The Return Trip Down the Mountain

Their hour allotment passed faster than John had anticipated and the group found themselves back in their private tents once more. Thankfully, Lynn’s abilities meant they didn’t need to take time to dry themselves, so they squeezed out as much time in the water as possible.

“Ah, that was quite the nice experience,” Senka declared as she slipped in behind him. “I think we should invest in procuring a tub to relax in.”

“Not sure we could fit one anywhere,” John had to inform her.

“Perhaps we’ll find one in the world tree barrier,” the spirit mused as she willed her attire back to her shirt and pants.

“Straight to business this time, huh?” John remarked as he swapped his clothing.

“I don’t think we want to risk going over our time,” Senka said before tilting her head slightly. “I see you’ve picked up a new little friend.”

John grinned slightly. “Yeah. Kind of surprised me to find a spirit just floating around. Was a lot easier to tame than the wind spirit.”

John felt Senka’s touch on his recent memories, and he allowed everything to flow to her.

“I see,” Senka murmured. “Surprised you haven’t Observed it yet.”

John chuckled. “Well, it was invisible. Huh, I wonder how it looks. A wind spirit’s a tempest ball, so I guess this guy’ll be like a water ball.”

They didn’t have a lot of time left to do a deep dive into what the spirit did, but a quick manifest and hit with Observe wouldn’t take more than a moment and he could then call up the info on the ride back.

With a pulse of mana, John willed the spirit into view. Much like his prediction, the water spirit appeared as a mass of teal water. Instead of a ball, however, it took on a more oblong shape, vaguely reminiscent of a fish. John hit it with Observe but quickly dismissed both the screen and the spirit.

“Right, guess we should get going,” John said. “Really don’t want to learn what’ll happen if we overstay our welcome.”

Senka nodded and faded from view. ‘That would put a damper on an otherwise nice day.’

‘You didn’t bother Kiera too much, did you?’

Senka let out a scoff. ‘Did you really think I was going to overwhelm the poor girl? Or are you just being overprotective?’

John felt his face heat up a bit, and Senka laughed in his head.

‘I think it’s rather cute. The dashing hero protecting the girl abused by the villains,’ the spirit teased.

‘It’s the right thing to do,’ John thought. ‘She doesn’t have anybody. Or if she does, she might not remember them.’

‘Whatever you say, Mr. Hero,’ Senka remarked, her words carrying a warmth with them. ‘And to get back on topic, what Kiera and I talked about is covered under ‘girl talk’. I will not be breaking that sacred covenant.’

‘Can’t blame me for asking. Mr. Hero, remember?’ John shot back. There was, of course, a part of him that wanted to know. It was the same part of him that wanted to figure out every possible trick and puzzle in every game he’d ever played. But he knew enough to not press the issue. There was no reason to. He trusted Senka to have not taken things too far, though what he considered too far and what the spirit did differed greatly, hence his minor concern.

He stepped out of the tent, somewhat surprised to see Kiera waiting by the entrance, nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Her eyes snapped to him before looking at a spot just over his shoulder.

“I-I see Senka’s gone b-back into your h-head,” the bluenette stammered out, failing to keep her eyes on John despite a valiant attempt to do so.

“Yeah, probably best we walk out with the same number we walked in with,” John said. “You enjoy the water?”

Kiera flushed a bit but said, “Y-yeah. It was nice. Senka and I had a pleasant chat.”

The small smile that grew on her face was more than enough to put out the last dying ember of fear Senka had pushed too hard.

“Um,” Kiera continued, “she mentioned something about some fight you guys were getting ready for. But she didn’t say anything more than that, so if it’s a secret, she didn’t break it!”

“Hey, hey, relax. It’s not like it’s some state secret,” John said. “I mean, okay, maybe some parts of it should be. We probably shouldn’t talk about what my powers can do in public as casually as we do. But yeah, there’s a thing tomorrow. Um, we should probably talk about it when we get back, just to make sure there is no one listening who shouldn’t.”

