June 20th, 2018.

  The rest of the party dash forward to kill as many of the thralls as they can. Helo’s debuff lowered their physical abilities to the point where it canceled out the summoners buff and then sum.

  “Down as many as you can!” Hinata shouts and starts viciously using her sword to maim every thrall in front of her. Her sword never stops moving and never slows as body parts start flying everywhere. The same thing happens all around her as her team understands what she wants.

  She doesn't want them to kill the thralls, that takes up too much time, she wants all the thralls to be unable to move or attack; Cripple a leg, cut off an arm, she doesn't care. As long as they can be swept up later. They don’t know how much time they have before the effect wears off. So, they must hit as many as they can.

  Fifteen seconds in with the effects still going strong Hinata sighs in relief. Alli is beside her, she had enough mana to conjure a hammer, though it has no effects. She is clumsily wielding it with one hand because her other arm is dangling limply by her side. The relief is because fifteen seconds in she starts using her arm again.

  “Hallelujah!” Alli shouts as she raises her hammer into the sky. “Aiko, I love you!”

  Her shout causes Hinata to look behind her and Aiko is sitting up with her back to the vine wall. Her eyes are open, and a white glow emanates from her hand. A few seconds later she shifts her hands to face Carl.

  Hinata is happy to see Aiko awake. She was getting worried when she failed to awaken after getting fed a potion. Turning back to the fight she wipes the blood that is seeping from a gash on her forehead from her eyes. Then she dives right back in. It is forty-five-seconds later when her own weakness starts to fade.

  Hinata and Alli know what the skill is called, ‘Negative Weakening’. From what they have witnessed it can be a game changer. But at the same time, it draws a massive cost. They don’t know what the true cost is, but they can tell by the massive explosion of energy that it has large requirements. Also from the fact that Helo is in a much worse state.

  It doesn’t change the fact the skill saved their lives. With Hinata gaining back the few physical stats she lost, she moves through the enemies even faster. It is a few seconds before she realizes just what that means. It will fade from the enemies soon.

  She isn’t the first person to make the connection. Alli shouts out. “The debuff is ending!” With her shout they attacked with a newfound ferocity. But before the debuff can even end they hear shouting from within the forest.

  Looking up the first thing Hinata sees is every single tree in the surrounding twist. Then with quick and precise movements they tear every single thrall limb from limb. Searching with a smile Hinata tries to find her mother. She is a tier 3 dryad; she is also the strongest nature mage in the world. Her sister Kiyoki is a close second, but she also focuses on bonding with a tree which tends to be defensive, not offensive nature magic.

  Yuki walks out of the gore and limb filled foliage with a stern expression. Her gaze sweeps over the party and stops on Hinata and Helo. When she can see her daughter is safe her stern gaze turns into a grin, but as she studies Helo she turns serious.

  Stepping up to him she places a hand over his chest. As she does Rocco finally steps away. He had been defending Helo the entire time. Even if it meant he took extra wounds. Yuki looks up at Rocco and nods, “You did well Rocco. Your family will be proud about your commitment to your team's safety.” Looking back at Helo she speaks again. “You were smart to leave him here.”

  Rocco opens his mouth to say that it wasn’t his idea, but Alli is standing behind Yuki and shakes her head. She hopes that this is a bonding moment for Rocco and Helo. She doesn’t want his own commitment to Helo’s defense to be overshadowed by her split-second idea.

  Rocco bows low to Yuki and doesn’t say anything. But Yuki isn't done. “I’ll have the elders set aside the resources to completely awaken all your bloodlines. Even the resources to awaken any latent potential. You all have done well saving my daughter.”

  Alli and Hinata gasp as Yuki’s words. The rest of the party gives them a look, but they just shake their heads. It is only the two of them that fully understand the cost of resources like these. Even in the wider multiverse these resources are rare and only available to the most powerful and wealthy.

  It is only Yuki that knows they are actually working on getting rid of all these resources. Keeping some is okay, but they have many that have been stockpiled over the two millennia their clan has been here with the dungeon. Keeping them all will make them a target to other factions. They could give them as a gift to the Divine Beast Faction when earth opens to the outside. But Yuki and Akira decided to use them to strengthen their people.

