On the way to the coastal Territory, we stopped in to see the Mirror Beehive. It was quite the spectacle, hundreds of dog-sized bees with shiny wings that reflected the light brilliantly, likely giving them their name, darting about in great clouds, drawing strange pollens and nectars from the bizarre vegetation of the Boundary. Their hive was a towering structure that covered several low-rise flats, the buildings covered in yellow, reflective materials.

The Queen of the hive had received us, and we were surprised to discover that it could communicate with limited telepathy, although the monotone droning that accompanied it was a bit headache-inducing. Still, we had a productive conversation, reaffirming the desire of the bees to remain part of my Territory. They were grateful that a lot of their predators, such as the monstrous spiders that dwelt nearby, had been eradicated by Shaeraggo and his forces, so they were now free to expand the Hive somewhat, and perhaps even found new ones. In exchange, they would defend the Territory and even send soldier bees when needed, and while they were not terribly fearsome, they were fast and could fly, so would definitely have uses. They would also increase the honey and royal jelly production for tribute.

The girls weren’t particularly keen on meeting the Bees, other than Shaeula, who was curious about the strange Yokai, but the next destination pleased them more, the southern tip of our Territory, where the land gave way to the sparkling azure waters of the Boundary version of Sagami Bay. Gleaming geysers of orange water element boiled prettily from the seas, casting rainbows of light as the spray fell down like rain. Ether Spires stood tall and proud, drawing this in, funnelling it to the Elemental Silo, and Defensive Emplacements sat watching the shore, occasionally firing a bolt into the distance, striking down the foolish predators that brushed up against the Territory barrier.

“Pretty.” Eri remarked. As part of her training, she had forced her body to work on route, staggering on unsteady legs, so our pace was slower than I would have liked. On our run here I had been working Ether Healing and Chirurgery, Shaeula too, trying to untangle the quivering, mutating mess that was her chakra network, but other than make it temporarily more comfortable for Eri, we had achieved little tangible success.

“Yes, I have to hand it to you Aki, you’ve done good work here.” Shiro agreed. Shaeula and Hyacinth puffed out their chests in pride, as if they were being praised as well. Which I guess isn’t entirely untrue. After all, they’ve been instrumental in defeating Duke Myrcolaxriath, which really bolstered our Territory with his bounty. “Having seen the centre of your Territory with the Trees and all those Buildings, and now here too, I’m shocked. This isn’t everything, right? You have mines and all sorts… I’m jealous.”

“Well, I expect your Territory is pretty nice too. Is it around the University? You did say that your allies were helping support your Territory, and I’m sure Tan knows how to develop one properly?”

Tan spoke up, agreeing with me. “Yes, we have put much effort in strengthening the Territory. Taking it by force would be manifestly unwise.” Her single glaring red eye, the expression on Shiro’s face a warning one, made me chuckle.

“Don’t worry. Why would I attack the Territory of Shiro, my adorable fiancée?” I said. “So, is yours Rank 3 as well?”

“No.” Tan shook Shiro’s head for her, her silvery hair shimmering with ruby flames cascading gently. “Consolidation is more important. We did not wish to leave her Territory undefended for so long, especially with allies of such a… unique… nature. Daizen and Arisu were not to be trusted, to say nothing of that half-spiritual monster, the Raven Knight.”

Half spiritual? Interesting. Before I could ask about that, Shiro protested. “Look, Arisu is fine! Sure, she’s… well, an angry person, but she’s been betrayed a lot in the past, therefore she won’t betray unless we do! Daizen… ugh, I didn’t want him to die. But things happen, don’t they?” Her gaze softened as she looked at me. “Sometimes we can’t save everyone, right Aki? I don’t have a hero complex like you, so I’m not as cut up about it. Well, you know me.” She muttered, self-deprecatingly. “I can be pretty cold to those I don’t care about. And while they were all my allies, I only really liked Arisu and Suzu. Bunta isn’t so bad, I suppose, but… he’s such a little coward, it can be a bit trying watching him cower all the time.” She let out a long sigh. “Sorry for the interruption Tan, but I don’t want Aki thinking everyone is a potential traitor!”

