Agnisotra: Origin Tails

There wasn't much water left best I could do was make 2 short swords putting myself in a similar situation as Johnny, no he really earned my respect so as a reward I'll call him by his name, Gianni. I would have none of these problems if I would use frost magic but I feel like that would be cheating. I can't do something like that after watching Gianni fight hard. The air felt dry, my lips were drying out and I had to constantly lick my lips. I took a glance, 5 minutes till rainstorm. It seemed to be quite hot here judging by how the townspeople were behaving but since I have heat resistance, I’m not noticing any of this besides my dry lips. Even this I could fix with frost magic but I won't.

I suggest that you enjoy the next 5 minutes because after that you will stand no chance.

“Ha! Cheap provocations! You're just a brat! What can you do to me!” I needed to fire off these bubbles that trapped lightning magic because the water was slowly disappearing from here. Here is a gift from your son! I flung the bubbles at Monkey which popped sending the lightning at him. He made a [firewall]. I circled around the wall used [Blindside] and turned the blade into an icy glove and landed a palm strike on his back.

“Graaah” another [blindside] and another palm strike. He tried to push me back with a [heatwave] but I jumped back to evade it. I still got hit by the heat blast but that did nothing to me. I had to reform the ice on my palms because that obviously melted. “Ha not so strong without any water around eh!” He tried to throw another [heatwave] at me but I closed in and manually interfered with his magic circle. Just touching it and inserting random magic runes would mess with whatever he wanted to cast. It is way safer to do this from distance but that is not something that anyone can do but anyone could do this, nobody is crazy enough to do this though. I kept [Blindsiding] him in close proximity to have an easy time messing his magic circles up. He also couldn't use any big spells because he could hit himself. “Aaagh! Stand still!” If you stop attacking, sure. I low-kicked him, kicking his legs from under him, and made a follow kick to send him up in the air. I jumped up, grabbed his ankles, and threw him to the ground. He crashed to the ground. It seemed to do quite some damage but nowhere as much as Gianni took. He got up formed a flame spear, and threw it at me. I did the same thing Gianni did, covered my right hand in ice and caught the flame spear. I don't need the ice on my hand but only my buddies know that.

“Stop catching my flame spear!” He shot out more flame spears. Well, this sucks, I only have 2 arms, and I can't catch them all without dropping them. Alright, playtime is over! I thrust the spear at Monkey He blocked it with a [Firewall]. “Ha, that did nothing!” That’s not what I meant. I pointed up and it started to drizzle which swiftly turned into a downpour.

“How did you!” As I said, playtime is over. Monkey tried to form fire magic but I instantly doused it with large volumes of water to prevent steam explosions. I suggest that you surrender, fighting a water user in the rain is a bad idea. “You will never beat me!” Have it your way. I activated [Soothing rain].

“Ugh, what is this!” I would say: “Your defeat” but that would be too cliche. I made 2 [Water walls] trapping Monkey in between them and slammed them into Monkey. Monkey passed out resulting in my win.

“Munkey is unable to fight, team Agnis and Gianni wins!” Hera broke out of the crowd and give me a big hug. A bit too big of a hug. Also, wet hugs are weird. A lot of townspeople made umbrellas out of household magic but some didn't mind the rain. Gregory made a ridiculously large umbrella; it might even be considered a tent.

Hey, what would happen if I send a thunderbolt up in those clouds? Raishin looked as if he was going to attempt it. Oh no, you don't! Do you want to kill everyone here?! Ted tackled Raishin and brought him to the ground.

It's best you stay grounded. Nice tent Greg. Shut up! When is this rain going to stop?

Beats me. Gregory grabbed me with his free hand. Make it stop!

I don't know how sorry… Aaaagh!

“That was very impressive!” Charlize and Cecilia approached us under Cecilia's water umbrella. Oh, shit it's Charlize and Cecilia! Ted let go of me! We need to run! They’re fine now.

You could say that yeah, they’re damn fine! Huehue! Ted gave him a knuckle sandwich and still held him to the ground. Ignore that idiot, how is Gianni doing? I gave him some potions and first aid Tara took him home to rest.

Tara? His girlfriend.

Oooh. What?! He has a girlfriend? Grrr, how envious! Ted continued his knuckle sandwiches.

“So, is this how you fight when you’re serious?” Cecilia asked. Uhh, not really It was quite dry so I couldn't do much, I had to wait till it started raining.

