The Xu from the fifth dimension that greeted Chiro when he first entered the Alkanium Soul Beast Cage walked in the greenish plains with the sky in green swirls.
Sparks started to form with his every step as eventually an Aurora Storm started to form in front of him.
"A storm out here in the fifth dimension? I thought the Aurora breaking into the fourth dimension was weird but this is worrying," thought Xu.
Suddenly a giant figure around seven feet tall appeared behind Xu as Xu quickly glanced at the shadow and sighed.
"You're here now," said Xu, turning around to greet the God of Sages.
The God of Sages was in his usual outfit, the yellow traditional shirt and pants with gold rings and a gold crown that was floating about his head.
"You kicked me and 75% out of the vision. Why?" asked the God of Sages with the usual face of immaturity and lack of seriousness replaced with the opposite.
"Some things aren't meant to be viewed yet," said Xu.
"You did not answer my question," said the God of Sages.
"I did, I said some things aren't meant to be viewed yet," replied Xu with a calm expression that countered the God of Sages growing impatience.
"I lost my memories due to the sparks I need to regain them," said the God of Sages.
"And what will you do after?" asked Xu.
"Claim my old self," said the God of Sages.
Xu walked closer towards the God of Sages battling through the radiation from the God's holy core and reached towards his thighs as the God of Sages shrunk to meet his size and look him straight in the eye.
"You are a weak god…A pretender at this point," said Xu.
"And you are a fake not needed in this world," replied back the God of Sages.
"Oho, I recommend you not do anything harsh to me," said Xu looking at the God of Sage clenched fists.
"I would not," said the God of Sages.
"Ever since that anomaly ascended from the third dimension to the fourth it has been quite a hassle," said Xu looking at a man with blond hair and his car in the Barren Wastelands.
"'He' is always watching," said Xu.
"I know," replied the God of Sages.
"The Blesser of Siddarth Ramakrishna, The Murderer of all the Bringers of Death, The Banished from the 7th Dimension," said Xu.
The God of Sages left to the 6th dimension after hearing the titles of a certain man that he was well acquainted with.
"I'd love to but as you can see I am stuck in a bed right now," said Danso, glancing at his body on the stretcher.
"Yes, that's why I made the leaders come meet you here itself," said Everlin.
Three members walked inside the medical hut with gear depending on their position. There were also eight more members but there seemed to be more support for the main three.
"I am Lucia," said Lucia pointing at her brute tattoo on her neck.
She was wielding an ax which was made out of steel and hides they got from hunting a few soul beasts and her hair was actually more red than white which shocked Danso to an extent.
"I am Cole," said another man with an archer tattoo on his forearm.
He had short pale blue hair and his arms were well developed in terms of muscle and he had a longbow at his back, he was wielding a normal bow with a sachet of arrows at the side of his back and in his pockets there were throwable daggers. Compared to Lucia, Cole seemed more prepared for battle and much more cautious with the amount of gear he carried.
"Pleasure to meet you," said Danso greetingly before glancing at the third member in the room.
He did not have a tattoo anywhere so Danso was a bit puzzled on what his role was in the Fort Fjord Raid.
"Introduce yourself Auro," said Everlin.
"I am Auro and I will be the trapper and the healer," said Auro
A trapper was a person who would throw traps on the floor and rig the fight to make sure the result would tip in the trapper's favor. The role was not honorable and a Samurai would normally despise a trapper but Danso could not care less as he wanted to get home as soon as possible and the only way to do so is to join Everlin in the Fort Fjord Raid.
A trapper is specialized in ritualistic magic from far away and normally avoids direct one v.s ones.
"Pleasure to meet you," replied Danso, shaking Auro's hand.
Everyone left Danso alone to rest soon after their greetings. Dansod decided to make a timetable to best utilise the week he had for preparation before the day of the raid.
In the mornings he would wake up, stretch, run, eat breakfast and then in the afternoon he would rest and practice swordsmanship, and eat lunch, then in the evening he would practice soul energy manipulation from Yvette and finally he would duel Everlin at night and then eat dinner before heading to bed.
He decided to implement this routine from today itself but after attempting to get up he realised that it was far-fetched to even think he could therefore he decided to not push himself too hard since he has to focus on his body too.
The next morning.
Danso glanced at the calendar behind him that was attached to the wall by a pin and a thread. The date was April 4th, 2025.
"It looks like it has been at least a month since I have been dragged into this mess," reminisced Danso.
It was at least better that he had something to do rather than not having anything to do and just waiting for the night so he could go and be The Red Samurai. He was worried about the city a lot when he was in Rein but he felt with the majority of the military stationed there for the rebuilding of the city it was safe from crime for some time.
Danso slowly removed his blanket and got up. After doing his duties in the restroom and changing into a comfortable set of clothes he started to stretch his lower body, abs, and upper body before running for thirty minutes and jogging for an hour. He needed that endurance if he wanted to face enemies for a long period of time. He ran inside the village but around the veil that hid the village from any outsiders.
After his running concluded he sat down inside his temporary hut and cleaned it up. He moved from the hospital hut to his new hut yesterday itself but it was not neat so he decided to make things tidy.
He went outside the hut and got some food that Yvette had prepared in her hut. He sat and had a nice chat with her before asking her if she could teach him ritualistic magic and soul energy manipulation. Since he could not use Sword Arts or sorcery in the Aurora, ritualistic magic was his only option.
She replied with a yes and after completing his breakfast he rested for an hour or two and then went to practice swordsmanship in the battle arena. In the battle arena he met Lucia who was not very friendly with him at the beginning and avoided Danso.
Danso's heart shattered as he practiced by himself for another hour. He knew that each move had to be perfect to ensure that no unwanted complications would occur for example the accidental murder of someone or the not slashing properly and the recoil hitting his shoulder.
He also trained on how quickly he can change stances and create combinations of different stances that could help him in tricky situations.
He went back to Yvette's hut for lunch and he was joined by Everlin shortly after he started his lunch of grilled meats and boiled vegetables with water as the beverage.
Danso's stomach did not like the healthy food as it craved for something more like junk but he knew that he had to be in top shape for the raid therefore he ignored his stomachs ever-so-growing callings.
They talked about normal things such as their routines after the Fort Fjord and more.
Afterwards Everlin left to tend his own matters such as maintaining order within the village and the Frozen Everglades and scouting across the everglades to find hidden dangers.
Now Yvette and Danso were alone in the hut and Yvette started to lay down a mat. Danso looked at her in puzzlement asking her what she was doing.
"We are going to do stretching first," said Yvette asking Danso to sit in front of her.
Danso did some basic stretches and then Yvette asked him to concentrate while closing his eyes. He sat in a meditating way as he could feel his soul well pumping energy.
"That feeling right there is the soul," said Yvette.