Two Hundred And Seven_On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Seven

 Back at the mansion, we were once more greeted by the butler-weasel and the maids. Risha and Velna had remained at the mansion while we were dealing with the Trees, a fact that Hyacinth never missed an opportunity to hold over them. Yeah well, I do feel sorry for her maids, a little anyway, but it’s hard to care about those who so obviously hate me.

 The butler of course asked us if he could notify Shaeraggo we were here, and we once more declined, although this time he was expecting our refusal, so he merely left a touch huffily, after bowing to Shae.

 “All right, final nning session.” I said, and everyone nodded. We entered the dining room after stashing our equipment and protective suits in one of the changing rooms. Risha and Velna, along with several other maids, brought us out wine and snacks, as well as arge barrel of ale for Grulgor. They had also managed to find him arger seat from somewhere, so he looked less ridiculous sitting at the table with us.

 Ignoring the constant prickle of difort my premonitions of imminent danger were generating, I took a sip of the Faerie Wine, consciously dropping my defence to the alcohol using Ether Healing, so the potent, warming effects hit me almost instantly. Yeah, this is great. Now I can finally get drunk again when I socialise with my old friends from Uni or share a few with Shae. Still, no need to overdo it, we’ll be going into battle shortly. “Right, we’ve saved Asha and a couple of the Trees. A shame about the other Tree, but we did the best we could. Now that is out the way, we can return to our initial n of purging the Myconids from around the Shrine of Clear Reflections and retaking it.”

 “Grul is pleased. Grul hungers for crushing the fungi!” he gurgled, having emptied half his barrel. Hisck of table manners seemed to be causing the maids who were bringing in the main meal some difort. One was eyeing him particrly bitterly, so noticeably that it was provoking Hyacinth, who stood, scowling, her silver-violet eyes shing.

 “Good servants dooo not frown sooo at guests of the master and mistress!” She snapped, radiating a menacing aura, darkness seeming to fill the room around her like a living smog. “You are continually insooolent, quite unbefitting of a maid”

 I made a move to stop Hyacinth, but Shae grabbed my arm, shaking her head. “I am finding it hard not-not to chastise them myself.” She said, her own amber gaze hard. “I have told them many-many times to show you the proper respect as my husband and true love, yet they do not-not learn.”

 The now-terrified maid stumbled, dropping therge, covered tter she was holding. It hit the floor with a loud ng, the silver dome bouncing off, spilling therge roasted birds covered in a brilliant yellow gravy onto the carpet, soiling it. The other two maids stepped back, but luckily managed to keep hold of their own burdens. As the lid rolled around, Hyacinth gestured, and I had a horrible terror of what she was about to do, as nature energy red around her, visible to the naked eye.

 “Hyacinth, I understand that you are-are angry, but as their mistress, it is surely my duty to discipline them. You are upsetting Akio, do not-not make the same mistakes as they do!”

 At that the aura around Hyacinth died down, and the horrific biological attack she was surely about to conjure died off around her. “Sooorry, Hyacinth is a bad servant.” She started crying, her mood as wildly mercurial as ever. “But I hate tooo see them disrespect master and mistress sooo!”

 “I get it, I do. But you can’t use those spores carelessly. Don’t give in to the darkness inside you. I’d hate to lose you, but if you can’t be trusted not to lose control, then I fear… I might have to take action.” I pulled her into a hug, and she flushed, skin turning crimson, only crying harder.

 “Yes, this is also my fault.” Shae shook her head. “I have tried to put my foolish past aside, and my maids are a sad-sad reminder of my failures. Therefore I have not-not been as firm with then as I should have been.” She turned to the shame-faced maid, who was biting at her lips, a thin trickle of blood leaking into her tawny fur. “Fetch the other maids and the butler. This is as good-good a time as any to finally address this mess.”

 “Your will, princess.” The maid said, scuttling out.

 “Never a dull moment with you, is there?” Ixitt ribbed me, as I held the still crying Hyacinth, though somehow one of her hands had managed to get inside my clothes and was roaming very… intimately.

