New Rank, New Jobs, New Faces

It was still dark when Gangting woke. He was laying in his small room within the guild building of Dies Irae. The room was on the ground level, which was fortunate for the big redhaired mage. He had taken the liberty to place his bed, which was barely large enough for him, against the wall and made a larger bed out of stone. He laid one stone just as well as on a mattress straw and feathers, the stone would morph to his body through his earth slayer magic. Gangting threw his sheet off him and stood up. He moved his hand through his hair and let out a lowed yawn. He removed the bandages on his chest and left leg and added special ointments to the venomous cut that festered on his chest. A medicinal herb, socked in some kind of oil, was added on his burned left leg. Both wounds were wrapped tightly with fresh linen bandages. He donned himself brown pants of heavy linen and buckled his sword to his belt. He picked up his stone vambraces from his table and left the room.

He went to the refractory of the guild but as he had expected none was there, nor any food yet. He walked to the kitchen and found himself a banquet and a big chunk of cheese. Those would suffice as his breakfast which he ate as he moved towards the training facilities of the guild. Gangting was usually one of the first to wake.  The slayer has been training every day in the yard since joined Dies Irae on the request of his old friend, who was one of the guilds ambassadors. Johann and he had a long history and they had found each other unexpectedly in the far North of Fiore on the border with Seven. Gangting was set upon by bandits when he was on his march back to Fiore from Duoshang. he was heavily wounded and that was something the bandits had noticed, but even a wounded Earth Demon Slayer is more than mere mortals can deal with. Gangting had dealt with them swiftly but a handful ran away, into the hands of none other than Johann von Weiss. The rest is history, but it was an odd place for a reunion.

The sun just kissed the horizon as he entered the training area. It was his custom to practice with the sword in the morning, followed with a run and later in the morning with his slayer magic. But today he wasn’t going to train with his magic, he had a different plan in mind. He practised on his own dummies made of stone, his broad bronze sword was harder and sharper as any normal bronze sword and even those of steel. His sword, called Emo Shashou : Demon Slayer, was taken from a tomb of an ancient emperor of long-forgotten empire. It was a magical sword, blessed by the gods themselves, it could cut into stone without a scratch or dull the blade. Gangting had never sharpened it in his life.

Gangting took a shower, such a device was still new to him, but he started to get the hang of it. He never knew there was a temperature valve the first week he used it and it had been a surprise what temperature the water would every day. He preferred to shower with cold water now that he knew how to operate it. He replaced his bandages again after the shower and started to dress according to the rules of his guild. He wasn’t happy with that part, he had to wear a uniform and he hated it. Normally he only wore a thick bronze chest and backplate, with a skirt of bronze plates and crimson linen. His shoulders would be adorned with his heavy crimson cloak trimmed with golden fur. The uniform he wore was black and crimson, but he left out the boots as he never wore footwear. The uniform was actually a bit too small for him, but they didn’t have his size. Johann promised him that they would get some larger ones made for him but that took awfully long, Johann seemed to find it rather amusing he thought. Gangting donned his bronze armour over his uniform, it was an odd sight to see he didn’t care. His armour has saved his life occasionally during his fights in the past. He took his heavy cloak from a peg on the door and grabbed his travelling bag. He left his room and went to seek the job board.

Gangting looked surprised when he found a tall woman standing in front of the board. She was almost a foot taller than he was. He was more surprised to find someone who was taller than he was, especially by that much, that he didn’t even notice that she sported a giant reptilian tail. He slowly approaches and then noticed the tail. Dragon, wondered Gangting in his thoughts. He took a deep sniff, no, not exactly like dragon. Bellow her flowing sable hair were ‘things’ sticking from her back, unlike anything Gangting had seen in his life. ”A jolly good morning,” spoke Gangting louder and sterner as he would have wanted, he was too focused on figuring out what she was and if she was to be trusted. You never knew it with dragons, Gangting still held some grudges to some of their individuals but I resulted in distrust for all. ”I have not seen you here before,” continued Gangting less loud and friendlier than before. He even produced a genuine smile upon his, with red hair framed, face.

Breakfast? thought Gangting confused and before he knew the tall woman threw one of her cupcakes in the air. He briefly looked up and held his right hand out open. He moved his gaze back at her as the cupcake fell into his large hand. ”Thank you?” Said Gangting perplexed. Deep amber coloured eyes peered at him behind squinted eyelids. The woman leaned in towards him; he felt a heat gleaming on his face, it came from her person. ”It’s a habit,” he sounded sincere, ”sometimes a smell can tell an unspoken story.” He held up both his hand, his left open and his right enclosed around the muffin and raised his shoulders. ”Yes, a lovely smell, lied the redhaired warrior, his focus on smelling whenever she was a dragon or not had drowned out all other smells, ”but I also smelled something else, something alike to dragon but near close enough. Are you related to them?”

