38

Chapter 38: Palace of the Dead IINotes:

I think this will be the final training heavy section for a bit since it neatly describes her goals for progression (thank god). Next chapter will just be character interactions between Izanami and Ibaraki, Ibaraki and Byakko, and finally Ibaraki and the denizens of the palace. After that we'll be going back into actual plot progression. Hope you all enjoy and I'll see you in the next chapter.

Chapter Text

As much as I wanted to read all about the sword styles wielded by Musashi and Kojiro, I knew that in the short term there were better uses of my time. Not only would my sword be less useful against waves of enemies, but I would also need to adapt their sword techniques to an Odachi.

That isn't even getting into the fact that I might not be able to comprehend the level of swordsmanship they reached without prohibitive amounts of time studying and practising.

Therefore, I focused more on what I could glean from Ushiwakamuru, Oda Nobunaga, Yasuke, and Tsuna's chronicles. One thing that I had forgotten before I began reading in earnest was that Samurai were as adept at archery as they were with swords. It's embarrassing that I hadn't thought of that before, after all not everyone is going to be throwing around wind blades with their sword slashes. The notes they left helped me figure out what I would primarily be working on while here in Yomi, my archery.

The name of the game in the coming competition will be killing ranged enemies in bulk. Normally I would result to using fire for that but I'm going to be facing dragons on the ocean; not the prime targets for immolation.

Could I burn them to death anyway? Probably.

The question is, would it be the best method? The answer, of course, is no.

The sheer size of the creatures and their innate fire resistance means that the effort expended to burn through the dragonhide would be best served in doing something else.

My general skill with my bow had improved by training Takehiko and Akeno but I hadn't been trying to improve my power much. I also need to improve the number of projectiles I can fire at a time if I'm going to put on the best showing. I'm not sure what to expect from the other participants from the various factions but I'm not going to underestimate them.

Based on the location of the event, I'll be expecting participants from Japanese factions such as the Onmyouji, the Youkai, the Shinto obviously, and whatever other factions I don't yet know about. There are also the participants from the other coast affected by the dragons to consider. I don't know enough about Chinese deities to even make predictions on that end. Hopefully the emphasis Susanoo put on the younger generation participating implies that no millennia-old immortal is our competition but who knows?

Beyond those groups, I have to assume that both the Norse and at least one biblical faction will be in attendance. With Leviathan and Jormungandr being the cause of this event then they would have to show up if only so the local factions can't claim they were cleaning up their mess. That means a young Valkyrie or two, maybe some newer Einherjar, and the normal biblical faction fodder since they never properly interact with other factions.

'You could just ask Izanami instead of thinking in circles by yourself.' Once again I praise my wise tiger companion. Although…

'Shouldn't you be doing some training too, Byakko? It seems weird that I'm the only one who's struggling all the time.' Byakko grumbles in my head before manifesting beside me.

"I develop my power differently than you. I train all the time in your mindscape, I'll have you know." I pat his head patronizingly and slide sideways to dodge his retaliatory swipe.

"Sounds to me like you could use some practical experience then." He sighs and realizing what I'm getting at slinks off to leave the palace.

"Call me if you need me." He says, tone devoid of warmth.

I give him a thumbs up and yell back, "Kill a whole bunch of demons for me, buddy!"

Grinning, I continue to head towards the training ground Izanami showed me yesterday. The palace looks immaculate and pristine but that is obvious given how few people I've seen around here. Other than Izanami, Susanoo, and first-murder-guy, I haven't actually seen anyone.

Both Susanoo and Izanami spoke as though there were other souls living here, though I suppose they don't need to do anything if they are already dead. In fact, having things like maids would probably be useless since I doubt intangible souls produce much dust. The kitchen and its staff would also be mostly superfluous for the same reasons.

Hmm, maybe they are all here and doing menial labour to make Izanami feel better about her situation?

Speaking of Izanami, as I walk into the training grounds, she's already here waiting for me. She's spinning her umbrella idly as she looks out over the training ground. 'Gomu-kun' is still standing in the exact position he was in yesterday as well.

