I'm Going To Need So Much Therapy [M:TG SI] [Nanoha]
- Thread starter Nero200
- Start date
noahgab1133
Fluffy?
so no "Assuming direct control" when confronting precia?
Yay, update.
Dem Fate feels, nnnngggg.
Very suspicious.
I sure hope nothing bad happens in the next few chapters like , let's say.... Worst Mom finding out?
Dem Fate feels, nnnngggg.
Very suspicious.
I sure hope nothing bad happens in the next few chapters like , let's say.... Worst Mom finding out?
Kyran Maker
Walker on the Path of Transcendence
- Location
- Somewhere Strange
Very much so, and very easily to the first - there are instances of entirely transferred consciousnesses in the wider lore, and Blue and Black both share a lot of 'I'm gonna take your body for a quick spin'. The second... really depends on how good you are. For 'Bardiche'? I'm gonna go with doubtful.
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
Thank you
Currently, Bardiche has no idea how to work mind magics, which body-jacking is the height of.
He is mostly pointing out that he has no experience in using Blue to form a mental link, and that he probably shouldn't use Fate as the first test subject.
That was part of a half written scene at one point, but that would entail a lot of trust lost from Fate if he was to steal her body to kill her mother.
The idea has been reworked somewhat, and might show up in the tomb-raider arc that I plan to kick off next chapter.
7: Rocks, Ruins and Near-death Experiences
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
Part 7 - Rocks, Ruins and Near-death Experiences
-
Tomb Raider Arc: Start
"[Photon Lancer] Ready." Lightning resonated down the pathways at my command, ready to form constructs on Fate's or my mark. A verbal tick it might be, but verbalizing the spells doesn't hurt when we are not under time constraints.
"Damn rocks will get what's coming to them! Fire at will Partner." She seemed a little confused, but complied, summoning several spheres of compressed power in preparation to annihilate the cave-in that had destroyed my prototype [Projection Flesh].
It had taken me the last week since attempting to bond that Forest to work out the details and then an inconsiderate cave-in just crushes it, poof, no more floating Barrier Jacket derived robe that I had been controlling via Blue to mimic having a body.
I had invested time and power in that thing! Creating the Barrier Jacket to use as a template, then acquiring and re-acquiring its pattern after every single little modification so I could run it on Blue mana to avoid draining Fate for something that was mostly cosmetic, sorting out voice projection, and figuring out how to draw off a portion of the kaleidoscopic light to create a link and make it actually me...
Actually, I could feel the 'light' of my Spark flying back to me, so I hadn't lost anything, and could probably just recast it but still. The principle of the matter is that the callous unappreciative rocks should be destroyed by high powered magical ordinance, and that I have the best partner ever who will oblige me by doing so.
Orbs of bound power shrouded in crackling lightning tore through the rubble with a satisfying boom that rattled the ground, the dust that fell from the ceiling of the ruin highlighted by sunlight streaming through the once again visible entrance. I didn't just want revenge, having the entrance open seemed like a good idea.
"I'll call Arf in, while you summon the robe again Bardiche?" Fate had gotten pretty good at picking up my mood and had twinged to my annoyance pretty well, even without the link.
Turns out that particular function of my body was mostly done by projecting over her senses for my part, to avoid scrambling the mages brain with pure mana. We had managed to get a proper Blue link working after some fiddling and a few experiments, but it was a bit… extreme, my earlier fears had held some weight, so we had decided not to use it for the most part, saving it as a trump card until we worked out some of the kinks.
I slipped from the glove with a touch of Blue to fuel a basic, but Planeswalker style, hover spell while she headed out of the cave to fetch Arf from watch duty, where we had left her since she still lacked a Barrier Jacket of her own, while I spun the spell to resummon my robe.
Working with Fate had reaffirmed my decision and promise.
I couldn't have asked for a better wielder, she was diligent, willing to work harder than I had ever been for college or school.
But...
Her reason for it was to impress her mother, the madwoman that considered her a failure.
From what I could tell, she had yet to say that to Fate herself, more ignoring her than actively putting her down, but it was still incredibly depressing to see.
Still, that didn't detract from the fact that she was keeping up with me and in some places outpacing me.
Lacking a Linker Core myself put a damper on figuring out some aspects, and the second hand knowledge in the form of feedback from Fate didn't help as much as channeling it myself probably would, but that was something I could think of ways around. Mana floated free on this Plane, and as a Walker I should be able to use it once I worked around the limits of this body. That overload was a major roadblock however.
The other thing that let her out pace me?
I tried to bond more Land since the direct bond bypassed the device and ran into something I was starting to become worried was a fundamental limit.
I couldn't use either Green or Black mana.
Trying to link with a Swamp didn't go well.
We had found one pretty easily one of the few times we were able to slip away during the week when we were out practicing both casting and flight, modifying the spells slightly to streamline them as they were put through their paces.
I had explained the basic principles of Mana Bonds to Fate before hand, after the incident with the Forest. So when we got landed I pushed the sensor suite of my Device form to the maximum after shifting to default form.
It worked, letting me rapidly acclimatize to the area, my familiarity quickly hitting the point needed to forge a bond. The 'song' metaphor I used before can be reapplied here, the song and call of Black mana was something I could vaguely understand, a half remembered chorus to a friends favorite song.
Enough to forge a bond.
So, after letting Fate know that I was going to initiate the bond, something she had asked me to tell her. She had been sure on this, demanding that I wasn't to repeat last times events on her. her concern was touching and gave me reason to be sure to let her know.
After telling her and gaining a nod in response, I focused, and with a twist of will and a touch of Kaleidoscopic light declared it Mine.
It bowed instantly, there was no presence like the Garden or my River to interact with, the calm finality of the mana settling like heavy fog within my Library as the mana bond was established and opened.
Black mana was closer to Blue than Green in sensation, a heavy misty feel that flowed and suffocated.
That was the problem, I recognized that sensation, it was a softer, but no less final form of the same darkness that had tried twice to lull me into the eternal sleep. No matter how much of the song of Black mana I could understand, no matter the potential I could in it, channeling the Black would submerse my Spark in the perverse and lulling fog, the hints of bony fingers grasping along the crystalline surface driving home its nature.
By the time I realized, closing the link was almost beyond me, too much of its nature saw me as something to be dragged to the depths to be pushed way easily.
As you might imagine, I was not a fan of that line of thought.
I tore the fragile mana bond to shreds with raw golden force and lightning, kindly lent by a worried Fate. Turns out I had been comatose for nearly half an hour before letting a link between us started to rapidly dwindle, prompting her to start channeling mana.
The desperation with which she did actually scorched some of my physical workings with the raw power she had grasped, but that was easily repaired by triggering the correct part of the technological graffiti that had mostly been integrated, and I was hardly going to tell her about that when she looked ready to cry before I assumed proper awareness again. It did put me back a few days on integrating the Device though.
Her hesitant but sure response to my thanks more than made up for failure of the link.
"It's.. It's what partners do, right? A-and I don't want you to go..."
That had actually been the main motivator to push creating the [Projection Flesh] spell up to an active project, rather than 'I'll get around to it'.
The guilt of realizing I had scared her that badly, followed by the realization that no matter how badly I wanted to hug her, I lacked the body to do it with.
Surrounding her in mana didn't have quite the same effect as a proper hug would have on my partner, but it did stop her from sniffling.
The fact that that was the first time I had really cared about lacking a proper body didn't bother me as much as I think it should have.
If I had to guess why the Swamp sparked that reaction?
I was probably still too close to death to handle Black mana, seeing as how that drew power from such things its interactions with me could almost be expected, I was effectively a loose soul bond to an object after all.
Either way, Black mana was out of my reach for now.
I only had one other chance to try and bond land in the week, so as much as I had wanted to try and gain access to Red, I decided to hedge my bets and bond another Blue.
It took convincing Fate that Blue mana was fine for me to bond, and a promise that I would tell her the second I ran into trouble, but we headed out in search of the nearest source of Blue mana a couple days after trying to link the swamp.
A good 20 miles away, we found was a lake that housed a submerged ruin, so it was a good thing we could fly. It was still a 'basic' land, not as powerful as my Ice Cavern and lacking the pseudo intelligence, the physical makeup of it did remind me that I needed to look up a spell for breathing under water though.
People fall into the damn sea way too often for it to be funny in this 'verse.
The bond was forged with ease, raw logic and intellect bathing my Spark as I claimed it as mine. After the two failures, it was with a smug sense of satisfaction that I watched a new ethereal source lighting up a line within my Library, a misty channel of power that was not quite so densely packed as my Ice.
It was this lake bond that I pulled on now, wrapping my original river around my Spark for the mental boost as I cast. I didn't need the enhancement, not for summoning a template, but I preferred having it to not.
