Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 29

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 29:

I waited in the corridor with Uzume and Matsu, one finger tapping against my arm as I counted the seconds in my head. When the door opened, we looked to see Irene exit Sano’s office, wearing a slightly weary expression.

“How was it?” Uzume asked the question we all had on our minds.

“I’m mostly okay, he said.”

“Mostly?”

“Wait,” I interrupted, “So what did he do? Just asked questions, or did he use some skill to scan your body?”

“He just asked questions, as far as I could tell. As for what he said…”

Irene’s account of her interview with Sano had no red flags; the god asked for her to introduce herself and her practical skills, as well as provide a brief description of her work experience, which she had accumulated plenty of during our time in Earth Land. The final part was a practical test where he showed a decompiled skill and asked her for the changes required to produce a desired result. Irene solved it without any problems, earning herself a place among our group of employees.

As for the employment contract, she didn’t sign it yet, not without Matsu taking a look through it first as we previously discussed. Sano had no issue with that when she raised that request.

The ‘mostly okay’ statement was referring to his assessment of her current state. Her body went through several changes, from mage to dragon to Sekirei, with each transformation leaving its mark on her. As far as we could tell, Irene was far stronger than an untuned Sekirei, with only her expert control allowing her to manage her strength, and that was mainly due to the draconic nature, which we had forcefully suppressed until it could be converted into a Sekirei version. Sano’s inspection had apparently cleared her of any possibility of reversion, but the concern was her nature as an Earth Land native.

Since this whole isekai business was dependent on draining excess magic energy from worlds that could spare them, and channeling it to worlds that needed it, the sudden shift between Earth Land and my ordinary world would naturally affect Irene.

Wait, is my world a magic-filled one, or a magic-lacking one? Which is it? I wondered as I continued to listen.

“So what sort of effect are you under, Irene-tan?” Matsu asked concernedly.

“For one, my magic regeneration is much less in this world,” Irene answered, “So I’m likely to be more tired out as I recover from using my magic.”

“So just hold back from doing so while you’re here…” I suggested, then saw her lack of reaction. “Buuuut, I suppose that isn’t a solution.”

The redhead nodded. “According to him, my condition as a Sekirei was based on my foundation as a mage from Earth Land, so the amount of energy I use up in normal daily activities will be much more.”

“So Irene-chan will have to rest more often compared to us then?”

She nodded again. “Yes, until I grow accustomed to it. However, that will take some time to happen.”

I turned to Matsu. “What about using the Jinki to adjust her?” I asked.

The bespectacled Sekirei crossed her arms. “That might work, but we don’t know what risks it might have.”

“Sano said that as well. While he can modify my condition, it would be better not to. Anyway, I’m fine like this, and he did have a suggestion.”

“What did he suggest?”

“To make up for the energy loss by drawing energy from the Sekirei core.”

It took a moment for the implications of that sentence to sink in, especially when Irene looked away with a slight blush. One of her hands came up to touch her lips.

“Oh, now this is giving me lots of ideas~” Matsu giggled.

“Control yourself, Matsu,” Uzume quickly chided her. “I think we might need to check how it conflicts with Sano’s rules.”

“Ah, you’re right.”

I couldn’t help letting out a mildly exasperated snort. Having to handle the troubles of integrating newcomers into the company was one thing, but I doubted they were anything like this. For now, I decided to move things along, and deal with issues as they cropped up instead of trying to settle them now.

“Anyway, if there’s no other issue, then let’s have a welcoming party for Irene!”

“Yeah!” My two Sekireis cheered, with the third watching on bemusedly.

“Oh, I’ve got a suggestion for the first show to watch with Irene!” Uzume added.

“I’d like to see this show then.”

But it didn’t look like there would be any big problems in our future.

…

‘Hope you’re having a nice weekend,’ My dad’s message read, ‘Hope your work is going well. Any plans to go out?’

I blinked after reading it, before snorting.

‘Nope, going to stay in.’

‘How’s work lately?’

‘Very busy. Just had a new person join the company, and-’ I paused as I considered what to type. ‘-we had to train her.’

“Are you messaging someone?” Irene asked from next to me.

“Yeah, my dad.”

“Okay,” She mumbled, and focused her attention back on the laptop screen in front of her.

‘Is this new staff older or younger than you?’

I didn’t hesitate to respond this time. ‘Older.’

‘Alright, have a good rest then.’