"Good morning, Izanami." She fumbles her umbrella when she hears my call and I snicker at her reaction.

"Good morning, Ibaraki-san!" Izanami smiles and waves once she recovers her umbrella. "Are you going to play with Gomu-kun again?"

"As a warm-up, I will. I'll be training archery later though." I glance over at the undead training dummy and narrow my eyes.

It doesn't react, of course, I don't think it has any meaningful consciousness but if it did it would shake in its boots! I can hear Izanami's giggles in the periphery even as I remain focused on my opponent.

I settle into a stance in front of it and meditate to focus my mindset. I can't attack recklessly like yesterday, if I do I'll probably die. Blocking this thing is next to useless as well since it will blow through any defence I muster. Dodging isn't an option either because the moment I dodge it stops fighting back. Therefore, the only thing I can do is combine attacking and deflecting its blows into a fluid cycle and last for as long as possible.

It isn't a fighting style I'm used to and is distasteful to my instincts. I'm used to fighting with minimal defence, entrusting my body and Touki to absorb most attacks sent my way. I'll block or dodge anything that would kill me but other than that I'd rather defeat my opponent than defend myself.

That isn't an option right now.

Upsetting as it is, this is the ideal opponent for my growth in unarmed combat since it forces me to fight in a way I normally wouldn't consider. I have to be mindful of my defence while finding the ideal flow to continue my offence.

Ugh, enough delaying this.

I start with a jab from my right, knowing it will counter with a right cross. My left forearm sweeps sideways to deflect the blow and I take a step backwards so its left hook passes by my abdomen.

Turning my hips for power I kick up and my right foot tags him in his left armpit. The undead ignores the impact and turns with the blow, sending a hook kick screaming toward my head.

I crouch, frowning as his heel snaps both my horns off and blows my hair out of place. Using the energy stored in my legs I launch myself upward and clock him in the chin with an explosive uppercut. The combination of him being off balance and the impact making him move for the first time in the fight.

He lands nimbly on his right foot and his left immediately snaps forward in a front kick. I grit my teeth realizing I overcommitted to the uppercut and don't have the leverage to deflect this. My left forearm rotates inward from its extended position and I try to push his foot out of line with the centre of my chest while twisting more of my torso out of the way.

I only manage to minimize the damage as the sole of his foot slams into my torso, crushing everything in its path without difficulty. My Touki barely slows the attack down, serving to mitigate the damage slightly. Even after everything I did to lower the damage the left side of my torso and my left arm cease to exist and I'm flung away by the impact. My impromptu flight ends when I'm embedded in the far wall.

I sigh as the damage regenerates and glare balefully at the training dummy. Using my remaining arm I pick out some brick chunks that are inside my torso. They'd get dissolved as I regenerate but I hate the itchy feeling.

"Don't be discouraged, Ibaraki-san! You did really well." I pout as Izanami shouts encouragement from where she's watching. Damn, if it isn't hard to stay angry when she's cheering from the sidelines.

I crack my neck and stretch as I pull myself out of the wall. I'm sure if I turn around there would be a nice imprint of my body in the wall. "Thanks, Izanami. I appreciate the encouragement. I think I'll start off my daily training with a spar from Gomu-kun before moving on. By the end of the month, I plan on being able to destroy it."

She smiles gently at me, "It's good that you're so determined. A month is pretty fast! It took Crom three whole seconds to destroy Gomu-kun the first time they played."

My eye twitches as I try to tell myself she meant well by that comment. From the serene look of admiration she's wearing the intended praise was genuine. It was a reassurance, not an insult, she's too nice to do that.

At least Byakko isn't here to have heard that.

'Mental link, kiddo. I heard everything.' I groan and I resist the urge to shoot a barrage of arrows at Byakko.

'Seriously though, you lasted longer than last time. As long as you improve every time, I see no need to tease you.' That's nice of him.

