Moonlight Demon (GL LITRPG)

Keiko stood there, staring at what had come out of her body for the last five minutes. 

Um...  She thought.  Is this normal? 

It didn't even have any particular smell. Eventually, Keiko shook her head, washed her mouth, and stepped out of the bathroom. She took a deep breath, maneuvering past a table where a lucky drunk was receiving a lap dance. 

Keiko took one, two, three steps, and then she nearly fell to the floor. Instead, the room felt like it was spinning as Keiko drifted off to the left, hitting the wall. She reached up and placed a hand on her forehead. I'm... Am I sick or something? Where is this coming from? 

She sat down at a vacant chair nearby. In the distance, Caroline was entertaining a few guests, but Keiko could see some concerned glances thrown her way. Keiko took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  It's... It's okay,  she thought. Just calm down. 

She didn't know how long she remained there, but eventually, the feeling began to subside and Keiko finally stood up. She walked over to the stairs and went to her room. Here, she found Kaori asleep, laying on her side with Ash next to her. The half-demon was staring up at the ceiling, her hands behind her head. She turned a little when she saw Keiko come in, the Zayama placing her things by the bed. 

She took off her shoes and got in the bed, joining by Ash's left side. The half-demon looked over at her, her brows slightly narrowed. 

"Are you okay?" Ash suddenly asked, slightly hushed, like she didn't want to wake Kaori up. 

"Yeah," Keiko nodded, somewhat unsure in her own answer. 

"... So you're doing the Kaori thing then," Ash chuckled. 

"Huh?" 

Ash looked over at the blonde asleep by her side. 

"I feel like she's had a lot on her mind too, but she doesn't wanna talk about it. It's fine, but... I don't know, I'd like to," Ash said. Keiko caught some affection in her eyes, mixed with worry. "I'm... Fuck, I'm honestly so tired of keeping stuff in. I've been doing that my whole life. If you don't wanna talk about it though, that's fine, but I'm just saying." 

"I..." Keiko looked down. "Let me ask around about this first. If I hear bad stuff, I'll talk about it. I feel as though I should stay calm." 

"Okay," Ash shrugged. "Take your time then." 

---

The Next Day

Ash

The group took to the Grey Chamber with the new equipment they'd acquired. Ash was going to turn her Savior's Weapon into those strange gauntlets for the purposes of their training, Keiko had those shurikens on her belt, and Kaori, of course, still had that metallic arm attached to her. 

Satsuhiro was accompanying them just so he could speak to Eliza regarding any other demon sightings that had happened. After Ash had told him about the strength of that demon, he had become even more adamant about her needing to stay in the city. 

A knight walked up to the group as they ventured deeper into the Grey Chamber. 

"The Saviors? Eliza is already in the training room. She has asked me to escort you there. Are you ready?" 

"Sure," Ash shrugged. Everyone else agreed. 

"Follow me," the knight replied. 

They were led across the palace to a section to the right, where the laughter and chatters of groups of soldiers could be heard coming from the rooms. Eventually, they arrived at an open space, where Yumi was standing across from Eliza. 

"I will let you know," Eliza was telling Yumi as they arrived. 

"Thank you," Yumi bowed. 

Eliza turned to them as the knight bowed as well and left the room. 

"I hope you had a pleasant rest," Eliza told them as she walked over. "Though... I did not expect to see you here. Aren't you done as a combatant?" Eliza asked Satsuhiro. 

"Yes, I didn't come to train. I wanted to ask if your scouts had picked up any more demon sightings. We..." He paused. "We would like to know of them." 

"Hm," Eliza nodded. "Well, yes. Indeed, there have been a few. I'm sure they're eager to get started on their training though," she gestured at the girls. "Come, we'll discuss them away from the action." 

Satsuhiro nodded and the two of them walked over to a faraway table. This room was fairly large, with a spectacular view of the eastern lands of Nova, displaying a sheet of bamboo forests that eventually gave way to grassy hills. The sun draped itself over the room, covering everything in an orange haze. 

