We spend hours training. I know I'm getting better, stronger, and faster. I can feel it. I get to visit the mother goddess later tonight so she can train me even more on my powers and maybe even unlock some hidden abilities. I can’t wait to get stronger so I can defend my home and defeat the Spirit of Darkness! I am curious as to why there is no mention of a light spirit. I’ll ask the Mother Goddess while she trains me. Even though I’m assuming it’s because she holds that light power.

I look at the fake pendant. It’s just as creepy as the real one. But I wonder if this will fool the Spirit of Darkness. Probably not, but it will fool Raiden. It’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the real and fake. The only difference is the string Kage tied to the fake, so I don’t confuse it with the real one.

It doesn’t harbor any power, it just feels like it does. I worry about my upcoming battle with the Spirit of Darkness and Raiden. Raiden shouldn’t be too hard to handle, it's the Spirit of Darkness I worry about. How can I, a regular mortal with special powers, possibly beat a literal GOD?

I take a deep breath and calm myself down. I can hear Kage’s purring again. He’s so loud. I follow the sound to see Hametsu rubbing Kage’s head and Kage laying his head across his lap on a couch. I don't think I ever wished for a camera in that moment more than I ever have because, oh my god, it’s so cute. I’ll draw it later when I have the chance, if I even remember this.

“Dude why are you purring?” I ask.

“I’m a dragon, we purr when content or relaxed.” he says. Hametsu keeps rubbing his head like he's petting a cat or something. Kage rolls over onto his stomach and purrs even more.

“Alright Kage, I need to get up.” Hametsu says.

“No,” he whines.

“Please?” Hametsu says to him.

“Why are you getting up? Keep petting me.” Kage whines again.

“In case you have forgotten, we’re in the middle of a war and I need to make sure my sister is safe and not alone with Ryan.”

“Dude what the hell?” Kage and I say in unison.

“She’s my sister! My precious, innocent, saintly sister!”

“Who is the exact same age as you,” Kage retorts rolling on his back again. He grins mischievously. Hametsu rolls his eyes and flicks his forehead.

“For real though, get off me. My legs are asleep and they hurt.” he pushes him off. “Damn you’re heavy.”

“Are you implying that I’m fat?” Kage asks Hametsu, faking offense and standing up. Hametsu scoffs a bit.

“You have a long way to go if you want to even be a little bit chubby, you twig.”

“Excuse you, Hamburger! I am not a twig! I am a stick, there's a difference. One is bigger than the other.” I nearly burst out laughing when hearing Kage call him that. It’s taking every ounce of self control I have to not just start laughing like a hyena.

“Oh~ so you’re saying that I have the bigger-”

“O K A Y this is where I intervene!” I say holding in my laughter. “Hamburger…” Hametsu shakes his head and starts laughing a bit.

All three of us end up bursting out laughing because we couldn't contain ourselves. Even in tough times like this, it’s still nice to have a little fun. Especially with family.

After dinner, I go to the temple to see if the Mother Goddess is there. She isn’t, so I just sit down and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

She finally comes after like ten minutes. Wow I am really impatient. Ten minutes isn’t even that long.

“Sorry for the delay. I was talking with Shinda.”

“Who?”

“The Spirit of Death.”

“Oh… about what?”

“Onyx and Raiden.”

“Who’s Onyx?”

“The Spirit of Darkness.”

We fall into an awkward silence for a moment. She just casually answers all my questions. Well, at least I know the names of the Spirit of Darkness and the Spirit of Death.

“Are you ready to train?” she asks me.

“More than ready.”

She summons a dummy made out of stone for me to fight. I am not at all prepared for that. I fight that thing with everything Aiden and the elemental fairies taught me. I’m barely making a scratch on it. Meanwhile, I’m getting pummeled by this thing. This woman is tough.

“What is all this for?”

“Onyx is going to be very very tough. I’m teaching you how to access your true power, which can only be unlocked at your absolute limit.”

“I feel like I’m at my limit.”

“We’ll keep going.”

The more I trained, the more exhausted I became. I was in a lot of pain and could barely stand.

I go onto my hands and knees, completely exhausted. I had no idea the Mother Goddess was this harsh when it comes to training. The dummy is about to slam me into the dirt while I'm on the ground, I raise my hand up and shoot out a blast of golden light without thinking. The dummy staggers and falls backwards. Within a second of doing that, all of my energy came back. My wounds heal themselves and I stand up and grab Excalibur. The dummy stands up too. Excalibur glows with that light and I begin fighting again with a vicious fury. I’m making deep slash marks into the dummy before I’m finally able to destroy it completely.

The mother goddess claps excitedly.

