Chapter 8

When Ash came back to the house, she was covered in drying red and violet blood. Every now and then, her thoughts would go back to the goblin she massacred. She really felt like she'd turned into an animal for a brief period. She tried her hardest not to think about it, but, she was unsuccessful. 

Opening the screen door, she saw Satsuhiro, along with Keiko and Metsumi, all sitting at the kitchen table.

"... I'm afraid that's out of my field," Satsuhiro said.

"Really?" Keiko asked.

"Yes," Satsuhiro replied before his eyes fell on Ash. He and Metsumi visibly cringed when she appeared. Keiko's covered her nose. "Well," Satsuhiro started, "it seems you had an exciting time."

Ash spat out some of the goblin's blood.

"It was wonderful," she said in the driest tone she could muster. "You know, you could have said 'hey, maybe take on an easier monster at first' or anything like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that a level 4 goblin nearly killed me," Ash replied.

"And why the hell did you fight a level 4 goblin?" Satsuhiro asked, looking baffled.

"Uh, because I didn't fucking know level 4 meant that thing was like, seventeen times better than me." She replied, throwing her hands up.

"Hm. I figured you had enough common sense to derive that. Clearly, I was wrong."

"It's not like I know what I'm doing! And, hell," she turned to Keiko, "you could have warned me too, Miss Weaponmaster."

"My only job is to teach you how to use weapons and record what you do." Keiko quickly replied, with a low tone. "What decisions you make beyond that are your own."

"Un-fucking-believable." Ash wiped away more blood. "You could have at least helped me learn how to do basic swings or some shit! I went out there swinging my sword like it was a hammer!"

"I..." Upon hearing that, the girl's head lowered. Her voice seemed far more remorseful. "I apologize. You are correct. I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

In all her years, Ash had never heard someone be that remorseful toward her. It was jarring, honestly.

"... Whatever." Ash shook her head. "Anyway, I leveled up."

"Good." Satsuhiro took a sip out of a ceramic cup. "While you were gone, I did a little bit of research into your trait. There haven't been too many of your kind at all, so the information I found was scarce. Still, as I had said, in order for a Moonlight Mage to begin using their spells, they must first ease the tension that exists between their respective categories of magic."

"I dropped out of school at 12, please, simple terms," Ash replied, walking in and leaving mud imprints on the floor.

"I mean that your affinities are at odds. Light and Dark are not compatible, and yet you have an affinity for both. You need to get them to agree with each other."

"And how do I do that?" Ash asked.

"Well, that's what I researched. The process is simple enough. The issue is that it's dangerous. Basically," he sighed, "you need to build bridges using your Mana."

"Listen, you're talking in really abstract terms right now and I gotta be honest, the fact that I have goblin blood in between my tits is pretty distracting and makes it really hard to understand. I don't know what the fuck you mean."

Satsuhiro nodded. He looked away, humming to himself. Then, he looked back at her.

"I'm going. To cast. Light magic. Onto you, and Dark magic," he said slowly as if he were talking to a child. "Coming into contact with both categories will attune your body to them, thus allowing you to use spells after you've attuned fully."

"… Okay." Ash nodded. "Can you do that after I've taken a bath? I'm covered in goblin guts."

"Ah, sure. By the way, how the hell did that happen?" He asked.

When he asked that, Ash remembered how she tore the goblin apart. She felt a shiver crawl up her back.

"Uh... Apparently, being a half-demon comes with more baggage than I thought," Ash replied with a shrug. "I have a trait that, well, temporarily makes me sort of a demon."

"Hm…" Satsuhiro crossed his arms. "Could that be why you were chosen?"

"Huh?"

"I've been thinking about why you were chosen and I'm still at a loss. Not every Savior is some sort of prodigy since birth or a noble or whatever, but they tend to have something that sets them apart from the rest. Maybe in your case, it's your hybrid status. Something like fighting fire with fire."

"Could be." Ash shrugged. She looked to Keiko and noticed that her hands were trembling. She doesn't seem to like that. "I don't really care why she chose me. I just know I have a job to do." And money to make. She thought.

