[h3]Huang Lanfen[/h3]

In matters such as this, it was important to take things slowly. One mistake, one slip and it would spell certain doom for Huang and possibly her whole family as well; such were the dangers involved.

When she thought about it in those terms, it never failed to get her blood pumping. How many could do as she was doing now? How many had the nerve or the steady hand that was required? How many were willing to risk their lives for a little extra power? Not many and certainly none to the same degree as her.

She was born for this.

Huang extended a hand, reaching into the open maw of the giant snake and bringing it perilously close to the deadly fangs with a glass vial between her fingers. She held the vial so that the tip of the fang, longer than her entire hand, rested just inside the rim and watched as the secreted poison began to run down the sides and collect at the bottom.

It was unfortunate that the Huang family had never found a better way of extracting the venom from their masterful creation than this; at times she couldn’t help but wonder how her family had survived as long as it had, since if she so much as brushed a hand against those fangs, if either she or the creature moved at the wrong time, she would be dead before she realised she had made a mistake. They’d lost more than a few promising young practitioners to the creature over the centuries; although, how promising were they to allow themselves to die in such a way?

Perhaps it was intentional? Being able to collect this creature’s venom could be seen as a rite of passage in a way; a final test. Those who were too scared to even dare approach it were unfit to lead the family and those who couldn’t keep a steady hand were equally useless; if they were unable to face what they had achieved to date then how could they ever surpass it?

Although, she could hardly blame them when it liked to coil its large body around her whenever she did this, encircling her and trapping her within its grasp; teasing her with the fact that it could crush her at a moment’s notice, should it wish it. Had the creature possessed anything like a personality she might think it was doing it intentionally to see if she would falter, but such an idea was foolish; perhaps it was merely animal instinct, or maybe barely restrained hatred.

Once the vial was filled to the brim she moved away, the creature uncoiling its body out of her way. She pressed a stopper into the vessel and placed it gently into a wooden rack already laden with similar vials. With that, the last of her preparations were complete; she had summoned her Servant, she had established her workshop, she had erected the bounded fields that would both hide and protect her. The only thing left was the war itself.

In other words, the hard part was done and now she could have some fun.

The most dangerous part was over after all. It wouldn’t be her doing the fighting during the war after all and it wouldn’t be her dying should things turn out poorly. That task she would leave to her dear Servant.

Speaking of which.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Rider; it’s a delicate process and I needed my focus.” Huang turned to face the man in question. He was younger than she would have thought, in the prime of his youth rather than the experienced warlord she had expected; unless this was how he looked as he conquered the world, in which case how nice for him. So long as he possessed the strength and ability then his appearance didn’t matter.

So long as he had the ability.

“Tell me Rider; as one of the greatest conquerors ever to exist, how would you go about winning this war?”

----

[h3]Jangar[/h3]

The animals were not very talkative tonight.

Or rather, they were saying quite a lot but most of them seemed more interested in who he was than in giving him any information. Being able to communicate with animals didn’t mean being able to command them after all; he could merely hold a conversation with them and unlike the animals of his homeland, with whom he was well acquainted, the birds and beasts of Japan saw him as a stranger.

Most fled at his approach and those that stayed were too curious to be of much use; it wasn’t every day that they met a human who could understand them after all.

He leaned back against the rough bark of the tree he was sat in, arm outstretched as he allowed an inquisitive little bird perch on his finger. Those animals that lived in the centre of the city seemed most unafraid of him, so he thought he might have better luck in a park than the wilderness on the outskirts; alas, they had seen nothing of note as of yet.

[i]”I’m afraid this isn’t going too well Master. I’ve made a few new friends, but so far I haven’t found a hint of our enemies.”[/i]