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Ding~
[Exorcise 10 shikigami] (1 point) [Collect]
[Tame all 10 [Ten Shadows] shikigami] (+1 to all stats) [Collect]
Naoya accepted the rewards, then returned to the task at hand.
[Mahoraga]
With the hand signs made, Naoya summoned the divine general out of the shadows.
The rest of the shikigami waited to meet their new member.
And soon the divine general appeared in front of them.
From just a look, Naoya could tell that the Mahoraga in front of him was different from the one they just exorcised.
The one that stood in front of them now had a bigger wheel and had golden markings on its body. The clothes that he wore also looked regal, with the black baggy pants now having accents and a golden sash around its waist to match the rest of his accents. The most noticeable change, though, was the wing-like structures on its head. The pure white wings he had had changed to jet black ones.
The final change that Naoya noticed was that the general now had blades attached to both his arms, and they seemed retractable, too.
Mahoraga glanced at the shikigami for a while, scanning each one of them before shifting it's non existing eyes towards Naoya.
The two stared at each other for a while before Raga bowed to Naoya.
"No need to bow, buddy. You are part of the group now," said Naoya, patting the shikigami's shoulder, making him stand back on his feet.
While checking out the shikigami, Zankyo felt a bit uncomfortable. It felt as if his position as the strongest one in the group was in danger.
Feeling the gaze, Mahoraga looked at Zankyo and felt that this shikigami was strong as well.
The two stared at each other for a while before they were made to snap out of their thoughts by Naoya.
"Mahoraga. Did you gain some new abilities after you were exorcised?" asked Naoya.
Getting to know each other was important, but the curiosity about the shikigami's abilities took priority.
Mahoraga gave a nod and started demonstrating his new abilities to the group.
-----
Well, the new Divine General was certainly not to be underestimated at all. He didn't gain many abilities, but the ones he gained were quite something.
1) The wings on top of Raga's head could now assist him in flying and hovering.
2) The wheel above him was now quite durable, and a copy of it could be 'taken' out of the wheel to be used as a projectile. It was very heavy and could cause severe damage.
3) The blades, as Naoya hypothesised, were retractable and were sharper and more durable than before.
4) Sword of Immunity: Eightfold Severance, a new ability that it got.
The final ability that the general got was...quite frankly broken.
Though this ability did not cause any damage to the opponent, it still turned the tide of the battle beyond belief.
Once Raga is done adapting to a technique's phenomenon, the particular 'antibody' gets imbued in his swords. He can then slash or stab his opponents and choose between causing them damage or 'vaccinating' them. Each time the target gets their 'vaccine shot', that particular technique's function gets weaker and weaker and if the eighth shot makes sure that the part of the technique stops working altogether.
Raga can reverse the vaccination process if ordered, but if not, the effect stays permanently, even after Raga's death or unsummoning.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the process:
First hit: something feels off, technique requires more CE.
Second: technique lags
Third: output drops
Fourth: activation stutters
Fifth–Seventh: partial failure
Eighth: functionally dead.
The only saving grace with this was that Raga cannot do attacking and vaccinating at the same time, but that, too, was just a minor inconvenience.
On a side note, since Raga cannot speak, he sat down and scribbled the entire process on the ground for Naoya to understand. He even drew a smiley at the end, like this technique was not just a career ender for sorcerers.
Raga, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, looked at his summoner, wondering if he understood everything.
"I am so glad potential boosting is done after an exorcism. Well, Mahoraga, as is the tradition here, we need to name you," said Naoya.
Mahoraga nodded and waited like a good boy to be named.
"...What is this weird urge to name you Opp Stoppa...." muttered Naoya.
Mahoraga tilted his head, thinking that the name was a bit weird, but somehow it fit him.
After 10 minutes of brainstorming and going through various names and rejections, the name was finally decided.
"It's decided then, from now on, your name will be Sephiroth, Seph for short," said Naoya.
Sephiroth, the divine general, nodded and stood back on his feet.
The two of them smirked at each other before fist-bumping.
After that, the whole group had a bonding session, and as Naoya had predicted, Zankyo seemed to be developing a rivalry with Raga.
Done with the job, Naoya dropped the curtain barrier and went to the office to thank Gakuganji, who was staying behind in case a situation were to arise.
Later, when Gakuganji went to check the ground, he could see the signs of a battle happening there, and by the looks of it, something huge happened there.
The damage was mostly controlled by the shadows, but some of the damage still passed through, particularly the final strike by Broly, which was not something that could be minimised much by the shadows.
'Forget it. The school's still intact. The people from the HQ would be fixing the field and forest anyway,' thought Gakuganj and decided to go home and rest for the day.
-----
The next morning, when Kagenori woke up and decided to go on his morning walk around the compound, he heard the sounds of the siblings laughing around.