Hopefully this staves off some of the nosy questions in the future for the time being, considering that they already think I’m double-dating Uzume and Matsu. I leaned over and gave a peck to the top of the redhead’s hair. Introducing Irene… I’ll deal with it when it comes up.

Irene didn’t turn away from her entertainment media, but her hand squeezed mine slightly in response.

Given how quickly she adapted to current Earth Land culture after secluding herself for centuries as a dragon, I wasn’t surprised that she was able to do the same in my modern world. Some of it was thanks to Matsu using Archive to share the knowledge, but she still put in her own effort to learn. Mastering the use of household appliances, some basic world history, learning how the Japanese currency system worked so she could shop for herself, and so on…

I was pretty sure her actions during the shopping trip to buy underwear for herself was on purpose though. I got LP out of the magnificent sights she showed me, under the pretext of getting my opinion.

In terms of work, there was nothing else to say other than Irene was a great pick. Her experience with various types of magics and enchanting them onto physical bodies carried over well, and she quickly learned the ropes of applying that to the skills we worked with. That helped ease some of the burden on Matsu, who could handle the fine-tuning while Irene did the basic adjustments. According to my Wisdom Sekirei’s Air Treks analogy, it was like working with higher quality parts compared to generalized ones, which meant increased levels of performance.

Sano was quite pleased by that, and it justified the hefty paycheck Irene was receiving for her work. Part of it already went into giving her her own room, which she was quick to decorate with carpets, cushions, and other things to take advantage of her returned sense of touch.

However, just as Sano warned, she tired out quite quickly. Even the kisses I gave Irene to activate her Norito for more power only staved that off for a while, and eventually we agreed to spend some of our DP to get a skill for her, [Enhanced Stamina Regen]. She still needed to rest once in a while, like she was doing so at this point, but at least it wasn’t as frequent as before. She would recover more quickly if she went to another world, but Irene stubbornly wanted to get used to her current condition first.

Currently, we were watching an online concert together, which was a novel experience for Irene. She certainly enjoyed the music and display, judging by how she was humming along. It was just one of many entertainment media that she embraced, which also included manga series like Fairy Tail.

Our worries about her finding out about her existence as a fictional character were unfounded; our Irene hadn’t been pregnant, nor had she considered the idea of enchanting her personality into a new body, and most of all, she wasn’t still in a dragon’s body. So the Irene Belserion that appeared in the Fairy Tail storyline was not her. For Irene, her reality was being one of my Sekireis, and that was all that mattered to her.

The door opened to admit Uzume and Matsu, accompanied by a tired-looking Leafeon.

“We’re back~”

“Welcome back,” I greeted them as the Pokemon leapt up onto the couch to cuddle against Irene, “How was it?”

“Our homemade potions and drinks sold well, enough to buy a few more TMs.” Matsu sat next to me. “I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with them, and the new skills we got from Sano.”

I had let her spend some of our accumulated DP on buying minor skills that she could work on and modify, so as to resell back to Sano for a profit. So far it was paying off well.

Uzume went around behind me, pressing her breasts against the back of my head as she peeked at the laptop. “Oh, those are pretty nice moves.”

“Uh huh.”

She leaned lower, bringing her mouth near my ear. “Bet you’d like it if I wore an idol outfit and danced like that for you.”

“...yes.” No shame in admitting that.

With Irene’s inclusion into the group as a more motherly figure, Uzume had taken a step back from her previous role as homemaker, resulting in more teasing moments like this. I quite liked it.

The brunette’s work responsibilities had also increased recently; Sano had found a few customers who were interested in the version of skills he developed from Spira’s spheretech, and delegated part of the work to her. With what she learned from costume making in Earth Land, Uzume had handled herself pretty well. Currently, her design style seemed to be leaning towards magical girls, which was definitely a stroke of luck given all the various types of magics we collected from Earth Land.

And that was the main reason why we didn’t feel like doing anything much. Even if Sano said that the skills from Earth Land weren’t worth much due to them being reliant on magic, there was quite a lot we had collected. We needed the rest.

Though our bedroom activities probably contributed to that need. Irene was almost addicted to the pleasure I could impart thanks to my bedroom skills, only holding herself back to let the other two have their turns. For my part, the idea of introducing Irene to certain acts was quite the turn on, and she was very obliging.

The concert finally came to a satisfying end, and we proceeded to have a nice dinner together. Uzume had so many recipes she wanted to introduce Irene’s tastebuds to, and it was a fun ride for the rest of us.

