On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Sixty-Nine *Contains Status – Akio, Aiko, Eri, Shaeula, Hyacinth*

A grim Foresight? This feels similar to when the yakuza attacked the shrine but worse. And it feels… imminent. There’s no way I can keep this to myself, but… as I stood and retrieved the mirror that had fallen from Ren-san’s numb hands, I looked up to see Yamato-san hurrying over to us, a frown on his face.

“Just what have you done?” he asked, looking at the surrounding Territory, which had largely been drained of the indigo light energies, although due to the rather generous supply of elemental light Kiyomizu-dera possessed, faint flecks of deep blue were drifting up from the surroundings already, though it would likely take many months or longer to reach the density of before. “The light has gone.”

“For now. It’ll return, and it isn’t like you were using it properly.” at my firm tone, Ren-san and the twins made noises of shock at my lack of respect for Yamato-san. But it’s not about respect. I respect people, but I’m also not part of their faction, so I have no need to bow and scrape. Besides, he owes me… “If I’m not mistaken, you did say I could have the light energy here. I still think it’s insufficient for my aid, but… well, I want to be on good terms with you and your father.”

Mine-san, who was lying on her back, her face twisted into an expression of pain, let out a small laugh. “He’s got you there, Yamato-sama. I, like, totally remember you saying he could have the light energy. I’m not sure how they did what they did though… I started sucking it in like they were, and all its done is hurt and make me feel sick. Like, a total bummer, right?”

“Hang on, let me take a look.” My Eye flared orange, and I could see that her clumsy efforts had indeed caused noticeable damage around her root chakra, spreading up towards the sacral and solar plexus chakras. “Yeah, that isn’t good.” I declared. “You can’t just force this. It takes significant effort and understanding to make it work.” That and good eyes and some luck. I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered Shaeula and her efforts to teach me the wind element, and the damage I suffered. Sure, now we have it down to a bit of a fine art, having a lot of experience, Chirurgery, Ether Healing, her and my Eyes, and now even telepathy and mental linking. Really, we have a set-up few can likely replicate, though I don’t want to believe only we can have this level of success. Others might have different methods that work. Even so, I doubt many are more efficient…

“Hey, no laughing at me. I thought I’d, like, give it a shot? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?” Mine-san protested. I knelt down beside her and asked her if I could touch her briefly to heal her injuries. She gave me quite the look, before nodding, piercings jingling softly. “Okay, but no funny business, right? Though I guess, in front of the girls over there, that’s like, not a good plan, right?”

“True. They’d be distinctly unimpressed.” I let aether flow, starting to repair the damage. My stocks were diminished, as I had to keep supplying the twins to keep the link working, as well as perform noticeable healing in everyone, but my ability to generate and store aether was pretty damn large nowadays, so I could spare a little more. “And all done. I’ve flushed the remaining light element and patched you up. Really, I suggest starting with earth element if you need to. You have affinity already since you are a nature user, and it’s the first chakra in your body.”

“Really? Uh… chakras, right. Sounds new age. I was kind of into that, like, a few years back. I think I still have the jewellery somewhere. Oh well, thanks again, I guess. That’s two I owe you.” She let me help her to her feet, before she brushed herself down and adjusted her hakama.

“That is all very well, but just what have you done?” Yamato-san persisted. “It sounds like you have all grown stronger by doing whatever it was you were doing.”

Everyone else was letting me handle this, though Shaeula was looking at Yamato-san with a rather baleful gleam in her eye, not liking the way he was talking to me. So I’ll need to sort this out quickly. I turned and tossed the mirror back to Ren-san, who caught it weakly, fumbling and nearly dropping it, though a simple fall wouldn’t damage such a mystical item. “Well, yes. Increasing the elements one can use is fundamental, at least in my training school. I expect to talk more about it at Conclave. Though as Mine-san here found out, going in unprepared can be harmful, though at her level, it's likely there would have been little lasting damage and she’d have recovered in time once she stopped doing it. Although if you blindly try to mix clashing elements, then bad things can certainly happen…” When I tried to learn fire, already knowing wind, that was wild…

“You seem to know a lot about how this works.” Yamato-san mused. “How is that?”

