Chapter 10
The mysterious man walked into town leading the paca along. He had changed outfits about twenty minutes ago. He put on his professional attire which was a black robe which was black and had white lettering on the sleeve. 悪魔クリーナー is what it said. On the back was the emblem of Tachibana. He wore a white mask with raised floral lines that gave the mask a more elegant look. There was a symbol on the forehead 'V.' There were no eye or mouth slots because it was an enchanted item that allowed the user to see and breath fine while having complete face protection.
This would have looked weird to anyone outside of the Tachibana district, but in this area where magic casters are fairly common, this is a more standard look. This mysterious man was Riku Sahara a specialist. Ordinarily, most mages wore robes to match their magic affinity such as red for fire, blue for water, etc. Black robes indicated that a person is of a battle class of Saga's military. The letters on the sleeve indicated what specialty. Sahara's mask was that of someone who achieved a level of proficiency recognized by the Government. The symbol I-V were used to signify strength, not rank. A person's rank was determined by the insignia on the chest and shoulders. Horizontal bars indicated a non-officer rank which could be up to nine bars. Officer ranks were (n,3) series star polygons. The lowest being a Heptagram and the highest being a Hendecagram.
Officer ranks believe it or not were harder to achieve than the I-V mask series. The masks were more of awards or celebrations of achievement based on combat abilities whereas ranks were given based on leadership and long term dedication. Sahara who had the highest mask rank was only the third highest rank which was signified by an enneagram.
When Sahara walked into the military station of Hiro Village he saw several lower ranked mages forming a fire-squad to do a mission. There were five mages in which four were facing a masked Mage. The Mage's mask contains no line design and had a simple I on the forehead. The rank on his chest was of a heptagram. Sahara's entering caused the masked man to stop and stand at attention. He made a salute to recognize his superior officer. The other mages scrambled and did the same. Sahara returned their salute.
The man with the I mask called out, "Major Sahara we weren't expecting you today!"
"Yes, a situation has occurred that brought me here."
"Sir if I may input that we also have a situation."
"Yes going by what you have on your board I believe they are the same situation." Major Sahara replied. On the board was a map with a triangulation of the general area around the Yūrei manor and what Sahara presumed to be the last known coordinates of the soldiers who were assigned to watch the home. Although the masked subordinate's face was covered Sahara could tell he was a little confused
"Lieutenant, let's go to your office shall we?"
"Y-yes Sir." The officer bowed slightly and led his superior to his office. The office was tucked away in the back in a small three meter by four-meter room. It has a mid-size office desk made of pine wood and stained with a dark gloss. Papers were neatly organized on the desk and maps of Northern Tachibana were hung on the wall.
The subordinate offered his seat to Sahara who sat down with a smooth motion.
"Have a seat Lt. Mako" Sahara motioned with his hand.
The lieutenant sat down in the chair across the desk.
"A few days ago I got an uncomfortable feeling in the area around Colonel Yūrei's manor. I was fortunately along the north barrier when I felt this and managed to arrive in near the manor a day later. Unfortunately, however, the uncomfortable feeling was a demon was present. I think it was originally a low-level Scrape but it was able to kill the four soldiers who guard the manor. I came to think a conclusion when I felt the presence get worse. It was coming from the manor. I got to the manor as fast as I could to find a level four demon inside. A Tormenter had killed Honoka," Sahara paused as he gritted his teeth behind his mask.
"A t-tormenter?" Lt Mako started, "That means…."
"Yes the rumors are true," Sahara interrupted. "The Devil Witch of the Northern Forest, Lemuria, has returned."
Chapter 11
Sahara didn't need to see Lt Mako's face to know he went pale as a ghost.
"Is that not just a legend though?"
"I am afraid not," Sahara muttered, "the real question to ask is how?"
"You are right according to the legend she was banished to the inescapable void."
Sahara was not sure himself, "Well that brings me to my next point. The boy was missing. I think he is going to be used as an offering. I will be heading out shortly to resolve this matter."
Mako frowned under his mask, "Are you sure you want to go it alone?"
"Yes," Sahara answered bluntly.
It was an unofficial rule that demon cleaners could work in one man units. This is due to their ability to not be manipulated by the undead and malevolent entities. If non-specialists were to accompany them they could be used by the foe rather easily.
"Right so I need your team to recover the horses and those soldiers possessions from their stable. The manor ended up burning down. Honoka was buried in the back. Do not dig her up because she was killed by a demon. As you should know people killed by demons can become undead."
