Chapter 311: Two Hundred And Thirty-Nine

“You lost the Trial fair and square, brother.” Shaeula interjected huffily. “Do not-not berate Aiko now, or else I shall be most-most displeased.”

“Berate?” Shaeraggo looked affronted. “I merely noticed. I remember you saying his sister was an archer. So this-this is her then?”

“Wow, tense atmosphere.” My sis said, bringing a little giggle from Eri.

“Yeah. It was a heated struggle.” I agreed. “Luckily it was between family, and family may fight, but they stick together in the end. Right?”

Shaeraggo nodded, as did Shaeula. “Of course. I did as you asked and found you some water element, did I not-not?" Shaeraggo said defensively. “I accept that things have changed. My little sister is all grown up, and has chosen a husband.”

“He sure doesn’t look like he’s happy though…” my sis whispered loudly, causing Eri’s giggles to grow worse. Even Selensha was stifling a laugh behind one hand, and Shaeraggo’s green eyes twitched. Still, with an effort of will, he continued speaking.

“Whether I approve or not is hardly relevant. My sister has chosen.” He looked at Aiko then, before glancing back my way. “I look-look forward to the day when you have to face the same choice as I do.”

Yeah, no way, I’m not as much of a siscon as you. As long as the guy loves her and isn’t trash, I’ll give my blessing. Though if he’s no good… well, yeah, perhaps I understand Shaeraggo more than I’d like to. “Speaking of, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it, and I know Shaeula does too. Her home is here as well as the Seelie Court. By the way, what about these Mirror Bees?”

“We destroyed many pockets of resistance, foul creatures who were not-not fit for the Territory my sister dwells in.” Shaeraggo said. “However, the Bees, after our initial combat, where we slew many workers and warriors…”

“Bees are vulnerable to both wind and water element, so we had little trouble.” Selensha broke in. “Their wings are vulnerable to getting wet, and wind element renders their flight a liability.”

“Yes, just that.” Shaeraggo continued. “The Queen then ventured forth and surrendered, knowing we could easily defeat her and destroy her hive. I deemed it acceptable. After all, the Bee Fae are quite respected, creating wonderful honey, nectar and other delights. I assumed these … foreign… creatures could do the same. Besides, I do not believe you are-are terribly bloodthirsty, am I wrong?”

“No, well done indeed, brother. You are beginning to recognise the many-many good points of Akio.” Shaeula praised him, and I could see him perking up.

Still, he’s not wrong. I do prefer allies where possible. “Yeah, good work.” I followed up. “I’ll have to pencil in a meeting with the Queen of these yokai, but since they’ve surrendered to us and joined the Territory everything should be fine. We’ll have to toast with honey mead and wines in the future.”

“That would be pleasant.” Shaeraggo admitted. “Sister Shaeranna is very partial to sweet alcohol, so you should-should surely prepare some.”

“Do not-not remind me. It was good to see my sister again, but she is even more stifling than you, brother, and she did not-not take well to news of my engagement.” She turned to me then, looking apologetic. “I fear she will likely seek-seek to test you, Akio. But stay strong, I believe in you!”

“Looks like you have it tough, bro. I have to say, I’m quite curious about your sister though, Shaeula.” My sis said. “She’s a fighter too, right?”

“Indeed.” Shaeula agreed. “Sister Shaeranna is quite the spear-wielder. She can use the bow too-too, yet it is not her focus.”

“Our family is going to be huge it seems, right Eri? Who’d have thought that a month or two ago.”

“I surprise myself at how happy I am about it.” Eri grinned. “You too, right Hyacinth?”

“Yes, I am finding the feeling ooof family quite irresistible, mistress Eri!” She said softly, and Shaeraggo fixed her with his gaze, surprised.

“You… Boggart… what happened to you?” He was perplexed. “The foul aura you radiated has changed. You are not a Seelie, but… not Unseelie either?”

