Toji

***Toji*** (刀使, **Literal English:* Sword User*?) are shrine maidens, especially those officially affiliated with one of three sword administrations, who are given the duties of responding to the threats caused by *aradama*. They are known mainly for using Japanese swords with supernatural power called *okatana*.

Military units trained in anti-*aradama* combat and *Toji* combined form the Special Religious Military Unit, a special branch of each country's military specifically formulated for anti-*aradama* combat.

## Overview

### History

*Toji* have their origins in nameless *onna-bugeisha* during early Heian era Japan where *aradama* made their first appearance. Over time, the *aradama* slowly permeated the rest of the world with their influence touching on even the farthest populated lands from Japan a century later; because of their incursion, *Toji* too followed their expansion with the first being Japanese and like *aradama*, spread throughout the world. For most of known history, there have been little to no organization of a country's *Toji* due to general misogynistic behaviors and as a result, rogue *Toji* has a much longer history than organized *Toji*; Elise, for example, is an immortal rogue *Toji* who has terrorized the system since the late fifteenth century. While there have been many attempts to create an organization for *Toji*, the three most important that have stood the test of time are the Bundesschertdienst, incepted during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, the Special Sword Administration Bureau, founded by Oda Nobunaga as part of his unification efforts, and the Magical Blades Legislation Authority, created during William McKinley's presidency; these three organizations are given the name of **Three Great Powers** (三大勢力, *Sandaiseiyroku*?) and with their creation, it became easier to contest with the *aradama*, albeit with great difficulty coordinating over long distances. This issue was solved with the advent of the telegraph and later on, the modern telephone and its derivatives. In the present day, *Toji* are deemed the saviors of humanity with the exception of those who possess powers surpassing human comprehension.

### Selection Process and Education

Aspiring *Toji* are selected from a pool of young students, beginning at age 10; this is true throughout the world and the selection process is more or less similar everywhere. They are first tested for their compatibility with the *okatana* as that is the item that would grant them their supernatural powers. Should the candidate successfully manage to produce and maintain an *utsushi*, the candidate will be passed and considered for further education; should the candidate fail to do so, they would not be accepted as *Toji* but can still be accepted to be trained in *Toji* institutions as **Support Personnel** (援助職員, *Enjo Shokuin*?). The passed candidate will be enrolled in any one of the *Toji* educational institutions where they are taught in both academics and the martial prowesses to ensure success in battle. At this stage, students are considered full-fledged *Toji* and specialized military personnel in their own right and are obligated to answer to *aradama* extermination missions, however, depending on the mission's threat level, students are required to stall for time and defer action to active duty *Toji* once they show up.

Upon first acquiring their personal *okatana*, a *Toji* is then registered into the Integrated International Sword Maiden Index, an all-encompassing database that both logs active *Toji* and assigns them an ordinal rank relative to their power. Newly registered *Toji* will, without exception, always start at the bottom and through their duties, rise through the ranks; as of the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Index logs *Toji* in the hundred millions. The Index also applies to those *Toji* who have graduated from their institutions and have entered proper active service and will continue to log their activities to calculate their rank; the strongest of all *Toji* are those dubbed "**Singles**" (シングルス, *Shingurusu*?) (in other words, "**Single-Digit Sword Maidens**" (一桁剣姫, *Hitoketa Kenki*?)) and they are considered the peak of humanity.

### Uniform and Equipment

A universal standard, *Toji* must present themselves in a way that neither shames their school nor their country as they are students with the power to save the world and important government figures; they do this by wearing a school-issued modified military uniform. For those who are still students, this uniform is white with every year being denoted by a different color necktie, collar, and cape (this is worn around a *Toji* so as to hide their weapon from the general populace as it is against a *Toji* convention for students to publicly display their weapons when not on duty despite being required to wear them at all times): the colors used are the seven colors of the rainbow with first-years starting out with red and seventh-years finishing with violet. For active duty *Toji*, they shed their white uniform and instead don a grey uniform with no special characteristics outside of ribbons, medals, and other awards presented to them for their service. Exclusively, those who achieve the rank of Single wears an all-black uniform to separate them from everyone else, however, they are allowed to make adjustments to their uniforms as much as they want as no one has the authority to tell them otherwise. Unlike student *Toji*, active duty *Toji* are not required to wear a cape to hide their weapon as they are considered special exceptions.

Aside from their *okatana* which a *Toji* is required to have on their person at all times, they also use a Spectrum Finder, a mobile phone-like device that allows them to locate and track *aradama* in real-time (some *Toji* instead have a Spectrum Meter which is the archaic version of the same device; there are many reasons but usually, a *Toji* who uses a Spectrum Meter is from a long line of *Toji* who inherits equipment from their mothers). In recent years, advancements in the use of *yousai* for military purposes have culminated in the creation of S-Equipment, special powered suits that massively boost the capabilities of a *Toji*, albeit temporarily; in exceedingly large-scale anti-*aradama* operations, *Toji* are not allowed to fight without wearing S-Equipment.

### Combat Capabilities

The source of a *Toji*'s power is the *okatana* although bloodline also plays a large factor in determining strength; as such, those with longer bloodlines are exulted more as they have the tendency to produce stronger *Toji*. Using the *okatana* as an intermediary, a *Toji* can perform many supernatural feats which are graded on a level of 1 through 7 (or unassigned if the power cannot be properly quantified); the sole exception to this rule is *utsushi* which is instead measured by the duration of the ability and the number of times a *Toji* can consecutively use the ability. The following is a list of the many powers granted to a *Toji*.