In all honesty, even to Ash, Yumi looked like something out of a fairytale, standing in the middle of that scene with her naginata by her side and her fox mask on. 

"How was the night here?" Keiko asked her as they walked up. 

"It was... strange," Yumi responded, twirling her naginata absent-mindedly. "It took a long time before my body could even accept that I wasn't at the shrine anymore. And after that, it took even longer for the butterflies to leave my body at the prospect that I wouldn't be coming back there for a time. Still, I cannot lie... It was a tad refreshing. Especially given what happened."

"Good to hear," Keiko smiled. 

"So," Ash stepped in. "What are we doing?" 

"Right," Yumi nodded. "So, I believe you wished to train with me?" She asked.

"Yes, if you don't mind, of course," Keiko nodded.

"No, don't worry. I would love to. Well, whichever of you wishes to go first need only walk forwards. We will go over some basic fundamentals, make sure you have those refined, but then we can get into more complex things. Though..." Yumi looked over at Keiko. "After that fight with the demon, I've realized that all of my training still hasn't amounted to much. I will need to continue in order to improve. I don't want to go through anything like that fight again. I would like to train with you, specifically, most of all, since you are closest to my skill level." 

Keiko nodded. 

Hm...  Ash looked back. 

"Kaori?" She said. The blonde had been distracted by something because she shook her head a little and asked:

"Huh?" 

"How about you go first then?" 

"Um, sure," she said almost automatically. Kaori walked forwards and tapped a button on that metal arm, having it transform into a small serrated blade. 

"Alright then. Do you want me to go easy on you?" Yumi asked. 

"Please," Kaori chuckled as she answered. 

Yumi nodded and took up a fighting stance. Kaori looked over at her arm. 

"Uh, this is kind of my second time ever using this... I don't really know how to stand properly with this thing." 

"Oh. Well," Yumi walked up. "I haven't really seen anything like it, but I'd suggest this..." 

She pushed Kaori's legs apart a little and pulled her metal arm forwards. 

"Having your feet at this distance is generally a good idea, and with this being your weapon, it's good to have it in front of you." 

After a while, Kaori actually looked like she was ready to fight. Physically, anyway. Her face told a completely different story. 

"Now, let's trade blows for a little bit. I will hold back considerably, don't worry, I just want to see how you fight." 

"Um... Okay," Kaori nodded nervously and Yumi got in position. 

"Begin." 

With that, Yumi ran forwards and swung from the left. It was, as Yumi promised, a very telegraphed swing. Kaori, nervous and all, managed to block it though for a second Ash got worried as it looked like Yumi had put more strength into it than Kaori had expected. 

Then, Yumi went in from the opposite direction. 

"Don't focus on doing anything too complicated, like parrying or deflecting," Yumi told her. "Just block. You need to get used to the feeling of using this... arm, to protect yourself." 

"O-Okay," Kaori nodded, and again, they traded blows. This went on for about ten minutes with Kaori looking uncomfortable, the entire time. 

However, then, Kaori stopped. 

"Hm? What's the issue?" Yumi asked as Kaori looked up. 

"Uh..." Kaori was looking at something the others couldn't see. "My proficiency." 

"What about it?" Yumi asked. 

"It just went up to 10." 

"Seriously?" Ash asked. 

"Yeah," Kaori sounded shocked. "I... I don't get it." 

"I think..." Keiko muttered. "Well, I assume it's because this is a new creation." 

"Hm?" Kaori turned to her. 

"Remember, proficiency is more of a measurement system, even though it does have an effect on your comfort with the weapon. This weapon was created specifically for  you. So, well, as you are the only user of it, your proficiency is automatically a 10." 

"Uh... So what do I do then?" Kaori asked. 

"Just keep training," Keiko told her. "The number doesn't matter if you still feel uncomfortable." 

"Agreed," Yumi nodded. "Take your stance up again. Let's keep going." 

"R-Right." 

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