“Hyacinth is Hyacinth. Nooo more, no less. I am a servant of master, and also…” she squirmed, blushing. “Alsooo his mistress too!”

Selensha and Shaeula shared a look, and at Shaeula’s unconcerned shrug, Selensha smiled, extending out a hand to Hyacinth, who stared at it warily, which made Selensha smile. “Don’t worry. I merely wished to greet you. Since I am married to Shaeraggo, and you will be to the husband of his sister, that makes us sisters too.”

Hyacinth took her hand, tearing up, and Shaeraggo snorted. “I suspect nothing I say will make a difference. Still… the pace of change here is rather… swift.”

“Yeah, Hyacinth merely realised she isn’t bound by labels. She’s who she wants to be. And she doesn’t want to be a bad girl.” I said, and Shaeraggo nodded, agreeing sourly.

“It is a good thing. Many powerful Seelie must meet my sister, to cement her rank of Duchess and control over the Spring. Having a powerful maid is prestige, yet-yet this one was problematic. Now… she will cause problems still, but different, more manageable ones.”

“This is all very well and good, but we were supposed to be training, bro!” Aiko chimed in. “It isn’t every day we get so long with you, and you said you were busy tomorrow, right? So every minute wasted is a shame. Come on, come on! Training!”

“Yeah, sorry sis.” I said. “I didn’t mean to neglect you.”

“Very well.” Shaeraggo said, smiling, showing his teeth. “You sister here…”

“Aiko.”

“Aiko…” he said, as my sister named herself. “Since she has inherited one of my bows, I would wish to see how she uses it. One of my bows used by an unworthy, unskilled wielder would make me weep.”

“Hey, I’m plenty skilled.” Aiko protested, hurt.

“Well, you shall-shall have no objections to demonstrating this then? And if you prove worthy, I shall give you some instruction. It is quite the honour, as I am a great hunter, renowned amongst the Fae.”

“It is true.” Shaeula agreed. “Whatever character flaws my brother might have, he is quite-quite the skilled hunter.”

“Fine.” Aiko nodded. “I admit, I’m curious. Seeing some of the weaselkin use their bows, it’s very different to kyudo. Watching an expert in action should be useful.”

Yeah, my sis loves archery. She’ll never pass up this chance, even if Shaeraggo is pretty annoying…

“Right, well we might as well take a break and watch this.” I said. “I have to do some Territory maintenance, and…” I looked at Eri. “… you need to prepare yourself.”

Eri grinned. “It’s only pain. I want to be stronger, and I want you to have peace of mind. If Aiko can do it, I can too!”

“It’s settled then.” I declared, sending some of the weaselkin out to set up a much more difficult set of targets. Right, now it’s time to take advantage of the extra Territory Shaeraggo brought us…

I cleared a queue by rush-building the Sniper Emplacement in it to Rank 2, further buffing our defence. But now I needed a fifth point of defence, so I rush-built my usual four Emplacements (one Sniper, one a Rapid-fire) and that set me back just over fifteen thousand ether. That still left me with a hundred and seventy thousand. The large amount my Territory brings in now is great, and to be fair, Shaeraggo contributed a lot seizing a route to the bay. A rush-built Rank 2 Silo and Rank 2 Elemental Silo was around twenty thousand, then Rank 3 Silo for eighty thousand. That leaves me a bit short of my Rank 3 Elemental Silo too. It wasn’t as if I needed it, exactly, as the other Silos would receive water essence when it was extracted, but doing it this way would make long-term storage and utilisation easier. It’ll be less that an astral day before I have enough, and I can always burn a few Etherites, yeah, I can get it done before we go.

First though, I needed to move some Ether Spires down there. Using the open Queue, I pushed four towards the bay area, one from Shirohebizumi Shrine, one from Shaeula’s old Territory, and two from around the Rhyming Tree. I might move a fifth there later as well, but we’ll see what we can extract with four Rank 3 Spires…

With the new area defended, and Spires slowly moving down there at the rate of one every hour and a half or so, I decided to enjoy the archery. My sis was being supported by Eri, Shaeula and Hyacinth as she warmed up, going through the stages of kyudo in anticipation, while Shaeraggo was watching his sister sourly, Selensha and several of his weaselkin captains by his side. Ulfuric had come to watch as well, it seemed.

