On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Four Hundred And Three

“So, just why are you here?” I said to our recent visitor, who had hurried over to Kyoto, meeting us just before we set off through the bamboo forests and foothills towards mount Atago.

“Things are quiet at the Spring now.” Bellaera, the blue-haired and long-legged elf smiled at me. “And I heard you were going out on an expedition. I am still a Way-Warden, and my specialties lean into this sort of thing.” She laughed prettily, one hand held over her mouth in a flirty manner. “Besides, great-grandfather is curious as to how our progress is going. Elves like to take our time, time is what we have in abundance, but mortals burn so brightly, move so quickly. Although…” she giggled again. “… you are hardly mortal now. Many tales of union between the Fae and mortals exist, and most end in sadness, as unless you are one like the Scotsman, gifted long life, like an ephemeral butterfly the mortal withers and dies, while the Fae remains young and beautiful.” She sighed. “Many come seeking the Fae for the secrets to a greater lifespan. But it is not ours to give without care. Not ours…” she frowned momentarily, before shaking her head, her beautiful face cracking a sly smile. “Enough of such sad tales. I am simply here to spend some time with you, Akio. What harm is there in it? I am here to help you, and if I appeal to you as well at the same time, all the better.”

“I’m not interested in arranged marriages anymore, Bell.” I reminded her. “I’ve already had my quota of three.”

Natsumi giggled at that, Motoko smiling gently.

“That is fine.” She stretched, showing off her graceful body and long limbs, her leather and cloth armour not hiding her bodyline. “Nobody is forcing you. We would hardly dare.” She winked. “But… it would be nice if you were to appreciate me more. Tear is sad she was unable to come but…” she smiled again cheerfully. “… she lost our game of rock-paper-scissors. Quite an interesting mortal way of settling disputes. And Moira was not interested, of course. She is such a stoic. She will never find happiness that way…”

“I see. Prince Aethelathrion doesn’t have to worry. He doesn’t need marital ties to me to have me support the Fae’s interests.” I sighed. “But you can come. It’s a simple trek to mount Atago. If we’re attacked on route while claiming Territory, then we’ll fight back for the experience, but hopefully we can annex the mountain peacefully.” My thoughts went back to Nie Ling. Right now, I was with Hinata, discussing our plans for the factory and also the construction under our new home, which I still hadn’t seen. Nie Ling could well be instrumental in making it go smoothly. I still feel guilty at pushing her towards the resolution I wanted, but… I’m not heartless. Setting aside justice and what was right and what was wrong, this way I can make sure that the victims get what solace they can, while Nie Ling can one day feel she’s lived worthy of the sacrifices she forced others to make for her. If I can’t find a perfect solution, then I just have to do the best I can, while also looking towards the future. Fucking toad bastard, I’ll drag you out of hiding and end you, I swear it…

“I do not think you understand.” Motoko pointed out. “As nobility, we realise the merits of political marriages. Yes, it is often to tie allies together, bring families into the same orbit. After all, blood ties are the strongest bond. But it is also a matter of respect, as offering marriage between families is the greatest indication that both sides see each other as worthy allies and people on the same level.”

“That is absolutely right.” Bell agreed. “Great-grandfather wants to be closer to the once-mortal who inspired the selfish weasel princess to become a shining moon of the Seelie Court, brought Duke Formor into the Royalist fold, and more. Besides, unlike Moira…” her smile was wicked, looking strange on her perfect features. “… I am hardly opposed to finding a partner to share my life with. Tear and I, we are bored, and still young for elves. Yes, we have suitors, and some of them, I have considered, but that is hardly exciting. No, the world of the Fae is as unchanging as our moon, except for times of desperate, brutal struggle such as when the Unseelie start another war. But in the last few moons, so much has been different. And as a Way-Warden, seeing our enemies fall…” she giggled cheerfully, her smile still teasing. “…it has captured my heart!”

I see. So she’s interested in me, not just because the Prince asked her to be? There was still a part of me who found that hard to believe, a little voice of my past insecurities that said there was no way a gorgeous girl could be looking at me that way, but now it was mostly buried by experience, and the new confidence my exploits had brought me. “I see. There’s no reason for you not to come along. I guess I’ll give you the chance to impress me.”

