“Can I… Kill?” Raiah repeated.

The almost elderly chief looked down on her with a grin.

“In a world like this, you cannot survive without the ability to do just that.” The chief stated.

He furrowed his brow and examined Raiah.

“You have a weak body, a weak mind, but you are determined. If you want to save your friend, then you must pass my test. Fail, and your friend will die.” He explains.

“I-I’ll do whatever it takes!” Raiah shouts.

“Follow me, I’ll show you to the testing grounds,” Maneki states.

“Alright then, bring the prisoner in. The doors burst open as a pair of shinobi walk into the room with a man bound by cloth, his arms were tied behind his back and he had a blindfold on.

“This man was a human trafficker, orchestrating the kidnapping and selling of women and children for illegal labor.” The chief explains. He throws a knife down before the kneeling Raiah and points to the prisoner.

“Kill him.” The chief states without a hint of remorse.

Many thoughts swirl through Raiah’s head. She grabs the knife and rises to her feet. Her heart rate accelerates with each step she takes toward the target. She can feel it ringing in her ears, as thoughts of Velle pass through her mind. Her hands shake, but her eyes remain fixed on the target.
“If I want all of us to survive. Then…” Raiah puts the knife to the man’s throat.

Her breathing grows more rapid as she increases the pressure of the knife.

“Please don’t kill me! I’ve learned my lesson, I’ll never do it again!” He shouts.

Her resolve wavers hearing his words. But her grip remains strong. With one final thought of Velle, driving her forward, she drags the knife across the man’s neck, causing the blade to cut through his major artery. Blood begins to spill and the man’s energy fades as he falls to the floor, lifeless. Raiah felt the disgusting warmth of his blood on her hands, and the stench of iron, made her stomach churn. Seeing the lifeless body lying before her filled her with nausea. She turned away and immediately began throwing up into the pool of blood.

“I didn’t think you had it in you,” Maneki states. “Don’t worry, the first kill is always the hardest.” 

He rubs her back while she continues to throw up. After some time, Raiah manages to recover from her nausea. She stared down at her hands again, which were no longer bloodstained, but the scent of iron lingered.

“When teaching our young shinobi, they let him live. So we released him. Several months later, at least a few dozen women and children had been kidnapped by him and his group.” He explains. “Through letting someone like him live, he was enabled to do as he pleased, naturally we rescued those he sold, but it was a lesson everyone ought to learn. Not every person deserves mercy. Will they repent? Or will they continue their depravity? That's a decision that is wholly up to you. The only one who…”

“...Can carry your sins is you.” Raiah cuts in.

“You know our tenet?” He grins, stroking his beard. “Not bad. If you’re to save your friend we’ll have to start your training now.” 

“I remember this place. While trying to distract myself from… I was able to remember this series. She thought.

As they walked past the infirmary, Dante wasn’t in bed.

“D-Dante’s gone!” She exclaims.

“Don’t worry, he’s watching them train.” Maneki points.

They approach Dante and Raiah walks up to him.

“Where’s my sister?” Dante asks.

“Dante, I just need you to stay calm for right now. The demon that attacked us has her. She’s relatively safe for now.” Raiah explains.

“More specifically, she got eaten. But you have a little under 2 days to save her before she’s lost forever.” Maneki said cheerfully.

“Why couldn’t it have been you?!” Dante exclaims.

“I wish it was! I know I’m not the most reliable! That I have no value to society!” Raiah shouts back. “But I’m doing all I can to save her! So just leave it to me.”

Dante could see the determination in her eyes. 

“I had almost no respect for her. She was always walked all over by everyone. The mailman, her boss, random kids, even me. This is the first time, she’s ever stood up for herself.” Dante thinks.

“Fine. But I wanna see what you’re up to.” Dante states.

Maneki now guiding them both took them beyond the training grounds.

“A-Am I not gonna train with everyone else?” She asks.

“Nope! You’ve got limited time, therefore, we’re gonna speed up the process a bit.” He says.

“How so?” She asks.

“He ignored me…” She thought. 

They arrive at a secluded area of the castle. There, a woman was silently sitting before a wilting willow tree. Her hair was tied into a long luscious ponytail that nearly touched the ground. Raiah could see her strong back muscle even through her outfit.

“Go away.” She says in a harsh tone.

“We have someone here who needs your expertise,” Maneki says.

“I should’ve known it was you by your footsteps.” She groans without turning. “Is she the one?”

“Yes.” He says.

“She’s all flesh and bone, that’ll take forever.” She says.

“You’ve got less than two days to make it happen,” Maneki states.

“Two days. You’re begging for the impossible.” She shoots up from the ground and turns to them. Her body was littered with scars, and her physique made Raiah look like a twig. “So you want me to do that. I don’t know if she can survive it.”

“She had the motivation to kill just to do this training,” Maneki states. “And she’s got the chief’s approval.” 

“Please. I need to save my friend’s life.” Raiah adds.