“I had a good teacher.” At that Shaeula puffed out her chest, and Yamato-san noticed.

“I see. A spiritual being. That makes some sense.” He then looked at Ren-san. “That mirror. It seems to be some sort of light-related spiritual treasure, is it not?”

“It is.” Ren-san said, earning him a scowl from Eri at his loose tongue. “It can store light and darkness energies for later use, and…”

“I don’t think we need to go into that, do we?” Eri cut him off. “If you have a loose tongue, Hinata might come cut it out.”

Ren-san flinched at that. Seriously, I doubt she’d go that far, but… Hinata does really want me to be more discreet, and she’s right. Certain information such as kami and elements are going to be well known anyway, but specifics like the mirror should be kept under wraps… “Now, we are all allies here, right?” I said in a friendly manner. “Yes, the mirror is useful, but it’s only a training aid.”

“Really?” Yamato-san asked, frowning again. “Well, as a Chosen of Kannon and bearer of a long history of faith, perhaps you should entrust it to me, as my Territory has a great abundance of light element, as you can see.”

Oh yeah. My link with Haru-san was the only one that remained after the twins were exhausted by their labours, so I sent her a message to not say anything about her being a Candidate of Kannon too. We’ll save that for when the time is right. Before Eri, Shaeula or the others could explode, I declined politely. “No, I’m afraid not. I’ve no interest in trading away the mirror right now. Besides, if anyone should be interested in mirrors, it’d be Princess Mikasa, right? After all, a mirror is part of the Imperial Regalia.”

Yamato-san looked like he was about to protest, when Mine-san spoke up. “Oh come on, Yamato-sama. It isn’t nice to ask to take his things, is it? I mean, like… I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have him as a friend, right?” she winked at me. “Let’s not fall out over something stupid.”

“I was just thinking I could put it to better use, as a bearer of the light…” Yamato-san said, and at that I had to chuckle.

“Well, looks like we all bear the light now.” I let a small beam of focused light shoot from my palm into the skies. Yeah, forming it into a laser like Haru-san does is the easiest way to use light element as an attack, though I daresay using it in combination with wind as a flashbang would be good too… “But well, perhaps I could part with it, if you had something I needed more to offer in exchange.”

“I see. Well, I shall speak to my father. The ability to store light would strengthen me noticeably. But I am not so churlish as to take it without permission.” He sighed. “I am not that bastard Saionji.”

As the conversation took a turn, Hyacinth rushed up to me, grabbing and embracing me, rubbing her face on me. It was unusual for her to be so forward in company, but it seemed that she was simply that excited.

“Master! Akiooo! Hyacinth did it, I changed myself! I want tooo know, how am I now? Am I stronger?” Her speech quirk was working overtime, as she was extremely happy. On seeing the display, Mine-san doubled over, guffawing.

“Like, whoa, that maid is all over you. You sure are a smooth operator, Akio-kun. I’d definitely better watch out!”

“If you don’t mind.” I said, allowing Hyacinth to hug me. “We are going to discuss some confidential information, so we’d like a little privacy.”

“I see. Well, do you intend to spend much longer in my Territory?” Yamato-san asked, and I shrugged.

“A little longer. That went quicker than I had expected, so we have some time before Conclave, right?”

“I see. Well, Mine-san and I shall be over there. Come.” He spoke to her harshly, and after she pulled a face and winked at me, she followed him away.

“All right…” I walked back to the group, Hyacinth still clinging to me. A flare of jade flickered around us, as I created a ward of silence. “… I had a flash of Foresight. And it isn’t good.” I said. At that, Shaeula froze, aware of what had happened before.

“Do you know-know what it may be regarding?” she asked, deadly serious.

