“Alright, stay close, be safe,” I said.

We were all standing in front of the alchemist store, just inside the magic barrier. The dolls were standing about 15 feet away. They were not moving in the slightest, although their eyes were all facing us.

“Miki!”

“Yes!”

Miki created Spirit Fire and put it on Lydia, her sword glowing with fire.

“I’ll sanctify the land first, then we do the Spirit Circle to wipe out the ghosts. Lydia… clean up what is left.”

“Sanctify Land!” I declared.

A glow spread across the land, covering the majority of the street in front of the store. Immediately, the dolls reacted, screaming monstrously.

“Ah….” Lydia covered her ears.

I had White Mage equipped, so the screams didn’t bother me too much, but Lydia was immediately terrified. I cast Refresh on her, and her expression immediately recovered. She tightened her grip on her sword.

“Miki, now!”

“Yes!”

She sent a fireball to me, and I sent it to the ground. The dolls were running away, their feet sizzling as they tried to get out of the ground. I wasn’t going to let them. I slammed the blue fire on the ground, and it spread out. The dolls that were struck all collapsed to the ground like their cords had suddenly been hit.

“Lydia… go!”

“Y-yes!” She jumped forward, slicing in mid-air.

With the dolls wiped out, the enemies weren’t something either me nor Miki could see. That’s why Lydia was still important. We had a lot of damage output, but the ghosts could just flee and we’d be useless. I only knew Lydia was successful because everywhere she slashed, there was a scream and a shimmer of air. She was sweating, and it was clear that she was reaching her limit.

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At that moment, a Spirit Fire shot behind her and a ghost behind her cried out and then disappeared. I shot a surprised look over at Miki, who was starting to make another fireball. Her tails were undulating wildly.

“I can see them now!” She said excitedly, throwing another fireball.

I quickly checked her level to find she had already reached level 5. She must have unlocked some kind of skill like spiritual sight. Our initial attack had easily killed twenty ghosts. Due to Mina’s Blessing, they also had a 2X experience. The result was clearly apparent. Well, my Hero went to level 9 too.

{Hero has increased to level 9.}

No skill was earned. That meant whatever skill it gave me was one I already had. It was anyone’s guess which skill that was. Whatever… levels still increased power, so I’d take what I could get. I sent Refresh out to Lydia and also healed her. It was all I could do. It didn’t take long. The last of the ghosts had either fled or died. Miki had already made it another level, within a single battle, she was a level 6 Spiritualist. That was 5 levels in a single fight, truly remarkable.

Well, each level got harder, so it’d only be more difficult from here, but at least it was a good start. The battle ended without very much fanfare. The three of us went back into the alchemist shop and I cast a new magic circle. Lydia lay down on a dusty couch while I checked the rest of the house. There was no bathtub. I found a water pail, so I filled it with cool water, and then dampened a cloth and put it on Lydia’s forehead. The ghosts really did drain her, but she was giving me a brave smile.

Her tail was lashing excitedly as I took care of her. Miki kept glancing over at us from her book. Her cheeks were a bit blushed and she seemed to have a strangely envious look on her face. I didn’t understand it, I was just taking care of Lydia a little.

“M-master… can you…n-nevermind.” She turned away and focused back on the book.

I cocked my head, wondering what she wanted. However, she didn’t say anything else, so I continued to take care of Lydia’s weakness. Suddenly, Miki collapse on her book.

“Miki?” I let out a cry.

“Body… still weak… Master… must care for me…” She looked up at me with one eye.

Ah… I had taken her Spiritualist leveling for granted. Miki had only resurrected a day ago and was still weak. Casting all this Spirit Fire couldn’t have been easy on her. I lay her down in a loveseat and took care of her as well. Both girls needed care for various differing reasons. As long as they kept fighting for me, I was determined to be their support. As I cared for them, they both seemed strangely very happy about it though, and their tails wagged excitedly. Well… as long as they’re happy.