The new bond lit up inside my Library before surging mana through my chosen template, the robe shattering into existence around me, my Device body serving as the clasp. As it finished asserting its existence I carefully slipped a fraction of kaleidoscopic light into the weave of the spell, my control over it rising from something resembling remote control to a level that surpassed what I remembered being able to do with a flesh body.
It was a good feeling to be able to just move an arm again, even if that arm is an empty sleeve.
I flickered the sensors again when I rose from my musings, focusing my attention on the outside world more than my Library, glancing around the ruin with curiosity. I still had to take a moment sometimes to appreciate how good the sensors are on this body. I never had good eyesight, but this far out strips even the jump that glasses used to give me, giving me that same happy buzz of actually being able to see properly.
This was the first ruin we had actually found, as Precia's little list had not had the most up-to-date information on the 'targets', meaning the TSAB had already excavated a few of the sights, and one was just not where the info said it was.
It still hadn't taken long to find one, and the practice with the Dimensional Transfer spell was good, after the first couple times we didn't need Linith to walk us through it. Which would be very useful if we ran into the TSAB, since we were technically tomb robbers.
The reason for our presence was that Precia put her 'Enforcer' plan into operation early, since we had been advancing so fast.
Linith had protested, but from what I could tell, Fate's mother's condition was worsening rapidly enough that even the token attention she had paid to the cat eared familiars objections before had faded into disregard.
The objective of this trip was to locate and retrieve the something called the 'Cycle Key'.
I don't remember it from the show, but then again, part of this Plane's lore is that over time multiple intelligent species have reached the point that they managed to wipe themselves out with their technology and magic. A Oppenheimer situation, I had jokingly called it in a debate some years ago, they advanced too fast, not accounting for the risks and blew themselves up when they accessed something beyond their ability to control.
They had gone further than my worlds nuclear weapons and had reason to truly call themselves destroyers of worlds. If I remember the lore right, and a blast of cool Blue assures me I do, Ancient Belken was the last precursor to the current age.
The TSAB or Time Space Administration Bureau mostly worked to keep the remnants of such disasters from being let loose on the universe again, as well as serving as a multidimensional police force for the worlds connected to the Dimensional Sea.
Hell, Fate, Arf and I were probably hunting down an artifact from one such precursor right now, a 'Lost Logia', an artifact left by a society and race that had torn their world down in pursuit of power.
I shrugged and turned to the ruin's entrance in the side of the mountain as I picked up Fate and Arf's footsteps, letting my ruminations rest for now.
Turning to face them I chimed once. Sure, I could have spoken, but it is acceptable for Devices to just chime, and I didn't really have anything to say that couldn't be conveyed in a beep.
A trickle of Blue had me hovering over and shifting to default form into Fate's grip. The link between Mage and Device might have enough range that her Barrier Jacket was still up after leaving and coming back, but in case of ambushes or traps every second would count.
"Onward then?"
-
AN: Apologies for the wait and the info-dump nature of the chapter, college started up and I had some issues with the start of this. I still kinda have them, but writing all the explanations came easily enough and should make it easier to write the next part. I have only had time to give it a quick error check, so I'll probably have to fix some stuff later tonight.
Also, a Cookie for whoever figures out what Artifact the 'Cycle Key' is before Bardiche realizes.
-
Tomb Raider Arc: Start
"[Photon Lancer] Ready." Lightning resonated down the pathways at my command, ready to form constructs on Fate's or my mark. A verbal tick it might be, but verbalizing the spells doesn't hurt when we are not under time constraints.
"Damn rocks will get what's coming to them! Fire at will Partner." She seemed a little confused, but complied, summoning several spheres of compressed power in preparation to annihilate the cave-in that had destroyed my prototype [Projection Flesh].
It had taken me the last week since attempting to bond that Forest to work out the details and then an inconsiderate cave-in just crushes it, poof, no more floating Barrier Jacket derived robe that I had been controlling via Blue to mimic having a body.
I had invested time and power in that thing! Creating the Barrier Jacket to use as a template, then acquiring and re-acquiring its pattern after every single little modification so I could run it on Blue mana to avoid draining Fate for something that was mostly cosmetic, sorting out voice projection, and figuring out how to draw off a portion of the kaleidoscopic light to create a link and make it actually me...
Actually, I could feel the 'light' of my Spark flying back to me, so I hadn't lost anything, and could probably just recast it but still. The principle of the matter is that the callous unappreciative rocks should be destroyed by high powered magical ordinance, and that I have the best partner ever who will oblige me by doing so.
Orbs of bound power shrouded in crackling lightning tore through the rubble with a satisfying boom that rattled the ground, the dust that fell from the ceiling of the ruin highlighted by sunlight streaming through the once again visible entrance. I didn't just want revenge, having the entrance open seemed like a good idea.
"I'll call Arf in, while you summon the robe again Bardiche?" Fate had gotten pretty good at picking up my mood and had twinged to my annoyance pretty well, even without the link.
Turns out that particular function of my body was mostly done by projecting over her senses for my part, to avoid scrambling the mages brain with pure mana. We had managed to get a proper Blue link working after some fiddling and a few experiments, but it was a bit… extreme, my earlier fears had held some weight, so we had decided not to use it for the most part, saving it as a trump card until we worked out some of the kinks.
I slipped from the glove with a touch of Blue to fuel a basic, but Planeswalker style, hover spell while she headed out of the cave to fetch Arf from watch duty, where we had left her since she still lacked a Barrier Jacket of her own, while I spun the spell to resummon my robe.
Working with Fate had reaffirmed my decision and promise.
I couldn't have asked for a better wielder, she was diligent, willing to work harder than I had ever been for college or school.
But...
Her reason for it was to impress her mother, the madwoman that considered her a failure.
From what I could tell, she had yet to say that to Fate herself, more ignoring her than actively putting her down, but it was still incredibly depressing to see.
Still, that didn't detract from the fact that she was keeping up with me and in some places outpacing me.
Lacking a Linker Core myself put a damper on figuring out some aspects, and the second hand knowledge in the form of feedback from Fate didn't help as much as channeling it myself probably would, but that was something I could think of ways around. Mana floated free on this Plane, and as a Walker I should be able to use it once I worked around the limits of this body. That overload was a major roadblock however.
The other thing that let her out pace me?
I tried to bond more Land since the direct bond bypassed the device and ran into something I was starting to become worried was a fundamental limit.
I couldn't use either Green or Black mana.
Trying to link with a Swamp didn't go well.
We had found one pretty easily one of the few times we were able to slip away during the week when we were out practicing both casting and flight, modifying the spells slightly to streamline them as they were put through their paces.
I had explained the basic principles of Mana Bonds to Fate before hand, after the incident with the Forest. So when we got landed I pushed the sensor suite of my Device form to the maximum after shifting to default form.
It worked, letting me rapidly acclimatize to the area, my familiarity quickly hitting the point needed to forge a bond. The 'song' metaphor I used before can be reapplied here, the song and call of Black mana was something I could vaguely understand, a half remembered chorus to a friends favorite song.
Enough to forge a bond.
So, after letting Fate know that I was going to initiate the bond, something she had asked me to tell her. She had been sure on this, demanding that I wasn't to repeat last times events on her. her concern was touching and gave me reason to be sure to let her know.
After telling her and gaining a nod in response, I focused, and with a twist of will and a touch of Kaleidoscopic light declared it Mine.
It bowed instantly, there was no presence like the Garden or my River to interact with, the calm finality of the mana settling like heavy fog within my Library as the mana bond was established and opened.
Black mana was closer to Blue than Green in sensation, a heavy misty feel that flowed and suffocated.
That was the problem, I recognized that sensation, it was a softer, but no less final form of the same darkness that had tried twice to lull me into the eternal sleep. No matter how much of the song of Black mana I could understand, no matter the potential I could in it, channeling the Black would submerse my Spark in the perverse and lulling fog, the hints of bony fingers grasping along the crystalline surface driving home its nature.
By the time I realized, closing the link was almost beyond me, too much of its nature saw me as something to be dragged to the depths to be pushed way easily.
As you might imagine, I was not a fan of that line of thought.
I tore the fragile mana bond to shreds with raw golden force and lightning, kindly lent by a worried Fate. Turns out I had been comatose for nearly half an hour before letting a link between us started to rapidly dwindle, prompting her to start channeling mana.
The desperation with which she did actually scorched some of my physical workings with the raw power she had grasped, but that was easily repaired by triggering the correct part of the technological graffiti that had mostly been integrated, and I was hardly going to tell her about that when she looked ready to cry before I assumed proper awareness again. It did put me back a few days on integrating the Device though.
Her hesitant but sure response to my thanks more than made up for failure of the link.
"It's.. It's what partners do, right? A-and I don't want you to go..."
