C54-Heading South

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 47Age:19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power529/547Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon

「 Morning, of his 40th day on Geas. 」

Lisa and Aizel went to find a couple of goblins for Neine. Lisa was training her (Swarming Grasp), she used it a lot during the siege-raid to rescue the injured and the ones in trouble, becoming stronger with it by improving her control because of it.

But that also made her overconfident; after she found a goblin, she accidentally dropped the creature when they were coming back. If it had been a person, Aizel could have caught them because they were high up and with enough distance to dive. Using (Doppelgänger) with constructs combined with other skills to break their fall.

However, Mister Goblin was not a person, so Aizel just laughed and wheezed as the thing became a black splash on the ground.

Lisa was understandably shaken, not because of the green skydiver, but because that could have happened to her during the raid. He did not think that was the case; humans were surprisingly lighter, and they did not actively fight you like crackheads when you moved them around.

Nevertheless, she still traveled further to look for another one and carried it around to train her skill, as if it was a weird pet that she had found on the side of the road, and not a monster actively trying to kill her, or worse.

Aizel caught another two goblins in the surrounding area; they were really spread apart the more they traveled, and the only reason they even found them is because the trees were growing sparser as they moved even further south. So, the weird rhino they saw carrying logs the day prior would probably become a more common sight as they traveled away from the White Shield.

"Neine! I found you two volunteers." Aizel said as they landed on the camp. The caravan was long gone, but they would catch up to it at night, since they did not have a way to know if the snails would be stopping at noon. Besides, neither of them was feeling like going there and asking like a normal person.

"~Thanks Aizel! - Two? And what about that one?" Neine asked while pointing at the one Lisa was dragging around behind her while flying as if it was a rabid green chimp, since she could not restrain it that well yet.

"She's training her skill to carry people… Haha," Aizel said and chuckled while remembering the splashing gobo, Lisa heard him and just glared back while pouting from up in the air. "Concentrate, woman!" He yelled back.

"~Okay, hmm… And, do you want me to just dance with them and lead them or to kill them?" Neine asked while biting a nail and throwing her hips to the side, not knowing how hot she looked, since she was focusing on the creatures behind him, and not him.

"It depends. I would love to have you with a spear like the girls. We can train you with one, but that is only if you want that, but if you—"

"Spear! I like them." Neine said before he could finish his Idea. "~I used to hunt with them until I joined Mira's sisterhood. I never liked to be only bait for monsters. Especially the ones that I could not even defeat in the first place, like the Ogre."

"Sure, Nessa, would you mind lending her yours? Just for training; we will see if the town south sells them. If not, we can wait until Pops City to upgrade all of them." Aizel said to Vanessa, since they now carried their own stuff on their rings, as long as they were non-perishables.

"~Nessa! I just saw her with wings in his mind!" Valerie whispered. And it was true; the moment Neine said she wanted a spear that was probably the least lewd thing that crossed his mind.

"~yeah, he's done for, he fell at first sight, remember."

"…"

Lisa came back down and placed the goblin beside the other. She only glanced at Aizel, and he understood that she was at her limit. So he tied up the third volunteer with his skills as soon as she looked at him.

"Good job! It will get easier with time, and especially after you learn (Anchor) and (Telekinesis)."

"Yeah, but I'm done until noon at least," Lisa said in between deep breaths.

"Want a potion?" Aizel said, wiggling one he had already pulled out of their ring for her.

"No, love. Thanks." Lisa said while cleaning her sweat with a rag, not even having the mana to use (Clean) after her training.

"You ready, Neine?" Aizel said, receiving a nod in return.

The goblin was released and went straight for the first woman in front of him, as goblins do. Neine was in position, and her skill with the spear and the use of (Focus) was evident from the start.

Neine sidestepped to her side and extended her spear, stabbing it right in the throat. The creature started to choke and slash around with all of its strength, but it was running out of breath.