 “Stop that.” I rapped her on the head gently. “I’m serious. You have a deadly gift now, you can’t misuse it, or else I’ll have to take responsibility!” At my words, Hyacinth chose to take it in a misleading way, but I could see in her eyes she understood, even through her deep anger. Once more I reflected on the cruel treatment Hyacinth must have suffered under the Unseelie that had warped her so. Perhaps teaching Hyacinth such a deadly biological art was foolish, but I want to trust her, and help her recover from her traumas. Besides, it’s the best way to win…

 As the maids assembled, Velna, Risha and the rest lining up, the butler, still in his rather nice tailcoat, at their head, Shae stood and stepped forwards, careful not to tread in the mess soaking into the carpet. I could smell it now, rich and pungent, full of citrussy tones, and my stomach rumbled. Damn, a waste of a good meal, that smelt pretty damn nice.

 “I have spoken about this before, but perhaps I have not-not been clear.” Shae dered boldly. “We go back a long way, do we not-not?” She addressed her maids, who nodded slowly. As I observed then, Hyacinth still in my arms, I noticed a variety of emotions on their faces. Velna looked sad, Risha angry, some of them confused, and the one who had nearly been murdered by Hyacinth over her insolence had a sour and frustrated mien.

 The butler, who had not been one of her prior servants, but was Shaeraggo’s, merely stood aside, listening. Risha decided to reply, cautious, as if she was wary of a further scolding. “Indeed, princess. We have cared for you since you were young-young, a small, adorable child. That is why it pains us so, seeing you having besmirched your bloodlines by dallying with a mortal.”

 “That’s right!” the sour maid cried, stamping her foot, earning another growl from Hyacinth. At that she quailed back, before gathering her resolve. “You should be proud and strong, like your father, brothers and sister-sister! The only way to prove yourself is to be arrogant, imperious, make them ept you!”

 “That is right-right!” another maid agreed. “Do you know how hard it is to watch this?”

 “Uh…” Velna said then, looking down at the floor, unsure. “… princess, can you not tell us? Why have you changed? We do not understand it-it.”

 “Is that not-not obvious?” she sighed. “I changed because it was that or meet my end.” She shrugged. “I do not-not me you for your encouragements, for trying to help me grow into the princess you believed I should be, arrogant and proud like my sister. But there is one great difference between my sister and I.”

 “Your blood does not matter…” Velna began, but Shae scoffed, barking augh, cutting her off.

 “Of course it does not-not. Akio said it best to me, long-long ago now. Two royal bloodlinesbined are surely just as noble, if not-not more so, than one! I shall never be ashamed of my mother and her proud lineage. Even if it is not-not Seelie, it is a part of me! No, you are all too shallow, and hence I was as well. The difference is ability.”

 I think I get it. I’ve heard of her sister Shaeranna from her tales, apparently she’s a fierce warrior and a master of the spear, having in many Unseelie in past battles.

 “But princess, you are the daughter of Prince Shaetanao…” Velna continued.

 “So?” Shae shook her head, amber locks cascading. The fact that she was usually in her human form probably frustrated her maids to no end, seeming either an insult to her heritage or a sop to me, but really, I loved Shae, so if she was morefortable in weaselkin form, I’d have no problem with it. Except in bed, I guess. I’m still not a furry! 

 “While I am justifiably proud of my bloodline, just-just as I was wounded deeply when I was ndered and mocked unfairly, the whispers delivered where I could-could always hear them, it is also unfair to blindly praise me simply for being.” She took a deep breath, trying to put her painful past behind her. “I was weak and pathetic, </empared to my sister, my brothers, even many of the weaselkin who made up fathers’ forces. All encouraging my sense of self-importance did was lead-lead me to ruin, riling up those who had cause to scheme against my father and forcing him and my siblings into a painful choice that no-no doubt hurt them cruelly. I feel sorry for them, that they had-had to abandon me, after spending so long-long coddling me. It must have been hard.”

 “But if you did not show your royal pedigree, you would have been looked down on-on!” Risha dered, stamping her foot in annoyance, which made Hyacinth stiffen in my arms, but I rubbed her back, keeping her calm.

 “Yes, perhaps. No, you are indeed correct.” Shae conceded with a sigh. “But would that have led to a worse-worse fate than now?”

