Making their way up the country so that they could hire some adventurers to take them to Epona.
Shiro had rented a flying mount to take them to Tokyo as she sat on its back with Attie in her laps while she read a book of sorts. In her spare hand, she held the lotus and charged it with her mana.
“What are you reading?” Nimue asked.
“Mn? Oh you mean this?” Shiro replied while pointing at the book.
“It’s something that big sis wrote while she was in the trial. I printed them all out from memory since I didn’t take anything out from the trial. While I technically know what’s happening, I guess it’s still better to just read it on a physical copy.” She chuckled before flipping the pages.
“Is that so, what does it say?”
“Well it mainly contained ways to use magic, some strategies along with a few notes about her family members. How Keomi really enjoyed eating ramen as a child and would even go as far as to sneak off in the middle of the night so she could eat ramen at late night ramen stands.” Shiro replied while showing Nimue one of the pages.
“I see… How many notes did she take?”
“Hmm… Around 40 to 50 notebook’s worth. I’ll probably read through them all when I have time. Maybe as a hobby. Speaking of hobbies, I had actually picked up juice making inside the quest. If you want, I can make you some fruit juice.” Shiro offered with a soft smile.
“Ah, um sure.” Nimue nodded since she was a little surprised at how Shiro acted now. She seemed calm and understanding, almost like a caring big sister but at the same time, she was still cheeky and quite energetic.
It was a strange feeling but not a bad one since it made one want to get closer to her and enjoy her embrace.
Even Attie had fallen asleep in Shiro’s lap as his head rested against her chest. There were times where he would start to drool as Shiro would only chuckle before wiping it away gently.
As they continued their journey, Shiro felt the lotus shimmer for a moment as the petals started to move.
“Oh? It is finally done?” She muttered in surprise. After charging an astounding 100 billion MP into this lotus, it had finally shown some signs of blooming.
Feeling a surge in the mana surrounding them, Shiro could see three faint lights being produced in the centre of the lotus.
Purple, Red and Green lights swirled within the centre of the lotus as Shiro could feel her connection with the respective elements increase. The purple represented the Rift, Red for fire and Green for nature.
Glancing back at Iziuel, she could see a faint green halo being strengthened around her presence.
Not only that, but a faint veil of light seemed to peel away from her. Her green hair was now a fresh turquoise as her body seemed to emanate a gentle scent that calmed down one’s mood.
“Huh? What’s happening?” Iziuel asked with confusion in her voice.
“Seems like you’re experiencing an upgrade of sorts. I��ve managed to fully charge the lotus and the three chosen elements were Rift Shadow, Underworld Fire and Forest. With you and Attie having a connection to my forest and fire element, it’s only natural that you’ll receive an upgrade too.” Shiro replied with a soft chuckle.
Looking down at Attie, she noticed that the upgrade had woken him up as red markings could be seen spreading out on his body.
Not only that, but Attie’s hair had also grown a little longer. The ends of his hair seemed to defy gravity as they would flicker like a real flame but in slow motion.
Tilting his head in confusion, he looked up at Shiro who only patted his head.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.” She reassured before checking the system to see what had changed.
[Tri Element Crystal Lotus has been opened. The following elements have been upgraded.]
[Rift Shadow (Tier 4) -> Astral Rift (Tier 5)]
[Underworld Fire (Tier 4) -> Dark Celestial Fire (Tier 5)]
[Forest (Tier 4) -> Nature (Tier 5)]
Seeing the familiar nature element, Shiro couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in mild surprise since it had directly propelled three of her elements to tier 5.
“Iziuel, seems like I now have the Nature element. Since you’re contracted to me, you should also have some benefits.” Shiro said with a smile.
“Hmm… I’m not too sure but it does feel like I now have a connection to both the air around us along with the moisture in the air.” Iziuel frowned while moving her hand. Following the movement of her hand, the wind in the air around them started to shift, surprising Nimue since Iziuel should not have been able to control those elements.
“Damn, look at both Attie and Iziuel getting upgrades.” Nimue smiled since this meant that they can both assist Shiro in the future since she’ll be contesting against other queens to keep their race safe.
She wasn’t too bothered about not getting an upgrade herself since there was only a limited number of things that she could do. If anything, having Attie and Iziuel get the upgrade is probably the best case scenario in her opinion.
“Oh Nimue, you should see your expression right now. It reminds me of when I first met Lyrica. She was unassured of herself and always thought that she was weak. Your expression is almost the same. You’re probably thinking something along the lines of I can’t help much right?” Shiro sighed as she looked at Nimue with a gentle smile.
“Ah?” Surprised at how Shiro knew that she was thinking, Nimue didn’t know how to react.
“Well just know that having you here is more than enough. I don’t need any of you to fight since I’ll take on that burden myself. If anything, your inputs in regards to how the spirit race should proceed would be greatly appreciated.” Shiro chuckled.
“Damn, the trial has really changed you huh?” Nimue raised her eyebrows.
“Hm… a little. But that’s only because I’m a little carefree right now. There’s not much to do other than waiting and doing some miscellaneous tasks. Once the fighting starts, you’ll probably see me acting more like ‘me’ I suppose.” Shiro replied.
“Right. I wasn’t exactly complaining about the change but this is good to know.” Nimue smiled.
As they continued their journey up the country so that they could hire an adventurer, Shiro decided to keep the soul sword and soul bound armour upgrades for when she meets Helion again. After all, there was a chance that he could improve them some more.
Plus, her weapons and armour were doing quite well as they are so she’s not exactly urged to use the upgrades.
Upon arriving in the city of Terumi, which was shortly created after the dungeons appeared, Shiro immediately looked around for the teleport shrine and found it without too many problems.
Linking herself to the shrine, she then made her way towards the guild with the trio of spirits with her.
Uploading a request to take them to a place as close to Epona as possible, they made their way to a restaurant since it was going to take a while for the request to be accepted by a party.
While this was all happening, Shiro had no idea that Lucius had finally completed the two tasks that Shiro had set out for him. The first was to sort the faction out as he had finally managed to become the guaranteed next leader of the faction after completing all of the tasks. The second task was for him to solidify his position so that when Shiro and Yin visited, they wouldn’t be killed on sight.
With the two completed, he could finally ask Shiro to visit the shadow temple without the risk of being attacked. The memories of what had happened last time was still fresh in his mind as his body would shiver unconsciously in fear at the thought.
To be honest, he wanted to avoid her but the importance of what he had found was too big for him to just ignore.
“So how was she? I heard that she seemed to be the cause of the trials closing for good..” Lucius called out as a woman appeared in his office.
“Well… from what I could tell, it seems like the girl you told me to keep an eye on has managed to complete one of the higher grades of the trials.” The woman replied.
If Shiro was in the room, she would have recognised her to be Sharis, the Sage of Shadows that she had met just before the trial had opened.
“Hmm… is that so. Figures, it’s Shiro after all. “Lucius muttered before glancing towards Sharis.
“Anyways, I heard that her friends are in Epona so she’ll probably be looking for them. I want you to help me deliver a message to her along with being her guide since I’m a little busy.”
“Since you’re requesting something from me, you remember the payment right?” Sharis chuckled.
“Of course I haven’t forgotten. Everything will be deposited to your account once the task is finished.” Lucius nodded.
“Mn, in that case then I’m going. Don’t miss me too much ok?” Sharis smiled.
“I won’t.”
“Che fine.” Sharis frowned before faded away into nothingness, leaving only Lucius in the room.
