Chapter 269 - Vol. 4 - 68

Keiko

With her hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of her father's sword, Keiko pushed away a smile as she and Ash walked deeper into the mountain. The sounds of birds in the distance served as a bit of background music as the two women kept their eyes peeled for any potential enemies. 

At the same time, Keiko was trying to remember past techniques.

Oh my goodness, what was the Rose Blossom technique like?  She wondered.  Uh, with one leg on the ground, I do a spinning slash, right? What was the incantation though? Zansa? Saesa? Ugh! 

She was half-frustrated, half-excited. The excitement slowly overtook the frustration, however, as she heard what sounded like a branch cracking up ahead, and she nearly pulled her sword out. 

"What's up?" Ash asked. "You heard something?" 

"Yes," Keiko nodded. "From ahead." 

"... Well, your senses are still better than mine. Let's see what's up there." 

The two of them jogged up to a small bush, and when they looked behind it, a squirrel popped out. It looked at them for a couple of seconds, and as Keiko let out a disappointed sigh, it ran away. 

"Hey," Ash said, smiling a little, "you're gonna get a chance to fight, don't worry." 

"I-I know," Keiko replied. "I'm just... I wanna get to it already." 

"Trust me, I get that. But, I do have to say," Ash spoke up, "you're pretty under-leveled for this place, so, be careful. In terms of your Dex," the half-demon said, as she looked away, her eyes scanning their surroundings, "you're pretty much as fast as I am. The problem is, you're nowhere near as strong, and you can't take any hits. But, I think you can make up for that with your speed and your skills, so, yeah." 

"I am glad to hear you have so much faith in me," Keiko said, genuinely. 

"For good reason," she shrugged. "But, yeah, be careful." 

"Of course," Keiko replied. "The last thing I want to do is embarrass myself in front of you. Actually, I should probably activate my Spirit Eye already." 

"That would be a good idea, yeah." 

Nodding, Keiko took a deep breath. 

"Iridos."

With that said, the two of them continued. Keiko's heightened senses made it so that she flinched a couple of times, as she thought she heard things in the distance. 

The actual threats, however, would make themselves known far less subtly than that. 

As Keiko looked to her left, seeing some birds fly away from the north. Then, some animalistic grunting sounds came from up ahead, and she narrowed her eyes in that direction. 

"Hear anything?" 

"Yeah," Keiko replied. She took out her sword, fairly certain that, at the very least, they were dealing with a large creature of some sort. 

As she and Ash rounded a large tree, they saw it. 

A hunched, muscular back was turned toward them, belonging to a creature with the head of a lizard, but a body that was similar to that of an ape. From its back, red spikes grew out, and its hands almost looked too big for its body. 

As soon as Keiko and Ash walked up, the creature turned toward them, and a pair of bulging eyes stared back at them. 

Uh, okay, gross,  Keiko thought, as she put her sword in front of her.  But, what matters is how strong it is. Let me check... 

Level 48

MP: 150/150

Okay, nearly double my levels. I definitely can't fight it alone, Keiko thought, glancing at Ash. 

"Sword," Ash said, transforming her Savior's Weapon. 

I guess she agrees,  Keiko nodded to herself.  Like she said, I should be almost as fast as this thing, but nowhere near as strong. That's okay,  she thought, taking a deep breath.  I just want to move around again. Let's see what happens. 

Ash was the first to run forward, which was fairly nostalgic in and of itself. The half-demon sprinted and Keiko was surprised by the burst of speed she witnessed. 

She's really gotten more powerful,  Keiko thought, before she did the same. 

The monster ahead opened its mouth and a blue sphere shot out at Ash, which the half-demon dodged. 

Then, Ash went for a slash, and the monster flipped to the side, jumping out of the way of her swing. 

Keiko's Spirit Eye let her know that the creature was going to turn its back to her, and that meant she had an opening. 

She charged into it, sword outstretched as the creature put its arms up, as though it was going to toss something at Ash. 

Keiko stabbed it in the back before it cast its spell, however. 

Only, her sword didn't seem to cut too deeply. 

What? 

The monster screeched and, in a blink, it swung at Keiko's head. She only managed to avoid the attack with the help of her Spirit Eye, ducking out of the way, and hopping back to put distance between them. 

Well, she let out a shaky breath.  There's that Strength I'm missing out on. 