Lt Mako nodded and responded with an affirmation.
The lieutenant brought his hand to his masked chin in contemplation.
"What about the corpses of the soldiers are they buried?"
Sahara grimaced, "unfortunately no they were consumed by the Scrape which leads to the creation of the tormentor…The tormentor I sealed into the inescapable void it was wearing their skins."
Lt Mako shuddered at these words.
Sahara left a little while later. He strolled through the village market with his paca picking up the supplies he needed. He then made his way back to the holler. On the way, he pondered whether it was a good idea to lie to the Lieutenant about Kiba. Under the law he would need to present the boy to the authorities and Kiba would go through a legal system to determine where he should be kept. Sahara didn't want to deal with that and his training methods were going to be unethical. He pushed it to the back of his mind as an unfortunate necessity.
When he was approximately a kilometer away he felt an uneasy air that made his hair stand.
"Danger," he muttered and quickened his pace.
Chapter 12
"Ouch," gasped Kiba as he cut his finger on the piece on the sharp rock that Sensei gave him. He saw a red line beading up on the small slice and put it in his mouth. The light metallic taste it gave off was not very pleasant.
"I am going to need to find a way to use this without hurting myself," He pondered.
"I know!" he exclaimed as he pulled his finger out of his mouth. The small cut still bled but it did not hurt, so Kiba ignored it. He found a nice opening near the creek and set the glass blade against a sweetgum tree. He located another tree that grew in all directions. It was brown and had a smooth bark. He remembered having one of these trees in the yard at home.
"These branches are really tough, so I'll just…" Kiba said out loud trailing off as he jumped up and grab the tree's limb. Kiba thought it would break under his weight but it just bounced a little. Kiba jostled the branch while he hung on it. After a minute of battling the tree, the branch gave. Kiba fell to the ground and landed on his back. The branch followed and hit him on his forehead.
"Owwwww," Kiba whined as he put his hands on his forehead and rocked a bit. The pain was sharp and intense but then faded after a minute. Kiba could feel a small knot forming.
"T-this is nothing," Kiba told himself as he wobbles to his feet. He looked at the stick he broke. It was perfect, long and straight with a decent grip. He snapped the smaller branches off to perfect it. He walked over to the sweet gum tree where he set the obsidian blade. He picked it and whittled a notch at the top and gingerly pushed the non-pointed end of the glass into it.
"Now I just need something to lash it."
Kiba spent a long time looking around for something he could use as a rope. Eventually, he gave up and walked back to the creek where he saw some thorny vines earlier. He decided that he would just try using that for now. He found the thorn patch and cut several long vines with the obsidian. He was still surprised at how sharp the rock was. He then went through the process of removing all the thorns. He then took the vine and wrapped it around the branch and the obsidian. Kiba was relieved to see that the vine was durable and able to hold the rock to the branch. When he finished he shook the branch to see if it would come loose. When it stayed firm Kiba had a huge grin on his face.
"Oh let's try it out!" Kiba said to himself.
He then tested the makeshift spear by stabbing multiple trees thrusting with a left leading hand. As the spear held up Kiba's pride swelled. He jumped up and down in victory when he suddenly felt cold. Not the cold from the winter air but a sinister cold that made him feel like something was watching him. He stood still and slowly turned around.
Chapter 13
Kiba's eyes grew wide and his stomach sank at what he saw. It was a pitch black wolf. Kiba had seen wolves before but never one this big. It was at least two and a half meters long with ominous black eyes. Something dropped from its mouth. Kiba gulped it was a dead rabbit. The blood dripped from its teeth as its eyes locked onto Kiba. Something was not right Kiba thought as he tightened his grip on the spear. The wolves he had seen before didn't harbor such emotions. This wolf looked at Kiba with hatred coated in pure violent intent.
Kiba slowly raised the spear to create a barrier between the wolf and himself. The wolf watched the movement and then snarled. The wolf leaned forward and snapped into a full sprint toward the boy and his makeshift spear.
In a panic, the boy jumped out the way swinging the spear down on the wolf like a club. The wolf grunted and backed away momentarily. The spear had smashed into his back with a thud. Unfortunately, Kiba noticed the spear was completely cracked in half. This left him holding a shortened stick and the blade portion was on the ground a few meters away.
