Chapter 262 - Vol. 4 - 61

Keiko

"Pace yourself," Yumi told her, as she held her naginata in front of her. Keiko's hands felt frail from how long she'd spent without any serious training. Raising her father's sword, Keiko nodded. 

"Let's go again," she said. 

"Sure. Let me know if you are feeling unwell, though," Yumi responded. 

"I will. Don't worry, I can take this much, at least." 

With that, Yumi swung her polearm horizontally, and Keiko blocked the attack. She deflected a couple of quick strikes, taking sharp breaths as she exerted herself. Yumi spun, turning into an easily telegraphed swing that Keiko knocked away, feeling her sword reverberating in her palms. 

... My sword feels less comfortable,  Keiko noticed, scowling down at her own hands. She never thought she'd say such a thing. 

And, then, she felt her stomach churn just a little. 

She raised a hand up and instantly, Yumi paused. The other Zayama walked up to her with concern easy to see on her face, but Keiko smiled at her. 

"Like I said," Keiko quickly stated, trying to calm her body down through nothing but willpower. "I know my limits." 

"Good," Yumi said, and the woman took a hand off of her naginata, and placed it atop Keiko's head. "We can do more of this later if you wish." 

"More of what?" A woman asked, and Keiko turned to her right, looking at the door. She hadn't noticed Kasumi walk through. The crimson-haired Savior stretched her arms, and rubbed her eyes, blinking twice as she looked ahead at them. 

"We were training," Yumi said, politely. "Would you like to participate?" 

"No, I'm good," Kasumi quickly replied, walking past them. 

"Oh." 

Yumi looked down at her weapon, disappointed. Keiko stifled a chuckle when she saw her expression. Clearly, she'd wanted to go on for a little longer, but with Sinneah, the woman who was practically her official sparring partner, gone on that trip with Keiko's lover, it seemed like she'd have to stop for now. 

Kasumi dragged her feet through the garden, nearly running into Opah was chasing Luvine across the Manor, and Keiko watched as she stood by the railing to the back. 

She turned toward Yumi. 

"We can keep going later." 

"If you are capable," Yumi replied, and Keiko walked over to where Kasumi was. She stood next to her, and the crimson-haired woman turned toward her and raised a brow, expectingly. 

"So," Keiko said, smiling at her. "How have you been?" 

"..." For a moment, Kasumi appeared a little surprised that the Zayama seemingly wanted to have a casual chat. She soon answered, "fine. Mostly." 

"Good, have you been settling in well?" 

"I guess," Kasumi shrugged. "At the end of the day, though, as long as I have a place where I can eat, sleep, and shit, I don't really care where I am." 

"I-Is that so?" Keiko laughed awkwardly. 

Then, Kasumi looked around a little. She searched for something, and when she didn't find it, she asked:

"Ash isn't around today either? Was that trip of hers supposed to take this long?" 

"Oh, uh, no," Keiko shook her head, caught slightly by surprise at the sudden mention of her girlfriend. "She got held up and... came back early in the morning. But, she left again, to go... get something." 

She gave her the short version, just so she didn't have to say, "she's fighting a dragon so she can get its eyes because I don't want to be pregnant anymore," which would have taken slightly more oxygen to do. 

Saying that made her remember everything that Ash had said when she returned. All that talk about Kaori and what happened at the Mist Realm mostly just confused her. Keiko wasn't sure that she believed that Ash had genuinely seen Kaori, either. That wasn't to say that Keiko believed Ash to be a liar, but she wondered if maybe it had, in fact, been some sort of high-level illusion that the Savior had fallen victim to. What she did know, however, was that this morning, her feelings toward the half-demon were made clear. 

As she said, she loved her. Simply and purely. Whatever happened today, in the future, between them, she could figure out as she went along. All she knew for sure was that this realization had brought some strange comfort to her. Like a lingering question had finally been answered somehow. 

"Oh, alright," Kasumi said, and Keiko found it funny that she sounded slightly disappointed to hear that. 

"Guess you're stuck with us for today," Keiko said with a little smirk. 

"I could always just go back to sleep, don't tempt me." 