“That is great.” she said happily. “I will show you that Bellaera is not just a beautiful, eligible, perfect elf!”

“Modest too…” Yasaka-san said, letting out a very pointed and audible sigh. “Look, can we stop the romantic comedy and get on with this? I’m not looking forward to this at all…”

“That’s right.” Haru-san agreed. “Mount Atago… it could be dangerous.”

“The Tengu are fierce.” Prince Shōtoku agreed. “But Tarōbō, while belligerent, is not unreasonable. Though winning him over would likely require significant force, or other dominant means.”

“The important matter is to secure access to the flame element.” Motoko pointed out. “I am eager for battle, I admit, but part of Tsumura Arts is acting with honour, not using strength against the undeserving. I hope we find worthy opponents to fight, but so long as we achieve our goals…”

“That’s right.” I agreed, and Motoko smiled at my praise. “It’s like the Night Parade. If we have to fight we will, and we’ll win, but a relationship of mutual benefit brings in more of what we need.” Besides, the whole mess with Nie Ling makes me think about my own actions… my only solace is that it isn’t just me who has to deal with such painful, murky decisions. Poor Eleanor… “But it won’t be as bad as you imagine, Yasaka-san. We’re acting under the greatest safety margin we can. We’ll be expanding Haru-san’s Territory as we go, and have Chen Na’s defensive barriers.

Chen Na nodded. “I will do my best, I promise.”

“I hope you’re right.” he said, and Kana chimed in.

“Can we go? Maybe it’s a little amusing seeing you get hit on, Akio, knowing how much it’ll irritate Eri…” her smile made it clear she was joking, the relationship between the two girls was definitely improving recently. “… but we’re all impatient. And seeing how you fight up close is going to make our hearts race, right?” she smiled at Natsumi, Motoko and Daiyu.

“My Dao Companion must be strong.” Daiyu agreed, Chen Na translating the difficult words for her. “Not that I have any doubts. I have fought beside him before. But now… I am not such a hindrance as I was then.” She had her bells with her, but she was planning on relying on her own power, seeing what she could do with her better Qi Refining and Foundation.

“Right. We should make a move.” I agreed. I looked over my party, before glancing back at the distant mountain, the path to it blocked by nearly two kilometres of dense forest and small foothills. “It’s certainly more impressive here than the Material.” I observed. Mount Atago was towering twice as high, and the bamboo thickets had been replaced by a tangled thorny jungle, while the low hills were now quite tall, some small peaks in their own right. “But it’s not anything we can’t handle. So… let’s go…”

********

“More birds are coming from the south!” Haru-san warned us. The great black birds with their vibrating feathers and wind elemental attacks were fiercely territorial, and still launched attacks on Haru-san’s Territory in Kyoto from time to time, even if the barrier was more than enough to force them to flee in defeat. A brilliant bolt of light flared from her, the beam of indigo energy striking the lead bird in the head, sending it tumbling into the thorny trees below, shattering branches and trunks into sharp splinters.

“This is quite fun. Do you do this all the time?” Bell asked. She was using a longbow, looking very elvish, at least more like what one would expect an elf to be from the stories. One arrow took a bird in the wing joint, and it too tumbled, impaled on shattered trunks, blood and ether scattering.

“Fun, huh?” I said. “It’s more necessary than fun. Although…” the main resistance we had encountered so far was a seemingly endless swarm of insects, being controlled by a mob of small, goblin-like Yōkai, only their skins were bright blue. We were being subjected to a constant barrage of arrows from them, the heads smeared with shit and other foul fluids, including from above, where they were riding giant versions of Japanese wasps, while others with long spears were mounted on horse-sized spiders and even larger centipedes in virulent blue, pink and orange shades, like some psychedelic nightmare.

This really isn’t a treat for the girls. Hell, it isn’t for me, I’m no fan of insects… “I suppose it’s better to fight enemies you can loathe, rather than sympathise with…” Prince Shōtoku had of course tried to mediate our passage, but apparently these vile little goblinoids were foreign spiritual beings, not true Yōkai, and were extremely belligerent and cruel, often hunting and killing any other beings for sport.