“No, but I feel it around us. I don’t think it’s targeting me directly, more… those around me.”

“I see. That is troubling indeed. If you were the target, Akio, I would trust-trust that you could protect yourself. We need to be very-very cautious.”

“So, when did it start?” My sis asked, being supported by Eri, her face and clothes drenched with slowly-dissolving silver sweat after her efforts.

“Just now, when you exploded with light energy.” I said, and she flinched.

“It wasn’t anything I did!” she insisted.

“I know. It’s probably a coincidence. But… look, everyone needs to be aware to watch out for danger. We’ll need to step up our guard on our parents, our friends and everyone else we are with here in Kyoto.” I advised. “Hyacinth, you’ll need to step up as well. We’ll want to bring Grulgor in on this, too. You can swap with him now.”

“Ooof course, but…” she hesitated, a tense expression on her face, and I rubbed her head, stroking her hair.

“I know. You want to know your growth first. Well, here we go…”

“Nice. Your Chakra Network, Silver Cord, Aether Manipulation and Lunar Chakra skills have all gained a Rank, and your stats have all gone up a fair amount.” Her classes had gone up as well, especially Pledged One and Dweller In Twilight. “Lovers’ Link… uh, that went up by a couple of Ranks.” At that it wasn’t just me and Hyacinth that were blushing, as Shaeula and Eri remembered our foursome. “All in all, you’ve got a lot stronger. Well done.” Though her grasp of light is rudimentary, just like my grasp of darkness. Though now we have learned it, we can improve it. We have time…

“I am happy!” she declared. “I am glad I came here with yooou!” Her hug tightened on me again, and I let her do it for a minute, before she realised where she was, and face flushed, she released me. There was laughter, Kana surprisingly bold in ribbing her, and after that, Hyacinth disappeared, returning to the Material.

“All right then. We still have a bit of time.” I said, looking at my weary but proud crew. “So, we might as well use up the last of our strength on training. Especially with potential disaster coming for us.”

“You really are a monster when it comes to training.” Kana sighed.

“Well, you asked for this.” I reminded her, and she nodded, a wry smile on her face.

“Yes, I guess I did. Oh well, what do you suggest?”

“Hey, I want to learn Chirurgery!” my troublesome sister complained, and that gave me an idea. Though I hate doing it.

“All right then. Since everyone who didn’t have it got light element… thanks to you, Ren-san, Haru-san, sorry you didn’t benefit that much, but next time you will.” I apologised to them. Haru-san merely smiled, while Ren-san nodded, still drained by my sister’s plunder of his resources. “I think that we should focus on Aether Manipulation, Ether Healing, and yes, no need to pout, sis, for you, we’ll look at Chirurgery. Shaeula, can you help?”

“Of course I shall-shall.” Shaeula agreed, while my sis threw her weary hands up in a cheer.

“Thanks bro. You really are the best!”

Shaeula and I started topping up everyone’s aether with our own larger stocks, which even diminished were significantly higher than anyone else could boast. As we were finishing up Grulgor appeared, and he was still carrying the massive sack of loot from before.

“Whoa, you look hilarious.” My sis snickered, and Grulgor put down the sack, ignoring her.

“Hyacinth said to Grul to come here. Are there foes to smash?”

“No, not yet, although…” I explained my portents of grim trouble to Grulgor, and he was now intelligent enough to understand it, even if he still spoke the same way. “… so I’d like you to be on your guard during Conclave and keep an eye on everyone. Got it?” I finished.

“Grul understands. Grul will crush and break any puny enemies who try and hurt my allies. Huh…” he paused, looking at everyone. “Grul thinks you have all got stronger. Grul approves.”

“You have a keen eye, Grulgor.” Shaeula said happily. “We have indeed. I am now a Fae of light as well-well, and it does not-not need saying that Akio mastered it as well.”

“I had intended you to have a go learning too, Grulgor, but the supply of light element around here has been pretty much gutted for now. We’ve kind of speed-run the mass adoption of light here.” I said, a little embarrassed.

