have been inspired by the Lung of Mainland. Find this scroll and it's yours with everything else you'll find."

Ancient Chinese Martial Arts, uh? I did note that he didn't say it was a lost art and suspected that some in the Spiritual World retained those secrets. It was another test and it was outside the power of the Oath humming around us. Either I accepted this test of my mettle or I would be indebted for my future meeting with the Five-Fold Court of Asia. There was however a way for me to help Verdant Wind more: A favour, even a debt should not be used so lightly especially with an elemental dragon. Verdant put herself in difficulty when she indirectly signified that she wasn't very happy about the breach of her hospitality.

I held out my hand. "I accept."

Seiryu smirked and a claw gently clasped around my hand. "Very well, the favour is paid."

My caste mark flashed, and a ring of golden light expanded from it, flying through everyone in the Sanctum and dissipating near the boundaries. "So it is bound, so shall it be." Seiryu lost his smirk as the magically binding contract which neither party was capable of breaking without grave consequences took hold.

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"Anbã-chan? Did you see my blue skirt? I was sure I retrieved it yesterday and put it in my trunk." Miyuki pouted as she searched the missing garment. She was a sensible girl of my age among my room-mates with wavy shoulder-length hair.

I smiled. "Try with Saeko-san. She accidentally put it with the rest of her clothes." The tallest and oldest at thirteen of our dorm with short hair and glasses stopped closing her backpack and blinked. She frowned and opened her own trunk and tsked as she found the skirt in question. She was good with music but a little distracted at times.

Tomoe finished to try to brush her messy hair. The official nerd of the group before my arrival, she was the respected leader of the dorm and one of the co-leaders of the clique of boys-and-fashion obsessed girls. Sometimes I was tempted to nickname her Hermione from Harry Potter, especially since she was eleven. She shook her head at me while checking one last time an essay due to today. "I really don't know how you can manage to finish all your homework in just one session with us. Especially with your Special classes."

I didn't have to go to the classes of the children in the institute, but I didn't want to be isolated, even and especially among teenagers. So I participated to some of the artistic and physical classes and made a point to helping others during personal study hours.

The last of our little group was already clothed and waiting with me. We generally beat all the others at the bathroom race. Ranka was the leader of the clique of tough girls despite her young age of twelve. Clad in leather vest and Heavy Metal tee-shirt and sporting varying coloured hair along the year, she was curiously also the most fashion-obsessed of the dorm. She frowned at me. "Really Anbã-san, you could make an effort and not always putting one of our seifuku."

I giggled: The institute was very relaxed on the subject of school uniform and allowed casual wear. The standard one was a white blouse with a navy blue sailor-style collar clasped by a red neckerchief. A navy blue pleated skirt, white socks and black penny loafers completed it.

Ranka never restrained herself and I liked her nonsense attitude. You always knew where you were with her. "That's easy to understand Ranka-san" I held up my hands to count. "Five girls with an average of three sets of clothes different than school-related each. Four of them use one set of clothes a day. We simply don't have enough clothes to satisfy everyone. And we don't want to re-enact the "War of Clothes" of last week, right?"

The girls shuddered with me as we remembered the incident that begun with a borrowed pullover between two dorms and finished with water balloons, pulling bra straps and shaving foam implying the whole building. The boys had retreated when they saw the first wet tee-shirts to escape wrathful slaps. The staff and Madam Uehara hadn't be very happy with us and nobody wanted to have another collective punishment.

Tomoe used the opportunity to corner me between Ranka and her and smirked at me. "So, are we finally going to know what you're learning during your special classes or do we need to guess again?"

Miyuki laughed. "I have heard that a betting pool is organised, like the one about the number of love letters in your shoe locker for a given day." She pouted. "They don't want us to make a bet since Anbã-chan could tell us."

I laughed with the rest of the dorm. "Sorry girls, but you know that I gave my word with Uehara-sama and I keep my promise." I let a little of Luminous Amber out. "Always."

The girls sighed and we left the dorm to join the migration of our comrades to the teaching building. Saeko frowned. "Oh yeah, we know. To the point that the gossip brigade is FINALLY having a hint and leaves us alone when they know you received a confidence."

I shook my head while thinking about one faction of the main clique which specialized into information dissemination as they called it. "Tss... They should know better. A secret known by more than two persons is no longer a secret."

Ranka nodded. "Yeah... Especially after you slapped this bitch of Mariko and suspended Yume over a toilet seat after they tried to shake up little Momoe about her mysterious letters. Still don't know how you managed to lift that big sow of Yume and I maintain that you should have dunked her."

I shrugged. "It was a simple lesson on actions and consequences. I'm not perfect, but I think that humiliation is dangerous and can easily lead to a vicious circle. We agreed to never speak of it again and they apologized to Momoe-chan. The end."

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I opened my eyes as the last of my room-mates reached a deeper state of sleeping, their breathing and heart rate slowing down. Treating it as stealth training, I slowly arranged my bed to look like I was still here while silently sliding down on the floor.