Her words were slightly harsh, but the way she smirked let Keiko know she wasn't being serious. 

At that moment, again, Opah and Luvine ran in front of them, and Kasumi's gaze was pulled as she saw them. 

"... Hmph," Kasumi said. 

"Something on your mind?" Keiko asked. 

"Nothing," Kasumi said, waving her off. "Just a whole bunch of wounds that haven't healed yet." 

---

Ash

In the distance, Ash could see the mountain she and Sinneah were heading for. Even as far as it was, it felt imposing, like a man-made statue in the center of a sandy wasteland, looking like something she'd seen in a dream. 

She could almost hear a dragon roaring in the distance, though she may have simply been nervous enough to hallucinate that. 

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Ash said in a low voice. Beside her, Sinneah stood with an expression of pure determination. The look on her face reminded Ash of when they'd met. She had looked back at Ash with those same eyes, right before they nearly fought to the death. 

"Have you fought a dragon before?" Sinneah suddenly asked. 

"No..." Ash shook her head. "Got any tips? You know, since you spent so much time with Gurron and all." 

"That time was not spent wondering how to kill him," Sinneah replied. 

"Oh. Right." 

"..." Sinneah paused. "Well," the draconic woman paused. "All I can say is that dragons seem to be weaker at their underside. As far as weaknesses may be concerned, that might be the only one." 

... So, all I can do is hope to get under it. And, hope the fucking thing doesn't crush me to death in the process. Gotcha. 

In a heavy silence, the two of them continued to cut a path through the dirt as they moved toward the mountain in the distance, like assassins on their way to deal with a man who'd taken a loan from the wrong person.

They arrived at the base of the mountain shortly afterward. The lack of monsters on their way made things feel even tenser, as Ash wasn't going to get any chance to warm up. With a bit of time to prepare, Ash looked at her status. 

Level 75

MP: 330/330

EXP: 300/750

---

STR: 50 (+5)

DEX: 30

CON: 34

INT: 28 (+5)

WIS: 33

L: 100

Hm...  Ash didn't like what she was seeing. Outside of my Strength, my stats are a bit all over the place. Normally, that doesn't matter, but, dragons are immune to magic. So, basically, all I've really got is my Strength, Dex, and Con. How much is that in terms of levels that I'm losing out on?

She realized then that if she didn't have Tomoe's techniques that Sinneah had taught her, she'd be in for a lot of trouble right now. Even then, considering the limited number of uses those techniques had currently, she wasn't sure she could do this. 

However, as the two of them began going up the mountain, and that looming fight drew closer, Ash knew she had to try. Even now, she could see Keiko's elated eyes looking back at her if she succeeded, and she longed to make that a reality. 

Ignoring, of course, the faint voice in her mind asking if that was what  she  wanted to do. 

Eventually, the two walked over enough fallen leaves and branches and arrived at a clearing. 

And, here, Ash saw it. 

The ground trembled as soon as her eyes connected with the creature, as though the fact that the half-demon could see it had been what alerted the monster. Right in front of her, was a giant beast of a creature that Ash had only seen up close like this once. 

Only, this time, the dragon wasn't injured at all. A dragon with black scales and large, amber-colored eyes looked back at Rin, letting out a huff of sorts as the two of them approached it. Looking over at Sinneah, Ash found the woman with a somewhat apprehensive expression. One that quickly faded away when the dragon snarled, and Sinneah took up a fighting stance. 

"... Okay," Ash nodded to herself, pulling out her Savior's Weapon and dropping her bag to the side.  How strong is this thing? 

With that thought, the half-demon checked its level. 

Level 80

MP: 500/500

"... Sin," Ash said. 

"Yes?" 

"You see that thing's level?" 

"Yes." Sinneah nodded. "Between the two of us, we should be able to fight it." 

"Agreed," Ash stated. "Still, be careful. I'm level 75, but that's more like 60 or something if you remove my magic. So," she took a sharp breath, "we're pretty much heading into this at around the same power level." 

"I see." 

Sinneah didn't say much else. 

Focused.  Ash noted.  Yeah. Time to stop talking. Let's do this. 

"Bow,"  Ash whispered, and she transformed her Savior's Weapon.