On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Nineteen

The first thing I felt was pain. My leg was throbbing, and the bare floor was spattered with drops of blood. Looking down I could see my leg was covered in nasty cuts. None of them were deep, but all of them were painful, my leg looking like it had been put through a blender. There were a few other aches and pains I was suffering, but this was clearly the worst. Damn, I haven’t been this beat up since that time back in my hometown, all those years ago…

“Stupid sickle-weasel…” I muttered. “It really did a number on my leg. If I was closer this could have ripped me apart.” The damage I experienced on my Material body was an order of magnitude less than I suffered in the Astral, but if my injuries were any deeper and more numerous… maybe I wouldn’t lose a leg, but if the deep cuts hit a vein or artery… shit, I could bleed out and die before I woke up again…

Shivering, I went to my desk and drew out a first aid kit I had bought from the convenience store after my last injuries. Wincing as I dabbed disinfectant on my wounds, I considered my last frantic battle and what it meant.

I was scared, I know that. Who wouldn’t be, after all, pain and death is frightening. But when the situation got serious I got caught up in the moment, adrenaline taking over, and I… I actually found it thrilling. Perhaps I’ve been broken by my past experience… it was the same then, the fear… but I stepped up because I had to… and I survived, as did Eri-chan and my sis.

It was all a bit surprising really, sure I liked games, but I was never big into anything scary. I knew some people were really into things that got adrenaline pumping, such as extreme sports like base-jumping and tombstoning, but I didn’t think I was susceptible to the same. Still, that wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing. It wasn’t like this was Sword Art Online, I wasn’t trapped in the world, I could leave it at any time. I just had to be more careful. The sickle-weasel had caught me off guard, but I wouldn’t be caught again!

Damn, like I thought earlier, sunk cost is a terrible thing. I had emotional investment in my Territory now, and seeing how happy the kobolds were to have survived, it was no longer just about the rewards anymore, nice as they were.

I’d really like to build it up and show it off. Man, my sister and Eri-chan would be so amazed. I could finally tell my sis that all my otaku hobbies she mocked had paid off! Hmm, since I am thinking of home and my sister… Ignoring the pain in my leg as I reached over and grabbed my phone I fired off a quick email.

“Hey little sis, just thought I’d drop you a line. I hope you are getting ready for summer, make the most of it, next term you’ll really have to knuckle down and get studying if you want to get into a decent university, although if you haven’t been keeping up by now it might already be too late! The tests are brutal, trust me, I know!

But enough small talk, it so happens I’ve managed to do a little better than I had anticipated work-wise, so it looks like I should have a bit of free time to visit home during the holidays. I’m not sure precisely when, but I’ll let you know closer to the time.

Hopefully you’ll be pleased to see me! Let Eri-chan know I’ll be visiting too, we can hang out, just like old times.

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Your big bro.”

With that done, I’d made a promise, and if I didn’t follow through my sis would never let me hear the end of it. Thinking about my sister and her love for scary rides had made me nostalgic for home. A visit wouldn’t hurt, after all, even with my expenditures I reckoned I would be able to finish off the stack of work Hayato-san had sent me to replenish my coffers, with enough left over for a trip home for a few days. What would be the point of getting these protagonist-like powers if I didn’t enjoy myself? It’ll be good to see everyone again. Last time was New Year, it seems forever ago…

Feeling pretty cheerful I then had to plan my strategy for defeating the weaselkin of the Seelie. The final battle would occur when I next had enough aether accumulated to enter the Boundary, so I had two or three days to maximise my preparations. If I wanted to avoid injuries which could lead to death I would need to be stronger and smarter.

Doing the physical training had definitely improved me, even if I knew there shouldn’t have been much change in such a short amount of time I definitely felt faster and stronger. But that could only take me so far. I needed actual combat skills. Turning on my computer I brought up my bookmarked pages on the various spear arts I had been training my muscles to use. With a few searches online I had managed to find some videos and guides to their basic moves.

“All right, time to start my training.” I said firmly, pumping myself up. Whether it was the adrenaline again or my pain tolerance was increasing, my leg didn’t seem to hurt too much right now, so I figured I should be good to train. Now all I needed was a simulated spear. Breaking the head off a mop and tying a kitchen knife to it was the best I could do. The balance felt similar to the spear I wielded in the Boundary, even if it was much lighter and less solid. Maybe I should order some sort of training spear online as well, just swallow the cost… oh well, no time to worry about that now.

I spent most of the day alternating basic thrusts, stabs and slashes, intermixing it with muscle training, and soon the pain of my aching muscles surpassed the agony of my slashed leg. Once I was done I levered myself up from the floor where I was sprawled in a sweaty heap, grabbed a cold drink and checked my messages. As I suspected I had one from my sister.