“So, Rick-tan, where do you want to head next weekend?” Matsu inquired as we enjoyed some ice cream for dessert.

“I was thinking either Skyrim or Spira. Skyrim because the whole magicka atmosphere might help Irene’s condition, not to mention the other stuff we can learn at the College. Spira is more for us to relax, plus there’s Yuna’s concert coming up.”

“Yuna?” Irene asked curiously.

“She’s like the main character of the story in that setting. Do you want to hear it now?”

She shook her head. “Later is fine. When you said concert, is it like the one we just saw?”

“Yes, just with fewer people. Performers,” I corrected myself, before giving the others questioning looks, “Which would you prefer?”

“Spira!”

“I think Spira would be nice too. Oh,” Uzume straightened slightly, “I just remembered. Sano told me to pass on a message, meant for all of us. There’s a VIP customer that will be arriving sometime this week.”

“Is there anything that we should be aware of, or do?

“Just to give our best service.”

I snorted. “Like we don’t already do that.” The job persona ensures such a thing.

The weekdays’ work routine continued as usual, with no apparent sign of this special customer. Gods visited the shop seeking skills for their reincarnators, I recommended the ones suited to their worlds, and the girls made the adjustments needed.

Then on Friday, the phone rang after a slow day.

I picked it up automatically. “Hello, this is Sano’s Skill shop.”

“Hello, hello!” My boss greeted in his usual manner. “A good pal of mine is coming soon, so I’ll be giving you and the shop a little update.”

“What will it involve, boss?”

“A bit of knowledge update for you all, and an expansion for the shop.” There was a pause. “There, it’s done.”

I don’t really feel any different, but I wouldn’t be able to tell right now. “Is there anything else?”

“That’s all for now. I’m counting on you.”

Sano barely hung up before I felt the mental link start up.

<A door suddenly appeared on the wall of my room,> Matsu reported, <Irene is examining it now.>

<The same happened for mine.> Uzume agreed.

<I can’t step away from the counter, so tell me what’s in it.>

<It appears to be a version of the training room, but-> Matsu’s voice paused. <Wow.>

<What’s wrong?>

<I just had knowledge of the room’s workings fill my mind. Is this what Archive is like for you all?>

<It was quite similar.> Irene confirmed.

<What brought this on?> Uzume wondered.

I quickly informed them of Sano’s call, letting them draw their own conclusions.

<And I think… he’s here.> I finished, looking at the god that just entered the shop.

He had a slightly long hairstyle, with a neatly trimmed mustache and beard to go with it. As for his attire, it was a mixture between an armored warrior and a mage, which gave him the impression of a god not to be messed with.

I placed my left hand over my right, centered in front of me in the proper service etiquette posture.

“A pleasant welcome to you, Seryaga,” I greeted the god by name even though it was my first time seeing this one. “It has been a while since your last visit. How may I be of assistance?”

He stopped in front of the counter and looked at me scrutinizingly. It was quite intimidating, even though he wasn’t showing any hostility.

“Is Sano here?”

“The manager is currently occupied, but he has given orders to provide you with our best service.”

“In that case, I would like to have privacy.” Without needing my prompting, he touched the pad, causing the shop to go into closed mode, preventing any further entries.

As for his requests, there were quite a lot of them. Whoever this god was, he had to have a great deal of DP to spend with what he wanted.

<Woah, I got that info too! Gonna have to hurry to get ready!>

No wonder Sano wanted all of us on this. We all have our individual roles to play in satisfying this customer. My mind was calculating how to go about doing so. Sano’s knowledge update included some of this god’s purchase history, which was quite extensive. This guy is like an oil baron who can buy just about anything he wants.

“I know you have a preference for explosive firepower, but I sincerely recommend the penetrative bursts of Sano’s new fantasy guns. Armor Breaking, and with an assortment of debuffs.”

I laid out the skill cubes in front of him, letting the god do the inspection. For someone who came to buy skills, he seemed remarkably talented at manipulating them to reveal their inner components. I did my best to explain the traits as he did so.

“Utilization knowledge included, with ambient recharging for automatic recovery over time. I believe you might like the customization for safe discharging.”

Seryaga merged the skills back into their compiled forms, and placed them on the counter.

“Do you have any specialized requests for the defensive selections?”

“I need something…” The god paused for a moment before continuing, “Robust, yet precise.”

I recognized the similarity, but didn’t show any outward reaction. I feel like this is just a weird joke. “Robust… precise…”

Turning away for a moment, I retrieved my selection from the nearby rack to present to him.