'How are things on your end, Byakko.' I tug on my Ki and use it to fuel the growth of a large tree in the middle of the training ground. As the sprout shoots upwards I wrap my hand around the top and ride it skyward.

'I'm enjoying myself. I hate to admit it but you were correct that I needed practical experience in combat. I had missed the feeling of bodies being torn asunder in my claws.' I grin agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiment. A tiger needs to hunt even if it's spectral in nature.

Once the tree finishes growing upward, a platform spreads out from the top giving me a wide view of Yomi. From here high above the palace's training grounds I can see dozens of kilometres in every direction.

Off in the distance, I can see Byakko carving swathes of destruction through hordes of monsters. He's grown to his full size and is currently duelling a pair of giants. The three of them are doing their best to recreate a kaiju battle in the middle of the underworld. Not much of one though since Byakko is clearly toying with them.

'Stop playing with your food. You'll develop bad combat habits.' Byakko huffs and releases an earth-shattering roar that I can feel from here.

The closest giant tries to cover its ears giving Byakko the opportunity to rip its throat out with his teeth. The second one has its legs swept by Byakko's tail and swiftly meets a similar fate. My tiger companion dutifully spits out any flesh in his mouth and burns away any blood. I'm not sure if he would be cursed into staying here but better safe than sorry.

Izanami appears on the platform beside me and smiles off in Byakko's direction. "Your friend is enjoying himself."

"Yeah, he hasn't cut loose like this in a while. Neither have I really." She smiles happily at my words, obviously proud that Yomi offers that opportunity.

My bow materializes and I start picking out targets across Yomi; the ones with the toughest shells, carapace, bone, or muscle to test the penetrative power of my arrows.

"The remnants of the soul inside your bow are in constant anguish." I turn to Izanami who is staring sadly at my bow.

"Ah don't worry about him. I hate him as much as you hate Izanagi." Izanami's mouth forms a small 'o' in surprise.

"I see. Then if I do this…" She taps on my bow with a finger, shooting a burst of black energy into it.

I look at her questioningly and she smiles sheepishly, "I pulled the pieces together so he can experience the anguish more fully. The consciousness won't coalesce fully though. I hope I haven't overstepped."

She yelps in surprise when I give her a hug. "You're the best, Izanami!"

"It was nothing, really!" She hastily denies and I know she would be blushing if she weren't dead.

"It was more than nothing. This is great!" I pluck my bowstring imagining the Elder crying out in pain with each arrow I shoot.

Music to my ears.

"If there is anything you need just tell me, Izanami. I'll get it done." I make full eye contact to show how serious I am about this.

She fidgets shyly and glances at me cautiously as though I'll tear the offer away any second, "I know you'll be leaving at the end of the month but… could you visit after? Even if it's only every quarter-century!"

I chuckle, hurriedly stopping myself when she looks devastated, "Izanami, I'm not going to visit you every quarter-century. You can't get rid of me that easily!"

She looks confused and hopeful at the same time, unsure of where I'm going with this. "I'd be upset with myself if I didn't show up to your palace at least once a year."

She gasps softly and I continue, "Plus when I get back I'm going to beat up your other children and get them to visit you!"

Izanami starts to laugh, "I have my doubts about the possibility of that scenario, I appreciate the thought, however."

I pout which causes her to laugh harder. "Fine. Maybe not when I get back. One day though, I'll force them to visit you."

She graces me with the widest most beautiful smile I've seen on her yet. "Thank you, Ibaraki-san. The sentiment means more than you know."

I nod and look off to watch Byakko again, only quickly removing the blood vessels from my cheeks with shapeshifting stopping me from blushing. If Byakko is training right now, I should be too.

There is no other reason behind my sudden focus!

I smack my cheeks and draw my bow again. When I form the arrow by shaping Ki I spend more time than usual on the structure. If I want the most power possible, I can't half-ass the formation of the projectile. Taking a deep breath I focus on the mental image I'm building of the arrow.