Aizel sent a resonating dagger right at its skull to put it out of its misery, since it would die in a few seconds, and it would not get to anyone before running out of air in its rampaging state.

"Holy cheetah. Sometimes I forget you are a genuine gold."

"~Thanks! But I'm still not as good as the others."

"They are Angels, Nei." Aizel began explaining. "They have extra senses and have other skills. Lis and I have a scarily accurate electroreception…mmm…lightning sense; combined with (Focus), we can 'predict' their movements. Nessa can sense their blood and aim at their veins directly, and Val… Well, Valerie is just a maniac."

"Hey!" Val said from the side, and was ignored.

"If it is okay for me to ask, and you are willing to share, what are your stats like? From what I can tell, you have a really high HP and very low mana pool." Aizel said.

"~Its fine. I have 157 health power and 50 mind."

"And soul energy?"

"It's at six. I think in a few more levels I will be able to learn a new skill with ease."

Aizel had forgotten how everyone else had a hard time with that part, and it even hurt him a little. He wanted her to be stronger, but he could not push it; even if she said yes to their union, it would be for power and not for love.

Valerie must have picked up something from her weird trait, because she came running and hugged him tightly, but said nothing.

「 Afternoon, of his 40th day on Geas. 」

Neine said that she was not as good as the others, but in Aizel's opinion, she was just as good, and even better in some cases. Her training came down to finding her sparring partners rather than teaching her much; at least when it came to fighting, skill training would come later.

Lisa was not able to help him with the auditions, since he had to travel quite a bit to find monsters, and Lisa was recovering her MP the natural way. Neine was having the time of her life with them; she already had (Focus), and he was not about to scare the pretty cheetah. It really felt like trying to earn the trust of a cat. Get too close, too fast, and she's gone.

The training continued until lunch. Neine was a great listener and learned the katas that he taught them, the weird Lisa technique, and even taught them some of the stuff she knew.

There were some movements that seemed flashy, and he never bothered to learn them back on Earth, but once he saw them in action, they showed their utility.

She even incorporated a butterfly kick and b-twist into her attacks; that was usually only something you did for fun to train your dexterity, but would not see much use outside of a dojo, much less inside of a cage.

But with the aid of (Focus), the cheetah turned into a blender in the air; it would not be killing any goblinoids, but could be used to get out of a tight spot, since it produced a lot of momentum with not much effort. At least in Geas. On Earth, they would just kick you, or wait until you were done and tired.

After they were done eating, he was mentoring Lisa and Vanessa with (Telekinesis) and Valerie with (Condensate).

"Use more (Condensate), Lis. You are not trying to create a construct like with the mana hand skill tree or family; you are trying to bridge the gap between your mana and the physical world with (Infuse). It takes more mana than a simple hand."

"I thought I was already using too much, thanks," Lisa replied as she tried to make a rock levitate.

"Nessa, you are almost there. Try to feel the rock through your (Infuse); it should feel like a void in your aura."

"Oh, I think I see it… Or don't? Haha…"

"Got it!" Valerie happily said in the back.

"Of course she did," Lisa said with a chuckle without even turning to see Valerie playing around with her new skill.

"Is just like you said! Mana behaves similarly to when the vapor from the water makes the droplets on the cover. I demand a reward! In the tent!" Valerie said and kept moving her mana around to show everyone her newfound control.

"Later, Rest up. You are red and sweating like crazy. Drink some water too." Aizel said as he pulled a waterskin from his ring of holding. Valerie did not reply and took the container with a frown. However, her expression quickly softened once her tongue touched the water.

"~Hey, can I have a word with you?" Neine said as she shyly walked to his side with her hands behind her back.

"Sure." He nodded.

"~Please come with me," Neine said, and he followed after her. The girls did not tease him; they got really serious when it was skill training time, not to mention how he had asked them not to tease the shy cheetah, even by proxy.

Aizel followed her to the other side of the hill where they had their camp on; she said nothing and was walking slowly with a little shy sway to her hips that extended to her tail, probably sorting out her ideas.

