Chapter 26

Under a wave of heat brought by the midday sun, Ash and Kaori trained with Keiko. Because of the new mission, the Zayama pressed them to improve. First, she and Ash rehearsed the defensive techniques they'd been refining since arriving at the farm. Then, Kaori and Keiko sparred for a little bit, each session ending with Keiko finding some opening that would consistently leave Kaori gasping in astonishment.

Things were going smoothly. In all honesty, Ash was just glad to seemingly finally have her lust under control, at least, for the moment. I don't want my lust to increase like that again for a while. She thought. It's fucking painful.

Ash watched Kaori carefully. Ever since she'd told her about her trait, Kaori had been... Different. It wasn't quite enough to be concerned, she figured, but whenever Kaori looked at her, there was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Warmth? Curiosity? Something Ash couldn't quite decipher.

The half-demon was working up a sweat, eager to continue and get better. Satsuhiro interrupted them though.

"Hey," he called out, "have you gone out to fight at all?"

The three of them stopped and Ash shook her head.

"No, we've mostly just trained."

"You should probably head into the forest then," Satsuhiro told her. "Real combat always feels different to training, obviously. You'll want to get used to it and stay used to it. With this mission coming up, some fighting would do you good."

"I'll go later," Ash replied, turning back to Keiko, but Satsuhiro said:

"Kaori should come with you. She's going on that mission too after all."

Huh... right. Ash looked back and nodded. A part of her was still getting used to the fact that Kaori was officially staying with them as a Savior and not as a guest.

"What do you think?" She asked Kaori. The blonde grinned, putting her swordstaff away.

"I'd love to!"

"You, uh, sound weirdly excited, but sure." Ash shrugged as Kaori giggled.

"Well, yeah, I mean..." her tone softened. "It's kind of like hanging out, you know? Just with swords and ugly monsters."

"Fairly romantic if you ask me," Keiko aimed a smile at them.

"Whatever," Ash responded and they got back to work.

Later on though, after Kaori's swordstaff proficiency had gone up to 4, almost matching Ash's sword proficiency, they decided it would be good to dedicate the rest of the day to this task.

Satsuhiro was right, in Ash's mind. They needed to stay used to combat. So, Keiko bowed to them and walked back into the house while Kaori and Ash looked out toward the dark forest.

"We don't need to do too much, I think," Ash told her. "Just find a few goblins, hack 'em up and come back. Ready?" Ash asked.

"Yeah."

And so, they walked forwards.

Walking next to the girl she had been so distrustful of before, alone no less, gave Ash a strange feeling. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the blonde by her right side, who looked to her left and smiled when she caught Ash looking at her.

"This is kind of exciting, isn't it?" Kaori asked.

"Exciting?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, just us, walking through the woods looking for a fight. It's awesome."

"I don't know," Ash replied, "I don't think I've felt too excited while goblins were trying to get my insides outside."

"Oh, come on, you've got to admit it's cool!" Kaori responded. "This… This was kind of what I had in mind, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I was picturing being a Savior, I mean," Kaori stated with a softer tone. Ash raised a brow as her eyes took a distant look like she was seeing memories flash in front of her. "Training, going out into the forests and looking for evil monsters to take out, then coming back with a huge trophy to show my parents. Then head into the taverns and celebrate with my friends. I don't know, that's what this job sounded like."

As Ash took those words in, she couldn't find a response. From the start, she'd never romanticized this to quite that extent.

Now that they were deep into the beginner-level forest though, Ash transformed her weapon and kept her guard up.

"Focus up," she told Kaori. "There might be something to fight nearby."

"Okay!"

With that response, Kaori transformed her own weapon into her swordstaff. With a background harmony of birds singing, Ash searched the distance, looking between the trees to find her enemies. By now, she understood that it likely wouldn't take long to run into something.

And she was right.

Soon, Ash heard an animalistic groaning coming from the north. She raised a hand and stopped walking. Kaori did the same. Okay. She thought. Now, where… She tried to find the source of that noise, hoping she'd see it before it saw them. The groaning grew louder and louder as it sounded like the source was drawing closer.

