“But before that, while we have some peace I want to see if we further improve ear, and maybe make something for too.”

  “That-that oaf?” Shaeu scoffed. “He is hardly worthy of yess, yet…” She let out a muted sigh. “I suppose it makes sense, he is an asset to us, even if I - barely stand the sight of him.”

  I’m proud of how you keep growing. I must have had a fatherly smile on my face, as Shaeu flushed.

  “Stop looking at me like that-that. I am not-not so shallow I ot-not appreciate his efforts.” she protested, and so I rubbed her head, causio let out small noises of embarrassment, but she made no effort to shy away.

  Yeah, her verbal tic still spikes up when she is excited or embarrassed. Knowier than to say it, we returo the shrine, where I called over the Kobold miners. As expected their haul was lower, but we still had materials, so I quickly started processing them. Iron was verted to steel just by adding charcoal by burning some wood from around the shrih fme essence. We also had quite the pile of smashed armour and useless ons that the Orcs had so graciously left us after their defeats. Melting this all down into ingots and adding around three pert carbon, which was the ratio I remembered from school for ‘spring steel’, allowed me to create a metal flexible and hard to deform. As I worked, I could feel my abilities iher Crafting growing a little, giving me deeper uanding of iron and steel. I wonder if iron ts as part of the earth element?

  Grulgor returned as I had a rge pile of steel ready to go. He still had the crude ptes hammered into his body, providi prote, but with proper armour… yeah, he’d be an unstoppable tank. Over the few days I armour up the other Trolls too…

  Ohe ptes were stripped fror I spent time shaping aremely thick armour for him, full-pte style, though he had an open-faced helm, as when I went for a narrow slit he started r about not being able to find or see his foes. When he was done he looked… well, like a three metre plus giant of cold steel, an iron golem. The armour didn’t have any fancy decorations, but it was solid, and gleaming brightly. Grulgor uzzled at first as I was dressing him, and it took me a while to figure out how to make straps of metal to hold the weight together, as leather would be useless. In the end they were supplemented by spikes stig into his body, holding them in pce. His eion then locks it to him, making it nigh-impregnable.

  Ohat was do was time to make him a on. Foing finesse, I made him a long-handled fnged mace, the head many kilograms of hard steel. Anything Grulgor hit with that would be leaving nothing but a mist of blood aher behind, that was certain.

  “Grul likes this. Grul will use it to smash and crush and kill!” he gurgled, pig it up and swinging it around. Yeah, I pity his foes, no question about that.

  “Cool, gd you approve.” I said. “I’ll run maintenan it from time to time, but try not to break it. I’ll also make these…” I quickly turned a portion of the steel inte balls that could be thrown by him and the Trolls. Portable Troll artillery…

  Grulgrabbed a handful of the ammunition and was off, eager to whet his new equipment in the blood of our foes, so I turo our most important task. I first ran maintenan the pinwheels, repairing the slight damage to the wires that funed as the on. Ohat was done I crafted a harness for Shaeu out of lightweight materials, making sure to make it pretty. It had three open slots on the back, and those I filled with new and improved bluesteel batteries, having a greater capacity than mine. I made myself a simir harness, though mh and ready, and also recycled my batteries, ending up with three new ones myself.

  By the time I was done many hours had passed in bour, so it robably m over ierial. I hope Karen- isn’t too hungover and made it to the shrine… I’ll check ter.

  “All right then, this is a scouting mission, to find the eerritory. Shall we go?”

  Shaeu nodded, leaving the defeo the Kami and her Kamaitachi. We headed out, moving rapidly with h stats, and were soon out of my Territory, heading in the dire we suspected most of the attacks were ing from. As me moved north towards the distaral Tokyo proper, we discovered a ck of any sort of life. There were a few scattered enemies, and we could sense presences in buildings, but… Shouldn’t there be other Territories? If there are … how did Exposition-san put it, several thousands in this try alone… call it three thousand then, though it may be a few more or less, then that’s about nine hundred in Tokyo. Shouldn’t there be some around here? Although I suppose the greater Tokyo area is actually massive…

  Pig up my thoughts, Shaeu agreed. “This area has been sged dry, master. Perhaps there were-were other Territories, but they have been plundered, only a few remaining. I fear our numbers are woefully few, pared to our enemy, so while we hold-hold our own in battle, we ot-not expand rapidly.”

  “Yeah it’s like ying Warcraft 3 with just a bunch of high-level hero units. Sure, am ultimate skills and wreck mobs of normal troops, but we be outmanoeuvred and ’t be everywhere at once.” I made the simile, and she looked puzzled, so I expined. “Warcraft 3 was good fun, though I hear the remake is ass. If I find an old version that wive it a py when this is over, you might enjoy it.”

  “I shall bear that in mind, but is it the time-time for such banter?” she asked, and I had to agree.

  “I get it, I do. We’ll focus.”

  We were going roughly parallel to the train that usually took us into Tokyo proper, so some of the sights should have been familiar, and a few were, buildings I reised, but others had fantastical shapes, or were areas that had expanded far rger than they should have been oerial pne, dungeons perhaps. These we bypassed, making a o explore them when the current crisis was resolved. We were still some distance from the administrative high-rises of Setagaya ward, which would be the first of the major wards we would rea this dire, but before that there were still some impressive sights.