“It’s not a big deal if you don’t want to tell me,” Kiera remarked, failing to keep a dejected tone out of her voice.

‘Oh, that just won’t do,’ Senka thought hotly.

“Sorry,” Kiera quickly squeaked out, causing John’s next words to die in his throat.

Swiftly regaining his composure, John asked, “Did you just hear Senka?”

Nervously, Kiera nodded. Fingers still toying with her shirt, she elaborated, “Well, n-not hear, really, but I got that she was mad at me.”

John didn’t need Senka to demand to be resummoned, he did it almost reflexively. The spirit manifested and quickly scooped a red faced Kiera into a tight hug.

“I wasn’t mad at you,” the spirit consoled, one hand reaching up to soothingly pat Kiera’s head. “Just at your insistence that it wasn’t a big deal for us to not tell you things.”

“B-but,” Kiera tried to argue, her voice muffled due to her head being pressed into Senka’s bosom.

“You’re with us now,” the spirit asserted. “And when we get back, we’ll fill you in.”

John could feel Senka’s attention focus on him through their bond and he sent back an affirmation, nodding even though she couldn’t see it.

“Seems we’ve got a bit of a thing going on,” Lynn’s voice washed over them as the alchemist exited her tent. There was a teasing lilt to her tone and her lips formed a sly smile

“Just a little misunderstanding and some positive reassurance,” Senka smoothly remarked, giving one last pat to Kiera’s head before stepping back from the girl. Kiera looked very confused, her face a brilliant crimson and her eyes downcast. However, a ghost of a smile graced her lips.

“We don’t have any more time for sightseeing,” Martius said in a gruff tone as he strode out of his tent. “Let’s get a move on before they send in some muscle to **** us out. I’d rather not have anyone official look into why we were here.”

“I suppose a hurried exit makes for a decent stress test for me,” Harker remarked. It was hard for John to tell if the soak had done the dour man any good. His complexion hadn’t changed but he hadn’t looked horrible at the start of the day and a far cry better looking than he had during Kiera’s episode the day prior.

Senka gave Kiera one final smile and vanished back into John’s aura and the party made their exit. John and Kiera fell into place near the rear, only Barbara behind them.

‘Did Barbara join you guys?’ John asked Senka. ‘She looked like she was going to slip into a pool near the one we used then walked behind the wall.’

‘She did,’ Senka replied. ‘She wasn’t exactly the most engaging spa mate, but she didn’t spend the whole time glaring at us. Looked like she was enjoying the water in peace. She did say you four were too loud for her and that’s why she moved. Though, something about that has been eating at me.’

‘What do you mean?’ John inquired.

‘She had a whole cave of pools to choose from. Why take the one Kiera and I were in?’ Senka laid out her musings.

‘Huh, that is an interesting question,’ John admitted. That curious part of his brain began to churn again and it came to a quick and interesting idea. ‘Do you think she just didn’t want to be alone? I know it doesn’t really mesh with her standoffishness, but that would make one assume she’d want to be alone.’

‘It is quite the conundrum,’ Senka agreed. ‘And I suppose it’s not one we’re likely to solve. After we get back home, I don’t think our paths will cross much. Not unless trips back to Detreye are on the agenda. Or other illicit jobs in need of a smuggler.’

‘Who knows?’ John wistfully thought. ‘We’ve got a lot on our plate. Probably best to not take on unnecessary things.’

‘True,’ the spirit intoned. ‘So the plan is to stock up on healing supplies and just head in, huh?’ I would have thought there’d be more.’

‘Overpreparation could lead us to over committing to a plan that doesn’t line up with what we might find in the barrier,’ John relayed one of the concerns Martius had laid out.

‘Sadly true as well,’ Senka uttered. ‘The best beyond that would be to be as rested as possible. With that in mind, I think I should remain unmanifested for now, and you should desync with the wind spirit.’

