Shinkachi

I was sitting down in Celestia's office, reading some of the books from her library. She was also in the room, taking care of the paperwork on her desk. Looks like being a guildmaster is a busy job.

We were minding our business and I was sipping on some coffee until-

"Nero, how good are you with women?" She asked.

I paused, settling my cup of coffee on the table.

"How good? I don't really know, why do you ask?" I responded.

"What do you mean, you don't know? You sleep with- never mind."

"What? You wanna sleep with me or something?"

Celestia's face turned bright red and I felt a compressive force wrap around me.

"Hehe, j-just kidding. Just kidding." I apologized, praying she doesn't crush me.

I was definitely not ready for that.

"Anyway, why did you ask?" I said, resuming the topic.

"Well, I've been wondering if you would like to come help me with my work? I'm... teaching another student and I need a little support. The reason I'm helping her is that I owe a favor to her ancestor."

"…that's it?"

"Yeah."

"Strange you want help from someone like me. I mean, I'm not a girl, why don't you just ask another girl?"

"Well, I don't know how girls act in this era alright?"

"I don't either. You are an elf that has lived here for… well, I don't know how long and you still don't know how people act in this world? At least have a better excuse."

"Tch, well I don't have time to do all the stuff people do in this world."

"Right, work."

"Yes. So what about it?"

"About what?"

"Do you want to help me and become my assistant while you are over there?"

"What is in it for me?"

"Well, you can meet the real me. That is one. The second one is…"

"Is?"

"Well, it would be better to show you."

"So basically my only choice is to come, huh? Guess I have no choice but to say yes. This place is technically of no use to me anymore since I've read every single book in your library."

"If you like reading, then the library I have over where the real me is located will entertain you for years."

"That is what I like to hear. So when do I leave?"

"Pack your things and go to the same field you destroyed a few days ago. I'll send something your way. While you are at it, you can bring the girls along with you too."

***

Well, we are here, standing in the same field I partially destroyed a few days ago which was a result of my recklessness as a Warlock.

Now that I think of it, since I'll be meeting the real Celestia, she can help me master my newfound skills in person.

As I sipped on my canteen, I wondered.

Who is this aristocrat's family she is working for?

"Master, please don't drink so early in the morning." I heard Kiyomi say worryingly.

"What are you talking about? I'm just drinking water."

"Umm, that's actually beer," Ravyn corrected.

"Really?"

Huh, weird. I've been drinking this like it was water and I don't think alcohol is working on me anymore. Maybe it's my Poison Resistance kicking in. Oh well, at least I know it is working. The only thing I'm not cool about is that I won't be able to get a decent excuse for not doing anything.

…I'm starting to talk like my old man, and I don't like it.

I flipped the canteen upside down, spilling the beer all over the ground, and then strapped it back on my belt.

I stretched and relaxed my body.

I've been building up a lot of stress lately and I'm too busy to have it relieved. I think the stress is shown on my face too. Been focused on thinking about what move I should make next to get me or the girls stronger. I've already given Ravyn a boost in power and I'm thinking of what to do next with the other two.

From the advice I got from Celestia, Dragon Onis can grow if they have a suitable sparring partner. I've done some training with Akane before, and let's just say the results were just like the first time we met, except she won most of the spars.

Her movements are sharper and much precise that even with Raiden equipped and Lightning Acceleration on, she moves at blinding speed that I am not even able to process. She leaves Afterimages even though she doesn't use the actual skill. She is just that fast!

Anyway, sparring with her actually raises her level cap at a steady pace: 100-250 levels a day. Since we've been sparring for three days, well, you know the rest.

Now that I knew what to do with Akane, the main issue was going to be with Kiyomi.

Since she was a Kitsune, the skills that she could learn can only be taught by another Kitsune. So teaching her Kitsune-related skills was going to be tough. However, there was an alternative.

Kiyomi has a great aptitude for taming beasts. I think we encountered some stray Dragon Clawed Tigers once and she managed to calm them down by whistling. Dragon Clawed Tigers are basically animals that look like tigers and have terrifyingly sharp claws.

I needed more summons for my Spirit Soul and I was going to take them out. However, once I saw how they quickly warmed up to Kiyomi, I decided to go for another route.

A Beast Tamer. That was the class I wanted her to learn. However, she was somehow unable to obtain the skills of a Beast Tamer. Even with the help from Celestia, we still couldn't get her that class.

We would've given up right there, but we found another way.

A few days ago, the girls and I were looking through some boxes that Celestia had stored in the basement of the guild. Yeah, the guild has a basement.

Anyway, we were still trying to help Kiyomi become a Beast Tamer so we were looking for a whistle, which is what most Beast Tamer would possess to call their companions.