“You knew it would rain?” Just a hunch, I'm sure you can summon rain whenever right?

“Well yes, but it isn't something that always works.” I see.

“What I’m interested in is that thing you did to cancel Munkey’s magic!” Charlize seemed interested in that part. Uh anyone can do that though.

“Really?” Yeah, when someone makes a magic circle if you can be in range where you can put your hands in it you can put a random part of a random magic circle in it and it will mess up the whole spell. Charlize urged Cecilia to use some random magic and she did what I described and successfully interrupted Cecilia’s magic.

“Wow, I didn't know that! You must be some kind of crazy to come up with it and execute it! It’s not hard to do but I can't see many opportunities where you could use it” Well I didn't have a choice I had to stall till the rain.

“How about you tutor our daughters?” Absolutely not! But maybe Raishin is up for it. Yes, please!

“I guess it was too soon to ask” I looked around to see if I could find Monkey and his gang but they seemed to have already left. It seems Hera had the same thought.

“They just left! Philip come with me! I need to give them an earful!”

”Do you mind if we join you?” Charlize asked.

“I don't mind, let's go” Hera left and pulled Philip along while waving goodbye to me. Cecilia and Charlize followed her. It seems that you can't escape the fact that those parents will come for you every timeline. Dealing with them gets old fast, I might have to avoid them or just teach them a lesson early on so that they don't bother me. This time they got Hera and Gianni involved. Gianni? Did you finally remember his name? Both Johnny and Gianni sound the same to me.

I hopped by Paul and Paula earlier today and they are ready to receive questions and offer explanations in the evening so what are we going to do now? I think I want to catch up on more sleep. Hmm, there is not much to do with rain like this so that sounds like a good idea. We could do indoor stuff!

Good idea! Sleeping is indoors so I'll do that! Meh. I could use some sleep too, not everyone has infinite energy as you do.

Fine! Agnis, can I borrow your pickaxe? Imma go dig for gold in the Boshi mines. I looked around and saw that nobody was paying attention to us so I took it out of my dimensional pocket and handed it over to him.

This is quite random even for you, is your intuition telling you to do this? Yup! I'll be a rich man after you guys wake up! Good luck! We all split up. Raishin headed toward the quarry, at least in that direction, the mines were further and more south than the quarry but to get there you would need to take the same road to exit Boshi town. I headed home but then I changed my mind, I decided to visit Gianni and go to sleep after that. I went through my personal archive to fish out the information about where he lived. I found out where he lived and headed toward his house. I rang the doorbell and a woman opened it.

Oh sorry, I think I got the wrong house!

“Wait! You’re here for Gianni, right?” How do you know that?

“Because I'm his girlfriend silly, we've met once before” This is not a scam, right?

“Gianni wasn't joking when he said you have an interesting recollection about things, come on in.” I still prepared myself for the possibility of this being a scam and this being the case of young women kidnapping young boys. I got to a bedroom and saw Gianni lying there bandaged up. He seemed to be sleeping. Hmm, he’s sleeping, not much I can do now he’s sleeping.

“Gianni told me a lot about you, he either talks about his merchant adventures, about you, or horseracing.” Oh, what did he say about me?

“He is convinced that you come from another planet or something, not just you but your friends too, how you 4 act and behave is unlike anything he has seen before and he travels a lot.” We come in peace.

“Hahaha, so what have you guys been up to? You guys always seem to be doing some strange things.” Just some alien stuff, I could tell you but I would have to kill you.

“Hmm, I would prefer to stay alive! Say, how did you end up in that situation anyways?” Well Donkey and his friends ganged up on me so I sent them flying, they ran to their mamas and papas because of that and they came to my house to complain, they also made Hera mad to which Gianni suggested we settle this with a battle. I didn't know he was more supportive oriented though.

“Ugh he has been watching too many magic tournaments, it did make him strong yes but that doesn't mean he is suited for battles like that” He meant it well, I appreciate that he did that. I will have to leave now, I'm quite tired and the rain is starting to intensify. We looked outside the window and saw how the rain was pouring down from the heavens. Hardly does it rain so severely here but it isn't exactly new that rain falls like this here.

“You did come here without an umbrella, why?” I’m a water user, getting wet doesn't bother me.

“I see… I guess that is another weird quirk of yours then.” Gianni’s girlfriend smiled.