John didn’t like that Senka was willing to sacrifice time with everyone just for a bit of mana, but he understood her logic. Having a full tank right at the start opened up a lot of options and gimping himself by sustaining Senka or an Overlay was a suboptimal play. He thought about the time table they were working with. The countdown would end around five tomorrow morning, Springfield time, and they would have to both leave Detreye with Piper and company, which was something they hadn’t worked out the details of, and drive back to town, a two hour trip.

‘Which means we have to be back on Earth by three,’ John thought, brushing off how weird a concept that was. ‘I get the feeling that Piper can’t just open a portal back right in Martius’ lab, so that’s going to be some time to get to wherever they can.’

‘So we’ll likely have to turn in very early tonight to be ready,’ Senka chimed in. ‘I hope the others haven’t just been lounging all day.’

‘What else could they be doing?’ John asked. ‘It’s not like there’s a gym or anything Aeolia and Beth could have gone to. And I really don’t think they’d be able to just sit and let Vivian read to them. Not for the whole time anyway. They like to move too much. You remember movie night; Aeolia and Beth get kind of squirmy after a while. I don’t expect them to purposely make a mess, but let’s not rule it out. I’d probably be going around Observing everything.’

‘True,’ Senka relented. ‘We just have to hope Vivian managed to keep them occupied. And it most likely wasn’t in the most fun way.’

There was a longing in Senka’s tone that caused John’s cock to twitch in his pants which caused the spirit to chuckle.

‘Don’t think that’s going to be in the cards today,’ John lamented. ‘And depending on just how much shit’s going to be thrown at us, tomorrow’s not looking promising either.’

‘If it’s going to be some grand test of our abilities, which would be appropriate given the rarity of the seed that spawned all this, I think that’s a likely prediction,’ Senka remarked, her tone growing serious. ‘But once everything is settled, I think a nice, long night is what we’ll need to unwind.’

John grinned slightly. ‘I don’t know. Sounds like that’ll be some hard work.’

‘Sometimes the best things are worth the work,’ Senka sensually shot back.

‘Yeah,’ John thought wistfully, ‘they are.’

Caught up in their conversion, John didn’t notice the vibrant blush that colored Kiera’s face, or the way her hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

---

Thankfully, the wait for the bus was shorter this time and they were on their way back to the lab after only ten minutes. Seeing no reason to change the seating arrangements, John found himself next to Kiera. Who pointedly was keeping her attention out the window, her cheeks painted a faint red.

‘Is she still flustered over that misunderstanding?’ John wondered to himself, not wanting Senka to feel bad about it anymore than she might already. Despite somehow going from virgin loser to having four girlfriends in the space of a week, the workings of the feminine mind were far beyond him. Especially one still recovering from having someone else's spirit jammed into it on top of a hard life beforehand.

Letting out a sigh, John took his attention from Kiera, missing how her posture shifted right after, and called up his new spirit’s Observe.

‘Really don’t like how Overlay doesn’t even hint at what it does,’ John complained.

‘I think it has too much information to be concisely displayed,’ Senka chimed in.

‘I know,’ John groused, before checking the manipulation skill.

Weak Water Manipulation: This spirit can generate a small amount of water, which can then be freely controlled. The amount of water can be increased by supplying mana at a rate of 5 MP/sec.

‘Hmm, more expensive than the wind spirit,’ John thought. ‘But since it’s got to conjure the water, that makes sense. Wouldn’t surprise me if what it could do for free is like a puddle instead of a flood. Will have to leave that for later. Don’t think summoning water in here is going to be appreciated. On to the next one.’

Dip of Respite: By placing this spirit within the aura of another person within (Wis) meters, their HP regeneration and Endurance is increased by 2% for every 5 mana spent. Duration: 4 minutes per 5 mana.

‘Buffs are good,’ John thought, though a frown marred his face. ‘They aren’t the greatest, though. At least pouring more mana into it increases both magnitude and duration. Could come in clutch. Now for the Overlay.’

Overlay: +10% HP Regeneration. Your mana now has the water element. You gain the ‘Spring Blessing’ Skill.

