“Those Lawbringers blocked access to my Ennoia,” Yuriko said as she and her companions settled into the living room of the apartment they appropriated in Junktown. It was different from the one they used yesterday, knowing that punitive action would be taken after she killed the annoying rat. They moved several blocks out of the way and Saki layered the space with surveillance equipment and runescript enchantments.
“That’s troubling,” Heron grumbled. “But you beat them anyway,” he pointed out.
“Because of my incarnation body. The block hadn’t reached beyond the area and I connected through that body instead. It made using Invisible Edge slower and weaker, but still possible.”
“You didn’t use your Radiance or Flying Swords?” Gwendith asked.
“No. An attempt at anonymity must be maintained,” Yuriko answered, “as your sponsor demanded, Heron.”
He shifted on his seat with some discomfort but Yuriko smiled and patted his knee, reassuring him it was alright.
“The Millennium State has to live by the rules of the city, after all,” Heron hummed, “and Ilvara Erdmann is not even at the top of her department. She and her fellows would be forced to repudiate us if there is direct evidence linking Malta’s death to mercenaries in their employ.”
“I agree.” Yuriko hummed. “It's a bother, but it’s even more annoying trying to wrangle information out of this wasteland.” Or having to manage every little thing. “Did she tell you what it would be like in the Delve?”
Heron shook his head. “Nope. She said it wasn’t allowed. The qualification tests should give us a clue on what we may face. It’ll be in a couple of days.” He tapped his tablet and forwarded an email to Yuriko.
“Stormdriven?” Yuriko asked.
“Mercenary company name.” Heron shrugged, “Seemed apt.”
“Why?”
He pointed at himself, “Wind,” then at Gwendith, “Ice,” then at Yuriko, “you can channel lightning too, right?”
“Ah, yeah.” It wasn’t part of her core powerset, but she had absorbed lightning and could easily produce some by rubbing her Anima against itself.
“So, we’re like a weather phenomenon, aren’t we?”
Gwendith snorted. “A loose association, if anything.”
“I guess it works,” Yuriko agreed.
“I’ve registered all of us, eight including Desire, into the company. Or rather, we only really qualify as a squad. Two fire teams, according to their doctrine. After the qualifications, we have the rest of the Season to prepare for the Delve.” Heron hummed. “The records of those who returned spoke of the Delve lasting…years. My love, are you certain?”
Yuriko leaned back and pondered. They could always traverse the Chaos Sea to return to the Empire though it would take a century or more of ordinary travel. It could take less time should the Threads of Fate go in their favour, but it could as easily take even more time. The stronger she grew, the faster they could travel, probably. If she reached Manifestation, she’d probably halve the travel time. More if she was lucky.
How close was she to reaching Manifestation?
She reached Transformation not a year ago and she was seven hundred paces of reach short of her goal. She had to advance her Colligia of Radiance to Reperta, and either merge her two Ennoias of the Sword or elevate one into a Colligia. She also had to reach for and touch another Ennoia that wasn’t already part of her Colligia and Swords Ennoia. The last part could be forgone if she wanted, but it would mean that she advanced in a less-than-perfect state. How long would all of that take? Probably less than a century.
She also had the feeling that the key to her quest could be found here in the Eternal Tower, though she couldn’t see how she could do it in Astoria. Then that probably only left the Delve. She could also follow the clues she found, of Daemonfyre, in the Delve as she found out before, the Daemonfyre whiskey was often imported from Delvers. Still, she felt the road to finding out what happened to Kato was still long and shrouded.
What did she hope to find in the Delve? Either a way to use the Gates to travel to the Myriad Planes, probably through the Siderious’ Portal Hub, or perhaps find a vehicle that would let them travel the Chaos Sea faster than the forsaken ship she left in Bresia.
More importantly, she didn’t actually want to return to the Empire for good. She liked exploring new places, meeting new people, and facing opponents who trained in different methods. The ones she fought now may be weak, but they offered unique insights that honed her own style.
So she couldn’t just go back through the Chaos Sea. And even if it took years to Delve, as long as she learned what she needed to, it would be worth it. Even if nothing else happened other than her achievement of Manifestation, that would still be better than blind travel.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“That will be fine,” Yuriko said. She briefly thought about what she had left in Bresia but discarded her worries. Bresia touched her life, but ultimately, they were merely passing acquaintances.
The meeting broke up then. Yuriko’s true body continued to train, but this time, instead of focusing on Bladeless Sword, she compared it to the Radiant Flying Swords to find points of similarity and difference. Her incarnation body focused on the former and slowly worked to increase the Swordlight seed within her core.
A thousand lumens at the same time wasn’t easy to achieve, not when she was currently in a place with low levels of ambient energy. The best time for her to try was during the day when she could absorb and convert the Radiant light coming from the sun.
The only problem is that she’d probably glow bright enough to catch the eye. Well, that and it would still take a while to absorb that much Radiance and convert it to lumens. She could use her internal reserves, the ones embedded into her cells, but since her body was only about a third converted and refined, using that much Radiance could damage her instead. The rest of her physique would overheat.
