Shaking off Shaeula’s cuteness, I started to assess the significant gains I had made. Silvery letters scrolled across my vision as I used the Self-Examination skill. First up was Determination…

Determination- The power of one’s will made manifest. Determination will increase your power when facing great adversity, and will reduce the power of any negative effects others attempt to inflict upon you.

Well, that was certainly useful. Debuff resistance and a situational buff? At least facing off against the Yokai-hound gave me a tangible reward... Although protecting Aiko and Eri-chan was reward enough…

Next was…

By gaining the blessing of an enshrined kami, you will gradually raise your spiritual calibre, increasing your ?????????. In addition, Fortune, Charm and Majesty will increase, and your ability to use aether will strengthen dramatically, growing further as your ???????? rises.

Kami-Blessed was a twenty level class like Fae-Bonded, and it seemed there were no issues with having two classes at once. My status sheet was definitely looking better, but I’d go through it in detail later, as a question occurred to me.

“So, why did I only get Kami-Blessed now, not when the White Snake kami supported me?”

“Grr, I must apologise, for the gift of power I left within you as a child may have refused the power of the rival kami, growl. Grr, now that it has been properly assimilated within you, such is no longer a concern, grr.”

“Oh, I see. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, since you gave me a gift… oh yeah, you keep calling me a child of the shrine, but I didn’t even move here until I was a few years old. I’m not exactly pious either, I… well, you know I am not good with dogs, right?”

“Grr, All beings of spirit have laws they abide by, tied to their very existence. The traveller from a distant land beside you knows this well, grr.”

Shaeula nodded. “Of course, Three Oaths for Three Boons. That is the way of the Seelie.”

“Grr, a strange covenant. However…” the Brown Dog of the Mountains sniffed at Shaeula. “… I smell something nostalgic on you, growl. Grr, a presence long forgotten.”

I guess that might be Shaeula’s mother. She said she was of a noble bloodline of Japan, so I wonder if her mother was a kami too? I’m curious but it’s a really sore subject for her, so I’ll wait for her to open up…

“So, I’m a child of this shrine?” I continued, and the Dog nodded.

“Grr, yes, this was the first shrine you made prayer to, long ago. Growl, when one offers their prayers to an enshrined kami, their spirit becomes bonded to it. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. One’s home shrine, shrines related to one’s work, grr, or related to their hobbies and talents… any shrine and kami that influences aspects of one’s being have… grr, far greater significance than any other, growl.”

“I think I get it. So since Shirohebizumi has no real overlap with my nature, it carries less importance spiritually? That would be why having the support of my home shrine would carry more weight to the other shrines… hmm, then if I could get support of shrines with significance then not only would I have a stronger support base, but my Kami-Blessed class would level up too?” I could think of several shrines and their kami that would fit the bill, but some of them were… quite major, and probably out of my reach for now… still, it never hurts to plan ahead…

“It’s a shame that I can’t claim this area as part of my Territory, but it seems it is way too far from my Anchor to do so…” I muttered, unsurprisingly failing to claim the Territory. I did receive a boost to my ether, though it was not large. Using my improved examination skill, I could see that there was a building that would solve the problem, a Satellite Anchor, which could effectively hold and link far-off areas to my Territory… however it looked like it required the Territory to be at Rank 4 before it became available. No chance of that any time soon then, I haven’t even made Rank 3…

There were plenty of other interesting buildings available once my Territory ranked up, however a lot of them were still showing as ????????.

No point worrying about that now… since I’m here… “Now that you have decided to support me, is there anything we can do for you? Are you having any problems we can help with?”

“Grr, there is one matter you can assist us with, grr.” The kami barked out. “Grr, recently a corrupted spirit has moved close to our shrine, and it has caused great harm to several of my kin, growl.” It gestured with one paw to several of the dog spirits, one of whom had massive ugly scars down the side of its face and flank, one eye now pearly white and useless, while a second was missing a leg and covered in burns. Even for someone like me, who really didn’t care for dogs, the sight was unpleasant.

“Oh, so you want us to drive it off or defeat it?” I asked, and the kami agreed.

“Grr, It grows ever more bold as it gathers and corrupts the spirits of this place. Grr, it goes against the natural order we kami uphold, so it must be dealt with, grrrrrrrrrrrr. Yet beware, for it is strong, and burns with wicked flames, growl!”

Shaeula frowned at its words. “Hmph, fire-fire is a weakness of ours, our wind is helpless against it. We should consider carefully, master.”

“I know, I know.” I smiled at her, noticing she looked a bit red. Perhaps the thought of facing a powerful fire user is worrying her. We had enough trouble with the fire-breathing monster spiders, and they were just able to use a bit, not a true creature of fire…

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back, and if we are outmatched we’ll run, but I was thinking we would have to face this weakness sooner or later, and I do want to make sure our alliance with Chairoakitara shrine is rock solid. Together we can handle it, I’m sure. Look how far we have come together.”

Shaeula looked away for a moment. “Indeed-indeed. Perhaps I worry too much…”

“There is one thing I would ask though, if we do defeat this enemy of yours.” I said to the Brown Dog kami, who bade me speak. “I would ask you keep an eye on my family and Eri-chan. If spirits and kami will grow to have more influence on the Material, you can do that much for me, I’m sure?”

