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2008-06-03, 02:50
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Link #5941 | |
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Undercover Mole
 Graphic Designer
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: ~Floating on the edge
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1 day of finals done! 2 more to go!
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 That part at the end was great.Quote:
You know I'm glad we have the IRC to slow down posts, otherwise this would be a HUGE backlog breaker.
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2008-06-03, 03:43
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Link #5942 | |
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Join Date: May 2008
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| Fenris Blacwell |
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2008-06-03, 04:25
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Link #5943 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PEI, Canada
Age: 39
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Weee, um, chapter 3 is done x.x; I had planned more, but I cut off the end and started chapter 4 instead.
Just a quick question: Since these are OC's, and Nanoha & Friends aren't in yet, should I be posting the fanfic here, or in the Character Creation thread O_o? T_T I promise that the pace will start picking up a bit more~ Spoiler for ED - Chapter 3 - Forthcoming:
Chapter 3 ~ Forthcoming ~ “Denise, heads up!” “Huh...? Ahh... owwie...” “Denise?” Suki ran over to Denise as she was picking herself up off the gym floor. She sighed and stared at the girl who was rubbing her butt from her fall. “Gomen~ I wasn’t paying attention.” “Are you feeling ok? You’ve been out of it since you first got to school today? Did something happen yesterday?” “Lack of sleep.” “Say... what?” “Nandemonai... nandemonai...” Denise muttered, glancing over at the bleachers. “Well, whatever. Anyways, pick your game up, ok? I’ll force an energy drink into you if I have to.” “Ehhh? No. Nonono.” Denise brought her arms up in a cross shape over her chest. “Only fizzy drinks I drink are Pepsi and Barqs. Take your devil energy drinks and keep them away from me.” “Well, if you got the energy to protest that much, use it to score some baskets.” Suki laughed. “You girls done yet?” “Hai, Mrs. Thompson.” The girls scrambled back to the court to resume the 5 on 5 basketball match. The girls gym class had the court for most of the day today while the guys got to relax a bit on the bleachers. Only a few of the guys were outside running laps around the track as the weather wasn’t the prettiest. Denise glanced at Suki, nodding, and catching a nod back at her. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Let’s do this!” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Yahoo!” Suki high-fived Denise. Or tried to. The brunette was sprawled out on the bleachers, face down and dead to the world. “...or not? What, your 'Energy Drinks are Evil' energy run out or something?” She poked Denise, who just responded back with a grunt. “Oh-kay.” Denise rolled over onto her back and held her hand up over her eyes, blocking out the bright gym lights. She had been up most of the night trying to finish her homework in between her squeals of joy over the SaKura*StaR tickets. She didn’t know when she had gone to bed, but whenever it was it was wearing her out only 2 classes into the day. She sighed and rolled to her side to watch the basketball match going on. She was barely able to make out the ball getting passed back and forth. “Suki?” “Yes?” “We won, right?” “Oh wow, are you that out of it? Maybe you should hit up the nurses office during your free period to nap or something.” “Mmm... I think I just need some Pepsi.” “And yes, we won.” Suki looked at Denise with a concerned look. “You know, if you need help with your homework or something, I’m sure someone will help you.” “Heh, makes me a bit nervous hearing that from the sports-girl.” Mrs. Thompson blew her whistle, signaling the end of the current match. Denise slowly sat up, placing a hand on her head. “That’s it for today girls, you can go and shower up now so you don’t miss too much of your lunch. Class dismissed.” she waved the kids towards the exit, watching them shuffle out of the gym and across the hallway to the locker rooms. “Hey Denise.” Suki reached into her locker, grabbing a towel and her uniform. “The entire time you were on the court, Kent was watching you.” “Huh?” Denise blushed slightly, dropping her uniform on the floor. “What do you mean?” “I mean, his eyes were on you the entire time you were out there. Even when you came back to the bleachers, only his stare changed a bit, I think... hehe.” Suki just laughed. “I don’t know, I’m not a pro at this. I’m just more awake then you are.” She slapped Denise on the shoulder, causing her to re-drop her uniform again. “Meet you back here in 10?” “Uun... ya.