Chapter I: Bala the Undying

[ Heian Period: 1,065 AD]

[Tokonosu Perfecture, Japan]

"Grandmaster Bala, will you return to Wudang or go home to Persia, finally." a man in regal robes made of the finest cloth in the lands spoke as he place his cup on a small table.

Bala remained silent and then exhaled before replying. 'I have studied Daoism for over a thousand years. I have drowned myself in the martial arts and philosophies of various cultures. I have explored and swallowed the intelligence of the ages. Besides the masters in the depths of the five dragon temples, no one comes close to amount of times that I have touched enlightenment and bathed in the heavenly Dao."

Bala stopped for a moment and took a deep breath as he looked out across a grassy plain, untouched by human hands and their senseless wars.

"Little boy, you are emperor now. You no longer need me. Wudang does not need me. Persia does not need me. I will not tell you where I am going because I do not want to be disturbed. You will wipe me from the history of Japan as I am nameless in Persia. Those who know me will die off and my existence will only be known to me."

"Grandmaster…" the emperor tried to protest but Bala raised a hand and commanded silence without a word.

"Go back to your throne and rule the way you have always envisioned," Bala spoke as he rose to his feet.

He then took a step and crossed a hundred meters in an instant.

—-----------------------

After many steps, Bala found himself in the wilderness far away from human settlements. There he fell to the lotus position, shut his eyes and time became nonexistent as he had conquered it long ago.

After a year, he had become one with nature. After a decade, his presence was undetectable even to the many wanderers that stood in front of him. After half a century, Bala was swallowed by the earth.

—-------------------------

[Heisei Period: July 4th, 2010]

[Edge of Tokonosu City, Japan]

The snarls of a man filled the area, accompanied by the screams and panting of a woman fleeing for her life. Then she trips. She tumbles to the earth and freezes with fear. It wasn't until the pain of her shoulder being bitten into did she wake up and fight back.

Breaking free from the madman, she frantically reaches for the closest thing next to her and swings with blind might as the madman approaches.

Pah!

The well-sized rock with a jagged edge makes contact with the man's head, and blood mist takes to the air. With the will to survive, the woman launches forward and takes the opportunity to straddle the downed man and repeatedly bash his brains in until he finally stops moving.

The woman proceeded to cry out as she fell back. Her sobs lasted for a few minutes before she pushed herself up and rushed home as her wound continued to bleed.

All the while, beneath the earth, our slumbering Prince of Persia, Grandmaster of Wudang, and Imperial Teacher is awakened by the blood of the madman that now seeps into the soft dirt.

Bala's eyes snap open with shock.

"Impossible." he speaks within his mind, "The Undying Blood…How? No…This. This is different. It's a diluted abomination. But how? I killed everyone. Not even this lesser strain should exist."

"I have to calculate." Bala stretched his mind and connected with the naturally formed Bagua Diagram within the greater Tokosonu Prefecture.

His eyes turned milky white, and he calculated everything from the time he entered his slumber to the moment he awakened and ten years beyond. He was then forced out of the trance by the heavenly Dao, and a liter of blood was spit from his mouth as his eyes bled.

"It'll take two months before I regain my full strength. But that's more than enough during the first phase." Bala muttered. "Finally, the time of the Great Catastrophe has come. And the emergence of Fairy Gate will follow."

A moment later, the earth erupted, and Bala appeared on the surface. The ancient man was naked as his clothes couldn't survive the ravages of time. Dirt and grime hid his flawless golden skin. His thick jet black hair, so full of vitality, fell to the earth and formed a pile.

Looking down at the dead man, Bala scuffed and then looked towards the direction in which the bitten woman fled.

"That should be how it spreads, the bite and exchange of fluids. Hmm, to think my calculation almost took a full rotation of the sun. 1,045 years is a long time." Bala spoke to himself.

He then looked in the direction in which fate converged.

"I can't stop this. I might as well take the helm," said Bala.

He walked leisurely as his hair dragged behind him. After fifteen minutes, he entered a rundown neighborhood and attracted the attention of the many residents. Bala ignored them all as he found a young man with brown hair and dark eyes.