That had actually been the main motivator to push creating the [Projection Flesh] spell up to an active project, rather than 'I'll get around to it'.
The guilt of realizing I had scared her that badly, followed by the realization that no matter how badly I wanted to hug her, I lacked the body to do it with.
Surrounding her in mana didn't have quite the same effect as a proper hug would have on my partner, but it did stop her from sniffling.
The fact that that was the first time I had really cared about lacking a proper body didn't bother me as much as I think it should have.
If I had to guess why the Swamp sparked that reaction?
I was probably still too close to death to handle Black mana, seeing as how that drew power from such things its interactions with me could almost be expected, I was effectively a loose soul bond to an object after all.
Either way, Black mana was out of my reach for now.
I only had one other chance to try and bond land in the week, so as much as I had wanted to try and gain access to Red, I decided to hedge my bets and bond another Blue.
It took convincing Fate that Blue mana was fine for me to bond, and a promise that I would tell her the second I ran into trouble, but we headed out in search of the nearest source of Blue mana a couple days after trying to link the swamp.
A good 20 miles away, we found was a lake that housed a submerged ruin, so it was a good thing we could fly. It was still a 'basic' land, not as powerful as my Ice Cavern and lacking the pseudo intelligence, the physical makeup of it did remind me that I needed to look up a spell for breathing under water though.
People fall into the damn sea way too often for it to be funny in this 'verse.
The bond was forged with ease, raw logic and intellect bathing my Spark as I claimed it as mine. After the two failures, it was with a smug sense of satisfaction that I watched a new ethereal source lighting up a line within my Library, a misty channel of power that was not quite so densely packed as my Ice.
It was this lake bond that I pulled on now, wrapping my original river around my Spark for the mental boost as I cast. I didn't need the enhancement, not for summoning a template, but I preferred having it to not.
The new bond lit up inside my Library before surging mana through my chosen template, the robe shattering into existence around me, my Device body serving as the clasp. As it finished asserting its existence I carefully slipped a fraction of kaleidoscopic light into the weave of the spell, my control over it rising from something resembling remote control to a level that surpassed what I remembered being able to do with a flesh body.
It was a good feeling to be able to just move an arm again, even if that arm is an empty sleeve.
I flickered the sensors again when I rose from my musings, focusing my attention on the outside world more than my Library, glancing around the ruin with curiosity. I still had to take a moment sometimes to appreciate how good the sensors are on this body. I never had good eyesight, but this far out strips even the jump that glasses used to give me, giving me that same happy buzz of actually being able to see properly.
This was the first ruin we had actually found, as Precia's little list had not had the most up-to-date information on the 'targets', meaning the TSAB had already excavated a few of the sights, and one was just not where the info said it was.
It still hadn't taken long to find one, and the practice with the Dimensional Transfer spell was good, after the first couple times we didn't need Linith to walk us through it. Which would be very useful if we ran into the TSAB, since we were technically tomb robbers.
The reason for our presence was that Precia put her 'Enforcer' plan into operation early, since we had been advancing so fast.
Linith had protested, but from what I could tell, Fate's mother's condition was worsening rapidly enough that even the token attention she had paid to the cat eared familiars objections before had faded into disregard.
The objective of this trip was to locate and retrieve the something called the 'Cycle Key'.
I don't remember it from the show, but then again, part of this Plane's lore is that over time multiple intelligent species have reached the point that they managed to wipe themselves out with their technology and magic. A Oppenheimer situation, I had jokingly called it in a debate some years ago, they advanced too fast, not accounting for the risks and blew themselves up when they accessed something beyond their ability to control.
They had gone further than my worlds nuclear weapons and had reason to truly call themselves destroyers of worlds. If I remember the lore right, and a blast of cool Blue assures me I do, Ancient Belken was the last precursor to the current age.
The TSAB or Time Space Administration Bureau mostly worked to keep the remnants of such disasters from being let loose on the universe again, as well as serving as a multidimensional police force for the worlds connected to the Dimensional Sea.
Hell, Fate, Arf and I were probably hunting down an artifact from one such precursor right now, a 'Lost Logia', an artifact left by a society and race that had torn their world down in pursuit of power.
I shrugged and turned to the ruin's entrance in the side of the mountain as I picked up Fate and Arf's footsteps, letting my ruminations rest for now.
Turning to face them I chimed once. Sure, I could have spoken, but it is acceptable for Devices to just chime, and I didn't really have anything to say that couldn't be conveyed in a beep.
A trickle of Blue had me hovering over and shifting to default form into Fate's grip. The link between Mage and Device might have enough range that her Barrier Jacket was still up after leaving and coming back, but in case of ambushes or traps every second would count.
"Onward then?"
-
AN: Apologies for the wait and the info-dump nature of the chapter, college started up and I had some issues with the start of this. I still kinda have them, but writing all the explanations came easily enough and should make it easier to write the next part. I have only had time to give it a quick error check, so I'll probably have to fix some stuff later tonight.
Also, a Cookie for whoever figures out what Artifact the 'Cycle Key' is before Bardiche realizes.
Last edited:
noahgab1133
Fluffy?
ah SCIENCE punishing those uppity civilizations that fail to take proper precautions.
Luckily you are a blue mage and proper precautions= out of the universe XD
Luckily you are a blue mage and proper precautions= out of the universe XD
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
StrikerS stuff has yet to be introduced, since it lacked anything I saw as being useful.
Also, I am mostly using the films as my reference material, since I had to modify some back story to get the MTG aspects in play it's easier to use the streamlined version and add to it.
That said, I have been looking over the StrikerS material in my free time to find interesting things.
Thank you and fixed.
8: Worst. Archaeologists. Ever. Also, Shiny Acquired!
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
Part 8 - Worst. Archaeologists. Ever. Also, Shiny Acquired!
-
You know, I hadn't thought we would be putting our training into practice this soon.
Still, the light show that Fate was artfully weaving through reminded me of a danmaku game, like a lot of our training had done.
Too bad there was actual risk here, more than the stinging spells that Linith had been reluctant to use once we were used to the paint ones, so we couldn't enjoy it.
This fight involved magical ordinance on the level of high powered explosives after all.
Okay, couldn't enjoy it too much. I have always had a adrenaline problem, though it is tempered by concern for my partner here.
A blast of speed from pulsing the [Blitz Action] spell bought a momentary reprieve for us.
Taking full advantage of the breather, Fate's grip shifted slightly, her mana flow increasing as she prepared herself.
"Bardiche, full attack power."
If my partner asks for firepower, what can I do but happily oblige?
"[Photon Lancer], Full Auto Fire!" She joins in halfway through the cast, taking control of the spell with careful precision as I pass it over gleefully.
Gold power filtered through the digital patterns burned into my Library, the numbers crunching as the magical circle burst into exist beneath us, mathematical equation that makes up [Photon Lancer] blazing at Fate's floating feet.
Two dozen spheres of crackling golden magic manifest in the air around us before screaming towards the man with a swipe of my haft.
----
I should probably explain how we ended up playing versus mode danmaku, eh?
...Probably shouldn't call it that around Linith, she got testy when I called maneuverability training 'tag'. Far too serious for a cat that woman.
We, that being Fate, Arf and I, had easily made it through the ruin as we searched for a path to the 'Season Chamber', the once center piece of the crumbling ruin.
I was running the sensors on high, trying to pierce past the blur of magical fog that the dense free mana had created, while Arf was attempting to sniff out a path. I didn't hold much hope for her scenting a way there, the dust beneath our feet was long accumulated.
And it would remain that way, since both Fate and Arf were utilizing the [Thunder's Passage] flight spell after some sort of explosive mine had gone off and crashed into Fate's Jacket. It had let loose a few hundred wires that had managed to scar the solid rock but the auto-guard spell [Defensor] had blocked them from hitting us. Arf had already been safe flying, she hadn't really stopped since Linith had taught her how.
Since than we had used the flight spell to dodge seven different pressure triggered traps that lead to what looked like spell arrays, humming faintly with stored power. Spotting them and making a guessing game of divining the function had keep us from falling into silence.
Hadn't tried to get a better look at them yet for fear of setting the things off, even if they didn't look like they should be able to breach the Jacket.
The ruin was mostly rock, carved into the ground. Some of the pseudo rooms seemed to be natural caverns, but most of it looks like it was carved with some form of magic, the smooth edges at odds with the fact that this world was what I would consider modern.
"Fate, try the left turn, the mana is denser there." I was augmenting the sensors with my Sparks light, hoping the increased 'presence' could help me spot the way.
Another few dozen meters along that corridor, we found the Season Chamber.
It was an expansive chamber, with intricate designs carved into the walls representing, I assumed, given the name, the different seasons.