“Orihalcum kite shield, adaptable grip, with slight balance auto-adjustments. Imbued with improved blocking skills that assist in handling, with additional customization slots for defense boosts.”

The god took a few defensive poses, as though blocking incoming attacks. He also practiced equipping it and removing it quickly, demonstrating impressive martial skill. Finally nodding in approval, he placed the shield on the counter next to the skills.

“I would like your recommendation for… a final clash. Something… decisive, final.”

I tilted my head thoughtfully. “My suggestion… the [Ultimablast].”

Handing over the skill, I also laid out the sword that could go along with it.

“Adapted for combination with weapons, able to store several charges for consecutive shots in quick succession. It also bears an ease of use should the situation turn… critical. A trait of Sano’s creations.”

Seryaga’s examination was quicker this time. Then again, it was quite simple at its base, meant to inflict heavy destruction and nothing more.

His next request was just as direct. “Accessories.”

I smiled slightly. “Accessories.” I’ve got so many of them from my enchanting experiments, plus some of the ones modified from Spira. Sano sure paid a good amount of DP for some of them.

From my inventory, I took out a large jewelry box, opening it up into several tiers with all of the selections I was allowed to sell.

“The finest assortment of boosters. Freshly tuned enchantments for the biggest enhancements.” I knew I sounded rather bombastic with such words, but I was having a bit of fun.

The god picked out several of them, before tapping the pad to settle up the total payment. But he wasn’t done just yet.

<Matsu, I hope you’re ready,> I alerted my Sekirei.

<Anytime, Rick-tan!>

“For your next selection, my colleagues will take care of that.” I told the deity politely.

Seryaga nodded, and followed me as I led him to the inner door. Pushing it open, I showed him into a completely different room where Matsu was waiting with Irene.

“Hello, I am quite eager to show you what I have.” The redhead smiled, gesturing at the display table.

With the assortment of skills the god was selecting for his transmigrator, it was obvious it was for a deadly purpose. I supplied the offense and defense stuff, while Matsu was handling the support side of things.

This new room appeared to be for a live demonstration of skills, and in this case, she was using it to showcase the auto-mapping function of several skills. The display table provided a replica of a procedurally-generated dungeon to demonstrate them on.

Her presentation started off by showing the basic mapping, before she followed up with all her special upgrades. Enemy tracking, secret-locating, counter-stealth detection, trap marking, even a reversal twist of the [Skeleton Key] that analyzed locked barriers in order to provide a location of the keys required to unlock them. All in all, a very impressive showcase that was quite convincing in making a customer want to purchase the upgrades.

Even Seryaga thought so. “Well done,” He complimented her as he paid the cost.

The final performance was Uzume’s, with Irene providing assistance. Just like I did for her, Matsu came along to observe.

“May I ask, Seryaga,” Uzume asked as she flitted around the dressing dummy, “Are these attires for general use, or specialized?”

“Specialized.”

“And is this for combat, or survival?”

“I would like two sets. One of each.”

With a flick of her hands, she started weaving clothes around a second dummy, making it take the appearance of a rugged adventurer’s outfit. Irene used her enchantment magic to attach parts to add to the look and performance as part of the process.

I think that’s borrowing a bit of Nero’s look from DMC4. Looks pretty cool.

“What do you think of this style?”

“A bit more Oriental.”

I heard that word, but his lips were pronouncing something different. I guess it’s an auto-translation into something similar.

She made the adjustments quickly. “How about the belts?”

“Add two more.”

Uzume used sashes to act as placeholders. “Then the leggings?”

“Tapered, for better stealth.”

“And how would you like the enchanting?” Irene interrupted to ask.

Seryaga considered the question. “Practical.”

She gave Matsu and I a questioning look. To her, all her enchantments were practical in the first place, so it was an odd request. I was just amused at this whole turn of events.

<I am sending you the details of the world this god is in charge of, so just tailor your enchantments as you see fit,> Matsu told her, already compiling the information using Archive magic.

Irene nodded to us once the knowledge was received, and stepped forward to take charge of the next part.

Damage mitigation, magical resistance, even a few milder ones mixed in to grant the wearer some degree of stealth, the woman was showing off her expertise with enchantment magics. I did dabble in it while I was in Skyrim and Earth Land, but in Irene’s case, this was what true talent was capable of.

It’s like a three hundred percent EXP boost when it comes to learning enchanting for her.

