Ash

With Kaori okay, Ash could calm her nerves down a little. So, when Satsuhiro returned to the house with three books in his hands, Ash felt like she could focus a little better.

"Here you go," Satsuhiro said, placing the books on the kitchen table. "The process is the same as learning any other spell. Just open it up, read through it and your mind will internalize the knowledge of the spell on its own."

"How many spells did you bring?" Ash asked.

"You should find around six or seven Blessings and Curses in total."

"What?" Ash asked as she took one of the spellbooks and held it up. "Six or seven for all this?"

"Like I said, the categories are complicated," Satsuhiro shrugged. "Get to it."

Ash nodded, sighing.

"Gotta get to work then, I guess."

She was left alone with the books while Keiko decided to help Kaori meditate so that she could increase her Wisdom stat. Ash read the covers. The Hidden Power of Faith. Of Hate and Magic. Darkness Unleashed.

Maybe I should start with the Faith one, I feel like the Dark magic I already have is enough for most situations. She thought, so, she opened up The Hidden Power of Faith and with a great amount of effort, began to read the pages.

A bar appeared over her head, with the label Spell: Empowered Light. Ash nodded to herself. So, it doesn't matter if I actually understand what I'm reading, right? Because, fuck, this is hard. Making a school dropout read to get stronger is almost a bigger challenge than fighting.

Sure enough, most of the substance of the pages in front of her was lost to her. She slugged through it though, forcing herself to continue even as she encountered words she didn't understand. Eventually, she felt dots beginning to connect in her mind. After an hour, with Kaori sitting cross-legged nearby, meditating, the bar was half full.

She took a break and came back to it later. It took until the night came, with the sun retiring, for the bar to fill up. The instant it did, Ash felt knowledge flood her.

Spell: Empowered Light

The effects of Light magic on target recipients are strengthened. Potency and Duration are affected by INT.

40 Mana

Oh, shit. Ash scratched her head. So, healing spells like mine become better?

"Done?" Satsuhiro asked. Ash nodded.

"Yeah, it gave me a spell that makes Light magic stronger."

"Makes sense. That's the sort of thing Blessings are," Satsuhiro informed her. "Think about what Kaori's curse did. It made it so that healing magic didn't work on her. Basically, these are two sides of the same coin, that being Status Effects."

Ash looked back down at the book.

"So, what other kinds of status effects are there?"

"Keep going, see what else you pick up."

"Ugh," Ash rolled her eyes. "I really wish there was some other way to do this."

"Suck it up," Satsuhiro shrugged. "Sooner you do, the sooner it'll be done.

On that note, Ash continued.

Before she decided it was time to go to sleep, she was able to learn one more blessing. Curse Removal. Which was, of course, the spell that cured Kaori. She was glad she picked it up before finishing up, hopefully, the next time something happened to Kaori she could be of more use.

"So," she said to Satsuhiro and Metsumi, "where are we sleeping?"

"Ah," Satsuhiro looked around. "This place doesn't have a guest room so... Sorry, but you're gonna have to take out a mat or something and sleep on the floor."

"Aw, seriously?" Kaori asked, disappointed.

Ash shrugged though.

"I've slept in worse places."

"I do not mind," Keiko added.

They were given a couple of thick bedsheets to use. They put them down by the couch and one by one, they got ready to call it a day.

Ash laid down in the middle, between Keiko and Kaori.

She looked to her right, seeing Keiko curled up, and then looked at Kaori, who was still awake, with her hands behind her head.

The half-demon was considering saying something when Kaori caught her gaze. The blonde smiled, her teeth almost shining in the night.

Ash turned away, feeling slightly embarrassed. Shaking her head as she heard Kaori giggle, she closed her eyes.

---

Ash found herself in a dark, ashen land The sky was grey above her, with no cloud in sight. She looked down at herself. Her skin was transparent.

"What?" Ash asked. "Where...?"

In front of her, a little boy stood. He had his hands behind his back. Ash saw him and took a step back.

"What the fuck?"

The boy had no eyes. Nor did he have any hair on his head. All she could see on his face was a pair of lips forming a displeased expression. Ash looked around. There was nothing around them. No trees, no human structures, no animals. It was just the two of them and the black dirt under their feet.

Ash instinctively reached for her Savior's Weapon. It wasn't on her though. The boy walked forwards. Ash glared. Everything about him felt wrong, but at the same time, she couldn't find it in her to dislike him.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The boy answered her question with a question of her own.

"Why do you struggle for the sake of people who hate you?" He asked. His voice seemed to give off a sense of pity, almost like he was watching a snowflake fighting to stay cold in a field of lava.

"What the- why the hell do you care?" Ash asked, baffled.

"Because we share a path, but not a destination." The boy told her. "Scorned, mistreated, but where I seek vengeance, you seek to protect those who wronged you. I do not understand this." The boy tilted his head. "Is vengeance not the human thing to do?"

"Yeah? Well, I'm not human," Ash replied.

"Ah, but are all demons not born from humans?" The boy asked. "You may have been formed in a state of existence betwixt, but you do have some humanity in you."

Ash scowled. She was just about to say something when a blast of lightning almost struck the boy. Just before it hit him, a black shield appeared around him. Ash looked for the source of the attack and she found another man walking up from the left.

