Chapter 298 - Vol. 5 -

Ash

"It seems like every time we get to speak, you have to leave immediately afterward," Kairo laughed. "Will this trend continue onto the future?" 

"I hope not," Ash replied, crossing her legs as the two of them sat down in a small restaurant to the south of Jade. Every now and then, people would glance in her direction but by now Ash had become fairly desensitized to them, able to tune them out in just a couple of seconds. 

No, the only real issue lately was how antsy she felt in moments like these. The day of Kaori's trial grew closer and closer, now only two weeks away, and although Ash had been training for a while, she couldn't help but worry if she'd be powerful enough by the time the trial arrived. 

"Regardless, you must not forget to stop and smell the roses every now and then. Otherwise, whatever tension builds up within you will continue to do so, well into your training, and when you arrive at the day of battle, you will be in no condition to fight." 

"Maybe," Ash responded. "But, there's too much I have to do. Too much I have to prepare for. I have to give it everything I've got." 

"That's understandable, but rest is a key factor in determining people's physical condition." 

"Ah, so that's why you spend every hour of the day at that church?" 

"Partly," he shrugged with a smile. 

"Noted. Maybe I'll become a monk after everything's said and done. For now, though, I should get going. I need to make sure everything's ready before we leave." 

"I see. Good luck out there, Ash. Make sure you take care of yourself." 

As their conversation ended, Ash began to walk back over to the barracks near the Royal Council's palace, where she and the others had been training. With every step, her mind would drift and she'd think back to some of the more powerful enemies she'd encountered during her journey. Ash's nature and her raw stats accumulated through a relatively short time training as a Savior had let her win many of her fights, but how useful would any of that be now? 

She wondered how exactly she'd go about doing that as she arrived, with soldiers eyeing her brazenly as she moved past them. 

News had, of course, arrived at Jade regarding the slaughter of the Senate down at Amber, and the assassination that the same group had done once migration began after their deaths. What Ash didn't know was how her involvement had been made public. She couldn't imagine many people even knew she'd been at Amber, especially since she spent most of her time at the Arcane's Manor, and yet, she received strange, fearful looks every now and then. 

At the same time, it could be simple paranoia attributing those looks to what she'd done. For all she knew, they could be the result of those horns on her head or the level she carried. Either way, they were annoying. 

A moment later, she was walking into a wide-open space with a few tables at the left side where people were snacking on some bread in between sessions, and racks of weapons on the right for the trainees to choose from. Metallic clangs were ringing out as two women traded blows in the center of the room. A few soldiers who were either standing or sitting around them watched with stunned faces. 

Ash, however, watched with a proud smile, as she saw Keiko moving around so quickly, Ash knew she'd even give her some trouble. 

The young Zayama was well on her way to regaining her former prowess, and Yumi was currently helping along with that. 

Ash walked up just close enough for them to hear her but not to get her head chopped off and asked: 

"So, when am I getting my turn?" 

Immediately, Yumi's naginata stopped moving and Keiko hopped back, putting some space between them. Then, Keiko looked back toward Ash with a grin so wide and warm that it nearly melted the half-demon's heart. 

"Whenever you want to," Keiko replied, as she wiped off many beads of sweat rolling down her face. 

"Yeah? I could go for a few rounds. Just wanted to check in on you before I head back to our house."

"Sure!" Keiko replied, pointing her sword at Ash. "Whenever you're ready." 

Hearing that, Ash nodded and went to pick a standard longsword up from one of the nearby racks. 

On the way, though, she saw how Yumi looked at her, and she took a deep breath. 

The taller Zayama walked over to the same rack and asked: 

"Did everything go well with your friend?" 

"Mhm..." 

"Ah. I am glad." 

Their tones were hushed, coming out barely above a whisper. Not the kind of voices that people would use regularly for such casual interaction, however, Ash guessed the reason for this was what they'd done a short while ago. 

In between Amber and Jade, on the long road leading back to the white-gold city, their relationship had changed. 

Changed in such a way that Ash had to hold herself back from pulling this woman to a nearby hallway and tearing her clothes off. 

Even though Keiko had given them her blessing to do whatever they wanted, it still felt strange. And, the weirdest part was that this strange feeling made it all the more attractive to her. 

Ignoring it for now, though, she walked back to where Keiko was, longsword in hand. As her eyes met the other woman's, her mood changed right back to where it was when she entered this place. Feeling the hand of lust unwrap itself from her heart, she nodded at Keiko, and the woman charged toward her. 

Currently, Ash had progressed to level 80 after killing many different monsters on the way back to Jade, leaving her status at this point: 

Level 80

MP: 330/330

EXP: 100/800

---

STR: 65

DEX: 35

CON: 38

INT: 34

WIS: 33

L: 100

A lot of those attributes had been raised through the levels she received, but many had been the result of her own personal solitary training, as Satsuhiro had suggested that they work on them individually for a bit. 

The part that Ash was most proud of, however, was her proficiencies. 

Tomoe's Divine Arts Proficiency: 6 of 10

Sword: 7 of 10

Gauntlets: 7 of 10

Naginata: 6 of 10

Bow: 6 of 10

Spear: 5 of 10

Having worked on her weapon skills more, especially as Keiko could now aid her more directly thanks to Ash's actions, her skills with the different weapons had gone up. As such, she felt like she had more options than before, and that was a fact that was reflected in this current training session. 

As Keiko moved from one place to another, Ash felt like she understood what she was seeing. Whereas before, all she could do was use her Dexterity to outpace her opponents, now, she truly felt like she had some knowledge of the patterns being shown to her in these fights. The openings she could exploit in real combat.

For now, however, all she did was block one slash after another, surprised at how fast Keiko had gotten herself. 

Ash was intent on mostly focusing on her Strength and magic, at this point. Keiko, however, had spent almost every hour of every day working on her Dexterity and Ash felt like it was showing. 

"Holy shit," she said.

"Hm? What happened?" Keiko asked, stopping. 

"Nothing, you're just really good at this," Ash chuckled. "It's kinda cool." 

At that, Keiko backed up and giggled. 

"I'm glad I can still impress you sometimes." 

"Sometimes?" Ash raised a brow. She walked forward then. "You impress me in many, many ways. Just saying." 

Keiko blushed a bit and sighed. 

"Careful," she muttered. "There are many random strangers around us. I'd rather not give them a peek into our private lives." 

"Eh, I don't mind if they see me eat you out for a bit."

"A-Ash!" 

"But, we should probably head back. We haven't finished packing, right?" 

"... Right," Keiko mumbled, pouting as she looked away. 

With a smile on her face, Ash gestured for Yumi to come with her, and as Keiko followed behind, the three women walked out. 

Tomorrow, they'd be heading out for Pearl, intent on using the low-level monsters there as a source of EXP. Everyone was getting in on it, not just the Saviors. 

Ash, though, had no clue what was going to happen. She wondered if those low-level demons would even give enough EXP for her to level. Or if maybe, when they arrived, the group would find that the city had been cleared out and those monsters they sought to kill had long since left. 

One way or another, however, they were returning to the west of Nova, where a city was waiting to be retaken. 

That would come later, though. For now, Ash all Ash could think about was how hot Keiko looked when she just finished training, with her muscles evidently tense and her chest heaving up and down at short intervals. 

Of course, she smelled terrible, but whatever.. It was a low price to pay for the good view, to someone who used to eat literal trash just a few years ago.