Chapter 21 - 18

Kaori

Kaori took a deep breath, staring the other Savior down. She had her swordstaff out, aimed at Ash. She waited for the half-demon to take the first step. Ash lunged. Kaori awkwardly blocked a pair of strikes before going for a kick that pushed the hybrid back. Ash was sent a meter or two away, scowling.

This had been Keiko's suggestion. As she had mentioned before, having Ash face someone who was at a similar experience level to her own was, in her opinion, a good idea. So, now the two Saviors had their weapons clashing behind Satsuhiro's house. Again, Ash tried to charge in, and although Ash seemed to Kaori like a marginally better fighter than her skill-wise, she was able to overpower her in every exchange.

"Break," Keiko called out and they let their weapons transform into their cube shapes.

"That was fun!" Kaori stated. "Let's go again."

"Give it a second," Keiko replied. "We don't want Ash's Demon Form to trigger."

"Oh, okay." Kaori nodded.

She noticed that Ash was staring down at her own hands and approached.

"You're really good!" Kaori told her.

Ash looked up, scowling.

Without a response, she went back into the house.

Kaori sighed. Okay, so she still hasn't warmed up to me yet. It'll be fine though. She'll come around.

Kaori sat down beside Keiko.

The Zayama turned her head towards her.

"So," Kaori started, "how long have you known Ash?"

"A few days," Keiko replied. "I only just got this job. As did she."

"And how's it gone so far?"

"Well, you've seen her," Keiko replied. "She's progressing. Still just starting out, of course, but she should be pretty skilled in no time. Especially since you Saviors pick things up so quickly."

"Mhm. I guess we are pretty cool like that. Actually, how about you help me out with my swordstaff?"

"Ehm, I suppose I could," Keiko replied. When Kaori had described the weapon to the Zayama a few minutes ago, Keiko had said that it was not a weapon she'd ever seen before. "I'd only be able to teach you universal fundamentals though. I haven't been trained in that style of weapon myself, I have no idea what its intricacies are."

"Makes sense," Kaori replied. She couldn't help but smile seeing the cloudless sky letting the sun cast its light on them. It was, hopefully, the world giving Kaori a good sign. "Uh, by the way." Kaori looked back at Keiko.

"Yes?" Keiko asked.

"Thanks for vouching for me. I... I know I'm probably not the most trustworthy person in the world or whatever, but I hope I'll show everyone that I really do mean no harm. You know?"

"Mhm." Keiko huddled her legs together and wrapped her arms around them. Kaori thought she looked cute like that. "Anytime. You... I could just be a bad judge of character, but you don't strike me as such a bad person. And that only makes me even more worried that Varcon actually used Red Tear on you."

Hearing that, Kaori quickly looked away.

He wouldn't, right? She sighed. I mean... the archpriest...

"Are we going again?" Ash asked, standing at the door leading out into the field holding a flask full of water.

"Sure!"

"Should be fine," Keiko stated. "Ash? How do you feel?"

The half-demon looked away.

"I'm good... Just frustrated. Come on, let's keep going."

The same process repeated itself. Kaori would struggle a little to find the right techniques to use, but in the end, it wouldn't matter. She'd simply overpower Ash and the half-demon would be forced back. After a third time, the half-demon had enough.

"I'm going to work out," Ash announced suddenly, having her weapon go into its cube form.

Ash went and looked for two bags, placed a bunch of rocks in them, and started pulling them halfway through the field and back. Kaori and Keiko stood aside. I should probably do something like that too.

---

Varcon

The archpriest kept his eyes closed as the carriage he rode rumbled along the street. The secret to maintaining Kaori's loyalty was resting in his pockets. On him, he was carrying an elixir small enough to fit in the palm of his hands that held a liquid called Milk of the Dreamer. He took it out and handed it to the deacon sitting in front of him. To his left, was a golden sword.

As in, it was a regular steel sword that had been painted gold.

"Your holiness..." The deacon sitting in front of him said.

"Yes?" Varcon asked.

"Uh, I... I know it is not my place to ask, but are you sure we can afford all of the expenses we've been making?" Varcon raised a brow at this question. "Between the concoctions and the equipment, we've spent quite a bit."

Varcon didn't answer.

I will not allow myself to lose my weapon. He thought. The amount of money I have put into her... I refuse to let her slip from my fingers like this.

Before long, the carriage was slowly coming to a halt and Varcon was opening his eyes. He practiced his smile and nodded to the other priest in front of him. They got up and stepped out of the wooden vehicle, arriving at a pleasant little home.