Neine finally stopped at the edge of the tree line on the hillside where they had made camp, and spoke up. "~Sorry, I just needed some privacy."

"They can probably still hear us talking." He shrugged. "I can hear them just fine from here. Granted, their senses are not as strong, but they are very similar to mine. So, if you need to tell me something in confidence, we will need to go further away."

"~I know… that's not what I meant. It's easier for me to talk like this, and I don't mind if they hear." Neine said with a kind smile.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"~Can you teach me?"

"What?"

"~Exactly, I know you can teach me a lot… but I don't know what to ask you for. I trust you… is just…" Neine started to try and explain herself but could not find the words. He would not interrupt her or try to dig into what she tried to ask; he had a pretty good Idea.

'Why can they get skills so fast? How did I find and court three angels? My knowledge, and the list goes on,' Aizel thought. It was going to turn up sooner or later, given how much time they would be spending together. Neine would see the girls grow at an unprecedented rate compared to her, even after taking their kin into account.

"~I don't know how to do this," Neine said while turning away and looking at the horizon.

"No one knows at first." He shrugged.

"~How do you know what I mean?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, her body tensed up a little, as if she was ready to run at any moment.

"Because no one is born knowing anything." He chuckled at her reaction.

"~Then how… How do you know so much? You can't be much older than me." She asked while looking at him up and down as if trying to gauge his age.

"Oh, simple. I'm much, much older than you. Than any of you." Aizel turned towards the camp to make his point.

"~Were-Dragons age that much slower? I thought immortal races stopped aging only after their thirties; you don't look thirty… Maybe mid-twenties?"

"I honestly don't know; my mind was born in another realm. And I was given this body when I came here." Aizel said almost absentmindedly; he was still hung up about her thinking that he was actually older than his new body was supposed to be. 'Maybe it's the badly cut hair and my reluctant stubble?'

"…"

"~My grandma used to tell me stories about that. Is it true?" Neine said as she turned towards him and got closer; she gave him a skeptical look with narrow eyes.

Her look made him chuckle once more. He shrugged while replying, "Why would I lie to you?"

"…"

"~It explains a lot." She turned away from him once again, but she seemed to visibly relax after coming to terms with it, rationalizing his sudden revelation a lot faster than he thought it would take her.

"Yeah, it does." He smiled.

"~What are you planning to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"~The first emperor was a realm traveler," Neine asked with narrowed eyes. It was almost the same thing that Lisa had said when he told her, and Neine was also almost asking the same thing. 'Why would I even become that? Sounds like a major pain in the ass.'

"And a lot of useless people." He shrugged. "I don't have plans to do anything; I just want to enjoy the second chance I was given at life." He said the same thing that he rationalized after speaking with Vanessa. "That is my plan, to enjoy it… I enjoy being out here more than in any city. I'm not planning on advancing civilization. I've seen where it ends."

"…"

"~I also enjoy being out here. More than in any city." Neine said, and her ears perked up, almost as if confirming her words and feelings.

"The only reason we train, that we grow powerful, is to do that, so we can do whatever we want without anyone telling us what to do."

Neine got closer to him; she did not touch him or push for more, and neither would he. The girls might want him to seduce her, but he couldn't. She was the kind of beauty you ruin by chasing after her. If she wanted to join them, it had to be her own decision, without his meddling, or at least that was what he was telling himself.

"And what do you want, Neine?"

"~All my life I've been only surviving, going from party to party. All I wanted was to find one… well, like this? And now… I don't really know."

"You never had the time to stop and think; there was always something to do…"

"~Yeah."

"We like you, and you are strong, so you can stay for as long or as little as you want. Sorry for the weirdness surrounding us; I know we are not exactly…"

"…"

"~You are wild, all of you. But in a good way, ~heh."

