"Well, we're each tasked with protecting something very important," Koumyou took a sip of his tea, finding it finally cool enough to take a proper drink. So he did so for a moment, draining half his cup, and then moved to top it off with more hot water from the small cooking pot. It had plenty for several refills for each of them, if needed.

And as he did so, he quoted from memory, his cadence even and steady like he was reciting a mantra, "'Long ago, Shakyamuni Tathagata spread forth a sutra across the heavens, from which was born existence and void, light and dark. The earth was created thence, where life and death came to be. Shakyamuni tore apart the sutra into five pieces and entrusted its fate into the hands of the people Below.'"