Child of Aidon
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SS [4] Don’t Blast Each Othe
🕑 Added 2025-06-02 01:52:27 +0000 UTCUnlike Aurelius who was a swordsman through and through, Tanisha was a mix of skills and abilities. Most of her fighting techniques had come from Joha. They were steeped in maya which of course had evolved with her species into her alloy of seiðr. She’d learned early on that calling upon aspects of seiðr was not the same as using any of her individual magics separately. There was always a mixture even if she used primarily the demonic aspect.
She’d realized during Aurelius and Fuyumi’s spar that Chain Breaker’s Mantle was both her most relied-upon and her most misused ability. She always saw it as an evolution of Mana Muscle Saturation, an ability that all wendigo had access to. It made wendigo more durable, stronger and enhanced the senses. To the wendigo it was no different than adrenaline.
Humans, elves, dwarves and likely ghostborn, all had to learn and practice a body enhancement spell which was essentially a copy of the wendigo ability. She never considered diving further into body enhancement magic. She had noticed that even with her Chain Breaker’s enhancements she was painfully underpowered in melee combat against people of supposedly comparable strength.
She could make her body stronger and even coat her weapons in magic but her attacks weren’t the same as Aurelius’s or Fuyumi’s. After finding out about mana techniques she finally realized why. They were utilizing the mana in their bodies in specific ways to cast Techniques in the middle of a fight.
She could do something similar with her breathing and maya but not to the same level now that it was seiðr. She realized that having an alloy was going to be even harder now that she knew she needed to learn how to utilize all of the aspects of her seiðr, not just maya for breathing, and mana for spells.
There was always more to learn, more to sharpen. She would have to train thrice as hard if she wanted to master seiðr properly. Her duel with Fuyumi would be the crucible for this new approach.
She drew a steady breath and flooded her body with power, channeling different aspects of seiðr into distinct flows: the darker currents of maya to fuel her exhalations, mortal lifeblood of mana to fortify her bones, angelic energy of aether to empower her movement. It was crude of course, she’d never manipulated Chain Breaker’s Mantle this deliberately. But as body enhancement flared across her form, she caught Fuyumi’s brow raised in surprise.
“Are you ready, Tanisha?” Fuyumi asked. “That’s a new trick.”
“Watching you and Aurelius gave me ideas,” Tanisha replied.
“That is what I was hoping for.” Fuyumi said.
The ambient mana started to swirl towards Tanisha as she began speaking her spells. Three orbs of water formed and floated around her like moons around a planet. She continued her incantations and wind kicked up forming into two invisible hands. She took out the long saber from her inventory and threw it into the air where the constructs grabbed it ready to strike or defend at her command.
She pulled out her twin daggers and got into a battle stance.
[Second Activation Initiated: Aether Draw 10 per/mins]
There was a moment of silence were everything seemed to slow down. Tanisha became acutely aware of herself in space. She felt every taut muscle, every tightening grip on her daggers, as she set her plan into motion. Two of her orbs shot out slicing streams of water which could cut unenchanted metal like paper. The third orb dispersed into a fine mist, cloaking the arena in swirling fog. It was far more water than the small orb should have contained and the fog itself was far denser than natural water would have been.
The water wasn’t really water, it was a construct made of mana. It was important when fighting a fellow mage, especially one with elementally adjacent power, that a mage uses water constructs instead of actual water. It had its upsides.
First it still had the properties of liquid water to a certain extent. Second it was in her complete control because it was her mana not a manipulation of a real object. Finally another mage could not take the element from her and use it against her. In Fuyumi’s case, she could not freeze it no matter how cold it was.
Using her hydromancy this way of had a drawback. The cost to create a hydromancy construct versus just collecting and compressing water was steep. This also meant that ongoing channeling to keep the magic in that form was also much higher. With all of her other spells and armor active the costs ate away at her seiðr hungrily.
Fuyumi simply dodged the streams of water and moved into the place where Tanisha had stood a moment earlier. A perfectly timed Arcane Shift had already teleported Tanisha to a new location. Her armor gave her an advantage in the blinding fog she had created. Fuyumi had to rely totally on magical senses while Tanisha could see Fuyumi thanks to her armor's enemy detection.
Fuyumi’s aura exploded outward. It was a chilling feeling even if her armor protected her from the actual drop in temperature. It was the second time she had felt the full weight of Fuyumi’s aura. Mage’s can use their aura as an extension of their magic perception. Tanisha hadn’t planned for Fuyumi’s aura to be so much stronger than her own which meant she likely knew exactly where she was, fog or not.
A slender blade lunged from the fog. Tanisha met it with a dagger, sparks dancing along its edge, then unleashed fresh torrents from her orbs. Fuyumi’s weapon blurred into an iron fan, impervious to the slicing jets. She pressed forward, interrogating Tanisha’s defenses, until the wind-forged hands swung the great saber downward. Fuyumi Blinked aside in mid-slice, the blade passing within an inch of her ribs.
Tanisha felt the impact but no pain, her armor was doing a good job. Two quick hits, one to Tanisha’s side and the other to her head, made her stumble.
