One Hundred And Seventy-Six

One Hundred And Seventy-Six

Once the girls had safely left the party and we had tidied up, I finally had the opportunity to sit down Shaeula and ask about the strange way some of the girls were acting, so we went to her room and sat on her bed.

“So, got anything to say?” I asked, and she squirmed uncomfortably, before leaking out a sigh and confessing. “I simply decided to start-start my chirurgery on Keomi and the new female, Maiko. It is exhausting indeed-indeed here on the Material, so I felt I should-should make a start on the tasks ahead while I was-was able. And rejoice!” she smiled, eyes bright. “I have-have, after observing you many-many times, managed to-to replicate the basics of your Ether Healing! This works most-most excellently with my own-own skill. I deserve praise, do I not-not?”

Ignoring the fact she was clearly nervous, I quickly examined her, confirming that she had indeed learned Ether Healing. “Yeah, good job on that. The more skills we have the better.” I gave in and stroked her head, causing her to lean into me, happy. “And I guess it makes sense to prepare, as long as you are managing things properly.”

“It does-does!” Shaeula agreed. “After all, we have many-many tasks remaining.”

“Sure. So... why were the other girls looking so drained and beaten-up?” I asked, and Shaeula flinched. For a moment she stayed buried in my embrace, before looking at me, face flushed, a cheeky grin plastered across her features. Damn, that’s cute, but you won’t escape my questions that easily.

“Well, hmm... I was a little-little careless, and some girls managed to listen in-in to our talk. So I believed it would-would be best to draw them into our clutches. So-so...” she paused, taking a deep breath. “... I performed chirurgery on them-them as well.”

“I see...” I said, and for a moment Shaeula looked at me, hopeful, before I rapped her on the head a few times, not hard, but enough to show my displeasure. “.. is what you were hoping I would say, right? As if! You know we need to be careful, information leaks have put us and my family in danger already. You shouldn’t involve people who have no stake in this!”

“I know-know...” she pouted, rubbing at her head, despite the fact my knuckles clearly didn’t hurt her, as I had no desire to cause her any real pain. “... still, we are tasked with improving these nobles, are we not-not? I thought it would be wise-wise to practice on some normal females beforehand. A good idea, is it not-not?”

Well yeah, there’s no way we can mess up with Tsumura-san and the two Fukumoto’s. Still, there’s quite the flaw in that argument... “Yes, but weren’t Eri and my sis both normal girls? You’ve already practised on them!”

Shaeula stuck out her tongue in a manner she had seen Aiko do to express comical remorse. “That-that is exactly what Kana said. How-how vexing. Still... greater numbers bring us greater benefits, am I wrong?”

I sighed then. I found it really hard to stay mad at people I cared about, especially girls. “No, you aren’t wrong, but... really, I wanted to stick to people from the shrines, and also now the nobility, I guess. Just... consult with me in future, please!”

Shaeula kissed me then, soothing away my last discontent. As we parted, our lips hot, she grinned. “I shall-shall, I promise. But Kana can keep her friends in line-line, I have every faith in her. And you cared enough to offer Hisano advice, so I felt-felt you would not mind her inclusion.”

Seriously? If being even slightly nice to a girl gives Shaeula the impression that I’m interested in her, then I’m going to have a tough time. Resolving to discuss this with her at length later, I noticed something seemed missing from the room.

“Hey where’s the doll Azuki was in? It was just over there wasn’t it?” I pointed to the empty corner. As soon as I did so, I heard a scraping from under the bed, and Azuki crawled out, her wooden joints working slowly. Once she was out she fell against the wall, sitting as she was left before, her eyes still red and full of life.

“I see-see. Were you hiding from the young females?” Shaeula asked, and with a creaking nod, she agreed. Opening and closing her mouth slowly she managed to make some crude words with great effort.

“Yes... hiding. Too many... people.” The voice was whisper quiet, and only with my superior hearing could I pick it up.

“So you can move like Hyacinth said.” I mused. “I wonder how that works.”