"That one winter you reckon?" Arf seemed to come to the same conclusion, pointing at what could have been a snowflake. We carefully made our way to the center of the room, the mana fog thick enough that I was almost being reminded of my human level eyesight for the more distant carvings.
"Is that the Key?" Fate gestured to an altar like construct in the center of the room, the round slab of smooth marble marked only with a single line, extending from an elaborate key that was within what looked to be a lock in the center.
It looked like a wire bulb with tiny light bulbs attached. Not very impressive sounding eh?
The sheer presence this thing had was more than enough to make up for the appearance once Fate pointed it out, and I don't know how I could have missed it before then.
It sang of fulfillment, or potential, the missing piece to every puzzle. I reached out with my personal power, feeling my Spark flickering, reflecting, analyzing and Understanding it.
My kaleidoscope flickered what should have been a dizzying array of colors as the perfect mirror of the key formed in my Library.
Huh. It was actually mirrored, the shape was reversed.... Did I do that? It seems like it should still work, something intuitively told me it would, but...
"Bardiche? Are you okay?" She didn't sound that concerned, she could tell I was concentrating but not panicked from our time training together.
"Voltaic Key… It's not the Cycle Key, its called the Voltaic Key, Fate." I couldn't keep the happiness from my voice, the cloak that was my pseudo body hugging her loosely.
I remembered this card, this artifact, even without the innate understanding it's residency in my library gives me.
This was more proof that I was truly a Walker, that the information I had dredged up with Blue were worth something. I am still confused as to how my original Plane learned of Walkers and Artifacts, and I also need to figure out why there are Gathering sourced objects floating around in Nanoha but the facts remain. Urza's shadow had been enough to confirm it, but every fact meant I was more grounded, that my knowledge was worth more.
And that I had a legacy belonging to me here to find.
Might seem like an over reaction but I have strange priorities, and Fate needs more hugs in her life, so I'm happy to use sharing my joy as a reason.
"I'll explain later, it has to do with my origins."
Arf seemed to be of the same happy opinion as she joined in the hug with a shout of "Mission accomplished!"
And it was. A little anticlimactic, but we had dozens of these to hunt down, and I doubt they will all be this easy.
One powerful artifact added to our arsenal that I could hardly wait to see how it could be put to use, possible things to learn from the traps and some practical experience for the girls.
All in all, a good dry run.
Fate had stowed the Key away into a pouch, it easily clicking free from the table, and we were on the way back to investigate one of the traps when my sensors pinged and I slammed a boosted "[Defensor]" shield into existence, increasing it's size to protect both the girls.
It is a function of even normal Devices to automatically utilize an assigned defensive spell without their wielders permission, a necessary function for surprise attacks, this is called Auto-Guard. Defensor was Bardiche's default and even if I can technically use her mana for other spells without her help, the pattern hovering in my Library found this the most accommodating for quick cast purposes.
A rune embossed magic circle burst to life to block the incoming ropes of light with a crackle, Fate and Arf jumping back after the three streams of magic hit.
A ripple of light flickered as we shifted to battle ready, Fate and Arf taking to the air and me chugging Blue as I shifted back to the Device as my 'view point', stowing the cloak body in the corner of the room.
Chamber is high enough for ariel, possible to blast to surface? Enemy is a mage, went for disabling first, probably a [Bind] class spell, green colored magic, possible alert sent on removal of key? Fast, dimensional transfer most likely, or area is monitored. Should have checked, add to list. Wards are possibly up, no battlefield active but we are a good bit away from the civilisation even if they don't know about magic.
I tapped the necessary parts of techno graffiti online for Fate's pseudo-HUD as I reviewed the situation, letting it run automatically to highlight incoming attacks and other useful data.
Meanwhile, Fate dodged the next trio of rope like spells, Arf jumping over one as she defied gravity and stood on the wall. It was actually a flight spell holding her there, but it gave her something to kick off.
I checked my Cavern was fully active, the presence nodding as Blue rushed about me.
"Fate, I'll break the first set, try and get a visual." I would see it when she did, borrowed senses are handy, and from there we could take them down.
The next set were shooter type spells, not lethal damage to anyone with a Jacket, but still a step up from [Bind].
Fate flinched slightly, pulling me closer, but she trusted me to to deal with them.
And so I did, unable to help the dismissive tone as I invoked my spell. Maybe it's a Blue thing.
" [Mana Leak] "
Both links, Ice Cavern and Lake, rushed to fill the template as I crafted the spell, a set of daggers visualized.
I can't pull off a proper Counterspell yet, but Mana Leak was a piece of cake once I was grounded in the magic system. Recreating the archetype Blue spell the first proper test of my capabilities.
The sleeve of my fake body swiped, a magic circle blurring to life and flashing as ghostly blue daggers sliced out into the soaring spells, altering the equation, increasing their cost several fold by 'opening' the mana requirement.
Being that the caster had already let them 'go', in the magical sense, they were helpless to contribute the extra power needed to balance the magical equation, the spells dissipating in a weak flicker of pale green light a dozen meters from Fate.
And then she had them in her sights.
Male, lower end of twenties, wielding what I have learned was standard TSAB Device, full Barrier Jacket up and ready. I didn't recognize him from the show, but they are a universe spanning organisation.
"Trespassers, this is a sealed site on a non-administrated world, halt! I am Officer Jones of the Time and Space Bureau."
Fate removed herself and my Device body from the line of fire as I pulled on Blue to empower another set of holographic daggers, pausing with this set half forged in my Library, the magic circle hovering just inside the cloth.
I felt conflicted. We could fight him, probably win by virtue of numbers and me cutting his spells down without Fate having to cease firing, blast our way free of this ruin and transfer out with the key.
But was that the best option? Why should we fight him?
If we talked to him now, explained what was going on, what Precia had done…
I could get Fate away from her.
Now.
No waiting for a moment to try and beat some sense into her mother, no planning for after she starts the Jewel Seed search.
Before Fate was branded a criminal, or an accomplice to the attempted destruction of a world, because I doubted a real version of the TSAB would be so sympathetic.
I mentally turned to my partner, time slowing as I pulled Blue into a pattern I had last invoked on my death bed to buy time to think.
...she wouldn't. She loved her mother and Precia, while neglectful, hadn't crossed the line yet.
Hell, Fate had been willing to fight for her even at the end, after Precia had tortured her, laughed in her face, and disowned her.
There was Linith to consider as well, who was another mother figure to my partner she would have to give up to go through with this option.
Right then. Carving a path out of here it is. I could protect Fate from Precia anyway and chances were that the TSAB would consider me a Lost Logia.
The slippy hyper cognition faded from my grasp as I returned to the real world, decision made.
I tapped into the visual interface, placing a message for Fate in the corner of her sight on the HUD.
'I'll handle the talking, get ready with speed.' I copied the message over to Arf, letting her know to follow Fates lead.
After that, I directed my [Projection Flesh] construct to sweep out in front of him, half way between him and the girls, coincidentally at the entrance to the chamber.
"Hello, I am Bardiche, what do you mean trespasser? There were no signs nor magical wards indicating that this area is restricted."
"The hell are you?" Rather rude of him.
"A Device, here for my partners safety." I considered going with familiar, spirit, or maybe even god, but the aim here was to attract less attention, not more.
To aid in that, I let the projection shatter in a burst of static, transferring my full attention and presence to the Device with a chime.
It dispersed the daggers back into mana, but the physical form was more of a focus than strictly necessary, so I just converted them to pure energy for re-deployment.
Doing so did lock the down pattern though, meaning it would be much harder to use the spell without throwing this set first, limiting how many of his attacks I could break.
"I need to speak to the girl, not her Device. What's your name?" His tone softened somewhat when he addressed Fate, probably because now that he had realized he was talking to a pre-teen.
"Nope. You're going to have to talk to me, partner knows not to talk to strangers." I was probably pushing it, but I am rather bad at noticing that sort of thing. I also enjoy pissing off authority far too much.
He gritted his teeth, but Fate is depressingly good at the emotionless look.
Angrily addressing me, or at least the gem on the Device, his tone was much less friendly.
"Fine then, 'Bardiche', what are you lot doing in this sealed magical site, on an unadministered world? And don't give me any nonsense about it being unprotected, this chamber was sealed even to the TSAB and I saw the cave-in in the entrance chamber, you have at least destroyed property."
The man had a point. Not sure what he meant about the chamber being protected though, nothing had stopped us heading in.
"In addition to that, where is the Lost Logia that was contained here? We may not have been able to recover it, but our scrying let us see it. I sincerely hope you haven't added theft to your list of crimes."
And there's the stinger. Right, we can't surrender the Key.
Even if it hadn't been the goal, it was an Artifact, it held secrets that were rightfully mine as a Walker.
