Chapter 125: [125] Raising Battle Units
Chapter 125: Raising Battle Units
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By the time the two exorcist ladies were done eating, the idol trainee girls had left. I saw off Mem-Cho and Shoko and returned to the house to lead the two exorcists to the personal gym.
"Here," I took out their holy swords from my Void Storage and threw them ahead.
""H-hey!"" Durandal and Hauteclere couldn't even touch the ground before their wielders jumped to catch them in the air. It seemed the swords were too precious to them to let them fall. How funny.
I took out a Holy Sword of my own that had been rotting in my Void Storage for a while now and began to play with it for a bit.
"Ah…" the two girls stared at me.
"What?" I asked them.
"That's Excalibur Rapidly…"
"Err, who did you get it from?"
One after the other, Irina and Xenovia asked. I looked at them, and only when I stayed silent for a minute did they realize that they had lost their position to question me.
Then, as a sign of my benevolence, I told them. "I got it from Freed Sellzen's dead body. He was trying to kill my mother, so my sister vaporized him. This sword was lucky to not be in the way."
"Oh…" the girls exchanged glances. Irina looked back at me and said, "That is one of the missing swords that the church's been looking for. We're surprised you have it…"
"I don't care," I tossed the sword in the air, and it spun for a couple of seconds before falling back into my hand. "I'm going to spar with you two. I'm going to attack you with Sword Aura, you two try to adapt to it and unlock your own sword auras."
"W-wait, right now?! We just ate!"
"Yes, let us rest for a bit, we-"
"It starts now."
I kicked the ground and appeared in front of the two. I could have cut them a dozen times already, but this wasn't a battle but a spar. I was teaching them, making them stronger, so I let them dodge the attack and kept my power level near theirs.
Like that, three days passed. The two girls managed to unlock their Auras during the first day, ten minutes into the spar because I had pushed my aura into their body to make it trigger. By the third day, their aura was enough to match those of experienced holy knights.
After I was done training them, my next focus was the two little girls. It was time for Yuzuru and Asia to receive their Paths.
* * *
The week easily breezed past without any issues. I gave Yuzuru and Asia the cycling methods for their two exceptional Paths, and they finally reached Iron rank. So now I was granting them two Iron Bodies that would suit them the best, based on their Paths.
The Path of the Black Flames, coming down from the royal family of Black Dragons, went to Yuzuru. It was a Flame and Destruction affinity-based path. To withstand its few side-effects, I granted her the [Bloodforged Iron Body], to negate the negative effect that'd be left on her Qi veins for using such a destructive path.
As for Asia, I had to make a whole new path for her. My initial plan was to give her the Path of Celestial Radiance, the same as Ruby, but that was the path of a queen, a monarch, and Asia honestly didn't have the mindset to handle it. Even if she became a fighter, she couldn't become a queen.
So, the Path of the Verdant Phoenix, a Yang and Life-Force affinity-based path, is what I gave her. Her Sacred Gear will take care of the Verdant part, while the Phoenix part should be fine due to her body's natural Yang Affinity. Phoenix Fire wasn't a simple flame, but the flare of the sun, so it wasn't just Flame but also Light; the mix of which was Yang.
Her Iron Body was the harder part, though. The [Heatforged Iron Body] was a lot harder on my part to grant than the Bloodforged one. Some girls were confused why I didn't give both of them the same Iron Body, since their affinity was kind of similar, it was because Yuzuru needed a special body to withstand the poisonous effects on her veins from her blackflames, while Asia didn't need so, her affinity was pure.
Although the process of gaining both Iron Bodies was equally painful for the bearer. For example, I had to leave Yuzuru in a poisoned state for three days where she rolled on the ground while yelling in pain, along with some other process. Asia's process was painful too, but it was harder to prepare on my part.
Although my lightning could generate heat, it wasn't as easily controllable, so I wasn't suitable to train her in this. So in the end, as much as I would have loved to keep all of this process a secret, I had to call upon Ranefer Phenex for help. Who could be a better assistant to help create a body for a Phoenix Path, if not a literal Phoenix herself?
