Child of Aidon
patreon
SS [6] Patron
🕑 Added 2025-06-03 19:19:29 +0000 UTCThe blade that stabbed through the terminal slowly retracted as the door seemingly begrudgingly slid open. A single figure stepped into the hallway.
The android moved like smoke given form. Tall slender, silent, and inhumanly poised. Its frame was forged from matte-black alloy, patterned with faint etchings that pulsed dimly, like embers buried in ash. They flickered with baleful lights just beneath the surface. Its torso is tapered, shaped for agility, with segments that seem to shift and expand as if it were breathing. It stood on two legs with the shape of a man stretched a little too much. It had four arms each one holding a glowing blade identical to the one that struck Tanisha.
Its head was a faceless mask covered in what Tanisha learned were called optical nodes from Laxy. They were the androids equivalent to eyes. Eachone seemed to dilate and scan the surroundings feverishly.
“Tanisha, Fuyumi, Aurelius.” The android said. “You are in violation of Site Manager Lockdown Protocol. Infractions include: curfew breach, destruction of security units, and misuse of food synthesis systems to distribute restricted alcoholic substances, thereby promoting unauthorized intoxication. Kill Warrants have been issued under Evacuation Order Seven.”
“I haven’t been so much as buzzed, better yet drunk.” Fuyumi muttered indignantly.
“That is the least of our worries, Fuyumi.” Tanisha said.
“I think that is a Shiver.” Aurelius said.
“It’s covered in aether, be careful.” Tanisha said.
“Glitter Guillotine,” Aurelius said. “We take this thing out fast.”
“Resistance detected.” The Shiver said. “Elemitating Criminals.”
In the same instant everyone exploded into motion. Blink, Arcane Shift, Flash Step leaving the hallway a blur of motion and teleportation. The Shiver lashed out in response, its four glowing blades scorching through the air, each swing firing arcs of cutting aether in every direction.
Fuyumi and Aurelius both attacked from either side of the Android at the same time. Blades of ice and crystal clashed against the android but neither gained any quarter. Each of its arms moved with terrifying independence, like four separate duelists sharing a single body.
The Shiver moved faster than anything they’d fought before and worse, it was cloaked in dense aether. Neither Fuyumi nor Aurelius could sense it properly through magical perception. Without a tether to the Higher Planes, they were nearly blind to its movements the energies effects. They moved and avoided unseen attacks on pure instinct and combat experience.
Aurelius was already losing ground, his defenses faltering.
Tanisha appeared in the air over the android with all the water she had accumulated condensed into a lance. She had one target and she could not falter. It was now or never.
The Shiver, reacting instantly, spun and kicked Aurelius in the chest. His shield absorbed most of the blow, but it still sent him crashing back down the hallway.
With one less attacker it attempted to skewer Tanisha with its now free arms. Fuyumi didn’t let that happen.
Time seemed to stretch as she intercepted one blade with her own, sparks cascading around her. In the same breath, her second sword shifted into a yari. With fluid precision, she thrust the spear toward the Shiver’s torso, threading it between two incoming strikes. The android twisted just enough to avoid a fatal blow, but it threw off its angle.
The blades meant for Tanisha scraped against her armor instead of impaling her. That was all the cernunnos needed. The spear of water hit the android in between the shifting plates as Tanisha finished her second spell.
Red electricity arched all around her and into the spear. Fuyumi jumped back as the bolt passed through the android. Tanisha used Arcane Shift to escape a wild strike as a blade tried to stab her again.
Its chassis shuddered, then straightened. Aether surged wildly around it. Even more aether started to surge around it as aetheric blades formed in the air.
“Alert level raised. Second activation approved,” the Shiver said.
It was too late. Aurelius was already in motion. The primana he gathered in his brief reprieve from the fight surged around him then all at once his aura retracted and his veins glowed like power just beneath the skin.
He shot forward with unprecedented speed. Primana trailed behind him like the tail of a comet, and his roar echoed through the corridor as he brought his blade down in a flawless, radiant arc.
The blade cut clean through the Shiver’s torso, severing armor, core, and circuitry in a single decisive blow.
The hallway fell silent. The android’s body collapsed in two twitching pieces, flickers of red energy dissipating into the air.