He was carrying an iron trident and had a large black shield on his left arm. He was dressed in the armor of a stereotypical knight, but his eyes were blank.

"My, my~" The boy said. "Well, it seems this talk has been cut off." He turned to Ash. "I would ask you to reconsider, abom-... Hybrid. I empathize with you. I would hate to see you share their fate."

Before Ash could respond, the very space they were in began to dissolve.

---

Ash's eyes opened.

She sat up, breathing heavily. The first thing she did was place a hand against her heart, feeling it beating against her chest rapidly. She looked around.

What... What the hell was...?

In that instant, something appeared over her head.

[Status Effect Gained: Niven's Blessing]

[While in Niven's site of power, all of a demon's attributes are increased]

Her eyes widened.

She looked down at her own self and saw a violet aura being exuded by her skin. Standing up, Ash raced out of the house, ignoring Kaori, who had woken up and was asking her what was going on.

She ran out into the streets and looked up. The sky had turned a subtle shade of violet. Ash's jaw hit the floor. What? Already?

She checked her stats.

Level 11

MP: 120/120

---

STR: 18

DEX: 18

CON: 14

INT: 12

WIS: 12

L: 100

Kaori ran up to her, but Ash began to sprint towards the gates before the blond could reach her. She saw multiple guards standing on the walls, looking out. She couldn't see past the gates, so she ran up the stairs.

"H-Hey!" A guard said, "you can't," but Ash pushed him away.

She looked out towards where the portal was.

A violet aura was festering at its location, but no demons had come out yet.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief as a guard grabbed her by her left wrist and dragged her off the wall.

---

Keiko

"So, how long do we have?" The Lord of Pearl asked.

Currently, Ash, Satsuhiro, Kaori, and Keiko were at Pearl's castle. After Ash informed Satsuhiro of the progressing status of the portal's influence, they decided to tell the Lord of Pearl, a man named Nathan Toriona about it.

Each of the cities, besides Jade, had a Lord. A person who oversaw the events that transpired in the city, but answered to the Royal Council. Keiko couldn't see him, but he did have the voice of a leader.

"It's been about 4 days," Satsuhiro said, "and the portal has, according to Ash, covered about half of the city. This means it's likely that the portal will have fully covered Pearl in the next 3 days."

"3 days..." Nathan muttered. "That is not much time."

Keiko took a deep breath. No one had been ready to hear that when Ash made the announcement that she was already being affected by Niven's Status Effect.

"I suggest we double our efforts in looking for a way to dispel the portal," Takomaro, the senior Savior, suggested. "If we can prevent a battle from even taking place, it would be ideal."

"I don't believe such a way exists," Satsuhiro said. "We're dealing with the power of a god. Our magic is probably useless against things he created directly. We need to form a battle plan."

That was another thing that had, obviously, surprised people. With this status effect also came the realization for the average person in Pearl, and soon, when the news spreads, the world, that it was Niven himself they were fighting. Before, of course, everyone had assumed as much, but having the existence of a pissed-off god confirmed, well, no one liked that.

"Already ahead of you on that one, friend," the Lord responded. "We have a general coming in who should be arriving today. He has been informed of the situation and is already coming up with a strategy."

Keiko thought that sounded somewhat reasonable until she heard Ash yell from her left.

"Are you kidding me!?" Ash asked. Everyone went silent. Keiko could feel the tension. Aside from the rudeness of her interruption, she understood many of them weren't okay with the presence of a half-demon here. "Motherfuckers, these things have the stats of someone who's at level fucking 80 or something! The highest level guy here is Takomaro, and even I could beat him if I were under that status effect."

"... What are you implying, hybrid?" Nathan asked.

"Fuck fighting, you need to think about how you're going to escape!"

Her words left a few of them stunned.

"So... Your proposal is to simply give up?" Takomaro asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Ash replied. "Listen, clearly, they're attacking way too quickly. You won't have time to prepare and they have every advantage possible. They've got stats, they've got numbers. What do you have?"

"Defendable walls and a city we know better than they do," Takomaro replied, barely keeping his anger restrained.

"And what are those things gonna be worth when a level 100 Nightmare comes in through those gates and turns every soldier in sight into a demon?" Ash asked.

"Alright, enough, demon" Nathan said. "You are right in that we need to think about escape plans as well. That much is true. However, two things. Number one, do not speak to me with such disregard. I answer to the Council but I am still a Lord." He said, and Keiko felt it as a threat. "Second... We cannot simply leave. We will try our hardest to defend the city, if it should fall, then at least we tried."

"Sir," someone else came in through the door behind Keiko. "The general is here."

"Ah. I see. Bring him in. Everyone should take the time to meet him, at least," Nathan stated.

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

"Ah, General Ioko. How was the journey?"

"Not too bad, sir. Thank you for arranging it."

"You're right on time. Did you see it?" Nathan asked him.

"Yes," Ioko replied. "I..."

He paused. Keiko turned towards his voice. What happened?

Then, she heard footsteps approaching her.

Hm?

"Seiyo?" He asked. "You are far from the compound."

And Keiko gasped.