Then, she saw it.

"What the fuck?" She asked as she gazed upon the strange creature. It looked to be a walking suit of armor, with blue fumes coming from its orifices. It had no body, as far as Ash could see, and yet it was holding a sword, turning towards them as though it had eyes.

Level 9

MP: 20/20

"Well," Ash started, "I guess we found our first enemy."

"What is this thing?" Kaori asked, pointing her swordstaff at it.

"No idea," Ash responded. "It's level 9. You should be able to take it on, but if you want me to go first, I'll do it."

"… No." Kaori took a deep breath. "I've got this."

Ash nodded and took a step back.

"All you then."

With that confirmation, Kaori started to walk up to it. As Ash watched her get closer, she found that Kaori really did look like a heroine at that moment. Her golden hair flowing in the wind, her expression determined and her armor shining brilliantly, she was the precisely that person that stories always talked about, the one who usually ended up saving the world by thrusting their sword into a bad guy's body.

As the two combatants stood around eight feet away from each other, the creature raised an old, rusted longsword. Kaori didn't split her swordstaff just yet, maybe she felt like practicing with it being whole. Regardless, she got into a stance Keiko taught her, her left leg outstretched and her swordstaff at her hip, waiting to be used.

The creature attacked first and did so with astonishing speed. It charged from its spot, almost reaching Kaori with a single hop. The blonde was surprised, but as the ghost-like creature went for a vertical slash, she quickly deflected the blow and tried to counter with her own hit. Even to Ash, the move looked awkward, but strategically, it was sound.

Then, the creature did something that surprised Ash. It parried her blow, sending Kaori's swordstaff recoiling right back to where she'd slashed from. What? It then went for a horizontal strike along Kaori's midsection, but the Savior took a step back, dodging the attack. That was a pretty advanced-looking move. Isn't this thing, like, just a monster?

Kaori looked shaken, Ash, as surprised as she was, imagined she did too.

However, as Kaori looked over at Ash, for some reason, she shook her head and retook her stance.

The creature moved first once more. It did the same hop, going for the exact same vertical slash. Kaori reacted to it differently this time, she dodged to the side and slashed at the creature's neck area. Although to Ash's eyes there was only blue smoke there, her swordstaff did seem to hit something, as the creature howled and Kaori's blow failed to go straight through.

It was the creature's turn to take a few steps back. Once again, for reasons Ash couldn't understand, Kaori looked at her, almost as if asking for confirmation of something, but Ash just kept watching. So, then, Kaori split her swordstaff into its dual swords form. With them, she attacked first.

She ran up and went for two horizontal slashes, coming from the same direction. The creature tried to parry the blow, just as it had before. One sword was deflected, but the other was not. Kaori's second sword went back to the creature's neck and slashed through this time.

The creature's blue smoke dissipated, and the armor fell onto the ground as if the thing that had been wearing it had simply disappeared. Kaori took a few deep breaths and transformed her weapon back into its cube shape.

Wow, she looked so sexy fighting like that. Ash caught the thought as it happened but let it through her mind. Meditation had taught her to do that.

"Well?" She turned to Ash. Although she looked somewhat happy, Ash could see residual fear on her face. "How'd I do?"

"Seemed easy enough," Ash told her as she walked up to the crumpled armor. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kaori look a little disappointed. "What the hell was that thing?"

"Dunno. It sure looked like it knew what it was doing though." Kaori speculated. "Well, uh, wanna look for more?"

"Mhm." Ash nodded.

They ventured deeper into the forest. Ash hoped they wouldn't lose their way, but they had been walking in a straight line, so she figured it shouldn't be too hard to come back to the farm. The forest was strange, even though they were covering distance, it didn't seem to change much. Still, eventually, she heard more animalistic sounds and halted. Repeating the process, she and Kaori looked for the enemy.

However, what they found was a group.

Multiple goblins were walking up ahead.

