After seeing Shaeula safely back to our Territory via a very circuitous route, I left her in the care of her weaselkin and returned to the Material plane. My body was stiff and aching from my long slumber, and looking at the clock beside my bed it was after six in the evening. That reminds me…

I reached for my phone, opening it up, to find quite a few messages from Karen-chan. The general gist of them was asking where the hell I was, but that she had made it up to Shirohebizumi shrine and taken charge of the work, as I had requested. Well, that’s one problem solved at least…

Now I had something more important to focus on. Going over to where Shaeula’s Material form was lying motionless in her futon, I pulled up the blanket, suddenly letting out a hiss of displeasure at the scene revealed. The cloth below was soaked with blood. Pulling up the hem of her yukata I could see a mirror to the wound she suffered in the Boundary, her flesh torn.

Sure, it isn’t as bad, but it’s still ugly… the flesh was ripped and ragged, covered in scabbed blood and half-healed flesh where my Ether Healing had trickled down to her. Getting some water I gently washed away the muck, tenderly cleaning the injury. Once her pale flesh was revealed, I started using my ability again, aether seeping into her body, the hot red swelling of torn flesh diminishing, the edges starting to heal, nearly imperceptibly, but still visible to the naked eye.

I continued this for several hours, and while I was doing this I also spent the time productively. I did a bit of online gambling for the first time in a while, making a decent profit, and then I made a call to Eri, surprising her. Got to prove I’m a changed man, after all.

She was shocked and delighted to hear from me, and we made some happy small-talk for a while. I was pleased to hear she was making more of an effort to fit in with others at school, and she grilled me over how things were going here. When I told her Shaeula was injured she actually got angry at me, saying I should have protected her better, and since I couldn’t disagree, I apologised. She made me promise to take Shaeula out somewhere nice when our troubles were concluded again. We finished the call by looking forward to the weekend, when I would be meeting her again, along with our parents. To discuss… well, the upcoming wedding, I guessed. Well, that’s my future decided, oh well…

I had pretty much exhausted my aether, as working in the Material was tough, but the leg wound definitely looked less angry, the edges healing nicely, new pink flesh forming. What was even better though was the reward my efforts had gained.

Your Skill, Ether Healing has increased from Rank 1 to Rank 2. You can more effectively heal your own injuries and those of others, repairing damage to subtle bodies. Your subtle bodies will draw in an increased rate of ether from their surroundings and automatically repair themselves. You also have a minor resistance to harmful substances and foreign matter.

When comparing the difference between Shaeula’s Boundary and Material forms, I had gained a greater understanding of the intricacies of each, and when also compared to healing myself, I had suddenly found it significantly easier. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had another breakthrough soon too, I’m just missing that last spark of insight to push me further…

As I contemplated this my phone lit up again, with another message from Karen-chan. This time I replied, and a few moments later there was a response, asking if I was up for a drink. Smiling to myself, glad she was better, I took a six-pack from the fridge and headed over. Can’t have her coming here. Explaining the seemingly dead Shaeula, with a bloody wound in her leg… nah, can’t do it, she’ll call the police for sure…

Karen-chan opened the door, dressed in casual clothes, but at least this time she looked clean and well groomed. If still a little pale. Guess she was pretty hungover after last night. On seeing me she raised one eyebrow quizzically, before gesturing for me to come in.

“The place is a lot cleaner than last night.” She snorted, taking a seat at her low table. “I appreciate you picking up after me. I’m not sure your fiancée would approve of you tidying another woman’s underwear though.” She teased.

“Yeah, maybe not, but it was an emergency. So, anyway… how was it?”

She took one of the cold beers from me, cracked the ring pull and took a deep sip, sighing contentedly. Once she gathered her thoughts she spoke. “It wasn’t too bad, though I was hungover like you wouldn’t believe… err, not that I should be telling my boss that, right?”

“I think I knew that.” I chuckled wryly. “I was the one with your vomit splattered all over me, wasn’t I?”

“Oh gods, forget that, please.” She hung her head. Still, after some more beer she recovered her poise. “Anyway, yeah… the shrine. It’s all very mysterious, but I didn’t have any trouble when I said you sent me. The lady of the shrine even made me tea and snacks. They were good too.” She paused. “Though I guess you don’t want to hear about that, right? The fibre is laid in for internet access for the buildings and shrine. When I checked the bill for a one-day expedited service I nearly choked on my tea… but it works. Water, electricity, gas… all connected. Initial work has been done on the walls and roof, paintwork too. I think it’ll need further work tomorrow, it’ll be liveable by the weekend.”

Glad I won that money then, it’ll cover some of the bills… well, a tiny bit anyway. “That reminds me, you’ll need equipment for your office. A computer goes without saying, but you’ll need a desk, chair and all sorts of other stuff. You can have it set up however you’d like, I’ll transfer the funds to you, and you can get them delivered. Just keep the receipts, okay?”

“So generous.” She snickered. “I’ll be sure to get a really expensive chair, not like the cheap crap I had to sit in back at my old place. Us older women do suffer with our backs, you know.”