The demonstration culminated in her casting several destructive spells on the dummy, the explosive effect clearing away to show only minor damage, one that would be easily repaired by the auto-repair function embedded.

After the god gave his approval and paid for it, Uzume informed him that it would take two days to finish, which he accepted. He would make arrangements with Sano to have it delivered to his world later. He quickly took his leave after that, leaving us all to finally relax.

“That guy was pretty intense…”

“I know, right?”

“He seemed like a god of justice to me,” Irene observed.

“I think he’s more like an avenging god,” I offered my opinion.

Matsu changed the subject. “Uzume-tan, will it really take you two days?”

“If I want to do it properly, yes. And no,” The brunette was quick to see the line of thought, “I don’t think I can do it in another world for more time. I’m going to need the skills and equipment here.”

“...so should we skip the Spira visit for this week then?”

“It seems so.”

Vacation schedule disrupted by last minute work request. I can mark that off on my work life bingo board… if I had one. “Well, no rush. Let us know if you need any help.”

She nodded. “I will, Rick-kun. But you know, I don’t have to start tonight. We can watch a movie or do something together.”

I raised a hand to draw their attention. “In that case, I have a suggestion on what to watch. It’s a movie about a retired assassin.”

…

“So how do you feel?”

“Much better,” Irene answered, making a few swings with the sword in one hand, before twirling the staff in her other, “I can feel my magic returning faster in this world.”

“That’s good. How about the rest of the equipment?”

She rapped the blade against one of the plates on her armor, then slid it back into its sheath. “Sturdy, but not heavy enough to weigh me down.”

“Well then, shall we go?”

Irene smiled and took the hand I held out to her, and we began walking down the dirt path.

Since Uzume was busy for the weekend, she cooked a lot of curry, which we could eat as leftovers while she was working on the outfits. The rest of us did our best to pitch in whenever we could, though Irene and I ended up contributing very little.

Irene because her magical stamina was low, and me because I just plain suck at clothing design.

In the end, Matsu suggested that we pay a visit to Skyrim to recharge Irene’s magic, taking advantage of the time dilation to recover, thus resulting in our being here.

As we walked, I filled Irene in on my past adventures in this land; stealing skills and other thieving acts, manipulating the plot for my own benefit, and otherwise enjoying myself with some pastimes. It was a little surprising to learn that Irene had no qualms about my illegal activities, despite having been a queen in her life.

“Of course I had to enforce the law a few times while I was ruling in Dragnof,” She explained, “But after what I went through… I can’t find it in me to care anymore.”

I squeezed her hand comfortingly.

“I care more about my life with you, and Matsu and Uzume,” She told me with a warm gaze.

“Mm.” I smiled back at her.

Thankfully, a passing by cart driver offered to give us a ride, and we sat in the back as he headed for Winterhold. I was interested in seeing how Irene’s talent with magic would shine in that place. As we were riding in comfortable silence, I used [Event Predictor] to check up on the situation in Skyrim. To my pleasant surprise, Lernen was near Winterhold.

Oh, he finally made it to the College, without me too. Nice. I took out a mana potion to refill my magicka, and used the skill a second time. Ah, I see. He’s heading underground now.

During one of our past meetings, the Dragonborn had been trying to head for the College in order to learn more about the Elder Scroll used to banish Alduin in the past, except the Dark Brotherhood had disrupted that journey. His current location meant that he was finally working on the quest to retrieve the one stored in Blackreach, deep under the mountains. While it was a cool place to visit in the game, I wasn’t really enthusiastic about going down to that dreary cavern when it was reality. Best to leave Lernen to handle things.

After a while, the silence got too strong, and I decided to break it by telling Irene about the people I met while studying at the College.

“So the trainer for the Illusion school is really grateful to me because of that. I’m sure he would happily give you lessons if I ask him as a favor.”

“Do you think he has improved your Phantasm spell?”

“I think so. Anyway, that’s all the trainers. Next is Ancano.” I grimaced.

“Not a likeable person?”

“No. He blatantly spies on everyone, and acts like he’s the only mage worth his magic. Very easy to hate.”

“You did something, didn’t you?” Irene asked pointedly.

“No, I didn’t,” I proclaimed my ‘innocence’, “He caught the Skilless Sickness, and ended up getting chased away from the College.”

“Is that so.”

“That said, he’s somehow back at the College now,” I shared the information my skill granted me, “Which means he found some way to gain back some of his skills.”