Uhh, I guess, anyways say hi to Gianni for me when he wakes up. I stepped outside in the rain. I wasn't really dry when I stepped inside Gianni’s house but whatever state I was in was quite dry compared to the state I'm in now. The streets were deserted. Not surprising. My vision got obscured by all the rain that was falling. I might have overdone it but I don't think this heavy rain is my fault, I did summon some rain clouds but when I practiced this it was enough for 15 to 30 minutes of rain. And it never was as severe as this. It has been almost an hour since the rain clouds appeared. I walked through the empty streets and got distracted, this looked like the Boshi town in my training space with the inhabitant settings off. I wandered through random streets to see if my copy of the town was accurate. Seldomly are the streets completely empty. I decided to head home when I noticed that I ended up close to Boshi lake. Shit, this is really far from home.

I turned around but I suddenly got hit by a suffocating feeling. I clutched my chest. What is this? I activated my Elgards eyes and tried to find out what was going on. For some reason I couldn't see far into Boshi town, I could only see what was going on around Boshi lake and its direct surroundings. Oh no, not this again. Even though, I normally don't get cold or hot a chilling sensation started to fill the area. I turned on the filter of that weird energy Raishin and I encountered earlier in this timeline and it seemed like I was surrounded. Oof that's a lot of pink broccoli shades. They had a humanoid shape but were pink purple and blurry. I wondered if I could hit them with magic. I shot some water balls at them but they didn't seem to interact with magic. Ok, now I'm quite screwed. I threw a dagger at them and they also didn't seem to interact with physical things. Ok that was false the dagger got covered in the pink energy but to my eyes, it looked like gloop.

Yikes, so no physical contact either. The shades didn't seem to be affected by getting pierced by daggers. I have one more option but I'm too physically tired to do that now so only one option! Run away! I started running, the shades weren't fast but they were almost everywhere. Is this an invasion? I didn't run this filter when I was walking around in the town earlier. I got to the edge of this space and it was as if an invisible wall was blocking me. How did we get out the last time? I think I expanded the space, but what if that wasn't the cause of our escape? It did thin out the colors and the air in this space so I can't say that is a good idea if I'm not sure if it will break me out. I still had access to my dimensional pocket and as I expected my eyes told me that this was the same dimension as I was in earlier. I started to get worried. What if my buddies get stuck in something like this? They don't have space manipulation, nor can they see these things.

These shades weren't exactly coming for me but those that did notice me headed over to me. There were a lot of things I could try but because all my space-related magic was self-taught I couldn't tell what sorts of effects they would have maybe I would get stranded in an in-between dimension with no way out. I never thought of this before but I might have to consider finding another nine-tailed spirit fox or a skilled user in spatiotemporal magic to teach me. With the elemental magic, you can mess around and learn by trial and error but with this, it might be a bad idea to learn by trial and error. If I mess up with elemental magic the worst thing that can happen is that I die but since I have multiple lives, although not many, that is kind of fine. If I mess up here, I might get something worse than death. Getting temporal or spatial locked in an empty dark dimension sounds worse to me than dying. I decided to leave this as a last option.

I remember that Gregory could manipulate the energy and defeat the shades. there was only 1 when he did that though, I'm doing a quick count but there are over 200 shades here, even if I manage to figure out how Gregory did it, it will become a tiresome process. I feel like the world is mocking me, I got stronger and it just throws something else at me that I can’t deal with. I decided to avoid the shades by chilling on the lake. They didn't seem to like the water much even though my water balls didn't seem to interact with them. I froze a couch on the lake and sat on it while the waves rocked my couch. Does that sound weird? I don't know. It was still raining as hard as ever but suddenly it all stopped as if it had never rained. Ok, I might have thought I was in deep shit but maybe this is worse. I looked around but nothing indicated that anything strange was happening. I’m sure I'm wrong on this, I probably haven't found the correct filter. Hmm not doing anything wouldn't get me anywhere but I have no idea where to start. I dried myself by expelling the water from me. The shades at the shore seemed to notice me and tried to approach me but didn't seem to go further than waist deep, Well I don't know if shades have waists but if they had them that deep. I contemplated flooding the whole place since nobody was here anyways. I had a wet town and Boshi lake on my side, this should be a piece of cake. Time to flood this place!