The reptilian-tailed woman leisurely strolled around him as she talked. Gangting’s head curiously followed her graceful movement but he stayed at his place. She swept her tail up towards his face, upon the tip was the guild’s sigil in sanguine. She had finished her circle and held her tail around him as if to keep him restraint.  ”I see,” he nodded amiably, ”not the one to stay inside.” He despises slackers. He was raised in a small village where life was hard and everyone had to do his or her best so that everyone had enough food, slackers could endanger their survival of all, and they profited from sitting on their arses. If a new one to the guild was so invested in taking jobs, then it was a good sign of a harder worker. Which somewhat repentant about his own course in the guild so far, but that was about to change. He was here, after all, to look for a job.

Her tail unwrapped itself around him, Gangting’s gaze followed it until it left his field of view and turned his eyes back to the ambers of the woman before her. What a pretty colour, he thought. Yellows, orange and brown hues were his favourite colours, it was the colours of the rocks from where he grew up. ”Well met my lady Cassiopeia.” He nodded stiffly with his head. He noticed her beast-like fangs and looked at them in awe. The redhead straightens his back and broadens his shoulders. ”Do you want the short version or the long?” His mouth curled up in a grin and continued, before giving her a chance to answer, ”I am Gangting of Duoshang. I have also recently joined the guild, probably after you which is why we haven’t met before.” He had choices the short version of his name and pronounced his name with pride. Whenever he mentioned Duoshang, his fond memories returned, but always followed with an aftertaste of sorrow. His eyes stopped smiling for a brief moment as he felt the misery.

Gangting tilted his head and frowned, I am not the only one with a good nose. His shoulders dropped and his eyes showed hurt. ”Not a job, a calling, an obligation. A mandate of my god,” the redhaired slayer spoke with a thick voice, ”It was indeed too much for me. I was foolish enough to have made myself believe I could. I would not have survived if not for divine intervention.”

He nodded and brought a curled up his lips back into a soft smile. He was soon taken aback and took a step back for the anger that woman showed after he mentioned dragons. He watched as smoke poured from her nose and waited till her rage had ended. ”My apologies then, but I have no idea what a Kaijin is, nor have I ever heard of Kaijin-ima or monster island.” said Gangting calmly. ”Hmm, a war with dragons? I only have encountered single dragon attacks, never attacks in groups let alone on the magnitude of war.” He stroke his crimson beard. How would you defend against that, he wondered. Never in his life had he ever thought of the possibility of more than one, or two, dragons attacking simultaneously. He finally shook his thoughts away and broke the silence that had ensued during his thinking. ”I’m sorry to hear that, it’s a terrible thing to lose one’s home.” To Gangting a nation equals as home.

Gangting listened in silence to the heated woman and only spoke until she was done. ”There is merit in your words, there is. But,” He looked aside and towards the ground, he continued in a bitter tone, ”carve your feats in rock, and carve them deep. Books can get lost, forgotten or burned. They are small and fragile things,” Gangting looked at the woman with sober eyes, ”but even stone will fade over time, the once-proud walls will crumble. Temples collapse and glyphs will fade as stone is worked by time. Is it worth it put so much effort in what you do, solely to be written up in some dull book?” Gangting was bitter, it had been his youth dream to be remembered by his feats in battle. By the wonders, he had created. He had the opportunity to find out how well he was remembered when he woke from aeons of slumber, but he found a world that was oblivious about him, Duoshang or any event that had taken place during his life. History had not been kind to him and had forgotten him. ”But do grow stronger, and gain more knowledge. The guild, and the world, can use stronger mages that fight for the good.” Gangting was silent for a moment before he continued again, ”Daikaiju? he asked curiously, yet another strange word, ”That is a wise saying, something all should take at heart.” He touched his chest right arm.

”Two weeks now I think, I haven’t exactly kept track.” As he looked up, trying to recall the date he joined. ”Ah okay. I have spent my days recovering from my injuries, but it seems that they won’t heal any time soon. I have had enough of waiting.”