Aizel chuckled along with her. She hadn't said anything about their overly sexual lifestyle yet. It was probably normal in this place anyway. It was only his preconceptions from Earth that made him believe that they led a lewder life than they probably did. 'Well, is not like I've seen anyone else walking around with their own harem…'

"Hey… Can we?" Neine said, and her tail swayed lazily to the sides.

Those words coming from Vanessa meant only one thing, so hearing the pretty cheetah utter them sent his brain into the gutter. He chose to play dumb and pretend he was not paying attention while turning towards her.

"Hm? Sorry, what did you say?"

"Can we spar? I know you are the strongest one in the party, so I was wondering if I could go all out against you. I don't have many chances to train with people faster than me." Neine thankfully clarified.

"Sure… Right now?"

"Yeah!" Neine said happily with a little jump without leaving the floor.

Aizel led Neine back to the camp. The girls were exhausted from their practice and sadly did not manage to gain more skills. Nevertheless, they were extremely happy at their progress.

"I don't mean this as an offense, girls… But why are the two of you so happy right now? I would be really pissed off if I had practiced most of the day and did not manage to gain a new skill." Aizel said to Lisa and Vanessa.

"Well…yeah? Not everyone can see a skill and just copy it, you know?" Lisa said while glaring at him in fake indignation.

"What she said. Just (Focus) takes a whole season of training to get for the most talented individuals… Well, at least that is what I thought before you did your thing." Vanessa said while thinking deeply, probably looking for a better example but coming up with nothing in the end.

"So, Nei. What do you want to train for specifically?" Aizel asked.

"I want to see how my speed with the spear holds up against you."

"Sure. The safe word is Red. If you want to end the spar session, just say that and I will stop." Aizel said without thinking, and Neine called him out on it.

"Why red? Why don't I just yell 'stop?'"

The wives began chuckling at that; Vanessa even got extra red and had to slap her cheeks a couple of times because she was making a weird face, as if she had eaten a raw lemon or something.

"Because—" Vanessa tried to explain once she composed herself, but her tone was the same one she used when being lewd, so Aizel cut her off.

"Because…" He said, coming up with nothing.

"Because?" Neine, and the rest echoed, she was genuinely curious and the others were just teasing him judging by their growing smiles.

"It's just something we came up with a while back… and my brain is already wired to help you out and stop whatever I'm doing… Anything. And then concentrate on helping you out. … Bu~ut you can just say anything, really." Aizel awkwardly said, earning himself some clicking of tongues and dejected moans from the wives.

"Okay!" Neine said chirpily, ignoring the weirdness surrounding her.

She stood before Aizel and held her borrowed spear, giving it a little spin and resting it below her arm and behind her hip while doing a nice 'L' stance. Aizel used (Doppelgänger) to materialize a construct of red mana that looked just like hers.

"Begin!" Aizel said with a nod.

Neine did not waste any time and immediately began to spin the spear around her body in a deadly fashion that would cut anyone getting close to her, or get whacked pretty hard if they tried to get the jump on her. She began walking slowly towards him while alternating the spin from horizontal to sideways and then vertical.

Aizel found an opening in her technique and hit her spear with his construct, making her lose her grip and sending it flying in the air.

Neine looked at her spear flying to the side; the spar had not ended, so Aizel took that small lapse in judgment to place the sharp end of his construct against her neck.

"Don't get distracted. Especially after losing your weapon, that is the moment any enemy will take to go on the offensive."

"—Wha? You are much faster than me! Is that because of your blood-mana (Focus)?" Neine asked.

"Yes, but I didn't use it at its full potential just now, and I can go even further by using the world's aurengery… Go get your spear and let's try that again."

'She looks so hot with sweaty skin; my brain malfunctioned there… I tried to say aura and energy… ~val?'

Valerie brought the spear back and gave it to Neine, and wrinkled her nose cutely at him. The wives were to the side, paying attention to them, not teasing or even commenting on the spar, just learning as much as they could. Neine specialized in speed and did not rely on any skills aside from the normal (Focus).