The team wasted no time getting back into a defensive formation. They held still for several heartbeats, watching for any more surprises.
When none came Tanisha let her armor recede to its default level. Her helmet dissolved into her inventory as she scanned for lingering threats. No hostile readings.
She exhaled and let herself feel the slight sting in her hand from where the Shiver had first struck her. The repurposed electrokinesis spell had worked. It was the first combat-grade spell she’d written into her personal grimoire that Fuyumi and Aurelius approved for combat. This was the first time it had seen real use, not bad for field testing.
“Well, I am glad that worked out.” Tanisha said.
“Glitter Guillotine?” Aurelius groaned. “Can we atleast change that one’s name. It looked so cool for that to be the name.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Tanisha questioned.
“It’s just. Kinda.” He looked at the two women and sighed. “Nevermind. No more of those things right?”
“I am not picking up anything.” Tanisha said.
“Then this is the last room of the upper floors aside from the two we left for you two to fight those Shards.” Fuyumi said.
“Anything interesting inside? Not like we can close the door.” Aurelius said looking at the hole in the wall were the Shiver cut through the metal. “Why can these things cut through this stuff when Fuyumi couldn’t.”
“I was wondering too.” Fuyumi said.
Tanisha picked up one of the swords. It wasn’t anything special as far as she could tell. It could connect to aether and it was made from blue steel. She pulsed her magic through it and felt the aether tech reject her power. It was the same thing that happened with all the weapons left behind by the androids. Laxy had explained it as a safety built into the weapons so intruders couldn’t use them.
“The sword is like all the others. Nothing special, not even better quality than any of our weapons.” Tanisha said.
“So it’s not the material, it’s how the tech uses aether,” Aurelius concluded.
“Pretty much.” Tanisha tossed the sword aside with a clatter. “Let’s sweep the room, then find food. I’m starving.”
“I still can’t believe sharing alcohol put us on a kill list,” Aurelius said with a pointed glance at Fuyumi.
“It would’ve attacked us anyway,” Fuyumi said, matter-of-fact.
“I dunno,” Tanisha mused. “It seemed... extra mad about the drinking. The curfew or the whole ‘fighting security’ thing didn’t seem to bother it as much.”
Fuyumi’s expression didn’t change. “It is a burden we, as a team, must be willing to share. Morale is important for the team, team leader.”
Aurelius stared at her. “That’s not… you know what? Fine.”
Tanisha walked into the new room it was multiple levels of desks with a weapon rack along the wall. One of the desks looked to be slightly larger than the others and had multiple floating projections each one had the face of either Tanisha herself, Aurelius or Fuyumi. There was text beside it but like usual she couldn’t read it. There were several other screens that showed other places in Site but all were rooms they had visited already.
“Divination magic?” Aurelius questioned. “A place for people to monitor rooms.”
“It’s not divination magic.” Tanisha said. “Laxy told me they didn’t use magic like we do. It’s some kind of computer.”
“I should probably sit in on some of your lessons.” Aurelius said. “We are going to be here until we can get to the core better to learn exactly what this place is.”
“Agreed.” Fuyumi said. “Maybe there is a way for us to turn off the androids if we get into a specific room.”
“Anyway this place isn’t really helpful unless you can see the lower floors too. We cleared out everything else.”
“When we get to the lower floors we need to find this room again first.” Tanisha offered. “We can see inside of the other rooms before opening a door. We’d know what's inside and can plan ahead.”
Speaking of. The only door left is the one going down to the lower levels. Do you think you can open it?” Aurelius asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Tanisha said.
“Let's do so tomorrow.” Aurelius said. “We don’t know what is on the other side of that door going down. Lets make sure all of us are fully rested up. No training today, just get some rest and prepare. Tomorrow we’ll brush up on some of our tactics and go through a couple of scenarios.”
“You got it, Speedy.” Tanisha said.
***
Tanisha sat on her bed, pod thing and lazily watched as Aurelius sat legs crossed as energy circulated around him. She wasn’t really looking at him, he just happened to be in the direction of her blank focus. She was going to take the day off like Aurelius had suggested. She had been running like a madwoman the past week.
