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Ash

Taking deep breaths, Ash had eventually picked up the method behind this strange machine. At least, if the soreness in her arms was anything to go by. Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks and fell to her lap as she continued, taking steady breaths and maintaining a rhythmic pace. 

Still, it was hard to focus, as just up ahead, Ren stood in front of Kaori, a hand clenched into a fist. Kaori\'s hand was held behind her head as she flexed her abs. She was shirtless, a concerned expression on her face as Ren pulled his hand back.

"Ready?" Ren asked. 

"U-Uh, yeah," Kaori answered, bracing herself. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Well, no, actually, give me a- AGH!" 

Ren punched her in the gut and Kaori fell to her knees. 

"... Frick..." Kaori muttered. 

"Ha ha! Walk it off, we\'ve got more to go through if we want to get your Con to 30 before the day\'s over!" 

That was the point, as far as Ash could tell. As unreachable a goal as that was.

Somehow, Kaori had come to the conclusion that she wanted to be someone who could take a lot of damage, as opposed to dishing it out, and this was the result. As for Ash though, well, she was working towards her own goal. 

Right now, all she knew was that she wanted her spells and her attacks to pack a punch, even if neither struck often. She also understood that with her Light affinity, she would be spending a lot of her time in battles healing people. So, she wanted those to be effective as well. 

In the end, it meant she decided to focus on three stats equally. Her Strength, Intelligence, and Wisdom. 

After the fights with the troll and the goblins from before, Ash had ended up leveling several times over thanks to the utterly insane EXP buffs that she and Kaori had received. Now, she was currently working to get her Strength to 30 over the course of the week. So, her status looked like this. 

Level 24

MP: 140/140

STR: 26

DEX: 14

CON: 10

INT: 16

WIS: 14

L: 100

EXP: 0/260

Of course, since her Attribute EXP was also affected by the Quick Learner trait, it made training this way more efficient than it would have been otherwise.

Satsuhiro was standing next to Ash with a raised brow directed at Kaori and Ren ahead. According to him, if Ash were training without her Quick Learner trait getting just a single point into Strength would take a week. 

However, thanks to the trait, as she continued, a message appeared above. 

Strength Increased!

Strength: 27

"Okay, I\'m done," Ash said, letting go of the ropes she had been pulling and allowing the metallic weights at the back of the machine to fall, clanking against each other loudly. "Fuck." 

"Good work," Satsuhiro said. "You should be at Strength 30 in around four or five days." 

Ash nodded. 

"How long till the portal fully covers the city?" 

"Estimations say a week," Satsuhiro replied. "We\'ll need to do as much as we can to prepare. 

Nodding again, Ash stretched her arms and hissed, due to how sore they were. She wanted to get used to the feeling though, as wounds inflicted in battle would likely be far worse. 

"Aw, this is going to bruise so badly..." Kaori lamented some distance away. 

"Wear it like a badge of honor!" Ren replied. 

Chuckling a little, Ash shook her head. She leaned back, letting her head rest against the machine. As she stared up at the ceiling, a certain Zayama\'s image flickered in front of her eyes.

"Anything on your mind?" Satsuhiro asked, his arms crossed. 

"Nah, just..." Ash took a deep breath. "Wondering how Keiko\'s doing, is all." 

"Probably just fine," Satsuhiro quickly said. 

"Really?" Ash asked. "How are you so sure?" 

"She\'s capable," Satsuhiro answered. "Quick to act, and determined. Not to mention more skilled with a blade than most actual soldiers. She\'s probably doing alright." 

"... Yeah, you\'re right," Ash closed her eyes. "You\'re right." 

---

Kasumi

After having arrived at Sapphire with the family she\'d rescued, the first thing Kasumi had done was be led to the Lord of the city, where she\'d discuss her role in the preparations to come, and what she was expected to do. 

Thankfully, he hadn\'t had much for her, so, she was allowed to rest at an inn until the battle came. Her plan was simple, to sleep the days away as much as she could. Then, when the fight started, whatever happened would happen, and either that would be it for her, or she\'d be forced to drag her legs to the next city hat needed to be defended. 

She was currently in that process, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling in the bedroom she\'d been assigned. 

Sadly though, a knock on her door interrupted that. 

"Ugh," she said, forcing herself to sit up and walking up to the door. When she opened it, a man was standing outside. One she\'d seen not too long ago. 

"Kasumi," Tol said. The widower was standing with his hands in his pockets, his look solemn. Kasumi raised a brow and waited for him to continue.

"How did you find me?" Kasumi asked. 

"I asked at the palace, after they, ehm, checked up on us..." He scratched his head. "I just wanted to thank you, again... I..." He took a deep breath, clearly struggling to get out the words he wanted to say. Then, when tears popped up at the corners of his eyes, he wiped them away. "I\'m sorry, I thought I\'d cried enough already. I was wrong, heh." 

Kasumi closed her own eyes, sighing. 

"You\'re welcome," she said. "And, I\'m sorry about..." She couldn\'t finish the sentence. 