“That sounds like an interesting solution” I fell off my couch into the lake at the sudden appearance of a woman’s voice. Ugh, what the! You can't just sneak up on people like that! Moreover, where did you come from? Wait have we met before? In front of me was a woman with blue hair and unusual blue eyes. She looked like she was in her begin twenties and I don't pay much attention to the opposite sex but she was really attractive. I'm sure Raishin would go crazy over her.

“I don’t know have we met before?” Hmm, it was dark and I was in a hurry but I did think we met briefly. I was convinced that I saw her when I rushed to Boshi lake.

“Hmm, I think I remember yes” Wait, I just remembered something. I got out of the water and stood on the surface of the water. She took the liberty to sit on the couch I made and crossed her legs

I took a step back. A lot of things weren't adding up, I just realized that I saw her in the last timeline, she shouldn't remember me, also what is she doing in this space, I didn't see anyone here before and I only noticed her when she said anything.

“How was the adventure on the lake?” Now I was convinced, she said something similar to this the last time. Ehh it was quite rough but interesting nonetheless. She patted the empty spot next to her gesturing for me to sit down. I concluded that if she wanted to kill me, she would have already done so or attempted to since I never noticed her presence. I reluctantly walked to the couch and sat down. So, ehh what brings you to this part of town? I mentally facepalmed but I guess this question isn't that weird.

“Haha, that sounded like a failed icebreaker” Please don't remind me…

“Hmm, well I would like to know that too, suddenly the rain stopped, and even though this looks like Boshi town it isn't. How about you?” Same thing, it was still raining when I arrived here though.

“Why are you floating on this lake anyways?” I pointed at some shades, although vaguely. She followed my finger and locked her eyes on a shade that I was roughly pointing at. I paid attention and she seemed to briefly track its movements after which she turned her eyes to me.

“What are you pointing at?” She was a bit close and it made me a little bit uncomfortable. You see them too, right?

“Hmmm, I guess you caught me, yeah, I see them, that is why I joined you here because I don’t want to deal with them.” So, what are they?

“My guess is as good as yours.” So, what are you?

“As you can see, I’m a young lady!” Ok, then how about this? Who are you?

“Hmm, let’s go with the name Azurra Mist, you can call me Azurra, and what is the name of my companion on this strange evening?” I’m Agnis, but I have the feeling you already knew that.

“Hmm, nothing seems to go past you” You are not from here, or are you? My memory isn't that great but I would certainly remember someone who... Ehh looks like you do.

“I’m enchanting right?” She struck a seductive pose. Right… let's go with that one, you do know that you get trapped here if you come here, right? Not that it matters because since you are already in that means you can't leave.

“That is very kind of you but I’m well aware, you might not know but I've lived here for quite a while.” Hmm, not much of an outside person, eh? Wait that doesn't add up if that is the case why were you walking around in the rain?

“I love rain!” Weirdo.

“How rude! But I forgive you” So I have another question, I might not look like it but I'm quite skilled in detection, how did you manage to sneak attack me?

“I'm super strong!” she said as she flexed her right biceps. Oh, so you can deal with these shades! Thank you very much! I will rely on this strong reliable adult!

“Nonono! Don’t misunderstand! I don't know what I'm doing here and what those things are!” Hmm really?

“So cheeky!” I don't know what the deal is with this chick she acts so familiar and carefree. “Hey, I have a question” Hmm?

“Can you braid my hair?” Excuse me?

“Mmmm! Don't make me repeat that!” She seemed genuinely embarrassed. “Can you braid my hair? Please?” Uhm, sure, but why? She got closer and handed me some of her hair she wanted to be braided. It seemed she wanted a single braid at the right side of her face.

“I'm too clumsy to make a good-looking braid, you look like you’re a top-class braider!” Uhm, I'm not sure about that but Hera is a weaver so I've picked up something or two. I started braiding her hair. Her hair was silky smooth and it smelled familiar. Mistflower, eh?

“Hmm?” Nothing, are you sure I should be braiding your hair while we are stuck in this space?

“I'm not but at least you get to be in the company of a beautiful woman and braid her hair.” Uhm sure. I couldn't get a read on this chick, not her intentions or what she is aiming for. I finished the braid. She looked in the reflection of the lake.

“Ooh, you’re good at this!” I might or might not have dabbled in braiding wires and making ropes.