Varcon knocked on the door, and soon a middle-aged woman appeared.

"Oh!" The woman said, surprised. "Your holiness, hello!" Of course, Varcon was somewhat famous in Jade, so he was not surprised that the woman knew of him.

"Greetings." Varcon smiled.

"What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I simply wanted to get to know our newest Savior, Kaori's, family, you are her sister, right?" He asked.

"O-Oh, no, no." The woman laughed with a blush. "I'm her mother."

"Could have fooled me," Varcon said with as friendly an expression as he could muster. The woman laughed before stepping aside.

"Please, please! Come in. Make yourselves at home!"

Along with the deacon, Varcon entered the building. He kept his hands behind his back as he followed the woman into the living room.

"Honey! Look!"

"Hm?" A man with decently sized arms and a trimmed beard looked up from a couch, where he'd been reading a book. "O-Oh, wow, your holiship, I mean, your holiness, uh, hey!" He stood up. "What's happening?"

"Don't be alarmed," Varcon reassured him. "I'm only here to chat with Kaori's parents. I wanted to get a feel of the people who raised such a bright young woman."

"Oh, sh- uh, sure." The man set the book aside.

"Do you want anything? Are you hungry, thirsty?"

"Ah, could we have some tea, maybe?" He asked.

"Sure!"

"Thank you. I'm afraid the ride here got us both a bit parched." Varcon chuckled.

"No worries, no worries!" The woman quickly got to work.

"So, how's she been doing?" The father asked.

"Ah, your daughter is a brilliant individual. She's a very quick learner, you know? Grasped everything we tried to teach her very quickly."

"She's always been like that." The man laughed. "We were a little worried at the start, you know since the world can be so dangerous and all, but we're glad to see she's really taking to it."

A little while later, the mother was coming back with a few cups. Moment of truth. Varcon thought, hiding a smirk. She set them out in front of them all.

"Oh!" Varcon said. "I have something to show the both of you. Please, come."

"Uh, sure."

They left their cups unattended as Varcon had them walk out of their homes and to the carriage that was still waiting outside. He reached for the golden blade and showed it off to them.

"Oh my goodness! What is that?"

"This is a sword we had hand-made for Kaori," Varcon explained with a smile. "We have high hopes for her after all."

"Wow." The father said. "May I?"

"Yes, of course."

He grabbed it and, standing a pace or two away from Varcon, swung it a few times.

"Careful!" His wife said. Varcon chuckled.

"Hm. It's a bit lighter than I thought it would be."

"It's made out of a special metal. Not simply gold."

"Oh, I see."

"Anyway," Varcon said, "I just wanted you both to see that. It is quite impressive, after all. Let us return. I am thirsty, after all."

"Right."

They went back inside. The deacon had remained sitting next to where Varcon would be. Varcon rejoined him and the parents sat opposite him. They retook their cups and drank from them. Varcon smiled warmly.

"Now, where were we?"

---

Ash

Having Kaori there at the farm was almost like the world wanted to remind her just how much she sucked. No matter how much the two of them sparred, Ash couldn't get one up on her. She understood that there was simply too much of a statistical gap to overcome, but it still made her feel worse than she already did about all of this.

Still, she kept working. As Kaori remained beside them, just watching, she pulled rocks over and over again until she got her Strength to 6, and now, she was about to do some exercises with Keiko that she said would help her get her Dexterity up as well.

The Zayama had set up a target by stacking some sacks on top of each other.

"How does your weapon work again?" Keiko asked.

"I can transform this thing into any weapon I've seen." She said, holding up Lust.

"Okay. You've seen bows before, right?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah."

"Transform it into one."

Uh. Okay, let's try this out then. Bow.

Her cube glowed brilliantly and, morphing its shape around her hand, it transformed into a golden bow that had an arrow stuck to its center.

"Oh, shit. This comes with its own arrow." Ash told her.

"Good." Keiko nodded. "Try to shoot it into the target."

"Alright."

"Come on, you can do it!" Kaori yelled and Ash rolled her eyes. Are you making fun of me or something?

Still, Ash did as Keiko asked. She clumsily pulled the arrow back, aimed at the target ahead, and fired. Of course, as it had been her first time ever using a bow, the arrow went straight past the target.

Ash was ready to go look for it, but instead, a few seconds later, another arrow appeared where the last one had manifested. Oh. So that's how it works. Are those, like, infinite?

