“Well, it came up a few days ago, I'd say. If ya want t’ rejoin yer friend and be of any use, I'd suggest ya learn. It's a powerful weapon. Possibly the most powerful ever, but tha’ can only get ye so far. With it now, ye can use it as ya would a regular sword, with the added benefit of its near invulnerability. Ye can still be a very dead young man if ya can't handle tha’ thing as a weapon in its most basic terms.”
Aryu had handled weapons before, but he didn't need to be told the places he was going to would have situations beyond those he'd encountered.
“So what do you propose?” he'd asked at last, knowing the answer, giddy at hearing the words from Nixon.
“Simple. Each day between here and when we reach our destination, ya listen and follow while I show ya some of tha basics. Pray my small amount of instruction is ne'er needed, though.”
Aryu agreed instantly, elated at the thought. This had been Aryu's intention all along: to accompany the beast and learn anything he could about the sword and its uses so he could make himself a stronger fighter for the battles to come.
So it had been for days. Hard flying topped off with a few hours each day learning some basics from Nixon. Aryu learned that strength had little to do with it when it came to the Shi Kaze. With a simple thrust or wrist flick, he could drive the point into a thick rock or fell a giant tree effortlessly. The memory of the mechanical man who had almost abducted him and the ease with which the sword had taken its arm or the slick and graceful way it had cleaved the Ark 1 in half (results of which notwithstanding) were made clearer as he learned more.
At times, the obvious question of whether it was pure coincidence that he had found it rolled through his head, though he never voiced them.
After practice on the day they reached the Napponia border, Aryu returned to the camp to see Nixon lost in his own mind, his deep black and red eyes saddened as he stared deeply into their fire. Anyone could see that more than usual was weighing on Nixon’s mind. Aryu questioned him about it.
“So obvious, am I? Well, this is a very sad place fer me. A place of death and lost voices. Ryu was a very po'erful man, and I can only assume by tha fact I ne'er 'ad to hunt him except fer the last time, he was a good man to many people. He was also foolish in his actions, a man lost t’ his own powers. With his final act, an act of unspeakable maliciousness, he attempted t’ purge all the users of Power from the world, not fer any matter of control, or t’ become the strongest person alive, as he likely already was.
“He did it fer selfish and personal reasons, ones tha’, in my mind, did'na necessitate the cullin' of so many lives. He was forced into a corner, and he reacted with a level of force he believed was necessary to get wha’ he wanted while hammerin’ the point 'ome t’ all parties involved. But he failed. He didn't purge everyone with control of the Power. He missed quite a few who had found shelter in wha' are called Havens, which were beyond 'is reach. Crystal was one such person. I fear tha’ despite his love fer her, she still would'a been lost if he could get her.
“There were those he killed and those he spared unknowingly, but the voices I hear are of those somewhere in between.
“Napponia was once tha central location for all who wished t’ learn of the Power. Crystal was the daughter of a very powerful and beloved mortal Embracer, who hadn't let the Power lake 'is life yet. At 'is school, many people came to learn these mysterious ways. He believed tha’ use of mankind’s untapped potential was tha key to savin’ tha world he lived in, one which was destroyed some years earlier by war. A war tha’ caused wha’ I believe ye would know as the Second Fall of Man.
“Many Havens sprang up 'ere. For years this was the 'ome of peace and a leader in the restructuring of the world into a new and enviable place. Sadly, before he 'ad enough students t’ carry on properly, he died savin’ Crystal’s life, an act tha’ was so powerful and pure of 'eart tha’ the Power he 'ad built up was released into the world, triggerin' the planet’s healin’ process. This was an unimaginable feat fer a mortal, never havin’ succumb t’ the Power’s ability t’ slow or halt time and agin’. A truly astonishin’ person, he was. I've ne'er seen any others like him in all my years.
“'Is work was unfinished, though, and the direction of many he taught didn'a become noble. As they spread into the world, the age of the Power began, with many wars being fought between different Embracers. In time this would lead to the Third Fall of Man, at the hands of Tokugawa Ryu. There was so much innate power 'ere, both in mankind and the surroundin’ lands tha’ all of Ryu's considerable powers couldn'a completely penetrate it. The result was any exposed Embracer, noble or not, being stripped of all but their base consciousness and essence. The result was the voices I 'ear now.
“When last I passed through, the moment of their disembodiment was fresh and they were fallin’ over one another tryin’ t’ understand wha’ 'ad 'appened. Now they’re more organized, but not at peace. In fact, quite tha opposite. It seems tha’ now they know their plight and are desperate to escape it. At least with bodies, it was a possibility.
