One Hundred And Sixty-One

One Hundred And Sixty-One

“You remain here and cause us no-no problems.” Shaeula ordered Kondou, who scowled, struggling to speak, but her earlier order prevented him from talking back to her. In the end he nodded, and Shaeula looked away, satisfied.

“Time to take stock then.” As the last of the skeletons were felled by Ulfuric and the Jade Beetle, I assessed our losses. Three mages had been overrun and slain when their elemental wind was depleted, and one unlucky musician had fallen from the Beetle and was trampled, four new orbs of light faintly glowing around Shaeula, our aether slowly trickling into them. All in all, fairly modest losses for a fight of this scale. I’d feel terrible if they weren’t able to be restored though. Thank the gods for Kin Restoration... Shaeula and her broken cheat skills for the win.

Other than that we had many injuries. I went over to Ixitt, who was in bad shape, and using the aether I had recovered I used Ether Healing to restore his broken arms and crushed ribs. He was still hurt, but now he should recover smoothly.

“Keh. My, keh-keh, thanks. At the end he surprised me. Still, it is fascinating to see how the princess is controlling, keh-keh, him now. It requires further study.”

Seeing Ixitt still so consumed by the search for knowledge I had to smile. I was about to move on when Ulfuric called out to me.

“I fear the trolls are in danger. They are weakening rapidly, their bodies poisoned by the dust element.”

Shit, we can’t afford to lose them, they aren’t replaceable, as Shaeula doesn’t or can’t consider them kin... rushing over, Shaeula and Ixitt on my heels, I inspected the first troll, who was regenerating slowly, though his flesh was blackened and necrotic. I turned to Grulgor then, but his situation looked nowhere near as bad, his stronger powers fighting off the taint slowly.

Ugh, this looks terrible. I trickled in aether, but the dust interfered with it, causing the effect to weaken significantly. Still, I could speed up the rapid regeneration trolls were known for, so that gave me an idea. “Sorry about this...” I muttered, using the dagger of light to cut away the damaged flesh, aether then promoting the growth of clean muscle and skin. The troll thrashed in agony, but after I had removed most of the toxins, it settled down.

I moved to the next troll, and after a while I was exhausted, only able to keep going due to the large amount of ether that I could convert, left over from the death of the widow of nails. Once I was done with the trolls I tended to the injuries Shaeula and I had, as well as the others. It was several hours of tough work, and had used a good chunk of ether, but the rewards had been excellent. Shaeula had worked as an assistant after the first troll, her eyes and Chirurgery able to aid my precision, and by working together on numerous injuries we had both gained in skill.

Your Skill, Ether Healing has advanced from Rank 3 to Rank 4. Your ability to heal your own injuries and those of others has increased significantly, repairing damage to subtle bodies. Your subtle bodies will draw in a further increased rate of ether from their surroundings and automatically repair themselves, and your resistance to elemental damage has increased. You also have a moderate resistance to harmful substances and foreign matter. Your affinity for the darkness, earth and dust elements and the understanding of ????????? has also increased. [Class: ???}

Earth element, huh? Helpful, as gaining that ability is one of my near-future goals. As I pondered that Shaeula started boasting about her own gains. “My Aetheric Chirurgery has increased. Surely as I am Pledged to you, I find myself able to follow-follow your aether as you direct it. Or perhaps we are merely so well-well matched.” She grinned, exhausted but satisfied. I rubbed her head in response, and she made noises of pleasure.

“All right. emergency aid is done.” I swallowed the rest of the ether that I hadn’t used up, restoring a little aether and sending the rest back to my Territory. “Now there are only a couple of matters remaining. Ulfuric, Ixitt, you are with me. The rest of you, when the trolls and Grulgor are able to move, head back to our Territory. We’ll finish up here.”

The White Snake kami, who had recovered from the pain that had taken him out of the battle, hissed his assent, glad to be able to return to his sanctuary at Shirohebizumi shrine. With that done... yeah, them... “The battle is over, you can come down now.” I called, and moments later the ghostly woman drifted down from the sky, followed by three other faint spectres. She was clearly afraid, her transparent visage pale even for a ghost, and her eyes were darting to the heaps of iron in the spot Kiku had perished. She looked... lost, uncertain, forlorn.

“I... what... what do I do?” she said sorrowfully, the other silent spectres flitting around her like skittish birds.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that for you.” I tried to comfort her. “I don’t claim to be able to fully understand your suffering, but when your light touched me... your end was tragic. Being a man, I can’t fully understand what you went through, but you have my sympathies, for what it’s worth.”

She nodded at that, so I continued. “First... do you want revenge on the man that killed you?” at my words, Kondou started to protest, filled with rage, but Shaeula ordered him to be silent, and with a murderous glare he snapped shut his mouth.

“I don’t think anyone could blame you, the man is a monster who deserves it. I certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over his death.” People who abused and hurt women were those I hated above all others, probably due to my closeness with Eri and my sis.

“I don’t... I’m already dead.” She shook her head, ghostly tears running down her face. “It wouldn’t achieve anything. And now... Kiku is gone too. Vengeance... it did her no good. I understand, she was going to kill you, but... she was cruel, but she did care for me, in her own way. I have to believe that. I have to believe there was some meaning in all this... this cruelty.”