"Copy my stance, Nei. Don't do that spin thing right now; just try to stab or slash at me with your spear. Your technique is not bad, but you are wasting a lot of energy in exchange for momentum. That might work against multiple opponents, but not in a one-on-one fight. Especially against an opponent faster than you."

Neine copied his stance and nodded.

"Begin!" Aizel said once he was sure she was paying attention once again.

She went on the offensive right away, trying to stab him with direct thrusts to his body. She knew he could use (Restore), so she was not worried about hurting him and gave it her all. Aizel took side steps while parrying her attacks and moving them away from his center.

"You are stronger and faster than me. How am I supposed to hit someone like you?" She asked with a genuine desire to know, judging from her tone, if a little winded from the exchange.

"Feints. I will go on the offensive; it's better to show you than to explain it." Aizel said and made his spear construct blunt before moving in.

He thrust but kept a tight grip on the spear construct with his hand on its lower side, and loose on the side aiming at her; pulling it in and moving it around her attempts to parry his strikes, then he pushed with the back and thrust, poking her on the ribs and slapping her neck while pulling away to simulate a slashing attack.

"Move around, Nei! Don't just walk forward and back; get away from me. You can feint with your body too; lead me where you want me to be, take your time, all you need is one good hit!"

〔 Lisa Kadashi 〕Age: 27Level:76TitleAizel Kadashi's Soul BoundHealth Power116/116Mind Power450/2200Soul Energy0KinSeraphim Angel

Lisa saw as the spar between Aizel and Neine became some kind of teaching Dance of violence. She and the others did not say a thing as they were in a trance while watching them.

After the first few lessons, no more words were needed; all it took was for either of them to move their spears a certain way, or make a simple facial expression to 'talk' and exchange Ideas.

Aizel got close to Neine and began to attack with more intensity. The pretty new girl had grown an unbelievable amount in their training session, going from shy and flashy to aggressive and decisive.

Valerie got up without saying a word and called her spear from her ring; she walked up to them and got beside Neine. The two girls now stared down at Aizel and began attacking as one.

Valerie thrust while Neine slashed; Aizel stepped back and around them while parrying their attacks and keeping them together. He finally broke his silence to give them a few pieces of advice.

"Val, try to get behind me - don't let me keep both of you in my line of sight, especially because I have blood-(Focus)! Use that against me! Get around me and feint your attacks while making me split my attention!"

Valerie nodded and began to attack him right away, using her skills to jump higher than she normally could and thrusting while in the air. As soon as he parried her attack, Neine took his advice and hopped to the side, slowly moving around him while slashing at him.

Getting a hit in on Aizel was not an easy task; even if he gave them that strategy, his lightning sense allowed him to keep his attention on both of them, even when he was not directly looking at one.

Vanessa also wanted to train a little more; already rested from trying to gain (Telekinesis), she motioned Lisa to lend her spear and immediately went on the offensive without letting them know, after Lisa pulled it out and placed it on her open hand. Now Aizel was in a three-on-one fight, with the girls naturally assuming a triangle formation around him.

Lisa could see that Vanessa would normally have the advantage; as soon as she began to engage Aizel, her aura roared red. It was her blood-mana (Focus) aiding her.

Unfortunately for the trio, Aizel had not gone all out to that point. His aura roared purple, meaning he was now using his weird overcharged (Focus), infused with the world's mana to fend off the three of them.

Contrary to what Lisa believed, it had somehow become easier for Aizel to defend against three opponents at once with technique alone. He parried one spear and moved his construct around to parry the next one, all while jumping to the side and keeping the three of them in his line of sight.

The girls were winded and getting tired already, but the three of them had wide smiles on their faces as they tried over and over again to overpower him.

Neine did a weird movement where she placed her spear behind her back; she thrust at Aizel from that position, and the moment he parried her attack, she used the momentum of his parry to spin and do a wide slash to make him step back, just as she wanted.