Spring Blessing: Generate (2x Rank) bubbles of water. You can apply these bubbles to anyone within (Wis/2) meters. While applied, they heal (Rank/2) HP/sec. They will dispel if they leave prior range. Cost: (Rank) MP/sec.

‘That’s certainly something,’ John thought as he read over the skill again.

‘It does seem quite the potent healing option,’ Senka remarked. ‘Right now it’s two portable healing nodes that can restore a point of health every two seconds.’

‘It does get more expensive as the rank goes up, which might be a problem if we don’t need as many heals, but healing in general is never unappreciated,’ John brought forth his small gripe with the skill. ‘Unless we can apply multiples to people. It didn’t say anything about that, so we could double or triple up as needed.’

John was about to check what the ‘Spirit Casting’ effect for the water spirit was when he caught Kiera out of the corner of his eye. She had turned from looking out the window, her face back to its normal shade. She was also trying to subtly look right where John’s numerous displays were floating, unseen to anyone not linked to his system. Or at least, so he thought.

‘She was able to feel Senka in my aura. Even sense her emotions. I don’t think Teri was able to do that,’ John thought, recalling when they ran into the goblin at Cammie’s right after Senka’s full manifestation happened. She made a remark on an extra presence, but didn’t elaborate on just what she sensed. ‘I thought that was the limit to it, but it looks like she’s able to feel my screens. Her power works by drawing some of people’s aura into herself, right? She took some of my... me-ness, I guess, when we left to change her hair. Is that how she’s syncing up with my powers?’

Those were questions for later, John decided after a moment of thought. There was no time for that here, no Vivian to bounce ideas off, or Mason and Cammie to see if there was something spirit-like with her ability. No Aeolia or Beth to ask questions they may have missed by being too big brained to notice the small things.

Instead, John turned his head enough to make Kiera snap hers back towards the window, cheeks aflame.

“You can ask about them if you want,” John told her softly. With the rumbling of the bus, his words were just loud enough for her to hear, if the way she jolted in her seat was any indication. “It’s kind of cool you can sense them. I don’t think anyone else has.”

“I-I didn’t mean to… I mean,” Kiera sputtered, wrenching her head to look at John, then back to the window before settling on looking at the floor.

John kept smiling at her. “It’s no big deal. Bet I look a little silly poking at the air. Guess since we’re not back home, I felt it was ok to not try and use my phone to mask it.”

“Y-you don’t mind I can sort of see them?” Kiera asked in a small voice. “I mean, I don’t know what’s on them, but… I really don’t know how I’m, you know.”

“That’s something we can work out later,” John said. “If you want. But you still haven’t answered my question: do you want to talk about them? I can show them to you, if you want?”

“You can?” Kiera asked, surprised. Something twinkled in her eyes, literally, her gray irises growing lighter and darker in a strobe-like effect, going from slate to something close to pale blue.

‘That’s adorable,’ Senka cooed.

John ignored his incorporeal girlfriend and instead answered Kiera’s question by inviting her to his party. The bluenette eeped slightly when the display manifested, then she studied it intently, leaning so close her nose nearly passed through it.

“It’s,” she started to say before pulling back and shaking her head. “I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Well, you don’t have to try.” John chuckled, scratching his cheek. “I probably wouldn’t get it anyway. Vivian’s better with the magic stuff. I can pick it up pretty quick, but it’d go over my head for a bit.”

“I’m sure you’d get it if I could say it right,” Kiera muttered quietly, her face scrunched. Before John could comment on that bit of self-deprecation, she tapped the accept button and glanced at the sheets of the water spirit. “Oh, that’s a bit more than I thought.”

“Guess they are kind of stacked up on each other,” John said with another chuckle. “Think my record is around a dozen.”

John willed the screens over, spreading them out so the spirit’s base Observe was on top.

“Shoot any question you got at me,” he said, flashing Kiera another smile.

She smiled back shyly before asking him what spirits were exactly.