[300] 4.21 A Quiet Fury
Chloe screams and wails with all the force of a banshee, rattling the murder of crows flying a few thousand feet below us. For good or for ill, the two of us both need some time away from life, distractions, and other people. I’m sure the world’s shit down below is still fermenting into even more unholy abominations, and knowing our lack of luck, we’ll probably be the ones stuck having to deal with them. For right now, neither of us is in the mood, and both of us need some time to calm ourselves before we both start doing things we’ll never be able to take back.
Her fists clench with the fury of a hundred blazing suns; her eyes radiate malice that probably could kill; I wouldn’t be surprised if she just got a Skill that did just that. Her breathing is rough, unstructured, the sight and sound of a woman who’s holding on to sanity by a thread and is just looking for an excuse to let go.
“I– I can’t forgive them.” Tears flow down her face. “I know I said we should, but– My own mother, Sera! I– I–!”
I pull Chloe into my embrace. I too am distraught by everything, but now’s not the time for me to grieve. Chloe was there when I needed to grieve my mother, and I will be strong, her rock of support in her darkest hour. With one deep breath, I settle my mind and do what I can to keep my emotions from passing back through our bond until Chloe is ready to process it all.
“My– Mom, I’m–”
“We’re going to get her back,” I say. “I promise.”
“What– What do we do now?”
“Right now? We go back home. We rest. We plan. We use these new Skill books, and we train. We trust that Nicholas and his contacts will give us some leads to work with. Hell, I bet whoever kidnapped Mom is going to send us something in the next couple of days. And when we are ready to strike, we do so with the sort of finality that will make the next group think thrice before they come after our family.”
“You trust Nicholas?” Chloe floats bemused. “Who are you, and what did you do with my girlfriend?”
“I trust that he is going to help us, because if he doesn’t, or goddesses forbid, he was involved, he’s going to have two very large and very angry problems on his plate.”
Chloe takes one last deep breath. With eyes full of resignation and fury in equal measure, she nods, slowly drifting back to the south, back toward home, back to just… rest for however brief a time.
Once back home, we each take a shower, me upstairs, and Chloe down; neither of us is in the mood for fun right now. Ten minutes later, with cleansed bodies but still hardened hearts, we take a seat on the couch in the upstairs sitting room— our normal place for Skill book assimilation— and get to work.
It’s been a few weeks since the last time I’ve used one of these, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get acclimated to the odd sensations that follow. Glyphs that carry no distinct meaning in a book no bigger than the palm of my hand, only for those shapes to then start dancing up off the page and into the air. Teal glyphs slowly decrypting themselves, their message only for me to see, before knowledge of new magic starts weaving itself directly into the folds of my brain. If only all learning could be this easy.
Then again, this learning came at a cost— one Skill slot, and the knowledge would be violently expelled in a fit of nausea as soon as I chose to replace it. This, in sharp contrast to my growing repertoire of glyphs, which would stay with me come hell and high water. Yes, each insight was guided by [Reconfiguration] and [Multidimensional Glyphcasting] like two stern and unwavering teachers, but the knowledge I gained was purely my own.
My mind expands as the geyser of knowledge comes rushing in. Knowledge about the nature of the world. The structure of reality and its underlying components. Critical insights that will, in years or more likely decades, pave the way for humans to finally leave Sol and traverse the rest of the wide-open galaxy. Maybe even the universe, given enough time.
[You have gained the General Skill [Dimensional Rift (Rank I)]. This Skill provides further insight into the nature of reality and subspace travel. When activated, the user chooses two points, each within line of sight and within [Rank x 100] yards of each other. The Skill then locally folds subspace together, permitting instantaneous travel between the two points. Dimensional Rifts last for up to [Rank x 10] seconds, and can be dismissed at will by the caster. [Ether] cost to create rifts increases with distance traveled and decreases as the Skill’s rank increases.]
Well, that’s… a whole lot better than a sharp stick in the eye, that’s for sure. While Chloe is still processing whatever Skill she just got, I decide that the best way to learn is to experiment. I choose my current location and the top of the stairs about ten feet away. Triggering the Skill, I feel my [Ether] core diminish by a noticeable amount. The two points both shimmer with that tiny haze I saw on those specters earlier in the moments right before and after they warped, and I can sense that all I need to do is slip into subspace and–
This is a novel feeling, to put it slightly. I’m sitting on a couch one moment, and the next, I’m sitting on nothing but solid air. The Skill does nothing to adjust my orientation, nor do I have any time between one instant and the next to reposition myself for where I end up.
More experimentation is needed. Trial two: picturing my current location and downstairs right in front of the front door, somewhere my eyes cannot see, but I can still picture through [Valkyrion’s Perception]. Another success. I do the same, except choosing a spot inside the bedroom where I don’t have a strict line of sight through visual perception alone. This time it works, but somewhat more tenuously, and taking more [Ether] to activate
Passing through the bedroom window? Success. Passing through a solid, opaque wall? I try and succeed, though that may be just because there’s the slit underneath the doorframe. Marking this one as tentative. It should be possible in theory, but that might just be a limitation of what my Skill can currently do, as opposed to what it might be one day capable of.