Gangting had wasn’t surprised. ”It’s both yet neither,” said the redhaired giant cryptically and gave her a moment to think. ”Duoshang was a city I founded but it was its own nation. It was built in one of the largest mountain valleys you can imagine. The city had three sets of walls. The outer was build upon the mountain ridges and the other two, where inner walls.” he sighed, ”It was a beacon of hope, a place of refuge for people plagued by monsters and demons. The sadness returned to his eyes. ”It had ones grown to the size of an empire…” Gangting didn’t finish the sentences. He looked at the map, it was only the map of Earthland. ”Duoshang lies to the far north in the east. The mountains lie between a huge desert of scarlet sands and the other side, where I was born, was lush with forests and meadows.”

Gangting lightly bowed his head towards the ground, ”He does… and hopefully rightly so.” Gangting thought back at those last moments in Duoshang. He had been overwhelmed by the spawn of darkness. He had fought for days and night without end in the rouble of his capital. He was out of ethernano, out of strength and tired. He fell on his knees to pray. Tudigong answered it swiftly. There was a low rumbling thunder, deep within the earth’s depth. It grew louder and louder until even the ground started to vibrate. After that everything went fast, the earth roared as if were alive, the earth quaked and shook heavy.the Heavier than Gangting had ever witnessed. This earthquake made the earthquake that was meant to humble the self-proclaimed God-King look like the tremble of an elephant. It cracked and broke walls and torn down most of the buildings. Next came the Avatar of Tudigong, sand, rocks and bricks flew up in the air and formed into the shape of a giant Tudigong. The damage Tudigong had done, and confusion that came with it, gave Gangting an opportunity retreat.

Gangting nodded, he recognizes the value of knowledge about the men you serve with. The shortest pike is were the phalanx is the weakest w,as a saying among soldiers of his army. A unit, or better, a community like an army worked better when it knew what they could expect from each other and so was it with a guild like Dies Irae. Gangting finally started eating from the little cake the Cassiopeia had thrown to her. It was gone with two bites. Curious taste. He wiped away the crumbs with his hand. ”I see.” He moved his hand through his hair, which didn’t do his hair much favour but it was a thing he did when he tries to memorize things. All those strange and difficult names are asking a toll on him.

Gangting listens in awe to the Kaijin lady as she continued to speak about her species history, and of the Daikaiju. They do sound like the gods themselves, thought Gangting as he heard her describe their amazing strength and size. He hoped that the size was an over-exaggeration. ”Why would the gods fight with the Daikaiju?” asked the giant slayer, ”or did the Daikaiju try to overthrow the gods.” Gangting had tried to overthrow Tudigong when he was in a state of insanity, it didn’t go well.

He noticed that the woman was also emotionally touched by the past. ”That is good,” Gangting referred to the high price that the dragons had to pay. He reminded him of a king of a kingdom who fought against another state, he had won all his battles but was famous for saying “One more victory like this and I have lost the war.” after his second last battle. He had won is last battle too, and lost war as he predicted. He had paid to high a price for his victories. ”All things that begin must end,” said the giant solemnly, ”yet maybe a new golden age can shine upon your people.”

Gangting followed the tail as she let go of it, she laid a hand upon his shoulder. It was strange that someone could do that and had to look down upon him. ”That is the truth indeed, your people are wise.” That would have meant that he had returned from the dead, a second chance, if you call his entombment death. He nodded, ”That’s very true.”

He frowned, he supposed it made sense for her as she had lived her life on the island. He felled trapped on the Amber Island, it was too small for him. ”I would rather have it a peninsula instead. I did propose to Johann for me to lay a broad path from the Isle to the main continent.” It would not have been the first time he had done that, a grin appeared on his face as he recalled the siege of Tetra. A city built upon an island. He was bored so he had his men make siege towers, instead of him levelling the walls as usual. He had sent a messenger to the city once they were completed to offer them to surrender before the siege towers would touch the wall, otherwise no quarter would be given. They laughed at him and told the messenger the city was on an island, the messenger replied, as instructed, that it was a peninsula instead. The city council looked from the wall and saw the siege towers slowly crawled up towards the wall. They surrendered there and then. He would have loved to see their faces in that moment. Gangting followed Cassiopeia’s finger, to an empty bit of ocean were Kaijū-jima supposedly lies. ”That sounds like a good natural defence.” Gangting looked often at things from a commanders point of view.

Gangting listened closely to what the dark-haired woman told her about her home. ”That sounds very impressive, I would love to see it sometime.” Specifically the mountains, but with a different means to travel then boat. He was not going to be seasick for a month, not even for a couple of days, to see mountains. Gangting already didn’t like to use the boat back to the mainland.

Gangting decided that it was time to move their conversation away from the emotional past to the unknown future. He cleared his throat. ”Have you picked a job yet? he asked, ”we could do a job together? Then we can also take up something more challenging.” And he could see how she fights.

