Sorry for the wait. We had used up nearly all of our internet for the month, so we couldn't use the internet until the data plan rolled over, unless it was school-related.

Since even with this brain injury, my hands are coordinated enough for me to crochet again. And since I got into National Honor's Society, I'll be crocheting hats for newborns at the local hospital. So the updates will become very all over with how frequently I get each chapter up.

A few days later, at Capua Torim, the group had arrived late the other day and stayed at the inn. After breakfast, Rose stood from her seat at the table, hands planted on her hips.

"I'm taking Lailah and Edna on a shopping trip around the town!" Rose declared.

"No thanks," Edna grumbled. Rose grabbed her arm and dragged the seraph out of her seat.

"Not an option! You need to learn to be like a girl!"

"Are you saying I'm not?" Edna growled.

"I'm just saying you could stand to be more like one."

"Ugh, I'd rather die..."

"What about me?" Lailah asked, standing up.

"Sure, sure, you're fine. Now help me drag Edna."

As the two girls dragged a screaming and kicking Edna toward the inn's door, Mikleo let out a long sigh.

"We may have a lot of money, but don't go wasting it all."

"Whatevs," Rose said and pushed the door open with one shoulder, using both hands to get a grip on Edna. All the little girl managed to scream was, "Couple of bit-" before the door closed.

By the time the girls reached the shop, Edna had gotten all the local's attention by cursing up a storm.

"My god..." Rose sighed. She turned and started browsing what was for sale. Edna huffed and crossed her arms.

"Doesn't this dress look nice?" Lailah asked. Rose turned to see what Lailah was talking about. The fire seraph was staring at a long, white dress in the window of the next store, except...

"Um, Lailah, that's a wedding dress."

Lailah blushed and covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Oops..."

Edna sighed. She swore, most of the time Lailah's head was full of cotton. She went back to looking at the available umbrellas.

Rose let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not finding anything!" She faced the shopkeeper and took out two Mythril Daggers. "Can you just fuse these for me?"

The person gave her a funny look. "What?"

"Don't you know what item fusion is?" Rose asked.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of that."

Lailah came over. "There isn't item fusion in this world?!" she gasped. Edna came over and started dragging Lailah away.

"You can't expect every world to have your weird obsession."

Rose sighed and led the girls to the next vendor. So far, this shopping trip was turning out to be a major buzzkill.

By now, Judith had gotten the message. She was on the Fiertia, which was being flown by Ba'ul. Going over Caer Bocram, Judith peered over the edge and saw the tiger called Dyaus Pita leaving the ruined town and was entering the forest. The monsters had been classified, any new ones being called aragami. Recently, by concentrating, Entelexeia could seek out the fell arms. As Dein Nomos was close to being one, Ba'ul would be able to find the group by sensing the sword.

Ba'ul howled and Judith looked up at the dragon. "I was wondering what that variant Vaijra was doing, myself." The tiger-like aragami were called Vaijra, though similar but slightly different ones were variant. And it wasn't just Vaijra. There were other variants such as Susano'o, Hannibal, Amaterasu, Marduk, and others. "We should hurry."

There was a blockade for any ships sailing to Ilyccia because of the miasma issue there. Three days passed, and there was still no sign of the blockade being lifted.

Outside of town, Sorey was honing his sword skills by sparing with Duke. Mikleo was sitting under a nearby tree, reading a book. Rose had taken the girls shopping again, and Zaveid was chasing skirts.

Mikleo peered over his book just in time to see Sorey get knocked down again by Duke.

"Maybe we should call it a day," he said, closing the book and standing up.

Sorey got to his feet and shook his head. "I can't take a break. I need to be stronger to stand up to Heldalf!"

"Good grief..." the seraph sighed. Duke's head perked up.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Sorey asked.

"Sort of a bad feeling," Duke replied.

Sorey scratched his head. "I didn't feel anything like that."

