Chương 101: They Grow Up So Quickly!

How did I disappear? It is very simple. The first rule of getting into a fight is finding, or making yourself a way to retreat if necessary. Not all confrontations could be won. Therefore, while Elowen was busy acting as my decoy to get SHLAD, I had Ophelie bring out a plush, which was given to Annie. Even if she couldn't run in a straight line or had to phase through solid items, she was still the fastest of the group by a long shot.

She carried the plush as far as she could go within that timeframe, and once I considered it was time for me to make my exit, I warped to it, appearing in my knightly form in the middle of a plain. I could still make out the shape of the city in the distance. Annie definitely got faster since the last time I checked. She covered more distance with obstacles in the way than she did the last time I watched her run in a straight line within the mindscape's Great Plains.

It was perhaps because she had treated this as an emergency, though. I reached and patted her head. Mmh…? I looked down at the ground to make sure we weren't on a slightly different elevation. We weren't. That girl grew a bit taller–Actually… I grabbed her face, squishing her cheeks, before circling around Annie. I had previously noticed that the 'lively' appearance they had in the mindscape did not truly translate into reality.

They still looked undead-like and a bit odd in reality, it did not tarnish their cuteness. But their limbs were all a bit… Long, I would say, like someone had pulled really hard on them. It had always been like this, and although it remained now, I quickly noticed that her limbs were not as thin as before. It was like she had adapted to the strangeness of her form, and… Growing into it, I suppose. They grow up so quickly!

At this rate, they might start to stop looking like cute little sisters, and instead grow into women! The horror! Losing those squishable faces would be utterly terrible! For now, though, it was nothing major. That slight growth spurt, which was barely noticeable, was probably why she had been able to cover so much distance. It surely wasn't just a visual change, but also linked to a growth as a ghostly being. I would have to take a close look at my little sisters later.

At the moment, I needed to take off running in a straight line. I called back everyone else, as most of them had been hiding around the orphanage–In the end, only Elowen had been needed to lead SHLAD into my trap. I didn't recall Annie, though. I couldn't speak in this form, but she got what I meant nearly instantly. Just because we were running around from a murder machine–Literally a machine created to murder me specifically–It did not mean that we couldn't enjoy ourselves.

Annie and I were going to do a little race to see who was faster right now. I, in my knightly form, a form which was still missing half of its head and an arm, or my cute, athletic little sister with a passion for running? As I soon saw for myself, Annie was noticeably faster than before, but the biggest change wasn't just pure speed… Annie's special ability was that the faster she was going, and the longer she had run for, the stronger the infliction of fear would be at the end of it.

She basically had a personalised version of the basic ability the quintet had possessed in the beginning. Thus, it had always been obvious that she would continue to develop in this direction, and it seemed like I had been right to assume so… I saw her do things she definitely couldn't do before, and it specifically had to do with dealing with obstacles. Before, she would need to either go around an obstacle or phase through it. Both options would slow her down, regardless of the circumstances.

Losing speed was always very bad in Annie's eyes. Now? She seemed to have two new whole ways to deal with or at least mitigate the issue. For one, when a tree got in her way, instead of moving out of the way, she just continued running head-on, phasing right through the tree without losing much speed at all. From the looks of it, her phasing speed had not only sped up, but was further increased based on how fast she was moving before going through something solid. That was quite the neat little addition.

The second way she had acquired was more visually impressive. At one point, we ran past some sort of little house tucked away in the middle of a field of grass taller than me, but instead of pashing through the house in her path, she just… Ran up the wall, across the roof, and then back down the opposite wall. It was like she was running on the ground this entire time. She didn't seem affected by the fact that she ran with her body being completely horizontal.

The switch from wall-running and normal-running was incredibly smooth as well. Annie looked quite happy with herself–Even if she lost the race in the end, not by much, but we reached a small, wooded mountain that simply seemed perfect to hide in for a while. There, I transformed back into my 'Base Form'. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Y–You've gotten even better, Annie. When d–did you gain these new abi–abilities?" I asked her.

"Not… Long… Ago… Obstacles… Suddenly… Appeared… In… The… Great… Plains…" It seemed like my mindscape had detected and reacted to her advancement in real time. According to Annie, the obstacles weren't a permanent addition. They only rose from the ground when she wanted them to, which was interesting.

"Di–Did your sisters gain anything ne–new as well?"

"I… Don't… Know… We… Like… To… Keep… The… Surprise…" I knew what she was talking about. A few times, when inside my mind palace, I would catch my little sisters gathered in one place, showing off what they could do to each other before showing it to me. It was absolutely adorable every single time. As such, it made sense that they would keep any new stuff to themselves to do a surprise to the others–And by extension, to me as well.