Yeah, don’t be jealous that Shaeula is in Aiko’s corner. Though maybe it might have been better if she showed a little support for Shaeraggo… Starting to feel just a little sorry for him, I walked over to him.

“So, just what are the rules?” I asked, as he was stringing a large bow, significantly bigger than the one my sister was using. He snorted, shaking his head.

“Archery, the art of the hunt, it-it is all about accuracy, speed and killing power. So there shall be three trials.”

“This isn’t actually a Trial of Three, is it?” I asked, wary, and he shook his head.

“Of course not. I would not-not bully a mortal so. She stands no chance against me, so any Price would not be fair. No, I merely wish to see her abilities. The bow she inherited is too precious to be left to an amateur.”

Well, I’m thinking you had no problem accepting a Trial against us that you thought you had no chance of losing. Oh well, no point dwelling on that… “To be honest, I’ve faced your arrows. You are quite skilled.” I admitted, and at that he let out a growl of approval, his black-furred maw twisted into a grin, teeth showing. “My sister, of course I believe in her, just like you believe in yours, but… well, it’s a big ask. So, I won’t ask you to go easy on her, she wouldn’t want that either, she’s a sporty girl, she likes competition, fair competition, but I ask that you evaluate her fairly, knowing she’s only a mortal girl.”

“My darling will.” Selensha said, and Shaeraggo looked away with a sigh, before nodding. “Your sister will learn a lot, just watching, I’m sure.” Selensha finished.

Before I could answer my sis called me over. “Hey bro, stop hanging around over there and come support your sister! It’s my time to shine, after all. Now you can see all that money you scrimped and saved to get me that Yumi was worth it.”

“All right, I’m coming. Sorry, got to go support my sister. You understand.” I smiled, heading off. Shaeraggo watched me go, saying nothing, and once again I felt a little bad for him. Though nowhere near enough for him to beat my sister…

 

********

 

“The first test is to strike the targets at a distance. Twelve arrows each.” Ulfuric declared, and weaselkin handed the wrapped bundles to my sis and Shaeraggo. There were ten targets set up at various distances, ranging from fairly close, the more standard distances kyudo was shot at, twenty-eight and sixty metres respectively. But some of the later targets were much further back, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred and five hundred metres. Then the last was set at a full kilometre away. If I remember, old Japanese bows could hit targets at more than a hundred metres, and English longbows can do three hundred metres, though accuracy at that range is not great. But I guess with our new abilities…

“You okay, sis?” I asked, and she nodded, looking at the distant targets.

“I’ve always had good eyes, and now I can see far more clearly, so I can make out the mid-range targets okay. That last one though… I think I can see it, just about, but hitting it… that’s a joke one, right bro?”

Looking at the confident Shaeraggo, who was swaggering around, Selensha following him, I wasn’t so sure. He’s using a bigger bow too, and has Mystic Eyes and much higher stats than my sister. This is one she won’t win…

“Hitting a target at such a range is not-not impossible for my brother.” Shaeula backed me up. “Though without his Eyes, he would not-not strike it every time. Aiko, do not-not worry about winning, worry about doing your best.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me that.” Aiko grinned, the thrill of competition starting to build within her, even though she was feeling the pressure from the targets. “It’s not winning that matters, but taking part. Mom always told us that. I never won any of the big tournaments I went to, either, though I usually hit a Personal Best. I do my best work in tournaments.” Her grin intensified, turning sly. “Though… winning does matter to us in battle, right? So I’ll take this opportunity to learn. I’d learn from a devil or a demon if it’d make me strong enough to feel useful.”

I rapped her on the head gently, causing her to pout. “Ow bro, why?” she looked at me accusingly.

