Bushido

Land Beyond: Europe

If 1 in a thousand people are able to actively develop and use their Hirakana, only 1 in a hundred of those 1000 will ever use a 'Hiratta', a transformation based on their Hirakana. Hirrata are powerful, but are very energy consuming, and hard to tap into at will without extreme training.

"And then I spun around and-"

"SHUT UP!

The group had gotten tired of Hima's constant yapping of his exploits under the water, and just wanted to land. The voyage had taken what felt like millenia, and the incessant jibber-jabber from Hima talking about his exploits under the water made it worse.

It had been ages since they'd spotted land, and after a while, they gave up.

"Fine. We'll listen. But explain what that cloak was?"

"I don't know!"

"I do."

Valk and Hima were extremely attentive, wanting to know how to tap into that power, and use it to their advantage.

"It's called a Hirrata. Only very powerful wielders of Hirakana, or prodigies can use it."

"My father, Vlad can use it. I saw him don a reddish cloak from the blue, and the blood that splattered the skies that day was nothing short of horror."

Komori visibly shuddered, and the crew went silent for another 15 minutes.

"LAND HOOOO!!!"

All 4 jumped off the boat instantly, but quickly got back on when they realised they needed it to get back.

"We'll keep this here. Now, where are we?"

"This sense of death. It reminds me of home. We are in Transylvania, but not near enough to the capital to be in any danger as of yet."

As they went through the streets, multiple people bowed down to Komori as he walked.

"The Prince! He has returned!"

A fat stubby old man walked through the crowd and rushed up to Komori, hugging him tight, and kissing his face.

"Oh my nephew how I have begged to see you so."

His Uncle was the polar opposite of his father, a kindhearted fellow compared to the villain which was the Impaler.

"Come along with me, you shall see this posse later."

Komori told them to wait at the library for him, and 4 became 3.

"While we're here, we might as well learn about Vlad, and get something to eat."

"Yeah, come on, let's go."

At first, they tried to ask, but no one knew Japanese, so they were forced to look through maps till they found it.

"So how are we meant to read these books?"

"Most books have translations, just look."

"The History of Vlad: Japanese Abridged."

The first image they saw was vile and horrible, an image of Vlad pushing a stake through someone's heart before eating them alive.

"What the..."

They read on, hearing things as how Vlad ate so many people, his DNA began to change, his tears becoming bloody, and becoming a vampire.

"More like a devil. How can someone do such things?"

"Weird, isn't it."

They turned around to see the voice, but suddenly, the voice was gone.

"I'm here."

From Musashi's shadow, a man formed, and sat on the table.

"Unexpected, I know. But I have a contract to kill Vlad the Impaler, and I heard you 4 are going to do that."

The 3 currently there unsheathed their weapons, and were about to attack.

"Calm down. I'm a friend."

"Would a friend stalk us? Would a friend randomly appear and ask for help?"

"Relax. It's not that bad. You'll have to get used to my appearances from now on, they'll be very common."

He disappeared again, and didn't return.

"I'm taking his offer."

"HUH?!"

Hima shouted extremely loudly, and earned a book to the head from a librarian, before she returned to reading the news.

Rubbing his head, he continued.

"We just met him."

"But he has similar goals. We met Musashi after he tried to kill me, and he joined the team."

"Yeah- wait, I didn't try to kill you what?"

Ignoring Musashi, Valk continued on.

"He didn't attack, he simply stated what he wanted to do. He can be trusted."

"If he can be, then let's read some more, and wait for Komori to get back."

Whilst reading, they discovered something deeper about Vlad.

"Look here, it says Vlad is truly a devil?"

"Odd to say for a country under his control. Plus, it's all that's in the chapter?"

They began to flip through pages, but every single word of that chapter was the same sentence.

Vlad is truly a devil. The trio were confused, and couldn't understand the real reason.

"That must mean it has some truth to it."

"Or, he knows that no one is truly going to stand up to him, and could care less?"

"Either way, this is a problem. We need to ask Komori about this sentence and why it's so important that it would take up an entire chapter of this book."

When Komori finally did come back, his face was red and strained, as if he'd been running and he looked extremely worried.

"We have to go now."

"And why's that?"

Hima looked confused, and asked again.

"And why's that Komori? You told us to wait here?"

After taking a deep breath, and a moment to calm down, he finally spoke.

"My father has summoned all of us."