“If I may continue…” Tan sighed. “You took quite the risk strengthening your Territory to this extent. I assume you have found the difficulties of expanding further? Ordinarily, there would be little need for haste, as it takes many years, decades, for the Boundary to thin enough for true dangers to find a world, barring perhaps the odd fortunate wanderer. I do not believe that to be the case this time, from what we have been told.” She paused. “I also do not believe it is due to my unorthodox actions here, lodging myself within the princess here. So do not blame me!”

Blame you, huh? “Well, even if it was your fault, we’ll have to live with the consequences anyway. You’ll just have to make it up to us with your support. Yeah, no kidding, my Territory was almost destroyed by Kondou Kazuo, the bastard. Luckily we won out, and it’s as you can see. But I’ll not take such a risk again. Besides, the resources required to reach Rank 4, and the time, are truly mind-blowing. Though Rank 4 is necessary, because then we can swallow the entirety of Tokyo and possibly even reach Mount Fuji…” That’s assuming it expands to a hundred kilometres, as I expect.

“Such a goal is admirable, but challenging. The resources in the Boundary are not plentiful.” Tan observed. “We have made the most of what we could, and our Territory is well-defended, but most are rather feeble still. Well, it has been but a short while since we descended, so it is only to be expected.”

“That’s true. To be honest, most of our expansion was fuelled by destroying a stronger Territory in the lower Astral.” I admitted. “Most of the ether went to quickly constructing what you see here. It might seem wasteful, but over time we’ll recoup the costs. Time is the only thing we can’t make more of, after all.”

Tan paused at that, before nodding. “Yes, you are wise. Time is the one thing equal to all. Well, I shall rest. No doubt you have much of this training to do.”

“Just a minute.” I grinned, and seeing it, Shiro’s face twisted into an expression of wariness. I’m not sure whether that’s Tan or Shiro. “Don’t go running off, Tan. I want you to support Shiro. After all, it’s going to be a bit brutal. But worth it in the end, I promise!”

“Damn, Aki. Were you always this scary?” Shiro muttered, only for Shaeula to answer.

“Of course-course. When Akio sets his mind to something, he will not-not stop until he sees it done.” Her grin was broad. “So there is no-no point in retreat. Accept your fate, and prepare to learn, no matter the struggle!”

********

Yes, I definitely owe Ren-san a bit more respect. This is damn hard… Admittedly, I was trying to do multiple tasks at once, using Split Thoughts, which scaled the difficulty significantly, but then I had the stats and skills Ren-san didn’t, so perhaps it was comparable after all. With my field of vision widened by aether, the headache from such a feat long since faded, I focused simultaneously on the mirror in my hand, pouring my darkness element, my Shingetsu, into it, while simultaneously pulling out and drawing into my throat chakra the darkness element Hyacinth and Eri were flowing in.

“This… is very painful.” Shiro said, tears in her eyes, occupying another part of my vision and consciousness. “Aki, you brute! When I tell everyone you get your kicks from torturing beautiful young girls like me, you’ll burn with shame!”

“Young?” I laughed, and even as she attacked one of the many large multi-legged fish creatures that crawled out of the shining turquoise seas like it was prehistoric times, her flames burning them to ash, she had time to retort angrily, in between her gasps and moans of pain, which were disturbingly erotic. I’m sure she’s doing that on purpose to punish me…

“Yes, oh damn, this hurts…” she let out a moaning sob. “Tan, take a little more of my, ugh, senses. Please.” With that she took a long shuddering breath, more flames cascading, steam roaring into the sky as the beasts cooked, though there seemed to be no end to them. “Of course I’m young! Younger than you, Aki, you cradle robber!”

“Cradle robber?” I chuckled, part of my attention also on Eri, whose face was also twisted in pain, her arms sprouting fungal blooms, flesh cracking and blood spilling, silver and red marred by black sludge. “You’re no child, right Eri?”

“I think…” she gasped, silvery sweat beading on her forehead, as she focused on pouring darkness energy into the mirror. She was simultaneously trying to direct her aether within her body to fight the damage the weakened spores Hyacinth had called upon were doing, a doubly-difficult task as her chakra network was a mess, and struggled to respond to her efforts in ways she was used to. “… she’s talking about someone else.”

Hinata huh? I get it, even so, it reminds me of my sis and her jokes when I first returned to Nishimorioka. Seeing I looked a touch unhappy, Shiro pouted, looking down, and I felt bad as she apologised.

