Tabi

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## Chapter 0 - Prologue

As far as she could remember, Tabi was constantly abused by her two parental figures.

Every week and every day Tabi's father constantly grabbed, yelled, and thrashed Tabi around blaming her for everything and that she was the reason they were so poor and had nothing.

Her mother sided with Tabi's father and also verbally abused Tabi- but she knew it was because her father would treat her mother the same if she did not do that. Tabi's mother was deathly terrified of her husband.

On her spare time, Tabi would try to find jobs or anything to be able to earn some money.

She would beg to random people who would pass by but was always kicked away in disgust.

One day though as she was begging, a merchant on horseback saw Tabi and grinned,

"Don't worry little girl, I'll make sure you're safe."

The scraunchy-looking merchant picked her up and put her on his horse then hopped back on.

They left and went to a fairly decent-looking home located in some city that she never seen before.

The man grabbed Tabi by the hands and then quickly walked her inside saying she would be okay.

She was forced into the man's bedroom to which he forcefully stripped her down to nothing and proceeded to end her innocence.

Tabi was then stuffed into a large bag hours later of being tormented, and then dumped into the woods of where she came from.

She eventually regained consciousness and drunkenly limped back to her home with bruises and scars all over her small body.

Walking through the front door, her father yelled,

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS?"-

and proceeded to beat her unconsciousness yet again.

## Chapter I - Childhood and Beginnings

**Tabi** *(tah-bee)*

   Once a young girl, born and raised in Oria by two parents (deceased), Tabi grew up from very humble beginnings.

Constantly struggling every day with her two nomad parents- always being on the move, Tabi decided that she needed to do something and that her current lifestyle was not for her.

She ended up hustling various goods between nations as a neutral merchant. She sold things from gold, iron, tin, copper, and sometimes other precious items.

Eventually, Tabi grew an immense influence across the three continents; establishing herself as the best trader within a years time. At this point though, she decided to go into hiding and quietly trained her swordsmanship and marksmanship for a couple of years in complete secrecy in the forest. She, however, met her parents one last time before she left.

One quiet autumn evening after all that time passed, a man found Tabi in the forest who then approached her, asking if she wanted to join a settlement located in Scydonia- but she refused. The man silently nodded and walked away understandingly.

Another man from Scydonia approached her a week later, having the same request but for a different town... Tabi refused once again, and the man walked away.

Tabi realized at this point that her whereabouts were now known, so she decided to move into a cave. There, she trained, and ferociously fought off thousands upon thousands of evil creatures and monsters alike to hone her skills.

Two years later, she finally felt as though she met a hard stone ceiling (literally as well). Training alone in the cave could not give any more experience to her now highly-honed skills. She only knew how to fight monsters, and yearned to know what real combat against another human was like.

Tabi decided to leave her dwelling, and headed back West- to Oria.

Once there, she noticed a new settlement she never seen before. Shihon, the townsfolk called it. She was instantly interested in the culture.

## Chapter II - Shihon and the Shogun

Whilst on a stroll on the piers, Tabi heard some people talk about a martial arts sect for Shihon. Upon hearing this, she found out where it was and headed even more Eastward... then eventually stumbled upon the place in the mountains.

She decided to not join, but rather scouted out and talked with the inhabitants. She had a good time with one of the folks there merrily drinking, and promised to come back another day again- some day.

Tabi arrived back in Shihon and met with the honorable Shogun named Yosai, and rightfully titled so. His very stern and intimidating presence emanated an aura completely opposite of what Tabi radiated.

After many hours of discussion with the honorable Shogun, they together finally came to terms and Tabi was instated to the position of samurai.

With this, Tabi humbly bowed and pledged all her allegiance to His All-Mighty.

With her years of experience and tear-inducing self-training, she swore to protect the Shogun to the very end.

## Chapter III - King Okişlit Vatyanet of Ukialta

In the winter, Tabi wandered across Aurealis, walking through deserts and forests to find new towns and villages to visit, but constantly encountered monsters along the way.

Eventually, she ran out of the food she had been carrying and consuming on her journey. Tabi hastened her pace for the search.

After almost twenty-four hours later, Tabi finally came across a fairly large town that went by the name of Ukialta. She decided to enter and see what the town was about.

In it, Tabi came across a man named Okişlit Vatyanet (Kai). The man warmingly extended kind greetings and fed Tabi good food; some delicious steak and also some bread. She slowly consumed the all food at a normal pace to keep her manners, and thanked Sir Vatyanet for the food.

Sir Vatyanet became interested in Tabi and her possible capabilities whom he heard stories and rumors about. He decided to give Tabi Ukialtan citizenship, and the rights to erect a home in the settlement. He believed that it would be a good move in the long run given Tabi's status as a dangerous but friendly samurai of the Yoshioka Shogunate nation. Little did he know that he ended up befriending the strongest warrior from the north-western nation.

After Sir Vatyanet left Tabi to herself, she eventually did build up a new home for herself in the style of her homelands. She made this her travel home whenever she needed rest while moving between the eastern and western lands.

About a month afterwards, Tabi went up to Sir Vatyanet and thanked him. She would finally be on the move once more. Sir Vatyanet said it was a pleasure and hoped to see her back to visit. Tabi then left again, for a journey to eastern lands.

## Chapter IV - Foreshadowing of War

Tabi went on to visit a couple of Scydonian settlements and trade with them over the course of several months.

Eventually, she sailed back West to Işrakra in Ukialta to meet with Sir Vatyanet (Kai) and discuss employment. Sir Vatyanet offered Tabi the position of a bodyguard to which she accepted.

It was clearly made known to Sir Vatyanet that Tabi's true allegiance was sworn to the Shogun, and that she would refuse any orders to betray him or his nation. She told Sir Vatyanet that she would begin her duties as soon as the king paid her- which never ended up happening.

She settled down and sat on the floor of her home in Işrakra after discussions were over, and meditated. "I sense blood and turmoil for some reason..." she thought, "Perhaps there will be some kind of great battle in the near future?"

## Chapter V - The Death of King Vatyanet

Okişlit Vatyanet, the former king of Işrakra, ended up being slain by one of his citizens, Cyrun Zyros (Zilo). Tabi became surprised at this news. "How foolish of the former king to not have hired me sooner," she thought to herself.

She rushed to Işrakra and established contact with Sir Vatyanet's son, the supposed but no longer the next of kin to the throne.

Tabi introduced herself to Çulkar Vatyanet (Kai) kindly, and presented him the same deal as she did with his father. He saw this as a great opportunity and ended up making the deal to be put under Tabi's protection, believing that it would allow him to not be killed by any potential enemies or individuals distraught by his existence.

## Chapter VI - The Battle of Kratia

Less than a month later, Sir Çulkar Vatyanet (Kai) requested Tabi to accompany him to a meeting with the new king of Işrakra, Cyrun Zyros (Zilo).

She stood guard outside the building where they were discussing about the leadership of the region and their settlement.

After they were finished, Sir Vatyanet ordered Tabi to follow him by boat. Cyrun Zyros also accompanied Sir Vatyanet.

Together, along with one other Işrakran soldier, they travelled a far distance to a town unknown by Tabi. It was her first time visiting such a place and something felt unnerving about this trip.