Gangting scratched his beard. ”I see,” Gangting blew some air from his nose, ”never anger the gods. With such power, that can be witnessed, I can understand why people worshipped them and why your people still do.” Gangting had never seen a god do anything in person except for Tudigong, he had never been a very religious person until his meeting with Tudigong. Tudigong had said there were other gods as well, but none deserved the worship from him.

”That’s a pessimistic view you got.” It saddened him. Gangting was and always has been a person who had been optimistic. It had always been a driving force, things could always get better. ”It is the prettiest flowers that are cut, the tallest tree that is felled first. Life is like a river; it starts small but meanders its way to the big sea. Going left, going right, splitting into more streams or joining with others. You never know how things go and what opportunities are there. A golden age does not, necessarily mean, empire building. It’s a moment to bloom. Some flowers may indeed flower only ones in their life before it withers away, some bloom many times. There is no way of knowing until it is truly dead. But even then, it’s seed will sprout new flowers; a new generation ready to bloom.”

”ferocious beast?” Gangting liked the idea of hunting, like the monarchs that had surrounded his kingdom. But there was no challenge in killing a lion or a mountain tiger, the war against demons had been his sport. Who knows if these beasts could be a challenge? ”It sounds amazing. I would be honoured.” As long as it isn’t by boat, he thought to himself.

Gangting tried to read the paper the woman shows her; he had learned to read these ‘letters’ as they are called but he was far from adept at them. He preferred his glyphs. She handed him the paper and continued reading. It took him a moment to read it through. ”Pirates?” Gangting had run into pirates more than one’s. He looked up, grinning from ear to ear. ”Pirates are fun. We will see if they do, but it will kill time. When we are done with them; they will be scared to see land ever again.” Gangting laughed at what he had said.

”I do need to visit the kitchen for food. After that, I am ready to leave, whenever…” Gangting paused a slight moment and his facial expression showed discomfort,the boat is ready to head to the mainland.” He didn’t look forward to what was to come on the ship. ”When are you ready?

Gangting looked with curiosity at the smoke Cassiopeia breathed out. He leaned backwards when he noticed that the giant woman aggravated. He raised his hands slightly as surrender, ”Who know what the right view is.” revering to the pessimistic and optimistic views. He nodded and raised his hands once more, ”Okay.” But it sounds like you are the seed I was talking about, he finished in his mind. He didn’t deem it wise to throw more oil on the fire.

”Yes I have heard of those, yet never have I laid my eyes upon one.” Gangting scratched his beard, ”those are powerful names. Do your people hunt those creatures?”

Gangting shrugged. ”That would be true indeed.” The paper he held in his hands vanished as Cassiopeia stored the job request away. He frowned when the dark-haired woman blew him a kiss. He stood for a moment perplexed, watching as the raven-haired giantess walked away, and softly whispered; ”What a woman.” He had met with many people over the course of his life, in this era and his own, yet none came close to her in many ways. She was intense, mysterious and, in her reptilious way, alluring. He frowned; he was ready as well in a sense, but he had to know how long he would be away before he could plunder the kitchen for enough food.  He followed her to the kitchen.

Gangting browsed the shelves of the storage room at the back of the kitchen. He filled a large bag with a modest wheel of cheese and grabbed a few strings of sausages as well. They wouldn’t be away for too long, a couple of days at most, so he could also bring perishable goods with him. Those included three just baked large oval-shaped breads which had a thick crunchy crust. He also picked out a decent sized steak which he wrapped in waxed paper, that would be part of his dinner today. He took a small keg of Minstrel wine and an empty keg, of the same size, with him as well. The empty keg would be filled with fresh water. It seemed quite a load to bear, even for Gangting but it wasn’t his intent to carry it. He would fill his auroch pulled chariot Lei Bagong, Thunder Strike in the common tongue, with the goods. The chariot had originally belonged to a thunder god, but the Giant Bo-De-Dong had won it in some competition, Gangting, in turn, won it from Bo-De-Dong. His chariot could ascend and descend between the mortal plane and the divine realm and Gangting used it as his crude version of the personal pocket space magic that Requip users used. Gangting then realized that there was another way for him to travel to the mainland, his chariot could fly. It was not something he was fond of as he didn’t like great heights and barely ever used it to fly. Flying over the sea wouldn’t be much better either but at least he wouldn’t get seasick, which was something inseverable on a boat. The redhaired giant scratched at his head as he turned to Kaijin. ”Uuh, we don’t need to wait for the boat,” he said and pointed to his chariot, ”It can fly us to Minstrel.”