* *Hachimanriki* - Increases one's physical strength using '*divine power*'.
* *Jin'i* - Allows one to move at superhuman speeds via entering another plane of time.
* *Kongoushin* - Coats one's body in a gold-colored material that momentarily dampens and nullifies the impact of incoming weapons; can also be used offensively.
	+ *Soumatou* - An application unique to Maihime Tendou; channels gold light into the *okatana* and releases it as a flying slash.
* *Myougan* - Gives one's eyes the ability to see long distances and visually detect heat signatures.
	+ *Magan* - An advanced stage of the *Myougan*; has unique powers depending on the person.
* *Reiryoku* - "spiritual energy", the source of a *Toji*'s power.
	+ *Reiatsu* - "spiritual pressure", can be used defensively and offensively.
* *Toukaku* - Enhances one's hearing to hear outside of a normal human's range.
* *Utsushi* - Transforms a *Toji*'s body into an energy-like doppelgänger that takes damage for the *Toji*.
* *Zenkyou Shoujin* - Colloquially known as '*(The) Zone*'; a state of extreme mental concentration wherein a *Toji* fully enters the Netherworld while remaining rooted in the natural realm.

Through a *Toji*'s expertise in the various powers (it should be noted that not all *Toji* can manifest all of the listed powers above), they are graded overall using a ten-point system with the following parameters: **Physical Strength** (身体力, *Shintairyoku*?), **Mental Strength** (精神力, *Seishinryoku*?), **Offense** (攻勢力, *Kōseiryoku*?) and **Defense** (守勢力, *Shuseiryoku*?). A *Toji* is also graded by the amount of **Reiryoku** and the level of **Reiatsu** they can use; both are graded using the same letter-grading system used to classify *aradama*. Excluding Reiryoku and Reiatsu measurements, a Toji is classified using the four parameters under four types.

* **Type A**: Specialized in Offense and Physical Strength; attacking specialists that can take on multiple opponents at once and focuses on attacking faster than the opponent could.
* **Type B**: Specialized in Defense and Physical Strength; defensive specialists that can receive and counter parried attacks.
* **Type C**: Specialized in Offense and Mental Strength; specialists in one-on-one combat situations and overwhelm opponents with their greater focus.
* **Type D**: Defense and Mental Strength; specialists in one-on-many combat situations and acts as "crowd control" as they are experts at manipulating opponents' movements.

Generally speaking, the higher one's rank in the Integrated International Sword Maiden Index, the more types one finds themselves classified into. Aside from their supernatural powers, *Toji* build their martial prowess on a strong foundation; they are all almost always experts in the art of the sword although some *Toji* also specialize in other martial arts such as hand-to-hand disciplines. Exclusive to Japanese *Toji* is the fact that they specifically train in named sword schools to further enhance their swordplay. Throughout the rest of the world, swordcraft theory is also practiced, however, they are not specifically "grouped" into a style. This "non-style" does not affect a foreigner's ability at using a sword.

### Retirement and Dismissal

Upon graduating from a *Toji* training institution, the alumnus can choose to begin the retirement process. Through reasons unknown, a *Toji*'s power slowly diminishes over time once they reach adulthood with the recommended age to start considering retirement being age 22 and the cutoff age being 30; one of the proposed theories is that once a *Toji* mothers a child, their powers diminish as they are passed on to their offspring. Exceptions to this rule are those *Toji* who have been monstrous and inhuman enough to achieve the rank of Single during their years of military service; those *Toji*, along with some special exceptions from the highest-ranking Doubles, often have a Reiryoku and Reiatsu composition too dense to naturally wane over a relatively short period of time and as such retain their powers until around menopause (abilities rooted in the body such as *Magan* and abilities imprinted upon the body such as a faster-than-normal reaction time and sensing the influence of *Toji* and the Netherworld are retained even after the total loss of power) when they finally fade away. The retirement process requires the retiring *Toji* to return their *okatana* to the proper authorities so as to be used by another aspiring *Toji*; the retired *Toji*'s records are frozen but kept stored in the database and can be accessed for reference. Retired *Toji* oftentimes enter the workforce and usually employ themselves to occupations related to the duties of the *Toji* and the sword administrations.

Like any other branch of military service, the special military units formed from *Toji* are not exempt from behavioral issues. Should a *Toji* be deemed not worthy of service, they would be dismissed; this is done by revoking their *okatana* and performing a special ceremony on them to remove any vestiges of power that remains in them before returning them to normal society. Similar to how the United States handles dishonorable discharge, a dismissed *Toji* is exempt from most, if not all, benefits and are essentially treated as criminals by the general populace. This can escalate into violent confrontations which are quickly put down by active duty *Toji* and the dismissed *Toji* either jailed or executed depending on the severity of their crimes.

## References

1. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 26
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Web Novel: Chapter 16
3. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 4
4. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 5
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Web Novel: Chapter 2
6. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 9
7. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 10
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Web Novel: Chapter 8
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Web Novel: Chapter 15
10. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 12
11. ↑ Web Novel: Chapter 17