“Well… Far be it from me to stop her.” She reaches into her bag by pulling out a cloth, then pulls out a slightly thick branch from the dead tree. Wrapping the cloth around the branch, she tossed it to Raiah.

“You’re gonna need that. It’s a very painful process. We don’t have the time to condition you like the other shinobi. This is a rite that we seldom do, because of the danger.” She explains.

“Why is it dangerous?” Dante asks.

“Because I’ll be filling her body with my ki and forcing open her ki channels. If she can’t endure the pain… She’ll probably die. If I use too much ki at once, she’ll die. Is there any space left on your page?” She asks.

“No,” Raiah responds.

“So she won’t even be able to pick up our clan’s technique. Well, it’ll help you in other ways, are you ready?” She asks.

Raiah nods.

“Good. Sit on the ground before me.” She says.

Raiah sits crossed-legged on the ground and the woman sits behind her. She jams her thumbs into Raiah’s back as she bites down on the branch. A wave of pain travels throughout Raiah’s body, bringing her straight to tears. Her body arches as the pain radiates through her extremities. She quietly screams while biting down on the branch. The woman’s hands glow with a silver light as she runs her hands up and down Raiah’s back. While gentle and slow, Raiah felt the exact opposite, the spots she touched hammering through her body like nails all the way through. Raiah nearly falls over from the anguish, drool running down her chin. Her eyes become bloodshot and veins become visible in her face as she fights to hold on.

“You’re doing good so far.” She says.

She runs her hand down Raian’s spine, and Raiah bites down harder than ever before on the branch. Her spine felt like it was twisting and contorting within, leaving her squeezing her knees so hard, she dug her nails in, drawing blood.

“Most Kunoichi, build up their strength when they’re young. But your body is severely lacking in muscle and endurance. So this must be excruciatingly painful for you.” She explains. “We’re gonna be picking up the speed here, time is of the essence at this part. So do your best!”

She runs her hands along Raiah’s arms, shoulders, stomach, chest, legs and feet. Raiah fell over, while her muscles spasmed violently, as if her entire body was changing.

“It feels like my entire body is turning inside out!” She thinks.

Barely clinging to consciousness she rolled over onto her back.

“Alright, it’s the last one.” She reaches down and pokes Raiah in the chest with her brightly illuminated finger. The strike hits Raiah dead center in her chest, like an ice pick tearing through ice, and it sends a powerful shockwave through her body that expands like a flash sending dirt flying in all directions. While her body was still, Raiah was no longer conscious. Every few seconds her body would twitch causing her mouth to open as if screaming, but no sound would escape her lips.

“She took that better than I thought,” Maneki says.

“Yeah. She’s much tougher than she looks.” She says.

Dante balled his fists up.

“Why is she trying so hard now all of a sudden!” He shouts.

“Are you confused as to why she’s stepping up now when everything is falling apart? Or are you mad that she’s stepping up while you watch?” Maneki says. “Her self-worth must be quite low for her to believe she had no value to society. So what does that make a bystander like you?”

Dante grits his teeth in anger.

“Enough, Maneki. To answer your question, more constructively, are you sure you understood her as much as you could? Can you truly say that you knew everything about her? We seldom know the ones we love, until everything turns out for the worst. Some who are all action can freeze up in tense moments and vice versa. I could feel a lot of guilt coming from her, but also resolve. Whatever she thinks she’s done wrong, she’s trying to correct it.” She explains.

Dante sighs.

“Me? Love her? Don’t be ridiculous.” Dante says while dismissing her words.

“Pfft! Kirin got it wrong!” Maneki says with a smug grin, holding back his chuckles.

“But… Maybe I had the wrong idea. On the surface, she’s weak and always leaving the difficult things to others. Can’t fight her own battles, I thought she was worthless.”  Dante began. “Seeing her try this hard, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when I’m just standing here doing nothing. So, please. Can you do the same thing to me too!”

Dante bowed his head to Kirin.

“No way kid,” Kirin says.

“Wha?! Why?!” He questions.

“It can’t be performed on kids who are still growing, the mortality rate is 100%.” She states.

“If I can do that, then, teach me your throwing techniques, please. I saw them throwing stars during the training there.” He states.

“If that's what you want, I can make it happen. I can tell from the sound of your muscles, you’re already quite athletic, so I won’t need to do a whole lot to get you up to par.” She explains. 

As Dante trained with Kirin, Raiah was placed in bed, and her entire body was wrapped in bandages. To prevent her muscle spasms from outright breaking her bones, it was the only way to protect her. Throughout the night, she would let out muted screams and her entire body would shake violently. Within the pages of Raiah’s body, her initial phrase began to change, the words extending across the page and filling with more information.
Meanwhile, within the demon's belly, Velle was quietly sitting along with several other people who had been eaten whole. Marks appeared on the walls of its stomach, but there was no lasting damage. The demon continued to crawl through town like a machine to find more humans. Velle simply looked through the transparent veil of its stomach, allowing her to see the outside world.

“I hope Rai and Dan are alright.” She mutters.