The Four Wheel Saga Book 1: THE LEGACY TRIALS

The six canoes drifted sluggishly in the kegare creek. The famished young warriors were having a late breakfast- rice balls and boiled eggs. The warrior code of Karasuma was very particular about nutrition. It prescribed two conservative meals a day- one for energy and protein (eggs, fish, meat, along with rice) and the other to fulfil essential nutrients (nuts, vegetables, fruits).

Canoe 2: Shigeo (M,15), Akako (F, 16), Kento (M, 16)

Canoe 3: Hajime (M, 20), Megumin (F, 19), Yuuta (M, 20)

Canoe 4: Daigo (M, 20), Kafu (M, 19), Chiyo (F, 17)

Canoe 5: Nadeko (F, 15), Illumi (M, 15), Masaki (M, 15)

The waterborne vessels of the aspirants, ingrained with sailing kitsu, had been made to float abreast each other so that the group could commune with ease. The Preceptors’ canoe was coasting ahead, while Yorokobi’s vessel was trailing behind, both divorced from the rest. They had doggedly decided not to let the events of the morning be repeated.

The setting of nature and natural sounds was soothing- a motley of birds chirping away, insects buzzing in and out, frogs croaking to their mates, all in the backdrop of the babbling creek water. The young ones found a bunch of low-hanging berries. Daigo sacrificed one of his petty knives to drop a dense bunch from a vine.

During times of war, however, the warrior code was eased. The present circumstances were undoubtedly not war-like, but the danger they had escaped from, an hour back, at the least, entitled them to a late breakfast, with sweet forest berries for dessert. The only other edible things within reach were mushrooms of different colours, growing on tree trunks or rocks, on either bank. But it was difficult to tell the palatable ones from the poisonous ones. Only Kafu, being a Shibai Sharin priest, refrained from food, as he was fasting for the day. Instead, he drank from a flask, which reeked of wild saffron and bush-lilac.

Nadeko: “Did you figure it out?“

Masaki: “Figure out what?”

Illumi: “How Keiji sensei ran on water, of course, you airhead!”

The three youngest in the group were also the most vulnerable. The recent events had put the fear of the goddess in them. Nadeko was a petite, round-faced girl who resembled a doll. Illumi was a curious, lean teenager, always brimming with energy. Masaki was an artistic but brooding kid who kept to himself most of the time. The latter was weaving a miniature basket from leaves when Nadeko disturbed him. All three of them had been strong-armed by their ambitious parents to become aspirants.

two consecutive trials) of three years, aspirants made productive use of their time- explored employment opportunities with wealthy clients of other villages (especially Karasuki)- as bodyguards,

Nadeko: “Tell

was kitsu. What else could it

“Perhaps he cast pellets of kitsu into the water and tiptoed on

making fun of her dullness. Megumin was a robust girl, as

he wear any rarefied shoes that displace his

is not likely, Daigo-dono. The way he moved on water, it was as

voice, and addressed everyone with reverence and honorifics. Daigo’s apprenticeship in the smithery, and Kafu’s exposure to the pedagogy of Shibai Sharin temple, both had moulded their

feminine and athletic, with straight, silky hair and amaranthine-blue eyes. Even though the Mikashita boys were trained to endure, it was challenging not

“I am very sure that it

and agreed with her. But it had little to do with her reasoning. It was also challenging to disagree with someone

is blessed

Most of the guys shook their heads. It was reasonably easy to disagree with a gangly, fasting priest, who drank saffron-lilac water and had spent most of his early years inside

From the other canoe,

All the clueless eyes turned to him. Realising he was the centre of attention then, Shigeo proceeded to

“Enough grand-standing.

anything to do with Kento being the de-facto leader of the under-age warriors. Kento had always protected him from bullying, by the older Mikashita cousins, through his family clout, intellect, and occasionally, fighting

Shigeo: “Very well. But I will scrutinize Keiji sensei’s feat later. First, let me unravel Yuuki-sensei’s attack. It was a high-level kitsu-manipulation called synthesis. There is an advanced book in the citadel library titled- Material-synthesis-kitsu, which covers this topic. Synthesis is very different from our usual manipulation.

planted it into a clay bowl

strength of a live shrew. Because here, we have only fire-attribute. Yuuki-sensei’s kitsu lance was through synthesis- in which he fabricated physical matter, by mixing all elemental