“Can I rely on you to braid my hair again when it gets loose?” Then don't loosen it! She stuck out her tongue and spun around on the water.

“It's a deal then for our next date!” Uhm what? “I got to reward you though! I’m not sure if this will work but let's see if this will bring the place back to normal.” I don't think I follow. She lifted her hands and all the water in the lake started to rise except the part keeping this ice couch afloat. I was shocked. No incantation, no magic circle. I looked around nowhere did I see a magic circle she could have drawn or prepared. Was she a force of nature? Is it a racial skill? She is definitely not human that is for sure.

“Are you surprised? You are surprised right?!” A lot of things went through my mind, if this was a racial skill like my dimensional pocket and stuff then it wouldn't need any of that magic-related stuff but I couldn't think of many races that could do stuff like this, they were mostly water related but the vast majority of them wouldn't step outside the water. She isn't using any illusions that is for sure. The water rose and flooded the whole area. The shades seemed like they popped out of existence. “Hmm, it still seems like we are stuck, at least those things are gone” I looked at her while she walked back to the couch and sat down next to me. “Don't go falling in love with me now! Although I don't mind” I don't have any idea of how to deal with you She poked me with her elbow.

“Ahh don't be so cold!” For some reason this felt like my most major defeat yet, I have no idea what comebacks to make or how to even interact with this person. “So, what is the plan now?” Right doing nothing and being stun locked by this chick isn't going to help. You are an ally, right?

“Hmmpf! I can’t believe you still doubt me! What enemy lets her hair get braided?” As I see it you would have no problems wiping me off the face of this planet, so since you could do that easily it wouldn't matter what I would do.

“Stop being so cold! I'm not your enemy!” This chick seemed to be genuinely upset as if a good friend suddenly accused her of being an enemy. Or she is an excellent actor. I sighed. Alright, I'll trust you, Azu.

“Azu? Ehehe, I get a nickname?” I don't know what is wrong with this chick. Anyways I'm going to do something I don't want other people to know about.

“It's ok it will be our secret,” she says as she makes a cute pose. These interactions are draining my stamina, I think she could defeat me by just talking to me. I released 6 of my tails and focused mana on my Elgards eyes. They turned deep purple with 3 vertical pupil-like slits in the middle. “Ohh how pretty! Wait let me give you your reward first!” She ran to me and kissed me on my forehead. Wait wha… I wanted to say that I didn't need anything but I felt information go into my head.

“Did your heart skip a beat? It did, right?” What is this?

“I guess you already know but I give you 3 cool magic spells and also a skill that makes it easier for you to use water, now go bust this space, tiger!” Uhm ok, I’m a nine-tailed spirit fox though, are you a dragon by any chance? Azu made a puzzled look “Why would you ask me that? Of course, I’m not a dragon! Would be cool though!” Right, what was I thinking? I expanded the space. The colors started to dilute. I focused on the integrity of the fabric of space. The moment it was about to rupture, I collapsed it back to its original size. I heard the sound of glass cracking. I guess I winged it.

“Thank you, see you on our next date!” Azu smiled as the space cracked more and shattered. The scenery of Boshi lake appeared and it was still raining like crazy. I instantly got soaked again. I looked around to see where Azu went but I couldn't find her. Was she a ghost? I thought about it, I still had the 3 spells and the skill she gave to me, kind of hard to do when you’re a ghost, she isn't a spirit because I would be able to see that but even my eyes couldn't determine her race, either A, she was crazy strong B, she also had Elgards eyes, C, she was cloaked in frost magic, which might be plausible or D she used the same method that doesn't allow me to look beyond that space we were trapped in. maybe E she is a god? Could my eyes tell me that someone is a god? I don't know. I think options A or C are most plausible, I’m leaning toward A. I walked home. For some reason, a lot of time passed while I was in that space. It was almost 8 pm. I wouldn't get much sleep in today I guess, I was physically tired, and now thanks to Azu also mentally tired. I think I’m going to cheat a bit. I hopped in my dimensional pocket variation where time flows faster to get a good 5-hour nap. I hopped out and only 1 minute passed in real time since I took a 5-hour nap. At first, I didn't care what I was but now I'm really happy that I'm a nine-tailed spirit fox.