“All right. We’ll leave that aside for now. the way I see it then is you have two options. The first is... you can move on. I’m not sure if there’s a heaven or a hell, some sort of afterlife. Maybe this is it, but I don’t think so and really hope not. Still, if this isn’t what you wanted, if you are tired of the pain, I can send you to your rest. And if not... you can always come with us. I don’t mind taking you girls in.”

“I’m just... just so tired.” She sobbed. “Ever since that night when I had the strange dream, my life has spiralled into hell! Being around people, I could hear what they were thinking, feel what they felt. The constant noises in my head, it was ... it was awful. I tried medication, therapy, nothing helped. I thought... I thought I was mad. But seeing this... I can’t be, can I? What did I do to deserve this? It isn’t fair...”

A strange dream, gaining powers? Surely not... but it must be...

“My daddy... err, my father, he tried to help me, I’m all he has, after mother died in that accident. But even he was frustrated, he didn’t understand what was wrong with me. He wanted me to go into politics, I wanted it too, I studied hard, was working towards my goals, but... but it’s all for nothing now.”

I wanted to console her, but it was hard to know what to say. She had died so cruelly, ripped away from her life and family. Those who chose Astral Emperor-candidates have a lot to answer for. Some, like this girl, they aren’t equipped for this. And then we have monsters like Kondou...

“My name is... no, it was Suzuki Haru. Now I’m dead I don’t suppose I have a name. My father is Suzuki Akimitsu. He’s minister of finance in the Diet. If I have one regret... it’s that daddy... my father, he’ll be crushed, so terribly lonely, without me. And he might never know what happened to me.” She suddenly bowed, her ghostly form on the ground, her ethereal tears dripping. “If I had one wish... I want you to tell my daddy I love him, and that I’m sorry I’m dead. Then... then I can pass on.”

“In that case, we need to finish up here. His Anchor must be in the building somewhere. When it’s destroyed, Shaeula will take you back to my Territory. And... if I can work out how, I’ll let your father know you love him still.” It’s going to be tough when he finds out she’s dead when Kondou confesses... how will he react when she returns in a Material body? Ugh... my head hurts thinking about the problems with it all, but for an Astral Emperor-candidate on my side, it’s worth the effort...

The inside of the hotel was just as vile as the outside, ropey tentacles and heaps of muscle in the corridors. Still, at least Ixitt was enjoying himself, marvelling at the few Buildings we found within. When we reached the top floor, dozens of flesh and crystal structures drew our attention, with the centrepiece being a pillar studded with multiple glittering gems.

“Keh-keh-keh. Fascinating. I could study this for a long time.” Ixitt grinned, fussing over the Anchor.

“Well, I’m afraid I want to finish this up, so you’ll have to give it a miss.” I joked, getting a chagrined grumble in response. “There’ll be plenty of opportunities for research later, on other Territories. This one has to go.” With that I strode up to the Anchor, and using the blade of light, I drew on my aether, an indigo glow radiating out brilliantly. “Finally, we can stop worrying about invasions for a while.” I whipped my arm forwards and the pillar cracked, some gems shattering. My next blow cut into the flesh, darkness gushing free, and then on my third and final blow the Anchor exploded, all of the remaining buildings around it dissolving into a mass of ether.

You have gained in strength. Your level has increased from forty-three to forty-four.

Your Class, Conqueror, has increased from level 3 to level 5.

Your League has increased.

Sending the large quantity of Ether back to my Territory, finding it easier to absorb it than ever, I welcomed the messages. Rewards for my hard work. Nothing is sweeter than levelling up. I probably have a little time before I have to wake up back in the police station...

“I’m just going to check our gains quickly, then I’m off. You can handle everything, right Shaeula?”

“Of course, I shall settle in our new recruits.” She said proudly.

“All right then...”

There hadn’t been a huge amount of changes, but what I had gained was pretty good. All my basic stats went up by a little over sixty points, while Aether was double that. Ether Healing and Aether Manipulation had improved as well, and my Wind Spear Technique had evolved to an elemental one, probably because I was using flame quite a bit as well. I had also picked up the first rank of Sword Technique, the teachings of Ulfuric and watching the samurai use his great skills pushing my understanding high enough to register.

Oh wait, that’s a surprise. I also noticed my lunar chakra had levelled up too, giving me a significant boost to my generation of wind and flame. All in all, it was impossible to complain about my gains.

“I am impressed, Akio. But I feel you will be equally pleased with my growth.” Shaeula hugged me, causing Haru-san to look away, embarrassed, while Ixitt snickered in his usual hacking way.

“Let me see then...”

“You aren’t kidding.” I hugged her tighter. “You’ve powered up a ton. Your lunar chakra has increased in potency, as has your solar plexus chakra. Stat boosts across the board, and your befuddling winds have jumped two ranks. No wonder you can command that bastard Kondou Kazuo.”

“There is still much-much room to grow.” Shaeula snuggled me. “Still, I am exhausted, having drained all my wind binding that disgusting male. I need a good rest.”

“Well, when you see everyone back to our Territory, now the threat is gone, why not take a break, play some games, have some beer? You deserve it.”

“I shall do that.” Shaeula affirmed. “But will you be fine-fine, Akio? If those police mistreat you, I shall chastise them harshly.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a plan. I’ll be back before you know it.” With a final hug and kiss I departed for the Material once more, opening my eyes to a bloodstained bed. Oh yeah, my back got cut up, right? With Ether Healing I didn’t think much of it. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter, I have bigger things to worry about today...

Looking at the morning sun leaking through the windows of my admittedly rather cosy cell, I waited for the police to come and question me...