That's what brought us here, right now.
"What a sight, to think you were into torturing little girls."
There were two rooms in front of us, with a small glass window on top that allowed us to look in. In one, Yuzuru rolled on the ground while groaning in a muffled voice, while in the other, Asia burned as if she were a sinner in hell. Their voices were painful to hear.
"Help… Help, someone-! Ghhr…"
"Aghhh! Nrghh!!!! Sto- Gghhr!"
I stood with my arms crossed and Ranefer Phenex by my side. There was nobody else in this instant dungeon that was a copy of our house. I didn't want Shoko to see what state her sister was in, and anybody else to hear the cries of Asia.
Multiple rune formations, talismans, and spells worked around the rooms to balance the natural aura in there and make this process go uninterrupted. It'd also make sure the girls did not die there. However, the pain couldn't be bypassed.
"I enjoy none of this," I gave a short reply to Ranefer, who's been accompanying me for the last three days here. She talked in an annoying tone at times, but she wasn't that bad of a watchmate. We were almost done.
"This is really interesting, you know?" she stroked her chin and looked ahead. "I get more and more curious about who this 'Immortal Venerable' is for him to know of such cruel yet effective ways to strengthen the body. I've never heard of a guy like him in almost two millennia of living."
"Maybe he is someone you do know, but he just changed his name," I shrugged at her. "Or someone who rose to power recently, after you became, uh, inactive. I'm not sure how old he is, after all."
"Mhm," she looked skeptical but didn't say anything. She looked at me and smiled instead, "Will you give me a strong body? While I am effectively immortal and can heal from all injuries, it'd be great if I didn't get injured to begin with." She put her arms around my neck and pushed herself against me. "So? Give me an 'Iron Body' when?"
See, this is what I meant when I said I didn't want people to know.
'She's such a clingy bitch, go get stronger yourself.' I stared at her dryly, while she hung from my neck for minutes, swaying in her spot while humming. She didn't feel awkward at all despite me not answering her.
Instead, she pulled me toward a couch and pushed me down. I admit I was a little tired from watching over the girls, so a little stress relief was required – a spell blocked them from seeing or hearing the things happening outside their room, so they wouldn't feel mad even if we got noisy here.
So when she pushed me down on the couch and climbed on top of me, I let her be.
Even after a sweaty session, however, her seduction attempt remained unsuccessful. I had no reason to make her more powerful than she already was, she's annoying enough already.
* * *
"It's done," I buttoned my shirt and said, looking at the two rooms that were now quiet. I felt a serene, calm, and balanced aura from both the rooms. The processes were successful.
"Mhm, do I leave now?" Ranefer barely covered herself with a piece of her clothes, lying on her back, her body sweaty and her chest rising and sinking, as she asked. "I don't want your mother to get mad if we meet."
"It's alright, you two should learn to get along," I said and snapped my finger, bringing out a pair of women's clothing and tossing it at her. Her clothes were ruined in our little situation, and I didn't want anyone to guess what happened between us while two little girls were crying in pain. "Wear them. Be quick about it. I'll go check up on them."
She giggled, "Alright, whatever you say, tiger."
I ignored her and walked to the left room, where Yuzuru was. I pushed it open and a gust of poisonous gas blasted out of it. I let out a breath, and a burst of wind left my nostrils, clearing the gas in an instant. In the center of the room, I found Yuzuru lying on her back.
She was unconscious, but her condition was fine. Her clothes were torn in parts, which let me see that although she hadn't grown in height, her bones were stronger and denser now. Her veins were also extremely durable now, my Jade Perception let me know. Lastly, she could use her blood as a poison if she wished—it wasn't a passive effect, poisonous blood would be a negative effect if passive, she needed to actively mix her Qi and will it be poisonous for it to work.