 At that Velna opened her mouth to protest, only to shut it quietly, eyes going vacant as she thought about it. Several other maids looked angry at that, but others exchanged long, meaningful looks.

 “Were I able to speak to my foolish past self, I would have advised her to be modest, kind and quietly confident, knowing that one-one day, I would meet the other half of my soul, the full moon to my new moon. My Akio.” She turned to me, smiling brilliantly, and my heart skipped a beat. So damn adorable. Yeah, that day Shae epted my offer to surrender was the day my new life truly began, not that day Ortlinde visited me. Without Shae I’d have been killed by now, I have no doubt, and even if not, Eri and I might never have worked out our differences, Aiko would still be suffering…

 “Akio taught me how to truly-truly be a princess, what that meant. Lessons I should have learnt as a child. Others tried to teach me, such as Master Ulfuric, and my sister, even dear idiot brother Shaeraggo, and oldest brother Shaetourach. But s, I did not-not listen, for my ears were filled with tales of my own worth-worth and importance. From you.” she looked at her maids, and most of them looked down or away, biting on lips nervously or with anger, tailsshing.

 “The past is done.” Shae dered. “I am sick and tired ofmenting over it-it. So let me be in. Thanks to my love for Akio, we have grown stronger, and now I can-can proudly and truthfully dere myself to be a proud princess of the Seelie. Even so, it is not-not enough for me. Pride is baked into me, and will never-never leave me. That is the burden I bear, from my childhood with all of you. So heed me well. I, Shae Tu Shae Dannan, and my chosen husband, Oshiro Moonstone Akio, bright hero of the moon-moon, he who was always destined to walk with me, together we shall defeat the Myconids and reim the Spring of Clear Reflections. Only then-then will I have fulfilled my role as a princess of the Seelie.”

 Her gaze had captivated them, and Ixitt and Hyacinth were looking on, entranced by her dynamic poise. “So, my maids, I have some-some fondness left for you, as you were my truepanions who cared for me when I was but-but a foolish child, who told me I was worth something even as others ndered me, even if your words-words were what fuelled my foolish delusions of grandeur. So I will be blunt. I have tolerated your disrespect towards Akio, but not-not any longer! If you have no wish to serve him as you do me, then return to Shaeraggo!”

 At that Velna curtsied deeply, before bowing to me, her expression serious. “I apologise, consort of the princess.” She spoke softly. “I have-have been a fool too, I see. The changes in the princess were confusing to me, and I med you.” she looked up at me, and for once I saw some genuine understanding in her eyes. “Perhaps we focused too-too much on what the princess should have been, rather than what would make her happy.” She turned back to Shae then. “I will stay-stay. I am your maid, I should never have been separated from you!”

 “I welcooome you if you are to serve properly. But I will warm masters’ bed, nooot you!” Hyacinth giggled, earning another series of thwacks on the head.

 “Good. And the rest of you?” Shae’s steely amber gaze brooked no dissent. “Be warned, I am deadly serious. If I am to go-go into desperate battle, I want this mansion to be a home where we can-can rx, without being bothered by your disrespect.”

 “I understand. I too am sorry.” The angry maid apologised, bowing to me as Velna had. Risha followed her in capitting, and one by one the maids were defeated, promising to improve. Lastly, Shae turned to the butler, who hadn’t exactly hidden his disapproval of me, but then he had also always done as I asked without muchint.

 “As for you, I understand you desire Shaeraggo to know I am here. I would first-first wish to triumph here, drive out the Myconids, so that he can be proud of me. After all…” Shae turned back to me, satisfied and refreshed, having finally got all of her exasperation with her maids off her chest. “… what little sister would not want to look good in front of her brother, right-right?” 

 At that Iughed, as she was definitely copying Aiko there. The butler-weasel conceded the point, and with that he set the maids to cleaning up the mess.

 “I shall make you more dinner.” The maid that had caused the initialmotion promised, and Hyacinth jumped out of my arms.

 “I shall assist yooou! Hyacinth is sorry I tried to murder yooou! Don’t be a bad servant like Hyacinth!”

 “No, there’s no need…” the maid said, a sh of annoyance crossing her features. “You are also a guest here, leave it to us-us.”