So far, so good. My nightclothes re-weaved themselves into a classical all-black ninja outfit extruded from Moonsilver. I was but a shadow moving in the night. I quickly exited the dorm and made my way to the bathroom I prepared this evening. "Do not hear her." whispered my amulet to reality. Good, the window was still opened and I scaled down the building, my outfit changing colours like a chameleon as once again my artefact muffled my presence. "Do not see her."

The ruins castle were a few kilometres away. I dodged the bright lights of the city by using the roofs. Yes, I was roof-hopping like a movie ninja, my skills and my amulet ensured I wasn't seen or heard.

I looked at the ruins under the pale glow of the moon. I timed my path to arrive precisely before midnight. I knelt and prayed to the Unconquered Sun, finishing the last step of a ritual dating back to the First Age of Creation: Five daily prayers at sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and midnight to call on the blessing of the Sun.

Fortified by my patron, I reached into my Elsewhere pockets for my weapons. It was just a series of lengths of sharpened steel tubing: Two were appropriate as pointed clubs, the others as thrown items. I took the time before this mission to prepare Ghost-Smiting Salts, real easy as it only needed gum, salt and incense fumes and coated those improvised weapons with it enchanting them to be able to harm ghosts.

I focused on the Essence flows to see beyond mundane sight. Good, only a minor nexus of Dragon lines and no mystical barriers of any kind. I reached what was left of the castle gate and pricked my finger. I anointed my eyelids with blood to be able to see ghosts without using a charm then I concentrated until I perceived a shimmering grey curtain and touched it with a small drop of my blood.

It was as if I burst a giant soap bubble without a sound. I had been in the ruins of a castle dating back to 1400 and I was suddenly in front of the gate of the same but intact castle in all his faded glorious past. Around me wasn't the night of reality, but the perpetual twilight of a Shadow-land. There wasn't a moon in the sky and I gasped as I recognized the stilled stars pouring a dim and cold pseudo-light: The Messenger, the Peacock, the Quiver, the Treasure Trove, the Haywain,... The phantoms of the 25 constellations from Creation glared down on me. Another echo from a past age...

I shook my head before the sight triggered a flashback from my past lives. It wasn't the right time for this. I entered the castle, searching for its inhabitants.

There was two dozen of shades wandering the castle. They were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army, gruesomely showing spilled guts and decay and it was strange... Where were the previous owners of the castle? I understood that the shame of ritual suicide anchored those shades here, but...

I paled as I looked more closely to the equipment of most of those soldiers. It was ghost-forged items that could only have been built by using the shades of any ghosts wandering near the castle as raw materials. I needed to be sure and searched for an isolated ghost.

It had been easy: He was a young man, a boy really, probably conscripted when the Allies came closer to Japan. I ambushed him by using a corner between two corridors. My steel pipe penetrated his skull via his throat. He dissipated with shocked eyes as I relieved him of a canteen.

I examined the item. Yes, ghost-forged from an actual shade. It was curious it had a lily engraved on it... I trembled in outrage and horror as I read the lingering echoes embedded into the item. The Himeyuri Students! Sometimes called the "Lily Corps", there was a group of students and teachers from women's schools of Okinawa and mobilized into a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army. More than half of them were killed or killed themselves during the Battle of Okinawa.

Right, all scruples I could have just vanished. I began to systematically hunt the lone ghosts in a macabre imitation of hide-and-seek. It wasn't long when they realized they were under attack and one of them used a hand-powered alarm siren.

The dozen survivors played right into my hands by gathering in a large hall with columns as an officer began barking orders. I reached into my hammer-space and threw several paper packets of consecrated salt at the ceiling. They screamed as the salt cloud ate at their necrotic substance and many fell down, their shades fading away as they finally succumbed to Death's embrace.

The officer roared an incomprehensible order to his remaining troops as he pointed his type-98 Shin Guntõ sword at me. They all drew type-95 Guntõ swords and charged, yelling war cries and imprecations. I ran away.

I reached a specific room, threw a vial of my own blood inside and hid myself nearby. They took the bait of blood not used ritually that any ghosts could smell a long way off and swarmed the inside of the room, triggering my trap.

Another salt cloud erupted in the small room and I blocked the exit drawing my smaller pipes. Using them like throwing knives I achieved those still moving. Time to confront the officer which had better equipment as I remembered a Kendo armour along his sword.

He was stalking like a lion in a cage when I revealed myself at the threshold of the hall. His angry words were swallowed as I changed my ninja garb into a Chinese-style martial art outfit woven of light-Essence from Orichalcum. My Cast mark burned on my forehead as the light of a Glorious Chosen of the Sun pierced the gloom of the Shadow-land.

"I am Luminous Amber, a Lawgiver and Oath-keeper of the Unconquered Sun." I levelled my storming blue eyes into his void-streaked black ones. "Name yourself."

He gulped. "I am Makoto Fuji, Rikugun-chui (first lieutenant) of the Imperial Japanese Army!"

"Chui, you stand before us accused of destroying the anchors of the rightful owners of this castle and forcing the shades of your peers into ghost-forged items. How do you plead?"

He actually gained some colours as rage seized him. "You... You dare..! You have no rights! You can't have any rights! You're a foreigner, a living gaijin!" He spat the last epithet like a curse and a wave of darkness seemed to reach towards me before breaking on my radiance and willpower.

