On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Ninety-Three

I held Shaeula gently in my arms as I considered what to do next. I could somehow feel that she was going to be all right. It was almost as if there was something connecting us, our lunar chakras beating in time with each other like synchronised clocks. Hmm, it’s got to have something to do with Kin Bonds and Restoration, right?

Taking a moment to inspect the skill, the first obvious thing was it was clearly a version of the Kin Restoration Shaeula possessed, which allowed her kin to be reborn over time. Even now, I suspected the souls of some of her dead kin were circling her, awaiting their next chance at life. As I thought this, I could faintly see some of the ghostly lights around her. It was quite the pretty sight. Wait, does that mean…

Checking the skill I realised what a bombshell ability it was. it allowed one to take possession of the very soul of a slain kin, sheltering and nurturing them with spiritual energies until their Astral forms could be restored. Astral forms eh? Shame, that means that if my sister or Eri were to die… ugh, it makes me sick to think about it, but still… yeah, it doesn’t bring back Material forms, so it wouldn’t work on them… I could feel a faint tickling deep within my lunar node when I thought about Eri or Aiko, but when my thoughts turned to Shaeula… suddenly a link similar to the silver cord that connected my Material and Astral bodies formed between us. Fire energy started flowing out of me, burning away the excess boiling winds that were wreathing her core. In exchange some of her wind energy was also flowing to me. It was a unique… feeling for sure. Yeah, this is in no way embarrassing… or kind of lewd. It felt almost like kissing. Ugh, my heart hurts, I feel sorry for Eri. But she wouldn’t want Shaeula to suffer, she’s always been a kind girl. I guess I’ll make it up to her…

The link must have been the ‘bonding’ part of the unique skill. Most of the description was just question marks, alas, but it did explain that I would be linked to my kin through our lunar nodes, and we could share elemental energies, aether and some other things hidden behind yet more question marks. I can clearly see the use of it, but the drawbacks… oh well, it’s Shaeula, I’ve no worries being bonded with her…

As Shaeula settled under the care of my energies, I looked at the diminishing tides of green and yellow that filled the cavern. The jade vortex was failing fast, now that the source of the wind was within us, and the citrine energy, while still plentiful, seemed to be noticeably declining. Emptying out my batteries I filled them with some of the remaining essence, figuring it would be foolish not to. As I was finishing up Shaeula opened her eyes from my lap. Her amber gaze met mine and she blushed a deep red.

“Welcome back, sleepyhead. You feel all right?”

“Akio… I…” she suddenly bolted out of my grasp, settling a few metres away from me.

Well, this is new. She’s never been this shy before. “What’s up? You seem tense.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled to get words out. She swallowed gingerly, then nodded. “It is nothing-nothing. Merely a strange fancy. Though…” she paused, shutting her eyes and concentrating. As she did so our lunar nodes were connected again, and energies started flowing between us. Yeah, the sensation is very lewd. I feel hot around my chakras, and some of them are positioned very… delicately…

“This connection. It seems you are now one of my kin, which should-should be impossible….” Opening her eyes again they flared a bright amber once more. “And…” she looked away, flushed once more, scratching at one cheek nervously. “Your scent… it is reminiscent of the Fae… your looks too…” she said, her voice getting quieter and quieter as she continued. “… your very aura-aura is that of a noble Fae… … …” her words trailed off to near inaudibility “… very appealing…”

I couldn’t quite catch that. But she’s talking about my odour? Weird. But I guess I have taken on more aspects of the Fae, apparently. Still, that isn’t important.

“It seems that somehow I’ve managed to get a copy of your Kin Restoration skill. It’s even evolved.”

“I see-see. Mine too has evolved, I thought it most strange.”

“A lot has happened, hasn’t it? I worried a bit when you fainted, but if you are all right…” I thought for a moment. “I’d love to test the limits of Kin restoration, but a skill that works on the dead… no way I’m killing you to find out if I can bring you back…”

“I should think not-not.” She sneered in response. “To suggest such a thing to such a royal princess is folly itself. Still…” she strengthened the link between us, more used to the skill than I was, clearly. “… it is strange. Through you I can feel faint traces of other souls. Perhaps… can you feel the souls of my kin-kin?”