-You Ted, when were we supposed to meet up with Paul and Paula? - - In half an hour- - Alright thanks! - After this short Teleroad message I decided to relax and brush my tails. Philip and Hera were home but they seemed to be spending some quality time together so I was safe to have my tails out. I checked what Azu gave me. I almost fell off my bed. Does she want me to destroy the world or something? The skill I got was a passive one, now that I have it, I can't turn it off, instead of being able to use 4 times the amount of water present in my area of influence it increased to 8 times, also my range got increased and it enables me to easily change the shape of my magic spells. Shaped magic is always stronger than unshaped magic. But it seems this is a legendary class skill I'm sure I’m underestimating what this means. This first spell [Tsunami] sounds exactly like what it is but it has a lot of overpowered extra effects. It makes my next 3 magic spells mana free and I don't need to do any casting or incantations for them either. It also doubles in power when used on a big body of water or during rain, it has some nasty knockback effects and when used on land it will break any earth and light-based barriers.

I put my hands in my head, what is this chick doing passing on these destructive magic spells around like it’s candy? The worst part is that because of the passive skill I got this will wreck stuff. The next one is [Flood] it isn't as crazy as the Tsunami it covers the ground in shin-height water and adds a slow effect on anyone that has their feet submerged or doesn't have adequate proficiency in water magic I can also make it create waves and sweep targets along and surf on it. It doesn't seem to be super special instead that it also draws water out of the ground. So, this last one I don't know what it is or does. It is called [Azure Mist] did Azu make this magic spell herself? If so, that is very impressive. Judging by her personality this is going to be stupid strong in some way or form. I tested a part of the new skill. I tried to form the [water ball] into different shapes. I did have a lot of freedom in doing this. Normally when some things don't work it is because the user is lacking practice or some understanding of how the skill works but still at a certain point the skill is limited by the magic circle. Interfering with the magic circle of [water ball] would allow me to change its basic capabilities but the moment I mess with that it isn't called [water ball] anymore it will be custom-made magic.

Hmm, wait. Does this passive allow me to ignore the limitations of the magic circles and do whatever? I tried to turn my water ball into water wall and then frozen ground. No limitations, I didn't have to cancel any magic or layer the cast. Wow, this is stupidly overpowered. I know I can make it look like I seamlessly flow one magic into another and a lot of people can do that but that requires a lot of practice and some effort in execution. This is stress-free. I guess that fits Azu, she seemed so stress-free even though she was trapped in that weird space. I guess my water magic got a lot of freedom. I went through the details of the skill again. Wait a second, it doesn't specify that this is for water magic alone. It certainly would make sense if it was just water magic. I cast a lightning bolt and made it change shape. The thing about Lightning magic is that it is hard to make shapes with it, the reason I had to use a wire and that spear to make my [Lightning Umbrella] was exactly for that reason. And here I am forming an umbrella out of lightning with no issues. I let myself fall down on my bed. I put in my personal archive that if Azu ever became my enemy, I would have to do anything in my power to run away. I don't believe even for a millionth percent that there is any way my buddies and I can win against her. If she can pass this magic on, which in itself is quite special, then she is sure to have a lot of other crazy spells that defy logic. I looked at the ceiling. The moment I get stronger I just get reminded how big the world is. No point in thinking about “what ifs” she seemed quite friendly, maybe a bit too friendly, so we don't have to worry about that, what bothers me is that she said she lived here for a long time even though I’ve only seen her once before and that she seems to remember stuff from previous timelines. Which reminds me, Paul and Paula do too and they were going to give an explanation soon.

Hey, isn't this convenient? I got up and headed over to their house. They opened up and it seemed all my buddies were already there.

“You all came early, it seems that you are interested in what we have to say”

“Pff, as long as I can get my rematch then I'm fine with whatever!” Paul seemed to only be interested in a rematch, I can’t blame him, I didn't exactly give him a chance to fight to his heart's content. But letting opponents do as they please doesn't fall in my battle style so it’s just going to be the same in our rematch. Paula sat down and began to talk.

“I will start with why we were giving you this test, as we've said before we tried to destroy the root and failed. The battle with the guardian wasn't exactly easy but it wasn't extremely hard either, yet… we can't destroy the root properly so we will be bound to repeat this process and that is why we left the root as it is now. So, we gave you this test because the guardians all have their own ways of being strong. The twins might be the toughest to deal with because they’re spirits but they aren't the strongest guardian.” I suddenly got hit with a realization, if Azu is a guardian we are fucked, we are not beating her.