“Sorry Aki. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but… seriously, this is torment! It’s no wonder… ouch, shit!” she swore, as a sudden rippling of her flesh gave way to fronds and tendrils of mould around her many scars. “… how are you … putting up with this?” she asked Eri, though she didn’t forget to cast more flames into the mob of endless sea-creatures. Shaeula was helping to thin the hordes too, since she had no aptitude for darkness element yet, her turn would come later.

“Willpower.” Eri grinned weakly, a little darkness energy shining azure in her eyes. Her heavy axe lay beside her, as her arms weren’t capable of wielding it properly at the moment, even here. As a fish-creature flopped onto the shore near her, it split in two, Shaeula’s wind blades lethally effective against the numerous, but largely weak, foes the sea disgorged.

This definitely isn’t bad ether. Each one doesn’t give too much ether, but the sea is full of prey, just as I suspected. Occasionally a powerful aquatic beast would surge through the shining waters to attack, but Shaeula and Hyacinth had no trouble defeating them or beating them back. Though it would likely be a different story if we were in the water, not on the shore.

“Well, looks like you’ve reached level twenty-one at least.” I observed, a few minutes later, as the next wave of creatures were burned to ash by Shiro’s flames. “Having Lovers’ Link at Rank 2 is a useful power-up. It’s a damn shame you aren’t actually the Candidate though, so you don’t seem to have the lack of level cap. You must definitely feel stronger though.”

“I do.” Shiro gasped, glad to be able to take a break, leaving the remaining threats to Shaeula and Hyacinth. Slumping down, she concentrated on trying to heal her arm, where the fungus was slowly, agonisingly devouring her flesh. Blood was trickling from her lips where she had bit down in her agony, even Tan sharing a good part of her senses not enough to diminish it to a tolerable level. “I definitely feel stronger and faster, but I’m still just pathetically weak unless I use Divine Possession. But if I do that right now… ugh, that bloody Raven!” she cursed him, somewhat unfairly, for leading to her injuries.

“Here.” I could see the spread of the spores digging into her flesh and also her chakra network, the spores a variant on the ones Hyacinth had used to harm the Kijo Matriarch when she shed her flesh. “Let me have a go.” I split my consciousness once more, trickling aether in, not to purge, but to strengthen Shiro’s own efforts, guiding her body to respond to the invaders. Constantly suffering and healing damage with aether was rapidly increasing her proficiency with Ether Healing, and she was even starting to send aether through her silver cord back to her Material body, an important step. “Looks like you’ve almost got it. Keep at it, it won’t be in vain!” I promised.

“Hyacinth knooows, it is not impossible.” She giggled, her nature energy causing the great fronds of seaweed that drifted in the tides to grow, forming into razor-sharp blades that dyed the sea red with blood as they slaughtered fish, amphibians and other deformed creatures that swam close. “Pain… pain is sad. I remember great pain, always new tooorments. The Dark Maidens…” her face fell, remembering. “… I dooo not like to think of them. They are endlessly cruel… whips, pliers, pincers, files, hammers, saws, boooiling oil and more…” she twitched, perhaps remembering when such things were used on her. “Ooother torments too, of the heart, the soooul.”

At her words, Shiro, Eri and even Shaeula had pitying looks on their faces, Eri and Shiro momentarily forgetting her own pains. On seeing their sympathetic apperance Hyacinth looked down, clearly touched and embarrassed by their care. “That is the past. Hyacinth is happy nooow, here with Akio and the mistresses. I have mooore new friends to serve, every day!” she giggled, and found herself shocked as Shiro pulled her into am embrace with her good arm, dark eyes actually damp with tears.

“Damn, Aki, she’s such a cutie. I get it, your hero complex would never allow a girl like this to suffer alone! Don’t worry…” she said to Hyacinth. “If anyone tries to bully you anymore, we’ll beat them up.” Her smile turned wicked. “Or well, we’ll ask Aki to!”

“You wouldn’t need to ask.” I said dryly. “Nobody gets to hurt my girls.”

“Check out Aki, being smooth again!” Shiro grinned. “Ugh, this still hurts, but you’re right, Hyacinth. I’ve been in pain a lot of my life. Being healthy is just a dream to me. So… I can endure this too. I want a reward though!”

“A reward, huh? Sure, that sounds fair. Eri, you can have one too. Hyacinth, you’ve already succeeded, so name what you want.”