"No, no. Wait, I want to get this out," he cleared his throat and kept going. "If it weren\'t for you... Well, my entire family, along with myself would have all been lost. I wanted to let you know, I appreciate what you did for us... That\'s all." 

Hearing that, Kasumi paused. Then, she turned around, looked for one of her coin pouches, and brought it with her as she walked back to him. 

"Here," she gave him two white crowns. "I know this isn\'t going to bring anyone back, but... If you need to buy anything, a Heat Orb or whatever, I hope this helps..." 

"Thank you, Savior." Tol bowed. "I... With you, that word means more than just your job to me and my family. Again, thank you." 

Nodding, Kasumi closed the door and she heard footsteps heading away from the room. 

Suddenly, she lacked the energy to even walk back to her bed. She slumped against the wall next to her and slid all the way to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest. Here, she closed her eyes, and all manner of memories she really didn\'t need to be seeing came to her. 

---

Several Years Ago

Pearl was a city known for many things, its loose way of life and naturalistic views chief among them, but another was the festivals and parties that would be held on occasion. Particularly, one businessman from Onyx had once said, "I have seen and done things in this city that would make everyone at my hometown faint out of disbelief, and I love that." 

Kasumi had never really been a fan of these things. But, looking at her daughter dancing with other kids in the middle of the street with loud music playing around them as their parents watched, it was clear to see that her daughter enjoyed this place more than she did. And it made her happy to see that. 

Other parents were eagerly cheering their children on as they twirled in their flower-ridden dresses and robes, but Kasumi simply sat on a bench, humming along to the music with a smile on her face. 

"Here, I brought a little something," her then-husband Jonoko said, passing her a drink. "It\'s from Amber. Got it off a tourist."

Kasumi took a sip of the liquid and shrugged. 

"I guess it\'s okay." And so, she got back to watching her daughter. 

"Nozomi really could just keep going all night, huh?" Jonoko said. Kasumi chuckled and nodded. 

"I don\'t know where she gets that energy from. I\'d be gasping for air after the third spin." 

"Maybe she\'s making up for our lack of it," Jonoko replied. "Weird way for the gods to bless us, but I\'ll take it." 

Placing her head on Jonoko\'s right shoulder, she figured she couldn\'t agree more. 

However, the gods\' blessings wouldn\'t last forever. 

---

A Few Years Later

Sometimes, the city felt cramped to Kasumi and her family. It was great, but ultimately, there simply wasn\'t enough space for all of the energetic and colorful people inside. So, occasionally, they\'d go to a small cabin in the woods that Jonoko\'s father had made. 

Here, they\'d been staying for about a week when Kasumi was informed of a mission she needed to go on. A kid\'s family, staying in a similar cabin some distance away, had been attacked. Kasumi had agreed and succeeded in helping the child, the only survivor of the attack, escape. 

She\'d let her daughter stay with a friend of hers who had volunteered to watch over Nozomi. However, upon returning, the first indications she\'d received that something had gone wrong, were animalistic grunts and snarls in the distance. 

"What?" She hustled, moving a little faster as she jogged back home. She was still in her Savior\'s Armor, her equipment covered in the violet blood of demons she\'d killed while helping the boy escape. 

Above, the sun was just starting to disappear beyond the horizon. And ahead, only these sounds, all too familiar, interrupted the silence of the forest. She started running, and when she reached the cabin, she stopped. 

In front of her, was her friend\'s body. A trail of blood stretched from her to the cabin. She wasn\'t alone. Two demons were currently ripping her corpse apart. They weren\'t even eating it, they were just maiming the body. 

Kasumi, balling her hands up into fists, quickly cast her Invisibility spell and walked up to them. 

Then, she took out her Savior\'s Weapon, turned it into a dagger, and stabbed them both in their necks in quick succession. 

That had been her friend and she liked her quite a bit, but she didn\'t stop for a second to check on her. That was because she understood what this could mean. So, feeling chills running up her spine and with her heart pounding in her ears, she cautiously walked into the cabin. 

Here, she found Nozomi on the floor in a pool of blood, her body twisted and ripped in much the same way the demons had been doing to her friend. 

Kasumi fell to her knees and stared. For how long, she didn\'t know. But, she was frozen in that spot for what had to be dozens of minutes before she finally crawled over, while her tears-

---

Another knock on the door. Startled, Kasumi flinched. She turned to it and stood up. 

Opening it, she expected to see Tol again. Maybe he\'d forgotten something. 

Instead, there was a guard. 

He passed along a paper and Kasumi grabbed it. 

"What is it?" She asked. 

"Another portal appeared," he said. "North of the city." 

"What?" She asked. "A second one?" 

"Yes. The Lord is asking for your help to deal with it." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I don\'t know the details, ma\'am. But, apparently, Ash, the half-demon, can close portals. The Lord wants the two of you to go there and close that one." 

Hearing that only increased her confusion. 

"What? Me and... the half-demon?"