“You know why. I get that you feel left behind, but your generous bro is going to focus on you for a while. We’ll find a way, I promise. So no getting snared in any Faustian bargains. I don’t want to have to storm Hell to kick demon ass, teaching them not to mess with my sister.”

“Shit bro.” she cursed, flushed. “It’s hard to stay mad at you when you say lines like that. Shaeula, Eri, Hyacinth, is that how he sank his claws into you?”

“Master speaks frooom the heart, and says what we want, nooo, need to hear!” Hyacinth chuckled, holding Aiko’s quiver, towels, drinks and other essentials, like a proper maid and coach. Shaeula merely nodded, smiling, and Eri poked my sister in the cheek.

“You know how he won me. So less banter and more focus. Shaeraggo is ready.” As the brother of Shaeula strolled over, he looked at Eri, remembering her. He smirked when he saw her heavy axe leaning by her.

“I remember you. The first wife. I hope you will not-not be trying anything foolish today.” He sniffed, and she smiled back, her expression cold.

“Of course not. So long as you aren’t trying to hurt my friends. I’m not such a pathetic weakling as then either, remember that.” She hefted the heavy axe one handed effortlessly to demonstrate.

“No, it seems not. Still, this is but a friendly competition. To ascertain the worthiness of this girl here to carry my bow.”

“Fine. Well, Aiko won’t go down easily. I believe in her!” Eri said stoutly, and Aiko hugged her, touched.

“We should begin.” Ulfuric interrupted the pre-match banter, and I agreed. “Yeah, we have a lot of stuff to do, even though time is faster here. So, explain the rules, please.”

Ulfuric nodded. “For the first round, you each have twelve arrows. You may strike any target you wish, but the winner will be the one who has the longest aggregate distance total. A miss obviously counts as nothing.”

“Got it.” Aiko said, and I was once more struck by how well she had adapted to this world. Seeing badgerkin and weaselkin should have phased her, maybe even scared her, but my sister was always inquisitive and bold. “You want to go first, I don’t mind?” she said, and Shaeraggo declined.

“Females first, I believe you humans say.”

“Fine.” Aiko said, taking an arrow and moving through the stages of Kyudo elegantly. The ether around her reacted, and it was clearly visible in the higher density of the Boundary, being drawn in, energising her. Spiritual Kyūdō indeed…

“That is a strange stance.” Shaeraggo observed. “It does not seem like-like pure archery.”

“It is an art the humans developed, brother.” Shaeula filled him in. “It is quite ancient, and also serves as meditation. Aiko does it quite-quite beautifully.”

Indeed, I was unable to take my eyes off my sister as the arrow was released with a gentle hiss. It stuck the sixty-metre target dead centre, and I couldn’t help but applaud, as only professional tournaments in Kyudo used the sixty metre range.

“Not bad.” Aiko admired her shot. “I still can’t get the Zaiteki down, but Kanteki, piercing the target, that I can do consistently now.”

“I see. Afraid to try for the better targets?” Shaeraggo swaggered to the mark, placing an arrow to his bow. “I shall not crush your spirit to begin with.” He unleashed an arrow quickly, and it slammed into the target two hundred metres away, striking dead centre.

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“Hey, not bad.” Aiko applauded, gracious to her opponents as always.

“Not bad? Hah.” He grinned.

“All right, I can match that, I think.” Aiko said. She took a deep breath, and after further meditation, her arrow flew through the air, hitting the target at two hundred metres. It was barely in though, piercing the edge of the small, plate-sized target. Even so, she pumped her fist, exultant. “Well, to be honest, I wasn’t confident. That’s like… trick shooting, not competition. But wow, feels good to do that!”

“Well, you do have some skill.” His arrow struck the target at three hundred metres, and Aiko winced. “Damn, that’s a fine shot again, dead centre.”

“In battle, the prey must-must die, and in hunting, there must be no suffering, else one is as barbarous as the Unseelie.” He told her. “So striking where you aim is a must.”