"I see. Well, go ahead and take a bath and take the rest of the day off. I'll heal up those nasty little injuries after your bath. We'll start your attunement process tomorrow."

"Alright."

The bathroom held one tub that was already full.

I'm guessing they thought I'd be dirty by the time I came back. Ash disrobed and entered the container, watching as the liquid slowly turned red from the blood washing off of her. While she was there, she took the moment to see that message again.

Level Up!

2 Attribute Points Gained

Allocate now?

Yes     No

Sure. Ash thought and the next menu popped up.

Points Remaining: 2

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 1

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 1

Wisdom: 1

Luck: 100

Alright, so, what do I want to do? Ash looked at each stat. Well, I'm sure as shit not going to be casting many spells anytime soon, so I think Intelligence and Wisdom are pretty much out. I think my body is durable enough, I mean, I was able to take a few punches from a goblin that was clearly stronger than me. She looked at her Strength and Dexterity. I may as well try to get those both up.

Nodding to herself, she hovered the Strength option and put a point into it, and put the other point into her Dexterity.

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 2

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 1

Wisdom: 1

Luck: 100

Confirm?

Yes No

Yeah, that seems about fine to me. With that thought, the points she'd gotten disappeared, and her Attributes were updated. Her choice was made and she was now Level 2.

Someone tapped on the door.

"Hey, it's me, Metsumi," the woman said, "I left some clothes out here for ya. You should be able to work out in them too."

"Uh, thanks," Ash replied, the words feeling alien to her tongue. Saying "thank you" wasn't something she was used to. She'd had to say "fuck you" far more than that.

When she felt refreshed enough, she exited the bathroom, dried herself off with a nearby towel, and put on the clothes her host had left. A bit too big. Metsumi is kind of huge, after all. Ash walked out into the living room and found Satsuhiro and Keiko speaking.

"... Well," Satsuhiro was in the middle of saying something, "maybe I can find something in the library though."

"T-That's alright, thank you, siya."

"No problem." Satsuhiro looked up at Ash. "Need that healing?"

"Yeah." Ash shrugged.

"I'm going to..."

As he spoke, Ash found her eyes naturally roaming to Keiko, in a way that they hadn't done before.

Hm...  And, gradually, Ash tuned Satsuhiro's words out. 

Her trainer sat with her hands on her lap. Her uniform, a curious outfit that Ash hadn't seen before, exposed the sides of her thighs, showing off pale, soft-looking skin. From where she stood, Ash could see how Keiko's chest swelled, and, for some reason, she felt the strangest urge to touch her. 

"Are you listening?"

Ash blinked.

"Huh, what?" She shook her head. "Sorry, I lost focus for a second there," Ash told Satsuhiro.

The retired Savior sighed and said:

"I didn't say anything too important. Just how the healing spell works. It'll take about ten seconds or so."

He stood up and placed a hand on Ash's forehead, and she found her wounds closing.

What the hell was I doing? Ash thought, as her eyes naturally went back to Keiko.

"Tomorrow, we're going out into the field and I'm going to cast spells at you. Basic ones, though due to my high Intelligence stat, will likely still hurt. So, be ready to feel some pain. After that, I'll heal you and it's through this that you will become attuned."

"Sounds easy enough. Provided you're not holding back any common sense." Ash spat out. Satsuhiro sighed.

"It will take time. I believe one session won't be enough. For now, just rest up."

"Rest? Shouldn't we-"

"We could train," Keiko suggested.

"It's better to do that with a clear mind," Satsuhiro said. "Clearly, Ash is still pretty mad. Just take the day off, you'll be here for a while. You'll have more than enough time to train."

"Fine," Ash replied.

There really wasn't much to do at the farm. Ash walked out and spent a little time looking at the animals Satsuhiro had. Some cows, some chickens. A few crops grown in small fields. The time alone allowed Ash to think for a while. Which was horrible.