It was the first time a hit was about to connect with him, and Neine was not pulling her punches, trying to really hurt him with her attack.

Aizel was not going to let them win this time; he materialized a medium round shield with a small depression on its edge in the shape of a half moon. He parried Neine's slash and jumped back, copying her earlier stance while placing his spear construct on his back and sliding it on the shield's slit.

"Hey! No fair!" Vanessa called him out for using a new construct.

"You don't know what weapons your enemy still has stored away; be prepared for anything." He shrugged. Aizel was so sweaty that Lisa wanted to stop the fight and just jump on him; it was hard to get him this sweaty even when they were loving each other with vigor.

Valerie had a different reaction, going insane for a brief moment while using (Push) and (Pull) on her spear and stabbing repeatedly at his shield construct. He reinforced it with (Barrier) and something else.

'Probably (Harden)?'

Neine took that small window to move to his side while Vanessa moved to the other and Valerie to his back; Aizel most likely was letting them do that based on the wide smile across his face. The three girls stabbed in unison with a lot of strength; Lisa winced at the sight, forgetting for a moment that Aizel had been pulling his punches all this time.

He twisted his body and intercepted Valerie's spear with his (Barrier) plus (Harden) reinforced (Doppelgänger) shield. Vanessa's was held in place with (Anchor), and Neine's with (Telekinesis). Locking the three of them in place as he dematerialized his constructs and raised his arms.

"Nice one! A normal enemy would be dead from that last attack."

The girls took that as the signal to end their training session and dropped to the floor while panting hard.

"Holy! Now imagine he was trying to kill us!" Neine said with a wide smile at odds with the thing she said.

Aizel whispered a skill-spell, "Sanitas Purifica…" And the four of them were engulfed in a brief purple flame that cleaned them and restore some of their stamina, they still needed water to help the skill, so Lisa called her Waterskin and went around to hydrate the girls that had forgotten they carried their own on the small rings of holding.

Neine was the only one not used to that particular 'trick,' as he called skill-spells, having only felt it once before. So she was over the moon with happiness at being invigorated and cleaned at the same time.

'We need to get one of those rings for Neine. It's not yet a wedding ring, but it's close enough. I will tell the others, since Aizel will not care, and even go look for actual expensive rings if he knows that I see it that way. I will only tell him once we have silver to waste.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon sparring and just enjoying their life in the wilds in general.

Lisa thought that they would need to help Aizel a little to seduce the young woman, but their husband did not need help at all. Slowly getting to know her and making her feel comfortable with them.

Neine had accurately predicted when the caravans would stop again to pass the night. It was over an open field southeast of Redvelia. Thankfully, even if the forest began to grow thin, the hills and cliffs did not, so they found a nice spot that overlooked the resting caravans and a nice little forest in the distance.

Lisa had traveled that road before a couple of times. She returned to her father's home every few winters. This time she would be returning earlier than planned, and she could not wait to show off her husband to the rest of the family.

She had to admit that traveling slowly like this was a great idea. Instead of flying directly towards Dranelida, even if she was familiar with the road, seeing the scenery from above provided a lot of perspective.

Lisa used to think that Redvelia and Dranelida were really far away, and her parents also shared that thought. Her father tried to make her mother convince her to stay, before begging her not to go 'so far north,' unaware that Dranelida was much closer to the White Shield than they believed. She was glad of not listening to them for once.

Aizel and Valerie were preparing the fireplace. Neine had her own little tent, which Valerie probably used only once or twice before jumping into their little family. Vanessa was helping Lisa prepare their own section of the camp for the night. After acquiring the larger folding tent, those preparations only consisted of making things look pretty. Rather than fighting with a piece of metal and a rough canvas.

The best thing about their family was how everyone loved to just camp outside; the only place that would be better to spend the night would probably only be at her father's mansion. But that would have to wait. There was a cheetah they needed to soften up before arriving there. And the only way she and her wives knew how to do that, to Aizel's dismay, was through teasing.