Kiba knew that he was in trouble and needed to get the obsidian part of the spear. The wolf recovered and lunged at the boy who again jumped out of the way. He grabbed the obsidian stick and turned around to find the wolf in a mid-lunge. The wolf came down on top of the boy with his teeth clamped firmly down on Kiba's left arm. Kiba let out a quick painful scream. The wolf then shook its head. Kiba heard several cracking sounds as he felt his arm being twisted in ways it should not. Kiba was screaming in agony and tears flooded out of his eyes. He was nauseous and panicked. Without realizing it he took the broken spear and stabbed the wolfs neck. The wolf was stunned as the spear sank into its neck. It let out a pitiful wail and bit Kiba's exposed abdomen. Kiba screamed as blood flew everywhere. He grabbed the spear in the wolfs neck and yanked it. It tore the wolf's stab wound open and Kiba felt the flesh tearing. The wolf yanked back and the glass blade snapped leaving Kiba with half the blade and the other half stayed in the wolf's neck. Kiba, with adrenaline pumping, stabbed the wolf's exposed throat. He felt the skin and tissue give and the blade cut through the esophagus. He pulled it out and stabbed it again. The wolf at this point was dead and slumped to the ground. Kiba stared blankly then vomited as the adrenaline drained. He was dizzy and his vision was hazy. He looked around and noticed his arm was twisted and the bone was visible through the skin. His abdomen had several puncture wounds. He felt weak and sunk to his knees. He noticed vomit had blood in it, then everything went dark.
Chapter 14
Sahara looked around the holler when he came across and gory mess. First, he noticed an extremely large black wolf with a makeshift spear lodged in the throat and then looked at the dead kid.
"Hmm, I leave you alone for a few hours and witch familiars attack you. Well, it was bound to happen surprised it happened so soon," Sahara said this out loud as the dead Kiba's pendant floated above his body. It glowed a neon green and began to flash. A green and purple vortex began to form around the dead wolf's body. The wolf began to flash from the inside and slowly a lump formed on top of its head. With a sudden burst, a black piece of metal floated above the wolf. It was cast in the shape of an eye with an arrow pointing down.
"Yup a bewitching medal," Sahara remarked
It then shattered and released a ton of energy which was absorbed by the vortex. The vortex spun into a sphere then floated over to Kiba's pendant. The skull opened its mouth and sucked in the sphere. After it was finished it fell back to Kiba's chest.
Sahara watched in silence as the color returned to the boy's body and his injuries evaporated.
"That's an interesting skill you passed on Shin." Sahara laughed to himself as he walked over to Kiba who was still regenerating. "Well, no time for sleeping we got two days to get to the border."
Chapter 15
It was dark. Kiba felt like he was falling suddenly scrambling to brace himself he lashed out into the ether. Unable to grasp anything he spiraled downward. There was screaming but he could not tell who it was. It sounded familiar then suddenly he was in his living room. He was staring at his mother's grotesque and contorted corpse. The monster was back staring at him with its blood red slits.
"Death awaits" the creature snarled as it mutated into something beyond horrific something beyond description. A demonic creation that seared terror into the mind. The screaming grew louder and louder
Kiba's eyes opened. He felt something soft underneath him. His vision was blurry and distorted. He could feel that he was moving. He blinked a few times and his vision grew clearer. His crotch was thoroughly saturated. Tears welled in his eyes as he started sobbing.
Sahara who was a couple of meters in front of the paca which Kiba was resting on stopped walking and simply said, "oh good you are alive!"
This caused Kiba to cry harder. Sahara frowned and sighed, "Scared?"
His voice was softer and much more sincere.
"Mhmm," Kiba croaked through his sobs.
Sahara patted the kid on the head to comfort him.
"So that's the reason my paca is wet?"
Kiba looked down and turn beet red.
"S-sorry…"
"Hop on off it's time to set up camp anyway."
Kiba slid off the back of the Paca with ease when he suddenly had a flood of memories surge. His body was perfectly fine, but he remembered being attacked by that giant wolf.
"Did you… um, heal me?" Kiba asked
Sahara, who was going through the bags that the paca carried making sure no urine got in them, stopped and said, "No , we actually have a lot of things to discuss so get changed."
Sahara handed the boy a spare gi the last of the three he made. He was slightly annoyed he would have to make another one because the one Kiba wore during his fight with the wolf was destroyed.
Chapter 16
Evening fell, Sahara was preparing a broth over a small fire. Kiba sat and watched with a blank expression. Sahara sighed with a bit of melancholy. "Life is going to be difficult for you, but rewarding. You will understand when you get older. It took me a long time to get it, and it was your father who helped me realize how special we are."
"My father?" Kiba responded quietly.
