Three days after 'reawakening' Zangetsu and the little girl traveled to the next village over, Sidra.
"You must eat. You have starved yourself long enough." Zangetsu said to the girl who was blankly staring at the bread and soup in front of her.
"Mister… why are you doing this?" Her voice was raspy from underuse.
"So you can speak. If you eat I will tell you why." Zangetsu said and the girl stared at him for the first time before slowly eating her food.
'It's a shame this poor child had to go through so much suffering. I don't have a clear picture of who my former self was, but this version of me will not sit idly by as injustice festers.'
After a few minutes she ate her fill and Zangetsu smiled.
"I saved you because it would be immoral of me to leave you. The world has enough dead children, it does not need another." Zangetsu said and the girl stared at him long and hard before tears began leaking out of her eyes.
"T-Thank you!" She exclaimed while wiping her tears. She continued to weep for a moment before she stopped and spoke again.
"My name is Ellaine no surname and I believe I'm eleven years old." Ellaine said and Zangetsu nodded.
"My name is Zangetsu no surname. I'm not clear on how old I am so let's settle on twenty-one."
Ellaine nodded and Zangetsu began asking about her past.
"I was kidnapped from my orphanage six years ago and sold to Mayor Belmont. He made me fight for his entertainment. Whether it was monsters, humans, elves, or even my own kind. And he never got rid of the corpses..."
Ellaine began to choke on her words, "H-He made me eat whatever or whoever I killed that day. Those girls in the vault? I did that. After a certain point I stopped eating, which made me weak, and made Belmont bored. So instead of killing me, he locked me in the vault with all of my victims."
Zangetsu was silent for a moment.
"I cannot fathom the horrors you've seen. I can assure you, as long as you follow me, you will never go through that again."
From that point on, a mutual trust was formed. A few days later, Ellaine and Zangetsu were in the forest, training.
'I need to reconnect with my reiatsu and by proxy myself.' Zangetsu exhaled slowly as he sat in a meditative position.
Ellaine tried copying him but kept falling over.
'How does Mr. Zangetsu stay upright?' She asked herself as she stared at Zangetsu. Her magically attuned crimson eyes could see the faint aura around his body.
'Is that mana? It sure doesn't feel like it… this feels heavier...'
Zangetsu awoke in his inner world, an endless void illuminated by a shining crescent moon. Standing in what seemed to be the center of this void was a tall, middle-aged man. Formless, black energy enshrouded him and this energy was littered with dozens of eyes, staring at Zangetsu.
"I've been expecting you, Zangetsu." The man spoke, before turning around. He looked like a much older version of Zangetsu, only he had two black forward-facing horns with blue veins snaking across the surface.
"Who are you? You certainly can't be Yhwach." Zangetsu said warily. The man didn't answer and began charging a ball of red energy between his horns.
Zangetsu immediately rolled to the left before the man fired an enormous red beam. Zangetsu looked at the man in anger.
"Who are you?!" He yelled but the man didn't answer. Instead, he opened his right hand and created a sword out of reishi. In almost the same instance, he appeared in front of Zangetsu and stabbed him through the torso.
"BLEGH!" Zangetsu vomited a fatal amount of blood as the man pulled his sword out of his body. He dropped to the ground and the man stood over him.
He put the blade to his neck and spoke, "I expected more of a fight, how pitiful. I will give you what you want...this time. However if you do not grow stronger by the time of our next meeting, I will kill you." The man said before healing Zangetsu, who was barely conscious.
The man then placed his hand on Zangetsu's forehead and sent a torrent of golden reiatsu outlined by a mysterious darkness through his body.
"I've unblocked the barriers within your soul, essentially unleashing your full potential. This should make it easier for you to control reishi and use your reiatsu. Farewell, Zangetsu." The man said before Zangetsu woke up in shock.
"Mister Zangetsu, are you okay?" Ellaine asked concerned. Zangetsu on the other hand was too busy thinking about his near-death experience.
'I must grow stronger! The way that man had me at his mercy must never happen again!' Zangetsu thought resolutely. He tightened his fists and stood up.
"Ellaine, do you feel good enough to fight?" He asked and Ellaine tilted her head in confusion.
"I do, but I thought we were meditating today." She said and Zangetsu shook his head.
"Change of plans." He said before walking deeper into the forest. Ellaine quickly followed behind him and they trekked deep into the forest, until they encountered a monster.
It was a ginormous 6-meter bear. Its dark red fur exuded an intense amount of heat, scorching its surroundings.
"ROAAAARRRRR!" It's roar was deafening and made Ellaine cover her ears. Zangetsu on the other hand drew his blade.
"Mister Zangetsu, we should run! This monster seems strong!" Ellaine yelled in fear but Zangetsu shook his head.
"The only way to get stronger is to fight strong opponents." Zangetsu said before releasing his reiatsu. Black-outlined golden reiatsu covered Zangetsu.
The bear and any other creature in the vicinity with the exception of Ellaine, felt a considerable weight on their shoulders.
Ellaine stared at Zangetsu in a mixture of awe and shock.
'His mana levels are off the charts! Just who is Mister Zangetsu?' She thought as the man in question sprinted towards the bear.
His speed was significantly enhanced to the point where Zangetsu became a blur. Within the blink of an eye, he was in close quarters with the bear.
His reiatsu wrapped around his blade as he swung upwards, slashing the bear across its chest, enraging it.
"GROAAARRR!" It roared as it swung its massive paws at Zangetsu.
'This bear...is so slow.' Zangetsu thought as he watched the bear attack in slow motion. He easily dodged the bear's paws as he got ready to counterattack.
He aimed his blade at where he assumed the bear's heart would be and stabbed it. The bear ceased all movement and turned into blue particles.
"That was a bit underwhelming…" Zangetsu sighed before looking at Ellaine, who was even more shocked.
'HE TOOK DOWN THAT MONSTER IN TWO STRIKES! I DON'T EVEN THINK CHIEF ROCKS COULD DO THAT!' She thought as her mind practically exploded.
'If he's this strong, then maybe he could-no. I hardly know Mister Zangetsu, I don't even know if he'll agree to do that.' Ellaine sighed.
"Shall we go deeper, or have you had enough for the day?" Zangetsu asked and Ellaine smiled showing her fangs.
"I haven't even gotten started!"