Shaeula eyed her, nodding. “The doll has accumulated aether over-over the years. Though it depletes rapidly as Azuki moves.” She talked to her. “You should-should rest.”

“But... the mad... fairy...” Azuki protested weakly, and I knew what she meant.

“Don’t worry about Hyacinth. You just sleep for now. Later, when there’s more ether here for you to absorb, then you can think about moving.”

Hearing my words the doll gave a relieved sigh, her eyelids sliding shut as she slumped down, still and lifeless once more. Just one more strange wonder added to the pile. Still, her ability to ‘bring fortune’ to a house that she mentioned... that intrigues me. Still, until Wednesday, we can’t experiment much.

“All right then. Today has been... interesting.” I said, and Shaeula nodded her agreement. “Now we can take our time and do whatever we need to in the Boundary, since we have no pressing events coming up. It’s been a while, our days have been packed recently.”

With that we entered the Boundary once more...

********

“Damn it, I’m beat.” I stared up at Ulfuric as he held out a mighty hand. Grasping it, I let him pull me to my feet, my exhausted muscles protesting, my many cuts and bruises stinging painfully. “You really worked me over.”

“I can, I believe.” She gasped, still shivering at the discomfort she was subjected to. “If-if... I link our lunar nodes once... more, like we did-did before....”

“Fine. Do it!” I asked, and she nodded, before a surge of wind and flame gushed from her lunar node into mine. I gasped, feeling the pleasure of our joining souls once more, connected on a deep, almost erotic level. Shaeula shuddered, rapture from our merging warring with the pain from the rampant earth element.

No time to be engrossed in the pleasure of this. I have to tame the earth energy! Guiding the flows, I stabilised the root chakra, a sea of ruby and garnet around it like a halo. The sacral chakra followed easily enough, before I reached the usual stumbling block. This time however I was able to guide the energy through the yellow, and then the green seas, Shaeula keeping my energy from escaping my control. After the heart, energy was absorbed greedily by my lunar chakra, sparking another war within my body as the three energies fought each other, but as that was the focal point of our merging, Shaeula was once more able to tame it, and soon red energy was beating in time with the others.

Back round to the throat... then up to the third eye... and finally... the crown. As the circuit was fully completed, I felt a great surge of strength within my body, and with that silver letters blazed into being. I toppled backwards, spent, Shaeula in my arms, and I had no time to read the letters as she was kissing me again fiercely, stealing my breath, our souls and chakras intertwined in the Fae way of love...

********

“I love you, Akio.” Shaeula giggled, held in my arms, watching the play of earth energies overhead. I had managed to roll us out of the fountains while we were entwined, and now we were covered in mud and dirt. Still, I regretted nothing, other than a brief sorrow that I hadn’t done such with Eri yet.

“That was quite magnificent.” Shaeula exclaimed, kissing me greedily again and again, her face, no, her whole body pink, flushed and sweating. “I could feel-feel your everything within me, even the cursed earth.”

“It didn’t hurt you did it?” I asked, concerned. “I guess that might be a worry for Fae, if they try and bond with those of opposing elements?” I never thought about that before, but I wonder how they’d overcome that. I’d... I’d hate it if I got stronger and wasn’t able to satisfy Shaeula any more....

“I can not-not speak for others, but for me...” she paused, thinking, before kissing me one more time. “It was not without discomfort... but pain? No, it did not-not hurt. The feeling was strange, but tangled up within the pleasure of our shared wind and flame, it was far-far from unpleasant.” She licked her lips seductively.

“Lucky. I’m sooo jealous. Nobooody ever considers poor Hyacinth.” At her voice I sat up, nearly throwing Shaeula off me by mistake. As she squealed in protest, I blushed myself, seeing Hyacinth peering at us from where she had snuck up on us.

“Sooo hooot. I wish master would hooold me tight when the mistress is away. That is a brownie’s duty, after all! Tend to the house, guard the children, seduce the master...”

