Child of Aidon
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SS [8] Next Time The Stairs
🕑 Added 2025-06-16 22:29:37 +0000 UTCThere was a flash of light as Aurelius’s crystal blade erupted with primana. Tanisha watched in fascination as he used technique after technique. After training and fighting alongside him for the past few weeks she could see the moments a normal slash was imbued with the power of a technique. The amount of forms, the precise movement of the body, the exact positioning and flexing was incredible.
His battle against this Shard was night and day compared to his struggle with the first. Every movement now was fluid, confident and honed. As their swords collided the primana around his sword formed an illusory ryu dragon which curled around his blade and shot forward snapping its jaws around the androids torso.
The Shard reeled back, its body sparking from both the force of the ryu’s bite and a clean, arcing slash that had opened a deep cut across its chest. The attack wasn’t enough to take it down, but it clearly disrupted the machine’s systems. Aurelius of course didn’t give the murderbot any time to assess its condition before rushing in to continue the pressure.
“His swordsmanship has come a long way.” Fuyumi noted calmly from beside Tanisha.
“Are you kidding?” Tanisha exclaimed, eyes wide. “He just summoned a dragon with his sword! Since when could he do that?”
“Sometimes I forget you aren’t a cultivator.” Fuyumi said apologetically. “That is the same dragon slash he has been using. The only difference is now he is in a higher realm and has fully condensed his foundation. That is why he wanted to wait to challenge the android now. This is the first time he has used the attack and it now manifests a condensed form of his sword intent.”
“Sword intent?” Tanisha questioned.
“Think of it as the outward expression of his magic.” Fuyumi explained. “It is no different from your magic constructs but crafted through intent to kill and shaped by the technique used.”
“That sounds both badass and dangerous. It is crafted with the intent to kill?” Tanisha questioned.
“Don’t expect him to use it in training against you.” Fuyumi said with a light chuckle. “I put it in the same level of danger as your poisons and while we do have your potions now, I would rather avoid anything that could seriously hurt one of us. But yes many cultivator techniques are enhanced or diminished by specific emotions. At his realm he has to fully immerse himself in it but as his realm increases eventually he will be able to use the techniques more freely.”
A sudden metallic clang yanked Tanisha’s attention back to the fight.
Aurelius had just blocked a massive downward slash with his shield, angling it so the enemy blade skidded harmlessly aside. The attack put the Shard off balance. His crystalline blade glowed as he pushed forward. Tanisha recognized the kata from his training though she had never seen it so perfect.
One step, his eyes flared with chaotic energy.
Two, his hair lifted, suspended in the primana-thick air that pulsed like invisible water around him.
Three, he dipped low, evading the Shard’s panicked counterstroke.
Four, with a roar, his blade lunged forward.
Primana detonated from the blade’s tip like a bomb. The explosion tore the Shard nearly in half, scattering metal shrapnel across the chamber like jagged confetti. The room behind it was peppered with holes, sparks raining down like embers.
“Incredible,” Tanisha said.
Aurelius pulled back his sword watching the legs of the once formidable machine fall over completely separated now from its upper body. He had a few cuts here and there but nothing serious, nothing his own regeneration won’t heal in a few hours if that. He was breathing heavy but he didn’t lower his guard.
“Tanisha,” He called without turning around. “Anymore hostiles?”
“No,” she responded. “Not picking up anything.”
He sheathed his sword and turned around with the biggest smile she had ever seen on the elf.
“Did you see that! I manifested sword intent! Real sword intent!” Aurelius called.
Tanisha teleported over to him, “It was a big dragon! Like when could you do something like that, Speedy?”
“It just kind’a happened!” Aurelius said.
“It just shows hard work pays off.” Fuyumi said as she stepped up to the pair.
“Hard work and having a good teacher.” Aurelius said.
“Now what is this room,” Tanisha said looking around. “Doxy?”
“Query: This is an auxiliary storage room. However the content had been moved to the lower floors prior to lockdown. Other plans for the room were halted by the Site Manager’s ordered evacuation.”
“An empty storage room, why was there a Shard in here?” Fuyumi asked.
“Query: Security Clearance insufficient.”
“Right, of course,” Tanisha rolled her eyes.
“Are you going to fight your Shard too?” Aurelius asked.
“No, I want to get a better handle on my electrokinesis first.” Tanisha said. “After you rest up we can go to the lower floors. I’ll see if I can open the door.”
“After everything Laxy has been teaching us about computers I don’t know how you get it so easily.” Fuyumi said.
“Maybe because it’s just numbers and logic. That’s what alchemy is. She gave me some practical advice on how I can do something called ethical hacking. So it’s finally time.” Tanisha said.
***
The door to the lower level had been the only one in the upper level that was actually locked. Well, they don’t know if the Security Room was locked because the Shiver broke the door but that is besides the point. Tanisha had tried to open it several times but lacked the finesse with aether to follow the correct circuits. Now not only did she know what she was doing to some extent but her control of her magic had increased dramatically thanks to her team.
She placed her hand on the locked consol pushing the purest stream of aether she could through the device deep into the aethertech. Her magic followed the flow circumventing the obstacles. Thanks to her training she knew that what she was doing was equivalent to picking a lock. Before she may have had the tools but she was using them incorrectly. Now she could understand what she was seeing. Instead of brute force she could use the aether like a scalpel.
As she spread her aether threw the door it made so much more sense to her. Aether wanted to find a usable path, the magic by itself was directionless and hard to control but it thrived when given limitations. That was unlike maya which wanted to be free and to contain it was to fight against the heavens.
Just because she understood how to move the aether didn’t mean it was easy. Not by a long shot. She had to split her mind’s focus on what felt like a hundred different tiny tasks. She was sweating as she pushed the flow of aether further and further. Then she felt the console connect to her like it was always apart of her consciousness.