The Redhaired warrior glanced curious at the bare fangs, of Reptilious woman, that appeared presented themselves when she grinned. ”Gladiator games? They still exist?” shouted Gangting out in surprise and excitement, ”I have encountered those anymore.” Gangting was fond gladiator games and was a patron to its existence within his kingdom. He had erected several amphitheatres within his realm, the five largest were located within Duoshang itself. He had never seen any since, after his reawakening. ”They must be most impressive with such beast, and very bloody too.” Gangting eye’s widened, she spoke baffled;”No magic?”. They didn’t use magic in his gladiator games as well but those were against mundane creatures such as aurochs, lions and hippo’s. The exception of the rule was duels, were magic sometimes utilized. The creatures that Cassiopeia had described sounded difficult to fell and extremely dangerous. The Kaijin might tower tall above any mundane human but still, how could one defeat such beast without the aid of magic?

Gangting listened closely, I should get some of those then. It would be worth the expense in Gangting’s eyes, even though he didn’t knew about the exact price, thoughts likely to expensive for in the amphitheatre. ”Interesting.”

Gangting looked up, ”Do you believe they can?” Gangting was sceptical about it, it sounded nice indeed. However, if the moon was to be red after bloodshed, mankind wouldn’t known anything else than a red moon. He didn’t share his thoughts on the matter, he didn’t want to insult her or her people. He frowned at the fact she was she was casually eating a large ham. ”Are those the only professions your people have?”

The giant shook his head up and down, ”Yes, yes it can.” Gangting tiled his head and in a confused voice he asked, ”Swim? It’s a long-distance?” Gangting could understand that someone didn’t liked to fly, he too didn’t liked it but it was the lesser evil of his two options. ”Ow, okay.” He wondered how long she would swim over it, hopefully not half a day.

Gangting witnessed in awe the transformation of Cassiopeia. He was baffled at what he saw. The strange protrusions on her back started to glow, the radiant light was blue of hue. Never before had Gangting seen such dazzling intense blue in his life. But this bewilderment was just the beginning, the protrusions on her back and tail seemed to sprout lightning. Her eye’s light up and she let out a deafening roar. Gangting covered his ears and aurochs, even thoughts they have been in the thickest of battles, prances and kick out of fear as the white of their eyes flashed looking for the perpetrator. The reptilian-tailed woman then started to grow to an immense size. He blinked his eyes a couple times and looked up to the skies. He already felt small besides her but now he was but a dwarf to her.  

”Wow,” uttered Gangting. He started baffled at the giant Kaijin for a moment as she moved towards the shore, each step she took made the earth vibrate beneath his feet. He shook his head in disbelieve. He stepped onto his chariot and took the reins in his hand. The animals were still not calmed down from the shocking roar they had heard. ”Easy boys,” He pulled the reigns and the animals dashed away, almost straight into a gallop. The wheels clattered over the uneven ground as they speeded up. The gears attached to the wheels turned the dynamo of the electric battery stored underneath the chariot, it would generate the energy for the thunderous charge that the chariot could perform.  Electricity sparked from the wheels as it was near top speed. Ganting pulled the reigns again and the hooves of the aurochs started to beat into thin air, they were soon detached from the ground and the two wheels of the chariot followed with them shortly after. Gangting grabbed the railing in front of him, it was made of solid bronze and if it weren’t it would have bend under the rock-hard grasp of the Earth Demon Slayer. He stared straight ahead, somewhere behind the horizon was solid land. His shoulders were raised, and upper arms clenched against his body. He only dared to look down once to see the giant Cassiopeia swim through the sea as a whale, his stomach turned as he looked at the broken reflections of the sea’s surface. If he fell now, he would surely drown, his grip on bronze railing tightened, his copper-coloured hands turned white as the blood was pushed out of his hands. He followed the leviathan with clenched teeth, desperately looking ahead to see land. He made a silent prayer to Tudigong, his God of Land and Soil.

Gangting landed his chariot on the beach, he had safely reached the coast of Minstrel. He jumped of his chariot before it stood still and felt the coarse sand beneath his feet and enjoyed the feeling. It was as if he stood up soft fluffy feathers. He preferred to stand upon a more solid ground like stone or dirt as the loose sand grains barely allowed for seeing with vibrations. It a thousand times better then being in mid air or on the wooden deck of a ship that was waving upon the sea. He opened and closed his sleeping hands, which were tingling and hurting. He stretched his arms behind his neck and cracked his stiff neck.