Level 7

MP: 10/10

Level 8

MP: 10/10

Level 5

MP: 10/10

Level 11

MP: 10/10

Shit, shit! Ash crouched, gesturing for Kaori to do the same as the goblins passed. They were holding something up, some sort of large pig-like animal that was still alive and squealing. As they moved, they muttered incomprehensible things to each other. Ash glanced at Kaori.

"I don't think fighting these things is the best idea." She whispered. "We should probably just let them pass."

"That one," Kaori pointed at one of the two goblins at the front which was bigger than the others, the one that was level 11. "Looks kinda scary."

"Yeah," Ash stood up a little, "let's just turn around and…"

However, as she spoke, the pig got free. It tore through the simple bindings the goblins had made and started running away. Precisely, in Ash and Kaori's direction.

"W-Wait, wait," Ash tried to hide, but the thing moved right past them. And so, the goblin's eyes fell on the both of them.

You've got to be kidding me.

"Kaori, get ready."

"Y-Yeah." The other Savior transformed her weapon.

"I'll take on the two at the back," Ash told her.

"Uh…"

Of course, she was implying that Kaori should fight the big one.

"That thing's closer to your level, right?" Ash reasoned. "Don't worry, I'll finish up the others and help out."

Kaori didn't respond. Her eyes were wide as she looked at her two opponents.

I'll have to keep my word on that. Ash thought. She's probably panicking, but, at level 11, I'm guessing that thing would crush me. I only won against the Nightmare thanks to Demon Form, and the last thing I want is to trigger that right now. I don't want my lust getting anywhere near 3 stacks again. It was so painful to hold back like I did.

So, Ash aimed her sword at the two goblins and walked to the left, trying to draw their attention. As she saw her, Kaori did the same but moving closer to the two on the right. Probably a good time to try this out. Ash thought as she searched for the mana inside of her.

"Corruption spread, corruption launch!" She shouted, manifesting a black sphere in her left palm and shooting it at one of the goblins. When the spell hit, the goblin gasped like Ash had stolen its air, then quickly started screeching. Its friend got angry and raised a club threateningly at Ash. Good. She checked her own stats.

Level 6

MP: 50/60

And so, as the goblin who had taken the spell charged at her, Ash waited for them to arrive. Remember the fundamentals. She thought. Defense wins fights.

The first goblin approached. Ash saw it raise a club and she lunged forwards. She went to slash its stomach, but the goblin was deceptively quick. Its club slammed down on her left shoulder before she could follow through with her attack.

"Agh!" Ash gritted her teeth and pushed the creature back as her left shoulder flared up with pain. The other goblin was arriving at her position by this time. She narrowly managed to avoid a hit, looking to retaliate with her own, but the goblin stepped back before she could do so.

Okay, she thought, these things got pretty quick all of a sudden.

Then, she heard a blade go through flesh and she looked to her right. Kaori had just impaled the smaller goblin on her side, leaving just the bigger one to deal with. Yeah, nice going! Figures, she's faster than me and has roughly the same skill now, these things shouldn't be too much of a problem… Well, aside from that one. She thought, looking at the bigger enemy. Shaking her head, she looked back to her own opponents. Stay focused.

One ran up. Ash wasn't about to try to attack again. She waited for it to do a swing of its own. It held its club to its right, winding up. Ash got ready to deflect. When the club came out, it hit Ash's sword and the Savior nearly dropped it. Holy shit! Her hands shook with the vibration of the hit. They're stronger too.

However, she managed to find a spot to attack. She went for a vertical slash but then the goblin's friend showed up to help. The other goblin struck her leg and Ash went down before she could finish. She let out a brief cry of pain, falling before them.

Scowling up, she kicked one of their legs out from under them before they could smash her head in. One goblin fell, and she had to dodge out of the way of a blow from the one that was still standing, that likely would have crushed her. Then, she thrust her sword into the abdomen of the standing goblin. It shrieked, dropping its club as Ash's sword sunk in deeper.