“I did it.” Tanisha said. “Get ready.”
Aurelius and Fuyumi were in place, magic already suffusing the air. The door hissed as if in protest then slid open with a grone. Before them was a dark hallway the lights flickered on revealing what looked like the remnants of a battle. Parts of the passage collapsed, metal was melted from some type of impact spell or weapon, cuts and scars across metal that not even Fuyume could break through.
“Warning: this facility is on lockdown and all personnel are to exit immediately.” An unknown voice said. “Warning: you are trespassing please report to the security office for liquidation. Warning: you have entered a lockdown area all personnel that have failed to evacuate will now have an active Death Warrant. Warning: Reactor Meltdown imminent.”
The group ignored the warnings and continued on. At the end of the hallway was a large platform lift. It had enough space for scores of people and supplies to be transported up or down at once.
“It’s the way down,” Tanisha said.
“Just like Laxy said.” Fuyumi added. “Have you guys ever rode an elevator before?”
“No.” Aurelius said.
“I have heard about them from my friend, Mat. He said human cities have them. At least those in the force Isles.” Tanisha said.
“The gondolas, yeah.” Aurelius said.
Tanisha placed her hand on the console on the platform.
“Isn’t a gondola a boat or do I have my muaian wrong?” Tanisha questioned.
“No, there are boats too. A gondola lift is like a cart on a cable that goes between skylands.” Aurelius explained.
“That sounds utterly horrifying.” Tanisha said. “Who would get on those?”
“They are actually quite peaceful.” Fuyumi said.
Amber lights suddenly started flashing as a guard rail raised out of the platform. Likely to keep people from being too close to the edges. There was another hiss then the constant hum of power as the lift slowly crawled down deeper into the earth. The lift went down at a slope not straight down but it was slow going.
“Warning: this area is off limits please exit the facility. Warning: Tanisha, Fuyumi, Aurelius are now registered in the Kill List and are to be liquidated on site. Warning…”
The voice kept listing warnings about them being armed and dangerous and them going into restricted areas the entire nearly ten minute ride down. Tanisha wished they had taken the stairs instead. Maybe they could have been down so much faster. After a while she felt like it was just doing it out of spite.
The lift suddenly stopped and the amber flashing lights became a full on menacing red. The sound of something skittering quickly along metal. Tanisha prepared herself with all her magic orbs of water and scarlet electricity crackling around her. She fell into place in her team's triangular formation.
[Hostiles Detected]
Her armor chimed though nothing appeared in her vision. The minimap showed red dots along the far edge of the lift.
“We’ve got company,” Tanisha said calmly.
“I can sense them,” Fuyumi replied, her voice cool and measured.
“How many?” Aurelius asked.
Tanisha focused, watching as the blips on the minimap multiplied. Ten. Twenty-five. Forty. Still climbing.
“Over sixty now… and still increasing.” Tanisha said. “Electro-surprise?” she offered, already pulling her mana into position.
“Electro-surprise,” Aurelius confirmed.
All three of her water orbs burst, flooding the platform in a sudden wave. A thin layer of water coated the floor. The moment it was soaked through, Tanisha pressed her hand to the slick surface and surged it with electricity.
Scarlet lightning crackled outward in brilliant arcs. The current danced along the water, snaking across the entire platform in branching patterns. Thanks to her skill with electrokinesis, the charge avoided Fuyumi and Aurelius entirely but the Silhouettes weren’t so lucky. As the lightning hit, the enemy forces shimmered into view.
They looked almost human, sleek frames, smooth synthetic skin, and two lightweight swords each. The holes in their blades were there to reduce weight, optimized for fast, precise strikes. However they were stealthy assassins not meant for direct engagement against people that could see them. And the current had fried a chunk of their motor function and disrupted whatever cloaking field they relied on.
Aurelius and Fuyumi both lunged forward with weapons in hand. Aurelius didn’t use his shield this time relying on his sharpened swordsmanship and newly acquired sword intent. Each slash burned with primana, and now and then, a ghostly ryu coiled around his blade, striking with jaws of intent and power. The distance his cuts could travel had doubled if not tripled.
Fuyumi flowed into the fight like a shadow given form. In the red light of the alarms and Tanisha’s lightning, she looked terrifying. Her strikes were graceful, efficient, and merciless. However the androids just kept coming, more were already climbing up the sides.
Tanisha could not channel that much mana for very long. She cut the current, withdrawing the electric flow to conserve energy. The water remained, but the storm of lightning fizzled into steam. She needed to save something in reserve.
The platform lurched, sending several of the murderous machines over the side.
“What was that?” Tanisha questioned.
“No clue.” Aurelius called out. “Look out for an atta—”
It happened again this time far more violently. The platform fell a few feet, everyone lifting in the air for a brief moment before landing back on the ground. This time the sound of scraping metal filled the air.
There was a brief moment where everyone was still even the silhouettes seemed to reconsider their location. Just as suddenly the platform fell away again this time with something snapping and part of the platform breaking away from whatever held it in place.
Tanisha reacted fast, launching a few Arcane Shifts to tether herself to the wall. Fuyumi blinked beside her, grabbing the ledge with one hand. Aurelius, true to form, had sprinted to the opposite end with impossible speed, anchoring himself like it was second nature.
“You two okay?” he called, already scanning for further threats.
“We’re fine!” Tanisha shouted back.
The platform was sliding, tilting at a dangerous slope. The shaft around them bore the same damage as the upper corridor. There were collapsed segments, scorched walls, and structural decay everywhere. It was a miracle the lift had made it this far at all. A miracle, Tanisha realized that her electricity may have helped undo.
She groaned. “That one might be on me.”
“Next time,” Fuyumi muttered, hanging beside her, “we take the stairs.”