"Now," Keiko said. "Dexterity is all about timing and precision. Working on those two factors is how we'll increase that stat. Oh, Kaori." She turned to where she thought Kaori was. "You can try this too."

"O-Oh, right. On it." The blonde replied.

"It's simple. I'm going to call out specific places on the target and you're going to try to hit them. Okay?"

"Sure," Ash replied.

"Ready!" Kaori announced.

"Alright... The head."

So, the top? Ash asked in her mind and nodded. She nocked an arrow and fired it. Again, it went straight past the target. Kaori did the same, and hers had the same result.

Well. Ash thought. Looks like we're about even in this. She thought until Kaori tried again and landed a shot. It didn't land on the sack's "head", but it landed. Nevermind.

"This, of course, also serves as Bow training. So, there's that."

The more weapons I can use out there, the better, I guess. It was good to start with swords, just so I could get used to fighting and training in general, but maybe I want to learn more now. How much time could it take though? Ash wondered.

"Hey, are you done?" Satsuhiro asked, walking out of his house.

"Nah. Just got started." Ash replied, shooting another whiffing arrow.

"Hm. Let me know when you're finished. We have to keep your attunements going."

"Attunement?" Kaori wondered aloud.

"Alright?" Satsuhiro didn't answer her question. Good. He's playing it safe with the info since we still don't know if she actually wants me dead or not. Ash sighed.

"Yeah," Ash replied and he quickly went back inside. Kaori looked somewhat disappointed with the fact that they didn't share what that meant with her, but she went back to her own training in a moment or two.

They kept that up for half an hour. Both their Bow proficiencies went up by 1, marking them likely as people who weren't shooting arrows for the first time in their lives anymore. When the twin moons replaced the sun, they had to figure out sleeping arrangements. Metsumi had been adamant about not having anyone sleep on the couches when it was Keiko and Ash, but now, she hesitantly let Kaori sleep in the living room.

It was almost 10 in the evening now, and Ash had showered and was getting ready to sleep.

Hm. Maybe I could go for a little bit of water right now though.

She stealthily got up and walked out of the room, so as to not wake her trainer up.

She was far from ready for the sight she got when she arrived at the living room.

Kaori was lying down on the couch, still awake. The surprising part wasn't that. It was that she was naked. She was topless, the sheet she had covering just her legs and abdomen as she stared up at the roof. She turned towards Ash and the half-demon felt herself warming up.

"Oh, hey," Kaori said, shamelessly. "You're still up?"

"I could..." She started to respond with I could say the same but wasn't able to. Her eyes remained fixed on Kaori's chest.

"O-Oh, sorry," Kaori said, covering herself up. "I always sleep naked. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, it's just... Whoa." Kaori flinched. "What was that!?"

"What?" Ash asked, feeling her heartbeat rising.

"Your eyes."

"Huh?"

"They, like, glowed for a bit. It's gone now, but I swear, I thought I saw, like, you know those heart symbols?" She made one with her hands. "I swear, your eyes kinda looked like that for a split second."

What? That doesn't make sense.... Oh.

Then, she understood.

You're joking. You've got to be kidding. She turned around and walked right back to her room.

"A-Ash?"

"Fuck water." She muttered as she closed the door and quickly threw a sheet over herself and closed her eyes.

The next day, it was a slow morning as Ash could feel her body was sore from everything she'd done. Her attunement was at 25% for Light and 15% for Dark, her Strength was still at 6 and her Dexterity had gone up by 1, now at 4. Productive, all in all, she thought.

However, soon, a knock came at the door.

Satsuhiro went to answer and found a courier standing there.

"Letter from the church, sir." The man stated. "For Kaori."

Ash raised a brow.

"Oh?" Kaori asked, standing up. She walked over and Satsuhiro stopped her.

"If your intentions aren't bad," he started, "you wouldn't mind me taking this, right?"

"Uh, not at all. Go ahead." Kaori quickly replied.

"Hm. Alright." Satsuhiro took the letter. He sat down, opened it, and read the first couple of lines.

"So, what's it say?" Kaori asked.

"... It says your parents are sick," Satsuhiro told her.

"W-What?" Kaori replied, baffled. "What do you mean?"

"It's a letter from Varcon, saying that you should go back to Jade to see them. That they're in bad shape, apparently."

Kaori's expression at that moment, one of undisguised hurt, made Ash turn away.

What the hell? She wondered as Satsuhiro passed the letter to her.