Finishing the spar on a stalemate, they decided to have some dinner before talking about anything else.
“You’ve definitely improved but your defences are still on the weak end. If you want to focus on attack only, the best thing is to probably ignore defences completely since by pressuring you, I can reduce your chances of attack.” Koji said, as focusing on all out attack has its boons. Especially for people like them who are heavy offensive fighters.
“Mn well with the people that I face, I kind of need to have some defence otherwise I’ll be heavily injured.” Shiro shrugged as Koji understood what she was worried about.
“Mn well I’m sure you’ll figure out the best way to fight later. For now though, let’s just enjoy this meal. So what are your plans now?” Koji asked while having a mouthful of rice.
“Don’t talk while you’ve got food in your mouth. But yes, like your dad said, what are your plans now?” Mio asked curiously.
“Well since Kanae and Irina will be under your guidance for now, I think I’m going to be taking a trip to the spirit capital and sort out everything else. I also need to set up the anchor and the main city.” Shiro sighed since there’s a lot of work for her.
“There’s also Madison’s situation and I need to see an old friend later.” She muttered remembering that she needed to look for Isilia in China.
Seeing this, Mio patted her head.
“How about we take a trip to your mother’s home for a bit. Your grandma has been rather eager about looking for you.” Mio smiled as Shiro immediately sat up.
She had always been curious about her mother’s family and now she had a chance to find out more. However, with so many things on her plate, she wasn’t sure if she could cram it all in within the short time of 5 months.
“Can you tell me more about them?” Shiro asked as Mio only chuckled.
“Not yet, I’ll tell you when we go.”
“Uff… I have so many things that I need to do. I don’t even know if I can fit it in within 5 months.” Shiro complained as Kanae couldn’t help but giggle at Shiro since to her, Shiro had always been this refined older sister whom she looked up at but right now she was almost like a cute little sis.
“The trip to your grandparents won’t take too long darling. At most it’ll take a week at the minimum it’ll take three days.” Mio chuckled.
“Oh? That short?” Shiro asked with confusion.
“Mn, their situation is a little special so meeting them for long isn’t possible.” Mio nodded.
“Has dad met them?” Shiro asked as Koji coughed.
“Well your dad kidnapped me from my home so I don’t think my parents want to meet him any time soon.” Mio laughed as Koji forced a smile.
“Context hon. Context.” Koji said as Mio only shrugged.
“While your dad trains Kanae and Irina, we can go meet your grandparents. It shouldn’t take too long. If you want, you can even bring your friend with you.” Mio smiled while pointing at Nan Tian.
“Eh? He can come too???” Shiro asked while glancing at Nan Tian who was equally as surprised.
“Mn. Of course, the choice is yours darling. He can come along if you want him too.” Mio smiled.
Scratching her head, Shiro looked at Nan Tian.
“Well do you want to come?”
“I don’t have anything else to do so I don’t mind. Of course, if you want to meet your grandparents alone then that’s also fine.” Nan Tian smiled.
“Well I guess you’re coming with us then. When do we go mum?” Shiro asked.
“We can go after we finish this meal.”
Finishing the meal rather quickly, Shiro was excited to see her grandparents since there was no information from them. She also wanted to know the story of her parents and how they met since from what she knows, her father had taken her mother away from home.
Helping up with the washing, Shiro watched as Koji took Kanae and Irina away to the dojo while her mother led them through the house.
“We’re going to be teleporting to somewhere else in order to meet your grandparents. You don’t have to be too formal but don’t be rude either ok?” Mio said as Shiro nodded her head.
Exiting out of the back of the house, Mio stomped down as a foreign magic circle lit up and a path underground opened before them.
“I would have loved to take your sister but unfortunately your grandparents only showed interest in you rather than the both of you. Though I’m sure your sister will get the chance to talk to your grandparents in the future. It’s just a matter of time now.” Mio said as Shiro nodded her head.
“Follow me.”
Waking down the steps, they could see a portal open up as Mio cut her finger and dropped some blood on the floor. Suddenly, red runes lit up around the portal as the mana signature started to change.
“Normally, this would act as a normal portal to different locations but with the key, it links directly to where your grandparents live.” Mio explained as Shiro raised her eyebrow.
“This is bloodline coded isn’t it? If I did it, I think I can also work as a key.” Shiro asked.
“Indeed. However, you also need permission from the other side otherwise you won’t be able to access it. Now follow me.” Mio smiled.
Entering the portal, Shiro could see that they were immediately teleported to a mana rich area as she could feel her body become invigorated.
Looking up, she could see that there were several floating islands in what seemed to be the void as there was just the infinite stretch of space beneath the islands.
Glancing back, she saw that they were currently standing on an island that had a large portal situated in the centre.
“Welcome to where your grandparents live. Nos Vardi.” Mio said as she bit her finger and drew a rune in the air. Suddenly, runes started to light up on her body as she activated something similar to her true spirit nature.
Wrapping herself in a black and red dress, Mio smiled.
“Shiro, I want to ask you something.” Mio said as Shiro tilted her head.
“Mn? What is it mum?”
“The only reason why your grandparents want to meet you so eagerly is because you started to interact with souls now haven’t you? Your affinity with souls should have increased tremendously otherwise my parents wouldn’t place much importance in us.” Mio asked as Shiro nodded her head.
“Mn, You know that I’m a spirit now right?” Shiro said as Mio nodded.
“You have indeed told me that before.”
“Well my True Spirit Nature, something that represents a spirit’s power, is related to souls.” Shiro explained as Mio raised her eyebrow.
“Mn, that makes sense. With my blood flowing in your veins, it’s only a matter of time before you awaken something that has a link with souls.” Mio smiled.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember how I told you that I’ll explain about my circ.u.mstances later? Well you can think of my role as being the harvester of souls. There are certain times when anomalies appear, and our family specialises in dealing with the anomalies. Such as a soul that can possibly threaten the world or some such. We deal with the anomalies and make sure they cannot reincarnate. We are part reaper hence why most of our classes are titled as such. You can also say that we are a race of grim reapers and our main affinity is with souls.” Mio explained as Shiro raised her eyebrow in surprise.
“So you’re not human?” Shiro asked.
“Nope. Your father is but I’m not. Your grandparents work with the system and Hades to keep the souls in order hence why their situation is a little complicated. There are certain restrictions after working so close to a god that meeting them is very difficult. Now come, your grandparents should be waiting right now.” Mio smiled as semi-translucent steps appeared before them one by one.
Following her mother, Shiro was digesting the information when she felt something stir within her. Similar to when she arrived at the spirit world, she felt at home but there was more.
Frowning for a moment, Shiro decided to test something out.
“Mum, am I able to use one of my skills here?” Shiro asked just in case it wasn’t allowed.”
“Yes you may. Though it depends on which skill.”
“Oh just a transformation one similar to yours.”
Seeing her mother nod her head, Shiro activated her True Spirit nature as a black and green dress appeared on her body with a veil flowing behind her.
Glancing at her stats, her suspicions were confirmed.
Her spirit nature didn’t have a time limit in this place.