“This hardly seems fair-fair.” Shaeula pouted. “After all, I have already long mastered Ether Healing, have I not-not?”

“Well, for you… we’ll think of another task. I do have a few ideas.” I grinned, and she looked a little nervous. Maybe it’s finally time for Shaeula to get over her fears and try for earth element, or perhaps…

As we bantered and trained, I found myself immersed in converting the darkness energy to my own, funnelling it back into the mirror. I had little aptitude for darkness, so the task was difficult, but as I manipulated the blue energies, dyeing them with my own, the Shingetsu, I began to understand the darkness better. Small fragments of emotion could be found within what Hyacinth and Eri had bequeathed the mirror, nothing so real as thoughts, merely sensations, usually ones of heightened emotions such as jealousy, fear, anger… but there was also love, longing, cherishing and more. As I absorbed these, converting them to Shingetsu, the mirror shinning with deep azure and silver light, I felt my ability to manipulate and handle darkness growing slightly. It’s still feeble, but in time, I’m sure I’ll master it, just like wind, fire, earth or water, elements much easier to understand.

“All right then.” I said, my reserves of darkness dry, the energies the mirror contained now all Shingetsu. Turning the carved frame, the mirror shimmered, now ready to accept light element. “Eri, Hyacinth, Shaeula, fill it up!” I grinned.

********

“You’ve got it!” I praised Shiro, as she lay with her head in my lap, face wet with tears. “Rank 2, good job!” Stroking her silvery hair, I smiled. The mirror was on the ground beside me, fully charged with all the light and darkness energies we had. We need to recharge our chakras, then do it another few times. Then the girls can try and learn their respective mutated elements like Aiko did.

“It was bloody hard!” Shiro whined, quite unlike her usual demeanour, as she curled up on me like a wayward kitten. The gap between this and how she normally acted was very cute. “I can feel the difference though. My scars, they are tingling. It’s a bit maddening, I feel itchy all over.”

“Well, I can help with that.” I grinned, reaching down and starting to scratch the scars on her cheeks.

“Yeah, that’s the spot, that’s… hey!” she flushed pink, embarrassed. “Don’t just suddenly start doing that Aki! My heart wasn’t prepared!”

We all laughed at that, causing her to squirm, ashamed. “Seriously, thanks Aki. You’ve worked hard for me. For all of us.”

“Hardly. This is thanks to your own efforts.” I denied that. “All I’ve done is use my Eye to guide you, offer some pointers, a bit of Chirurgery here and there. If you all didn’t have the will to see it through, we wouldn’t have got anywhere.”

“I call bullshit.” Shiro tilted her head, her one black eye looking up into my grey orbs. “Sure, we had to suffer, and damn, suffering doesn’t even cover half of it.” She grimaced, remembering, her gaze going to her good arm, which now had clean, white flesh around the fissures and cracks that scarred her, the fungal spores purged, their damage repaired. “You weren’t kidding when you said it would be training from hell.”

“Just try-try reaching the sixth Rank.” Shaeula chortled, knowing that agony was behind her, at least. “It was as if I was being devoured whole-whole by a swarm of fiery ants.”

“Ugh, show-off.” Shiro protested. “Well, I’m going to be forced to try, aren’t I?” She let out a long, bitter sigh. “Sure, I can feel the aether flowing through my body, but it’s nowhere near strong enough to heal my scars, and it can’t regrow a missing eye, right?”

“I’m afraid not.” I bent down and kissed her on the forehead soothingly, causing her to freeze up for a moment.

“Damn it all Aki, stop that! You’re not Hayato, to be putting out such smooth moves!” she protested, red-faced.

“Just getting started early on that reward.” I smiled, happy to have this sweet moment with Shiro, though I could see Eri looking jealous. Shiro could too, so she shifted a little, so her head was only on one of my thighs. Seeing that, Eri hesitated, only for Shiro to scold her.

“Don’t be shy, I didn’t take you for that sort. It’s obvious you want to, I’m not an idiot. I have an eye, you know!”

“Fine. You win!” Eri muttered, lying down, using my other leg for a pillow, her dark hair cascading over my lap. As Eri and Shiro looked at each other, their faces close enough for their breaths to be felt on each other’s faces, Eri giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Shiro asked.

