Shikigami Summoning in Konoha

Chapter 42: Shikigami: Enenra

Time flies, and the school holiday has ended in the blink of an eye. On the first day back at the Ninja Academy, Katsuragi is slumped over his desk, seemingly asleep.

"Phew, glad that's done!"

In the courtyard, relieved to see his mission status now complete, Katsuragi sighs in relief. Looking at his balance of eight hundred thousand gold coins, he's excited because it's just enough to awaken the Three-Tailed Fox and upgrade the Yuki-onna to five stars.

"But what about when it's time for the Yuki-onna to awaken!"

Katsuragi feels a headache coming on. Awakening the Three-Tailed Fox is already exorbitantly expensive, not to mention the Yuki-onna. Just thinking about the amount of gold needed makes him somewhat despair.

"There must be other ways!"

Katsuragi figures that awakening materials might not necessarily need to be purchased; they could potentially be acquired like the gold coins, which he had never been explicitly informed could drop from defeated beasts.

"Better wait until after school to upgrade the Fox sister and Snow sister!"

Katsuragi glances at the Three-Tailed Fox and Yuki-onna in the courtyard, deciding not to act immediately since he's at school and there's a test later. If it's a practical exam, the surge in power from their star upgrades and awakenings could cause trouble if not controlled properly.

"Katsuragi, Iruka-sensei is here!"

Just as Katsuragi finishes his thought, Hinata nudges him and whispers. Quickly leaving the courtyard, he looks up to see Iruka entering the classroom with a stack of papers.

"So it's just paper!"

Katsuragi is a bit disappointed, wishing he had upgraded the Shikigami back in the courtyard. But seeing Iruka about to speak and knowing the gold coins won't disappear from the courtyard, he decides to wait. It's not worth the rush.

Finally, as school ends, Katsuragi doesn't accompany Hinata home, telling her to be careful on her way before he rushes back to his place. Making sure there's no one watching or any danger around, he heads to the courtyard.

"Fox sister, Snow sister!"

Finding the two, he announces, "Ready? I'm going to start!"

"Sure!" Yuki-onna nods without much expression, but the Three-Tailed Fox strikes a heroic pose, "Go ahead, Katsuragi!"

Ignoring the Three-Tailed Fox's antics, Katsuragi buys the daruma, opens the shikigami record, and upgrades Yuki-onna to five stars first. As he does, he receives a notification:

"Acquisition of the first five-star shikigami: Reward 50 Magatama!"

This alone excites Katsuragi enough to make him want to jump for joy. Adding to his previously collected 50 magatama, he now has enough for a shikigami summoning.

"Whoa! Calm down, calm down!"

The appearance of the magatama makes Katsuragi, initially set on awakening the Three-Tailed Fox, start to waver. After upgrading Yuki-onna, he's left with 320,000 gold coins—not a small amount, but just awakening the Three-Tailed Fox will deplete it.

"What's wrong, Katsuragi?"

Seeing Katsuragi frown in place after the upgrade and not moving, the Three-Tailed Fox asks, puzzled.

Katsuragi explains the situation about the magatama to them, and the Three-Tailed Fox immediately gets excited, swishing her tails, "Does that mean we can summon more spirits here?"

"Yep!" Katsuragi nods.

"Then we should definitely summon a new companion first! What if it's Lady Tamamo no Mae!" The Three-Tailed Fox's enthusiasm even surpasses Katsuragi's.

"Let's do the summoning first!" Yuki-onna also speaks up, "This guy, even if he awakens, won't practice diligently. Let's see who the new companion is first!"

"Alright!"

Seeing both Yuki-onna and the Three-Tailed Fox agree, Katsuragi consents. There's no harm in summoning first, as it uses magatama, not gold coins.

Together, they head to the shrine below the birdhouse in the courtyard to begin the summoning. Despite having seen Yuki-onna's summoning process, the Three-Tailed Fox is still excitedly watching Katsuragi's movements.

As the summoning incantation ends and the light fades, a charming figure appears within the summoning circle. With shoulder-length black hair and holding a pipe, her feet shrouded in mist as she stands on wooden clogs, she appears almost ethereal.

SR Shikigami: Enenra.

"Responding to your call!" Enenra approaches Katsuragi with a smile, introducing herself, "My name is Enenra!"

Before Katsuragi can react, the Three-Tailed Fox quickly approaches Enenra and curiously asks, "Enenra, what kind of spirit are you?"

"Me?" Enenra smiles slightly, and with a 'poof' transforms into smoke, dispersing around her, only to reappear instantly. She frowns in confusion before adding, "As you can see, I am a spirit that dwells within smoke."

"Wow, that's amazing!" The Three-Tailed Fox is impressed, and Katsuragi finally snaps out of his surprise to introduce himself, "Nice to meet you, Enenra, I'm Katsuragi!"

"I am the Three-Tailed Fox!"

"Yuki-onna!"

The Three-Tailed Fox and Yuki-onna introduce themselves too.

Although he doubts it's likely, Katsuragi asks anyway, "Enenra, do you remember anything from before you were summoned here?"

"Before?" Enenra pauses, her brow furrowed in thought. After a long moment, she shakes her head, "I feel like I should remember, but at the same time, I don't. It's a conflicting feeling..."

"Ah!" Hearing a similar response to Yuki-onna's, Katsuragi is somewhat resigned. Seeing Enenra still deep in thought, he suggests, "If you can't remember, don't worry about it. I'll show you to your room."

"Okay!" Enenra agrees, no longer dwelling on the matter.

Katsuragi leads her to a cabin marked with her name, next to the accommodations of the Three-Tailed Fox and Yuki-onna. After showing her inside, he says, "This is your room, next to Fox sister and Snow sister's."

"Sister?" Enenra seems puzzled by the term, a flicker of memory in her eyes. Then she turns to Katsuragi, "Speaking of which, I remember having a brother too!"

"The Shokujinki?" Katsuragi thinks to himself, recalling the game's content about Enenra. He casually offers, "If you don't mind, I can call you Enenra sister too."

Hearing Katsuragi's words, Enenra smiles beautifully, her surrounding smoke swirling more intensely. She playfully warns, "Being my brother isn't easy!"

"Uh..." Katsuragi remembers that Enenra liked to tease her brother quite a bit in the stories. Seeing her smiling face, he suddenly wonders if he's made a hasty decision.

End of Chapter 42