“I hate this, hate this, hate this!” Kana was chanting to herself, her expression one of disgust and fear, a perfectly normal reaction for a girl her age, I thought. That wasn’t stopping her fighting though, and a ruby light surged around her, the ground churning like liquid. A dozen spiders and centipedes began to sink, thrashing and howling, but then Kana raised her hand, and the mud exploded outwards, ropey strands like tentacles whipping out and snaring them, pulling them into the mud, where the earth solidified, ether showering out like a geyser.

“You may hate it, but you are performing well.” Motoko said, and Natsumi agreed. They were both using bows, as that was part of the Tsumura Arts, and were being rather competitive with Bell, who while she wasn’t an archer in the class of Shaeraggo, was still well beyond ordinary human skill.

“That’s right. I’m jealous.” Natsumi said. “You must be growing stronger a lot. We can only…” she used a little of her fairly meagre wind energy to accelerate the arrow she had just launched, watching it punch into the head of a hornet, the rider tumbling off it to land broken at her feet. “… do a little. That one is for you, Yasaka-san.”

“Oh, I’m so thankful.” He complained, but stepped forward, surrounded by a shimmering bubble of force from Chen Na. It flickered for a moment, and the heavy cudgel he carried smashed the head of the creature. “This is slow going…”

“Yeah, it makes me wonder why we get given such abilities.” I mused. The birds swept down towards us, which was my time to shine. Daiyu was darting in-between the spiders and centipedes, dishing out a series of graceful, flowing blows, her combat style looking different to the one she used before, and I called out to her to dodge to the side. She did so, and I focussed my own wind energy into a jade tide. “After all, alone you don’t have much chance of being an Astral Emperor, Yasaka-san. Although…” the gale blew, air filled with vibrating blades, and both birds and wasps and their riders burst apart, the winds descending, blasting a trench in the forest, leaving dead and dying enemies everywhere. Chen Na was sweating silver, but her energy barrier had prevented the backlash from hitting us.

“… with the right questions, I suppose you could emulate my appraisal and learn that way.” I conceded.

With a series of panicked squawks the birds fled back to their hilltop nests, but the goblin-like creatures, more of them still boiling out of the forest, giant scorpions and cockroaches joining their collection of aberrant mounts, refused to relent, their curses and howls barely intelligible, but what we could divine was crude and offensive.

“I have thought this before, but you sure are a monster.” Yasaka-san muttered. “Saionji-san has a powerful ability, but… you can do so many things.”

“Yeah, I’m going for the jack of all trades, master of all.” I joked. Everyone who needed it was collecting ether. The Territories here in the bamboo forests were relatively weak, probably around Rank 2, so it had little effect on me, but some of the others such as Motoko and Natsumi needed constant topping up. The rest of the ether was squirrelled back to Haru-san’s Territory. As the surviving goblin-like creatures boiled out of the forests, I used wind to drag back the wounded spiders and centipedes for Yasaka-san to deal the finishing blows to, maximising his gains.

“Spiritually Pure Art: Water Blades!” Daiyu cried out. This was a Technique of her own invention, created by modifying several of the Jade Yang Stances to take advantage of the water element, combined with what she remembered from the other texts of her Sect she had read. She was able to use her Qi which was now denser and more plentiful to maintain control of the little Spirit Water she generated, forming claws on her hands, which were only slowly depleted by her strikes. It seems like she was working on making use of the Spirit Water here in Kyoto, since only the name and a few minor details about it was information left over from Kunlun…

Her claws swept through a number of the blue fiends, shredding them apart, blood scattering. She dodged a volley of arrows, cutting down more, only for a giant scorpion to rush her. She sneered, a barest movement of her lips, her near-expressionless face cold and composed, and one of the claws shortened a little, the tip flying off in a passable mirror of my own water bullets that Daiyu had seen. The projectile pierced through the chitin, exploding, and the scorpion toppled over, thrashing about in death. It was then a massive rhinoceros beetle came charging out, and Daiyu turned, surprised. But before she could take damage, a barrier from Chen Na staggered it, and the ground exploded, this time into spears of rock, piercing it from below.

“Careful.” Kana called, sweating. A bolt of light from Haru-san finished the massive beetle off, and she nodded at Kana, impressed.

“I think you have a lot of talent with that, Kana-chan.” Haru-san said, her beams of light effortlessly sniping where needed, though she was leaving most of the gains to the others. “And good job, Na-san.” She said.