We found an artifact that looked like some kind of ancient whistle. Celestia told us not to blow into it but curiosity took the best of us.

Kiyomi blew into it and... well...

It shattered.

It shattered a second after she blew into it and we could do nothing else but stare at the pieces on the ground.

We knew that Celestia would've gotten mad at us if she knew we broke an artifact of hers, so we quickly resorted to another.

So instead, we brought up some kind of broken flute.

"What happened to the whistle?" Celestia asked us.

We scratched our heads and looked away in guilt.

"Don't tell me you blew onto that whistle..." She asked.

"O-of course not," I answered back, trying not to sound like I was lying.

"Ho...?"

I could feel a force tightening around me as if it was trying to crush me. I attempted to manipulate that force with Banishment but my Banishment was quickly overruled. I should mention that Banishment only works if my opponent is near my level or weaker than me, not if they are clearly stronger than me.

Anyway, I was being crushed and I could feel the air inside me being forced out of my lungs. Then she dispersed her attack.

"Oh well, if it's gone, it's gone." She said as she returned her attention to the broken flute on her table.

While I took deep breaths, Celestia got up, taking the broken flute in her hand.

"It's actually a good thing you blew into that whistle," She said.

"Huh? Really?" I replied.

"Yes. See, that whistle actually grants Musical Intuition, more specifically, Flute Intuition, which grants one the ability to play the flute proficiently. If I remember, many whistles similar to that one was gifted to mortals, however, they can only be used once." She explained.

"How do you have something in possession?" I asked.

"Well, those whistles were originally supposed to be given to the Bard Hero as they needed it as a part of their skill set, however, only some of them were able to obtain it. There are others that can be sold in auctions or in the black market. Anyway, since you've obtained Flute Intuition, you can have this as you have obtained the Bard class from blowing onto that whistle."

She was right about that. I can see that she obtained the Bard class and Flute Intuition. Her level cap has also risen dramatically, by 3000. Her astral chains must've broken as a result of blowing onto that whistle.

Hmph, my luck just can't get any better than this.

But now that I think of it, wasn't it a bit unsanitary to blow onto a whistle that has been left in the dust for so long?

Worryingly, I got out my handkerchief and begun wiping Kiyomi's mouth.

"M-Master?" She questioned me as I wiped her mouth gently.

"Stop moving, that whistle might've been hosting some kind of disease from centuries ago."

"I-is that so...?"

After that, I looked at the flute in Celestia's hand.

"So I'm guessing you are going to give Kiyomi that old flute?" I inquired.

"Oh gods no, do you know how dirty this is? Not to mention it's also broken. Besides, Kiyomi might not be worthy of wielding this flute."

"Why not?"

"I'd be surprised if someone at this age would be able to wield the 'Shinkachi,' an instrument that can only be wielded if the host is deemed worthy. That can be found out if they blow into the instrument that it responds to them."

"So... what if she is deemed worthy?"

"Well, then the flute would mend itself back and she will keep the flute. However, even if she were to be worthy of it, she is still not ready to wield its power. For now, I'll be holding onto it until she is ready."

Then after that, we left. As I sparred with Akane, I also had to help Kiyomi with practicing performing attacks with the flute, or taming beasts with it.

Bards can also control beasts using the music they produce and that was what I wanted Kiyomi to do. She managed to tame most beasts with her skill, Beast Melody, however, taming stronger monsters such as dragons is a little too much for her and she needed the skill, Beast Symphony for that.

Though she didn't get the Beast Tamer class, Bard was close enough.

So, that should explain why I've been stressed so lately.

Anyway, we were still idling around waiting for the thing that Celestia was going to send until we heard a wing flap in the air.

I looked up and there was some kind of big bird in the air, then I realized it wasn't a bird, well, it was, part bird.

Thud!

A large Gryphon landed in front of us and let out a loud screech. I know it was a female because it had two sets of wings instead of one. A Griffin which is a male would only have one set of giant wings while a Gryphon would have two sets of medium-sized wings.

Anyway, I'm guessing we are supposed to get on this Gryphon to get to our location.

Now, we could've just used Celestia's Omni-Teleportation to get there quicker but her reason was that we would be seen as trespassers and probably frighten a few people. She said a proper introduction would be better since we are going to an aristocrat's place. She has already told them that we were coming.

Anyway-

"Now then girls, let's get on." I turned, but the girls were nowhere in sight. Then I noticed they were already on the Gryphon. It seems the Gryphon has already warmed up to them.

Right, I forgot they are more excited to see a mythical creature than I do.

Now... if only this thing would let me get on it.

But just like the Akane's Bloodmoon Dragon, it wouldn't let me anywhere near it.

"Fine, I can fly either way," I said as I began to levitate.

"Show us the way."

The Gryphon would let out another loud screech before taking off, me following right after.

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