Once they arrived at the settlement by boat, the three men in front of Tabi proceeded to meet with a very strong-looking bearded man.

When King Zyros walked up to him, the bearded man clad in armor spit at king Zyros' feet, and then proceeded to quickly stab King Zyros with his blade, but it was not able to penetrate too deeply into the armor.

Almost instantaneously, a great battle broke out between the two sides. Caught in the midst of the crossfire, Tabi quickly hopped backwards to access the situation and look at everyone involved, then located Sir Vatyanet in the chaos.

Tabi stepped in front of him, grabbed Sir Vatyanet, and then quickly escorted him away to the docks back onto the boat.

When she turned around, she saw bodies drenching the ground with blood. The bearded man firmly stood his ground and continued to fight king Zyros and his accompanying soldier.

Eventually, Sir Vatyanet and Tabi arrived back in Işrakran safely, and then king Zyros a few hours later.

Tabi then received news that the bearded man was king Skarian Hyrcanus of Kratia, and that he was found dead. It was heard that he fought a fierce and long battle to the bitter end, and died an honorable death (although Tabi knows otherwise from seeing him spitting at king Zyros' feet and causing the whole deadly skirmish).

## Chapter VII - Declaration of War

The next morning, Tabi secluded herself in her home in Işrakra and meditated all day quietly to process all that had happened the previous night. She had been surprised at the spontaneous fight, and thought of the possible consequences this episode between the two nations would bring.

At sunset, Tabi heard a tapping at her door. She opened it and found a carrier pigeon with a small scroll attached to its leg. Upon reading it, she was shocked; Kratia has declared war on the people who had slain king Hyrcanus and is searching for their heads.

"I certainly saw that one coming..." Tabi silently whispered while shaking her head, "But it doesn't seem the Kratians know who fought yesterday night."

## Chapter VIII - Shihon Emergency Assembly

The next day, Tabi was ordered back to Shihon, immediately, along with several others.

The honorable Shogun held a meeting with the three samurai's and the great Daimyo Joe (BazingaJoe) to discuss the future course of action or inaction of the Shogunate nation.

The meeting was swift as all the samurai's and Daimyo concluded and agreed that the Shogunate as a nation would stay out of the war, for several [redacted & private] reasons.

The assembly was then dismissed, and Tabi headed back to Işrakra to assess the situation there.

## Chapter IX - Lies and Vengeance

Once back, she noticed that not much has happened, but the town was oddly more quiet; most likely the citizens were shaken by the declaration of a world war and were in hiding.

Tabi was then contacted by a specific person through a letter and found out that the Kratians have spread false rumors (lies) about her being involved in the king of Kratia's death.

"**How dare they ruin my reputation and spread such lies?!" Tabi shouted with fierce anger, "I have not crossed blades with nor killed a single human in my entire life!**"

Furious, she swore to brutally kill and dismember anyone she came across who she knows spread the rumors. Tabi would be sure to make their deaths as slow and painful as possible for completely decimating her reputation as the greatest former merchant, and as a swordsman who wished to protect others from harm.

"**Any person who points their sword at me and believes this nonsense will meet their final end by my own hands.**"

## Chapter X - The Shogun's Brief Fooling

The next day, Tabi was once again requested to go back to Shihon.

She was not informed for what reasons, but she made haste as this seemed to be very important.

Once there, Shogun Yosai pulled her into his official dwelling and sat her down. The Shogun had a very serious and angry look on his face, almost beet-red and upset. Tabi was confused and worried about why the Shogun was so angry.

Shogun Yosai managed to calm himself down eventually, and then spoke,

"Tabi, with rising tension and our neutral stance in such, you must preserve our neutral image through this conflict. I’ve been told you have killed or helped killed a few important people while working under a representative of Ukialta, just know the government of the Shogunate has very limited options of helping you if things fall apart."

Tabi raised her eyebrows and responded,

"My liege, I have done no such things. Those rumors are utter nonsense and lies made up by the Kratians to try to pull me into the conflict. Like I have contacted Sir Farboid from Thyconium, I will not stand by and have my name tarnished. Whoever is continuing to slander my name will be the first human to stain my sword in blood. I have never killed or help kill another human in my life, *but anyone who keeps this act up will become my first victim*."

Almost immediately, the Shogun felt a sense of relief crashing over him as he exhaled. He then replied,

"I trust you in this, and that you shall continue to preserve the imagine of our Emperor and Oria. Stay safe through these uncertain times Tabi."

Tabi then stood up and bowed, and was dismissed by the Shogun.

She left to go back to Işrakra once more.

## Chapter XI - Meeting Some Old Friends

Tabi visited Işrakra once more and assisted a little with evacuating important supplies from the city to a safe location until the war ended.

After fulfilling this duty, Tabi sailed off to visit some friends and acquaintances located in Scydonia and Aurealis, particularly who those who live in Gelon, the Witch's Domain, and several other lands.

When she was visiting Gelon, most of her acquaintances were already at the docks constructing some new infrastructure, so it was fairly easy to find them.

To the surprise of Tabi, she was well-received by them. It did not appear that they were swayed nor persuaded by the false accusations from Kratian leadership that Tabi was actively a part of the king's death. Tabi let out a big sigh, and felt very blessed that they still trusted and believed in her.

After some chatter and brief talks, she was led by a Gelon figure to a hut where she rested for the night.

## Chapter XII - The Işrakran War

Half-asleep while dawn bloomed over the edge of the skies off in the horizon, Tabi woke up to sudden clammering and shouts coming from outside the hut she slept in.

Dozingly, she woke and sat up and remember, "Oh, right! Today is the day of the war that everyone was talking about."

Once she collected her belongings and headed out to the docks of Gelon, it seemed that all the soldiers on the side of the Ageosi had already departed. Tabi saw them sailing off into the sea.

"Ah they sure are fast. They already left for Işrakra," Tabi yawned while streaming her arms into the air.

Tabi sent a carrier pigeon to deliver a message to Shogun Yosai saying that it appeared the Ageosi did not have intentions of attacking Shihon, so there was no danger to them. Tabi also wrote that she would be spectating the grand event.

After the bird flew away, Tabi also headed for Işrakra by boat.

Once she arrived, she saw that the battle had already begun. She got a quill and book out and began writing what she witnessed.

She ran around the actual fights as to not be caught in the crossfire, and eventually got up onto the defensive sea-walls that surrounded Işrakra.

Tabi saw an amazing sight; former king Zyros and his right-hand soldier, Stetsed, were managing to stave off and were murdering enemy Ageosi forces *everywhere* they went. The experience of both the assassin and "king slayer" were truly terrifying.

Ageosi forces kept charging towards the lone two men, but they were incredibly resilient. One by one, two by two Zyros and Stetsed slayed countless Ageosi over and over. The Ageosi and their allies eventually managed to breach the sea-wall and then stampeded into the city, all the while still chasing after Zyros and Stetsed.

Tabi witnessed a particular detail while watching over the war; it was clear that the Ageosi and their allies were clearly untrained for battle. She believes that these soldiers were originally farmers and miners who volunteered to fight,

"What a shame what these young people are doing to themselves. They had so many years ahead of them... or... were they forced into a war draft...?"