“Grr, it shall be done. They are also children of this shrine, so shall be protected, growl.”

“In that case, we need to get cracking.” I turned back to Shaeula. “This is supposed to be a holiday, so I’d like to get a decent amount of sleep tonight, so let’s wrap this up.”

The kami provided us directions to where the creature of flame tended to lurk. It was across the mountain and amidst the woods. Normally that would take us a while to reach, but using wind energy and aether to increase our movement we quickly bounded over the steep, rocky terrain, only pausing for Shaeula to dispatch any flying beasts we encountered.

“Hmm, you are very protective of Eri, master. Just how do you feel about her-her?”

That came out of nowhere… “Like I said, we’ve been friends forever since she was a little child, and I’ve always looked after her.”

“That is not-not an answer, is it?” Shaeula sighed. “She is very beautiful, is she not-not? And though her heart is fragile as glass, males often find such fragility appealing, wanting to protect it.”

“I’d admit I’d feel more confident if she was… well, less shy, more social. She clings to my sister a bit too much. But she’s still young…”

“Young, yes, but old enough to…” not even my enhanced hearing could hear the final words Shaeula spoke. I was about to question her when an orange glow caught my eye. I gestured to Shaeula and we moved over carefully, only to find an orange Etherite ore amidst the boulders. Nice.

“I guess there isn’t someone like me going around and collecting them all around here… it’s a shame we can’t take it back with us, but I could always break it down for ether… or…” an idea suddenly came to me. “Shaeula, let’s look around for a few more ores. If we can find another one or two I think that’ll give us the safety net we need…”

It only took a few minutes to find a couple more ores, this time the more common red ones. I gave those to Shaeula and explained my idea to her. She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she heard. “That is quite the bold idea, master. Still, yes, it should work-work.”

Reaching the forest where the kami said its foe lurked, the air began to change, the faint smell of burning wood and seared meat hanging heavy, the trees gradually becoming more and more charred, dead branches forming a series of skeletal profiles. Ugh, so creepy…

Shaeula must have felt the same for she took my hand in hers. “This place reeks-reeks of something foul. It is not Unseelie, yet it has the same feel… of… wrongness, corruption.”

“True, but even though we may be at an elemental disadvantage, I doubt it can be any more dangerous than the Raven Knight, right?” I tried to lighten the mood. It worked as Shaeula grinned.

“True, but now it is but the two of us-us, before we had that idiot Grulgor, the snake and many others to be our… hmm, how did the game I play put it, ah yes, as meat shields-shields.” She snickered, looking so cute I couldn’t help but ruffle her hair, causing her to flush pink again.

Wait, am I getting too used to casually touching her? I’m pretty much like her boss now, so isn’t that sexual harassment?

I quickly removed my hand, and Shaeula was pouting now. That was close, I nearly annoyed her.

Putting that aside we continued to advance, and as we pushed through the scorched trees I felt my aether start to be drawn from me. It was minor but noticeable. Shaeula was grimacing beside me, so she must have been feeling it too.

“Looks like we’ve entered enemy Territory. It doesn’t feel too strong, definitely a level 0, but even so, be on your guard.” I warned. Just as I finished speaking we could hear sizzling cries from in front of us, as several of the burned trees wrenched themselves out of the ground, fissures opening in their trunks to reveal burning fires within. Blackened roots snaked through the soil and rock below us, bursting out like twisting tentacles. Acting quickly I stepped in front of Shaeula and wielded wind, slashing through the black tendrils, bringing shrill cries of pain from the tree-beasts. No tentacle play on my watch!

“Above us!” Shaeula wielded her own wind as she cried out, eyes blazing amber. Flying beasts looking like birds of bone and yellow flame were diving down, and in addition to that the trees were firing their leaves at us, spinning discs of flame racing towards us like gatling fire. Green wind formed a dome and repelled them, birds raining from the sky, fires dimming.

“Good job, you protect us from ranged attacks and fliers, I’ll deal with the trees.” Racing in, I channelled aether, making the sharp wyrm fang that tipped my spear vibrate, and it effortlessly pierced the first tree, which collapsed into ether with a grim yell. Flickering tongues of flame scattered, burning me, but I turned aether into a cooling breeze which softened the pain. I could use more to heal the burns, but they aren’t major, I can live with the pain…

Severing branches and roots I struck down a second tree, wheeling to face a third, only to have it split open wide and gush out a storm of yellow fire at me. I reflexively used wind to defend it, but the flames consumed it, growing in intensity… shit… leaping backwards I realised I would not make it, only to be thrown sideways by a sudden impact, Shaeula having blown me out of the way with her own wind. As I landed heavily the tree that attacked me exploded, Shaeula breathing hard as she used a compressed wind drill to tear it and several other trees apart.

“Do not be careless, master!” Shaeula warned, every enemy around her exploding into fragments of wood and bone as her wind blades danced.

“Yeah, I got it.” I charged, and another tree was pierced. The battle settled into a rhythm, Shaeula and I destroying wave after wave of burning bone birds and smaller rodent-like animals, while taking out any trees that began to move or spit flame at us. Our aether supply was stable, as even in this territory we could replenish by harvesting the slain foes, but more pressing was our reserves of wind energy… would they last us or should we retreat?