“Yeah, makes sense. In competition all you miss out on is points. In battle… well, it’s life or death, right?” She closed her eyes, thinking, before taking her third arrow, and landing it dead centre. On the two hundred metre target.

“Not confident?” Shaeraggo asked, and she shook her head, while we all waited for her answer.

“I’m not a fool. I’ve never practised at these ranges, and before I gained these levels and had Chirurgery, I’d struggle to nail the sixty metre consistently. Besides…” she sighed, though it wasn’t one of anger or sorrow, merely delf-deprecation. “… your words were right. I need to make sure I can strike the previous target consistently before trying for more.”

“You will lose then.” He said, and she shrugged.

“Then I lose. My greatest opponent is always myself. Motoko and Natsumi understand that too. Practicing with them, I really like them. Get them locked down bro, they are too good for you, you don’t want them to escape!”

“Yeah, I’m working on it.” I said, to much laughter from Shaeula and even a snicker from Eri.

“I see. Yes. You have the spirit of an archer, if naught else. Then watch closely.” His next arrow struck at four hundred metres, but this time he had to aim, taking longer to shoot. It was still right in the centre though.

“Nice shot.” Aiko whistled, clapping again. “I think the longest confirmed kill-shot from a bow in Japan was like three hundred and sixty metres. You just cracked that. But…” she looked at the last target, far distant. “The historical record is eight hundred and forty six metres, by some European or other. Even so, that was into a crowd… damn, I feel like I’m in the presence of greatness.”

“You do well to recognise it.” He smiled, pleased by the praise, looking smug.

“Oh well, this isn’t going my way, but quitters never win, and winners never quit.” She ran through her style again, before her arrow sank into the far corner of the three hundred metre target. She whooped in joy at making the shot she thought was well beyond her. Still, over the next few arrows, she missed one and hit two at three hundred metres, before finally sinking two in a row into the centre of the target. “Just four arrows left then.”

“Indeed. Still, you have pushed your limits.” Shaeraggo loosed an arrow, sinking it into the target a kilometre away, though even he was having difficulty now, his arrow hitting somewhat off-centre. He clicked his tongue, annoyed.

“Well, even if I hit four thousand metre targets in a row, I’d still lose.” Aiko stuck out her tongue. “But I’m not satisfied. I can do better.” She pulled back her bow, and loosed the arrow. It clipped the edge of the target at four hundred metres, before spinning off.

“Shit.” She cursed.

“Well, against a troll or some other large opponent, you would have at least injured them.” Shaeraggo allowed, his next arrow still not to his liking, though it was again in the target.

“Yeah but this isn’t a battle. The target is all there is. Shit, I missed again.”

“True. Then allow me to show you the true essence of skill.” He took his last three arrows, and his Eyes flared into life, green energies scattering. “My Eyes of Wind Reading allow me to do… this…” three arrows flashed from his bow, all striking the target at a kilometre, one after the other, splitting the previous arrows, before the target shattered.

“Wow, wow, just wow!” She was flabbergasted. “That was pretty cool. How do I learn to do that?”

“Without Eyes that read the wind, it is challenging. Though with enough proficiency in wind element it may be replicated.” He said, basking in her praise.

“I see. Bro!” She turned to me, her tone excited. “Remember that anime about all the ninjas? Think you could gouge out his eyes and transplant them into me?”

“Do not-not joke about it.” Shaeula warned, though she smiled at the humour. “Akio might just try it, and I would not-not have my brother be blinded.”

“Besides, we like your blue eyes. If you had his green ones, we’d have to call you Emerald rather than Sapphire.” I laughed. “Seriously though, those wind arrows are killer, I remember taking a battering from them.”

“Yeah, well… wind element huh? I’m definitely going to have to step up my game. Wind and light. I’ll get them both.” She concentrated, and her next arrow actually hit the target at four hundred metres. “Wow, I broke the Japanese record for a kill-shot. I don’t want to forget the feeling.” Another arrow, and this one was dead centre. Her last arrow joined it.