"Yea I remember when he first showed up at the Tachibana Academy. He caught everyone off guard by how relaxed and confident he was. In fact, he asked the highest ranked student in the grade out on his first day." Sahara laughed at the silly memory.
"Of course Honoka was caught off guard the most. She had no idea how to respond. Everyone was afraid of her. She wielded the most intense magic, Deity magic. Needless to say they fought like cats and dogs, but in the end…" Sahara trailed off as he looked to the night sky.
"Honoka?" Kiba mumbled.
Sahara eyes opened in surprise and returned, "Oh Yes your mother." He cleared his throat.
Kiba was confused his mother was always very agreeable with his dad. He had never even seen her use magic before.
Sahara watched the boy try to make the pieces fit in his head.
"As promised I will tell you something about your mom and dad," Sahara said to the confused Kiba. "And it will be your first lesson under my care."
Kiba looked up, his eyes had a hint of wonder behind the trauma they contained. He then nodded his head in approval.
Sahara his right hand out with his index finger and his thumb out.
"Ok, firstly there are two overall types of Secret Arts, Living and nonliving. Living secrets arts are magic abilities that fall within four major categories: warrior, alchemical, elemental casting, and beast tamers. Each one of those categories has numerous subcategories which we will discuss later. Living secrets arts are the most common especially among humans. Most people use their arts for day to day work. For example, most soldiers are skilled in the warrior subcategory."
Kiba was listening intensely to the lesson.
"Nonliving secret arts also fall into four major categories of magic power: Deity, ghosts, undead, and demons. These are rarer and are considered specialists and are highly sought after. An example would be a necromancer who has the ability to use undead magic. Some people have the ability to use multiple categories within the two main groups. Those who can are often considered to have the highest potential and often get selected for Academy or Guilds. The rarest and most powerful users of the secret arts are those who can use both types of secret arts living and nonliving. I am one of those rarities, so was your father and mother, and so are you. You just have not awaken your powers."
Kiba eyes widen as he remembered his fight with the wolf.
"Well, technically they were awakened earlier with your battle with the wolf yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Kiba thought. "That's right I passed out from my wounds. Didn't Sahara say something about my healing earlier?"
"Um, Sensei…" Kiba started, "I remember fighting the wolf but I didn't think I did very well. I got hurt really bad." He gripped his healed arm tightly recalling the intense pain.
"Haha Kiba, boy, you killed a tier two witch summon, died, revived, and were healed all on your own. You have the ability to use numerous secret arts and categories. You are an absolute treasure trove of potential."
Sahara enthusiastically blurted out causing Kiba to fall back in shock.
"Witch?"
Sahara recoiled a bit realizing he might have said too much. "Ah yes witches um we will discuss them a little bit but first let me go into more detail about non living art and nonliving beings."
"So the nonliving arts tend to have the same name as the nonliving being the art relates to. For example, your father used Ghost whisper a specialty that is extremely rare and it allows him to communicate with spirits. To keep it simple for now the nonliving secret arts are arts that use the powers of a non living being that its name corresponds to. Non Living beings are those whose existence is outside the normal plane of reality. It is hard to explain but imagine everything you observe with your senses being the normal plane. The nonliving planes are the ones that overlap normal reality. The higher and lower realities contain the powers of the non living arts. Deities live in the higher plane and demons live in the lower plane. Ghosts and spirits live in the in-between of normal reality and the higher reality and the undead live in the in-between of normal reality and the lower reality. These planes are not parallel because every so often they will overlap causing the higher and/or lower planes to exist within the normal reality. Essentially that which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below however they are not exactly the same."
Sahara explained as Kiba brain started to overheat. "You might not get it now but you will. Continuing, Non Living beings who appear in the living reality are still bound, be it loosely, to the laws of this reality. They become mortal. The stronger the being is the longer it can live and the more it can bend the rules of our reality. A non living being can be killed, but that will just mean it returns to the plane of existence it should be in. That is why I sealed the fiend that killed your mother instead of killing it."
"I see," Kiba said grimacing at the memory. "It is confusing, but I think I'm able to get what you are telling me."
"Well it's getting late we will continue our lessons tomorrow, but it is important to understand that higher and lower realities are not indicative of whether a non living being is good or evil," Sahara warned in a way that Kiba understood that this was the most important piece of information provided.
Night had indeed fallen and the fire was dying. Sahara pulled out a wool-lined sleeping pad and threw it into the tent. He then sat back down by the fire. "So I told you about your parents and I all going to Tachibana Academy earlier."