“It does not matter. Grul wants to master water first.” Grulgor said, surprising me. I wasn’t aware he thought about things like that. I know he’s always looking to be stronger, but… why water element?

Seeing my confused expression, Grulgor gurgled with laughter, huge, slab-like teeth clashing. “Grul knows water is good for healing and strengthening the body. Grul thinks if he has that, Grul will be unkillable, able to fight and fight until all enemies are stomped to bloody paste!”

“That sounds true, if you ask me, bro.” My sis chimed in, recovering from her exertions now that she was going to learn what she wanted. “Stacking regeneration is one of the tricks those two perverted idiots told Eri and me about…”

“Perverted idiots?” I don’t like the sound of that.

“Jealous much? That’s kind of cute, bro. Don’t worry, nobody is making a move on Eri. She’d kill them first anyway. You remember we talked about the two otaku in class who are into games and dirty stuff? Well, I’ve been asking them for advice on elements and so on. It seems to have paid off!” she said proudly, and I felt the urge to rap her on the head, but I refrained. “… and their reward is they get to talk to us. A better deal for them, if you ask me. Anyway, they were saying in the games they played, multiple healing methods stack, so…”

I get it. Makes sense. “In that case, Grulgor, we’ll make time for you to learn Ether Healing as well. Let’s really maximise your strengths.” With that, I dropped the barrier of wind, and on being able to hear us again, Mine-san strolled over, a smile on her face.

“Finished with your secret talk?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Not so much secret, as private. So, what brings you here?” I could see Yamato-san watching us too.

“Nothing much, just thought I’d hang out. It isn’t often I get to meet people like me. Though…” she looked at the girls and Ren-san. “… seems like this spiritual world isn’t exclusively our domain anymore. I think, like, you’ll go down a storm at Conclave.”

“That’s the plan.” I agreed, only for my sis to interrupt us rudely.

“Enough flirting with that punk girl, bro. Training. Training!”

“Fine. In that case… Ether Healing. It’s a skill I really want everyone to have, even if getting it is kind of… well, horrible.” I admitted. Eri and my sis could understand, as they had been through it already. “It allows you to automatically heal injuries, even if it’s slow and weak at first, as well as resist poisons, disease and even elemental damage at higher Ranks. You can even use it to heal other people, though without an Eye, it might be tough to use well. It even gets the ability to acclimatise to specific ailments you are exposed to eventually, further increasing your protection.”

“So, uh, that sounds like it would make it hard to get drunk bro. After all, alcohol is a poison, right?” my sis asked, and Shaeula and I shared an amused look. Although Shaeula never had any issues getting drunk, ever

“True, although high stats tend to do that anyway. For the longest time it was impossible for me to get drunk easily if at all, however…” I grinned. “… at higher Ranks you get enhanced control, and can even lower your resistance to things. So now I can get drunk all I want, and I can sober up in an instant when the fun is over.”

Mine-san looked interested at that. “That sounds, like, super cool. I’d kill for that. I suffer from rancid hangovers when I’m out drinking.”

“More to the point…” I said, frowning. “… call me a worrier if you want, but for you girls it serves another purpose. Especially for you, sis.”

“Oh?” she asked, and I elaborated.

“Well, you are going to University next spring, right? Assuming you pass your exams. That means socialising and stuff. And well… a pretty girl like you, you need to be careful.”

“You don’t get anything for flattering me bro, but… yeah, I’m gorgeous, I know it.”

“You do hear horror stories.” Haru-san said. “I never saw any of it, it’s not as common as people think, but… yes, some unscrupulous people might try and drug your drink at mixers and parties. I think being able to shrug that off would be a godsend.”

“Ick, that’s disgusting.” My sis spat sourly. “Well, I’ve already learned it, but I’ll try and raise the Rank. No way I’m letting that shit happen to me!”