"Maybe it was just my imagination..." Duke muttered. A twig snapped and Mikleo snapped around, summoning his staff. Duke did the same, readying Dein Nomos. Only Sorey looked lost.

"What is it?" At the same time, Dyaus Pita leapt into the clearing with the other three. It brought one paw down on Sorey. However, the Shepherd dodged just in time, pulling out his sword. Pita roared and the wing-like things lifted up, a giant ball of black lightning forming in front of them. As it fired the ball of lightning, Duke moved in front of Sorey and Mikleo, holding up Dein Nomos like a shield, holding back the attack. The ball exploded, sending streams of black electricity rinning the Dein Nomos and Duke's arms.

"Aqua Serpent!" Mikleo shouted. Pita glanced over at the jet of water that looked like a snake heading at him. Pita held one wing in front of him to block the spell. At the same time, Sorey ran at the tiger, slashing down with his sword. It hit, but it didn't seem to do much damage. Pita swat at the Shepherd with the other wing. Duke teleported above the monster, preparing to use Moonbeam. However, the electricity running through him forced the man to halt in using the arte. The aragami looked up, seeing Duke, and slashed at him with the same wing used on Sorey. Duke was knocked down. He had a large, horizontal cut across his chest. It was bleeding, but not heavily.

Sorey grit his teeth. "Luzrov Rulay!" Mikleo vanished and was merged with Sorey for the Water Armatus. Sorey pulled the string of the bow back, releasing it and firing several arrows at Pita. The variant Vaijra knocked most of them away by lashing with one paw but the rest hit his face. There were a few scratches on Pita, but he looked more furious than anything. Sorey folded up the bow into a blade and ran at Pita. He knocked the two away by whipping his tail at them.

At the same time, Duke came at the monster from its side. "Light Spear!" Pita jumped back in time to avoid the strike arte and pounced, attempting to crush Duke.

"Luna Fang!"

From a ship in the sky being flown by what looked like a giant whale, a woman came down on Pita with her feet, knocking the aragami down before it landed on Duke. Afterwards, the woman came down from the tiger and helped Duke to his feet. Sorey recognized her from Dahngrest as Judith.

"Perfect timing," Duke said.

Judith looked down at the wound on the man's body. "Seems you had a rough time." The girls and Zaveid came running over.

"I heard fighting! What's going on?!" Rose demanded. Pita got back to his feet, glaring at the Krityan.

"Aw hell!" Zaveid moaned.

"Ba'ul!" Judith called up. The massive whale howled and fired an energy beam at Pita, knocking the aragami away. The ship was lowered, Judith climbing up on it. "Get on!"

Just as the ship was lifted back into the air, the Vaijra got back to the clearing and fired a ball of lightning at the ship. Ba'ul let loose an energy beam, cancelling out the attack. The ball exploded, creating a smokescreen. Ba'ul used this chance to fly the ship away.

"What in the world was going on?!" Judith exclaimed. Sorey told her about the miasma and Dyaus Pita. In return, Judith shared what she knew. Aragami were the name given to the new monsters. Pita was a variant Vaijra.

Duke groaned, clutching the wound. Judith glanced at him. "Even though we patched him up, he should see a doctor."

"I am fine. We just got to Ilyccia, so we do not need to head back to Tolbyccia for this," Duke told her. Judith sighed.

"Fine, but I don't want you complaining because infection set in."

"I would love to hear him whine!" Rose whispered to Sorey.

"So what's the story with that thing?" Zaveid asked, pointing at Ba'ul.

"He's an Entelexeia named Ba'ul," Judith replied simply.

"Uh-huh," Zaveid said. "I have a million other questions, but I have a feeling that you'll give me short answers."

"Suit yourself," Judith shrugged. She turned to Duke. "So you're going to see Undine?"

"That is correct," Duke replied.

"I just want to warn you that several aragami have settled in the Blade Drifts, including a powerful variant."

"Which one?" Lailah asked Judith.

"We aren't sure yet, but it's very strong, probably more so than Dyaus Pita."