 “Nooo, I insist! Hyacinth is a maid as well!”

 “In fact, Hyacinth will be my head maid, should she seed in her task for Akio.” Shae promised.

 “Wait, her? Head maid?” Displeasure was visible on several faces, but after the warning from Shae, they acquiesced.

 “Well, now that is settled, shall we continue?” I asked, and everyone nodded, Grulgor rumbling withughter at the spectacle, Ixitt smiling wryly, eager to get down to business…

 ********

 “You’ve reached level five. That was painless.” I smiled at Ixitt as he snapped off another volley of small projectiles against a Myconid Ranger, outmatching the arrows and blowing it apart in a welter of spores.

 “Excellent. I do feel stronger and faster. My mind seems clearer as well. Just more proof I made the right choice epting your patronage.” Ixitt replied. “So, what now?”

 “As we discussed at dinner, when we finally managed to get one that wasn’t tossed on the floor, anyway, now you can oversee Hyacinth as she tests her spores on the captive nt-beasts.” We had brought some wires and chains from our Territory, so Shae wouldn’t be forced to relinquish her pinwheels, reducing her offense. “We’ve reced the Degraded Kobolds, so the aim is to get her spores to be harmless to them, but lethal against the Myconids and their nt minions. Though to be honest I’ll settle for just lethal to the Myconids, we have our protective gear after all.”

 “I understand. It will be fascinating to document her progress, and perhaps harness it myself in various weapons. Perhaps bullets and shells that contain her lethal spores? Intriguing.” Ixitt mused, tailshing excitedly.

 “Sure, just… keep safe and help her get it done, if you can.” I knew it was an epically difficult task, but Hyacinth had experience and exposure to the spores, so if anyone could with help from our exnations, she could. “As for us…” I looked at Shae and Grulgor, who were eager for battle. “We are going to try and kill as many Myconids as we can, especially Noble ones. If we prate deep into their Territory we might even unearth some of their hidden cards as well. The more we know, the better our chances.”

 “Grul will enjoy smashing, breaking and crushing them!” he dered, and Shae was even smiling at his usual belligerence. Yeah, they have be closer. That’s good.

 “All right then. In that case, we go deeper!” I cried out, and we charged through the wilderness. I could feel the fortunate winds Shae had summoned blowing around me, and asionally I would get a feeling to take a certain direction through the trees, or my feet would stumble over an exposed root despite my great agility, and I would find glittering treasures, Etherites ripe for the taking. I’ve found a green and several yellows already. Nice! Although worryingly, the feeling of great fortune I was experiencing was being bnced by the prickling of my Foresight. The feeling had seesawed up and down in the mansion, dropping for a while, which puzzled me, but now it was growing stronger once more. Is it due to our strategy against the Myconids, or is something going to go wrong with Hyacinth’s experiments? No, we are taking every possible precaution… putting that aside, I turned my attention back to the matter at hand, as I didn’t want to be distracted, which could lead to careless mistakes.

 Obviously ether was still a concern, despite our new gains from the Trees, but I intended to keep these Etherites on me, in case I needed emergency boosts, just like with the blue one. And when we upgrade our Silos to Rank 3, I think I’ll add an Etherite Silo to one of them…

 We raced rapidly into the denser heart of Myconid-held Territory, more than five miles from the Fae Stones that marked the safety of the Seelie Court….

 ********

 I swung my Twin Fangs, one de shing through the sword-arm one Myconid warrior was wielding, while my other parried another pair of shes on my nk. The ground underfoot was treacherous with decaying fungal matter, as one after another I slew the Warriors that engaged me. It was like a dance, my senses working at high intensity, predicting their movements by the subtle twitching of their arms and legs.

 A much bulkier Myconid attacked from my blind spot, the Myconid Champion, a Noble Dark Fae who led thisrge group of warriors, a tall, lean Myconid covered in leathery fungal armour and wielding an arm-de that was as tall as I was, trying to use the sacrifice of its fellows as a way to strike me down.