"Like that!?" Ash yelled as the creature fell, blood squirting out from its wound. The other goblin got up and Ash did the same, getting to her feet. She took a moment to look to her right. Kaori was about to start fighting the largest of the goblins.

Focusing back on her own battle, Ash almost growled as the creature slammed its club in the ground with frustration.

"Corruption spread, corruption launch!" She shot another Dark spell at it. The goblin dodged and Ash felt her own emotions tighten.

She felt almost unreasonably angry. It ran up to her and Ash waited. When it attempted an attack, she decided to try parrying. Her move was successful and the club went up again, revealing a clear open spot at its stomach. Ash placed her sword against its skin and slashed to the right, tearing its body open.

Taking quick breaths, Ash watched it fall to the ground.

EXP Gained: 25

EXP: 40/65

EXP Gained: 20

EXP: 60/65

Serves you fucking right. She gritted her teeth, shaking her head. Kaori? She thought, looking back. What she saw didn't make much sense. The other Savior had put quite a bit of distance between herself and the larger goblin. As the goblin attacked, Kaori rolled out of the way and took several steps back, like she hadn't even considered retaliating. What are you doing? Ash thought, but as she saw Kaori's expression, she got it.

She's still too scared. Ash realized as Kaori avoided another attack but didn't try fighting back.

"Okay, okay. Time to help out then," Ash mumbled as she readied another spell. "Corruption spread, corruption launch!" The sphere shot out from her palm and struck the goblin. It let out a deep moan and slowly turned around to face Ash.

"Yeah, come on," Ash said as it started taking large steps towards her. It was smaller than the Nightmare she'd fought at Jade, but faster. It reached her position, and with a club the size of her own body, it tried a swing. Ash wasn't even going to try deflecting the attack. She rolled forwards, between its legs, ending up behind it, and tried to attack.

The goblin spun in place and struck Ash with its free hand. The hybrid was sent back, feeling like she'd just taken the hardest punch to the head of her life. Holy shit. Her vision was blurry for a second. She reached up, touching the side of her own head, and found a bit of violet blood on her hands afterward.

Her heart pounded in her ears. Ash shook her head twice, trying to make her vision clear up.

"You wanna help?" She asked the other Savior.

"R-Right." Kaori, who had literally been standing aside, watching, transformed her weapon into its bow form. With it, she shot an arrow at the goblin's chest, which pierced its skin as Ash stood up. Good idea. She thought as she went for a slash at its knees.

The goblin's large eyes moved to her, and it raised a leg like it was going to kick her away. At the last second, Ash held her sword up and when the goblin did its kick, her sword stabbed through its foot.

It let out an ear-piercing screech as it fell back. Ash's eyes widened. It's down, I should go for the kill! She ran up.

"W-Wait!" Kaori yelled but by then, Ash had gotten too close. With its club, the creature slammed Ash by her left arm, sending her flying in the opposite direction. Ash rolled on the dirt until she slowly stopped.

Her left arm felt like it'd been shattered.

"Fuck!" Ash shook her head. I got desperate. What the hell is wrong with me? She scolded herself as she searched for her mana again. I need a second.

"Guard my soul against the dark's reach." She said, putting her sword on the ground and placing her right hand on her left arm. It slowly began healing as the goblin held its stabbed foot. Ash could barely feel any progress happening at her wound. Come on, come on! The goblin slowly attempted to stand, falling once or twice.

Ash felt her left arm's wound mildly heal.

Well, now it doesn't feel broken anymore, but still hurts like hell.

The larger goblin looked like it couldn't care less about Kaori, even as she shot another arrow at it. Its eyes were fixed on Ash. Ash got ready as it finally stood and roared at her. With deep breaths, she waited for it to come. It stomped towards her. She didn't move.

Only when it was right in front of her did Ash stop healing her arm and reached for her sword. She grabbed it and rolled out of the way of a swing, landing to its left and cringing as her left arm flared up. Then, she slashed its calf. It roared but didn't go down, which Ash had counted on. So, as it attacked, she could only try to avoid the hit. She didn't. It persisted, even as another one of Kaori's arrows landed at its back.