  For beast-kin awakening a bloodline means potentially gaining a lot. It is dependent on your parents and ancestors. But many will find affinities strengthened, their instincts sharpened, a closer attunement with their affinity, new body parts like a tail or beast-like ears, and in a rare few the ability to take on the forms of their ancestors.

  For races like dwarves and gnomes their attunement to crafting and earth might increase, Cody will find his ability to form ice increase, and the humans will gain a closer connection to their attunement. For everyone it means a power boost and another hidden benefit they will gain before going to school.

  Looking at everyone with glowing eyes she smiles, “Yes, you all will take the next two months off. I’ll have Yoeko-San create rituals for you all.” The ritual will help their bodies integrate without pain or human error. The only downside is that it will take more time, but they just got a few months off.

  Finally looking down at Helo she mutters, “What do to with you?”

  It doesn’t take much longer before a thud sounds out around them. Then Akira walks out of the trees. Kissing his wife on the palm of her hand he gazes into her eyes. Then turns to his daughter. Giving her a hug and one to Alli, he finally speaks. “As soon as you arrived, my love, he fled.”

  “You let him escape?!?” Hinata shouts. Covering her mouth she apologizes for her outburst. But she knows that with her father's control over illusions, it is almost impossible to escape.

  He just looks at her with a calm gaze. “I was surprised also. But he had another artifact. I believe he found Vlad the Impaler's treasure vault.” The group talks about what that could mean. It is only a few minutes before more people arrive. The three other tier 3 fighters Ema, Diago, and Arata show up. But they just form a perimeter around the group and keep watch. It is a few minutes later when a healer eventually shows up. She is at peak tier 2 and is the strongest healer in the Kashiwagi clan.

  “Eriana I am thankful you came with such speed.” Yuki says to the older woman with a smile and a bow. Eriana is petite older woman, her hair is pure white, and she walks with a cane.

  Looking at Yuki, she gives a grandmotherly smile. “Ah Yuki-Chan, it is always a pleasure to see the younger generation grow stronger.” Looking at Helo, she gives a sad sigh. “And it is always sad to see a child hurt so much.”

  The party gives her a weird look and Yuki just has a small smile. Eriana is always like this; Yuki remembers her being old even when she was a little girl.

  Stepping up her aura sweeps out. Eriana has been at the peak of tier 2 for a long time. She has had her aura for a long time as well. Nobody knows why she doesn’t tier up, but nobody wants to get struck by her cane enough to ask.

  Her aura slowly lifts Helo’s body, and she just makes a “Tch, Tch, Tch.” Noise as she studies him. “This child never should have been out here in the first place.” She glares at Akira.

  It is Hinata that answers. “Grandma Eriana. Will he be okay?” She asks with some tears starting to form. She can see the serious look on the usually happy healers’ face.

  Eriana’s face softens. “Yes, child he will be fine. He is a resilient boy, and all the energy that he uses is a part of his bloodline. Even if it is too powerful for his body to handle, it is still a part of him. Now if it was a foreign mana that did this, he would be crippled for life. But with time and money.” She glares at Akira until he nods his head. “He will be fine.”

  It is Akira that steps up now. He is the clan leader and needs to be a little pragmatic. “Use all the resources you need, but I'd like a time frame.”

  “Hmpf. Fine boy.” Checking Helo over, she finds his condition to be the same as last time, just much worse. “Last time I ordered him bed rest...” She glares at Akira again. “But no medicine. He pushed himself too far and needed time. But now we will have to help him along. Three months and three tier 2 life and dark mana cores per day. That should have him healed.”

  Akira doesn’t know how to feel. Injuries like this can take years or even never heal. Three months is great. At the same time, it is bad. School is starting in two months, that means Helo will start school crippled. Then there are the mana cores. A tier 2 mana core is cheap for him. But ones with the life and dark attunement are much trickier. Life and Darkness are both high level attunements. Something like water, fire and nature, is easy. But life and darkness are only a half-step below something like space or gravity.