"You stole a castle that existed long before there was an Imperial Army. You soiled the memory of the Himeyuri Students. Not only did your propaganda of systematic rape by the Americans push them to throw themselves off cliffs while others killed themselves with the hand grenades you gave them, but you destroyed their final regrets by forging them into war equipment." I shook myself as a tear glittered on my cheek. "You're not worthy of it, but let's see if your rage is a match against justice." I fell into a defensive stance as I twirled my two pipes in my hands. My clothes gained the white with silver trim colours of the protective Moonsilver.

He snarled and took an aggressive Kenjutsu posture. I let him took the initiative to see what he was. He wasn't faster nor stronger than me, but he had the better equipment in terms of overall protection.

We exchanged a few probing strokes, taking the measure of each others. He used his power to emit a creepy glow to psyche me out, but I wasn't impressed. I broke through his guard, deflecting his mass-produced katana and striking him on the knee. The fact that my weapon could touch his non-living flesh shook him.

I pressed my advantage, my twin weapons and my armoured clothing deflected two of his attacks while I bloodied him more. I unfortunately didn't hear the launched arrow behind me that suddenly pierced my rear left thigh.

I whirled on my right leg to see the hall entry and saw four soldiers with ready bows. The officer cackled as they fired. I moved like shadows over water and with perfect grace and speed ran to the revealed threat, dodging the rain of arrows.

I made quick work of them and the leader tried to use them to corner me. But I was too fast for his blow to land and he killed the last of his men himself.

He turned to me as I hit his hands between my two weapons. He screamed as he let go of his sabre and I snatched it in the air. I whirled again and the blade bit his exposed neck, severing the head. I watched impassively as he faded into Oblivion.

It was as if a great weight had been removed from the land. The Shadow-land was still gloomy and creepy, but there was a sentiment of accomplishment. I bandaged my wound and gathered all the ghost-forged equipment to later let them fade away in the morning light of the sun. I then searched the whole castle for what Seiryu promised me.

I found only three things of interest: A sword, the source of the Ghost-forged items and a scroll.

The sword was a preserved Tsurugi, a Japanese sword from the Kofun period, circa 250 to 538 AD, identical to a Chinese Jian, a two-edged straight sword. It was a perfect blade and I gratefully accepted it.

The source of the ghost-items was a big surprise: An actual artefact from Creation. Re-purposed from his original design, but nonetheless a magnificent discovery. It was a Wondrous Belt of Perfected Tools, something that would enable me to craft without problems at a high level. I could even forge artefacts without problems if I used the belt with Craft-specific charms.

The scroll was what I was searching from the beginning: A manual describing a full Terrestrial Martial Art Style: Five-Dragon Style. It represented all the aspects and carried with it some of the power of each of the Elemental Dragons from Creation, though it diluted the strength and religious import of each. Practitioners of Five-Dragon style considered the straight sword and the spear to be form weapons for their style. The style was also compatible with armour.

I exited the castle and the Shadow-land and regained the Institute without difficulty. I took the risk to wash myself at a sink and rechecked my wound: I had been lucky, it could have easily been my chest or head instead of my thigh. Clad again in nightclothes, I sighed in contentment in my bed after checking that my dorm-mates were still sleeping. I marshalled my inner resources to boost my recovery and as I fell into sleep I could sense the blazing glory of my Essence searing the wounds and bruises from my flesh.

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Notes: Not bad, not bad at all. I'm writing more and more.

I confess I choose Jeet Kune Do for the visual impact I saw in Bruce Lee's movies.

I know I'm not a Zenith: I didn't burn a corpse, I dissipated two satisfied shades.

Yes, no Great Curse for the character, only geas from Worm CYOA ver3.

I hope I didn't confused too many people with the values of the character. They are based on the values of the Unconquered Sun.

The scene with Seiryu wasn't supposed to be like that. He just... kind of become like this as I wrote him. He acted like this because he is powerful and used to do what he wants. Amber is a potential threat to his agenda. He is not evil, he has plans that didn't include her until now.

Amber didn't threaten Seiryu, she regained the control of the discussion, rather forcefully. THAT is what is going to influence the meeting with the Five-Fold Court of Asia.

The scene with her room-mates is about characterisation and a better picture of where she's living.

I hope the fighting scene at the end was good enough.

The belt is a level 3 artefact I created: It gives 2 die bonus to all crafting checks and enables to craft with Magical Materials.

The Tsurugi is a perfect straight sword: speed 4, accuracy +2, damage +5L, defence +2 & rate 3.

Thank you for reading me.

Luminous Amber

Abilities known: Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, Integrity, Resistance 1, Medicine, Occult 2, Athletics, Dodge 4, Stealth, Linguistics & Socialize 2.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Body-Mending Meditation, Spirit-Detecting Glance, Mastery of Small Manners, Shadow Over Water & Seven Shadow Evasion.

Background: Artefact 8(Infinite Resplendence Amulet, Wondrous Belt of Perfected Tools), Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Contact 1(Okinawa government) & Resources 1.