“You like, totally are a worrier!” Mine-san laughed. “But… I think it’s kind of hot. I wish a guy thought about me that way. Maybe I’ll go put the moves on Yamato-sama.”

“At the sour look on his face, I think he heard you and isn’t impressed.” I joked. “Anyway, time is ticking, and we are in a hurry. So… I’ll help my sis learn Chirurgery first. Shaeula, you put everyone else through their paces at Aether Manipulation and the new light element.”

“Wow, bro putting me first instead of his girlfriends. I’m so honoured.” My sis snarked.

“Sure, sure. Anyway, Haru-san, sorry to ask, but can you link Aiko back in. We shouldn’t need the twins as well if it’s just us.” Plus they are rather exhausted.

“That’s no problem. I think I’m getting the hang of it now.” she smiled, an impish one I had seldom seen from the shy and troubled woman. “I know you worry I didn’t gain much from this effort, but… practise makes perfect, right?”

“Right.” I agreed, and as we linked up, Mine-san and Yamato-san watching intently, I let Haru-san share my vision with my sis, her network flaring into view.

“Uh, is it me, or for a moment there were you seeing me naked then, bro?” My sis said suspiciously, and I sighed.

“A side-effect of getting the clearest view possible. Don’t worry, I’ve already scrubbed the horrific sight from my mind.”

“Horrific. Damn bro, way to hurt a girl. Anyway, this is how you see the world through that Eye, huh? Damn, I’m all pretty and sparkly.”

“Yeah, that’s your chakra network. See here, that’s where your fire element resides and here’s your new light element. It’s sunlight. Great job, sis. You…” I trailed off, surprised.

“Wait, what?” my sis asked. “Don’t leave me hanging, bro!”

“Good news, my precious little sister sapphire.” I teased her. “I had expected you’d get the Wielder of a Mutated Element class, and you did, but… you also got one I’ve not seen before.”

“Cool, so I have three now, right? I’m finally getting some power! So, what is it?”

“Not so fast. I’ll tell you if you can learn Chirurgery!” I continued my teasing, and as she pouted, Mine-san spoke up in wonder.

“Uh, they are brother and sister, right? Because, like, they are flirting up a storm here.”

“Yes. Blood-related, one hundred percent genuine.” Eri sighed from where she was alternating between bolts of light and darkness, trying to get a feel for them both together. “Seriously, there’s nothing going on, despite what it looks like, but they are renowned in our hometown as the brocon/siscon pair. Just leave them to it, if you draw attention to it, it only makes it worse.”

“Eri! That’s … shocking!” My sis protested, and as they bickered, I began to use my own Chirurgery, making small changes to the smaller side capillaries and branch pathways for Aiko to try and fix. “Fuck, bro! That hurts! Don’t just thrust it in there, give me some warning and be gentler!”

“See? Phrasing, Aiko! I know you are doing it on purpose since you have an audience!” Eri sighed.

“Yeah, this is going to hurt, as I’m improperly messing with your network, making it a little worse. Ether Healing will fix the damage, but it won’t put it back the way it was before. You need Chirurgery for that… I’ll demonstrate!”

“Holy hell, that hurt worse than burning my hand!” she yelped. “But I think I get it… or not. Damn. Do it again, bro. But be gentle!”

I spent a good twenty minutes slicing and dicing away at her network, until in the end Aiko was able to replicate the feat. It would have been essentially impossible for her just from my descriptions, and fumbling about to learn could have been disastrous, so once more my eyes and the link paid dividends.

“Well done. that was really quick. Thanks to you too, Haru-san.”

“It was a pleasure.” She said, letting the link between us finally break. “But I couldn’t help but feel the phantom pain from Aiko-san, so it wasn’t fun.”

“Okay, sorry about that. Now, Mine-san, we need a little privacy again, if you don’t mind.”

“I get it. You want to talk about classes, levels and skills, right? I’m, like, totally not stupid, okay?” Mine-san winked at us. “Though… damn, I’m so curious, the suspense is like, killing me. Want to grab a drink once Conclave is done for the day? You can show off how you get drunk and tell me all about it.”