  With a sigh he nods his head. Eriana starts to talk to herself as she walks away with a floating Helo. “This child is lucky his body is still adapting to his bloodline. He is like a baby being formed. But instead, he is tearing himself down, to build himself back up. He is never going to learn if every time he hurts himself, he comes back stronger.”

  By the time she is out of hearing range only Akira who is a pure kitsune can hear her. He just chuckles, but at the same time he thinks. She is right. He is lucky that his body is still adapting. It makes bouncing back much easier. I remember when I was awakening my kitsune bloodline. I would push myself too far in the awakening ritual, but I'd wake up three days later with a ton of progress.

  Shaking his head he just turns back to everyone else. Yuki is already getting everyone ready to leave. “Now let’s all head back. You all need some food and sleep.” She says in a motherly tone that broaches no argument.

  Some time later Yuki is finally gone, and the party is alone. She stayed around the place to make sure that everyone ate. After they finished, she shooed them all to go shower and then she left with a satisfied gait.

  “Your mom is very scary.” Gabi says with a shiver. “Nice, but scary.” This causes some of the others to nod their head in agreement, but none of them actually voice their words. Just in case. Gabi, seeing that nobody said anything, she turns to look behind her and sighs. “Whew, I was scared there for a second.”

  “Yeah, she can be a little forceful.” Hinata hears Alli snort from her side, but she ignores her like a proper heiress. “But she really cares a lot.”

  Most of the party is still injured, there is only so much healing that a person can take in a day. But they are all well enough to sit up at night and talk. It is then that they go over some questions they have. The first person to speak is Rurgrim. Setting down his glass of juice, to his displeasure it isn’t something harder, “Aye, Carl. What was that glowey thing. Made you look like some kind of magical girl.”

  Everyone looks at Rurgrim in confusion. “You know what a magical girl is?” Arisah asks in a sweet tone, but everyone can tell that she is trying to lead Rurgrim on.

  “Aye, tree girl. I have little cousins. So Carl?” Rurgrim looks back at his friends.

  “My ancestors have blessed me with knowledge and skill.” Carl says with his chest out. “The skill is called ‘Knight’s Oath’. I walk the path of the knight due to my late grandfather. It appears like he created a legacy skill before his demise.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Knight’s Oath (Rare): This is a legacy skill of Carl Anders the Third. A skill gifted from grandfather to grandson. It is the accumulated knowledge of all Carl Anders the Third had gained about sword fighting in his lifetime. This skill guides Carl Anders the Fifth in the fighting techniques of his grandfather. This skill is also a binding skill that increases all his stats when he is acting with the will of those he is sworn to. He also gains increased stats when he is defending others. Stat increases are accumulative.

  “Legacy skill?” Bibbin asks in a quiet and high pitch tone, almost like a squeak.

  It is Gabi that answers him. “Many legacy skills are tied to powerful bloodlines or deities. But some professions like blacksmiths and special types of fighters can create a legacy. My main skill ‘Strength of the Bloody Dancer’ could be considered one. I inherited the skill from my father, and he helped me create my own style.”

  “Yes.” Luna nods her head, then she goes into more detail. “But skills that are tied to a profession can be different. They can be a guide to the person that inherits them. Likely for Carl, his skill will upgrade once he has learned all the skill can teach him about sword fighting.”

  Carl looks pleased at what he heard. From the stories he knew about his grandfather, he was a skilled fighter. Alli speaks up next, “So levels?” Normally this wouldn’t be something you would ask, but they are all at a party and each person is sworn to both girls in some way.

  It was Bibbin in the end that gained the most from the fighting, he went from level 38 all the way to 40. At the same time, he gained a new skill and upgraded one of his own. The skill he gained is called ‘Unusual Trap Making’.

  Unusual Trap Making (Uncommon): A crafting skill based on the creation of traps and throwable consumables. This skill helps the crafter use resources that he finds himself.