What the fuck happened to me? She wondered, remembering how she tore into her enemy. She looked down at her hands, remembering all the times when people in Jade would kick her and call her names, usually things like "rabid mutt" and "demon rat". Were they right? She sighed and eventually, as the night kicked in, walked back into the house.

Satsuhiro told her that they'd be going to sleep early so as to get the most out of their day, and Ash agreed to it.

Finally, since they only had one guest room, Ash and Keiko had to sleep in the same bed. Keiko had offered to sleep on the couch but Metsumi said "nope, no one's sleeping on any couch in this home, that's not happening."

So, with the twin moons high above, Ash was lying on a green bed with Keiko next to her. Her trainer had her back turned to her.

Alright. I guess it was a... whatever kind of day. Ash thought. At least I leveled up.

And so, she allowed the day to end as she closed her eyes.

---

Ash woke up. There were black strings in front of her eyes. Then, as she blinked, she realized they weren't black strings her, it was Keiko's hair.

She had turned towards the girl in the night. Ash took a deep breath.

Keiko's scent slid into her nostrils and Ash's eyes traced the outline of her body.

Holy shit, did she always smell this good? I'm so close that I could reach over and- WHAT? What the hell am I thinking?

She sat up, reaching up and touching her chest. She hadn't noticed it, but her heart was beating fast.

What... No, whatever. She shook her head. She checked and saw that Keiko was still asleep. Her eyes were blindfolded of course, but she wasn't moving, save for the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Whatever. Whatever.

And so, the morning got off to a strange start.

Later, Ash was standing in front of Satsuhiro outside the house where the sun draped itself over them. Keiko was a few paces behind Ash. Satsuhiro nodded to himself and cleared his throat, his gloved hands held together behind his back.

"I will be casting a basic Dark spell called Dreadful Sphere."

"So, what should I expect?" Ash asked. "Is it gonna burn, is it gonna feel cold?"

After what happened yesterday, all she wanted were details.

"No," Satsuhiro shook his head. "Dark spells are unique in that, they don't seek to damage your body. Sure, a spell powerful enough will feel like you're being punched by a high-level warrior, but that's not a Dark spell's objective. No, a Dark spell aims to hurt your very soul. Your life energy. If I had to compare the feeling of tanking a Dark spell to anything, it would be heartache. But that doesn't quite compare, still. Taking a Dark spell is a very unique feeling, as you'll find out in a moment. Ready?"

"Sure." Ash shrugged.

"Good."

Without an incantation, Satsuhiro raised a hand and Ash watched as a black and violet force gathered at his fingertips. Then, the force converged and became a small ball of dark energy. Satsuhiro pulled his hand back and pushed it forward like he was throwing a rock. The sphere traveled through the air and hit Ash in the chest.

Instantly, Ash felt raw pain spread throughout her body.

"Agh!" She fell to her knees. He was right. The pain she felt was unlike anything she'd ever been through, and as a woman who had been homeless for the past six years, she'd experienced a great many kinds of pain. Starvation, the burning of the hot stone streets under her uncovered feet, getting hit, what she'd felt at this moment was almost like a combination of it all.

"It's something, isn't it?" Satsuhiro said with a smirk.

Ash was left breathing heavily but stood back up.

"That," she said, "is fucking terrifying."

"You can imagine how high-level dark spells feel. I can tell you from experience, being hit by one feels like your very existence is being erased. Now, ready yourself. We have to keep going."

Ash nodded. Satsuhiro nodded back and raised up a hand. Another spell was launched at her, and Ash gasped.

Several spells later, Ash was lying on the dirt, looking up at the sky. Is this what death feels like?

However, a message popped up.

Dark Attunement Process

5%

You're joking. Ash thought. All that, for 5%?

"We should stop with the Dark there," Satsuhiro said. "Taking too many of those could kill you."

"I can tell," Ash replied. "So, Keiko, you heard all that?" She called out to the girl behind her. Keiko's only response was to nod, probably assuming Ash was looking at her.

"Now, let's start the Light attunement. I'm going to heal you. This will undoubtedly feel better. I will also use the weakest healing spell I know, so you have more time to attune."

"Alright."