Tabi brushed off the thought for a later time. She continued to observe and write.

Eventually during the whole ordeal, everyone shifted their attention to Zyros. During this time of confusion, it seemed Stetsed seemingly disappeared without any trace. Tabi would eventually find out later what happened to him.

Now, with all the attention thrusted onto Zyros, the Ageosi allied forces managed to draw Zyros into the river around Işrakra. They all manned the sea-wall with bows and then proceeded to rain a mighty hail of arrows down on Zyros.

Zyros quickly reacted to this by swimming under the overhangs of the sea-wall so that the Ageosi forces could not shoot him.

Frustrated at this tactic and delaying of attack, several Ageosi soldiers jumped down into the shallow cold waters and proceed to fight Zyros in close quarter combat. Overwhelmed from being pushed from the sea-wall, archers shooting at him, and soldiers attacking him, Zyros eventually was near-mortally wounded, and lost consciousness in the water.

The Ageosi forces then let out a powerful cheer; a great shout of victory for themselves.

## Chapter XIII - Execution of Zyros, and the Crowning of Akufan Vatyanet

After Zyros had been defeated, Tabi witnessed several Ageosi had dragged him to the center of Işrakra and was resuscitated.

Zyros spit out a headful of water and struggled a bit, but was pinned down. General Tigetius of Kratia then said some words that proclaimed Kratia's victory, then swiftly executed Zyros for his past crimes as the "king slayer".

Shortly afterwards, Akufan Vatyanet, the next of kin to the throne was crowned the next ruler of Işrakra. He was specifically crowned because the Ageosi know him as a pacifist and an Ageosi-symphasizer.

Tabi then went around the city a bit and found out that Çulkar Vatyanet had been killed by his own citizens for essentially advocating for the war to happen. A sad end to Çulkar, as Tabi described it.

Stetsed was still nowhere to be found strangely. She along with everyone involved believed that he fled somewhere far away to escape from the same fate Zyros suffered.

## Chapter XIV - Letter from Shihon about Stetsed

Tabi sent another letter from Işrakra to Shihon asking the Shogun if Stetsed possibly visited the town.

A day later, a letter from the Shogun confirmed that due to the Shogunate's stance on taking any persons in who escaped from war, Stetsed was being allowed to stay and live in Shihon. For how long though, this is unknown. This information seemed to have been kept under tight wraps, and any information regarding who fled the war and is currently staying in Shihon is being kept secret.

"Ah. A-Ahhhhh... I think this is going to make things a bit complicated for the future of Shihon," Tabi worryingly said while rolling her head around in circles. She then shrugged, "Oh well no matter. As long as the Shogun isn't targeted I have no issues with that man staying in the town. That is not of my concern nor duties as a samurai."

## Chapter XV - Homestead

After the war finally came to an end and all calmed down, Tabi decided to take drastic measures for ensuring her future safety.

Seeing how brutal the war was and its outcome, she began to quickly but efficiently build up a homestead far (*very* far) away from all other settlements.

Knowing that just any homestead wouldn't cut it, Tabi began to use the strongest materials as the foundation for the primary building she was constructing. This was a private investment that she poured much of her assets and personal wealth into; to create an underground-style bunker that could withstand a horde of enemies, and be resistant to large artillary or piercing attacks.

After many months of hard work, she finished the basic construction and decor for the bunker. It had all the necessary supplies and materials to survive inside, and was nearly impossible to get in without knowing the right way to open it. The main door can also be manually locked from the inside to prevent it from opening at all.

Tabi then proceeded to build other things around the bunker to help sustain the homestead, such as animal pens, roads, and farmland.

She is planning to construct some horse stables for her horses, and erect an outer perimeter wall to heighten defenses- along with several other undisclosed and private infrastructure for the future.

At her homestead, she decided to fervently work on her smithing skills and farming and live a quiet life. Aside from her samurai duties back at Shihon, she decided to give up her life of trying to become a master of the sword. She would practice from time to time, but nothing too extreme.

## Chapter XVI - Encountering the Potato Master

Tabi paused her work on her homestead and decided to go and travel to the east of Aurealis for some sightseeing and information-gathering.

She visited several towns like Eudaimonia and Victria, and was awed by the amazing artistry and construction of the two thriving cities.

While Tabi was hiking back (across the snowy mountains of Aurealis), she crossed paths and met the young "potato master", the one and only person who goes by the name Lucx. From their meeting, she learned that he grew many potatoes at his home, but it seemed Lucx already knew who Tabi was when her name was spoken. Tabi felt like this man had quite a lot of fighting experience from eyeing his sword and fighting gear he wore.

After some small-talk, Lucx became intrigued of Tabi and her capabilites as one of the best samurai from Shihon, so he suggested a sparring match.

Tabi agreed and was excited to try to fight another human being, so she said, "Let's fight at the dojo back in Oria where I'm from. I pretty much had given up swordfighting, but I am still willing to spar with you."

Lucx nodded his head, then both he and Tabi exchanged farewells and headed back towards their dwellings.

The fight was scheduled in two days. Tabi would not waste any time during this short period doing nothing.

## Chapter XVII - Rigorous Sparring Practice with Que and Dragon

Tabi decided to make a short stop at Eudaimonia to find some people to practice her swordsmanship with and hone her fighting abilities further.

Luckily for Tabi, she came across Que and Dragon. These two girls had years of experience fighting and sparring with other humans.

From her observations, Tabi noticed that Eudaimonia seemed to be a city for practicing swordsmanship and axes in battle.

Que and Dragon led Tabi to a very well-built arena located away from the residential area. There, Tabi, Que, and Dragon all fought each other in individual 1vs1 matches.

Que did considerably well fighting against Tabi, but Dragon lacked the same experience and level of fighting that Que had. But despite the amount of skill Que possessed, Tabi managed to win every round against her.

This wasn't without struggle though. Tabi was almost caught off-guard on several occassions, but managed to slip through and counter-attack Que every time. Tabi managed to do this very well with her wakizashi by getting in very close and forcing Que into extremely close-quarters combat. Que, overwhelmed by Tabi's onslaught of slashes, had to stop the matches before being hit with lethal hits. Que's attacks with her axe were extremely painful when they landed onto Tabi's armor, but Tabi managed to prevent Que from putting her whole strength into the axe by constantly getting her to play defensive and keep her shield up.

    Tabi's speed and agility with her wakizashi was just too fast, so the only way to have countered her was by someone wielding their own sword or katana against her, and cross swords.

Dragon was a little worse than Que in terms of reflexes, but she was able to pick up new tricks and techniques very quickly.

After the sparring sessions were over, Tabi thanked the both of them for letting her practice with them.

She bowed, and Que and Dragon also said their thanks while saying it was a pleasure (and fun).

Tabi then headed back eastward, sailing across the south ocean to the Cidurat desert to set up camp, rest a little, then mine some minerals in preparation for the 1vs1 match against Lucx.

## Chapter XVIII - Exhibition Match with Lucx

It was finally the day of the sparring between Tabi and Lucx.

Invitations were sent out across the world two days prior to let all know and come to watch.

Every visitor eventually arrived; a total of nine people attended the event.

