Spurred by Temujin’s interest, on the fourth night, Sasha taught them other sailing skills, including rigging and knot-tying. Sasha said it was a subject commonly taught in the northern Slayer schools. “Slayer schools?” Temujin echoed. “Aye, mine was Wani-ryū. Wani Academy. Don’t the Salamanders have any? I know the Storks do.” “Yes,” Aki said. “On the Ethereal Nest, the best one’s Senten School of Sword and Sorcery.” “Senten?” Temujin said incredulously. “A thousand storks?” “Yes, it was inspired by the story of the young Slayer Tomoko Sasaki. The legend tells that anyone who folds a thousand origami storks will be granted one wish by the Stork God. Twelve-year-old Tomoko wanted peace for all the Slayer clans and undertook the task.” “Could she do it?” “No, she was among those killed by the Nagas when they attacked her village.” Everyone fell silent upon the mention of the Nagas. Sasha was particularly quick to change the subject: “And the Salamanders? What’s your top school

Temujin could also feel it now. The way the conversation was going, it was starting to sound like a ghost story. To make matters worse, it was close to midnight, the wind was howling above deck and the main hold was creaking all over. “You two know we’re going to pass the equator in a few days, right?” “Right.” “Undine sailors have a line-crossing ceremony. Blue Slayers who have already experienced crossing the equator are called Shellbacks or Sons and Daughters of Watatsumi – god of the sea. On the other hand, those who have never or are about to for the first time are called Pollywogs or Slimy Wogs. “The eve of the crossing is called Wog Day. There’s a reversal of roles and the Wogs act out a kind of mutiny against the Shellbacks. They capture, bind and blindfold their superiors. The most daring Wogs also make fun of the Shellbacks by cracking eggs on their heads or hitting them with either a Suigekiken (Water Blast Attack) or a Touketsujutsu (Freezing Technique).” Aki thought

“Every school has its ghosts, especially the old ones. For Wani Academy, the most notorious of all was the Ayakashi, the vengeful spirit of a former student who took her own life by jumping into the drink. Eyewitnesses described a spectral being cloaked in a dark, watery aura, her long brown hair and clothes moving as though suspended, forever sealed in a coffin full of black water. She wore the old Wani Slayer uniform that people said was the same thing she wore when she dove to her death at the bottom of the Arctic sea; another victim of bullying who had sought reprieve by drowning herself. Whenever the ghost attempted to communicate, all one could hear was a hair-raising gurgle, a choking sound from someone who was eternally drowning. “She’d be floating horizontally towards you. The eyes were bulging, the hands reaching and the legs kicking nothing but empty air. In the exact manner the female student had died, the Ayakashi was trying desperately to surface but she was anchored dow

“What did you answer?” Aki asked in a whisper. “Well, to tell the truth, I had considered the situation hypothetically before. All students of Wani Academy probably had. Our options were, precisely in this order: first, answer yellow cover – because naturally who wouldn’t want to get out of the experience alive? Sure you’d be covered in pee but at least you get to continue breathing. “But the most logical option didn’t appeal to the mentally enhanced version of me. Being discovered by my schoolmates covered head to foot in pee was a fate too horrible to accept, even weighed against the risk of dying. That was how concerned I was about my honor. I’m telling you, my priorities were so messed up. “And so my brain moved down to the second most attractive option. Option No. 2 was answering blue cover so we blue Slayers would get to die in our mother element. In fact, most Wani students I knew had thought the same thing, except for those who actually admitted they’d rather suffer a bucket

“The Ayakashi floated in the middle of the bathroom inside her aura of dark water. It was like when you place water on a lotus leaf and it takes a spherical shape. There were bits of seaweed and tiny debris hanging about her. Her hair moved like octopus tentacles but more dispersed and chaotic. “This reminded me of the Second Law of Latent Heat as formulated by Lord Kelvin, how things tended to proceed towards a more disordered state. A basic tenet of education in Wani Academy, something that had been ingrained in all blue Slayers, was the superiority of creation over destruction. Or rather, the undesirability of destruction. “A direct result of this was the existence of a Restricted Section in the school library for books that were considered taboo. Blue Slayers were taught to have a deep love for science and the arts – ice sculptures during the Snow Festival, mechanical wonders during the science fair, the tundra biotope and the zen pond in the school grounds. In other words, creat