“No way, my bro has enough women without you flirting with him too. Shoo, shoo!” she shooed away the laughing Mine-san, and as I put up my sound-dampening wind barrier again, she regarded me with sparkling eyes. “Okay bro, spill, spill! I need to know what my stats are now!”

“That’s cool as hell, bro! All my numbers are over a hundred now!” she crowed. “And my Ether Healing, Chakra of Flame and Spiritual Kyūdō have all Ranked up. But that’s not the main event… go on bro, tell me, tell me!”

“I get it.” I laughed, seriously impressed with my sis, who despite barely getting any benefit from Lovers’ Link, unlike the others, had put in gruelling effort to gain skills and grow stronger. I guess she is definitely my sister, we both like the grind.

Archer Of Light – This class is gained by anyone who has access to flame and light elements, along with satisfactory spiritual and physical archery skills. Intellect and Precision will increase, and your grasp of spatial coordinates and trajectories will be instinctive, and your calculative capabilities noticeably enhanced. Generation of flame and light elements will be slightly increased, and you can imbue those elements into your arrows more easily and at reduced cost, or even create arrows of those elements.

“Bro, whatever this system is, it thinks I’m good enough an archer to have a class. I feel… damn, I feel so proud of myself!”

“As you should.” I patted her head. “But more importantly… Aiko, what’s the square of sixty-seven?”

“Four thousand, four hundred and eighty-nine.” She answered instantly, without thinking. “Uh… how did I do that?”

“Your calculative capabilities are enhanced. Well sis, I guess the maths portion of your entrance exams will no longer be an issue.”

“That’s a blessing, so if I’ve got maths and English in the bag, then it should be smooth sailing, right?” she gave me a thumbs-up, and I laughed, dropping the wind barrier.

“Looks like the news was good.” Mine-san said, coming back over. Yamato-san was continuing to watch our training with narrowed eyes, probably trying to glean hints about how we were doing it. “So, like, good job, I guess?”

“Thanks!” Aiko gave her a thumbs-up as well. “Well, I’m beat, so I’ll leave the next wave of training to you. Kana-chan, you’re up!” she called, and Kana came over, followed by Marika-san, who was holding a little flickering ball of light above her palms.

“Even a young kid like that, huh?” Mine-san observed, just as the ball winked out of existence and Marika-san teared up a little.

“It’s okay, Marika-chan.” Kana reassured her. “It’s hard, I know. But if you study, you’ll master it. Keomi-chan says you like studying, right? Hell, you are better than she is, and she’s way older.”

“That’s true. I feel a bit sorry for her and the others that they couldn’t come today, but…” I said, shrugging. “We can’t train everyone at once. And judging by how much elemental energy we plundered, it was the right call. But enough of that. Kana… do you want to learn Ether Healing?”

She flinched. “I… well, yes. I do. But I don’t like pain. Still…” she let out a long sigh. “… I managed through the Chirurgery. I can do it again.”

“It’s worse, maybe.” Eri warned her. “Although…” she exchanged a look with Aiko.

“Yeah, it has a side benefit. Your skin and hair stay pretty much perfect, even at the first Rank. No spots, greasy skin, lank hair… it’s awesome. Even the little nicks and wear and tear of daily life just polish themselves right out. You can get away without make-up nearly all the time!”

Mine-san was listening, as were everyone else, the twins giving us their full attention too. Only Ren-san looked uninterested, but Yamato-san strode over and started up a conversation with him. Probing for information, no doubt. Well, it’s not like it can be replicated. In fact…

“The only issue is, since we aren’t kin, it’ll be hard for me to know when you’ve acquired the skill, but I should be able to manage with my Eye.”

“I can assist as well-well.” Shaeula grinned. “So do not-not worry. Pain is temporary, beauty is forever, is that not-not correct?”

