Looking at the two spirits laying on the island with their eyes closed, Shiro raised her eyebrow as they looked rather different now.
Previously, Nimue could switch between looking like a humanoid figure of water to a normal girl but now she was similar to Iziuel. Her hair was now a crystal blue that seemed to flicker between light blue and dark blue.
Her physique seemed to have matured a little and Shiro noticed some growth around the chest area.
She wore a white and blue dress with what seems to be a translucent blue raiment that weaved under her arms and over her neck. Her dress stretched to her ankles and she had a few golden accessories decorating her dress. With a pair of azure earrings in the shape of a water droplet and lined with gold, Nimue slept peacefully as Shiro could sense some divine energy emanating from her body.
Atesh on the other hand, grew from a baby to a young teen as he seemed to be around 8 years old now. His red hair would flicker with shades of red, orange and yellow as it looked like a dancing flame.
He wore a sleeveless red shirt which was unbuttoned along with some slightly baggy trousers that reached his ankles and a pair of black shoes that was lined with some gold.
Similar to Nimue, his clothes matched his element as it was mostly red but had some black to contrast the brightness of the red along with some golden markings around the edges.
Groaning softly, Atesh slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them softly.
Seeing this, Shiro quickly rushed over and helped him up.
‘Are you alright?’ Shiro asked with concern as Atesh nodded his head slowly.
{Mn… Mama, does your body still hurt?} Atesh asked with a soft voice as Shiro felt her heart beat hearing him say mama to her.
‘I’m fine thanks to you and Nimue.’ Shiro smiled softly as she stroked his hair.
{Mn…. Me tired. I’m going to sleep.} Atesh sighed in relief as he closed his eyes and leaned on Shiro’s shoulder.
Seeing that Atesh had forced himself to wake up over his worry for her, Shiro couldn’t help but feel her heart soften as she laid his head on her thigh and stroked his hair.
Feeling comfortable, Atesh shifted to make sure he got into the best position before sleeping peacefully.
‘Iziuel, Estrella.’ Shiro called out softly as she didn’t want to disturb Atesh’s sleep.
{I’m here.} Iziuel said as she appeared next to her and helped Nimue get into a more comfortable position.
Resting Nimue’s head on her lap, Iziuel looked at Shiro as Estrella also appeared next to her.
‘Can you tell me what divine spirits are?’ Shiro asked curiously as her system had told her that Nimue became the divine spirit of water while Attie was the divine spirit of fire.
{Hm… Divine Spirits are as you can tell, spirits that are infused with godly energy. Becoming a divine spirit is the first step to completely mastering a certain element. But that’s all I know since there were only rumours about divine spirits. We couldn’t confirm their existence before but with Nimue and Atesh reaching this stage, it seems like it was more than just a rumour.} Estrella smiled as she glanced down at Atesh and Nimue.
‘I see… Perhaps I should ask Hades about this. He might know more.’ Shiro said as both Iziuel and Estrella nodded their heads.
Taking a moment to rest up for a moment, Shiro asked Estrella to take her place as she focused on reality.
“Hades.” Shiro called out as a swirl of shadows appeared beside her.
“Mn? What is it?” Hades asked as this was currently their break time. Once the break was over, they’ll resume training.
“Do you know anything about divine spirits?” Shiro asked as Hades thought about it for a moment.
“Hmm… Aren’t you one yourself?” Hades asked as Shiro furrowed her brows.
“I think I was at one point but I don’t know much about it.” Shiro shook her head.
“Well divine spirits are blessed spirits that have the right to become a god eventually. They’ll cultivate their own divinity of their element but it’s different from the ‘god of an element’. You see, a spirit divinity has a closer connection with the ‘source of elements’. Just like how there is a source of mana or rather the origin there is a source of elements. A divine spirit has a closer connection to the source of elements due to their nature as spirits. Of course, if a god has talent, it doesn’t mean they can’t reach the source of elements like how a spirit would.” Hades explained as Shiro nodded her head.
“So you’re telling me that for example, a Divine Spirit of Water would be closer to the source of water than the water god?” Shiro asked just to be sure.
“That is correct but reaching the source of elements is still rather difficult for spirits.” Hades shrugged.
“Mn, that makes sense. There is no free food in this world. There is always a price.” Shiro agreed.
“Exactly. Anyways, we have around a week let in here shall we make the most out of it? Hopefully we should have a divine energy skill by the end of the week. If not, it doesn’t matter since we’ve already obtained plenty during the time we’ve spent here.” Hades smiled.
While Shiro was spending the last week in the pocket dimension, Nan Tian had finished training with Mio as he sat down by the side and caught his breath.
“Shiro should be coming out in a few hours so we’ll end it here.” Mio said as she stored her sword away into her inventory.
“While I don’t know how you two will end up, you better not harm her or else god save you I’ll make sure you pay for what you have done. Literally.” Mio narrowed her eyes as Nan Tian nodded his head.
Despite being tier 6, he was completely dominated in one on one combat which was to be expected since he’s a mix of mage and warrior while Mio was the extreme of offensive fighters.
“Take this. It’ll help you defend yourself if someone gets into your blind spot. Since you’ve chosen Shiro as your target for protection, you’re going to be her front line most of the time.” Mio said as she threw a mirror-like object towards.
Catching the mirror, Nan Tian raised his eyebrow in surprise.
“Wouldn’t this be better on Shiro?” He asked curiously.
“Theoretically yes but it hinders quite a few of her skills so it’s better if you send it to her side with the second skill if she runs into trouble.” Mio shrugged.
Nodding his head, Nan Tian placed the mirror against his chest as it shattered into pieces before disappearing around him.
If one looked carefully, they could see what seemed like a thin illusionary sheet of glass surrounding his body.
Clutching his fists a few times, Nan Tian stretched his body.
“It’s a little weird but I suppose I’ll get used to the feeling.” He smiled as Mio nodded her head.
“I don’t think me and Koji will be able to accompany Shiro often since we got our own share of trouble. Plus, we’ll need to look after Keomi since she’s not as strong as Shiro. While Keomi is better than average, she hasn’t reached the upper stages yet so she’ll still need our help.
“Thankfully, Keiko is looking after her right now so we don’t have to interfere too much but with the new age coming, I’m afraid we can’t let her be anymore. At least not until she reaches tier 5.” Mio sighed as she was both happy and sad that Keomi was to put it bluntly, weak right now.
If she was strong like Shiro, the danger’s she’ll face would cause her to worry endlessly everyday but at the same time, she couldn’t protect herself properly in the new age. There was only so much she could do after all.
“I’m sure she’ll do fine. The last time I saw them I saw determination in her eyes. Seeing Shiro work hard must have lit something up in her as she’s trying her best to catch up right now.” Nan Tian smiled.
“Mn.”
Packing up everything, Mio made sure they didn’t leave behind some belongings as they prepared for the trip back. While they didn’t stay for a week, Sitril had informed her about a few new intel she had obtained after interrogating a few souls. A few of the Queens were on the move in the real world.