“Don’t worry about me. If he tries anything, I’ll handle it.”

And I would love to see that happen. 

We alighted outside Winterhold and walked the rest of the way to the College, appreciating the seaside view along the way. Faralda recognized me, and allowed Irene to enter without a test since I vouched for her, though it came with the advice to seek out Mirabelle first.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome you back to the College, Rick,” The woman greeted me when I approached her, “I do hope you have come up with some more discoveries?”

“I’m working on it. May I introduce my companion? This is Irene, and believe me when I say that she’s talented in Enchanting and Alteration.”

“Splendid, another new student to join our numbers.” The mage handed over a set of student robes. “Would you like me to give you a tour?”

Irene shook her head. “I would prefer to explore by myself. And I believe Rick-dono can guide me around just fine.”

“Alright. But if you do need anything, just ask me.”

“By the way, I heard Ancano returned?” I asked.

Mirabelle made a face. “Indeed he has. He has somehow managed to regain some of his magical expertise, thus making him eligible to regain the role he had here. I would advise you to stay out of his way, especially with your work on Phantasm spells.”

“I’ll do my best.” At least until I’ve finished yoinking his skills again.

“Fortunately, Ancano is currently away from the College. For reasons only known to himself, he has been taking short leaves of absence.”

I nodded with mild relief and slight disappointment. Treatment for his ‘illness’, or investigating the shit I’ve kicked up for the Thalmor?

“Oh, if you do have the time, I recommend visiting the Hall of Elements, since Tolfdir will be giving a lecture on magic safety. It is always a good class for any new students,” Mirabelle added as an aside to Irene.

The redhead nodded. “I appreciate you telling me. I will take a look then.”

As I led Irene around, it was heartening to see that quite a few of them remembered me still, especially Drevis, who gushed to Irene about the advancements I made to the field of Illusion magic.

It wasn’t until I finished giving Irene the tour, which concluded at the Hall where Tolfdir was, that I noticed another butterfly caused by my actions. The students wanted to push on to more novel applications of magic, while the lecturer mage wished to teach them about safety when handling magic.

“You there! You’re a new student, I see,” Tolfdir called out to Irene, “What do you think we should do?”

“I agree that we should practice safety with magic,” Irene answered.

Clearly speaking from personal experience. Who would have known dragon slayer magic would cause a transformation into a dragon from long term use?

My body twitched as information hit me.

[Event Predictor] just went off. That shouldn’t be right. Lernen’s not here to trigger the plot advancement, but it still- I paused as a thought came to mind, then used [Appraisal] on Irene. Oh. This changes things for sure. 

Some time back, when I implanted the Dragonborn with an analysis skill to gather data on his abilities for Sano, I learned that his unique abilities could be said to fall under a certain skill. And now, I was seeing that same skill within Irene.

[Draconic Soul]

That carried several big implications, most of all in this world.

For one thing, that meant Irene qualified as a Dragonborn, though it remained to be seen if she could absorb souls or use Dragon Shouts. Another thing was her triggering the start of the College questline, as I later witnessed Tolfdir suggest the class visit the nearby Saarthal for an expedition the next day. [Draconic Soul] appeared to be the actual plot device that I suspected Lernen of being. That meant Irene would be able to trigger some of the normal events in this world.

I couldn’t help comparing this with what I experienced in Spira. The worlds’ systems sure do have some amazing power over fate…

“What’s wrong? You’re being quieter than usual,” Irene asked me. “Is it about the simple ward spell? Did you want me to show off instead?”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell you later in private.”

She was not enthused at the reveal. Sano did state that she was no longer a dragon in body, but soul-wise was another issue. Would she revert if she absorbed dragon souls like a normal Dragonborn?

I cuddled her to sleep that night to comfort her.

“I’ll take care of you, no matter what,” I whispered to Irene, feeling her happiness pulse through our bond.

Afterword: Decided to end this chapter here, because it just felt right. After so many good muse runs, I was hit with a huge writer’s block for this one. Ended up deleting over 2000 words because I just couldn’t get the right mood to continue it and chose to start over all again, when I realized I wasn’t enjoying my writing. And somehow I ended up with a John Wick-esque scene.

I was trying to convey more cross-world interactions with this chapter, thus we can see that Irene, despite now being a Sekirei instead of a dragon, has some potential to be affected by the rules of the world she’s in. It’s something interesting to explore, but at the same time, there are risks involved in doing so.

Do continue to support, thank you!