All of the spectators had their armor and weapons temporarily taken from them before the fight begun, and stored in a safe location for the time being. This was for the safety for everyone watching, and for the participants actually fighting (Tabi and Lucx).

After this was done, Tabi and Lucx stepped onto the fighting platform and greeted each other.

Tabi respectfully bowed, but Lucx scoffed and said "Whatever."

Tabi invited Akufan of Işrakra who was one of the spectators to be the primary witness and countdown the fight, which he warmingly agreed.

At the count from 3 to Go from Akufan and the ring of the bell, Tabi and Lucx immediately lunged toward each other with great force.

Tabi wielded only her wakizashi and spare set of armor, while Lucx wore his full war gear- and peculiarly used both an axe and sword as part of his fighting style.

They both crossed swords, blocked blows from one another, and landed great but non-lethal hits.

Tabi was almost checkmated by a jumping-axe move by Lucx, but she managed to quickly move out of the way before being hit.

Lucx was constantly counter-attacked by Tabi, but the hits hardly fazed him.

Tabi had her stomach area targeted the whole time by Lucx; the area where Tabi wore no armor, but she managed to defend that area well with her shield and by parrying.

Lucx did manage to hit Tabi on her arm and leg armor many times, but each time she moved them backwards in the same direction of Lucx's axe and sword swings to avoid major damage being inflicted on her.

At one point, Tabi was able to lock swords with Lucx and overwhelm him with her strength, knocking him far backwards (while getting yeeted to Brazil). This caused him to roll a couple of times across the grass surrounding the fighting circle, but Lucx brushed it off easily and continued to fight.

The fight continued on for many more minutes which felt like hours of the two clanging their swords.

Eventually, Lucx feigned a sword slash going upwards from his bottom-left diagonally, then quickly switched directions and change the trajectory to go from his right to left horizontally.

Shogun Yosai then ordered the fight to halt, and then Lucx immediately stopped his slash.

Sir Lucx was deemed the winner of the exhibition match by Shogun Yosai and was congratulated by everyone.

Tabi bowed and thanked Sir Lucx for the wonderful match, but he scoffed again and said, "Seriously, that's it?" and seemed greatly disappointed.

After the match concluded, everyone was given their belongings back.

Shogun Yosai then gave a short speech about the sparring that had just occurred, and then thanked all the visitors that had came to watch.

He then announced that anyone could use the fighting circle to spar on their own and practice as well. Yosai slowly headed back to Shihon to rest while everyone took turns fighting one another in 1vs1 matches.

From this night, Tabi learned several things: one is that she needs to get used to fighting humans. Even though she may have slayed thousands of monsters, it didn't mean she was able to fight humans who wore armor and were very swift while wielding their own weapons. Unlike monsters, each person had a different style of fighting- which meant that Tabi couldn't fight the same way she does for slaying skeletons or zombies. She has to learn more and refine her swordsmanship further to be able to defeat humans and not just monsters. Lastly, she clearly noticed that she had exceptional power in her sword slashes, but brute-strength alone did not decide on the winner for this match. Utilizing as many weapons as possible for the situation at hand and properly timing shield-blocks is what allowed Lucx to win. She took note of all of this and will incorporate what she has learned for future training.

Tabi then sailed back to her homestead as the sun was almost gone over the horizon, then rested.

## Chapter XIX (Pt.1) - Hinansho

After the primary layout of Tabi's homestead was complete, Tabi decided to name it "Hinansho"; the word meaning "Haven".

Hinansho is planned to be a place of both individuality and community; one where each person acts for their own good, but while contributing to one anothers' goals.

Tabi's stance is that the settlement itself will have no direct political affiliation to any nation, however, all members are free to act on their own to support or go up against other nations by themselves. Hinansho itself will not support nor decry any of its members' views or actions; anyone who takes political actions are on their own.

Shortly after thinking over things, Tabi wrote a letter and had a carrier pigeon deliver it to Sir Stetsed taking refuge at Shihon.

Sir Stetsed became interested and asked if he could bring a friend of his along to join the settlement, to which Tabi agreed.

Tabi successfully took in the both of them with no issues after they finally arrived after a week of travelling later.

After things settled down, Tabi went to sleep, then continued practicing her weapon and armor smithing the next day.

## Chapter XIX (Pt.2) - Mastering Metalwork

For the rest of the week, Tabi hammered away at the anvil.

Day after day she created various armor and tools, but nothing she made satisfied her.

Tabi recycled the crude items she made and tried again and again... and again.

Over and over Tabi toiled away at the anvil and forge area within her base in Hinansho.

Eventually, Tabi finally was exhausted from the continuous labor. She decided to try and make some changes to see if her skills can improve.

First, Tabi noticed that her work space was incredibly cramped. Second, her smithing tools were very subpar. Third, she noticed that her furnace was not hot enough for smithing purposes.

Analyzing these three issues, Tabi eventually decided to construct an outdoor smithery.

It took Tabi roughly two weeks to create this new smithery, but it was eventually and finally completed.

At this new smithery, Tabi used her old set of smithing tools to create a brand new and more durable set. She swung them around and they seemed to be sturdier. She clanged them a bit on the anvil itself and they held up extremely well; Tabi was pleased at her first good work.

She took note that the new space definitely helped with her craftsmanship, and let out a sigh of relief.

Despite all of this, she took a look at her inner self and said, "I still have a long way to go to becoming a master at this... but at least I have some knowledge on how to go about properly smithing now."

## Chapter XX - Revisiting Sir Farboid

Tabi rested for two whole days after crafting her new smithing tools.

After she slept for most of that time, she took inventory of her supplies.

"Wowow, I'm super low on tin! Sheesh... I should try to contact Sir Farboid. It's been a while since I last met him, but I think he should still have some."

Tabi sent a carrier pigeon off to Thyconium where Sir Farboid lives, and then waited.

"This might take some time. I might as well prepare today until my pigeon comes back."

She then ended up creating an area for farming red turnips and potatoes, then packaged several farm goods in preparation.

The carrier pigeon finally arrived back at dusk as the sun was setting and it seemed to be well-fed.

"Sir Farboid must have fed him," Tabi thought.

She unravelled the scroll-parchment and read Sir Farboid's response, which said that he was willing to trade some.

Tabi then picked up the goods that he requested and then headed out towards Thyconium by foot, and then by boat across the Medosi Sea.

After several days of travel, she finally reached Thyconium. There, Farboid greeted her and both him and Tabi exchanged warm smiles.

During the conversation, Tabi expressed her frustrations with the Kratians on how they vilified her and put her on the same level of the Işrakrans who murdered Kratia's king. Sir Farboid comforted her saying that his fellow Thyconians did not believe any word from the Kratians about Tabi, and know her well as a friendly acquaintance. Tabi felt relived and reassured when Sir Farboid said this. Sir Farboid pointed out the magnificant library that Thyconium was constructing, to which Tabi said, "I pray to Myrodan that the rest of the construction goes well."

After the small chitchat was over, the two exchanged each other's goods.

It had gotten very late and was already night, so Tabi gave her farewells to Sir Farboid, and he returned her goodbyes.

Tabi then set sail back out into the Medosi Sea and headed back towards Hinansho.