[Your [Dimensional Slip (Rank I)] has upgraded to [Dimensional Slip (Rank II)].]
[Your [Dimensional Rift (Rank I)] has upgraded to [Dimensional Rift (Rank II)].]
I’m physically drained by casting the spell multiple times in succession like that. Dimensional manipulation is draining on the mind and guzzles [Ether] faster than a Hummer drinks gasoline. Not the sort of thing I can use consecutively in battle as I currently am, but the power and potential of such a Skill is undeniable at higher ranks and evolutions.
“Sera? Where did you disappear off to?”
I appear again, right on the couch where I’d been just moments ago. “Sorry, love. Just testing out [Dimensional Rift]. Even got a rank for it.”
“Do you want to go for a little bit of a sparring session?” Chloe’s grin is absolutely menacing. “I have a new Skill as well, and I still have plenty of energy to burn.”
“Of course. Actually… Do you mind if we head back to campus and we do this there?”
“Oh? Going to give your students some extra class work?”
“More of an opportunity for some extra credit.”
Chloe stands across from me on the practice field, the two of us with weapons drawn. I take a more defensive stance, Filia ready to intercept on my command. Meanwhile, Chloe’s stance is purely offensive, hands spread wide, blades in front, exposing her vital areas. A stance that would be somewhere between foolhardy and suicidal for most, but not for the type of swordfighter who’s willing to take a thousand damage to deal nine hundred, knowing that she can heal and her opponent cannot.
Of course, I doubt Chloe is anywhere near as vulnerable as she presents. Being effective on the battlefield means using every advantage at one’s disposal. If that means finding a way to weaponize looking like a waify little healer girl out of her element with those twin longswords to lure enemies into a false sense of security? Then so be it; feigning weakness to hide strength has always been a viable strategy.
“Shall we battle to first blood?” I ask.
“Half health or surrender,” Chloe says. “The former will be on our honor to enforce.” “And no Overlimit, either, before you get any cheeky ideas.”
I nod in approval. “You may begin when ready.”
“No thanks,” Chloe says. “You come to me.”
I wink. “All the time, love.”
This gets her flustered; I use the brief lapse to strike forward, though not at top speed. My spear thrusts toward Chloe, but she blocks by batting the edge of my weapon aside. Her second blade slashes toward my exposed side, but with a single leap, I fly over the attack and somersault to a spot behind Chloe.
She wastes no time in pressing the advantage. Despite having never used a sword in her life, her new class gives her a degree of proficiency in using all weapons she can otherwise equip. Her individual hits are sharp and her combat style is fluid and graceful, not unlike a ballerina in how she spins and twists. Before long, additional swords materialize out of the air. These aren’t fully tangible, being mirages composed of light and Ether.
However, as I quickly and painfully learn, just because they are technically mirages doesn’t mean they can’t hurt me. Only a few superficial cuts on my upper arm, but the fact that they did damage at all is a surprise, and a testament to Chloe’s own growing power.
“Ready to surrender, love?” Chloe asks.
“Not likely, dear. Ready for round two?”
I channel [Ether] into a simple formation of [Darkness] and [Sphere], creating a globe of jet around the practice field that absorbs all light. The [Mirage Swords] try to dispel the darkness I’ve forged, but instead they disintegrate after a few seconds.
“You didn’t seriously think this was going to work, did you, Sera?” She closes her eyes and, an instant later, [Radiant Purge] explodes out from her.
I repel the light with a dark aura centered around myself, waiting out the five second duration of the spell before anchoring my [Dimensional Rift]. Truly, Chloe is a worst-case scenario for me; her entire repertoire relies upon using [Light] type attacks, right when I’m trying to learn how to fight with a style that is especially weak against exactly that. Still, it’s the absolute best case to learn how to fight effectively.
“No, I didn’t,” I say. Then, creating a rift between my current location and a point about a yard behind Chloe, I vanish, slipping into subspace and reappearing the following instant.
Despite my teleportation, my attack from her blind-side is blocked by a pair of [Mirage Swords] that fly between us and intercept my strike just before it lands. Chloe spins around, both weapons at the ready once more.
“That is quite the ability,” Chloe says. “Nothing short of incredible. Really, love, sometimes I feel you get all the luck.”
“Of course I have all the luck. I have you as my girlfriend.”
Chloe grins. “However, that won’t work when I can sense your elation in the moment before you strike and react accordingly.”
Even my own emotions betray me. Yet more proof of just how far to go. A small crowd has gathered, watching the display from the two of us. Some of them are even my students. It wouldn’t do to stop our little spar so soon. Time for round three, it appears.