Before Fuyumi followed up, all of the mist imploded into a point right in front of Fuyumi’s head. It was like a thunder cloud was suddenly condensed to the size of an apple. The shockwave from forcing that much water together so quickly created a violent vacuum bomb which detonated like a thunderclap.
Tanisha barely escaped the sudden blast by using Arcane Shift at the last possible second before the detonation. The attack was far more seiðr than she wanted to use so early into the fight. She ducked right as the blade of a yuri nearly caught her helmet. Fuyumi coalesced from intangibility, immaculate and unshaken.
“That was a good trick.” Fuyumi said. “You need to make sure you have a counter ready if your opponent survives.”
[Third Activation Initiated: Aether Draw 20 per/mins]
Drawing on the armor’s boost, Tanisha lunged forward in a blur, determined to catch Fuyumi off guard.
[Second Activation Initiated: Aether Draw 10 per/mins]
The extra power faded almost immediately, she’d only risked Third Activation for that single surge. Fuyumi remained unperturbed. She wove between floating blades and cascading water, summoning twin sai in one graceful motion. With precision born of relentless training, she caught the great saber’s haft between the sai’s crossguard and wrenched it free from Tanisha’s constructs.
The ghostborn spun over Tanisha’s strike and kicked her directly in the face. Her other leg whipped upward, shattering one of the water orbs in a flash of broken mana. With one less tool at her disposal, Tanisha knew she needed a new approach. She sheathed her daggers and Arcane Shifted across the battlefield, skidding into a low stance.
She breathed deep. Sharp inhale, slow exhale. The action centered herself as her body settled into the AgniKavach form. Her limbs coiled tightly like a boxer ready to absorb and return punishment. Joha’s teachings echoed in her mind.
“Round two,” she growled.
In response, the previously invisible Hard Air Constructs snapped into view, now ignited with baleful green seiðr flame. Their outlines shimmered like cracked glass, then warped and elongated into spectral claws that curled around her like a draconic guard.
Fuyumi tilted her head, her fan folding closed with a quiet snap. “Let’s see what you’ve learned.”
Tanisha struck first. Her fist cut through the air like a piston, and a wave of condensed demonic energy blasted forward. Fuyumi sidestepped it, but Tanisha followed with another, then another, each punch launching a rippling green shockwave across the sparring ring.
Fuyumi blurred through the waves, deflecting one with her fan, ducking beneath the next. She pressed inward, slicing with a conjured nagamaki, but Tanisha absorbed the blow on her shoulder, rolling with it, her body toughened by the AgniKavach stance. She countered with a rising knee that triggered another wave of demonic force, forcing Fuyumi to Blink backward. Fuyumi wasn’t giving her time to settle. She feinted right, then let fly a trio of thin, ice needles from her palm.
Tanisha dropped into a wide, flowing stance, VritraVajra. Her body turned with the momentum of the incoming strike. One open palm guided the needles in a spiraling arc. The needles reversed direction in an instant, flinging back toward Fuyumi with even more speed.
The ghostborn raised a brow, deflecting the returned projectiles with casual precision. “Clever.”
Tanisha responded with a forward surge, cycling back to AgniKavach in a heartbeat. Each punch drove another shockwave into the air. The battlefield rippled with the green aura of her relentless pressure. But pressure alone wasn’t enough.
Fuyumi ducked beneath a wide hook, slid behind Tanisha’s blindside, and swept her leg with a kick. Tanisha staggered but shifted into VritraVajra again, attempting to deflect the follow-up slash. Her form was sound, her timing sharp, but Fuyumi’s uchigatana wasn’t aimed to strike, it was bait.
The real attack came low. Fuyumi kicked Tanisha’s back knee inward, knocking her off-balance again. Tanisha didn’t let up. She switched again, diving into AgniKavach, fists a blur, energy bursting outward with each strike. Fuyumi ducked and rolled, only to find Tanisha switching again, arms rising, body weaving, her entire form a flowing storm of reflection and counter-force.
Despite the display, cracks began to show. Tanisha’s transitions weren’t perfect. Each shift left a half-second gap. Her attacks, while empowered, lacked forward momentum. She was reacting, not pressing.
Fuyumi likely saw it before but only then started to punish it. She stepped inside a deflected blow, twirled her jitte into a hook, and caught Tanisha’s extended wrist. A twist. A pivot. Tanisha’s stance broke.
She tried to counter with an AgniKavach elbow, but Fuyumi had already moved. The ghostborn’s leg swept behind Tanisha’s and brought her crashing to the ground. Before she could recover, Fuyumi’s knee was at her shoulder, one arm twisted behind her back, the other pinned under her body.
“I yield.” Tanisha said.
Fuyumi released her gently and stood. “You’re versatile, Tanisha. You’ve got talent and those styles? Dangerous in the right hands. But you overextend. You give too much space when you switch forms. You defend like you’re waiting.”
“They were both defensive forms.” Tanisha grunted and sat up, her helmet vanishing into her inventory. “I haven’t learned the attack forms yet.”