"Mmm yes sensei," Kiba replied hastily.
"Well, in the beginning, we had no idea we had a talent for non living arts or what they even were until your father came to the Academy. He was brought from Minamoto Academy to participate in an experiment that the Tachibana elders wanted to conduct. It was not much later the elders came to the Academy to examine the students to see if they had an affinity for nonliving secret arts. They were using Shin as a control. In all, they found seven students with the ability. They separated us into two groups of four. My group included Shin, Honoka, Ruri, and myself. Once these groups were established it ended our formal education at Tachibana. We were assigned to Battle Mage Kilgore a man who grew up outside Saga's divine barriers."
Kiba was captivated by this tale it reminded him of all the hero's stories his mother read to him. He couldn't believe how cool his parents were.
"We traveled with the Mage all over Saga taking on guild quests to gain experience and sometimes we would travel outside the Divine Barrier to explore the world of monsters and pioneers. We did that until we reached the graduation age. Then we were conscripted for a mandatory eight-year military service career. We were placed in an elite track for advanced mages. The work was brutal and we all decided to not enlist after our time was up. Well everyone but me…"
Kiba watched as his Sensei looked to the sky again.
"Well let's get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow."
Kiba nodded and he went into the tent to sleep.
Sahara set eight stakes around the campsite then casts a ward to keep their presence invisible. He cast a spell that allowed a sphere of dull light to float above. He then pulled a large piece of fabric out of a satchel and began to make another gi.
Chapter 17
Sahara woke with a start he felt something grasping him from the side and groaning. Thinking it was an attack he bolted up to realize that it was just Kiba who had been holding onto him. Kiba was in a deep slumber, but he was quivering.
"Ahh night terrors," Sahara thought to himself. "You get used to them…"
He watched the boy as he settled down the terror subsiding. He was an impressive brat. He was wearing only a gi and sleeping on top of the bedding. The temperature was easily negative ten degrees Celsius but the boy still has a regular color. It had taken Sahara weeks of training to be able to fall asleep in these temperatures. He then thought about how much Kiba looked like his two friends and how strong they were.
He remembered how Honoka lost her powers, and when he heard Shin had been conscripted he immediately visited. He remembered how she told him of her premonition, how he promised to protect them…
"I lost her, Shin," Sahara an anguished confession that repeated In his head hourly.
He swore on his life and he failed. He had to atone and the only way to do that would be to follow through on Honoka's last request. "The request... to raise Kiba if they should perish."
"I wonder what she's doing?" He pondered. "For him to be away from his family and his distaste for military life it must have been important."
He laid back down and stared blankly at the top of the tent. A few minutes passed and he felt Kiba clinging to him. Sahara thought about Ruri and wondered how his little girl was doing. He thought of her smile as he drifted back to sleep.
Chapter 18
Kiba was looking at the large field from a vantage point on the top of a hill that had more of a ridge-like appearance. He saw a large concrete brick wall running through extending far into the horizon. In the middle of the field, there was a cluster of wooden buildings. The wall near the building was taller and there was a large wooden door with steel reinforced bars. Beyond the wall, he saw a line of glowing purple beacons every 100 meters. The beacons ran parallel to the wall.
"Wow is that the Divine Barrier?" Kiba asked.
Sahara looked up and said, "Aye that it is."
Kiba turned and looked back over toward the wall.
"Kiba due to unfortunate circumstances dealing with laws of minors. There are rules that we must break. Ordinarily, I would advocate never breaking laws but I need to get you through that gate. Minors are not allowed to leave Saga's jurisdiction, because of the dangers that lie on the outside. So I am going to cast an invisibility spell which should last half a day. When I do I need you to carefully avoid being detected."
Kiba nodded in the affirmative while giving a victory symbol with his hand. He smiled cheerfully which made Sahara inwardly happy.
"I won't put the spell on you until we are much closer, but I am going to change into my military uniform. So I need you to keep watch."
"Yes, sensei," Kiba replied formally with a salute and all. He then ran off to explore the surroundings. It was warmer in this area out of the mountains and the snow was mostly sporadic. The trees were still mostly bare so keeping an eye on Kiba would not be very difficult. Sahara when through the cumbersome process of putting on his Demon Cleaner military attire. After a few minutes before he put on his mask, Sahara whistled for the boy using his index finger and thumb. This was a signal that they had agreed to us when Kiba needed to "come back." A minute passed and then Sahara heard a faint panting as Kiba drew closer.
