*
An explosion, she didn't use up all her magic with that punch that lodged into Yggdrasil's heart. There was so much more magic in reserve, but if she hadn't use it she might have lost her head. She wasn't going to test her immortality at this stage...
Aster channeled all of her remaining magic into her skill, {Anxiety}, causing a massive overpressure to radiate outwards. Yggdrasil had to expend her remaining magic at the last moment, forming a thick barrier to bear the brunt of the explosion. {Feed} was able to convert magical energy and related energies the easiest, the least easiest energy to convert was kinetic or mechanical energy, and that was the vibrations utilised by Aster. By spontaneously compressing numerous vibrations, Aster can raise the air pressure or channel the directional movement of any particle.
The moment the explosion slammed against her barrier, time seemed to stop. When she opened her eyes, she was back in the middle of the street, Arin and Sariel holding each hand. For some reason they simultaneously turned towards her and grabbed her palm the moment she returned. The 'Event' was over, Aster... Likely ran away. Just as she said, she was defeated in a fight and had no choice to but to secure her life first.
"... You guys okay? Anything happened...?" (Yggdrasil)
"... Yeah. There was an 'Event', but you were gone and there was no Trace..." (Sariel)
"What about you? Are you hurt?" (Arin)
Flinching from the realisation, Yggdrasil shoved her left arm over her chest. Feeling how full her torso was, as opposed to having a big hole punched through, she felt immense relief. When the 'Event' ended and she simultaneously had her transformation released, it seems she was instantaneously healed as well by the detransformation. Sighing deeply, her chest sunk and her eyes focused on the road once more. Step after step, she placed her feet in front of her.
"... Aster attacked. I beat her up and she ran away... She's unbelievably strong, and she'll only get stronger." (Yggdrasil)
She wasn't worried anyone might overhear. The crowd was too loud, all absorbed in their own lives. Who had the hearing ability to detect her whispers in the middle of all this noise?
" Hmmm? Are you just bragging now?" (Arin)
Arin flashed a mischievous smile, the one that her friends was used to.
"Haa~ isn't it just you who's too weak?" (Yggdrasil)
As she finished the last syllable, her lips naturally curved. She couldn't help but break into a smile, only her friends could make her feel this secure. Discretely, she raised her right arm to her chest as she walked. She checked it once more by lightly bumping the side of her hand into her torso, as if she was afraid a hole might open up when she wasn't looking.
She had already made sure Aster no longer had any magic after that explosion. She no longer detected a powerful magic signal the moment it detonated. She didn't realise it at first, but this... This was the feeling of fear for her own life.
"I've made some progress, you guys better watch out!" (Sariel)
"Hahah!" (Yggdrasil)
"Fuhah!" (Arin)
It felt like she was floating, wrapped in soft glistening cotton. Her being embraced in comfort, without any fear of death. Was this... The tranquility of daily life? Her thoughts sunk into the abyss, taking a backdrop before reality. She can't help but smile after seeing them again. This was what she protected. She only wanted to appreciate that even more, but it was merely the lingering aftertaste of what has transpired.
Taking another step, before she knew it time had passed. 4 hours since they left the hotel, they've finally arrived at one of the hotspots. If they had walked there straight after leaving the bus, it might have taken half an hour, but there were plenty of detours along the way. Enjoying the street itself was a big part of it. The floor was lined with smooth stone bricks, polished so thoroughly that she could slide on some of them.
"Look look! There are coloured fibres hanging from the top!" (Arin)
She pointed vehemently, the energy evident on her face. How would Yggdrasil describe it? Experience after experience, everything here was a novelty that she was encountering for the first time. An archway gate at the front was curve towards the top, with long horizontal holes and a vibrant red hue. They called it a 'tori gate', one of the few structures that we could conclusively say is from a certain eastern culture in the old era.
"What's that? There's a super long queue for it!" (Sariel)
Unlike someone, she gently gestured toward the front and centre. Certainly there was a long line of visitors, a lot of them were even wearing traditional costumes from the transitional era to suit the culture here. There is no surviving practitioner or descendant of those that once practiced these cultures rites, it's safe to say all of these people were cosplaying.
Generally people didn't have any qualms with dressing up just to visit this place, and so it became a common practice amongst the modern visitors. Cosplaying was also quite common in this commercial zone, with a large selection of malls and exhibitions geared towards fans of multimedia entertainment franchises.
The cold wind brushed past her cheeks, bringing a chill down her name as she watched over the people intently. Over the past month and more, Yggdrasil found that enjoyed observing people going about their lives. There were little details in every trivial thing that people undertook. Even though it mostly seemed like the cosplay was done out of passion, there was a certain aspect of practicality.
She had just experienced the reason for it, the frigid high altitude air here made it more reasonable to wear thick and baggy clothes to retain body warmth. Baggy sleeves fitted around, almost resembling blankets fastened around by the waist. The sash on their waist were similar to belts, pulled tightly around their figure before attaching clips at the end. It was slightly different from antique cultures in the old era, this transitional era clothing also had pockets and a different set of inner wear.
Looking around, she saw that the large thicket of trees flanking the gate also stretched around the entire vistting site and more. There was far more than just the main building with a long queue in the centre, the teacher said it was a temple that encapsulated a large area, further in there was space reserved for performances such as instrument playing or exotic dances. One of the planned parts of the trip included these dances, our schedule was made to accommodate the timings of some dances. She could guess that every year, the second years come here to observe these ancient cultural artifacts.
Following the group further in, she could hear numerous chimes of bells and flutes or string instruments enveloping the atmosphere. There was no words she could use to describe it, she felt like she was carried into another world where everything felt foreign. Was this how the people of the past felt when they lived. Of course they hadn't experienced these instrumental performances every waking moment of their life, but was this how they felt during festivities?