  “Akio, I see-see something.” Shaeu said suddenly, pullio cover, somehow ending up on top of me as we crouched behind a wall of rusted metal. As I looked to where she eering, I could see an indistinct misty shape moving through the air overhead.

  “Anhost girl?” I mouthed at her, and she nodded. O had passed we rexed.

  “So, we are headed the right way. The attacks are ing from the north.”

  “I believe I - eliminate her” Shaeu whispered to me. “I strike her unawares and blind-blind their eyes. It is simple for someone of my powers.”

  I shook my head, unvinced. “No, I think we should hold off on giving away our position for now. Besides, they already know where our Territory is. There’s no point tipping our hand. Wheime is right, that’s when we’ll strike. Anyway… if I had to guess, if the scouts are out again, that means another push is likely ing. It’s just the two of us, feeling brave?”

  “Who do you think you are-are speaking to?” She puffed out her chest in pride. “Together, we destroy any number of such foul-foul perverted beasts!”

  ***

  “And that’s twelve!” My spear smmed through the breastpte of the Or front of me, wind energy humming as it pierced metal and flesh alike. The Orc staggered and then disappeared, leaving me free to avoid the crude club the was wielding. I shed out, slig off an arm, and as it reared back, bellowing in pain, I pu in the face again and again until I felt the skull crad the Orished. “No, thirteen!”

  “You are rather behind me master, I fear. I have-have passed thirty.” Shaeu crowed, her pinwheels adopting a series of figure-eights around her, hag Orcs to pieces with ease. “It is a shame we had no-no stakes for this wager, I would like to add-add to the favour you owe me!”

  Yeah, I fot about that. I wonder what she is going to want… Putting that aside I hurled bdes of wind at the remaining Orcs who were throwing rocks and other debris at us from the sides. They fell, cut to bloody ribbons, and as Shaeu swept the other fnk the battle came to an end, the ether ours. It isn’t a huge amount, but it repces a pert or so from what I spent, so that makes me feel better…

  Looking at the dropped armour and onry there were only a few pieces, the gear of our foes definitely suffering. There was of course one… dowo that, in that the Orcs’ lower bodies were only covered by cloth. It was enough to make me wince, so it must have been far worse for Shaeu. They o die for soiling her eyes, if nothing else.

  “Think that we were spotted by any ghosts?” I asked, and Shaeu shook her head.

  “I did not-not see any nearby. I believe we simply intercepted a for route to a staging point near our Territory. This should-should have relieved the pressure on our kin.”

  “Yeah, but just how long the didate running this keep up the pointless losses? I mean, I’m grateful for the ether and experience, but if it was me, I’d have got frustrated and e up with another pn by now. They must be really hands-off.”

  “Indeed-indeed. We should make haste and use our advantage before our foe-foe bees desperate.”

  Pushing forwards towards a pocket of high-rise hotels and shops that catered to tourists from poorer ties that had quite the chequered reputation with Tokyo residents, being well known as a hotbed of crime and … adult activities, we spotted another pack of a dozen Oring our way. I barely had time to react before Shaeu sent out her wind-weasels, bsting through them, bodies tumbling, torn apart, to burst into glimmering silver rain.

  Yeah, she really, really hates these Orcs…

  Pressing onwards we collected out bounty, and then a pair of the giales were , lumbering down the highway to our left. They were a bit away from us, but we could hahem easily, with Shaeu’s ability…

  ***

  “Look out!” I said, smming Shaeu to the ground, shielding her with my body. It had been pure ce I caught sight of the bolt of aetheric light flying our way, and without thinking I knocked her aside instinctively. The bolt shot through where she was standing moments ago, impag the ground with the noise of a car crash, blowing a crater in the pavement, sh us with debris, the shockwave buffeting our hair and clothes.

  Sniper Empt? Strohan mine, for certain. Maybe Rank two or more?

  Helping Shaeu to her feet, we darted for cover. No more bolts came, but we couldn’t be careless. We crept closer from another dire, darting around the back of various shops and offices to keep us out of line-of-sight. After some careful minutes of this, we ran into a defensive barrier, the force stopping us in our tracks. As the message scrolled silver ay vision warning me, and the slow trig drain on my aether reserves started, more bolts of energy came darting at us. These were slower, but still hard to dodge, sending cracks through stone and iron of the buildings around us.

  “Bato cover!” I ordered, areated, the bolts ht aether chasing us away.

  “So, looks like we found it.” I remarked, eyeing the near-invisible barrier that was keeping us out. “And unlike ours, this Territory isn’t upgrading. And unlike Vegas, this person didn’t heir defehis is going to be a problem…”

  “They ot-not protect everywhere, they?” Shaeu suggested. “We should explore the extent of this Territory and find areas where their defences fail them. That then-then be ress.”

  “Yeah. We might have to watch for the Sniper, but that’s our best bet. All right, keep your eyes open and if we see any opportuo cause damage we’ll take it…”