“Bravo! Bravo!” she exclaims happily with a huge smile. “You did it!”

I sighed.

“That was… definitely something.” I say, pretty annoyed. “I was not expecting you to be this tough.”

She sighs.

“I take training very seriously, Kallan. Especially now considering the circumstances,” she explains. I nod, understanding her point. I have to be stronger in order to fight Raiden and Onyx. They can’t be allowed to win. I don’t care if it costs my life, just as long as they are no longer a threat to Fae and Earth.

“We are done for today. Tomorrow we’ll strengthen your powers,” she tells me.

“Alright,” I say. I bow respectfully.

“There's no need to do that Kallan,” she says with a warm smile. I stop bowing.

“Have a good night, Mother Goddess,” I say.

“Please, just call me Valley.”

“Okay then… Valley…” I say, feeling super awkward. A goddess just gave me permission to use her name. “Good night.”

“Good night!” she teleports to her home and I fly back to my home.

As soon as I get home, I change clothes and go to bed. It’s nearly two in the morning. I’ll have to take a bath tomorrow since everyone is asleep. I pass out as soon as I get comfy under my covers.

I spend the entire next day training with Valley. She trains me on my powers, making shields, energy projectiles, infusing them with Excalibur to make my sword skills even better and stronger. The more I train, the stronger I become. Then comes the absolute limit part. I am not looking forward to it.

I am especially unprepared for who my opponent is. It’s a dude with very long dark purple hair tied up in a ponytail. He's got thin black feathered wings and scythe that looks similar to Hametsu’s, but way more ornate looking. His eyes are orange, just straight up orange. His skin is also semi-pale and he wears an expression that says “I really dont give a crap about anything.” He wears a waist cape thing. I never really knew what those are called but his is purple just like his top. He has a white sash across his chest, white paints, and black boots with brown soles and buckles. He has black markings under his eyes.

“I’m Shinigami, but call me Shinda.” he says.

“So you’re the Spirit of Death?” I ask in clarification.

He gives me this sarcastic smile.

“No,” he starts, with a very unreasonable amount of sarcasm. “I’m the Spirit of Everlasting Life!”

“Shinda! That wasn’t necessary,” Valley scolds.

“Stupid questions get stupid answers,” he says with a shrug. “Hametsu and Lilly learned pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” I state.

Good LORD this guy is tough! He's strong, fast and just down right powerful. I can barely land a scratch on him.

“This is not fair!” I complain.

“Quit your whining and get up. This is kid stuff compared to Onyx. He wouldn't even let you get up and instead would pin you down and stab you until you died,” he says.

“Wow, no pressure.” I say, struggling to get up. The knocks me back down again. Now I'm pissed. I get up and try to keep fighting him, but again, I'm exhausted. I feel the limit energy activating, fully healing me and giving me a much needed boost of power. I easily won the battle after that.

“Yes!” I exclaim. Shinda gives me an approving nod.

“Nice job,” he says. “Now we just gotta get you to activate that power when you aren't on the brink of death.”

“Easier said than done,” I say, a little annoyed.

“That's all the training for today. You may go home. I expect to see you tomorrow.” Valley says. Again, this woman is tough. “Shinda will be training with us from now on.”

Oh hell no. From what hametsu told me, Shinda is VERY harsh and tough in training.

“Alright. See you tomorrow,” I say as I fly off. I arrive home without a problem.

“Yo Kal, how was your training?” I hear Hametsu say to me.

“Tough. The Spirit of Death was there.”

“I know. He told me that he and Valley are training you.”

“You know the Mother Goddess?”

He nods his head.

“I met her some time after I moved in with Shinda. They’re very close. He has feelings for her but he doesn’t want to admit it,” he explains. “I see her a lot with Shinda when she visits the Netherworld.”

“Netherworld?” I immediately thought of the Nether from Minecraft.

“Yeah. It’s where lost spirits and spirits who can’t enter heaven or hell go.”

“What's it like there?”

“It’s basically feudal Japan there,” he explains. “But instead of samurai, we have reapers. Each has their own weapon. Shinda, my late father, and I all use scythes. My dad could also use a sword too. Shinda rules the Netherworld obviously.”

That sounds really cool. I told him that and he thanked me while blushing a bit and smiling.

He’s not acting like the deranged psycho he was when I first met him. It’s really nice. I’m able to have an actual conversation with him without it getting dark and depressing quickly. I guess being with his sister really helps him.

The insane look creeps into his eyes again. He excuses himself and goes to find his sister.

The trade is tomorrow. I need to find a safe place to put the real pendant while I trade the fake one in exchange for Roxy. I don’t trust Raiden, But I have to go alone. I am a man of my word. I just hope he comes alone too.