'Hm? Maki and Mai awake this early?' thought Kagenori to see what was going on.
'It's Naoya's training ground,' thought Kagenori realizing where he was heading and from where the sound of the twins laughing was coming from.
'Maybe they woke up since Naoya came late and wanted to play with him,' thought the Grandpa and unconsciously smiled and walked to the ground to check on them.
However, the moment he arrived there, his smile started to fade, and his jaw started dropping.
'...Is that...' thought Kagenori as he saw Naoya holding onto Mai, while sitting on Mahoraga's back, who was flying around while dodging the water blasts from Frieza, the mammoth who had Maki sitting on top of him.
It seemed like the twins wanted to play around, and Naoya was dragged in to make sure that the twins remained safe.
"Faster! Seph!" cheered Mai.
"Frieza!!! You can do it!!!" cheered Maki.
"...What in the god's name is happening..." muttered Kagenori.
He could recognise the new shikigami as the Divine General Mahoraga, the pinnacle of [Ten Shadows], but what he couldn't understand was why the hell was a being of such capabilities being used as a play tool by kids.
"Here, use this..." said Zankyo and handed a gun to Maki to shoot down Mahoraga.
Suddenly, a long whip-like thing came and smacked the gun from Zankyo's hand.
Zankyo turned around and saw Twister, the Toad, giving him a disapproving gesture.
The two shikigami stared at each other for a while before Zankyo gave up and dematerialised the gun. He will get his shot later. The fact that he also noticed Naoya keeping an eye on the situation made him stop. His summoner's attacks hurt like hell after all.
"Grandpa!!! I made a new friend!!!" called Mai and waved at Kagenori, seeing him.
"Ah! No fair! Seph is my friend too!!!" complained Maki.
Kagenori blinked and processed the info he just got.
'The strongest shikigami of all....a friend to kids....I am getting too old for this sh*t.' thought Kagenori.
Naoya laughed, seeing Kagenori's reaction confuse Mai while Maki focused back on hitting the flying general.
Once they were done playing around, Naoya looked at Maki and Frieza, who were chuckling to themselves.
The two didn't hit them while they were up in the air, but once they got down, Maki ordered the mammoth to spray water on Naoya and Mai.
"Nii-Nii! Spray water on Maki too!!!" complained Mai.
"Agreed," nodded Naoya.
"No fa-" Maki tried to protest, but Frieza followed Naoya's order and made the other twin drenched as well.
"Haha! That's what you get for cheating!" said Mai.
"Nii-Nii!!!" yelled Maki, tearing up a bit and rushing towards Naoya.
Naoya picked up the girl and patted her back, trying to calm her down.
"Cheating is bad. Maki-chan is not a bad girl, right?"
"...No."
"Then, it's fine. Good girls don't cry. Just play around and enjoy."
Maki sobbed for a while before she finally calmed down.
Once she was calmed, she looked towards Mai, who was waiting for her sister to finish crying.
"Maki-chan is a crybaby ~"
"I am not!!"
The sisters started bickering.
The older shikigami, Naoya and Kagenori, knew that they would be at it for a while.
Mahoraga, though, looked at the scene and wondered if his powers were being used for the wrong purposes.
He suddenly felt a pat on his back, making him look at Zankyo.
"You will get used to it," said Zankyo.
Mahoraga looked at him for a while before he saw the twins running around him, while also using his large legs as hiding places and distractions.
He was about to step aside, but Naoya shook his head and made him stay there until the twins were done playing.
Naoya was taking pictures and recording the scene, and although the camera didn't capture the shikigami, the scene still looked nice to him.
Once they were done, Naoya took the twins to take a bath since they were drenched and he didn't want them to catch a cold.
After breakfast, Naoya gathered in the main courtyard along with the rest of his shikigami, standing around him.
"Are you ready, Naoya-sama?" asked a servant.
Naoya looked at his shikigami, who looked back at him and gave a nod.
Naoya looked back at the servant and gave a nod as well.
"Alright, all of you stay still," said the servant and operated the cursed object camera that is used for taking the pictures of cursed spirits, cursed techniques, and shikigami.
The shikigami gave their best expressions possible and posed for the group photograph.
This was a tradition that Naoya followed whenever he got a new shikigami: a group photograph with the whole squad.
The shikigami might be just weapons to others, but to him, they were as close as a family.
*SNAP*
Mahoraga looked at the group around him and thought, maybe it wasn't that bad. He knew that he was mostly used as a fighting machine, and he prided himself on that, too.
"Welcome to the family once again, Sephiroth," said Naoya with a smile.
Mahoraga looked back at him and, after a while, gave a nod....Maybe he could adapt to this, too.