“Nice. I think I beat myself, if not you, Shaeraggo. Good match.” She held out a hand, and after a moment he took it.

“So, one-nothing to you, big guy. What’s next?” she tossed her head, black hair glittering with silvery sweat, and her smile was joyous. Damn, seeing my sister so happy, I feel my antipathy to Shaeraggo fading… still, he has to work harder to earn my forgiveness!

 

********

 

“In battle, you need speed.” Shaeraggo said. The new target was a larger one, and set at just two hundred metres distant. Just. That’s still a massive ask for an archer…

“Your accuracy is impressive, and in ambush you would be able to slay your target were they not too far distant. But given the same time, I would have killed-killed many. So, this time, it is how swiftly you can strike the target. I shall go first. Watch as I demonstrate the difference between us.”

“I’m watching, sure am.” Aiko agreed. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“Fine.” He grinned, in good humour. He had switched bows to a smaller one, like Aiko’s. Taking the bundle of arrows, he began to unleash them, one after another. The speed was magnificent, and after delivering nine, the remaining three he loosed all at once with his wind, and the target was pin-cushioned, splitting apart.

“Very impressive.” I admitted, and Aiko nodded.

“Sure was bro. He’s right. Kyudo isn’t about speed. I can see if I want to go further, I’ll have to go beyond. It’s been a good lesson.” She bowed to Shaeraggo, before taking her stance. The first arrow struck dead centre, but getting back to her shooting position was slow, too slow. Even so, she tried to speed up, and by the sixth arrow she was noticeably swifter.

“Still, not quick enough. Kyudo is about the mindset, the stages get you into the mindset… so do I need the stages?” Her next arrow was quicker still, and it was a bit off-centre, but it was followed by two even more rapidly. They hit, but again the accuracy wasn’t perfect.

“Not quite… it’s no good if the accuracy blows. Even so…” two of her last three arrows flew out, and were nearly centre mass, before her final arrow left a mere moment after the last left the bow. Her eyes hadn’t even opened, but she turned away, a brilliant smile on her face.

“That one’s dead centre. I know, because the arrow already exists there in my heart. Zaiteki.”

“She is correct.” Shaeraggo nodded, as the arrow slammed home in the bullseye, piercing deeply, cracking the target.

“Wow, shit, I did it, I did it!” she cheered, hugging me and Eri, before gesturing for Shaeula and Hyacinth to join in. As we hugged, she was crying, happy tears. “Wow, shit. I don’t know if I can get back that feeling easily, but that… that was true Kyudo! It’s not just a sport, it’s a combat art, like the Tsumura ones. And that arrow was killer. I’ve only ever had one like it in practice.” She rubbed at her forehead idly.

As we praised her, Shaeraggo agreed. “Indeed, that final arrow had true intent. Out of the twenty-four arrows you have unleashed, perhaps four have been worthy of my bow. But-but… it can stay with you.”

No shit. We won it fair and square, you think I’d let you take it back? Still, my sis will appreciate it more now, since an archer of your calibre has approved of her.

”Four huh? Yeah, I think I know which ones. Not a great average, but I’m happy. There’s always higher mountains to climb. So, you kicked my ass again, but it seems a shame not to finish.”

“Indeed. You might learn something.” He agreed, caught up in the challenge himself. Even though he was winning handily, it looked like he was enjoying himself. “Destruction. Arrows must kill their target, else they serve-serve no purpose.”

Ulfuric created targets of stone, and once more arrows were handed out, this time only three of them.

“Watch closely.” He said, and my sister eyed him carefully, absorbing every nuance. “Without wind.” His first arrow pierced the rock, but only sank in a couple of inches.

“With wind.” His second arrow bored deep, and would have fatally wounded many foes.

“Full power.” His eyes flashed, and a great whirlwind of weasel-snakes formed around the arrow, causing me to shiver as I remembered facing those down. His arrow whistled through the air, savagely tearing through the rock, ripping free a massive chunk and sending cracks radiating out from the impact.