"G-Go back into the mindscape for now… I'll catch u–up with everyone–one once I am fixed up" I found myself a nice spot to hide in and used 'Repair Protocol', mending the damage I had accumulated due to my confrontation with my brother's assassin. By the time this special state of dormancy came to an end, the sun had already risen. As good as new. I brought out all of my little sisters. They had all changed a slight bit. Most had grown a bit in height, except for Gigi and Ophelie.

These two were just as adorably tiny as ever… Ophelie was the one who had changed the least, probably because she was the 'youngest' of the band. She had also possessed specific abilities from the very start, so her growth would probably take a little while longer. She did not start from a common place. Still, I could tell that she was a bit different from the last time I had paid close attention to her. I booped her little nose. Her smile was a blessing upon this wretched world.

Although it wasn't yet there, she and I could both sense that her favourite plush, the deer one she always carried around, was beginning to change. I suppose her next ability would be about this specific plush. Spirits and mementoes were related, so it wasn't strange that her favourite object would eventually become imbued with something. As for Gigi, the little blue demoness had gained an interesting ability.

Namely, if someone noticed her in the distance, but only reacted, or 'realised' that she was there a moment too late, she could just vanish out of thin air and reappear somewhere else around the target. To put it simply, if someone noticed her but didn't immediately focus on her. She would be able to use this ability, which went well with her already existing skills, which were to inflict a sensation of unsettlement when staring and to distract with a giggle.

This had the potential to make someone go crazy, especially if Gigi wasn't alone on the case–Which she shouldn't be. Her abilities were more geared toward supporting than doing things on her own. All of my little sisters benefited from working as a group, but Gigi in particular would struggle on her own. As for Elowen… The tomboy was the one who had gotten the biggest height increase. She was still short compared to me. She had also gotten a bit bulkier. She was a bit shy about that. There really is no need to be.

I knew that she felt this way because she was trying to copy how I looked in my human form, definitely feeling like she wasn't doing a good job at that. I would spend some time coaching her later. Even if she couldn't look exactly like me since we didn't have the exact same body type, I knew that she could be gorgeous–She already was, after all. Elowen's newest ability was quite interesting. She could turn invisible whilst remaining corporeal.

One thing I had always found odd was that my little sisters couldn't go invisible at all. Even though it seemed like a rather basic ghostly ability to have, I suppose it just isn't part of the basic kit for them. Regardless, Elowen can only turn invisible for a limited amount of time, probably because it isn't just invisibility. She is way stronger while in this state. Her lifting and throwing strength, in particular, were impressive.

The implication was that it was best used when acting like a typical haunting spirit, using objects to deal damage rather than walking up to the victims and knocking them out with an uppercut they couldn't even see coming. The redhead was very happy to demonstrate by picking up large rocks. Nessa was as timid as always, but was very happy to tell me all about her new trick. It worked in the same manner as her current one, which inflicted paranoia by mimicking the sound of someone being strangled.

This new one allowed for tormenting someone who was sufficiently paranoid with coercive whispers. From the sound of it, as long as someone was suffering from enough paranoia, she could lead them anywhere she wanted. The bigger the action, the more it took out of her, but theoretically, she could make someone walk off a cliff without them realising it. It suited her just fine, an ability that did not require her to show herself… As for the changes in appearance, well…

She had grown a little bit in height, but clearly, there was a certain place that had grown… I can sense–Nessa was going to turn into a true man-killer, and not just in one definition of the word. The shapely plus timid combo was definitely capable of dealing exceptional damage. Good thing their clothes change alongside them. I still don't know how to dress them up differently. It would have been awkward if she were too tight inside her own clothes… Finally, there was Poppy.

Although it probably wasn't accurate to reality, in the sibling dynamic, she was the oldest after me and thus, the one watching over the others when I wasn't around. The leader of the cute little band, if you will. She had always been a bit stronger than the rest, and the abilities she developed were more in line with what one would expect from a vengeful spirit.

Her first ability was to force the air out of people's lungs, and this ability had gained a direct upgrade, as she was not only able to empty the lungs of targets, but she could actually damage the lungs themselves as well. If she focused, she could now make those she targeted cough up foamy, pinkish blood–A clear sign of damaged lungs.

The damage was far less impressive than the amount of blood coughed would lead one to imagine, but coupled with her first ability, she could easily induce overwhelming dread and panic attacks in people.

"I am very p–proud of everyone. Why don't you sh–show me the changes that occurred to your areas in the mind–mindscape?"