With a wave of my hand, a wind aura carried her and put her on my shoulder. I left the room and went to the other. This time smoke burst out of the room, and I dispersed it in the same way. I was about to simply walk in and grab the unconscious Asia, but I paused.
"Huh."
"Haah…"
The presumed unconscious Asia was actually conscious. She was on the floor, lying on her back too, but she wasn't sleeping. She was staring at the ceiling, and when I walked in, she looked at me.
"You're here," a soft smile formed on her lips. "I endured as you told me to…"
No way.
I wasn't expecting her to hide such a tenacious personality under the veil of naivety… It appears that my little battle units might become far more formidable than I gave them credit for. I'm looking forward to their growth.
* * *
I took the girls to the real world with Ranefer and handed them over to Ruby and Shoko to help them with a bath. It was evening now, and so all the girls were here for their daily idol training. Among them, Kana just looked at the scene from afar, while Mem threw words of encouragement at the two little girls who had received their Iron Bodies.
Ai did the same, and she even wanted to join the shower, but there was no need to crowd the place so I told her not to. Which brought us here, sitting on the couches in the living room, and sipping tea.
Mem and Kana trained in another room, while my Jade Perception let me know that Irina and Xenovia were training with Blue in our personal gym. Only Ai, Ranefer, and I were here, and the two older ladies could not find another seat in the entire room other than my two sides.
"Careful, don't burn your lips," Ai said as she stared at me drinking, while she herself took a sip.
"Oh, come on, he can withstand Phoenix Fire, you think a cup of tea is going to hurt him?" Ranefer laughed as she too sipped tea. She appeared a lot more confident since she and I were fucking just earlier. Perhaps she felt proud in her heart or something because of that.
"A guest should be polite and keep her mouth shut," Ai narrowed her eyes at the Phoenix who scoffed, giggling to herself.
"A guest? Is this how the Hoshino Household treats its guests? With this cheap tea? I invite you to the underworld, in the Phenex Mansion, to give you an idea of what real tea tastes like." Ranefer said proudly. "It's certainly a lot better than what the so-called Japan's greatest actress and idol can offer to her guests."
"Sorry, for not being an evil piece of shit, a literal devil, and collecting wealth for two thousand years, that I can't waste my money to buy tea for a million dollars. Why would I waste that much money on tea? You sound insecure with how materialistic you are." She said, "But you know what? Even if I brew the cheapest tea, my son will drink them. Would he drink yours??"
Ranefer grinned, "Oh, he drank more than just my tea already. I-"
Sandwiched between the two ladies, I let out a loud sigh and interrupted both of them, "Ranefer, are you trying to get beaten by her again? Why are you provoking her like that?"
I was just in time to interrupt them, as Ai's clothes had already transformed into the armor of the Light Goddess. Another second, and they would have gone off against each other.
"What?" Ranefer shrugged, still smiling. "It's not as if I am lying." She let out a fake gasp, covering her mouth, "Or are you going to pretend that you weren't just sucking my tits earlier as if they had milk in them?"
"What do you mean?" Her tits did have milk; she was a Phoenix who had given birth in the past, and her unusual body never lost the power to lactate. "They did have mil- oh." I realized the trap too late.
"WHAT?!" Ai, who really wanted to believe Ranefer was making stuff up, looked at me as if I had backstabbed her. "AQUA?! REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID!"
"Hey, hey, calm down-"
I tried to salvage the situation, but it was too late. She was truly angry. Her hand formed a massive sandal of light, which came flying at my face. I was hurdled against a wall, my body breaking through it—though fortunately I erected an Instant Dungeon just before—while a sword formed on her other hand, and she attacked Ranefer with it.
Ranefer blocked it with a flaming sword of her own, and my mother attacked again by wielding a longsword in both her hands.
I sighed as our house exploded, and two fiery women battled in the sky. One laughing like a maniac as fire danced around her, the visage of a phoenix behind her, while the other, a holy sword-wielding goddess glared at her intensely.
"Oh, come on," my dearest mother was too easily pissed off.
She's so cute though.
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