Again, without an incantation, Satsuhiro placed his hand on Ash's right shoulder and a white glow covered it. She felt relieved, almost like a type of peace was entering her body.

"Hey," she said, "quick question, don't you need to say something to use a spell?"

"An incantation? No." He shook his head. "Not when you've mastered the spell you're using. And, well, I've mastered quite a few. I've been doing this for a long time, after all."

"Oh. Alright. How long have you been a Savior for?"

"Hm... I believe I was recruited when I was 16."

"And how old are you now?"

"30." He replied. "I was a Savior up until I was 27, then I retired. Though, as you will too, I started out with only the lighter kinds of tasks."

"You retired that early?"

He nodded.

"Well, as evidenced by the fact that you're here 'retired' is a bit of an overstatement. Regardless, demons are dangerous creatures, even to us. You won't live long if you just fight them all your life. If anyone needs my aid, I'll be there. But, as far as actively looking for missions is concerned, that time is already behind me. Besides, I have a family now." He pointed back to the house, where Ash could hear his wife talking to his daughter. "I have to be here for them."

Ash nodded with understanding. A minute later, Satsuhiro stopped.

Another message came up.

Light Attunement Process

10%

"It went up faster," Ash stated.

"Yes, I spent more time healing you than I did trying to attack you, just by nature of the two spells I used. The healing spell lasts longer, so you get more attunement out of it."

"Okay, so what next?" Ash asked.

"That should be it for today, on my end. I healed you, but even so, taking too many dark spells can have... undesired side-effects."

Attuning Dark is that dangerous?

"So, what do I do now?"

"That's up to you, at least until tomorrow," Satsuhiro said, helping her get up. "You could exercise your body, run, chop a tree down, etc. Or, you could get started on your weapon training." He pointed at Keiko. "It's your choice. You're the Savior, after all."

Ash looked over at Keiko.

"Hey, how's that sound? Can we start practicing now?"

"Yes." Keiko's low voice answered. "Again... I am sorry, by the way."

"It's fine." Ash sighed. "Lead the way, teacher."

---

Varcon

The Church of Magia was somewhat calm at the moment. Not many injured were coming in, so the deacons and priests had time to relax. Varcon did so in one of his favorite ways.

The old man was currently in one of the back rooms, naked and sitting at a wooden chair while a pair of prostitutes serviced him. He took deep breaths as both girls took turns diving between his legs. I needed this. He thought.

The recent events had tired him somewhat, but as much as he didn't like the prospect Magia chose, he understood that with there simply being another Savior in the world, humanity stood a slightly better chance of winning the battle against the Demons. Behind him, the door opened.

"Father Varcon," a deacon said, "the Royal Council's representatives are here, they wish to speak to you regarding the case of the hybrid."

Hm. I assume they wish to hear me say she'll be a good asset to them.

"I will be there shortly." He replied. The man left the room and the girls stopped. Varcon paid them with money out of the church's treasury.

The church must maintain its position. He thought. As long as the people of Nova are looking to us for salvation, we are the sole true power in this world. Magia would not intend it any other way. However... He scowled. The effect of a good story is not lost on me. That is after all, why I let those men and women die a week ago. A good story can alter the opinions of everyone who hears them, and how tragic would it be if these degenerates, the lowly impure citizens of Nova, were led to believe that anyone, even a homeless half-demon, could be great. That Magia sees them all equally. He scoffed. What a hell that would be.

As he contemplated the matter, he got dressed and walked out into the halls. When he emerged at the main room, where the crystal was, something stirred. He didn't notice it at first. However, a whirring sound made it to his ears and he opened his eyes.

The crystal was spinning.

Varcon blinked. He couldn't believe it.

The crystal was actually spinning.

Could it be? He thought, standing up. His frail body drew closer. Another Savior?

And, it was as that realization came to him that he smiled.

Ah. He chuckled. I see! His chuckle turned into boisterous laughter. Magia does everything for a reason. I understand now. And... if my guess is right, then even that half-demon was selected for a reason. Thank you, my lady. I will not doubt you again.