Concentrating, I reached out through Shaeula, finding that I could feel her emotions. Not thoughts, they were closed to me, but I could feel her embarrassment and another, more suppressed feeling, that caused me to itch uncomfortably. Spreading out my consciousness she started to squirm and twist, turning away from me. I need to expand… outwards… aether was draining from me slowly as I concentrated. Her kin are connected to her, and I am connected to her, so surely I must be connected to… wait, there… It was a fleeting feeling, brushing against a dormant consciousness. Reaching out again it slipped away, then a third time, but then…

My eyes widened as I could now clearly see the glowing orbs around Shaeula, spirits drifting like foxfires or will-o’-the-wisps of myth. As soon as I could see and feel them all, like faint half-heard thoughts in the back of my mind, I felt energy leaving me in modest trickles, seeping out into them, causing them to grow ever so slightly brighter.

“My kin… are your kin!” Shaeula panted, bright crimson and sweating. “And you too can feed their dormant souls! With us both joined as one, surely they will return to us soon-soon!”

Even as the link to Shaeula dimmed, energy was still leaving me constantly, not a lot, but a noticeable drain. Has Shaeula been doing this all the time? If so, does that mean when her kin are all restored, she’ll have all this extra power to spare? No wonder I was able to defeat her, she wasn’t at full strength, with most of her kin being dead already. This skill is a real double-edged sword…

Still, my aether and other abilities had gone through a great leap, so I was able to support the outflow. And I had to admit, the thought of having numerous Kamaitachi to support us was a pleasing one…

“Well, I’ll keep sending them energy.” I agreed. “I did promise to help you restore your kin, and now I can contribute in a concrete fashion. But anyway, enough of that. It can’t have just been the link we created that made you pass out. What happened?”

She nodded, wiping sweat from her brow, opening up the collar of her yukata to fan herself. “You are indeed correct. When you were absorbing the energies, the wind-wind that lay long dormant here, trapped in fire… it entered me, becoming one with my subtle body and lunar chakra. Normally I would have had no issue making it mine-mine, however, the wind was tainted with fire, and the pain… it was most unpleasant.” She paused, before nodding to me in gratitude. “I could feel your energies through the bond, consuming and controlling the tainted winds that were spilling free. Thanks to you, I have gained mastery of the new wind. It is called Foehn, Wind-Eating Breath.”

“Damn, that sounds cool. I got a flame myself, also called Foehn. I guess being mixed together for so long, the fire and wind became similar?”

“Perhaps so.” She allowed. “Still, I now have three unique winds at my disposal. My strength has greatly increased. Perhaps only my eldest brother and sister can boast-boast of such bounty themselves.” She looked at the fading emerald sparks of wind from the dying vortex. “Still, it seems taking the wind has ended this place. Shall we go-go?”

Nope, I think you are being premature. “Before that, why don’t we fully exploit this opportunity? Such good fortune might be a once-in-a-lifetime event, right?”

“And just what do you mean-mean?”

I looked down at the slowly diminishing wellspring of fiery yellow energies. “I think it’s time you learned how to manipulate fire too. After all, I managed it. You’ve been studying, and you watched me with your mystic eyes, right? In addition… I think I can guide you through our bonds.”

“Using the bond is…” she chewed her lip nervously, looking away, flushing pink yet again. “Besides, I am of wind, so I fear the fire…”

I get it feels… well, nice… to link ourselves, but we have to push through this… “You did want the power to show your kin you are worthy of rule, didn’t you? Besides, you may fear the fire, but you told me it is earth that is the true poison to you.” I strode over to her, grasping her hand. She let out a little squeak of surprise and our gazes met, her eyes wide. And beautiful. She truly does have such expressive eyes. “I am with you, and I’ll not let you come to harm. Have faith in me, like you asked me to have faith in you.”

Shaeula exhaled, a long sigh. She nodded once, her hand tightening its grip in mine. “When you speak to me in such a manner, how can I refuse and still maintain my pride-pride?” She grinned then, back to her usual cheeky self. “Very well-well. I shall tame the flame, make fire my own, and become something greater.” Guiding me over to the flaming yellow energy, she sat down beside it, pulling me down too, my hand locked in hers. “Do not let go. Should the flow of fire energies escape my control and start damaging my network, do-do intervene. I shall be relying on you-you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” I agreed. “So, final check. You remember what you studied about fire, right?”

“I do-do. Though I do not claim to comprehend all of it, like how it is a process rather than a tangible thing. But since I understood wind was merely a movement of these invisible gases of many kinds that surround us, I believe I can accept it. Truly the knowledge of you mortals is deep indeed-indeed. No wonder us Fae were driven out.” She looked tense, nervous, though that was to be expected.

“Well, now it is time for the Fae to return, right? If you succeed in your dream to rule the Fae one day, you can make it happen. And you’ll look back on this day then, and remember it was a big step towards making your dream a reality.”