That ended negotiations, Fate wouldn't give it up because Precia had asked her to get it and I wouldn't because it was an Artifact, mine by right.
'Go' The word appeared on Fate's HUD at the same time as I engulfed my Spark in Blue from my misty connection to the lake, shunting my Cavern link to a telekinesis spell.
I pulled Arf to us with it, the familiar kicking off the wall into the tug to link hands with Fate as the first spell cast by the TSAB agent was torn apart by a overcharged spectral dagger in an implosion of mana.
Fate had been storing charging power since I had told her to get ready and her future reputation as a speed demon could be seen as we synced up and cast.
"[Blitz Action]!" Our voices blurred together as the flash-step move outlined Fate's body in gold, a burst of speed faster than human eyes could perceive ripped all three of us past the agent with a gale of wind, continuing down the hall.
She and Arf kicked off the wall, maxing out their flight spells as I liberally used telekinesis to help avoid collisions, their 'games' of tag in the forest granting the experience needed to speed through the structure.
The ruin didn't take the successive flash steps very well, the cave-in from earlier proving to have been a warning sign as the structure started to crumble in our wake.
We took to the air after leaving the ruin, spinning around as we saw the [Containment Force Field].
That field is the example of an area-type spell, what I would call a ward. A massive, building-high sphere of magic, it obscures all within from the outside and creates a slight spatial blur that selectively separates non-magicals from what are usually the combatants. It can also be used to cancel out the inevitable damage caused to the area by magical combat. I'm not going to pretend to comprehend the mechanics behind it, neither Fate nor I know how to even start making one and the digital design is similarly lost.
A duplicate world that contains only the magical aspects, void of life that would become collateral in a duel between mages.
I suppose it wasn't something Linith or Precia saw as necessary to teach Fate.
My introspection was interrupted by a barrage of magical missiles from below and an angry cry of "Criminals!".
He looks pretty pissed.
Might have something to do with a good portion of the structure falling on him, his Barrier Jacket does look rather damaged.
----
And that is the story of how we came to be playing our game of danmaku.
The barrage of golden orbs slammed home, two or three tagging the agent and destroying a couple more layers of his Jacket, ripping the construct down to a shirt.
He was still casting but more and more he was having to use barrier and shield spells to keep from being taken out of the fight, his Jacket insufficient to tank the lightning blast spells Fate was tossing out like candy.
The majority pounded into the ground however, tearing the landscape to shreds, further burying the ruin.
Another burst of missiles from him were cut down by [Mana Leak], their power dumped into the air as they fell to my daggers, my lake bond refreshing slowly, but my original bond could easily make up for it, me and Fate becoming more in tune with the rhythm of the fight, counter/cast, dodge, counter/cast. The advantage that being able to ignore nearly half of the enemies attacks granted is obvious.
We had been dueling in the air for about fifteen repetitions of that beat when Arf pinged me.
I informed Fate and we started the plan.
"[Photon Lancer Multishot]!" A repeating barrage of gold missiles slammed home into the [Round Shield] that he summoned as predicted.
Two rounds of sustained fire later, Fate's cry of "Now!"marked the start of the combo.
I shifted in her grasp, "Scythe Form!", the Device shifting to a futuristic looking scythe before we vanished downward in a blast of speed, courtesy of a [Blitz Action].
Scythe form uses a condensed mana blade as it's edge, granting it cutting power far beyond any physical blade, while also eliminating any requirement for maintenance or replacement. The blade is capable of slicing through solid steel with the slightest pressure, even when wielded by a preteen.
"[Arc Saber]!" Fate unleashed this golden blade, it ripping from the Device mere feet away from its target.
The agent didn't stand a chance to dodge and might not have even know he should have, instead of boosting his shield.
You see, [Arc Saber] has another key attribute. It is a shield piercing attack.
The crescent of magic bit into the shield, cracking the construct and shattering what was left of his Jacket with ease, cutting into him just enough to draw blood as we blurred back, out of the way of Arf's "[Bind]!"
The orange ropes made of magic easily contained him, his Device torn from his grip as he was slammed into the ground, blacking out. A pulse of my sensors let me know he would live.
I felt more than saw the containment field go down, Dimensional Transfer made viable once more as the scarred ground flickered back to an undamaged state.
The fight was over.
Fate was shaking as the adrenaline rush of combat died down, though Arf seemed to be handling it better.
"Arf, grab his Device, we're transferring back to the Garden." Fate needed time to deal with actual combat and Linith would be far better than me at talking to her about this.
I summoned my cloak body and gave her a loose hug, but I'm not sure that was good enough to cover 'just fought in actual bloody combat'.
I didn't want to try some half assed therapy based off a week old bond in the middle of what had been a battle ground in any case.
A blast of mixed Blue and gold killed the confiscated Devices power source before I asked Arf to stow it away, the insight being a Device granted was enough to let me subvert it's safeties now that the user was down.
"Ready Fate?" She nodded, looking a little better, but I was still worried about her.
I handled most of the spell casting, a vast golden design spinning to life beneath us, before we vanished with a crack of thunder.
AN: Apologies for the long wait, college and other projects kept me tied down.
I will be posting some Omake that were written during said break soon, since I didn't want to disappoint anyone by breaking the lull with non-story stuff.
-
You know, I hadn't thought we would be putting our training into practice this soon.
Still, the light show that Fate was artfully weaving through reminded me of a danmaku game, like a lot of our training had done.
Too bad there was actual risk here, more than the stinging spells that Linith had been reluctant to use once we were used to the paint ones, so we couldn't enjoy it.
This fight involved magical ordinance on the level of high powered explosives after all.
Okay, couldn't enjoy it too much. I have always had a adrenaline problem, though it is tempered by concern for my partner here.
A blast of speed from pulsing the [Blitz Action] spell bought a momentary reprieve for us.
Taking full advantage of the breather, Fate's grip shifted slightly, her mana flow increasing as she prepared herself.
"Bardiche, full attack power."
If my partner asks for firepower, what can I do but happily oblige?
"[Photon Lancer], Full Auto Fire!" She joins in halfway through the cast, taking control of the spell with careful precision as I pass it over gleefully.
Gold power filtered through the digital patterns burned into my Library, the numbers crunching as the magical circle burst into exist beneath us, mathematical equation that makes up [Photon Lancer] blazing at Fate's floating feet.
Two dozen spheres of crackling golden magic manifest in the air around us before screaming towards the man with a swipe of my haft.
----
I should probably explain how we ended up playing versus mode danmaku, eh?
...Probably shouldn't call it that around Linith, she got testy when I called maneuverability training 'tag'. Far too serious for a cat that woman.
We, that being Fate, Arf and I, had easily made it through the ruin as we searched for a path to the 'Season Chamber', the once center piece of the crumbling ruin.
I was running the sensors on high, trying to pierce past the blur of magical fog that the dense free mana had created, while Arf was attempting to sniff out a path. I didn't hold much hope for her scenting a way there, the dust beneath our feet was long accumulated.
And it would remain that way, since both Fate and Arf were utilizing the [Thunder's Passage] flight spell after some sort of explosive mine had gone off and crashed into Fate's Jacket. It had let loose a few hundred wires that had managed to scar the solid rock but the auto-guard spell [Defensor] had blocked them from hitting us. Arf had already been safe flying, she hadn't really stopped since Linith had taught her how.
Since than we had used the flight spell to dodge seven different pressure triggered traps that lead to what looked like spell arrays, humming faintly with stored power. Spotting them and making a guessing game of divining the function had keep us from falling into silence.
Hadn't tried to get a better look at them yet for fear of setting the things off, even if they didn't look like they should be able to breach the Jacket.
The ruin was mostly rock, carved into the ground. Some of the pseudo rooms seemed to be natural caverns, but most of it looks like it was carved with some form of magic, the smooth edges at odds with the fact that this world was what I would consider modern.
"Fate, try the left turn, the mana is denser there." I was augmenting the sensors with my Sparks light, hoping the increased 'presence' could help me spot the way.
Another few dozen meters along that corridor, we found the Season Chamber.
It was an expansive chamber, with intricate designs carved into the walls representing, I assumed, given the name, the different seasons.
"That one winter you reckon?" Arf seemed to come to the same conclusion, pointing at what could have been a snowflake. We carefully made our way to the center of the room, the mana fog thick enough that I was almost being reminded of my human level eyesight for the more distant carvings.
"Is that the Key?" Fate gestured to an altar like construct in the center of the room, the round slab of smooth marble marked only with a single line, extending from an elaborate key that was within what looked to be a lock in the center.
It looked like a wire bulb with tiny light bulbs attached. Not very impressive sounding eh?
The sheer presence this thing had was more than enough to make up for the appearance once Fate pointed it out, and I don't know how I could have missed it before then.