“Hey big bro, good to hear from you! You always make me message you first so it’s nice you’ve finally realised keeping your adorable younger sister waiting for some news is a major crime!

Great news that you can come and see us over the summer, maybe we can hit the beach or something. I know you’d love to see me and Eri-chan in our swimwear, right? Mom and dad will be super pleased too, they are always complaining you never come back and see us. I know you are living the big-city life in Tokyo, but you can’t forget our hometown, there are so many memories here! Wow, I just know Eri-chan will be super happy you haven’t forgotten her, she’ll be thrilled to see you too!

Be sure you give us plenty of notice, I want to make sure we can get some fun stuff planned. It’d be boring to just sit around at home when you’ve come all the way back out to the boonies, right?

Oh wow, I’m pretty excited, but not as excited as you are to see me and Eri-chan, right big bro?

Oh before I go, I’ve left you a little present. Talk to you soon, okay?

Man, my sis was always so excitable. I admit it would be nice to see home in the summer, as I usually visited around New Year, but even so, it would just be for a few days. Oh yeah, she said she left me a present.

There was a photograph attached to the message. Clicking it brought up an image of my sister and Eri-chan. My sis was in her archery gear, smiling at the camera and making a peace sign, while beside her was a nervous-looking Eri-chan in her summer uniform. Even I had to admit they were both pretty damn cute, much as it pained me to say that of my sis. I’m still not sure how that is supposed to be a present though.

Putting such thoughts out of my mind I decided to grind out a few hours of work. With my newfound abilities I should be able to clear a day or two’s worth in a hurry…

Like this, the next three days went past with a lot of physical training. The wounds on my leg had scabbed over, and I was feeling confident I’d made some improvements, as it seemed my ability to learn through physical repetition had increased significantly, likely due to my greater abilities granted by reaching level seven. It was now time to enter the Boundary once more and do battle!

Once my consciousness had moved to my Territory I quickly took stock of the situation. My ether supply was low, as most of it had gone into spawning and arming my weaselkin troops. The recruitment had not fully finished, I still had four more weaselkin to spawn, but even so, my army of five black-furred weaselkin armed with long wooden staves, and twenty one weaselkin with a motley variety of clubs, hatchets and a handful of bows, seemed quite impressive.

“All right then. While I wait for the last four to be spawned I might as well practice.” I clutched my spear and began my exercises, the heavier heft of the spear feeling more natural in my hands. The spear darted here and there, the thrusts having more accuracy, the stabs more power, and the slashes more finesse. My intensive routine had definitely paid off, I definitely felt more capable in combat.

As there was still some time before the last couple of my weaselkin were spawned, I decided to round off my preparation with some Chakra exercises, so I closed my eyes and began to concentrate, wind energy swirling around me. Only when I received a message that all my troops were spawned did I open my eyes.

“All right then.” I said, linking my mind to my degraded troops so I could command them. “It’s time for battle.” I looked at the kobolds who had joined my army and smiled. “However, you need to stay here and hold the Territory. If any invaders come, keep then at a distance and hopefully our Defensive Emplacement will slowly whittle them down. If the situation becomes too bad I’ll return, but you would need to buy me time, all right?”

“You can count on me, on us.” The lead miner said. I noticed now that several of the other kobolds had pickaxes as well, maybe they had spawned them from the Armoury? Sadly, there wasn’t much time to consider other matters. This was war. A nervous thrill was coursing through me, both frightening and anticipatory at the same time, and I wondered if this was the feeling my sis felt before competitions.

“Good, that is all I can ask.” I smiled. Raising my spear I gestured to the squad of weaselkin behind me. “Then we move out. Our destination, the park! We will claim it for our own and end the Seelie attacks on our Territory!”

There was no response from my weaselkin, but the kobolds cheered and barked excitedly. With that we set off, me in the lead, flanked by my black-furred Elites, with the others spread out behind in a formation to shield my few archers.

It didn’t take us too long to move under the strangely lit sky until we reached the area where we were ambushed before, bordering the park. This time I was prepared, and I had already sent my Elite black-furred weaselkin around the backs of the buildings with instructions to climb up and defeat any Seelie weaselkin waiting in ambush. My hands were sweaty on my spear, but my heart was resolute.

I am going to win this. Definitely. I’ve planned carefully and as long as I can find a way to counter the Kamaitachi, we should be victorious.

As I moved forwards several shadows fell across me, the enemy weaselkin above looming over the rooftops, armed with bows and other ranged weapons. This was the moment I had been waiting for. With a swift mental command I ordered the attack.

“Here we go! The final battle!” I roared, bounding forwards towards the steps up one building. “To victory!”