"Darkness. All people breath it, even those pure-hearted. It’s all I’ve breathed all my life. I’ve been burdened with a broken existence, free of any source of light. It’s that void that let me renew my skills as a shaman." The figure raised its right arm. A slightly-large gauntlet rested on the hand. Right then, a spirit entered the area. It was shaped in a warrior form, armed with a sword in its right hand and a shield in its left. "Excellent, my friend." The spirit floated closer to the figure.

"Are you ready, Lord Exile?" it said. The image nodded and both left the dark room.

"How have you been doing today, Suke?"

"Fine, my lord. The other spirits are also well. We conversed quite a bit today."

"Yes, have you gotten any word on last year’s Tournament combatants?"

"The winner of the last Tournament was a boy named Yoh Asakura. He and his guardian Amidamaru were said to have fought beautifully." The shaman stopped and placed a hand on his chin.

"Asakura? Like the other one, what’s his name, Hao?

"They are brothers."

"So the mighty Hao Asakura is dead; quite an unexpected surprise."

"Correct. I really thought that Hao could have killed him. Maybe that means I’m still too weak to fight."

"Oh, come on now, Suke," he replied, as he tossed his cloak behind him "the last time we fought we did marvelously!"

"Yes, Lord, but that was years ago, before your special training . . . "

"Good point." He continued to think. "How about a quick practice session? We can see how I’ve improved since then." The spirit’s expression brightened.

"Really?"

"Of course. Just let me get ready." The shaman’s right arm extended, and the spirit became a small, glowing sphere, sitting in the shaman’s right hand. He then placed the spirit inside his left gauntlet, and cross his wrists so both gauntlets touched. The spirit’s energy then flowed through to the other gauntlet. "It feels so easy to oversoul, now."

"Even I feel a sense of increased energy!" the spirit spoke, through the oversoul.

"Almost ready." He raised his arms, and a group of walking corpses emerges from a door behind him. The gauntlets began the glow, and a sword and shield grew from the bright light. "Okay, let’s go." The kyonshi rushed at the shaman and full speed, but with one clean swipe, the oversoul sword cut them down to ashes.

"Lord! Your training has increased your strength exponentially, and mine as well!"

"Yes, Suke, my training was not a waste by any means." The shaman released the spirit from the oversoul. "Not bad."

"Will we be ready to complete our goal?" the full-bodied spirit asked.

"I don’t know." he replied. "That Hao boy was no pushover, so this new Shaman King could be a bit of a challenge. I might need more training."

"No." a lone voice spoke. The two warriors turned around to find a young woman dressed in a deep blue kimono. She had dark blue hair as well. "Your training was way too long."

"Lady Kirol," the spirit said, "pleasant to see you again."

"Your always going on your training trips there!" she furiously said. "Someday you’ll go in and never come out! You’ll kill yourself!" The shaman realized that she was crying as she said that.

"Lord, shall I take my leave?" Suke politely said.

"Please." the shaman replied. Suke left the room, as the shaman walked over to the crying maiden.

"I promise I will not die in there." he said. The girl slowly looked up. "I promise." She quickly wrapped him in a tight hug, The shaman did not expect it, but he then began to feel his arms moving around her as well.

"Your training kills you, Exile. You’re gonna die if you go in there again."

"I promise I will not die on you." They broke, and began to walk out of the room. "Suke!" he called. "Are you in here?" The spirit materialized in front of them.

"Yes, my Lord," He then realized Kirol holding onto his lord’s arm and clinging to him. "and Lady."

"Suke, I would like you to check on the spirits again."

"Of course, Lord." Suke disappeared.

"I hope you’re hungry." the shaman said to the maiden. He then showed her a table filled with food. She gasped.

"What’s the occasion?" she asked.

"No occasion. I just felt like impressing you." She smiled at him and took her seat.

The two began eating. Halfway through the meal, Kirol spoke up.

"When will you begin your mission?"

"As soon as I’m prepared."

"Fine, as long as you don’t have to return to that place to train." The shaman chuckled a bit.

"I’ll do my best." He stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.

"No really, that place is hell!"

"It’s the quickest way to increase my shamanic skills." She glared at him. "I never said I was going back. You heard my promise; I will not go back there, at least not now. I’m smart enough to know that going there repeatedly in a short amount of time drains your life energy." Kirol quietly continued to eat.

"Just be careful with this mission of yours."

"Don’t worry, I will."

After the meal, the two cleaned their plates and the table, then walked into the chamber where the spirits lived.

"Rather quiet today." Kirol said.

"Yes. They know that the time is approaching." He scanned the across the many ceremonial tablets that sat in the room. "Suke!" The ghost appeared in front of them.

"Lord Exile!" Suke pointed to a ceremonial tablet. "Brother Masaki; he has valuable information on the Tournament combatants." Masaki emerged from the tablet, in his traditional samurai form.

"Lord, the Shaman King, Yoh Asakura, is powerful with his guardian ghost, Amidamaru." Masaki explained.

"Yes, of course." the shaman said, thinking. "Is there any specific qualities that could have gotten him to Shaman King?"

"Yes. He is a quick learner and has integrated with Amidamaru many times before. He has learned Amidamaru’s skills through his sharing of his body, and can use them effectively through his oversoul."

"An integrator?" Kirol said.

"Integration is one of the easiest shamanic skills to learn, plus it’s the weakest."

"We haven’t integrated in many years, correct, Lord Exile?" Suke asked.

"No, we haven’t integrated since I was but a child." He crossed his arms. "But why would someone need to integrate so much? For becoming Shaman King, he’d have to know oversoul."

"He did." Masaki said. "He even went through the Tunnel of Tartarus." The male shaman quickly caught attention.

"The Tunnel of Tartarus?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Masaki, where does this boy live?"

"In the town of Funbari, Lord Exile."

"Okay." The shaman made a gesture signaling Masaki that he could leave. Masaki returned to his memorial.

"Tartarus?" Kirol asked.

"Yes, similar to my training regiment, but not as bad as the real thing. It just a notch under, though." He smiled. "He might be tougher than I originally had hoped. Perfect." His dark black cloak was passed behind him as he walked out.

"Where are you going?" Kirol asked.

"To bed. Suke, Kirol, get plenty of sleep. Our mission begins tomorrow. We will make a quick detour before we go to Funbari. Good night." He then disappeared into his room. Suke and Kirol stood there, slightly confused.

"Lord Exile is a puzzling person, isn’t he, Lady Kirol?" Suke spoke.

"Yes, he is." Kirol turned around toward the hall. "But he knows what he’s doing. Get some sleep, Suke. Tomorrow we begin our journey." Suke nodded and disappeared into his memorial tablet.