It sang of fulfillment, or potential, the missing piece to every puzzle. I reached out with my personal power, feeling my Spark flickering, reflecting, analyzing and Understanding it.
My kaleidoscope flickered what should have been a dizzying array of colors as the perfect mirror of the key formed in my Library.
Huh. It was actually mirrored, the shape was reversed.... Did I do that? It seems like it should still work, something intuitively told me it would, but...
"Bardiche? Are you okay?" She didn't sound that concerned, she could tell I was concentrating but not panicked from our time training together.
"Voltaic Key… It's not the Cycle Key, its called the Voltaic Key, Fate." I couldn't keep the happiness from my voice, the cloak that was my pseudo body hugging her loosely.
I remembered this card, this artifact, even without the innate understanding it's residency in my library gives me.
This was more proof that I was truly a Walker, that the information I had dredged up with Blue were worth something. I am still confused as to how my original Plane learned of Walkers and Artifacts, and I also need to figure out why there are Gathering sourced objects floating around in Nanoha but the facts remain. Urza's shadow had been enough to confirm it, but every fact meant I was more grounded, that my knowledge was worth more.
And that I had a legacy belonging to me here to find.
Might seem like an over reaction but I have strange priorities, and Fate needs more hugs in her life, so I'm happy to use sharing my joy as a reason.
"I'll explain later, it has to do with my origins."
Arf seemed to be of the same happy opinion as she joined in the hug with a shout of "Mission accomplished!"
And it was. A little anticlimactic, but we had dozens of these to hunt down, and I doubt they will all be this easy.
One powerful artifact added to our arsenal that I could hardly wait to see how it could be put to use, possible things to learn from the traps and some practical experience for the girls.
All in all, a good dry run.
Fate had stowed the Key away into a pouch, it easily clicking free from the table, and we were on the way back to investigate one of the traps when my sensors pinged and I slammed a boosted "[Defensor]" shield into existence, increasing it's size to protect both the girls.
It is a function of even normal Devices to automatically utilize an assigned defensive spell without their wielders permission, a necessary function for surprise attacks, this is called Auto-Guard. Defensor was Bardiche's default and even if I can technically use her mana for other spells without her help, the pattern hovering in my Library found this the most accommodating for quick cast purposes.
A rune embossed magic circle burst to life to block the incoming ropes of light with a crackle, Fate and Arf jumping back after the three streams of magic hit.
A ripple of light flickered as we shifted to battle ready, Fate and Arf taking to the air and me chugging Blue as I shifted back to the Device as my 'view point', stowing the cloak body in the corner of the room.
Chamber is high enough for ariel, possible to blast to surface? Enemy is a mage, went for disabling first, probably a [Bind] class spell, green colored magic, possible alert sent on removal of key? Fast, dimensional transfer most likely, or area is monitored. Should have checked, add to list. Wards are possibly up, no battlefield active but we are a good bit away from the civilisation even if they don't know about magic.
I tapped the necessary parts of techno graffiti online for Fate's pseudo-HUD as I reviewed the situation, letting it run automatically to highlight incoming attacks and other useful data.
Meanwhile, Fate dodged the next trio of rope like spells, Arf jumping over one as she defied gravity and stood on the wall. It was actually a flight spell holding her there, but it gave her something to kick off.
I checked my Cavern was fully active, the presence nodding as Blue rushed about me.
"Fate, I'll break the first set, try and get a visual." I would see it when she did, borrowed senses are handy, and from there we could take them down.
The next set were shooter type spells, not lethal damage to anyone with a Jacket, but still a step up from [Bind].
Fate flinched slightly, pulling me closer, but she trusted me to to deal with them.
And so I did, unable to help the dismissive tone as I invoked my spell. Maybe it's a Blue thing.
" [Mana Leak] "
Both links, Ice Cavern and Lake, rushed to fill the template as I crafted the spell, a set of daggers visualized.
I can't pull off a proper Counterspell yet, but Mana Leak was a piece of cake once I was grounded in the magic system. Recreating the archetype Blue spell the first proper test of my capabilities.
The sleeve of my fake body swiped, a magic circle blurring to life and flashing as ghostly blue daggers sliced out into the soaring spells, altering the equation, increasing their cost several fold by 'opening' the mana requirement.
Being that the caster had already let them 'go', in the magical sense, they were helpless to contribute the extra power needed to balance the magical equation, the spells dissipating in a weak flicker of pale green light a dozen meters from Fate.
And then she had them in her sights.
Male, lower end of twenties, wielding what I have learned was standard TSAB Device, full Barrier Jacket up and ready. I didn't recognize him from the show, but they are a universe spanning organisation.
"Trespassers, this is a sealed site on a non-administrated world, halt! I am Officer Jones of the Time and Space Bureau."
Fate removed herself and my Device body from the line of fire as I pulled on Blue to empower another set of holographic daggers, pausing with this set half forged in my Library, the magic circle hovering just inside the cloth.
I felt conflicted. We could fight him, probably win by virtue of numbers and me cutting his spells down without Fate having to cease firing, blast our way free of this ruin and transfer out with the key.
But was that the best option? Why should we fight him?
If we talked to him now, explained what was going on, what Precia had done…
I could get Fate away from her.
Now.
No waiting for a moment to try and beat some sense into her mother, no planning for after she starts the Jewel Seed search.
Before Fate was branded a criminal, or an accomplice to the attempted destruction of a world, because I doubted a real version of the TSAB would be so sympathetic.
I mentally turned to my partner, time slowing as I pulled Blue into a pattern I had last invoked on my death bed to buy time to think.
...she wouldn't. She loved her mother and Precia, while neglectful, hadn't crossed the line yet.
Hell, Fate had been willing to fight for her even at the end, after Precia had tortured her, laughed in her face, and disowned her.
There was Linith to consider as well, who was another mother figure to my partner she would have to give up to go through with this option.
Right then. Carving a path out of here it is. I could protect Fate from Precia anyway and chances were that the TSAB would consider me a Lost Logia.
The slippy hyper cognition faded from my grasp as I returned to the real world, decision made.
I tapped into the visual interface, placing a message for Fate in the corner of her sight on the HUD.
'I'll handle the talking, get ready with speed.' I copied the message over to Arf, letting her know to follow Fates lead.
After that, I directed my [Projection Flesh] construct to sweep out in front of him, half way between him and the girls, coincidentally at the entrance to the chamber.
"Hello, I am Bardiche, what do you mean trespasser? There were no signs nor magical wards indicating that this area is restricted."
"The hell are you?" Rather rude of him.
"A Device, here for my partners safety." I considered going with familiar, spirit, or maybe even god, but the aim here was to attract less attention, not more.
To aid in that, I let the projection shatter in a burst of static, transferring my full attention and presence to the Device with a chime.
It dispersed the daggers back into mana, but the physical form was more of a focus than strictly necessary, so I just converted them to pure energy for re-deployment.
Doing so did lock the down pattern though, meaning it would be much harder to use the spell without throwing this set first, limiting how many of his attacks I could break.
"I need to speak to the girl, not her Device. What's your name?" His tone softened somewhat when he addressed Fate, probably because now that he had realized he was talking to a pre-teen.
"Nope. You're going to have to talk to me, partner knows not to talk to strangers." I was probably pushing it, but I am rather bad at noticing that sort of thing. I also enjoy pissing off authority far too much.
He gritted his teeth, but Fate is depressingly good at the emotionless look.
Angrily addressing me, or at least the gem on the Device, his tone was much less friendly.
"Fine then, 'Bardiche', what are you lot doing in this sealed magical site, on an unadministered world? And don't give me any nonsense about it being unprotected, this chamber was sealed even to the TSAB and I saw the cave-in in the entrance chamber, you have at least destroyed property."
The man had a point. Not sure what he meant about the chamber being protected though, nothing had stopped us heading in.
"In addition to that, where is the Lost Logia that was contained here? We may not have been able to recover it, but our scrying let us see it. I sincerely hope you haven't added theft to your list of crimes."
And there's the stinger. Right, we can't surrender the Key.
Even if it hadn't been the goal, it was an Artifact, it held secrets that were rightfully mine as a Walker.
That ended negotiations, Fate wouldn't give it up because Precia had asked her to get it and I wouldn't because it was an Artifact, mine by right.
'Go' The word appeared on Fate's HUD at the same time as I engulfed my Spark in Blue from my misty connection to the lake, shunting my Cavern link to a telekinesis spell.
I pulled Arf to us with it, the familiar kicking off the wall into the tug to link hands with Fate as the first spell cast by the TSAB agent was torn apart by a overcharged spectral dagger in an implosion of mana.
Fate had been storing charging power since I had told her to get ready and her future reputation as a speed demon could be seen as we synced up and cast.