“Fine.” Kana said at last. “I’ll do it. Ugh, what I have to suffer to be the best. I won’t ask you to take responsibility, but I will ask you to be gentle.”

“She sounds just like me…” My sis snickered.

“All right then, here we go…”

********

“Finally.” Kana was cradling her arm. We had rolled the sleeve back on her hakama and inflicted nasty injuries on her, though we kept then internal, so that she didn’t bleed all over her clothes back in the Material. Eventually, with help from my Eye and Haru-san showing her how I did it, as well as Shaeula and I guiding the flow within her, Kana’s body reached the point aether was automatically being sent around both her bodies, affecting minor healing. “That sucked. It sucked to the maximum. It was hell. But… at least I succeeded.”

“For now.” my sis warned her. “You get to hurt all over again when you are going for a Rank up.”

“You sure are a sadist.” Mine-san said, having watched the scene. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was torture.”

“It can be quite-quite cruel to learn, but compared to how we learned by using the Myconid Death Spores…” Shaeula barked a bitter laugh. “No, this was kind and quite-quite gentle in comparison. So, who is next?”

“Ren-san, you’re up.” I said, and as he went pale, Shaeula mocked him.

“I shall-shall be working on your sisters. They will not-not refuse, right?”

The two girls were holding hands, looking down, but they shook their heads after silently communicating with each other. “No, we shall endure, Shaeula-sama.” “We can do it. As daughters of Hikawa-Kawagoe, we need to be strong.” They both answered her.

“You see? So man up.” I laughed, grabbing Ren-san by the collar.

“Would you be so good as to explain what you are doing?” Yamato-san asked, his conversation interrupted.

“Training. You are welcome to watch, though I doubt you’ll learn that much. I dare say I’ll end up talking about it in more detail at Conclave.”

He seemed frustrated, but he merely acquiesced, backing off, and soon, Ren-san was wailing like a little kid…

********

“To think that you two sisters could share-share the pain between yourselves, halving the intensity. That was most-most clever. And then to split it still further with Marika…”

I was patting the head of our teary-eyed Marika-san, though she smiled at me tremulously, her body still shaking. “It is fine. I wanted… to be useful to Chairo-sama, and to you, Akio-sama.” She bit her lip softly, remembering the pain, as even split into thirds it was quite agonising. “Though… can I wait a while before going further?”

“Of course. You were very brave. The twins too.” I turned to thank them. “You didn’t need to suffer the pain for Marika-san, so I’m really impressed.”

“It was nothing, Akio-sama. Or so I would like to say…” Chiaki began.

“… we don’t regret it, but… we would like to wait before further training as well.” Chiasa finished her sentence.

“Yeah, there’s no urgency. We’ve laid the foundations.” I said, only for Ren-san to speak up.

“If only you’d have waited, my sister could have shared my pain and…”

“No way.” I denied him. “Brothers are there to spare their sisters from pain.”

“Says the brother that is always hurting his sister deliberately, it seems.” Mine-san giggled. “It’s like, you have no self-awareness at all!”

“Yeah, whatever.” I brushed that aside, knowing I did it for the right reasons, even if I hated it. “Haru-san, Grulgor, we are running short on time, I’ll work on the pair of you later, along with Hyacinth.”

“Fine. I don’t… enjoy pain. It brings back bad memories.” Haru-san whispered.

“All right. Mine-san, Yamato-san, we’ll be going soon, I just want to try one more thing, so… privacy time.” the barrier of wind went up again.

“Before that-that, Eri and I would like to see our growth.” Shaeula asked, and I nodded.

“All right, I’ll make I quick, as time is passing.”

“I see-see. I am certainly stronger, and I do rather enjoy being able to understand my skills as you do now, Akio, but-but…” she sighed mournfully. “I have been far-far too busy on Seelie Court politics to battle and raise my level. I have stagnated, and Eri is close-close to catching me.”