The monster twirled in the air then, in a way that made Keiko's jaw hit the floor. Her Spirit Eye showed her taking a magical projectile to the face that was going to kill her instantly, and Keiko dipped to the left, moving out of the way. 

Ash caught it mid-air then, stabbing it with her own sword. 

"Aaaagh!" The monster screamed and Ash called to her. 

"Keiko!" She yelled. "Come on, stab it!" 

"R-Right!" 

Understanding that Ash wanted her to get the EXP from the kill, Keiko lunged forward and stabbed her sword straight through the creature's head. 

As soon as she did, the monster's sounds stopped, and a message appeared over Keiko's head. 

EXP Gained: 400

EXP: 290/290

Level Up!

As Ash also saw it, she dropped the monster to the side. 

There was a pause. While blood poured out from the wound Keiko had created, she and the half-demon gazed at each other. Keiko saw Ash smile proudly. 

"I... I..." Keiko looked down at her hands. A sense of elation bubbled up inside of her, and Ash reverted her Savior's Weapon to a cube, before walking over and hugging Keiko tightly. 

"There you go..." She said as the two held each other. "Welcome back." 

Laughing into her shoulder, Keiko felt like she could cry right now. 

Instead, she leaned back and quickly leaned forward again, giving Ash a warm kiss. 

Of course, she meant it in a "wow, this is really happening", sort of way. But, as she swore she briefly saw heart-shaped pupils appear in Ash's eyes, she worried Ash may have taken that a different way. 

"... I'm happy for you," Ash stated then, though Keiko could tell she was holding something back. 

"I've said it a lot already, but, once again," Keiko said. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome." 

---

Ash

This is getting unbearable. 

Ash hadn't had to restrain herself like this in a very, very long time. 

The two of them found a couple of other monsters after that, some goblins and a snake-like creature of sorts. Those moments allowed Ash to be distracted, for just a little bit. 

Every other second, however, Ash spent with her mind becoming increasingly clouded as Keiko's presence took up more and more of her mental space. 

I swear,  she thought.  As soon as I get back to the Manor, I'm going to lock myself in our room and who knows when I'm going to come back out. 

"Should we start heading back?" Keiko then asked. "We've been here for about an hour already." 

"... Yeah," Ash nodded. "We may as well." 

On that note, the two of them turned around and began retracing their steps. 

"How many levels did you get?" 

"All in all, three," Keiko replied, showing her status over her head. 

Level 32

MP: 150/150

EXP: 20/320

---

STR: 25

DEX: 50

CON: 16

INT: 10

WIS: 15

L: 5

"I decided I'll put everything into my Con," Keiko added. "At least, until I feel like I won't die in one hit from any random monster here." 

"Yeah, sounds smart." 

"Ah, I want to get back to it already, though!" Keiko said, sounding happy. "The feeling of a weapon in my hands, and an enemy to defeat, after so long... It's like nothing else!" 

"Uh, okay, glad you like it that much," Ash chuckled. "Anyway, don't worry, as soon as the others get their turns, we'll be in and, yeah." 

Keiko then gave Ash a lingering gaze. One that made Ash raise a brow.

"Maybe later," Keiko said, "you can show me how strong you've gotten in other ways." 

"... What?" Ash stopped. 

"Hehe," Keiko winked at her. "I'm feeling a little energetic today. I don't know." 

... Holy shit, Ash thought. I am going to tear my pussy apart tonight. 

As she replied with that, the two got back to the group. 

"And then, the narrator said, 'war, war never changes,' as the book finishes," Yumi told Sinneah.

"... Is that it?" Sinneah asked. "That one was fairly short."

"I believe so," Yumi shrugged. "I think there were sequels but I did not have any of them at the shrine." 

"Ash!" Kasumi stood up and jogged over at Ash, as Keiko went and sat down beside Yumi. "Please, please, take me away from here." 

"What? What's going on?" 

"I've been sitting through Yumi reciting entire novels to the dragon girl for the last hour, and I swear to you, I am one more chapter away from walking right back to the city." 

"Uh, okay," Ash shrugged. "Sure." 

"Thank fuck!" Kasumi said, as she quickly walked in the direction that Ash had just come from. 

"... Well," Ash said to the others.. "I guess I'll see you in a bit."