"You." Said Bala, "I need to use your home. Walk down five streets and wait at the corner for two minutes, and you will receive fifty million Yen."

The boy was confused. But who would give up the chance of fifty million yen? The boy quickly ushered Bala inside and then ran five streets down. There he waited.

All the while, Bala cut his hair. Tapering the sides and pulling the top back. He then showered before finding the room of the boy's father. Why Bala had chosen the boy became evident when Bala reached for a box that hid a Musha Zatoichi Shirasaya Katana made of Damascus steel.

Bala then took the chained dagger and the father's old gakuran. It turned out to be the only thing that Bala could fit into as the man had gotten very fat in his old age.

As Bala was leaving, the young boy returned with a big smile and a large bag in his embrace. He looked at Bala and noticed the sword in his hand.

The boy only nodded and said, "Fair trade, mister."

Bala smirked and continued on his way. With every step, the wheels of fate turned, and a small fire grew bigger as it swept across the world. But Bala was unphased as he followed the fate that he glimpsed. Something was at the end of the road he was on, and he couldn't wait to see it.

After some time, Bala felt a cold chill.

"It's finally here," he said. "Fate is just up ahead."

Bala continued on as the dying screams of the city grew louder and louder. The crashing of vehicles and the gunfire of the city's police echoed. The smell of blood and death grew intense at a rapid rate.

"Arhhh!" A man groaned as he stared at Bala.

Bala examined the state of the man and shook his head with an inexpressive face. Bala took note of the man's completely blank, rolled-up eyes and tight pupils, uncontrollable tongue movement, wide jaw distance, and a pale grey coloration. The man's neck was also missing a chunk.

"Such an ugly variant of the Undying Blood. You must be purged."

As Bala finished speaking, the ravenous undead man rushed at him. Bala raised his hand and grabbed the man by his face. The man was then lifted into the air and slammed into the ground head-first. Brain matter splattered everywhere, and the man twitched once more before his body stopped moving.

Across the way, a woman witnessed everything and rushed over to Bala. Bala watched the beautiful woman with busty breasts spilling from her torn blouse. The next moment a dagger crossed the distance and stabbed into the woman's forehead.

"Too bad you were bitten. If not, you would have made a great first edition to the harem of this Profane Taoist." Bala pulled back his dagger and continued on as if all was right in the world.

"Slaughter, supremacy, and the unfettered heart of profanity is the way of our race. Hopefully, the fateful understand this. Hopefully, they are worthy of the Undying Blood." Bala spoke to himself as he walked through fire and carnage.

Eventually, he appeared in a peaceful neighborhood. He stood before a large school that was about to be pulled into the Great Catastrophe as an undead man approached the school gates. Bala ignored the screams of the dying man as he looked up to see a boy vaguely intertwined with fate.

"It's him." said Bala, "How unfortunate. With no foundation, hopefully, he can use the chaos to temper himself."

Bala saw the fear on the boy's face before he ran off. Bala then looked at the school gate where a newly undead had awakened and torn into the flesh of a woman. At the same time, the wave of undead was finally entering the quiet neighborhood.

Bala walked to the gate, and the sound of his sword being unsheathed was snuffed out by the thud of an undead corpse hitting the ground. Bala then jumped over the school gate and proceeded inside. The school was quiet, and Bala had made it to the second floor when an announcement sent the school into chaos.

"Where are you?" Bala asked as he looked around and saw numerous streams of fate swirling through the school hallways.

Many of the fate streams were black. The white ones were the ones he was interested in. Suddenly, the white streams of fate turned grey, and Bala was confused. He was too weak to calculate the Great Catastrophe in specific detail. So instead of wondering, he pushed off and rushed for the three grey streams of fate.

The fates were hard enough to read as is, so Bala decided not to help anyone until he had gathered his targets. Then, one fate went black. Bala sped up, but it was hard to navigate the school with so many overlaying fates.

Finally, he saw them. Bala had spotted the boy he had seen before entering the school. With him was a girl with grey fate and a boy with black fate.

Bala frowned. "He was bitten."