 “I don’t think so.” I said, the Fang that had cut through the Myconid sword suddenly reversing direction and decapitating it, space shed open too. My muscles twitched, legs moving instinctively, and both Fangs were crossed in front of me, blocking the heavy blow. My arms and legs braced, and it was the Champion that was thrown back. Normally, I’d attack with a counter, but… somehow I feel that isn’t right. Instead I dropped low, and with two tight, controlled swings, the Champion fell, legless, my des then swooping down to finish the job.

 I levelled up a while ago during this mad dance. I wonder how close I am to another…

 Still surrounded, I moved with abination of instinct and rapid thought, closing in and making my blows count where possible, and where it wasn’t I defended, keeping stable bnce and wide perception of the battlefield around me. It was as if all the beatings I had taken from Ulfuric, all the training and studying, was starting to coalesce, my prior bad habits that I had picked up in my self-taught cribbing from the inte and YouTube videos finally sloughing away, leaving the solid fundaments Ulfuric had taught me shining through, like a diamond buried in y.

 I don’t think Motoko-san will be able to criticise me for being rough and crude anymore. Parry, using the minimum of movement, and kick out, breaking the bnce of the opponent. The other hand to deflect a sh, using the momentum to bring up my other arm, striking a fatal sh to the throat of the enemy. Switch footwork and move to attack, overwhelming the enemy with a volley of precise blows. Glide to the side to dodge a charge, a single cut to the vitals, finishing another opponent. sh. Cut. Parry. Strike. 

 As I moved through a series of changingbat forms, the Warriors melted away in front of me, most of them in, the air thick with the stench of dead fungus and choking spores. Unwilling to let them retreat I called upon elemental wind, and jade des shed out, the edges dense and vibrating, slicing through them, ether scattering, which I greedily grabbed.

 I could hear Grulgor roaring and heavy explosions as his massive metal mace pulverised the tide of foes. A pinwheel flew past my face, trailing the taut bluesteel wire that danced with green and yellow energies, cutting through a dozen opponents. Shae’s second was dancing, cutting apart Rangers and ‘Mancers that strayed too close.

 A group of Myconid Pikers charged through the trees, supported by several of the hedgehog artillery. Their arms had grown together into a series of elongated poles, tipped with hard, jagged spikes, red and purple and dripping with acrid venom that smoked as it made contact with the air. On seeing them, I found myself grinning, eager to engage them on their own terms. Swords would be a disadvantage, best to fight range with range. I sheathed the Twin Fangs and pulled out my spear, channelling abination of elements into it. Darting forward, I slid between the thicket of venomous spikes, using the solid shaft of my spear to deflect theirs, thrusting precisely, motions flowing and smooth. My memories of Ulfuric and his own spear-work blended with the times I had watched Motoko-san and Natsumi-san with the Tsumura techniques.

 Set the distance. A precise thrust. Turn and block. A second thrust. Deflect iing blows and counterattack. Another pinpoint stab. Use the haft of the spear to shatter an arm. Drop back while striking…

 Myconids were dying, and I started mixing in elemental attacks, rapidly sweeping them away. My movements had be elegant and deadly, barely any wasted motion, and my Eye zed amber, advising me I had improved once more,bat skills that would take years of hard training to learn in a dojo bing mine.

 Your Skills, Sword Technique, Spear Technique and Combat Technique have all advanced to Rank 5. Due to reaching a full understanding of the basic techniques of martialbat and crafting a body capable of applying them, the fundamentals solidifying, and having gained insight of how best to use these fundamentals in battle, you have reached a bottleneck, the first wall, and to grow further you will need to learn an advanced style, or craft your own, finding that which is beyond the mundane. Your ability to apply what you have learned to other weapons andbat arts has increased, and the more different weapons and styles of martial arts you master, the deeper the depths of your understanding of the martial path will grow.

 My mind was clear, and I moved in an almost-meditative state, alternating between sword, spear, brutal attacks with my fists, elbows and feet, and devastating elemental attacks. With Grulgor roaring in enraged fury to one side, and Shae, her pinwheels dancing, surrounded by rains of me and whirling cyclones of ded winds on the other, we drove back the Myconids, felling them one-by-one until we had carried the day, the air around us thick with death…

AliNovel

Two Hundred And Seven