“I… I’ll do what I can.” She still had the Adder Stone clutched in her grasp, but the Chinese Chosen, who was only alive in the sense Haru-san was, due to being enthroned, was pulling her weight. I think… it might do Nie Ling some good meeting her. So that she can see she’s not worse off than another of those who were involved in that mess…

“Your skills are decent, for an elven child.” Bell was telling Motoko and Natsumi, though her words were gently mocking. “You need to feel the world around you, if you wish to truly master the bow, especially if you seek to add elements to your attacks. The wind goes without saying, but even the radiance of light, the warmth of heat, the moisture of water… all contribute to the path of the arrow…” she loosed a shaft, and one of the leaders of the blue goblinoids, a masked shaman-type, perished, the fletching sticking through the mask as it toppled off its steed.

“I see. Yes, the tension of the bowstring, and even the size of the body of the bow are affected by temperature and atmospheric conditions. Obviously archery on a windless day is easier, but…” Motoko began.

“Sometimes, the wind can be an advantage.” Natsumi said, reaching enlightenment. This time when she loosed her arrow, she used only a small fraction of the wind element she had previously, on the air around the arrow, not the arrow itself. With satisfaction she watched as a centipede fell, brain pierced, and as it thrashed in its death throes, shattering thorny bamboo into jagged daggers that felled many creatures around it, she smiled. “I think I get it.”

“Watching you, I am almost there. Please, repeat it!” Motoko said eagerly, and I smiled fondly at the sight of the pair of them engrossed in their Arts, despite the combat all around us.

“You might want to keep your attention on the battle.” Prince Shōtoku said mildly, and I nodded.

“It’s fine. If I can’t handle a battle on this scale while keeping an eye on everyone, then we’re in trouble.” I used some of my own water bullets, moving down another mob of reinforcements. The tide of enemies was starting to flow to a trickle, but they showed no signs of retreating, seemingly driven to fight to the death.

“May the earth that was once your womb… become your tomb!” Kana said gallantly, as the ground shuddered once more, waves of earth burying many of the newcomers. “How was that? Cool, right? Boys like that kind of thing, don’t they?” she winked at me.

“Yeah, but… if Shaeula or Eri was here, they’d never let you hear the end of it.” I pointed out gently, and Kana flushed.

“As long as you thought it was good.” Kana managed. Her eyes glimmered, and she concentrated, the earth belching up ether, before exploding into heavy clods of stone, felling yet more foes. “Sometimes, when I get control of my Eyes, it seems easier…”

“Yeah, Eye skills are great. I think it’ll soon be time to start your Chirurgery training, your control is improving every day.”

“Yay!” she pumped her fist cutely, causing Yasaka-san to cough, irritated. Kana ignored him and continued. “Aiko-chan will be jealous I’m beating her to it, but… do you think you can help her out?”

A good question. As I pondered that, I watched Daiyu as she continued to reap a heavy toll with her watery claws. She suffered a number of minor injuries, yet her rapid healing closed them quickly, and the filth on blades, arrowheads and claws was no match for the Spirit Water, merely burning away in an orange light and turning to pure water which evaporated harmlessly. Supporting her with some tactical sniping, my water bullets lethal against such foes, we finally shattered the resistance, and I felt the weight of the Territory around us vanish.

“We’ve claimed it.” Haru-san said, looking around us. “This section of the forest belongs to us now.”

“Great work everyone!” I praised. “We can take a break then, I doubt they can attack Haru-san’s Territory successfully.” As everyone sat down on chairs I conjured from the earth, showing off to Kana that she still had a ways to go, I poured us all some fruit wine Asha and Hyacinth had packed for us. My Eye glowed, and I could see that everyone was gaining a few levels steadily.

“As for my sister…” I said to Kana when we were all settled, mount Atago towering over us in the near distance, the brilliant yellow glow on the summit like a small sun. “…I have a few ideas, but…” I looked at Yasaka-san, who frowned, guessing what was coming next. “…my plan seems… audacious. Stupidly so, to be honest. Yet… my sis gave me the idea, even if only as a wild joke.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m in for a rough time?” Yasaka-san guzzled his wine, as if to wash away his misgivings.