Bala jumped and landed on the sky bridge and rushed after the group of three. He was worried about the boy turning and killing his fated people.

Following them up to the roof, Bala spotted them running up a stairwell as the roof was crowded with the undead. Bala took a stance, drew his sword, and cut through the horde like a slaughter god. As he arrived on the steps, a girl with long, orangy-brown hair fell to her ass and screamed as an undead man tried to eat her.

Shink! Pshh!

Bala cut the undead man's head in half with a diagonal slash. The blood as Bala's hand covered the girl's face to protect her from the dirty blood. He then pulled her up and dragged her up the steps.

"Move!" Bala barked as he saw the two boys staring at him with blank faces.

The boy that was bitten saw an undead approaching and was about to attack, but Bala hit him in the gut with the butt of his sword. The boy spits up as he doubles over, and Bala glares but never repeats himself.

"Hisashi, let's go." the second boy pulled him up and ran up the stairs.

Bala looked at the girl next to him and then gestured for her to go up. She didn't say a word. Instead, she quickly moved. Bala then turned around and proceeded to dispatch the undead scourge. Finally returning to his targets, he watched as the boy Hisashi finally turned.

Bala watched quietly as the girl cried out, calling for Takashi to stop. Takashi then took a bat to Hisashi's head, and it was over. The girl finally collapsed, and shock took over.

"This world is so weak. Haiz, I wonder if humanity will ever live to see the arrival of Fairy Gate." Bala muttered.

Bala then took a step, and the girl became hysterical. She shouted at Takashi and blamed him for ending the undead boy. She pinned it on his hate of Hisashi, on his jealousy because Hisashi was dating her.

It was stupid in senseless.

Takashi began to walk away, and Bala passed him without sparing a look. It was the girl Bala wanted. Her fate had once again turned white, while Takashi's fate had traces of black. Bala took this as a sign and focused on the girl.

Bala replayed the words she spoke in his head. 'I would rather have been bitten by Hisashi and live as one of them.'

"You stupid girl. You have no idea what greater world awaits." Bala seemed angry as he pulled her up by her throat. In a breath's time, the girl was being held over the railing, dangling in the air.

"So you want to die?" Bala asked.

The girl looked terrified.

"I'll drop you if you want," said Bala.

Something triggered in the girl. She began to struggle. Struggle meant to fight, and that's what Bala liked to see.

"Speak!" he roared.

Takashi finally stopped halfway down the stairs. Bala's voice seemed to have pulled him from depression as he remembered that his childhood love was left with a stranger in the middle of the apocalypse. Takashi gritted his teeth and rushed back as he couldn't bring himself to ignore his worry.

"No. Please!" the girl spoke as tears flowed from her eyes.

Bala smirked. "I am Bala, son of Amir. I have taught royalty and commoners, and all of them became great. But you will be amongst the greatest. From now on, I am your master, and you can never give up without my permission. Hold on to the will to live and fight to annihilate that which wants to destroy you."

"Nod, if you understand." He added.

The girl held on to Bala's muscular forearm and pulled herself up enough to nod. Bala then threw the girl to the ground. She looked up at him with disheveled hair and trembling eyes.

"Doesn't this world kowtow to their master anymore?" Bala asked.

The girl trembled and immediately put her head on the floor. She raised up and bowed again as her forehead hit the cement floor and bled. She did this four times before Takashi rushed over to pull her up but was only met with a hard slap that caused him to fall back.

The girl returned to her kowtow until Bala finally stopped her and pulled her to her feet.

"You're old life is dead with this world. Follow you're master to the new. " Bala spoke as he stepped over Takashi.

"Rei…" he called out with a trembling voice and pleading eyes.

"Takashi…Just leave me alone." Rei spoke and continued to follow Bala.

At the same time, Bala watched as a stream of fate turned pitch black. He just shook his head in disgust at such a weak mentality.

"When all seems lost, that's when you break through. I gave you the option of death, and you choose life. If Takashi manages to leave this roof, you might see him again. But this roof is just the first of many trails to come." Bala spoke.

