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.

aspirants made productive use of their time- explored employment opportunities with wealthy clients of other villages (especially Karasuki)- as bodyguards, or became training instructors, or accepted village sanctioned

“Tell

kitsu. What

kitsu

said ridiculous things without realising it. Hajime and Yuuta sniggered. Since school, the three had been friends. They were referred to as the bulwark-trio- due to their unbeaten record in mock-battles as a team. But Megumin was not very sharp for her age. The boys left no stone unturned, making fun of her dullness. Megumin was a robust girl, as tall as, and beefier than, the boys, who were about five feet ten tall. In her formidable strength lay her gifts. Hajime and Yuuta were both champions of kitsu. The bulwark-trio regretted not participating in

Daigo: “Does he wear any rarefied shoes that displace his weight; perhaps

moved on water, it was as if he was

while Kafu was gangly, spoke in a low voice, and addressed everyone with reverence and

hair and amaranthine-blue eyes. Even though the Mikashita boys were trained to endure, it was

“I am very sure that it

nodded and agreed with her. But it had little to do with her

Kafu: “Perhaps he is blessed by the

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

From the other canoe, Shigeo

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

Kento: “Enough grand-standing.

have 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,

high-level kitsu-manipulation called synthesis. There is an advanced book in the citadel library titled- Material-synthesis-kitsu, which covers

Kafu put out his right hand and muttered a few words. A singular fire-shrew sprung from his palm; he carefully planted it into a clay bowl and handed over the bowl to Shigeo. The girls fawned over the cute, little, flaming creature. The shrew’s

live shrew. Because here, we have only fire-attribute. Yuuki-sensei’s kitsu lance was