Ash

Ash stood in the fields, her eyes closed. Ahead of her, metallic clangs bounced into the air off of Kaori and Keiko's weapons. In her mind, Ash was in the darkness, Kaori's naked body in front of her as her own demonic hands roamed over her skin. Kaori dragged her nails down Ash's back as the half-demon pushed and pulled her tail from the other Savior's body.

The abject desire in Kaori's eyes, her arched back, her quick, scrambled breathing. She couldn't get those moments out of her thoughts.

The irony of the spot she and the blonde were in made her shake her head. To think that things had started off so hostile between them, with how Varcon's plots had to lead them to be at odds, only for the half-demon to end up having some amount of attachment to Kaori now was strange.

Of course, they were still there for a job. Ash, who was becoming increasingly aware of Kaori's affections, didn't have time to sort out how the half-demon herself felt about Kaori. She needed to keep training. Especially when taking into account everything she'd learned about the sites of power.

Now, there was an actual metric in her eyes now for how the war was going. Not that she knew much about it outside of her own small perspective, but she understood that the gods, Magia, Alkoth, and Lumina, each had their own sites of power. These sites would grant the people of Nova more aid from the deities in the battles to come.

Well, Ash thought, not that I give too much of a fuck about that. No, the only things, the only people, she cared about were standing in front of her, working up a sweat.

"Ash?" Kaori asked and Ash's eyes opened. She looked down at her hands before she answered.

"Yeah?" The half-demon watched a few liquid drops slide down Kaori's cheeks. She had half a mind to walk up and lick them off.

"Your turn," Kaori told her, reaching up and wiping her forehead with a golden-gloved hand. "I'm spent."

"Okay." Ash nodded. Keiko turned towards her and the half-demon stretched her arms. "Can you remind me what we're doing?"

"Were you distracted?" Keiko asked.

"Mhm." That's one way to put it, Ash added in her mind.

"Well, you never answered my question," Keiko told her. "What do you want to do? See, Kaori's already said she wants to perfect her swordstaff skills, so the only other type of weapon she will be training with is the bow. What about you?"

"Hm." Ash put her hands on her hips. "I think I'd like to be good at a lot of different things."

"I expected as much." Keiko smiled. "Now that your sword proficiency is at 5, you're officially at the level of an average swordsman. That means it's going to get far harder to progress from here on out, Ash, I've been training for years and I'm only at a 7." Keiko stated. "It's probably better to become at least average at multiple weapons. So, for today, I will be teaching you about the spear."

"Alright." Ash nodded. She thought back to the knights of Jade that she'd seen. Then, she transformed Lust into a spear form. The weapon she created was around 213cm long. A golden stripe ran up the length of the black metal shaft, connecting to the spear's blade.

"Let me show you," Keiko extended a hand and Ash gave her the weapon. The Zayama trainer grasped it, she took a few steps back and started twirling the spear around. "There are a few different styles when it comes to spears. Some people can get surprisingly acrobatic, others are much more conservative with their skills. My clan, the Zayamas are more on the practical side of things." She held the spear out, aiming its blade in Kaori's direction, holding it low. "Range and safety. That is the point of using a spear. Personally, I'd say it is the go-to weapon when you aren't sure you can actually defeat your opponent."

Kind of feels like you just called all spear users cowards, but okay. Ash noted with a chuckle.

"However, although you outrange swords, there are a few weaknesses that you gain as well. For one, without a shield, defending yourself with a spear is far harder. Your blocks have to be far quicker, as you need the agility to reposition your hands on the shaft in order to deflect an attack. Also, if an enemy is unpredictable in the angle of their attacks, they can be hard to pin down."

"So, uh, basically just poke the monsters in the face and back up any time they walk up to me?" Ash asked.

"Well, yes. That's a strategy." Keiko nodded. "Here, I will show you some attacks."

With a wide stance, Keiko executed a few thrusts. The movements were subtle, but so fast Ash doubted she'd last more than a couple of seconds in a serious fight against Keiko.

"Try them out." Keiko handed her back the weapon and Ash nodded.

It felt as awkward as swinging a sword had when she first came to the farm. She tried to replicate Keiko's movements but her hands were shaky.

"Keep it up." Keiko encouraged her.

"Hey, girls!" Metsumi suddenly called out from the house. Ash stopped and turned around.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"A letter!"

"Hm. Could be Satsuhiro." Ash muttered. She transformed her weapon back into a cube and went inside the house. Metsumi dropped the envelope in her hands. "What's it about?"

"I didn't read all of it, but seems like another mission."

"What? Seriously?" She asked. It's only been a couple of days since we took out those Nightmares.

She sat down at the kitchen table, her eyes scanning over the words on the paper as Kaori and Keiko came up and sat down at her sides.

"Saviors Ash and Kaori,

A mysterious violet distortion was seen yesterday in the heart of the forest near Savior Satsuhiro's home. It was discovered by a scout passing by. The color of this strange phenomenon has us thinking this could be the result of one of two things. Dark Magic, or demons. In the case of the latter, it would be best for one or both of you to head out and inspect it. The area is level 1 to 5, as such, whatever this distortion is or does, it likely is not very powerful. Go out, find out whatever you can, and report what you uncover.

With regards, the Royal Council"

"Hm." Ash crossed her legs. "So, apparently, there's this weird thing in the forest, the one right next to the fields. Level 1 to 5. They want us to go check it out."