“Hmph, now you have the aura of a Fae, your tongue is silver too…” she scoffed. “Or did that start when you accepted Eri? No matter, silence now, I need to concentrate. I remember how you balanced the fire, even feeding it with wind-wind when it looked unstable. With my eyes, I can do this…” she muttered something to herself too quietly for even my ears to catch all of. “… worse ways to meet my end-end…”

As I watched she guided a flow of the fiery energy into her root chakra, circulating it upwards. She groaned in pain, yellow and green wisps of energy rising from her lower body. As yellow energy started circulating in her solar plexus chakra, she slowly trickled down green energy from her heart, which was consumed, the yellow growing brighter.

“Ack…” she coughed then, silvery blood leaving her mouth, tainted with fiery yellow and verdant green. Her hand tightened in mine, her eyes wide with pain, yellow tears dripping from them. Still, she did not stop, now moving energy to her lunar node, which greedily drank in the new citrine luminescence.

Damn, this seems way more violent than when I did it. Sure, I had to be careful not to let the conflicting energies clash, and it put a real strain on my lunar node… but it was nothing compared to this…

Shaeula’s jaw was straining, her teeth locked together as she fought against the pain. I gently wiped off the sweat and tears from her face, ignoring the faint stinging as the expelled energies discharged. Her gaze flickered to me momentarily, before she resumed her struggles. More and more energy was being absorbed, it was now flowing through her entire network, yet it was not a smooth flow, as citrine met emerald it often consumed it, growing in scale and starting to burn her from within. As soon as these areas of danger erupted she smothered them with her aether, similar to how I used it to guide my own flows.

“Gah… Ugh… just … just a bit more…” she spat fiery blood all over me. I could somehow feel her aether fading, burning through the dwindling stocks of her vitality. Still, despite her pain she was squeezing my hand reassuringly.

Fuck. No way. I pushed her to this, and even if it is for her long-term good, I’ll be damned if I let her cripple or kill herself for this… Opening the bonds between us, our lunar chakras were joined, and I felt a rush of jumbled fire and wind flow into me, along with the sensations of pain she was feeling.

“Holy shit… fuck… you are… enduring this?” I gasped, momentarily overwhelmed by the feeling of all my veins and arteries boiling.

“I… must follow… my master. Even unto… the… end…” She gasped out, the pressure lessening as the overspilling energies gushed into me. “Only by being strong… can I stand… at your side….”

Idiot. My eyes were spilling hot tears now, and not just from the pain. Pouring out my own aether to her, shattering what Etherites I had left and absorbing it as fuel for us both, I leaned my head in close, our foreheads touching. Shit, she’s so hot, her chakras are scalding.

As more aether flooded her, she continued to try and stabilise the rampaging energies clashing within her. Her whole body was convulsing now, muscles spasming and teeth chattering.

I remember… how her wind was used to soothe me, and direct the flow… now it is my turn to help her! Besides, I even have our new Bond, surely I can manage! I sent in my own energies, wind to replenish her where her stores had been consumed, flame to consume wind that was scattering in all directions, as I had before, and aether to guide the flows where she was weak. She was panting and moaning, and I too was suffering, the feelings of agony she was enduring echoing to me, but I merely bit down on my lip, blood flowing, and carried on. Shaeula was clutching my hand so hard I thought my bones would crack, her hot breath scorching my face.

For what seemed like an eternity but could surely have been no more than a few minutes we struggled against the tide, before she loosened her grip with a final long gasp of breath. Going limp she released my hand, topping backwards, our Bond dimming. I quickly caught her, panicking, but she looked up at me weakly, barely able to move. And then she smiled, a beautiful pure smile of sheer relief and joy. It was then a bright star of yellow burst into bloom in her solar plexus, her lunar chakra a mixed aura of jade and citrine.

Your Class, Fae-Bonded, has increased from level 15 to level 16. Your class Fae-Bonded has evolved to Fae-Souled. The aspects of the Fae you embody have been strengthened significantly. Those who are bonded to you can accept a deeper connection, sharing both blessings and misfortunes.

Your Majesty and Charm have significantly increased. Your Aether has dramatically increased.

Your Foresight has increased.

Shaeula Tu Shae Dannan has accepted the connection of your souls. May you experience much weal and ward off all woe.

Your Class, Fae-Souled has increased from level 16 to level 17.

Your ??? has significantly increased.

As my vision was flooded with a series of powerful messages I looked down at her, only to be met with her arms snaking around me in a hug. Her voice was hoarse, her agonies still not fully faded, but her voice was as sweet as I had ever heard.

“Akio, my master, my true kin, my second self. I have succeeded! No longer am I bound by the element that makes up my being-being, I am free to grow, unhindered by anything but our bound souls!”