  The skill he upgraded is his ‘Trap Wire’ skill. This skill is how his traps are set off. During the fight he would set the wire to blow when someone tripped it. But then he would toss the trap. With the unique way of setting his traps his skill upgraded to ‘Detonate’.

  Detonate (Uncommon): Set off a trap using a trip wire, timer, or just your will.

  Everyone else had some gains, but most were minor. They only fought about two-hundred thralls. It wasn’t enough for them to gain anything major, especially experience. Arisah gained a level for her creation of the wall of vines. This brought her to level 41. Rocco gained a level and hit 42 and Lelai managed to reach Alli and Hinata in level. Being a beast and not a sentient person she levels differently. She hit level 44.

  Everyone else got close to gaining a new level, but it might be some time before they reach it. For the next two months they will be spending their time practicing and meditating in a ritual with energy that is attuned to their affinity or bloodline.

  By the time night truly hits someone asks the question that was on everyone’s mind. “So, now that all the small talk is over. What was that tainted red and gold energy.” Gabi asks, she is always the one that speaks her mind. Some of the others nod their heads with her but Arisah shivers a little bit in remembrance to the energy. “We know it came from Helo.”

  Alli and Gabi look at one another and Alli nods. Hinata turns to speak. “He hit level 40 and took a debuff skill. The skill uses his own energy to weaken the same type of energy in a another.”

  Everyone stops and thinks about it for a moment, and it is Rocco that speaks up. “So, even with all the damage to his energy channels and his reserves he channeled all the physical energy in his body into a wave of weakening?”

  Alli tilts her head from side to side in consideration. “Yes and no. It was probably all the energy in his body. He can convert his mental and physical energy into one another.” Hinata gives her a look, but she just shrugs. “It isn’t some kind of secret, and they should know. It might save his life.”

  Hinata considers this and nods. If something happens to him and he needs a certain type of energy, then they can know how to help him. He risks a lot by directly using the energy that his body uses to function. Draining your mana dry can cause you to feint, it might even cause some damage. But it won’t kill you.

  “So, he used everything in his body. To create that energy? It makes sense then that he was so injured. It must have been painful.” Aiko says with a sad look.

  “It will be okay though. You heard Eriana. He just needs some time and resources that Kashiwagi-Sama already has.” Arisah says with her usually happy attitude. This acts like a beacon for Alli and she perks up also.

  The next day everyone at the party gets up for breakfast at the same time. Even though they decided last night that today was a day of rest, everyone is just used to getting up early. In the kitchen Aiko prepares food and like usual Luna is curled up on the couch like the cat she is. She is going over the party’s paperwork, while nervously playing with her tail.

  They had a lot of gains that they couldn’t go through when everyone was all hand on deck. But now that she has some time she can catch up on her work. While she is working, she hears a knock on the door. Both Aiko and Luna look at one another. At the same time, they shrug and chuckle.

  Both girls are staring at one another to go get the door. Normally Aiko, being a trained maid, would do it without questions. But Luna is in the same position as her. Luna looks at her comfy spot and then back at Aiko. Aiko rolls her eyes and holds up her dirty hands.

  “Tuuuu.” Luna says in dejection and gets up from her place. Opening the front door, she finds Helo’s ritual teacher standing outside. At the sight of the famous and powerful ritualist she instantly bows.

  “Mistress Yamamoto, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit.” Luna says.

  Behind her Aiko does something similar. “Yamamoto-Sama. Thank you for visiting.”

  Yoeko just stares at the two bowing girls in annoyance. With a sigh she says. “Please raise your heads, yada yada official stuff. Happy to be here. Blah blah blah.”

  Both girls’ kind of expected this attitude from the stories Helo told about her, but they didn’t expect it right away. Letting Yoeko into the house, she just walks right into their living room and takes a seat. “So, the Helo hurt himself even worse. Bummer. Anyway, I came here to figure out the specifics of the rituals you all will need.”

  “Well. Mis…” She gets a glare from Yoeko. “Yoeko. Everyone should be down in a few minutes. Breakfast is almost done. Will you join us.”