The shaft forms first and I create what is essentially a cylinder of pure power. The shaft is the main structure of the arrow and gives it the majority of its mass. I frown as multiple variations I could try come to mind. Pure power is great and all but it doesn't do anything special. If I'm making a better arrow, I need to make all the components better.

The shaft hollows out, and I fill it with more malleable Ki, imagining the energy inside as fuel for propulsion. The 'fletching' becomes vent strips at the back of the shaft which will expend the Ki inside to accelerate the arrow.

Still, I can do better I think.

I reinforce the shell of the shaft and increase the density of the fuel inside. This will give the arrow more 'weight' without sacrificing the boost I'm looking for. For a moment I think about making the projectile spin to help with external ballistics, but I remember what Susanoo said about thinking too much about physics and drop the idea.

The arrow grows and lengthens before shrinking and contracting again as I debate the optimal size ratios I want. Speed is great and all but so is power; I need to find the optimal balance between the two. A longer arrow means more power in the projectile since it is formed from pure power, but it also makes the projectile easier to spot and dodge. For now, I settle on something in the middle of the two extremes.

Finally, I focus on forming the head of the arrow. Again, I debate using a pointed head and incorporating it into the shaft, rounding out the middle and forming a Sears-Haack body. While the arrow will be supersonic, physics won't matter enough for me to go that route. Instead, I focus on the arrowhead that has been used for millennia; the leaf shape that had been used since people chipped flint.

Is it the arrow with the greatest arrow dynamic and mechanical properties? No, not even close.

At the velocity I can fire a projectile, arrows in general are beyond inefficient. Yet I'm not beholden by the laws that necessitate those designs to a significant enough degree to matter anymore.

Can I take inspiration from those designs? Yes, but I shouldn't base my decisions on them.

With the general design I want completed, I then focus on what archery means to me. In the same way that my sword intent is formed based on my understanding of swords and swordsmanship, I plan to do something similar with my archery.

I hadn't attempted this before because it wasn't necessary and also because I wasn't sure how it would affect my growth. Or worse how it could affect my personality. Whether internalizing or externalizing a concept like this, the understanding reflects on both the wielder and the concept.

If you wield anger conceptually, you become angrier; the angrier you become, the easier you can wield anger conceptually.

It isn't a one-way effect, nor is it a constant feedback loop, it's more subtle than that. I have solidified anger in my mindscape but I'm not suddenly angrier. Instead, I'm aware that I can call on my anger at any time and each time I pull on that string the easier it becomes to use that as a solution. It's why I end up using sword intent for most of my combat, it's just so easy.

I hadn't even noticed I was doing that until I spent time training all my abilities separately on rotation. In a spar with Akio and Kiyoshi, I would think of all the scenario's where I could just cut through their attacks with sword intent instead of coming up with another solution. It's not even a mind-altering effect or a bad habit but a natural result of growing into a concept. It's the same reason why Rias would end up only using the Power of Destruction to the detriment of anything else.

By adding another concept like 'arrow intent' or whatever I would end up calling it, I would be building up another shiny win-button to draw my own attention away from my other abilities. Now that my mindscape is starting to solidify, that is less of a concern as I can accurately view the amount it affects me.

Anyway.

I pour into the arrow my original devotion to archery and the connection it gave me to my mother. I shape into it the tranquillity that the practice brought to my life, the freedom, the escape. The arrow takes hold of the focus on precision, the uncompromising accuracy that encompasses the philosophy behind archery. The surety of the projectiles arrival and the certainty that whatever it hits will die. All these and more combine to form the concept of Archery for me.

When my eyes open again, the arrow that formed is no longer the shining gold of pure Ki. What sits on the bowstring is a transparent form that I can only see due to the faint white glow that surrounds the shape and the golden core.

As the arrow is fired it disappears from sight only to reappear in a golden flash impacting the head of my target an instant later. The demon collapses like a puppet whose strings have been cut, instantly killed by the arrow.

