Kotori lazily watched Shu and Umi kill the dungeon monsters with the new adventurers they had been assigned. She waved her hand and a soft slightly wet presence began to massage her head.
[Ahh this is nice] She thought as water manipulated by Umi started to massage her temples.
Now, Kotori actually didn't move that much, so a massage was quite pointless but still she was beginning to feel like a Japanese salaryman and she FELT like she was over-stressed despite not being so.
She felt herself lean back slightly as Shu adjusted the chair she was sitting in. It was quite a comfy existence.
Incidentally, Shu and Umi looked very happy to make her feel as comfortable as possible. Despite being in the middle of a fight
They had evolved after eating the Monmochi is seemed into [Greater Spirits] which is why they could afford to split their attention between fighting and making sure Kotori was comfortable.
Ever since the fight with Nero, they seemed to be even more loyal to Kotori. And increasingly more insistent on getting stronger. It seems experiencing their human forms from a temporary evolution made them want to get to that point as soon as possible to better serve her.
Kotori thought it was troublesome and told them they didn't have to work that hard but they insisted on it.
She still remembers their shocked faces as the fight with Nero ended and they could converse with her using speech.
Shu immediately knelt down and swore fealty in a very knightly way
After Kotori accepted baffled Shu started crying tears of joy and saying things like "Mother we can finally speak as equals" while choking back tears and things like "I will follow you through life and death!"
Umi was also crying and saying things like "Goshujin-sama, my body belongs to you."
Kotori was awkwardly watching the affair said something along the lines of
"Err I'm happy for you?"
Of course, this was a little more muffled as Umi had covered Kotori in an embrace but due to the height difference Kotori was smothered by Umi's newfound "chest armor". Since Kotori, herself was now a girl. She was distinctly aware of the way women "fought". Kotori knew now that Umi was a woman who had quite a powerful chest armor and she felt a twinge of jealousy despite not being still a child.
It was quite dramatic, at the moment but Kotori honestly had trouble taking them seriously. After the mana dissipated from their bodies they once again went back to their new evolved forms.
Both spirits started crying afterward but this time over the loss of their temporary form.
Kotori could only pat their heads and tell them she would look forward to the day where they could converse like humans again.
Still, Umi was in a sullen mood for three days. Shu was much more aloof and tried to hide it when Kotori wasn't looking.
[Mou, these pets are troublesome] Kotori thought, it was a thought that had started becoming increasingly common.
Dirt Spirit (Shu)
Race: [Greater Spirit] Age: 2
HP: 25
Mana: 17
Agility:12
Strength: 19
Defense: 27
Skills: [Rock Bullet]
Traits: [Earth Spirit] [Stone Skin](New!) [Form Manifestation](Locked)
Water Spirit (Umi)
Race: [Greater Spirit] Age: 0
HP: 19
Mana: 36
Agility: 20
Strength: 11
Defense: 14
Skills: [Water blade] [Mana Flow]
Traits: [Water Spirit] [Form Manifestation](Locked)
Kotori had also grown as well and her stats were beginning to become even stronger than Amelie in some regard. Which of course she didn't tell her about.
Sato Kotori
Race: [Human] Age: 9
HP: 33
Mana: 32
Agility: 26
Strength: 17
Defense: 15
Karma: -100,009,604
Skills: [Magic Musician], [Hunter], [Desire of Monte Cristo](Removed)
Traits: [Spirit Seer], [Monte Cristo]
Incidentally, it seemed that Kotori had even grown slightly from her stats raising. Although she was 9 years of age was beginning to look like a middle schooler. It wasn't instant but she began to notice she was growing at a rapid pace. It was quite annoying since she was buying new clothes every day for a week until she realized that her growth was abnormal. Kotori then bought a larger set of clothes and waited for her to grow into them. The clothes were still a little big and seemed to hang off slightly which gave her an almost priestly aura.
Kotori herself had begun to shed the baby fat from her face and she had reached the point of pre-adolescence where one could see the potential beauty of a child when they grew up. By her calculation, she would be rather comely once she grew larger.
She and Amelie hadn't told anyone that they had killed Nero. Obviously, though, it was still too difficult to hide the fact a dungeon boss had been killed. The kingdom tried to investigate but it's not like in this day and age people would be able to figure such a thing out. In the end, it was ruled a mana anomaly and the dungeon had naturally dissipated. Dungeons dissipating was a rare occurrence in this world but it was common enough that it served as the simplest explanation for the baffled kingdom government officials.
And thus Kotori and her party killed Nero without much trouble.
Besides the fight itself of course.
They had quickly settled back into the monotony of adventurer life.
Still,
It had been over two weeks since Kotori and Amelie had taken down Nero. The words that he said in her mind still echoed
[Tricked how? Does it have something to do with Yooma]
Kotori didn't know what the dungeon beast and Yooma would have in common.
It was not like she could ask Yooma either. If he was indeed trying to trick her he obviously wouldn't tell her.