“I can tell,” Fuyumi said with a hint of dry humor. “Your stance tells your story. You’ve trained defense like it’s your only tool. You're much deadlier without the weapons in melee range. It has me questioning if you should learn Walking Armory.”
Tanisha remained silent as she considered Fuyumi’s words.
“You’d be a force to be wary of with the full forms,” Fuyumi added, brushing dust from her sleeve. “As you are now, though, you leave gaps. A real enemy would punish those.”
“Joha was teaching me how to blend the forms before he… left.” Tanisha nodded slowly. “Got it.”
“Also, keep in mind I didn’t let you use poison. Not without a healer around.” Fuyumi gestured vaguely to the empty sparring grounds. “You’ve still got plenty of tricks. That’s your strength: adaptability. Just don’t let versatility turn into hesitation. There’s a difference between having options and being paralyzed by them.”
“I feel like I need to train more,” Aurelius muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’d say we all do,” Fuyumi replied. “Between the two of you, Aurelius has the edge in practical combat experience. He’s been living in the Chaos Lands training, fighting monsters, sharpening his senses. But Tanisha, when it comes to options, you’ve got the wider deck to play from.”
“There are only so many ways to swing a sword,” Aurelius agreed. “And only so many problems you can solve with one.”
“Exactly. A sword specialist is powerful, sure, but pure spellcraft? That’s a different kind of power.” Fuyumi nodded approvingly.
“About that—” Tanisha leaned forward slightly, “I want to increase my spell variation. I won’t toss out anything untested without talking to you both first, but… we don’t have a real long-range caster on the team. I’ll fill that gap as best I can.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Fuyumi said. “But where are you planning to get new spells?”
“I’m going to make them,” Tanisha answered plainly. “I can alter spellforms. And apparently, I can analyze them, too. During the Yuhia border fortress invasion, I fought an electrokinetic mage. I copied one of her spells on instinct. I still remember the structure, I’ll start with that and break it down.”
“I was wondering about all the tents outside the fortress,” Aurelius said.
“No one told you the fortress was attacked?” Tanisha asked, eyes wide.
“No. When I got there, someone recognized me and offered me a job.” Aurelius said. “I was taken to an interview, asked a few questions, then someone else tested my combat skills. I figured it was just more of the same, wendigo like to test guards, you know? Wasn’t anything new. Then I met Fuyumi, who didn’t explain anything to me, mind you.”
“The person who tested you?” Fuyumi added with a smirk. “That was the Royal Hand of the First Princess of Yuhia.”
Aurelius blinked. “What’s a Hand, exactly? You and Tanisha keep saying that about Signe.”
“They’re like… advisers, bodyguards, and second-in-command to someone important,” Tanisha said.
“Oh. So… I sparred with someone in a princess’s inner circle?” Aurelius looked vaguely alarmed.
“It was just a test,” Fuyumi said, waving it off. “I’ve seen her fight for real. It was… beautiful. She showed me I still have so much to learn.”
“Huh. Never fought royalty before,” Aurelius muttered. “Well, royal-adjacent.”
“We just sparred,” Tanisha reminded him.
“Yeah, but you’re a client…” He paused and squinted his eyes. “Who was being personally looked after by a princess. Wait-wait…are you royalty?”
Tanisha hesitated for a beat, then sighed. “I wasn’t going to bring it up originally, but… yeah. Technically, I'm the Fourteenth Princess. The title’s mostly ceremonial right now. Staying in Yuhia would’ve been… complicated. I wanted a different path.”
“Oh.” Aurelius quieted for a moment.
“Didn’t want to blindside either of you,” Tanisha said softly.
“Doesn’t change anything,” Fuyumi replied, utterly unfazed. “My clan doesn’t have royalty, in the same sense but if we did, my grandfather would be king.”
“So both of you are technically royalty?” Aurelius asked, looking between them like he was suddenly on a very high ledge.
“Lucky you.” Fuyumi teased. “Your on a team with not one but two princesses.”
Tanisha laughed. “We got off track.”
“Badly,” Fuyumi agreed.
“Anyway,” Tanisha continued, resetting her posture, “I’m going to start building a grimoire. In our downtime, I’ll draft spells and bring them to our training sessions. We’ll test them together and see what works in a real fight. I’ve got an affinity for three disciplines. Elemental’s the one I’m most confident in, the other two are still mysteries. Hope that’s okay with you both.”
“Okay? That’s amazing!” Aurelius said, the grin returning to his face. “We’ll definitely need to test them properly. Figure out when and where they’d be most useful.”
“We’ll also need to account for cast times,” Fuyumi added. “Powerful spells don’t come cheap. Some take seconds, others take minutes. Timing could make or break a fight.”
“So what’s next?” Tanisha asked.
“Next is team coordination,” Aurelius said. “Back when I traveled with my family, we had code names for combined attacks. That way we could move quickly and efficiently. No second-guessing, no misfires. We should build something like that. Make sure no one’s stepping into a spell or blade.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Tanisha said.