## Chapter XXI - Tabi the Builder

After getting good sleep and resting for two days, Tabi went back to construction of Hinansho's infrastructure.

She first laid out the foundations for the outer defensive wall, which she completed within a month.

Next, she built Hinansho's underground brewery storage, and also the smithery nearby. These two also took roughly a month to complete, although most of the hard work was mining through stone to create space for them underground or in the side of the mountain.

Seeing the fruits of her efforts, she treated herself to a vacation in a random remote beach to the east of Hinansho, in Aurealis.

There she relaxed and enjoyed bathing in the sun while also swimming in the sea.

## Chapter XXII - Wall Warning Signage & Axolotls

After coming back from her vacation, Tabi eased herself back to building up Hinansho.

She decided to do something simple and decided to put up signs on the outer wall that read," NO TRESPASSING. OUTSIDERS WILL BE KILLED ON SIGHT".

Secrecy and security are two things Tabi takes very seriously.

While finishing the signs up, she realized that she did not have enough glow-ink to finish about 11 signs.

Tabi sighed and decided to go on another trip to visit the ocean that she had far left.

She managed to also capture some cute axolotls and bring them back to Hinansho.

Tabi eventually arrived back in Hinansho and quickly poured the buckets that held the axolotls into the comfortable lake in the center of the town. She fed them lots of fish and made them happy.

After feeding them, Tabi finished up painting the final signs for Hinansho's walls.

## Chapter XXIII - Attack on Shogun

On a quiet aftenoon, Tabi was tending to her crops and cattle. Nothing was of great excitement that day.

She went to inspect around the town and making sure all the guards were doing ok. Her dogs were all well-fed and happy, the axolotls cheery, and her parrots singing tunes brightening up the atmosphere.

It was a normal day like any other. The sunlight eventually passed, and Tabi shuffled back towards her room to go to sleep.

As she was right at the door to her building, she heard a frantic flapping somewhere above her.

A carrier pigeon then suddenly headbutt into Tabi,

"OUCH OKAY WHAT THE EVERLIVING HOT POTATO DANG!?" Tabi yelled.

She quickly removed a rolled up scroll from the pigeon's leg as it flailed in her hands.

The carrier pigeon seemed exhausted from the flight so she asked one of the guards to go feed it and let it rest.

"What in the world is so urgent to-" Tabi suddenly paused as soon as she saw the first sentence.

"The Shogun was attacked while visiting Işrakra but managed to live. Please return to Shihon immediately. Signed, Cristal" were the she words uttered.

Tabi immediately informed all Hinansho members of the news of what happened, then set out for Shihon.

First Tabi went on horse-back half-way, then hopped onto a boat and then sailed the rest of the way.

By sunrise, Tabi finally arrived at the docks sweating profusely.

She ran into the town and finally found Cristal to ask where the Shogun was, "He is in the bar by the docks where you just came from..."

Tabi hustled back towards the docks and then ran into the bar... and then found Shogun Yosai black-out drunk and sleeping on the countertop like a buffoon.

"Shogun why must you be like this when you were almost killed?" Tabi shook her head in disappointment.

Nevertheless, Tabi looked at and inspect the Shogun then discovered that he was stabbed quite literally in the back. She slightly lifted his side up to check if that was the source of the blood and it was.

"You were stabbed deep in the back yet came here then drank until you passed out? Yosai..."

Tabi unelegantly turned the Shogun around onto his face and then heard the Shogun snort a bit and make some strange noises, but Tabi ignored it for the time.

She quickly undressed the Shogun's top clothing down and then went to the storage and took out a bottle of alcohol.

Slowly, the alcohol was poured onto the wound, then cleaned with a damp piece of wet cloth. Tabi wiped the area down clean and then wrapped bandages around his entire torso tightly.

Tabi turned Yosai carefully around again but propped him to sit loosely up. Tabi then force-fed the Shogun some more alcohol to make sure he remained asleep.

Picking him up very gently, Tabi put the Shogun onto her back then moved him into the makeshift shelter to rest.

"Sigh... Yosai..."

Tabi rolled the Shogun onto his bed and then let him rest for the night.

Two days later, she came back and entered the Shogun's dwelling and it seemed that he was still asleep.

Thinking some immoral things and wanting to tease the Shogun for fun, Tabi climbed up onto his bed and sat on top of him.

"Wake up my liege, it is morning~" Tabi whispered while leaning into his left ear.

Surprisingly, the Shogun woke up almost immediately but still seemed a bit groggy and slow.

He seemed to remain unfazed that Tabi was sitting right on top of him and proceed to tell her about what happened at Işrakra. Apparently he went there to trade but was stabbed in the back by someone as he was speaking to the blacksmith over there.

After the conversation was over, Tabi slowly moved her finger down the Shogun's torso and said, "Well, if you do need anything else please don't hesitate to call on me~"

The two then gave their goodbyes, then she went to go rest in one of Shihon's buildings nearby.

## Chapter XXIV - Fall of Işrakra & Saving Big Balls Fish

The very next morning she was woken by a lot of Shihon residents quickly shuffling around the town. Something important must have happened.

Tabi was worried so she went back to visit the Shogun in case he was in danger again or was attacked.

Shogun Yosai informed Tabi that Işrakra has fallen.

Astonished, Tabi replied to the Shogun that she will be heading out there to figure out why the city had fallen shortly after Yosai had visited.

She arrived at Işrakra and discovered that most of the buildings had already been torched, destroyed, or looted completely.

Nothing of value was remained within Işrakra and it seemed that thieves had stolen everything that was worth to steal.

All the thriving farm animals and crops were slaughtered and cut down, all pets seemed to have also been killed, but Tabi then heard a slightly bubbling wimper from one of the buildings.

She entered and found an abandoned and neglected axolotl in a vertical tank. An engraved nameplate on the tank read "Big Balls Fish".

Disregarding the name, Tabi quickly open the tank and scooped the malnourished axolotl into a bucket.

Saddened by how the thing was left alone to die, she decided to sail back to Hinansho with him. Tabi first went to go fish and fed Big Balls Fish some fish.

It took two days and one night of rest, but Tabi finally made it back to Hinansho safely.

Carefully, she slid Big Balls Fish out from the bucket and into Hinansho's pond.

Big Balls Fish happily glubbed as if he was thanking Tabi, then swam towards and played with the other axolotl in the pond.

Tabi was happy and content she managed to save his life.

## Chapter XXV - Visiting the Witch of the Mountain, Lady Vex

After a week or so, things in Hinansho seemed to slow down again.

Tabi got a lightbulb in her head and remembered from a year or two ago that the residents in Gelon mentioned a witch residing in the mountains north of them.

She was interested so she head out to try to find and visit this "witch".

Tabi wanted to avoid sailing near Işrakra due to the bandits and thieves that lurked around that land, so she head eastward first through the jungles and plains, and then directly north and crossed several seas.

She landed on the shores somewhat diagonally-off from the looming mountain in the distance, then began to trek to it.

After a couple of hours hiking, she found a staircase and went up it, and confronted a somewhat hidden space. The entrance was covered in a snow-like substance but it could be walked through.

Tabi walked into the area and then sat down on one of the random furniture near the doorway to rest.

About two minutes after, she heard many footsteps and to which three people entered the cavernous den.