As Eri grinned triumphantly, my sis complained. “Yeah, yeah. I feel so sorry for you Shaeula, here’s me, stuck on level nine!”

“Well, I have-have come up with an idea, but first we need to speak to…”

As they bickered, they looked happy. Tangible growth was the sweetest of all rewards, and though I had helped them along the way, a lot of it was their own efforts. In fact, we all help each other. Haru-san, the twins, Ren-san, Shaeula, today wouldn’t have been such a success without everyone working together. As I was reading out more of Eri’s stats, I glanced outside my wind barrier to where Yamato-san and Mine-san were talking. Conclave, huh? If we can all work together, more Candidates helping each other, what value can we add, what feats can we achieve together? If only my Foresight wasn’t warning me, putting a dampener on my hopeful feelings…

With Eri’s stats looking like that after all her hard work, I definitely don’t need to worry about casual criminals or stalkers. It’d take a mob of yakuza, the army or a Candidate to handle her… I guess her affinity for light is low though, considering her gains. Hmm, I think I know their next training regimen…

It was similar to what I was doing now, trying to link my wood and light elements to my lunar chakra, as doing so massively increased the recovery speed, power and maximum amount of such elements I could hold.

“I was so proud of breaking the hundred barrier and all of yours are past two hundred! Some are nearly three hundred!” My sis complained. “Although… I have sunlight, you have plain measly old light!” she said triumphantly.

“Hey, I have just an ordinary light element too…” I laughed. “And speaking of…” using my Split Thoughts and my experience from before, along with my high understanding of light element, it synchronised with my lunar chakra, upgrading the skill. Wood element… well, that’s a lost cause for now. I suppose we should get going…

Before I could declare we were done, everyone insisted on knowing my stats. “Oh well, I can tell you, but promise not to be depressed, all right?” I grinned cheekily. “If Eri’s bother you, you’ll cry when I tell you mine.” I teased Aiko.

“Just shut up and do it. We have to get going soon, right?” she retorted.

“Sure. In that case…”

My lunar chakra was now a four element, light and darkness one, and the swirling energies were orbiting it in seeming harmony, generating me noticeable power. My stats were all around a thousand, barring Aether, and when I integrated the new light element into Body Enhancement, I might be able to effectively double them for a short time, or run them at a noticeable but lesser increase for a decent length of time.

“Wow, just …. Wow.” My sis said. “Damn bro, way to make us all look bad!”

“Well, I am a Candidate, so it’s not fair to compare. Considering everything, you and Eri have done wonders. And now Kana, Marika-san, Chiaki-san, Chiasa-san, Ren-san, you’ve taken the first steps on this path too. The others… we’ll have to bring then up to speed as well, but for now… Conclave.” I exchanged looks with everyone as the privacy barrier dropped again. “Are we ready?”

“We sure are!” Kana declared, hyping herself up. “My father may be the face of Shirohebizumi shrine, but I’ll do my part, as the future heir to the shrine, and your ally, Akio.”

As the others echoed her, Yamato-san and Mine-san returned. “Sounds like you are all pumped for Conclave. I’m like, glad someone is.” Mine-san chortled.

“Don’t be foolish. This is vital to you. To us all.” Yamato-san then addressed Ren-san, the twins and Kana. “As Susanoo faction, I hope you’ll give it your all, even if you are not at the main meeting. I’ll make some time to come and see you, all right?”

Ren-san nodded, excited. Kana hid her expression behind her usual flirty mask when she was trying to dissemble, and nodded as well.

“As for you…” Yamato-san said. “My father invited you, don’t forget that.”

True, but… oh well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll do what I need to do, regardless of faction. “Don’t worry, I never forget a favour done to me.” A slight neither. Let’s hope he gets that message. “Well, we should be going. Thanks for the light element, Yamato-san. I’ll consider it a little payment towards the cost of my help yesterday.” And with those words we returned to the Material, ready for Conclave, though first there was the small matter of my meeting with Saionji-san…