“You’ve already proven your Book of Providence can answer a decent amount about abilities we know of. This is just taking that a few steps further. It’s an enviable Divine Favour really.” I mused. “In the hands of most people, it’d be useless, but I think if I’d have been granted that one, I’d have ended up in a similar position, at least so long as Ortlinde still gave me a tutorial. Going in blind would have been awful…”

“I’m a follower, not a leader. Always have been. My shrine is a modest Amaterasu faction one.” He admitted. “This role suits me. At least I’ll be important without having to risk myself too much.”

“Yeah, risking your loss is idiocy.” I agreed. “But you can’t just sit back. The stronger you are, the more we can push the boundaries of what we know, and for my idea…” There’s a great number of risks, mostly to me, but to Aiko too. And maybe to Asha… but if it works… In the peace after Kyoto and London, and hopefully before another disaster happened, such as me being forced to face off against the Church of True Revelations, that bastard toad, or get sent to somewhere like China or South Korea for political gain, I wanted to maximise our foundation and personal growth as much as possible. I might need to change my plans on the push to Rank 4… maybe we can catch up on all the Spires and other infrastructure afterwards. It’ll end up costing us a pile of ether long-term, but it’ll still only be a week or two of what Asha’s Tree pumps out, and we’ll have better security and be able to bring all of Tokyo and the surrounds under our aegis… well, we have to clear the build queues and get a Silo expanded first whatever happens…

“Do go on.” Bell said, curious. “Mortal ways of thinking freed the Spring of Clear Reflections. I would be very interested to see what else is in that mind of yours.”

“No, I think I’ll keep it under wraps for now. No offense, but other than Yasaka-san, who I’ll need the help of, I think this matter should remain a secret.” If it works… it could change everything. But could also lead to a scenario far worse than when Conqueror is discovered by most Chosen. I’m already pushing it with Divine Favour extraction…

“How can you be so cold to me?” Bell giggled, twining her blue locks around her fingers, trying to look hurt, but her smile destroyed the image. “After all, we are promised to each other, and out on a delightful forest date, just like elves enjoy.” She looked around at the carnage, bare churned earth, felled trees and shattered rocks strewn all around us.

“Oh yes. Delightful.” I said sarcastically. “And the natives are so welcoming. Besides, I don’t remember any promise.”

“You can hardly blame me for trying.” Bell chuckled, and she was quite easy to be around, I admitted to myself. “Oh well…” she turned to Motoko and Natsumi. “You two pay attention to me at least. Next, we’ll move to the spear. I’m not bad with that either.” She puffed out her chest proudly.

“We eagerly await your instruction!” they chorused, bowing, and as Bell finished her wine, she grinned.

“All right then. You know, if you were Fae, you would both have a bright future as Way-Wardens…”

As they talked, I turned to Daiyu, who was thinking, replaying her battles in her head. “I don’t want to interrupt…” I began, and she turned to me, a slight smile on her face, which for her was the same as a happy grin.

“You are never an interruption.” She promised me. “Please go on.”

“I was just impressed by your use of water element. It isn’t something I’ve thought of. All my elemental attacks are disposable. Teach me how it works?”

Her eyes widened a little, and her cheeks went faintly pink. “Of course, I should be more than happy to. After all, Dao Companions should learn together, just as they… do other things together.” Her blush deepened.

“That’s great.” I smiled at her embarrassment. “In that case…” I lifted up her shirt a little and placed my hand on her belly. “… I should be able to give you some of my water element, since I generate a lot more, to keep you topped up…”

As I flirted with Daiyu, I heard Haru-san and Prince Shōtoku talking. “He’s always like this.” Haru-san was saying. “I… I don’t mind it. I need to get used to normal human interactions again, between men and women. But it’s hard sometimes…”

“You have suffered greatly, I hear.” The Prince said courteously. “I can see you are an Onryo, yet your lack of grudge and hatred is most exemplary. I believe you could pass on, if you wish to. Though now is perhaps not the right time…”

“No, not yet.” she shook her head. “I have my life to live that the vile man stole from me. Well, not live…” she snorted. “Ghosts aren’t alive. But… enjoy, certainly. That way I know I won in the end. If there is an afterlife other than this, I hope that bastard can look up from whatever Hell he is rotting in and see me content…”

“I too wish it so.” He said piously. “But such grim topics aside… everyone seems quite relaxed.”