"Is, uh, is that it?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "They want us to see if there's anything demon-related." Ash sighed. "And here I thought, for once, we'd get to relax a little since Satsuhiro's out."

Kaori giggled and leaned in a little.

"We can just go right now, can't we?" She asked. "Since it's so low-level and all. We can just get it out of the way."

"Guess so." Ash nodded. "Well, we'll hold off on that spear training for a bit. Maybe if we're back before sundown we can keep it going?" She told Keiko.

"Understood."

"Want some water before you go?" Metsumi asked.

"Yeah," Ash replied.

"Yes, please." Kaori also added.

After about a minute or two, the pair stood up and walked out back into the field. Ash caught Kaori glancing at her a few times as they moved side-by-side. It took her a second or two, but then she understood what was up. This was the first time since their moment together two nights ago that they were properly alone. Not that they absolutely couldn't have found some time to talk, but Ash wanted let things settle in Kaori's mind before they did anything else.

Right now, Ash wondered what was going through the blonde's head.

"It's, ehm, kind of hot today, isn't it?" Kaori asked. Ash chuckled. She then raised a brow and turned to look at her.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"We haven't really gotten a chance to discuss, uh, what we did and all that." Ash looked around as she spoke, trying to see if there were any enemies. "You told me you were scared but that you wanted to do it. So, how was it?" Ash asked.

"You are... very blunt when it comes to this," Kaori replied with a smile and a blush.

"Yeah, being a street rat for several years will do that to you," Ash muttered.

"Uhm, well, to answer your question," Kaori continued, "your, that, you know, your form did add to the whole 'scared out of my mind' thing."

Ash nodded, stopping where she was. She looked down at her hands while she thought back to that moment. That's right. She thought. That other demon form.

It had been different from her regular form. Not just in terms of the tail and wings she'd gained, but also in terms of the feeling of it. In her normal demon form, she felt enraged, rabid. In this other one, it was far colder. She had calculated every move she made, trying to get as many reactions out of Kaori as she could just to savor them. She couldn't guess how she'd act if she were fighting in that version of herself.

Even now, after all this, Ash thought, there are still things about myself I don't understand.

"But... I..." Kaori coughed twice. "I think I liked it."

"You *think*?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Ash, it's complicated." Kaori waved a hand. "But, I... I feel like I enjoyed it."

"... I'm sure everyone needs a good tail-fucking every now and then. You're welcome." She said and Kaori smacked her shoulder. Ash smirked.

Ash nodded and the two continued on their path. As the letter had specified that the anomaly was at the heart of this forest, they walked in a straight line.

Up ahead, Ash heard something snarling. She glanced at Kaori, who confirmed she heard it too.

They tracked the source and found two short, thin demons. Ash quickly identified their levels.

Level 2

MP: 10/10

Level 1:

MP: 10/10

She looked over at Kaori, who had a worried expression on her face as she transformed her cube into a swordstaff.

"They're pretty weak," Ash noted. "Level 1 and 2."

One of the demons charged forwards, and predictably, it was moving so slowly that Ash had ample time to prepare a counter. She transformed Lust, waited, and when the demon raised a hand, she dashed in and slashed its stomach. She had meant to just cut its abdomen open, but her attack cut right through the creature, splitting it in half. It fell to the dirt in two pieces, and Ash looked at her sword. Holy shit, I guess I have gotten stronger.

EXP GAINED: 10

EXP: 10/125

The other demon eyed Kaori, eventually lunging for her. Kaori kicked its stomach when it got too close and impaled it with her swordstaff. The demon fell lifelessly just a few seconds later.

"Well," Ash started, "considering these things weren't in the forest before, I think it's safe to say that distortion or whatever is demon-related."

Kaori nodded.

"Maybe it's nearby."

Sure enough, as they continued walking, Ash heard some strange crackling sound. It grew in intensity the further they went and eventually, Ash saw it. Between a small circle of trees, there was what Ash could only describe as a diamond-shaped violet hole, suspended just a couple of feet in the air.

"I'm guessing this is it," Ash said.

"So, what do we do?" Kaori asked.

"Uh. I don't know, the letter just said we had to check it out."

Both girls circled the strange phenomenon. However, Ash noticed that the closer she got, the more it looked like there was an image being reflected in the object. She stood just a few feet away from it and then, she turned to look at Kaori.

"There's... It looks like there's a town in this thing."

"Wait, so, you mean it's a portal?" Kaori asked.

"A what?"

"A portal. Like, a door to another dimension."

A door, huh? Ash thought.

"So, what do you want to do?" Kaori asked.

Ash put her hands on her hips.

"This is the first time I've heard about portals. How do they work?"

"T-They're only a thing in stories, you know? I didn't think they actually existed, though, it's not hard to imagine some kind of magic could make one." Kaori told her. "But, I... I guess if we want to check it out, we'd have to go in."

"Couldn't that be dangerous?" Ash asked. "We don't know what the hell's in there."

"Yeah, but those demons we just fought weren't too strong, right? Assuming they came from here, whatever's inside this thing should be the same level of strength as them."

"..." Ash turned back to look inside the portal. She could just barely make out stone structures and a tall spire, but nothing else. "I'm guessing if we just went back and told the Council about this, they'd just reply 'why didn't you walk in?' Right? Fine." She sighed. "We'll walk back out at the first sign of trouble though."

"Mhm." Kaori nodded. The blonde walked up to Ash and lightly grasped her right hand. The half-demon didn't react to that.

Together, they walked in.