"Who are you?" asked one of the individuals in a stern manner.

The person who said this seemed to have blue-colored skin, while the other two seemed like regular humans.

After talking a little back and forth, the blue-colored individual instructed her fledglings to leave.

Tabi asked and the being answered back that she was indeed the "Witch", but preferred to be call Lady Vex. Tabi went along the title's unknown significance and proceeded to only call the being by Lady Vex in their conversation.

After a while, Tabi asked if Lady Vex could also do the cruel things she did with others to her, to which Lady Vex made a look of disgust and told Tabi to get out.

Tabi persisted with her request and tried to push it to be accepted, but Lady Vex again declined the offer. Lady Vex in a cool but seemingly agitated manner replied again for Tabi to get out the and away from her mountain or that there would be "consequences".

Tabi then responded that she would love that to happen to her, to which Lady Vex inhaled a long breeze through her nose in annoyance, grabbed Tabi, then quite literally threw her off the cliff from the mountain.

As she was falling, Tabi screamed, "How disappointing Lady Vex I thought we could have worked something out!"

Tabi plunged into the river below her and swam to the shore.

"Well then, I guess that's that."

Tabi ended up back in Hinansho without much success at Lady Vex's mountain.

## Chapter XXVI - Improving Hinansho's Infrastructure

After the visit to Lady Vex, Tabi had gotten her motivation back to continue to work on new things in Hinansho.

She decided to work on and construct the town's water infrastructure.

Tabi came up with four designs and inventions as part of a plan: a water tower, an underground water storage unit, a flow tunnel to move water from the storage unit to the well, and finally a seat connected to the water tower that could flush and transport nasty human byproducts outside Hinansho.

Working with some of the guards, they quickly managed to build the entire but basic water infrastructure system for Hinansho within two weeks time.

"I'll probably continue to expand this at a later time... I'm so tired now phew," Tabi yawned, and then slept for three whole days straight in her comfortable bed.

"hmjmurmjhgjhja.... people sick.. from human waste... ? something in it... hurmuhghur....." Tabi randomly said as she thought about things in her dreams.

## Chapter XXVII - Death of the Shogun

Upon waking up, she ate a hearty and delicious meal of cooked beef, scrambled eggs, and sugar-water.

She felt refreshed after sleeping for so long.

Tabi stepped outside after breakfast and one of the guards was waiting for her with another carrier pigeon in hand.

"This month certainly has been busy hasn't it?"

As she unravelled the parchment, her eyes widened.

The letter declared that the Shogun had just yesterday passed from some sort of sickness.

Tabi was left speechless.

She literally had just visited him a while ago and to hear that Yosai died from disease despite surviving an assassination attempt was heartbreaking.

"I guess it's time to go back to the good old bed... I'm going to need some more time," she said to the guard, then head back inside her dwelling.

No one heard from Tabi for a few more days and nights.

## Chapter XXVIII - Returning Big Balls Fish to Sir Lucx

After who knows how long, Tabi returned to the outdoors and headed eastward to the snowy mountains in the far lands near Eudaimonia.

She was still emotionally recovering a little but wanted to get recent happenings off her mind, so she went to travel to Sir Lucx.

The two had previously discussed about returning Big Balls Fish, but neither of them got around to make a proper time for it.

Tabi decided to take the initiative and traveled to Sir Lucx's hiding space and carefully put Big Balls Fish there, and also traded some gold in exchange for some redstone from Sir Lucx.

Tabi left a note on the barrel she placed the gold in to let Sir Lucx know that she visited and exchanged goods, then left to go to Hinansho.

She took a different route and sailed through the open sea instead and visited Shihon again before going back home.

To her surprise though, the Shogun's remains were taken to somewhere else unknown to anyone.

Tabi was greatly disappointed and concerned from this. There was nothing she could do.

She wanted to give him a proper burial ceremony, but that will have to wait until his body turns up.

*(Tabi isn't going to actively search for his body since she had no leads and no one knew anything where his body went)*

She left Shihon and arrived back in Hinansho safely but feeling sorrowful.

## Chapter XXIX - Skeleton Raid

It was snowing and cold...

Tabi arrived in Hinansho by nightfall.

Almost immediately, she was greeted by the clanking of bones loudly echoing from the top of the mountain.

She felt that something was terribly wrong and climbed up Mount Toride slowly and carefully to go investigate what was happening up there.

Sneaking quietly through the snow, she peeked over the ridge and witnessed a surprising sight; an encampment of skeletons preparing to attack Hinansho!

Tabi counted heads and there was 16 total skeletons ready to attack her settlement. Most likely, they were going to ambush anyone who opened a way to get in, and then rush inside.

Obviously for Tabi, she wouldn't let that happen.

Lunging forward with sword and shield in hand she took out 3 skeletons right away with a single swing.

The skeletons became alerted and began firing a hellish rain of arrows.

"FWOOM! FLING! FWOOOM!", their bows sounding distinct wooshes of air throughout the night sky.

Bones were launched everywhere and became strewn all over the ground.

Tabi almost perfectly executed all the skeletons without being hurt.

"My long months inside that cave were much difficult than just this... try better next time," she then slew the final remaining skeleton.

## Chapter XXX - Small Trade with the Cidurat

A week passed as Tabi went about farming and working on another construction project in Hinansho.

She was greeted one morning by a carrier pigeon from Sir Esatz-Suvrahin Anh-Nemerakhion of Cidurat-Azir asking for trade of obsidian.

Tabi accepted the request, fed the bird, attached a reply to its leg, and sent it away.

She prepared her gear and then headed for the Zafiri desert in haste; time of the essence and she wished to recover her trustworthiness and title of being a renowned merchant.

While halfway to Cidurat-Azir, the same pigeon from before flew towards Tabi.

She read the message attached to its leg, and which on it said that Sir Nemerakhion wished to do a secret dead-drop of the goods to not arouse suspicion and make the deal in private.

She tied a response agreeing to it and headed towards the designated spot.

Tabi arrived in the Zafiri desert and found the spot and dug the sand off the chest. The payment was indeed in it, which she took out, then placed the obsidian carefully inside, then covered the chest back up.

She looked around but there was no one around. It didn't seem like she was planned to be ambushed or attacked, so she peacefully walked back to Hinansho without any issues.

## Chapter XXXI - All The Farms!

Tabi eventually began to work on additional farms once again to progress Hinansho's self-sustainability.

With her guards and her working together for several weeks, she managed to make several new additions that were attached to the town's alcohol storage and aging room; a nylium farming area, a bee farm, and lastly an absolutely giant unit of a cold storage room for holding powder snow.

During this time, she had thoughts about how the cold affected different things. Tabi brushed it off and decided to reserve experimenting with cold temperatures for some later time. For now, she had one last thing to build before going on another trip.

She head outside and found a good area along the wall that was being unused.

Tabi decided to build a small weeping and crimson vineyard along it to produce more of the product.

After less than not even three days, she finished building it since it was fairly small in size compared to her previous projects.

It was simple, and it was done.

## Chapter XXXII - Meeting an Old Acquaintance

Time passed.

Abruptly out of boredom, Tabi travelled to the Vatyaneti settlement which was several thousand kilometers away to talk to Akufan which she has not heard from for a while.