  Yoeko smiles happily and sits herself at a random spot in the table. As people start to come down it is Rocco that freezes. Yoeko is in his chair. Not wanting to tell the powerful woman to move her looks around. The only empty spot it Helo’s, it is between Alli and Hinata. Now in the past Rocco would have sat by Hinata as her guard with no issues. But sitting between Alli and Hinata is very different. Plus, he has a lot of respect for Helo now.

  Hinata can see the predicament he is in and is trying not to laugh. But she scoots over and sits next to Alli. This leaves room for him by her side. Now with everyone seated Aiko and one of the few maids in their home set out breakfast.

  As they are eating everyone chats with Yoeko. During the conversation she smoothly maneuvers everyone to discuss what she came here for. In the end she never even needed to talk to the party about what affinities and catalysts to use. The party did so in conversation.

  “So, where do you want the arrays?” She asks as once they are done eating.

  It takes a few seconds of Alli and Hinata making eye contact before they both nod at the same time. Cody, Rocco, Rurgrim and Bibbin all look on in surprise. In their head they are thinking. Girls are kind of scary.

  “How about in each person’s bedroom. We have extra space in our rooms, and it will give us all some privacy. You can put Helo’s, Alli’s and my own on the third floor sitting room. Anyone else that wants to meditate together can make room in the garage.” With that everyone makes their choices. Luna, Arisah and Cody all agree to have theirs in the garage.

  After that she says she will be back tomorrow and heads out. The rest of the party heads to the living room to rest. It is Rocco that stops them. “Helo always has us meditate after breakfast. Even with him injured we should continue to do so.” This gets a nod from everyone and a smile from Hinata and Alli about his changed opinion.

  The next two weeks go by quickly for everyone. It only took a few days for Yoeko to finish all the arrays. So, the party spent most of their time relaxing and meditating within their arrays. Every day they did spend a few hours practicing their abilities and sparring.

  Everyone noticed gradual increases in the amount of attuned energy they could control and emit. It wasn’t massive, but it was still an increase. By the end of the second week, they all received system messages about their efforts in cultivation.

  All this time none of them have seen Helo. From what Hinata’s father told them he is being kept in the main house and is being healed constantly. Akira can only laugh at his past self. When Eriana told him Helo would be healed in three months, he assumed it was due to the boy being special. Which, it partially was. Injuries like the ones Helo had should have taken at minimum years to fix. But what he didn’t know was that Eriana had this in mind. He is constantly being bathed in life and dark energies while healers and manually cycling the energy in his body.

  It was the end of the second week when Akira walked into his daughter’s house with Healer Eriana. Pulling out his tablet and sending out a summons to the entire party, he waits in the living room. The entire time he is waiting he is getting berated by Eriana about how he needs to be a better husband to Yuki. How he doesn’t spend enough time with her. How he should work harder to grow the Kashiwagi clan. It went on and on. When his daughter and Alli arrived, he thought she would stop. But she didn’t, she kept berating him until the first party member arrived. Then she started talking to them like a sweet grandmother.

  This made Akira grind his teeth, it got worse when he looked up and saw his daughter biting her hand to stop from laughing. If he looked at the healer, he would have seen her lips quirking in a smirk.

  “So.” Akira said when the entire party arrived. Before he can keep speaking, he is cut off.

  “The child is healed. The poor boy. If only someone did a better job keeping him safe. Mhpf. Sending a child to clear rifts solo.” She glares at Akira. The vein in his forehead is starting to show, but she just continues. “Someone will have to watch out for him, stop him from being dumb. Stop mean old men from taking advantage of him.” She slightly tilts her head toward Akira. This causes Hinata and Alli to laugh, the rest of the party wants to laugh as well, but they also like their jobs.

  “I got it!” Alli says while standing up with a fist in the air.

  Hinata rolls her eyes. “I’ll do it.”

  The healer looks between them and smirks. “Mhhhmm I am sure you will.” She says with a lot of inuendo behind her voice. “Now anyone that can actually be serious and stern to him without acting love struck.” This causes both girls to glare and blush.