Her routine had been packed with either training, fighting, potion brewing, figuring out spells for her grimoire and not to mention all of the subjects Laxy was teaching her. It felt like she was in school and a military boot camp at the same time. She liked structure and had no problems with working hard but it was starting to ware on her. Maybe it was the lack of sunlight for the past few weeks or it was because Bjorn was gone.
She felt for the bond and instantly felt him through it. He was on alert but that was normal, she wished she could know more about what he was doing out there. All she could tell was that he was still getting further away. She didn’t know how long it would be before she saw him again.
She turned her attention to her status rather than reflect on something she couldn’t change.
Unassigned Cultivation Points Distribution
You have leveled up 3 time(s) before assigning your UCP.
You have 30 UCP
You have not appeased your heritage no additional benefits
Please assign all UCP within 5 day(s) or UCP will be automatically assigned.
Assign [yes/no]
Levels had been coming slower which meant that she would have to destroy more of the androids to get stronger. Of course levels weren’t the only way for her stats to go up. Training had yielded some as well though it was slow going. Constitution, strength and Willpower had all increased without her spending her UCP.
She assigned the points and looked over the changes to her status. She was finally able to get everything over one hundred so she put the rest of the points in Seiðr Regeneration. It was her new bottleneck especially with her now focusing on her magic.
Status Menu
Name: Tanisha Valkyrja Scalebound
Species: Cernunnos
+ Level: 55
Vitality: 110
Restoration: 110
+ Constitution: 116
+ Willpower: 150
+ Strength: 105
+ Dexterity: 100
+ Stamina: 100
Seiðr: 520
+ Seiðr Regeneration: 306 (+200 from bond)
“Looks good.” Tanisha said absently.
“Didn’t think you liked him that way.” Fuyumi said as she walked up to Tanisha? “Feelings can complicate team cohesion you know.”
“What,” Tanisha looked at her shaking her head. “No-no, not Speedy.”
Fuyumi sat down next to her. “You assigned points again?”
“Yeah, I was looking at the mental projection.” Tanisha said.
“Ah, right.” Fuyumi said. “You know, I just found out they have a brandy, and if you aren’t going to use your daily allotment.”
Tanisha gave her a flat look. “You might need to slow down on that.”
“I’m much older than you and Aurelius,” Fuyumi said breezily. “I know my limits. Besides, we have the rest of the day off.”
“True,” Tanisha admitted. “But we should still stay alert. The Shiver we fought cut through a reinforced door. That was one. There could be more.”
Fuyumi sighed but nodded. A moment passed in silence before she spoke again.
“Laxy told me my people’s magic was originally meant to use aether. Your alloy channels aether, doesn’t it?”
Tanisha looked at her. “Yes?”
“It makes sense to me. However there isn’t a way for me to test it. I don’t have a connection to aether. So I was wondering if you can become my patron. Give me access to that power so I can find out for myself.”
Tanisha’s eyes widened slightly. “Uh… I don’t know how to share power like that. I think Bjorn might be my patron? Maybe? When he gained Primana, I didn’t. So... maybe not.” She rubbed her chin, thinking. “When I talked to Laxy, she said I was connected to the Chorus. Not to Bjorn, who’s connected to the Chorus. So maybe the link bypasses him entirely.”
“The Chorus is the source of aether, right?” Fuyumi asked.
“Yes, like maya and the Infernal Planes.” Tanisha affirmed.
Then we’ll ask Laxy,” Fuyumi said with a nod. She fell quiet for a moment, then looked at Tanisha again. “This place… it’s just ruins now. But after everything Laxy told us, it’s hard to process. So much of what I was taught is wrong. If what she said is true… it’s surreal.
Tanisha didn’t know what to say. She did go through something similar when she found out The Forest Father had chains on her soul. He had them on the souls of every wendigo. She knew the Forest Father was domination. It was his divine tenant that the wendigo gain dominion in his name however he was also supposed to be fair. To allow his children to gain power and strength to challenge.
“It’s okay,” Fuyumi said quietly. “You don’t have to say anything. I just needed to say it out loud.” The ghost born sighed a cold mist frosting the air. She gave a small smile. “So? What did you put your points into?”