"I understand, Master. Thank you for saving me twice." Rei replied.

"Come here and look out at the people you once considered your peers," said Bala

Rei looked out and softly asked, "Why is this happening?"

"When you're strong enough, I'll tell you. Just know it will only get worse from here on out. But you have the potential to survive it." Bala replied.

"Is that why you choose me?" Rei asked.

"Fate did. Even without me, you would manage to survive. But I have my own plan, and I need good people to help make it a reality. Come now, there are people waiting on us." Bala finished then continued on.

Rei took one last look at the carnage below and steeled her nerves to follow the man she had accepted as her master. Looking at his back, she saw streams of life, and this gave her heart peace.

Meanwhile, Bala watched as the fate streams in the world thinned. With his last glimpse. He spotted four white streams. But one was the brightest and became his next target. Then all the streams vanished, and Bala was truly on his own.

"How should I find them?" Bala thought as he descended the stairwell from the roof. On his way down, he looks to his left and sees a parking lot with many vehicles.

"Do you drive a vehicle?" Bala asked as he looked back over his shoulder.

"N-no," Rei replied.

"How about any other students?"

"Definitely not to school." said Rei, "Why?"

"My knowledge of the world lacks context. But those vehicles must belong to the teachers. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Where would they keep their keys?"

"The faculty room." a male voice spoke.

"So you do have grit." said Bala, "I'm interested to see what you become. Let's head to the faculty room. Survivors will hide, fight, look for help, or a way out."

Rei glanced at Takashi then stepped in front of Bala. "I'll take you to the faculty room," she said.

"Who are you?" Takashi asked before they could leave.

"Are you even worthy?" Bala asked in turn before he stepped off.

Takashi gritted his teeth in frustration but quickly let it go.

As Bala followed Rei, he began to get to know the girl. He could see that her constitution was good. She had been trained. But nothing compared to his past students who were raised with the cruelty of the ancient world.

"Rei, who trained you to use the staff?" Bala asked.

Rei titters a bit before replying. "I was a part of the sojutsu club. Before all of this happened."

"So the spear. Were you any good?"

"Decent. I wouldn't call myself a prodigy," she replied. "Honestly, had I known that the world would become this way, I would have trained more seriously."

"Haha, it's never too late. What do your parents do?"

"Parents?" Rei spoke softly as her mind drifted. " My father… He…"

"He what?" Bala asked.

"He's a police officer. Maybe if we find him, we can make it to a safe zone or…"

"Hahaha, this world will be swallowed by death. But warriors are a must if humanity wants to survive. We can find your father after leaving this place. If we wait too long… Well, have you ever heard of internal martial arts?" Bala changed the subject.

"Like Taichi?"

Bala was given a glimpse of the evolution of combat and cultivation. Taichi was one of the major forms he had witnessed when calculating the world. But still, it was lacking compared to the ancient forms.

"Yes, like taichi." Bala answered, "As long as you are diligent, I can make you the strongest spear in the world."

"Isn't that stuff all fake, master?" Rei asked, "It looks good in the movies, but…"

"Ahhhhhh!" a scream ripped through the building, interrupting Rei.

Bala's eyes narrowed, and he commanded Rei to go. She hesitated for a second and then took off.

"You're standing behind me as if I will protect you. In times like these, karma is good to cultivate." Bala spoke and continued to walk leisurely.

Takashi worked to decipher his words and then ran off after Rei.

A few moments later, Bala leaned against the wall as he watched Rei display her spear skills. He made mental notes of her flaws and created a training regime specifically for her. But Bala also had his mind focused on a fat boy wearing glasses, a pink-haired girl blindly drilling into the skull of undead as she screamed in horror, a busty blonde hair woman with a torn skirt, and finally, a purple-haired, sword-wielding prodigy unlike he had ever seen.

"Not even MuBai had her potential at this age." Bala complimented.

Finally, Bala focused on Takashi. The boy swung the bat and crushed heads. It was formless and overworked many muscles. Bala wondered what color Takashi's fate stream was now that he had decided to live. Unfortunately, the effects of the Bagua Diagram had faded, and his strength had yet to fully recover.