  Finally, my time to laugh. Akira thinks. Most dads wouldn’t have been happy about what she said. But he also wants his daughter to be with Helo. At first it was because he knows a little about Helo’s heritage. But after meeting him, he likes the bratt.

  To most people’s surprise it is Rocco and Arisah that speak up at the same time. “I will.” The healer gives them both a serious look, one after the other, then nods. Rocco stood for his newfound respect for Helo. Arisah because she knows as much as Akira does about Helo’s past. Her parents are elders in the clan and informed her about his arrival.

  After that Eriana leads Akira, Alli, Hinata, Rocco and Arisah out of the house. They all cross the central courtyard and into the main house. Walking to the staircase they head downward. As they go down the mana density increases until the tier 1 individuals are having trouble, the mana is too potent for their bodies. If they stay here too long, it could hurt them.

  Any normal tier 1 would barely be able to move, but they all have powerful bloodlines. It makes their bodies naturally stronger and already adapted to more mana. Walking up they all see a massive rift in the center of the room. It is a large room under the main house.

  Surrounding the room there are tree roots that are used to contain the large mana. Then the tree safely releases the mana into the atmosphere. They do this to increase the mana density on earth to prepare for the integration.

  The room has multiple doors leading to separate rooms. Leading the group into one of them, they enter a nice sitting area. “Now I am about to wake the boy up. Give me a few minutes, then you can all say hi.”

  When she leaves the room Akira turns to them. Looking at everyone in the room he decides. Taking a deep breath, he says. “Haaaaa I have something to say about Helo.” This causes everyone to look at him with questions in their eyes. “Everyone here knows that he is unique. His bloodline is obviously more powerful than ours.” At this they all nod their heads. But Rocco does look a little surprised.

  “Well, fifteen years ago I was contacted by our goddess. Hikari Kashi. She is the Kitsune Goddess and our ancestor. She is the originator of some of our bloodlines.” Nobody looks shocked, it is something they already knew. “She is also high up in the Divine Beast Empire. This is why the BrightMoon clan has decided to surrender to us as soon as the integration begins.” This does cause Alli to look at him in shock.

  “Um what?” She says.

  Akira gives her a kind smile and nods. “Our goddess is higher in the Empire than your founder Hanwi. This isn’t about who is stronger. If our two factions fought, yours would win. But it is about what comes after the integration. When we are reconnected to the Divine Beast Faction.” He gives Alli some time to think and eventually she nods.

  “Anyway. She contacted me fifteen years ago. She said that her best friend was sending her child here to grow up without the wars that are being fought.” Akira has an expectant look, and it is Rocco that realizes first.

  “Helo?” He says with awe under his breath.

  Akira just nods his head. Arisah already knew. Alli and Hinata knew Helo was from a strong background, so they weren’t very surprised either. But what he says next does surprise them.

  “She never told me who his parents were, said she can’t. But she did say one other thing. His mother was a Royalty.” Akira says this and Hinata looks at him with suspicion.

  “That is why you’re okay with me being close to him? How long have you been planning to offer me to him?” Her last words have some heat in it. Then she realized it was her that approached Helo. “Well, I bet you were happy when we found him.” After that she crosses her arms and turns her head with a “Mphf!”

  Akira chuckles and just waits for everyone to calm down, then he continues. “Now the BrightMoon and Kashiwagi ancestors are both powerful and unique, they are Nobles within the Empire. But in the Divine Beast Empire the Royals are supposedly related to or still are Primordial Beasts. The kind of creature that was born during creation and survived whatever chaos there was. Most primordial creatures are so powerful they are not just attuned to but directly control an aspect of creation. From what little I know, the Empire is ruled by a collection of Royalty that are rarely seen or heard from. As are most of the major factions. Even if most primordials are never seen. The nobles are ancient and powerful families.”

  “So, Helo is a noble?” Alli says with awe, but her face is turning into a smirk. She can’t wait to tell her father. He already is apprehensive about how close she is with Helo. Now he is going to freak.