This time, it slammed her stomach.

"Ash!" Kaori shouted.

Ash spat out violet blood as the goblin walked up. Shit. Don't think I can get up in time. She thought as she clutched her gut.

As she thought that, she felt rage bubbling up within her. Oh no. A violet-colored aura started coming out from her body. Fuck. Well, I might need it though.

She started crawling away, watching as her hands slowly transformed.

Then, she heard Kaori yell behind her. She looked back and found the blonde Savior transforming her weapon into the swordstaff, stabbing through the creature's uninjured leg. It fell forwards, kneeling.

Ash then watched as Kaori, with a furious visage, quickly raised her swordstaff up and stabbed through the goblin's head. Its body tensed up, almost freezing as it registered that this had happened. Then, Kaori removed her weapon and the monster fell forwards.

Ash watched as its life left its body.

EXP Gained: 40

EXP: 65/65

Level Up!

Oh, thank fuck. She thought, collapsing to the ground. Her hands stopped transforming.

"Ash? Ash!?"

She turned up to face the sky as Kaori quickly knelt beside her.

"Good job." She muttered. "What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry, I, I froze and... Are you okay?" Kaori asked.

"Please, don't ask stupid questions, I'm not in the mood." Ash coughed out some blood. "That thing hit me pretty hard. It's... It's probably better to just get me to Satsuhiro fast, instead of taking the time to heal myself here."

"O-Okay, I'll get you up."

Then, startling Ash, Kaori picked her up by her back and her legs, after transforming her swordstaff into its cube.

"Uh…"

"Alright, let's go," Kaori said as she started jogging back to the farm with Ash in her arms.

…

Later, Ash was resting at her bed, with Satsuhiro healing her.

"Productive?" He asked, his hands hovering her ribcage.

"Sure," Ash replied. "Fuck, I hate goblins."

"Everyone does." Satsuhiro shrugged. "Good work though. Keep it up."

"Mhm."

And so, around ten minutes after Satsuhiro had started healing her, Ash's wounds were fully erased. Satsuhiro stood and got out of the room. Kaori and Keiko were still there.

"A-Ash, I'm so sorry, I mean, I don't know what came over me and…"

"It's fine," Ash mumbled. "We..." She sighed. "We just need to keep fighting. Like Satsuhiro said, just need to get used to it and stay used to it."

Kaori, looking deeply ashamed, hung her head low.

"Yeah…"

Keiko placed a hand on Kaori's back.

"We'll keep training tomorrow. You'll be ready for that mission, promise."

Oh, right. Ash thought. I hope that Nightmare's on the weaker side of things. I don't think I want to keep getting concussed like this. Can't be good for my well-being.

"All done?" Metsumi asked at the door. "Come on, I made something for you, Satsuhiro might have healed your body, but Momma Metsu's gotta heal your spirit!"

"Yeah, in a sec," Ash said as she started getting up. Kaori was the first to walk out of the room, looking slightly sullen. Keiko however, walked up to Ash instead. "What's…"

She kissed Ash full-on.

The hybrid blinked, barely registering what Keiko was doing before the girl ended it, a thin strand of saliva connecting their lips.

"I'm trying to get used to it. I… I want to be able to, well, help you," Keiko told her as Ash nodded.

"… Gotcha." Ash tore her hands off and pulled them back, looking down, feeling that familiar burning within her. "I'll uh... I'll see you outside. Give me a sec?"

"Mhm," Keiko replied, exiting the room. Ash laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

She thought back to the fight.

That was bad. She thought. I nearly went all out… Sometimes, there's no doubt I'll have to use my Demon Form to survive, but If I ever reach Lust 4… That's a scary thought.

The rest of the day was a blur in Ash's eyes. She could barely focus, with so many thoughts swimming in her head. As the day passed and the next arrived, she and Kaori continued to work hard, getting ready for their first real mission.