“I think your mask is slipping, boggart.” Shaeula declared, annoyed. “While it is quite-quite normal for males to indulge with their servants, my father and brothers do it frequently, I do not-not trust you enough to be alone with my Akio.” She glared at the intruder, cheeks puffed out threateningly. “You may have sworn Oaths, but you are still-still an Unseelie at heart.”

“I trust her.” I soothed Shaeula, rubbing her head. “I don’t think she is going to harm us, I just get a feeling.” I paused then, realising what it was sounding like, and hurriedly followed up with “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m interested in her! I’m happy enough with you and Eri, I’m not going to be chasing anyone, not like... hey, Shaeraggo does it too? Poor Selensha.”

Shaeula shrugged, mollified by my ministrations. “It is accepted practice, is it not-not, even in the mortal world? I watched many television shows where the master sleeps with his maids.” She paused then, frowning in thought. “Not-not that I would recommend you indulge with my maids. If that is your wish-wish, then go ahead, but... they are rather stupid, I doubt-doubt they could please you.”

Ugh, a whole heap of problems with that. Firstly, they are still humanoid weasels, and I am NOT a furry. Sure, Shaeula is cute in her weasel form, but that doesn’t mean I’d like to... well, to put it bluntly, have sex with it. Secondly, they hate me really badly... and... “Well, no way I’m doing that. It’d make me feel like shit if I found out you were having an affair with the butler, so I’m not going to do anything similar.” Do we even have a butler? Maybe at this mansion...

“I have told you, I have no and will have no-no interest in other males.” Shaeula scoffed. “Still, it is cute you worry about such things.”

“I am being ignooored.” Hyacinth was twisting and clutching herself bashfully, face flushed. “Master and mistress are treating me like furniture. This is a gooood thing too! A servant should be unobtrusive!”

Rolling her eyes at the display of our so-called servant, Shaeula asked me to check the results of our efforts, so I did, trying to blot out Hyacinth’s capering.

You have gained a skill, Root Chakra Of Earth Rank 3. Your Root Chakra will generate earth energy and your ability to absorb and utilise it has increased. [Class: ???]

You have gained a skill, Earth Manipulation Rank 5. Your ability to manipulate and control earth energy has dramatically increased. Your understanding of earth has significantly increased, and you can handle earth with less wastage and greater efficiency, and are more able to adapt to and control unique earths. [Class: ???]

Your Skill, Lunar Chakra of Wind and Flame Rank 2 has become Lunar Chakra of Wind, Flame and Earth Rank 2, strengthening your control and generation over earth energy. [Class: ???]

Seeing the results I couldn’t help but let out a little cheer, hugging Shaeula happily. On seeing my joy she was happy as well. “I see-see you have succeeded! I expected no less from my Akio!”

“I couldn’t have done it without you! Your eyes truly are awesome, and your chirurgery is also busted as hell. I doubt I’m the strongest Astral Emperor-candidate out there, no doubt some lucky bastards got broken-as-hell starting skills, but I can’t be too weak, considering our experiences. Anyway... Rank three for my chakra, Rank five for manipulation, and the lunar chakra has earth as well now. I guess my affinity boost and all that studying really paid off!”

Now I have a third option in battle, and as I keep running out of elemental energy way too quickly, having extra options means I can fight for longer...

As Shaeula congratulated me once more, Hyacinth continued to complain, trying to attract my attention. Somehow she had managed to unbutton a number of the fastenings on her maid outfit and she was exposing quite a bit of flesh. Shaeula quickly leapt up and thwapped her on the head, ordering her to cover up, ignoring Hyacinth’s bitter complaints. I could only look away, sighing. Though not before I caught a glimpse of her assets, which were surprisingly large now she was starting to fill out again. Perky too... shaking my head, I grabbed them both by the hands and headed back towards the main shrine. One minute I’m powering up like it’s battle shounen, the next minute it’s a romantic harem comedy... whichever god chose me... they must have a really sick sense of humour...