She heard from previous travels that he was doing somewhat well and established a very well-built settlement, and was doing good business as a metalworker.

Supposedly he made all sorts of tools, weapons, and equipment and were selling them all across the world.

After three days and two nights of travel and resting, she finally arrived at his settlement.

A watchguard informed Sir (Sran) Akufan of someone approached the settlement in full armor and battle gear, but he instantly knew it was Tabi when he described her looks.

He invited her into an autopsy room which he transformed into a meeting room in a few minutes.

They discussed some matters of the past and eventually discussed about apprenticeship.

Tabi was interested in improving her craftsmanship skills as a blacksmith and wanted to live and train in Vatyaneti.

After Sir Akufan asked several questions, because he was a little suspicious of Tabi, he agreed to her request.

He then asked Tabi if she knew about the upcoming Çotyake Tournament that was to occur tomorrow.

Tabi replied no because she was too busy with construction for the past few weeks.

Apparently the carrier pigeons sent to all the nations made their rounds, but the one that visited Tabi had made a sudden U-turn and flew back to Vatyaneti. It would later be made known that it came at night and which a small horde of phantoms scared it away.

Sir Akufan said it wasn't a problem and talked to her about it.

Tabi was interested and agreed that she would participate to have a little enjoyment battling other people.

She went to camp out on the outskirts of town, setting up a small tent and fire, then slept.

## Chapter XXXIII - The Çotyake Tournament

The morning came and Tabi woke up.

It was already the afternoon and she heard a lot of cheering and hails coming from the arena within the town.

She stepped into the small makeshift arena area and saw several familiar faces; Sir Lucx, Dragon, and Zykalos, the son of Zyros who was slain during the Işrakra war almost a whole year ago.

Sir Akufan then rose up from his seat and then welcomed the audience and participants warmingly.

The audience cheered in excitement to see the first matches begin, and so he quickly proceeded to select random number lots for who fought who.

The first two people to fight was Tabi herself and Sir Lucx whom she had sparred with previously.

Was it destined? Or was it intentional?

To no surprise, at the ring of the bell Sir Lucx immediately sprung at Tabi, and managed to land a good strike onto her.

Round one was over, and the pit was reset.

The two then repositioned themselves back at each end, and then the bell rang once more.

As almost as quickly as round one ended, round two was also a quick and decisive victory for Sir Lucx.

Tabi didn't have the same fighting spirit she did as from long ago, so she didn't strain herself during this time.

The next match was between Zykalos and Caroline.

As the bell rang and the battle started, it was very surprising how the fight turned out.

Both Zykalos and Caroline parried and shielded extremely well; blocking each others strikes and blows with great reaction-timing and instinct.

Ultimately though, Zykalos ended up winning both matches.

*"Ding!"*

Sir Akufan announced the final matchup which was between Sir Lucx and Zykalos, a very anticipated and the expected outcome of the tournament.

The crowd cheered as the two fighters dropped into the arena pit.

Sir Akufan explained that as soon as both of them raised their shields, the fight would begin.

Sir Lucx and Zykalos immediately raised their shields and began to aggressively move toward one another.

Swing after swing, hit after hit both of them constantly blocked and parried each others' sword blows.

The first match was gruelsome and long, with the two of them continuing to fight and be unable to land a single successful decisive hit on the other.

Two more minutes pass by and the fighters became incredibly sweaty under sun coming in through the glass roof.

It was clear that both were becoming fatigued, and then which Sir Lucx took advantage of and pushed one last time in the struggle.

Sir Lucx bashed Zykalos' shield to the side and swiftly swung a downward strike onto Zykalos, and won the first match. The crowd cheering for Sir Lucx, well, at least those who secretly bet money on him to win. The ones who bet their stakes on Zykalos groaned in disappointment.

Both of them were given a very brief minute to recompose themselves, and then were back in the fighting pit.

"At the raising of your shields, begin!" Sir Akufan yelled.

The two raised their shields and once again went back at it.

Within the first fifteen seconds though, a major incident occurred.

Zykalos landed a numbing hit onto Sir Lucx's shield, sending him backwards onto his back.

Zykalos then leapt up to make a final strike, but noticed something was terribly wrong.

He rolled onto the ground next to Sir Lucx and noticed that he was convulsing uncontrollably; Sir Lucx was having a small seizure.

Guards quickly jumped into the pit and carried Sir Lucx into one of Vatyaneti's buildings.

Sir Akufan decided that due to Sir Lucx being rendered unable to continue fighting that Zykalos was declared the tournament's winner.

Zykalos' fans and betters all rose up from the stands and cheered in harmony, all the while the ones who supported Sir Lucx became outraged and yelled calls of unfairness.

Sir Akufan got up and told everyone to calm down and reorganized order within the arena.

He was also disappointed but explained in a cool manner that there was no way Sir Lucx could fight anymore in the tournament, so essentially the winner's title was handed to Zykalos.

Most of the people did calm down and came to terms with the incident, but of course, there were still several people still a little -salty- about Zykalos winning due to Sir Lucx's sudden medical condition.

Sir Akufan declared that the tournament was finally over and that Zykalos was the official winner.

One last cheer from Zykalos' supporters rang throughout the arena, and the audience disbanded and left for their hometowns.

## Chapter XXXIV - Meeting of 6 Nations

There were, however, five representatives who stayed behind whom all wanted to have a formal meeting together with Sir Akufan- as they were all gathered in one place.

They discussed specific topics, more specifically, the possible threat of the Ageosi to the western world.

With many of them having some kind of issue with the eastern nations, they discussed about forming an alliance to band together.

At any given moment a single incident could once again destabilize everything and bring about destruction to any of their lands.

To prevent this, a mutual understanding was eventually achieved between the six that were present.

After the meeting concluded, Tabi said her goodbyes to Sir Akufan and head back to Hinansho.

## Chapter XXXV - Improving Smithery

Once she rested for a day, Tabi went back to working on her small town.

She realized she needed a better crafting table to work her smithing on, so she proceeded to smelt one out of iron.

Tabi wanted one that was stronger than an anvil and would last "forever", so she used a lot more iron content than necessary, and smelted it in her blast furnaces for an ungodly amount of time.

While this was going on, she created a large cubish mold where the iron would be poured into.

After a whole day passed, she took the iron out carefully with large tongs and poured it into the mold.

Tabi let the iron cool for two whole days, and then smashed the mold off from the new super hard iron plate.

The surface was fairly rough so she took a grindstone and water then polished the surface slowly and carefully over the course of three days while taking breaks in-between.

One this tedious and tiresome process was done, Tabi carefully crafted the hard wooden base that the plate was be attached onto.

The wood she used was made from a dense birch tree, when she cut away into 10/16th shape of a block.

She applied a mixture of slimeballs, honey, and string onto the top of the wooden base.

Then, with the help of several of her guards, lifted and slowly placed the heavy iron plate onto the base and gooey mixture.

Tabi then placed heavy gold bars onto the plate to weigh down and press the two surfaces together.

She waited for five days to ensure the holding-substance hardened enough, then sanded the outside with the grindstone to remove the excess.

Finally, she had completed her new smithing table, took a step back, and admired her work.