“Just… this is somehow even more embarrassing than I thought. After all, we barely know each other, and here we are, using Akio’s lap as a pillow. I never would have expected this.”

“Well, from what I can see, looks like you’re the needy one.” Shiro told her. “Those two seem secure in the knowledge that they are loved and can have his attention whenever they want, so they don’t seem too bothered by him giving me a lot of attention. You though… well, I suppose I should give you credit for holding back, but the look on your face, Eri…” she laughed, amused.

“Really?” Eri said. “Was it that bad? I… I’m trying not to be jealous.”

“That’s the problem. I get it though. You should be honoured to think the same way as this gorgeous princess.” Shiro pressed her. “Trying. Those two don’t have to try, they just accept things as they are, as they have to be. Those two noble girls I met seemed the same way, unconcerned and sure of their own worth, that Aki will like them. I don’t know about the other one though, I’ve not met her.”

“Hinata’s… well, she likes to spend time with Akio, doing business and making plans. But I don’t think she’s that possessive.” Eri admitted. “So you are just saying it’s me who is no good?” she pouted.

“Don’t be so downhearted. Aki will get upset unless you smile.” Shiro chided. “You’ve known him longer than me, you should know that. Besides, I said it, I’m the same way. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in love before, but I want him to look at me all the time. Well, except for these…” she touched her scarred face bitterly.

“You do look a bit of a fright.” Eri giggled.

“Oh thanks. Well, look at you with these!” she reached out and grabbed Eri’s cat ears, causing her to yelp from the sensation.

“Hey, quit that!” Eri complained, batting her away.

“Damn, I get why guys like cat girls now. so soft…” Shiro said, her voice bright. “Look, Eri, we need to learn from the others. I can see you’ve made an effort, and I’m genuinely grateful that you welcomed me warmly. If our situations were reversed and I was first, well, I’m not so sure this princess could have been so magnanimous. I’ve always been the needy type. It comes from not being able to do much for myself, I suppose. But Aki… he’s got it hard. He’s carrying a lot of weight, and it’s only going to get heavier. So I think… when he’s with us, he shouldn’t have to worry about our moods, or keeping us happy. We need to make our own happiness, from being with Aki. And not just Aki. With each other. After all…” she turned, looking at Shaeula and Hyacinth. “We are all in this together now, right? Sisters?”

“Well said indeed.” Shiro agreed. “Eri, you have been most gracious to me and the others, and I can not-not thank you enough. Continue to be our friend and sister, and happiness will come.”

“That’s harder and more painful than learning Ether Healing, sometimes.” Eri muttered. “But I know, I do. It’s just… I’m not stupid. You aren’t the last, Shiro.”

“Of course not. One is monogamy, two a threesome, three a harem. Four is the floodgates opening…” Shiro said. “I get that Aki is at least trying…” her grin was wry as she repeated the earlier word. “… to hold back. But when it comes down to it, there’ll be others. I mean, that guy from Isekai Smartphone had nine. Come to think of it, that guy had a load of princesses as his wives as well. There you go, Aki. Two more. Unless you are shooting for the guy from Eighth Son? He had… ugh, too many!”

“Look, I’m not planning on…” I began, only for Eri to shush me.

“Listen to Shiro, all right? I am. I think… you’re pretty smart, aren’t you, Shiro?”

“Of course. This princess is a genius!” she said proudly. “After all, didn’t I get Ether Healing to Rank 2 in a mere blink of an eye?”

“Well, Hyacinth managed that as well.” Eri teased her. “Besides, mine is Rank 3 now!”

“Yeah, but you had a head start!” Shiro pouted, though I could tell she was teasing Eri. “Getting the first Rank is way harder than the second or third!”

“True!” Eri laughed, and as Shaeula joined in the banter, I looked up at the sky, silver lighting racing through the prismatic un-light of the Boundary. Well, we’re still waiting on Shaeraggo to return with news on Primal Forest. The girls are getting exhausted from the pain of learning Ether Healing, so we should probably try something else… hmm, how about that? As soon as the idea struck me, it seemed a good one. With a smile, I pulled Eri and Shiro up, ignoring their groans of disappointment. I’m feeling a little disappointed myself. It was rather nice having them on my lap. No, there’s time for fun later. Now we work. “Well, I’ve tortured you all enough for now. How about we do this instead…?” As I explained, the girls smiled, eager to try my suggestion out…