“Nice.” Aiko clapped. “I don’t think I can do that, but I’ll try my best.”

Her first arrow bounced off the rock, leaving a deep scratch. She clicked her tongue, and using the quiver, she imbued the arrow with flame. This time it penetrated, but only enough to remain stuck.

“Shit. All-out now I guess.” She poured out her flame energy, boosting the blazing arrow, and this time it penetrated well, melting a little of the stone. Even so it was a far-cry from what Shaeraggo could do.

“Lame. Really got to do better.” She exchanged another handshake. “Well, you kicked my ass, but thanks for the instruction. I’ve a lot to think on. Oh well, there continues my record of tournament losses. I’d say I’d win at uni, but I doubt I’ll be allowed to take part. Sooner or later the world will know about us, right bro?”

“Yeah. But even so, I’m proud of you sis. See? You may be jealous of Eri, but you’ve worked hard too and come a long way.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” She agreed. “If I can just grasp those insights…”

“It was a worthy match. Of course I won…” Shaeraggo boasted, but at a growl from his sister he changed his tone. “… but I was not entirely disappointed. Five arrows from twenty seven. Train until at least ten impress me. I shall have you sent some things that may-may aid you.”

“Wow, really? Thanks, I guess!”

Thanks, I guess? Again? Stepping in on her behalf, I nodded, thankful. “I’d appreciate it. Us brothers should look after sisters, right?”

He scoffed. “I am not-not doing it to earn your gratitude. She simply performed better than I had anticipated, and I see her potential. Jewels should be polished, lest they remain worthless-worthless pebbles.”

“Ouch, I’m a pebble!” Aiko laughed, and as Shaeula chastised him again, I smiled. Yeah, this has been good for Aiko. She’s been feeling down, so seeing her growth is bound to soothe her…

 

********

 

“Thanks a lot, Shaeula, Shaeraggo.” Aiko thanked them for her training. While I was supporting the satisfied but exhausted Eri to master the first rank of Ether Healing, those two had taken charge of training her in wind element. Shaeraggo could control the wind with his Eyes, while Shaeula could see inside Aiko, and also had experience of wind and fire together, even if it was in reverse. She could also heal the damage with her Ether Healing, and it helped train Aiko’s too. “I think I might be able to get it, eventually. Hurts like hell though. Is all special training so tough?”

“Mine wasn’t.” Eri grinned, flushing, and Aiko rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I don’t want to know what kinky sex games you two got up to. Did you learn it then, Eri?”

“I did. After all, I want my skin to remain beautiful and scar-free.”

“So vain. Oh well. Damn, I’m exhausted. Are we going back now bro? Didn’t you say you had a busy day?”

“Yes, I have a meeting this afternoon. We should still have time though. At least we gathered enough resources…” as time had passed, as well as Shaeraggo’s forces aiding ours in Territory expansion, I was able to do that Elemental Silo upgrade to Rank 3, as well as filling the queue with another Rank 2 Sniper Emplacement upgrade, though I had to break a number of Etherites to have enough. The Spires are set up too, so now we should start gathering water element, ready for conversion. “Oh, that reminds me… Eri, you may start expelling some vile black liquid from your body. I doubt you’ll flood like I did, but… it’s probably just a beneficial side-effect of the class you gained. It’s nasty though, so sorry…”

“You can wash me off then.” she giggled, and I nodded.

“Fine, then let’s go back. Shaeula, I know you are busy, but I’ll need to borrow your befuddling winds at some point.”

“Very well, I shall make-make time. But before that… I have a meeting I would rather avoid.”

“Well, we both do then.” I sighed. “But we’ll be fine. Hyacinth, look after Shaeula, okay? Shaeraggo, thanks for holding down the fort.”

“Until my sister has settled matters, I shall remain here.” He promised.

“All right then.” With our goodbyes done, we returned to the Material…

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