“Also, we just wanted to find out how strong you guys are” Paul added. Ooh, that makes sense

“Now you all might be curious why we still remember events that happened in the previous timeline and the answer is very simple, this is because we are related to the reason that barrier and the detestable tree are here. Surprisingly, you guys didn't get your memory wiped.” Paula looks at me. “Hmm, maybe not, if it’s a nine-tailed spirit fox then that all makes sense.” Hmm, I guess I'm not that great with time and space-related stuff though.

“I will have to stress this, It is more so aimed at your friends, a nine-tail has a crucial role in this world, don't allow him to die to stupid stuff.” We won’t but can you explain why?

“This ties to the reason the barrier is here and how Paul and I think that we are lucky that a nine-tailed spirit fox walked into the barrier. You see this is not a barrier. Just think about it, I will tell you the answer but I want you guys to try and figure out what the true nature is of this barrier.” Hmm, you say you two are related to why the barrier is here right? Roots are needed to break the tree which creates the barrier, the barrier doesn't let people leave but if there is no intent then you can pass. Wait! I'm starting to get shivers. When things are summed up like this some idea came up that gave me a bad feeling.

So, barriers mostly keep stuff outside, right? But this barrier seems to keep us inside, doesn't make this more of a prison than a barrier?

“Correct!” I don't see much of a difference, things can’t pass through it, right? Personally, I think keeping things outside is fine but keeping things inside means something scary.

“This barrier is made to do only one thing, keep 1 individual inside” Wait this super strong barrier to keep 1 person inside? And wait then why can't we leave then? Hmm, I assume the prison is so strong that we get caught in its side effects. This is bullshit! So, we get trapped here because someone couldn't defeat a monster and locked it away here?

“Yes, you guys are more knowledgeable than I would have thought, the strength of the prison reflects on anyone that is inside its area of effect which is slightly larger than Boshi town.“ You said you are related to why this prison is here right? Who or what is this barrier imprisoning?

“I'm afraid I can't tell you that…” Is it that you won’t or can’t? Back me up on this Agnis or Greg but don't these things usually come with a lot of restrictions on their targets? That sounds about right, they would have probably directly approached us if they could but their roundabout way suggests that they are restricted.

“Thank you for understanding…” So, what can you tell us then?

“The prison was made by a god to trap that certain individual and we were that individual's close friends; we have been trapped here ever since but this prison doesn't really allow us to interact with that individual.” Paula tried to keep back her tears and Paul took over. “The reason why we are glad that you are a ninetails, Agnis is because one of the roles they have is to correct gods that act out of line.” Wowowow! Stop there for a second? You are telling me that nine-tailed spirit foxes' role is to duke it out with the gods when they do stupid stuff? Hmm, that might explain why under the tailed beasts the nine-tail spirit foxes population is the lowest, it isn't even a little bit lower last time I heard about it, the 8 tailed monkeys, the second lowest population has more than 10 times the population of spirit foxes. I think the population of nine-tailed spirit foxes is close to hitting double digits.

Wait what? I didn't know that! Does it mean we are going extinct?

“Sadly, very much so, I don't think you guys have thought about it but every tailed mythical beast has an important place in the world, I'm assuming you guys are from Hourai? I think one of the reasons that place was made is to prevent the gods and the races down here from wiping them out in greed or curiosity.” Oh, Oh no! What is it, Ted?

Uhm, Paula, I need you to be very calm.

“What is it, Ted?” Hourai is gone.

“What!?” Paul caught Paula who seemed to almost collapse. Gregory rushed at her and gave her some potions. I was monitoring her heart rate. Right, after what you just said our homeland disappearing is a big problem yes. Paul didn't seem to show it on his face but he seemed to be in panic too.

“So, what does that mean? You are the only tailed beasts left?” Possibly, give or take a few extras. I smacked Raishin.

“Oh no, this world is doomed!” Well as far as we know it's just gone, they are not dead, I hope… I said that but I got a heavy inexplicable feeling and was filled with doubt. They are ok, aren't they? Hmm, I knew we had an important role but I didn't know it was of such importance.

“Ugh, suddenly our problems don't sound as big anymore although that almost gave me a heart attack, this is too much for my old body." Paula laid down for a bit. So, a god made this prison, and nine-tailed spirit foxes are tasked to clean up their mess, was that right?

