I love this Academic Approach, so fun!

One Month Later

Nate never planned on becoming a priest, but so far he was loving it. Training gave him a sense of purpose and he was evolving fast. Meditation and instruction allowed him to sense his own Haku, or spiritual energy. Through that focus, he always had focus, he could push it out and into his hands and into objects. That was a need, and it happened easily. It was easier with spells, and song, even just humming helped due to increase in focus. He was tired every time he did much as his powers were too underdeveloped.

Spiritual ability, though manifested through emotions at first, were drawn by focus and intellect, so he quickly gained the means to control his skills. Meditation was a great tool, and so was study. He loved, preferred, the idea of being good by effort. He was never fond of just being handed anything.

Calligraphy proved to be useful with the spell papers, or sutras, that he learned to make. It was here that he excelled. Spells were just ideas, words, written onto paper and charge with power. He was not strong enough to manifest any power as of yet, but he knew the theory of paralyzing, purifying and purging demons. He could, in theory, make barriers and create repulsive energies. Again, it was just a theory but it was cool.

Herbs and potions came almost as naturally. One simply did not need to be a natural at magic to be good at potions. Without modern medicine, he focused hard on this to ensure his own survival. He learned, in a month, the name and potency of every damn herb and almost a third of the potions one could make. That included purifying salts, the only mystical object he could safely use due to their innate powers.

Kenjutsu proved to be fun but hard, he was simply not that athletic but boy was it worth it. He felt himself getting into shape, losing his butterball shape to become something powerful. He loved it, all of it. His goal was to one day best his sister disciples, who were talented with their staffs, having a year of training on him.

The last thing he worked on was his education. Always a scholar at heart, he spent many an hour studying or listening to his master talk. He learned about the risk of spiritual powers like death from overexertion. He studied the powers of ancient demons like the Legendary Dog Demon Toga. He understood the power of Jaki and Yokai and their brand of corruptive physical magic.

His favorite topics was the Shikon Jewels and Hanyos. He wanted to become a halfdemon, the idea of mixing his growing spiritual power with demonic magic, gaining immortality and magic was... enticing. He was no pure being, he knew that. The idea of survival was everything to him. Especially in a world filled with dark and twisted beings, endless war. It was his newest goal and one he would accomplish, by any means.

He never wrote this idea down, never spoke of it, it would be entirely a secret affair. His master was not long for this world...

:::

Six month later

Holding a talisman in hand, Nate focused hard. Spelled for a barrier, he pushed out his spiritual energy, sweating from the strain... and slowly, before he could even believe it, a thin, weak barrier of blue energy formed. His master poked and prodded it, smiling the entire time.

"Very good, dear boy... I am most proud."

"Thank you, master."

"You have evolved greatly in the last few months. Your spiritual powers are nearly as great as your Sisters. You are learning kenjutsu and healing so fast. You nay be ready to leave in merely a few months!"

The boy froze, the barrier breaking. "I would like to stay for a while longer, learning more spells, refining my powers until I can safely use them. If that is alright?"

The man nodded. "Always, you are always welcome here in my shrine. Now once more, if you are to be a powerful priest, you need greater barriers in combat. You are skilled, you surpassed your sisters in control already. Let us focus harder!"

And focus is what he did, hard, aiming to master the powers in his soul so that one day he could achieve the immortality he so craved.

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a lovely chapter.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.