“Yes, because Akio-san is here. He’s right, our margin of safety is very secure.” Haru-san said. “Already this place is under my control. We have Na-san for her barriers, and Akio-san can easily cover us for a retreat and heal us if the worst happens. No, we are already halfway to the base of mount Atago. I don’t anticipate any problems until we reach it… other than his painful flirting. Matsumuro-san is going to have to get used to it too…”

“I pray Tsukiko-sama can gather what scraps of mortal happiness she can. But even though she has passed on her burden, Tsukuyomi still watches over her, even in her deathly sleep, I am sure. Her destiny has not ended, it seems.”

Hearing that, I nodded. Yes, she was the Diviner long before she received Tsukuyomi’s Divine Favour. And she’ll be the Diviner still after losing it. But so long as she also has time to be just Tsukiko-san, that’s fine too…

********

“Brace!” Bell cried, and Natsumi and Motoko used wind element to hold themselves in position, their spears thrust up, the heads also wrapped in green energy. The giant snake, easily as long as a train, and actually as wide, hissed as its own bodyweight drove the spears in deeply, green scales scattering.

I’ll collect those, might be useful… using a little aether I grabbed the fallen scales, as Motoko and Natsumi darted backwards, drawing swords.

“Nice work.” An arrow from Bell pierced one massive eye and the snake reared up, screaming shrilly. Daiyu darted in from the flank, her water claws cutting through scale and flesh with equal ease. Once a bloody gap was open, ruby and silver liquid scattering, she switched back to her old technique, and with her palms, injected a surge of Qi to inflict damage within, only now she could marshal a number of times more energy, with greater purity. Blood exploded out of the wound, the snake shuddering, and Haru-san took out the other eye.

“How vexing.” Daiyu said, covered in blood. She created a little ordinary water and washed off the worst, while Kana began to churn the ground, the blinded snake sinking in, thrashing in vain. As it became stuck, Motoko and Natsumi, their wind energy topped up by my reserves, raced in again, and though their strength was not sufficient to pierce scales unaided, with the chainsaw-like winds wreathing the swords they had soon cut deep, brutal gouges into the snake, and as its struggles started to fade, I mercy-killed it with a bolt to the brain, and it burst into a rainbow of aether, leaving a number more scales behind.

“Good job everyone. The extra levels are really starting to make a difference.” I praised. “And to you too, Bell. You have a way with teaching. I can see their improvement.”

Motoko and Natsumi looked happy, and so did Bell, who smiled. “Of course. I am a skilled Way-Warden, who has both received and given much advice. I am happy for your praise. My coming along was not an inconvenience then?”

She certainly knows what to say. When she looks at me like that, there’s no way I can say she was. Though being fair to her, she’s been a help… “No, I’ve been glad to have you.” I gathered the remaining scales, as extra crafting materials never hurt. “So, Haru-san. All good?”

She nodded. “Yes, we have clear control to the grove at the foot of the mountain. It hasn’t been too bad.”

“That’s true, but the difficulty starts now. I don’t want a war with the Tengu, so we should proceed carefully. We don’t attack first, so Chen Na, be ready to use barriers. Once we are protected we can easily talk.”

The woman nodded, and we set off, covering the last few hundred metres of forest, this more primeval and thicker than the thorny bamboo we had passed through to get here. The forest was silent, even for the Boundary. Too silent. The yellow blaze of mount Atago overhead was lighting up the forest, flickering fitfully… No, that’s not right… “Chen Na, barriers on everyone but me!” I called, and as she responded, my Eye flared, seeing the flickering lights not as reflections of the mountain above, but as…

Tormented Ever-Burning Spirits Of The Cursed [Elemental Spirit]

My Eye could clearly see them now, rising out of the ground, the foliage around them bursting into yellow and red flames. There were dozens, no hundreds of them, a mix of human, Yōkai, goblinoid and stranger creatures, animals too, all pale figures made from mist and blazing flames, their eyes dark red and black pits of rage and sorrow. “Nothing is ever easy!” I cursed, water bullets forming around me and firing off like a great cannonade…