When Kiba saw the figure standing before him he was awe-stricken. "Oh wow, Sensei looks so cool!"
Sahara laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Hey, Sensei you think I will be strong?" Kiba asked his gaze passing beyond the horizon. He could feel darkness radiating from beyond the barrier.
Sahara paused for a moment.
"Yes definitely."
Chapter 19 -
Sahara had cast the invisibility spell over Kiba about a half mile away from the barracks and guard wall. He had Kiba sit on the paca which should avoid any chance of the boy getting lost. As Sahara lead the paca through the familiar military post, He was saluted and greeted warmly. Sahara would come across the border frequently, so the soldier posted here recognized the black uniform and V mask. As Sahara was closing in on the gate he noticed a group of Warrior class soldiers. Warrior class wore standard melee battle gear such as chainmail, helmets, plating, and physical weapons such as swords. His heart experienced a slight panic as he saw who was leading the platoon of eighteen warriors.
"It's War Chief Inzai!" Sahara's eyes widen behind the mask. War Chiefs were a specialty rank equivalent to General. "There is no way an invisibility spell will hide Kiba from him."
It was too late for him to turn around, and the War Chief immediately locked his gaze on Sahara.
Sahara walked toward the man who towered above the rest of his platoon. He wore full plate armor of a rare crimson alloy called "Adami." His cuirass depicted a Hendecagram to signify his rank, and he also wore a V on his decorative face mask which was attached to a full helmet. Sahara never understood the desire for such cumbersome equipment, but he knew the War Chief was a beast of a man who could outmaneuver just about any foe with it on. A magnificent spear was resting on his right shoulder and was held up using his forearm.
Sahara walked up to the Warrior because there was only one reason for him to be waiting like this. That was because he was clearly waiting for Major Sahara.
As Sahara got within five meters he stood and brought his hand to his chest in the traditional outside salute. Sahara was able to deduce the warrior's identity regardless of whether he could see his face for two reasons. The first was his V face mask which was all custom designs. The War Chief has diagonal stripes going from the top right of the mask to the bottom left. The lines depicting the stripes were grooved like Sahara's floral design. The other way was every officer who had a V mask had a distinct pressure that would radiate from their person. The more powerful a person the heavier the pressure was. It was like the gravity around that person was multiplied. The War Chief had an enormous pressure one of the heaviest in Saga. Usually, individuals who reached that level would be able to control their pressure and would conceal it for strategic purposes. The War Chief thought that was stupid, however, his armor and face mask concealed a tremendous amount of his presence so that those around him would not pass out.
The War Chief returned the greeting with a dismissal of formality but waving his hand like it wasn't a concern.
"Ah well if it isn't the spook, just the person I was waiting for!" The voice under the stripes masks boomed. A spook was slang and slightly derogatory term used to refer to someone who handled non living beings usually exorcists and necromancers.
"At your service," Sahara replied with a touch of sarcasm. Sahara was probably one of the top ten most elite individuals within Saga when it came to combat and power. Although he was only a Major he had the authority of a General when it came down to matters concerning his missions. He was one of two people who had the expressed authority of the Emperor to act independently however he did have to follow laws and be granted approval for anything outside of the law. The War Chief was easily in the top five strongest people within Saga. There were only four WarChiefs and they were all considered the most powerful people in the nation. If Sahara had to fight War Chief Inzai he would most definitely lose.
"Oh, what do you have there Major?" The War Chief said in a condescending tone as he removed his face mask. A surge of pressure swirled causing even his own men to flinch in response. Sahara whose pressure was immense as well was not phased but he heard a small unnatural grunt come from his paca. The grunt clearly a response from the invisible Kiba.
Inzai grinned widely showing his teeth. His face was cut with rigid masculinity. He had a full set of thick reddish hair and a beard to match. He has several visible scars the most noticeable was the one that ran diagonally across his face. The scar coordinated with his face mask design.
"Ah, it seems like I've been found out. Would it be too much trouble to request a private audience with you?" Sahara replied sincerely as he removed his face mask.
"It would be perfect," said the War Chief grinning. A moment passed and his expression changed to that of grave seriousness. "I got the word you were coming up from the Lieutenant at that post in Hiro Valley. I have something I need to show you. If you help me out I'll approve that contraband."
Sahara knew he had been found out well before he spoke the Chief, so he wasn't shocked at those words. His men did seem confused though.
"Aye I was wondering what would bring you so far from Minamoto," Sahara responded.