## Chapter XXXVI - Heat/Coldness Experiment Prep

Tabi moved onto working on a new project: discovering how heat and cold affected different materials and objects.

She set up two identical barrels and placed them in two different locations; one in her newly-built underground "cold room", and the other in the hallway outside the doors to the cold room where it was much warmer.

She then called for her guards and helped her carry a variety of things such as animal meat, vegetables, pickaxes, nether wart, and buckets of water.

One by one Tabi placed each of the objects and materials into the two crates identically and then sealed them off.

## Chapter XXXVII - Fungal Foraging

After finishing her preparations for the heat-cold experiment, Tabi went off into the nearby forest to forage for mushrooms.

She wanted to treat her guards to something delicious and different from just meat for once.

Once she gathered several stacks of red and brown mushrooms, Tabi returned to Hinansho and started boiling large cauldrons of boiled mushroom stew. She added potatoes and sliced cubes of beef into the mix.

After two hours, she invited the guards to come join and eat.

She and a couple of guards handed out bowls of delicious mushroom stew to everyone and they absolutely loved it!

"Thank you all for protecting this small town and helping me build it from the ground up- I am grateful to each and every one of you who have diligently helped to make this a thriving community!" Tabi exclaimed.

She also served the remaining stew to her loyal wolves that accompanied the guards once the stew was cooled.

## Chapter XLIII - Papers on Illness, Wounds

Tabi released a publicly-available written paper titled "*Illness Studies; an Examination of the Causes of Illness and Complications*".

The paper talks about how unclean materials may have something in them that cause illness and increases the likelihood of people getting them.

She goes on to explain how she attempted to purify such materials, such as animal and human waste, via religious ceremonies, but none of such methods worked.

Citing from her previous use of alcohol on the wounds of Shogun Yosai and other individuals, it seemed that alcohol had properties to help prevent illness when applied directly to wounds.

"The stronger the alcohol, the more effective it seemed to help prevent illness of the injured," - Tabi

Tabi also noted that wounds and illnesses tended to cause various unsettling scents; this will be studied by Tabi further to find out the source of such smells.

Further examination and documentation will be studied as Tabi continues to treat injured individuals.

## Chapter XLIV - Papers on Illness, Decay

The next day, Tabi cracked open the sealed barrels that were stored many months ago.

As expected, the barrel in the hallway in warm heat released an absolutely putrid smell.

Tabi immediately closed the lid off and evacuated the barrel outside.

Once she went outside the walls of Hinansho and far from the settlement, she re-opened the barrel again and the stench was once again released.

Positioning herself from directly inhaling the horrible fumes, she set up some bamboo scaffolding and climb on top of it and observed the inside of the barrel from a few blocks away.

After finishing writing some notes and testing the pickaxe, she dug a deep hole and buried the disgusting contents along with the barrel to never see light again.

Tabi also went back into the cold room and observed the barrel in there the same way, but noticed that there wasn't really much scent to that one, and the contents didn't really degrade like the other barrel.

She wrote the following paper about the decay of living materials such as animal meat, plants, and applying extreme cold to different things.

*"When two barrels containing the same materials and objects were placed in two different places with contrasting heat/coldness, the barrel in the very cold environment stayed pristine while the contents of the barrel left in a regular room had rotted and decayed.*

*It is believed that the same causes of why the living materials decayed is the same cause for why people get ill.*

*Other things were also experimented on during this test; pickaxes, netherwart, and buckets of water.*

*When the pickaxe from the cold barrel was swung against stone, it broke apart and shattered immediately. The one from the regular barrel, however, acted as normal, although, the wooden handle crumbled apart after several swings. This concludes that cold makes things stiffer but more fragile to impacts or hits.*

*Netherwart seemed to be unaffected during this test.*

*The bucket of water expectedly froze when left in the cold room, while the one left in the regular room seemed to grow some kind of green slimy substance on the surface of the water and sides of the bucket.*

*The decayed meat in the regular "warm barrel" also had a similar substance grow on it- it being grayish-green in color.*

*It should be noted that Tabi never put nor seen this grayish-green substance in either of the two barrels once she closed them off. This will be studied more to figure out where these substances came from.*

*"I think it can be assumed that this substance is what also causes humans to become sick, seeing how these seem to decay the meat and vegetables, and most likely this decay occurring in humans is what also makes them sick- but this has to be studied more in order to be confirmed." - Tabi"*

## Chapter XLVII - Seppuku of Hinansho and the Death of Tabi

Arriving back at Hinansho in the afternoon while having dragged herself blank-faced the entire trip, Tabi immediately walked to and wept in her room.

Having contemplated many things and about life itself on her trip back, she emerged back in the town at dusk.

She then climbed up onto the roof of her home.

"My children, my greatest soldiers!" Tabi yelled.

"Too long have we prospered, too long have we taken everything for granted! Today, I order all of you to burn Hinansho to the ground. I am thankful for all of you having followed me in my steed these couple of years, but I wish for you all to flee and find shelter elsewhere across the land, or follow me to find peace amongst the stars in the sky. Obtaining great wealth has not sated my greed. Constructing a great city has not granted any feelings of content nor satisfaction. For these reasons, from what I started I shall end. To the ones who choose to survive and live on, I ask you of one thing: find the meaning of life, for I have found the opposite. Living ultimately leads to destruction and I choose to leave this world before it consumes me first. To the people of Hinansho, to my beloved protectors of this great city, I say one last farewell. Thank you, and may the gods protect the ones who have the will to continue living."

From thereon, all the guards and residents of Hinansho proceeded to splatter lava and set fire to every single building, torch every single room, and destroy any valuable items they could find.

The survivors who wanted to live packed their remaining items and a little bit of food and began to travel away from the city's walls.

All the crops were burned, lake turned into lava, and burning rocks encased every single road in red and ashes. ***Not a single valuable item was left untouched and all were destroyed***.

Tabi then lead the guards who followed her with utmost loyalty outside the walls and onto the nearby open field.

Slowly and gracefully, she drew her sword and lifted it into the air. Her guards followed suit and raised theirs also.

"Thank you all. Let us live more peaceful lives up in the skies, together."

At that moment, Tabi slowly turned her blade around and pointed it towards herself. Her guards closely doing the same...

And then-

Tabi stabbed herself through the heart, then her numerous guards as well. Blood instantly gushed out from her chest wound.

She took one last look at the night sky with her fading gaze... staring at the twinkling heavenly bodies dancing above her, and then perished.

The hundreds of guards in front of Tabi also dropped dead onto the grass... and then silence consumed the night.

All that could be heard was the crackling of fire behind them as Hinansho burned to the ground.

Survivors of this nightly tragedy would call it the Seppuku of Hinansho.

***The End.***

## Character Titles or Professions

* Jack of all Trades, Master of None
* Renowned Merchant
* Samurai (Retired)
* Mercenary (Retired)
* Farmer
* Miner
* Architect
* Farrier
* ~~Beginner Equestrian~~ -> Amateur Equestrian
* ~~Beginner Blacksmith~~ -> Amateur Blacksmith
* Inventor
* Beekeeper
* Dyemaker
* Physician
* Clothing Designer
* Messenger
* Storyteller
* Cook