However, the rest of the school seemed dead and cowardly. Bala looked at the group of people in front of him, and his heart told him that this was where fate converged. But of the group, he wondered who would survive to the end.

When the fighting finally ended, the small whimpers of the pink-haired girl could be heard as she sat on the cold tile floor.

Rei rushed over to the girl and tried to comfort her. "Takagi-san, are you okay?" Rei asked.

"Miyamoto…" Saya Takagi replied with a quivering voice.

Meanwhile, Takashi was closing and locking the door that led to the outside as the purpled-haired girl approached him.

"We are all acquainted with the school nurse, Dr. Marikawa, yes?" she asked.

Takashi turned around and looked at the purple-haired girl as she continued, " I am Busujima Saeko of 3-A."

"I'm Komuro Takashi from 2-B," he replied.

"You're the same Busujima-senpai who won the national championship last year?" said Rei, " I'm in the Sojutsu Club. I'm Miyamoto Rei."

"I'm, uhh, Hirano Kohta."

'No confidence.' Bala thought of the short, round boy.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Saeko replied with a smile.

Bala wouldn't call it a warm smile at all. On the contrary, Bala thought Saeko's smile was empty and cold. The face of a yokai before they attacked and shattered their mask.

"What the… You're all so soft." Saya spoke as she pushed herself up to stand, " 'Senpai'? Seriously?"

The group focused on Saya's back as she spoke.

"You two are the same age! You must not know how to count since you were held back a year!" Saya added harshly.

Rei was shocked, and Saya's words stung. Bala watched, amused, as Takashi couldn't keep from speaking up.

"Hey now, Takagi…"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid," Saya shouted in rage mixed with shock.

"I'm a genius!" She added, now turned around to face everyone, " I can do anything I put my mind to! I'm…I'm…"

Saya began to stutter as tears swelled in the wells of her eyes. Saeko stepped forward, her steps as light as a feather. Saeko placed a hand on Saya's shoulder as she spoke, " Enough. That's quite enough."

Saya quieted down as she took notice of her appearance in the glass next to her.

"Look how dirty I am…" said Saya, "I need to tell my mama to get it cleaned…"

Takashi made his move and stood behind Saya. But he was like a pillar without a roof. He was present but had no idea how to move and comfort Saya. She waited briefly as she looked at him through the reflection of the glass. Then she turned away and sought comfort in Saeko's embrace as all the tears she fought back burst forth accompanied by sobs.

Slowly the two descended to the ground, where Saeko held Saya until her tears ran dry.

'Tsk.. still so indecisive.' Bala thought about Takashi's action, 'And she's… in shock. Let's see how she behaves after she calms.'

"We should get somewhere safe," Bala spoke as he walked to Rei.

At that moment, he surprisingly felt the sharp gaze of two people. Naturally one was Busujima Saeko. The other, much to Bala's amusement, was the school nurse, Shizuka Markiwaka.

'Who would have thought?' Bala spoke in his heart, but still, he could sense that Marikawa was far from a threat. But her senses were obviously keen.

"Y-yes, the faculty room is right here. We can stay there for now and plan our next move," said Rei.

"And who might you be?" Saeko asked as she helped Saya to her feet.

"You're not in our school uniform, and both your katana and dagger can't legally be carried." Saeko continued, "Who are you?"

Saeko's grip tightens around the handle of her bokken, and Bala's eyes narrow at the familiar wooden sword.

"So you're that Busujima? Isn't that something," said Bala.

Bala then gestured for Rei, and she led him to the faculty room. Saeko took a step, and Takashi moved to stop her. He simply shook his head. He didn't know how good Saeko was compared to Bala, but he knew Bala carried a real sword, and that made him dangerous.

"Master, why won't you introduce yourself?" Rei asked softly.

"Because I only want her to call me master. What's the point of learning my name now." Bala replied with a nearly unnoticeable smirk.

"She…" Rei was shocked as she remembered that Bala had told her that people were waiting on them before they descended from the roof.

"Find some food and water. Rest up." Bala spoke as he found a seat by the window.