Chapter 33: New Sage

"What kind of bullshit is this?!"

Yeah. That is the kind of reaction that is the right one when you hear what kind of bullshit power is the Sky Flame.

"That is the power of the Sky Flame."

"Absorbing foreign energy and safely integrating it into your body without any precaution?! That is some bullshit-level power, boy!"

"I know, elder. I know. However, it is also dangerous."

I look at Aria and let her do it.

"If we cannot harmonize that energy fast enough, the harmful energy will tear our body from the inside out."

The elder takes a deep breath and says.

"You are right. I am sorry for my outburst. It is just surprising to see something this absurd. Even in my old life, this is my first time seeing something like this."

Aria smiles and says.

"It is not a problem, elder."

"Can you come here every now and then? I want to test your flame."

"You can ask Lady Yasaka for it. Vale decides to give her a Sky Flame as a gift after she agrees to be his lover."

"Oh?"

The elder looks at Yasaka with a small smile as the Vixen looks away in embarrassment.

"Finally picking a mate, huh? The dowry is a very powerful ability. Not bad."

"Elder!"

We laugh at Yasaka's blushing face for a second before I say.

"Anyway, Is Aria good now, Elder?"

The elder looks at me with a serious expression and says.

"For now, yes. She gets another twenty years of lifespan. From that ritual, I know she could live up to a hundred years if she did not have that curse—a great lifespan for a human. She can do two more rituals before Lady Izanami forbids it and gets her soul ripped out of her body."

Yikes. As expected of Lady Izanami. She is known as a very sadistic Goddess, right? Or is it not? Maybe she is just a stern Goddess who wants to maintain the life and death cycle. I am curious, but I don't want to find out.

"Thank you, Elder. It is already enough for me to live for two more decades."

I look at Aria as if she is stupid and says.

"What are you? Stupid? She said that you can do another two rituals, and we will do it. We'll do it until you see your grandchildren. Isn't that right, Reborn?"

The cursed toddler on my head nods his head seriously and says.

"Vale is right. We will make sure you see your Grandchildren, Aria."

Aria looks at us with eyes full of hope, and I can see tears slowly appear in the corners of her eyes.

"You guys…"

I give her a head pat, and I can see her guardians get close to her for comfort as well. After a minute of comforting her, the elder looks at us and says,

"Right! As a new Senjutsu user, I recommend she stay here to train her new power. I will teach her how to use her power and ensure nothing dangerous happens."

I look at Aria and see her nodding her head.

"Thank you, Elder. I will be in your care from now on."

"Good. We will start your training in a couple of hours. Make sure to change into a training outfit. Lady Yasaka, may I borrow some of the training outfit?"

Yasaka nods and says.

"Of course. Take as much as you want, Elder."

"Thank you."

The elder gets up and says.

"Then I will take my leave for now. I need to eat some breakfast and prepare for the training."

When she leaves, Yasaka looks at us and says,

"Right! Who wants to have some breakfast?"

==||==

"I see. You are going for a tech company, huh? Do you want to create something more powerful than what the Fallen Angels and Devils do, Vale?"

"Are they the people who monopoly the tech market?"

I take a bite of my rice after saying that.

"Yes. They own a lot of the tech companies around the world and let the humans do the work while they enjoy the fruit of the labor. They only use something called Magitech, a technology that uses magic to run. It is more powerful than the one in the human world."

So they did not create more powerful tech for humans and only created magitech for themselves, huh? I will change that.

"I have a group of people that will change that."

"Really? What kind of thing do you want to create, Vale?"

"Hmmm? At the moment, the boys are creating something called a smartphone."

"Smartphone? What is that?"

"Hmmm… think of a phone. It can call someone, and it can send a message. However, it can also capture a picture, browse the internet, and even play some games."

She looks at me as if I say something outrageous.

"Are you sure? That sounds like something that will happen in ten years from now on."

I give her a smirk and say.

"Nope. We already have the prototype, and it is ready to be sold. We only need to finish some paperwork shit, and it will be ready in a couple of months."

"Really? Can you make one of the stores here? I think it will be a big hit if what you say is true."

I think for a second before nodding my head.

"Sure. I can open up a store here when the phone is released. Do you want one? I can give one to you before release."

"Can I? I want to see what kind of phone it is."

"Of course. I will give you one in a day or two."

Yasaka gives me a large smile, her tail swinging around in happiness. She drinks the miso soup and says,

"Also, I want to ask if you want to try to get Senjutsu, Vale?"

I look at her in surprise and say.

"Can I? Isn't it some kind of sacred thing that only the Youkai can use?"

She shakes her head and says.

"Not really, no. Senjutsu can only be used by Youkai because we have a unique biology that lets us absorb natural energy. However, your flame can bypass that limitation by using your flame to absorb the natural energy."

"I see. Sure. I will be thankful if you are willing to give me some of your Natural Energy."

She nods and touches my forehead. I can feel foreign energy enter my body, and my Sky Flame greets the energy before it can do anything to my body. When my Sky Flame harmonizes the natural energy, something clicks in my soul.

I can feel the world. I can feel its anger. I can feel its pain. I can feel its yearning for help. I unconsciously grab that feeling and try to ask what I can do to help it. As if a dam opens up, I can feel a rush of natural energy enter my body.

My sky flame flares up and filters the entire natural energy. It is tainted–Corrupted by the hate of the world against humanity. I controlled my breathing and made sure the tainted natural energy did not enter my body and soul.

The world keeps giving me a lot of natural energy. It comes and keeps coming. However, a few minutes later, it starts to slow down. After the end of it, I can feel the world feel a little bit happy, and it even gives me some of the pure natural energy that seeps into my body, making it stronger.

I release a sigh and open my eyes to see my guardians look at me in worry and Yasaka, who is on the brink of a panic attack.

"Vale! Are you okay?!"

I smile at her and say.

"Yeah. The world is reaching me."

"No! You did not respond to that, right?! Many youkai go insane after reaching for the world. They get too much tainted natural energy and go insane."

"I do respond to that. However, I managed to filter the tainted natural energy using my sky flame. You can feel something change in the area."

She takes a deep breath and widens her eyes.

"H-How?"

"Sky Flame. It can harmonize things, right? Well, it looks like the Sky Flame is also able to destroy all the flaws in the tainted natural energy. In return for my work, the world gives me some of the pure natural energy."

She looks at me for a few seconds before saying.

"Vale. You become a Sage. A new Sage since Sun Wukong."