"That was a gentle arrow," Izanami says, staring at the dead demon, "The demon didn't even feel pain when pierced."

"Really?" She nods and I aim at a different target. I speed up the process of forming the arrow this time and aim to pierce the core of a bone construct off in the distance.

The arrow has a harder time penetrating the bone, stuttering on impact before forcing its way through. It still destroys the construct in a single shot, however.

I look to Izanami for confirmation again, "It still felt nothing. It was aware that the projectile was digging through the bone but couldn't understand what was happening."

"Why though?" I scratch my head in confusion. I'm still trying to kill whatever I'm shooting.

"You're treating this as a meditative process, there's no malice behind your actions and the arrow reflects that. You are 'piercing this target' rather than 'eliminating this being'; death is a side effect rather than the intended goal and so pain doesn't factor into the act." I look at Izanami in surprise, not having expected her to give such an in-depth explanation.

Predictably she becomes flustered and backtracks, "Or that's what I assume is happening. I'm not much of a fighter."

"No, that makes sense. You don't have to be hesitant with me. I appreciate your thoughts, Izanami." I nearly sigh when she looks away.

"Your domain is Creation, right?" She nods and opens her mouth to add the caveat that it's the creation of undead and curses but I barrel through that. It won't help her confidence if she puts herself down immediately.

"Can you help me with the formation process then? I need to be able to form my arrows faster and in greater quantities. I think it would help me if you walked me through how you create." She frowns but I make sure to keep my expression encouraging.

"Well… Can you create a large number of arrows so I can see how you're doing that?" I smile and follow her instructions.

The most I can do is thirty plus the arrow on my bowstring, and the free-floating arrows only have eighty percent of the power. Any more than that and they come out half-formed or underpowered.

"You're focusing too much on each individual arrow. When you see a field of grass you don't focus on each individual blade, do you?" I disperse the arrows and try again, summoning an ambiguous grouping instead of a specific number of arrows.

"Much better!" Izanami beams and I find that I've summoned fifty arrows this time. The power is even less than before though.

"They're weaker. More arrows won't help if they won't kill what I'm shooting at." Izanami nods and snaps her fingers. A horde of undead rise off in the distance, and by horde I mean thousands.

"You're trying to expend a specific amount of energy and immediately transform it into a spell. That's good for small scale spells or even strong precision spells but for area attacks, it's, somewhat ironically, inefficient." She gestures to the undead horde.

"I didn't do anything other than focusing the energy in the area into what I wanted. As long as there is abundant energy you can quickly form a spell." Okay, how does that help me though if I'm using an internal source?

My question must have shown on my face because she gives me a small grin. "You have to release a bunch of energy into your environment and then shape it into your spell. The whole point of an area attack is that you don't micromanage everything."

"Ah, I think I get it now. As I grow more used to the process I'll naturally become better at using less energy to do what I want but it isn't what is most important." She claps happily and I grin back at her.

"Now wipe out all the undead I summoned in one shot." I look between her and the thousands of undead while thinking about the paltry fifty arrows I summoned at once.

"Um, I don't think that's going to work…" She pats me on the shoulder in encouragement.

"It might take a few tries but I think you can do it!" I sigh fondly at her. If you put it like that, I'll have to do it now.

I start indiscriminately emitting Ki in vast quantities, only keeping a loose grasp on the energy so it doesn't disperse. Once I've let out a large amount I go through the motions of forming the arrow on my bowstring. At the same time, I imagine the Ki around me morphing into a massive grouping of similar arrows without focusing on the exact amount.

It takes a minute but once I'm comfortable with the formation, I release the arrows and picture the end goal of the targets being struck. The results are underwhelming.

I managed to hit and kill more than a hundred undead and I must have shot at least five hundred arrows but the accuracy was way off. Sure each arrow hit one of the undead but they didn't all hit a vital spot. Not only that, the numbers were still far from my goal.

"Good attempt! Now you just need to do better." I straighten up at the praise and prepare myself to make another attempt.

This is going to take a while.