Alternatively, she could forgo gathering Swordlight until after she finished her Radiant Physique Forging. That way, she wouldn’t have to stay outdoors, too. It would take the rest of the Season, and a third of the next in order to finish forging. She was already back to her normal height, her facial features were less Lilibeth and more her true body. As the days, weeks, and Seasons pass, she would become practically identical to her true body. She was sure there would be traces of Lilibeth remaining anyway, and she was fine with that. If her bodies stood next to each other, they would not look like mirror images, but perhaps they would look like twins instead. Huh.
The next couple of days, Moonsday and Firesday, were mostly uneventful. Yuriko walked Nessa, went to class after another hour of training, had lunch, then went to her afternoon job. Only, spending four hours a day for minimum wage seemed like a waste of time now that she had access to a better source of income. She had few savings, but this coming Watersday was another art class modelling day. Madeline paid her the same amount for a couple of hours and the gig was of her remaining topless, though with a different pose.
Before she went to work that day, she called the office of Pixel Fairy, the talent agency that the models for the gig she did with Lance Hiller, belonged to. They asked her to send in her resume and to come in for an interview, Watersday. So she scheduled it in the afternoon, then told her supervisor at Macy’s that she’d likely quit soon.
As she was only a part-time employee, the rules regarding notice of resignation were considerably lax. She would work the rest of the week then she could discharge her responsibilities without repercussion. She did request for Watersday off, so that was sixty Torries short for the week. Considering she would earn two hundred from Madeline, and hopefully close to that amount from Pixel Fairy, her income would be secure. If everything fell flat then she’d think of something.
As for why she was more interested in a public facing work, well, it had to do with her Mien, the Quintessence, and Ambrosia. She milked two drops out of the accumulated Quintessence, which had probably taken a couple of Seasons? She only noticed it after she and Heron got Intimate, but she had not been regularly checking her dreamscape lately. Hmm, no, it hasn't been a Season…
Anyway, the threads that produced Quintessence came from threads that connected to her Mien. Obviously, the more threads the more Quintessence produced. More of that meant more Ambrosia, which she needed to grow stronger, to help her companions and lovers grow stronger, and to induct people into the Ancient’s Way.
Or maybe just allow others to awaken their Anima.
The traditional methods of awakening Anima, according to Damien’s memories, were rather extreme. Back during his youth, Animus had not been a common resource, mostly because the Shattering hadn’t happened yet, and consequently the Chaos Sea had not formed. Primordial Chaos was much harsher on the body and mind so most contact by mortals inevitably turned fatal, to mind if not the body.
She didn’t know how Conclavists induced awakening, but Damien’s methods were brutal. It involved discipline and life threatening danger. Forcefully injecting her Anima into mortals with the Intent to draw out theirs could work, but it could also cripple them if she made a mistake. No, Ambrosia was the easiest and safest way to go about it. For a mortal, a drop or two would be enough.
Huh, she did owe Elsie Silverlock an awakening. Perhaps the girl could fill in the gaps in Stormdriven, too.
Anyway, her choice to pursue a career in commercial modelling had much to do with increasing the threads connected to her Mien. The more people she met, and the more of them who grew to admire or desire her, the more Quintessence produced. And now she had another reason to keep her power more of a secret. If people thought she was an Altered Human, whatever fame she accrued might turn to notoriety. Although…she wasn’t sure how that would affect Quintessence gathering. A lot of the threads were from the enemy soldiers she traumatised after all. Still, terrorising mortals who didn’t offend her in any way was in bad taste, so she would refrain from doing that.
Firesday midmorning, she asked Scarlett, Jenna, and Nora to help her write out her resume.
“What for?” Scarlett asked. “Can’t you use your old one?”
“I look different now.” Yuriko said, “And I’m not applying for a customer service or retail job. I applied to a talent agency, aiming to be a fashion model.”
“Hoh—yeah, that would suit you!” Jenna gushed, “I can see you on the cover of Metropolitan Woman a few months from now! Hie hie! Here,” she handed Yuriko a notebook, “autograph before you become famous!”
Yuriko snorted but obliged.
“Yuriko?” Jenna glanced at the page. “Hiding your name?”
“Yeah,” Yuriko said with a grin. “I don’t want my ex-family’s name clogging things up.”
“Just Yuriko, then?”
“Hmm,” Yuriko took back the notebook and the pen, then signed: Mishala. “There.”
Jenna grinned and said, “Thanks!”
In the end, there wasn’t much to be added to Lilibeth’s resume. Yuriko had already put in her modelling work, but when Scarlett saw that she had modelled semi-nude in art class, she fell oddly silent.
‘Hmm.’ Yuriko thought as she looked at Lilibeth’s friend. The connection between the two of them wasn’t good enough for her to easily read the other’s emotions…well, she’d leave it alone for now. She detected infatuation, but there was no need to act on it. Perhaps Scarlett would grow out of her crush soon enough.
Once she submitted her resume through email and confirmed her interview schedule, things continued muddling on.
And then it was time for the Mercenary Qualification Test.