"[Blitz Action]!" Our voices blurred together as the flash-step move outlined Fate's body in gold, a burst of speed faster than human eyes could perceive ripped all three of us past the agent with a gale of wind, continuing down the hall.
She and Arf kicked off the wall, maxing out their flight spells as I liberally used telekinesis to help avoid collisions, their 'games' of tag in the forest granting the experience needed to speed through the structure.
The ruin didn't take the successive flash steps very well, the cave-in from earlier proving to have been a warning sign as the structure started to crumble in our wake.
We took to the air after leaving the ruin, spinning around as we saw the [Containment Force Field].
That field is the example of an area-type spell, what I would call a ward. A massive, building-high sphere of magic, it obscures all within from the outside and creates a slight spatial blur that selectively separates non-magicals from what are usually the combatants. It can also be used to cancel out the inevitable damage caused to the area by magical combat. I'm not going to pretend to comprehend the mechanics behind it, neither Fate nor I know how to even start making one and the digital design is similarly lost.
A duplicate world that contains only the magical aspects, void of life that would become collateral in a duel between mages.
I suppose it wasn't something Linith or Precia saw as necessary to teach Fate.
My introspection was interrupted by a barrage of magical missiles from below and an angry cry of "Criminals!".
He looks pretty pissed.
Might have something to do with a good portion of the structure falling on him, his Barrier Jacket does look rather damaged.
----
And that is the story of how we came to be playing our game of danmaku.
The barrage of golden orbs slammed home, two or three tagging the agent and destroying a couple more layers of his Jacket, ripping the construct down to a shirt.
He was still casting but more and more he was having to use barrier and shield spells to keep from being taken out of the fight, his Jacket insufficient to tank the lightning blast spells Fate was tossing out like candy.
The majority pounded into the ground however, tearing the landscape to shreds, further burying the ruin.
Another burst of missiles from him were cut down by [Mana Leak], their power dumped into the air as they fell to my daggers, my lake bond refreshing slowly, but my original bond could easily make up for it, me and Fate becoming more in tune with the rhythm of the fight, counter/cast, dodge, counter/cast. The advantage that being able to ignore nearly half of the enemies attacks granted is obvious.
We had been dueling in the air for about fifteen repetitions of that beat when Arf pinged me.
I informed Fate and we started the plan.
"[Photon Lancer Multishot]!" A repeating barrage of gold missiles slammed home into the [Round Shield] that he summoned as predicted.
Two rounds of sustained fire later, Fate's cry of "Now!"marked the start of the combo.
I shifted in her grasp, "Scythe Form!", the Device shifting to a futuristic looking scythe before we vanished downward in a blast of speed, courtesy of a [Blitz Action].
Scythe form uses a condensed mana blade as it's edge, granting it cutting power far beyond any physical blade, while also eliminating any requirement for maintenance or replacement. The blade is capable of slicing through solid steel with the slightest pressure, even when wielded by a preteen.
"[Arc Saber]!" Fate unleashed this golden blade, it ripping from the Device mere feet away from its target.
The agent didn't stand a chance to dodge and might not have even know he should have, instead of boosting his shield.
You see, [Arc Saber] has another key attribute. It is a shield piercing attack.
The crescent of magic bit into the shield, cracking the construct and shattering what was left of his Jacket with ease, cutting into him just enough to draw blood as we blurred back, out of the way of Arf's "[Bind]!"
The orange ropes made of magic easily contained him, his Device torn from his grip as he was slammed into the ground, blacking out. A pulse of my sensors let me know he would live.
I felt more than saw the containment field go down, Dimensional Transfer made viable once more as the scarred ground flickered back to an undamaged state.
The fight was over.
Fate was shaking as the adrenaline rush of combat died down, though Arf seemed to be handling it better.
"Arf, grab his Device, we're transferring back to the Garden." Fate needed time to deal with actual combat and Linith would be far better than me at talking to her about this.
I summoned my cloak body and gave her a loose hug, but I'm not sure that was good enough to cover 'just fought in actual bloody combat'.
I didn't want to try some half assed therapy based off a week old bond in the middle of what had been a battle ground in any case.
A blast of mixed Blue and gold killed the confiscated Devices power source before I asked Arf to stow it away, the insight being a Device granted was enough to let me subvert it's safeties now that the user was down.
"Ready Fate?" She nodded, looking a little better, but I was still worried about her.
I handled most of the spell casting, a vast golden design spinning to life beneath us, before we vanished with a crack of thunder.
AN: Apologies for the long wait, college and other projects kept me tied down.
I will be posting some Omake that were written during said break soon, since I didn't want to disappoint anyone by breaking the lull with non-story stuff.
Last edited:
...You know, I really wonder just how the TSAB(? I can never remember that acronym>>) will take the reveal of Bardiche and whether Planeswalker Artifacts would be considered Lost Logia when the 'Walkers are still around. Or if they would even believe it.
Also: Yay! this story is back!
Also: Yay! this story is back!
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
TSAB yep.
Probably declare him a danger to the stability of existence. Some of the end game plans I have mean that it would be justified mind you, but still, rude.
There was a specific event that led to a lot of stuff happening in Nanoha-verse, it involved Old Walkers.
And oh that key... >
Would the Garden of Time be a valid target for the key? I can't remember if you called it an artifact or land.TSAB yep.
Probably declare him a danger to the stability of existence. Some of the end game plans I have mean that it would be justified mind you, but still, rude.
There was a specific event that led to a lot of stuff happening in Nanoha-verse, it involved Old Walkers.
And oh that key... >
Sirrocco
Pedantic
There are artifact lands out there.
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
It would, but Bardiche is barred from messing around with the Garden at the moment, due to the Wraith/Shadow protecting it.
The results would be up in the air too.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
TSAB and DCI are in agreement on them I'd imagine.
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
To be fair, at the point that they will be saying that, he probably will be.
Oh, meant to ask here as well as SB, some worries I had:
Flying fight scenes are strange to write, did it read okay? TSAB Agent believable? Also, am I marginalizing Arf?
Dagger version of Mana Leak easily pictured?
Shimmers of the Kaleidoscope, Ichi: Old Man of the Jewels - Fate/Kaleid Liner
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
Shimmers of the Kaleidoscope, Ichi : Old Man of the Jewels
Omake - Fate/Kaleid Liner
-
It was times like this that I wondered if the Sorcerer had set the cards free himself.
Because this seemed like something the old bastard would enjoy.
"Duck and weave Rin! Interference is bumping the difficulty of the counterspell up!"
Caster, the Hero of Magic, conceptually beyond anything of the common day by the mere right of being born into the Age of Heroes, a time before humanities potential became too diluted to accomplish such deeds in a single lifetime. You know, that might be where the whole magical crest thing started….
Anyway, her spells were being torn apart by my will and power. She might be the closest thing to divine left to walk this earth, but I am a Walker taught by Zelretch, and a single line of my Aria can match her High-Speed Divine Casting once I start chrono-blurring. There is a reason I can't use magic outside a Bounded Field, I don't want to fight the Counter Force.
Rin fired her own attacks back, more distractions than anything else but it is worth the prana to power the Finn Shots, being that they can cave walls in by themselves, boosted by our synergy the blasts of red power at least rate shields from Caster.
"I drink of eternal potential and deride fate!" A declaration, a line of me. Aria. Self-Hypnosis to control half-metaphysical circuits of the soul.
There was barely a contest, one of us was a Caster template animated by a leyline and the other was a being that had broken down the walls of a reality with its dying breath, before learning the Second True Magic from the corpse of a Mystic Code while high on the Blue power of pure intellect.
Her spells died like shooting stars flickering out the second I could get a lock on them.
"Ready, Nero?" Rin had that smirk on her face again, but I would have been the same in human form. It had been a long fight, and we finally had our trump card back in working order. Rule Breaker is bullshit of the highest order and I plan to pay the favor forward with the mirror image I now carry.
"Prana draw maximized, refraction construct firing up. On your mark." Ten, twenty, a hundred, thousands… I drew them in, my Jewel blazing colors there were not words for as I drunk in mana from endless alternate worlds.
She took aim, senses bolstered beyond anything human by the endlessly smooth waves of Blue mana that I share with her, and fired, shattering the projected Jewel that hovered at the tip of the wand.
The haft of the Kaleidostick I currently inhabit buckled.
The fake mirror world that we fought the Servants in almost lagged as enough power to kill an Ancestor was unleashed.
Caster disintegrated, her flight nowhere near fast enough to escape the torrent of endless power that ended the Hero's current body.
Both Rin and I were panting as the backlash ripped through us, her magic circuits burning while my Crystal rapidly regenerated it's barriers. It didn't stop either of us from grinning wide enough to nearly split our faces.
"Grab the card and we should be done here partner." I wanted to see another card, they had so much power and connections entrapped within them that it was ludicrous.