“Get one as expensive as you need. You’ll be sitting in it plenty after all. But older… hardly. You are in the flower of your youth…”

“If your fiancée could hear you flattering another woman, you’d be in trouble…”

We laughed and drank for an hour or so, before I quietly excused myself. I had transferred over some funds, and she could text me if she needed more. The work on digging the basement and laying the foundations for our training hall had begun as well, but even at a premium for speed, it was going to take a while…

I had recovered enough aether to enter the Boundary after using it up with Ether Healing, so it was time for the next stage of our plans. Entering once back at my apartment, I was greeted by Shaeula, who was still limping, supported by one of her weaselkin. Seeing my gaze going to her ankle, she shrugged.

“It is not-not so bad. I recover quickly now, being so much stronger than a mere month ago. And you have been healing me, have you not-not? I could feel your warmth. It resonated with my lunar node, it was quite the sensation.” She grinned. “I trust you did nothing… untoward… with my sleeping Material form? I am so very beautiful the temptation must-must have been immense?”

Ignoring the snickers of the weaselkin I picked up Shaeula and placed her on my back again. “I somehow managed to hold myself back.” I said wryly. “Anyway, you should have waited for me, you are still hurt.”

I carried her up to the shrine, letting her down gently. She still winced when weight was put on her injured side, but she was able to walk unaided. Taking her on a combat mission would be foolish though until she is fully healed. That gives me time for the next step anyway…

There was another pile of looted gear, as well as ores from the kobold mine, and any metals salvaged from the rubble that now littered my Territory. Strangely enough though, the destroyed buildings were starting to reform, returning to what they were before the attack. Just another strange facet of the Boundary I guess… though some changes seem to remain permanent, others revert quickly… there must be a reason for the difference, and if I could work it out I could use it to my benefit…

Still, that was for later. First it was time to gear up. As the trolls came back one by one, sent by Grulgor, I created heavy armour for them. It wasn’t quite as potent as Grulgor’s, but was still thick steel plates, angled so as to deflect and defend blows efficiently. They were also given weapons of heavy metal. The work was tiring, requiring high concentration and aether skills, but it was rewarding, and I was lost in thought for many hours as I worked, turning our trolls into mighty battering rams of metal.

Reaching up to wipe silvery sweat from my brow, I was startled by a cloth that mopped my brow. Looking up from where I was squatting, I saw Shaeula grinning at me, the edge of her sleeve wet from where she had wiped me. “You have worked hard-hard.” She allowed. “I would be remiss if I did not care for my master, who labours so.”

Behind me I could hear the snickering of weasels, and I turned to see… two Kamaitachi once more.

“Yes-yes, I have been reborn, thanks to my princess… and you.” The newcomer snorted, face twisted into a grin of mixed bitterness and respect.

I recognise this one. The one that I killed attacking my Territory. He nearly had me, back when I was just starting out…

“It is quite-quite the strange feeling.” The Kamaitachi continued. “Though as my soul slept I saw flashes of what the princess felt… until recently, when I could feel-feel you too.” He shuddered theatrically.

“Do not be rude-rude to Akio.” Shaeula pouted, causing the kamaitachi to snicker once more.

“I would not dream-dream of insulting the chosen husband of the princess.” It gloated, causing her to flush, shame-faced. “Though your mother will likely have much-much to say.”

“If she wishes to complain, she can come here-here and say it in person.” Shaeula replied, tossing her head in annoyance. “Still, it is good that you have returned. Now only two-two more remain.”

Yeah, the one that came back before and was killed again in the battle with the Raven Knight, and one other. Each Kamaitachi was a very valuable asset in combat, and more importantly, leadership, as I could trust them to follow orders and manage the trolls as much as possible.

“Right, well, now that we are prepared, we have to decide our next move. That spectre is powerful, and the Territory still has solid defences. The way I see it, we have two options. Firstly we can make a hard strike either now, or after they fail their next attack on us. We smash down the defensive barrier, and then pile in, doing as much damage as we can and hopefully taking down the Anchor, defeating it in one fell swoop.”

“There is risk there-there.” Shaeula pondered. “Still, I believe we would have a chance indeed, should the master of that Territory continue to remain uninvolved.”

“Yeah, and the other option is to start harassing them from all angles, constantly hit-and-running the barrier, gradually wearing it down. If we attack seemingly at random from multiple positions, they won’t be able to respond to a real attack, and after doing it a while their vigilance will have to lessen…”

“I favour that scheme.” She answered. “I am not at my best still-still.” She looked down at her injury. “And we can let that fool Grulgor and his trolls take this role at first.”

“Yeah, a bit like they did to our Territories in the past.” I agreed. “All right then. I’ll spend some more time working on healing your injuries, while we commence pulling their attention in every direction. The endgame goal is to either break through and destroy their Anchor, or if that looks too hard, we can seize the shrine they hold.”

With that decided, I began to pour aether into Shaeula’s wound, the Kamaitachi behind me trying to marshal the trolls… I don’t envy them. Trolls sure are powerful, but are really hard to use to their full potential…