"So, this makes me your retainer, Lin?"
Yotsuya Miko blinked, a sigh of relief escaping her heart.
She could feel an invisible connection between herself and Lin, along with the power within her body.
Thankfully, it wasn't through that kind of thing.
As for a kiss, that was acceptable now.
Yet, for some reason, she felt a tiny bit of disappointment.
Startled by this thought,
Yotsuya Miko quickly banished it from her mind.
"Of course. By the way, Miko, what did you think we were going to do?"
Lin gazed at her with a knowing smile.
As if he saw right through her.
Yotsuya Miko's face instantly flushed crimson, and she found herself unable to look Lin directly in the eyes.
How could she possibly vocalize that kind of thing?
Besides, it was all Lin's fault.
If he hadn't been so enigmatic and vague with his words, how could she have possibly gotten such a wrong idea?
So, it was all Lin's fault.
Watching Yotsuya Miko's bashful reaction, Lin's smile grew a few shades more amused as he suggested:
"Try out the power within you."
"The power within me..."
Hearing this, Yotsuya Miko was slightly taken aback.
She took a deep breath to regain some composure, then temporarily suppressed those thoughts in her mind.
Closing her eyes, she sensed the power surging within her.
The source of the power was in her lower abdomen.
Yotsuya Miko opened her eyes.
She raised her right hand in front of her, carefully channeling the power.
A cluster of blue-green light emanated from her palm, with faint glimmers of ice crystals appearing around it.
This was the power of Blue's Order.
Its properties were the opposite of Red Kingship.
If the power of Red Kingship was violent, passionate flames,
then the power of Blue's Order was the calm, icy stillness of order.
In the K world, the Blue King had once used his power to create a defensive barrier on Ashinaka High School Island.
After the barrier shattered, it dispersed as ice crystal powder.
Because the special phenomena generated when Aura collided with physical matter in reality were all similar "heat shimmers".
Therefore, the ice aspect wasn't outwardly obvious.
The Aura phenomenon actually looked more like blue-green flames.
"What an amazing feeling."
After activating the power within her, Yotsuya Miko's eyes sparkled.
She had a feeling that by using this power, she could accomplish many things she couldn't before.
She was eager to try it out.
But looking around, this wasn't a good place to experiment.
Although she couldn't immediately test the effects of her superpower, she didn't stop channeling the power within her.
Because when she used her ability, a warm, comfortable sensation spread from her lower abdomen.
And this warm, comfortable feeling gradually spread from her abdomen to every part of her body.
As if she were filled with power.
"Let's go, Miko. I'll take you out to test it."
Sensing Yotsuya Miko's thoughts, Lin said with a smile.
"Okay."
Yotsuya Miko's eyes brightened.
With a clench of her right hand, the Blue Aura in her palm dissipated into specks of light.
The two walked towards the door.
Yotsuya Miko suddenly remembered something and asked with curiosity:
"Oh, right, how should we test it?"
"Exorcism."
Lin turned his head to look at her, smiling as he uttered the two words.
"Ah! Exorcism!"
Yotsuya Miko paused, slightly stunned.
She immediately felt a mix of nervousness and fear.
This was a conditioned reflex.
Even though she now possessed the power to exorcise, she couldn't help but feel scared.
Never mind how powerful evil spirits could be.
Their gruesome, distorted appearances alone were terrifying enough.
Lin turned to Yotsuya Miko, noticing her panic, and with a slight curve of his lips, he said with a smile:
"The best way to overcome fear is to face it."
"The past is the past, and now is now. You are no longer the weak person you used to be."
"Besides, I'm here."
"I understand!"
Hearing this, Yotsuya Miko's eyes flickered, she bit her lip lightly, clenched her right fist, and a look of determination appeared in her eyes.
If she wanted to protect those around her,
she first had to overcome her own fear of evil spirits.
Otherwise, how could she protect anyone?
Moreover...
She couldn't help but look at Lin.
Just as he had said, 'I'm here', Yotsuya Miko felt her heart gradually fill with a sense of security.
The two left their dwelling and went outside.
About three minutes later, in a secluded alley within the residential area, Lin expanded a barrier to cover their surroundings.
A blue, mosaic-like barrier enveloped the alley.
Ordinary people couldn't see the barrier.
It could prevent evil spirits from entering and also stop them from escaping.
At the same time, it could isolate any disturbances and destruction within the barrier's range.
Three meters in front of Lin and Yotsuya Miko, a terrifying-looking evil spirit was gazing at the two of them.
Dark miasma rose and dispersed from its body.
Although its malice was visible to the naked eye, the evil spirit was immobile.
Because Lin was using a wisp of his powerful, god-like mental power to firmly trap the evil spirit in place.
"Go on, Miko-san."
Lin gently patted Yotsuya Miko's shoulder with his right hand.
"Okay!"
Yotsuya Miko took a deep breath.
Her right hand held a branch about half a meter long.
The branch was named 'Sword of Childhood'.
This was the "weapon" Lin had casually prepared for her just now.
He said that the energy named Aura within her body could be injected into it, temporarily serving as a real weapon.
Following Lin's instructions,
Yotsuya Miko focused intently, carefully injecting the Aura within her body, little by little, into the branch.
The branch gradually glowed with a blue-green light.
Feeling it was ready, Yotsuya Miko stepped in front of the immobile evil spirit, raised the branch, and swung.
With a soft whoosh, a crescent-shaped blue-green arc of light shot forth from the tip of the branch.
It struck directly at the evil spirit.
The mark stretched from the upper left to the lower right.
As the arc of light dissipated, the evil spirit also dissolved into a few wisps of black smoke and vanished.
Simple and straightforward, a one-hit kill.
Yotsuya Miko successfully claimed her first kill.
"It's already vanquished?!"
Staring at the evil spirit she had instantly killed with one blow, Yotsuya Miko stood frozen, her eyes slowly widening in disbelief.
It was somewhat unbelievable.
She suddenly felt that evil spirits weren't so terrifying anymore.
"How does it feel?"
Lin stood with his hands in his pockets, watching her with a smile on his lips.
"A bit unreal..."
Yotsuya Miko turned to look at Lin, feeling as if she were in a dream.
As if she'd wake up to find it all a hallucination.
"Is that so? Then let's make it a bit more real."
Lin looked at Yotsuya Miko with a smile, and as he spoke, he disengaged the shielding barrier with a thought.
A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes.
"A bit more real?"
Hearing this, Yotsuya Miko looked at Lin's smile, a sudden bad premonition tightening her chest.
"Come on, follow me."
Lin said, then turned and walked out of the alley.
"..."
Seeing this, Yotsuya Miko silently followed.
When she stopped injecting Aura, the branch in her hand surprisingly turned directly into some powder and drifted away with the wind.
Clearly, her power control wasn't up to par.
After noticing this, Lin then broke off another branch by the roadside and handed it to Yotsuya Miko.
As the saying goes, if you're bad at something, practice more.
With a few more attempts, practice makes perfect, and Yotsuya Miko would naturally master the power of Aura.
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