“Yes, I know they have quite a lot of tasks more than the other-tailed beasts but I only know of that one.” So that is why your race is so overpowered you have to fight gods when they do something stupid! Good luck! Raishin punched my shoulder. And guess who I will be bringing along! I punched his shoulder back. Well, I guess that explains the stories about our mothers fighting gods, I guess we will go down that road someday, although I surely hope that is not the case. “Ahem so that bitch imprisoned that individual and we were collateral”

So how many of you got caught in the crossfire?

“I can’t say sorry” Can you do yes or no as answers? You were caught in the crossfire, correct?

“That is not a yes or no question but correct” Paula was caught in the crossfire, correct?

“Correct” Azu was caught in the crossfire, correct?

“Azu?” Oh, Azurra Mist, some blue-haired chick I met, she also remembered some events from previous timelines.

“That!” Paula and Paul both seemed shocked and surprised.” That I cannot say” Hmm, whoever put those restrictions in place is a moron because the fact that you can't answer this means that she probably is the target of this barrier. I assumed that they couldn't answer that question but their behavior confirmed my theory.

Hey Agnis, who is this Azurra you just brought up? You never told us anything about this. Well, that is because I only learned about her an hour ago or so. What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?

Hey! Not by choice! I was just walking home after we split up but I decided to hop by Gianni for a bit, he’s doing fine by the way, I then headed home and it was raining like crazy. But then I found myself in a separate space Raishin and I got stuck in earlier this timeline. The one where he got attacked by some pink shade and where you guys got this gooey energy stuck on yourselves?

Yeah, well I met her there, she seemed a bit too relaxed and then swamped the whole area because it was filled with shades. My take on this is if she becomes our enemy, we are toast, there is nothing we could do to her and she could probably yawn and wipe us out. That strong, eh?

Yeah, the funny part is? I think she still has a lot of seals on her limiting her power, I couldn't get a good look at her because my Elgards eyes didn't work on her, but to think that a god had to do this to her and couldn't manage to kill her doesn't surprise me at all. Paula, did Azurra get imprisoned because that god couldn't defeat her? The elderly couple was silent but the answer was clear. Azurra was probably kicking ass and the god decided to seal her away because the god couldn't win. Normally I would think of such things as some mythology but our moms were doing some similar stuff and well, we are quite mythical ourselves.

Paul on a scale of 1 to 10 how likely do you think we could live a quiet and peaceful life if we leave this place?

“I'm sorry to say this Ted but that is a fat 0, if the god that made this barrier discovers that you guys lifted it, she might come for you.” Oooh, it's a she! I don't think it matters if she is petty enough to go after 4 teenagers for lifting her barrier.

“And petty she is! Aaargh!” After saying that Paul got struck by what seemed an intense pain. I'm assuming here that that is what happens when he says something he isn’t supposed to. Hmm, I'm interested in which goddess did this but there are too many to do the false and correct game, let's just hope we never find out.

“This evening has been too much for us, way more than we expected to, I hope you guys are satisfied with this, We need to rest.” Paula stood up but she seemed a bit weak. I guess the shock of Hourai being gone hit her hard. We helped them into their beds and stood in the corridor. So, this is a lot to take in. Ugh, I have to deal with a god's bullshit? Just why! Surely the god isn’t the end boss, right? We look at Raishin.

Ugh! I don't want to think about it! The 7th root being hidden suddenly makes a lot of sense! Wait! I was joking! It seems the spirit sisters were the 3rd hardest guardians, let's assume the hidden one is the hardest that just leaves us with the second hardest root if we can somehow deal with that hopefully we might be able to scrape by.

Paul did say that the goddess might come for us when she discovers that we lifted the prison he might not have meant to give us that hint but that most likely means that the god isn't the last boss. So, we are safe, for now. Let's hope so. We opened the door and it was still raining. Meh! Gregory shadow melded and headed home. Raishin dashed out and headed toward his hut.

By the way, you forgot to mention what Azurra remembered from a previous timeline. Oh, she told me to have a fun adventure on the lake, even though only you guys were supposed to know about that. When I met her earlier today, she asked me how that adventure went.

Oh, yeah, she certainly remembers something from another timeline then. I'm going home cya! Cya! I decided to teleport home to avoid any run-ins with bullies or possibly getting trapped in random spaces. As I sat down on my bed the rain stopped. What are you? With that thought, I fell asleep.