With all of them, and enough Blue, I might be able to replicate the summoning from the original Fate verse.
I still wasn't sure what exactly had changed to cause the difference in timelines, but this universe never had the 4th Grail War. That meant there were a lot of changes, one of them being that Rin Tohsaka ended up heading to the clock tower and applying for an apprenticeship earlier than in 'canon', probably due to her father living.
We ended up meeting there and I was part of her trail to become an apprentice to Zelretch himself.
I was shaken out of my reminiscing by Rin asking a question.
"Hey, Nero, I have the card, so shouldn't the Mirror World be resolving?" Huh? I must have been lost in thought more than I realized.
I filter some prana and reach out to the limits of the fake world we stood in.
"The Servant is dead, so it should have. The only thing that could keep it going would be…"
I realized it roughly the same time that a blade wreathed in pure prana smashed through the air where Rin had stood moments ago.
"The hell is that thing!?" I was wondering that myself Rin.
But now that I had a clear look at it, it only took me a quick sip of Blue to realize.
Saber Alter, the version that was drunk on the corrupted mana of Sakura during one of the Fate/Stay routes. How the hell it was here in this world, where Sakura was a normal human who didn't even know of the world of Magic, I have no idea. We would have to search for a corrupted Leyline, maybe even contact the Clocktower.
The sheer power that surrounds her puts me on edge in any case.
"It's Saber, one of the strongest Servants. Get ready Rin."
For my part I tapped the Second Magic and began drawing in more Od, the raw mana of the worlds, filtering it into prana which is the refined stuff that mages can actually use.
"I hold Freedom absolute." Another line, another truth of me.
Using the Second Magic, the Operation of Parallel Worlds, boosted this from a sub-par environmental boost into an infinite mana source. Utilizing the True Magic I could access an endless number of alternate worlds and drain them each of their ambivalent mana.
It also included a handy god-complex, since infinite power was a heady feeling.
I'm a Walker though, so no real difference in attitude there.
"Physical reinforcement maxed, Magical boosting maxed, all systems flooded. Ready to rock and or roll, Rin~! You sure you don't want the kitty ears?" The aura cross shield of pure power that enveloped the Servant seems a lot less intimidating once we were back to combat ready.
"Take this seriously damn it Nero." Damn killjoy of a tsundere.
---------------
AN: This is an draft that has been polished up.
Had a different verse involved, (Fate/Kaleid Liner) but still incorporated the device aspect.
Plans were scrapped after I realised just how much there was to do in Type-Moon, leading me to deciding that it would be best to just visit, and leave a proper "Planeswalker hits Nasu" for when I have a better understanding of the verse.
This would have been about the 8th or so snip, time skips, working friendship, magic skills acquired.
Omake - Fate/Kaleid Liner
-
It was times like this that I wondered if the Sorcerer had set the cards free himself.
Because this seemed like something the old bastard would enjoy.
"Duck and weave Rin! Interference is bumping the difficulty of the counterspell up!"
Caster, the Hero of Magic, conceptually beyond anything of the common day by the mere right of being born into the Age of Heroes, a time before humanities potential became too diluted to accomplish such deeds in a single lifetime. You know, that might be where the whole magical crest thing started….
Anyway, her spells were being torn apart by my will and power. She might be the closest thing to divine left to walk this earth, but I am a Walker taught by Zelretch, and a single line of my Aria can match her High-Speed Divine Casting once I start chrono-blurring. There is a reason I can't use magic outside a Bounded Field, I don't want to fight the Counter Force.
Rin fired her own attacks back, more distractions than anything else but it is worth the prana to power the Finn Shots, being that they can cave walls in by themselves, boosted by our synergy the blasts of red power at least rate shields from Caster.
"I drink of eternal potential and deride fate!" A declaration, a line of me. Aria. Self-Hypnosis to control half-metaphysical circuits of the soul.
There was barely a contest, one of us was a Caster template animated by a leyline and the other was a being that had broken down the walls of a reality with its dying breath, before learning the Second True Magic from the corpse of a Mystic Code while high on the Blue power of pure intellect.
Her spells died like shooting stars flickering out the second I could get a lock on them.
"Ready, Nero?" Rin had that smirk on her face again, but I would have been the same in human form. It had been a long fight, and we finally had our trump card back in working order. Rule Breaker is bullshit of the highest order and I plan to pay the favor forward with the mirror image I now carry.
"Prana draw maximized, refraction construct firing up. On your mark." Ten, twenty, a hundred, thousands… I drew them in, my Jewel blazing colors there were not words for as I drunk in mana from endless alternate worlds.
She took aim, senses bolstered beyond anything human by the endlessly smooth waves of Blue mana that I share with her, and fired, shattering the projected Jewel that hovered at the tip of the wand.
The haft of the Kaleidostick I currently inhabit buckled.
The fake mirror world that we fought the Servants in almost lagged as enough power to kill an Ancestor was unleashed.
Caster disintegrated, her flight nowhere near fast enough to escape the torrent of endless power that ended the Hero's current body.
Both Rin and I were panting as the backlash ripped through us, her magic circuits burning while my Crystal rapidly regenerated it's barriers. It didn't stop either of us from grinning wide enough to nearly split our faces.
"Grab the card and we should be done here partner." I wanted to see another card, they had so much power and connections entrapped within them that it was ludicrous.
With all of them, and enough Blue, I might be able to replicate the summoning from the original Fate verse.
I still wasn't sure what exactly had changed to cause the difference in timelines, but this universe never had the 4th Grail War. That meant there were a lot of changes, one of them being that Rin Tohsaka ended up heading to the clock tower and applying for an apprenticeship earlier than in 'canon', probably due to her father living.
We ended up meeting there and I was part of her trail to become an apprentice to Zelretch himself.
I was shaken out of my reminiscing by Rin asking a question.
"Hey, Nero, I have the card, so shouldn't the Mirror World be resolving?" Huh? I must have been lost in thought more than I realized.
I filter some prana and reach out to the limits of the fake world we stood in.
"The Servant is dead, so it should have. The only thing that could keep it going would be…"
I realized it roughly the same time that a blade wreathed in pure prana smashed through the air where Rin had stood moments ago.
"The hell is that thing!?" I was wondering that myself Rin.
But now that I had a clear look at it, it only took me a quick sip of Blue to realize.
Saber Alter, the version that was drunk on the corrupted mana of Sakura during one of the Fate/Stay routes. How the hell it was here in this world, where Sakura was a normal human who didn't even know of the world of Magic, I have no idea. We would have to search for a corrupted Leyline, maybe even contact the Clocktower.
The sheer power that surrounds her puts me on edge in any case.
"It's Saber, one of the strongest Servants. Get ready Rin."
For my part I tapped the Second Magic and began drawing in more Od, the raw mana of the worlds, filtering it into prana which is the refined stuff that mages can actually use.
"I hold Freedom absolute." Another line, another truth of me.
Using the Second Magic, the Operation of Parallel Worlds, boosted this from a sub-par environmental boost into an infinite mana source. Utilizing the True Magic I could access an endless number of alternate worlds and drain them each of their ambivalent mana.
It also included a handy god-complex, since infinite power was a heady feeling.
I'm a Walker though, so no real difference in attitude there.
"Physical reinforcement maxed, Magical boosting maxed, all systems flooded. Ready to rock and or roll, Rin~! You sure you don't want the kitty ears?" The aura cross shield of pure power that enveloped the Servant seems a lot less intimidating once we were back to combat ready.
"Take this seriously damn it Nero." Damn killjoy of a tsundere.
---------------
AN: This is an draft that has been polished up.
Had a different verse involved, (Fate/Kaleid Liner) but still incorporated the device aspect.
Plans were scrapped after I realised just how much there was to do in Type-Moon, leading me to deciding that it would be best to just visit, and leave a proper "Planeswalker hits Nasu" for when I have a better understanding of the verse.
This would have been about the 8th or so snip, time skips, working friendship, magic skills acquired.
Mr. Mica
Capitalism cannot fix Global Warming.
- Location
- Earth
It read fine, I could picture the scenery just fine. TSAB seemed young/inexperienced/surprised, if that was your goal then yes. Arf is the familiar right? ?She? kept mostly out of the way, but it was not as if you forgot about her place in the narrative. I have only encountered MTG and whatever the other setting is called here and on SB, so I do not possess any special insight into the canon representation of said spell, but I could easily picture it.
Last edited:
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
Next chapter will have Bardiche looking into anyways to actually try and fix their relationship. Or at least help Fate out in regards to it.Alas, Precia. It's too bad you can't fix her, but Capgras syndrome is a hell of a thing.
Also, was thinking, considering this is going to be Nanoha focused for awhile, it worth adding it to the thread title?