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “$4 please.” The school cafeteria was rather packed today. The rain had picked up worse outside, causing most kids to seek shelter indoors or dash to their cars for a lunch at the regular fast-food joint. Denise’s hands flashed across the registers keypad as she processed peoples lunch orders for them. She had picked up the part-time job when she had seen it on the bulletin boards at the start of the year. It paid rather well for the little amount of work she did. 30mins of her time titled her to either a free lunch or $5. All she had to was ring kids lunches in. Which, after the first 2 weeks became second nature to her. “Hrm...? Pizza and a milk? $2.75. Thanks” she sipped the Pepsi she had placed on the window sill next to her. “$5 please. $4.50... oh, Kent?” “I don’t even get a ‘Hi’?” Kent handed her a $5 bill. “I wasn’t really expecting you to go through my cash. I don’t normally see you eating cafeteria food.” She handed him back his change. “First time for everything? Heh...” he adjusted his glasses with his free hand, getting a giggle out of Denise. “Did you tell them yet about the tickets?” “Oh. No. I haven’t really had much of a chance. I’ve been really tired.” “Did I keep you out too late... oh...” Kent turned around slightly at the angry students in the line-up. “You’re holding up the line.” “Hurry up!” “Stop chit-chatting with the cashier already and ask for her number or something.” “Errr...” Kent turned a deep red. “I’ll see you after you’re done.” he walked past Denise towards the group of friends across the cafeteria, missing Denise’s face slowly turning red. “Um... Oh. Uh, $3 please. Thanks.” “Denise, you can finish up and get your lunch if you want. I can take care of the rest of the students.” Linda called over from the other cash. “Go enjoy your lunch, and get some sugar into that system of yours. You seem more out of it then normal today.” Denise’s eye twitched slightly. “Does everyone think I’m out of it today or something?” she thought to herself, closing down her cash. “Thank you Linda~” She bowed slightly, snatched up her backpack and joined the line of kids at the food counter. Several minutes later, she plopped down at the table with a dish of popcorn chicken and onion rings. She smiled happily, tossing a piece of chicken into her mouth and swigging some Pepsi. “You seem a bit better now.” Suki reached over, snatching an onion ring. “Going to go lay down for your free period?” “No. I was thinking of doing some laps around the gym or something. If I lay down, I don’t think I’ll wake back up.” The group ate in silence for a bit, all eyes on Denise as she dozed in and out crunching on her onion rings. Within a few seconds, she had downed her bottle of Pepsi, and got up to grab another one from the machines across the way. Sitting back down, she looked at everyone, aware that they were all still staring at her. “...What? Do I have onion stuck to my face or something?” “If you did we wouldn’t tell you, funner to watch you humiliate yourself~” Becki chimed. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.” Denise replied, chucking a popcorn chicken at her. “Anyways, um. Guys, hope you have Saturday off.” “Hrm?” “What’s Saturday?” “Where are you dragging us?” “Well, I ... I got some tickets to see a certain show on Saturday night, from someone.” Denise glanced at Kent, who blushed. “And was hoping you’d all come? So please?” Denise pulled the tickets out of her backpack. “I have enough for everyone.” “Wait, are those?” “Oh my gosh, SaKura*StaR tickets?” Becki leaned in to get a better look. “They are. Oh wow.” “Ya, um. I have 6 of them, so we can all go, if you want. It’d be better if everyone came.” Denise smiled. Some of the students from the surrounding tables had turned their attention to the commotion coming from Denise’s table. A few of them started whispering amongst themselves at the sight of the tickets in Denise’s hand. Even among the richer kids of TOSH, most students would have a hard time coming across tickets to the concert in NS. A cloud of jealous thoughts swarmed around the corner of the cafeteria where the group sat. “Errr... somehow, I feel like my life is being threatened in the minds of a lot of people...” Denise gulped, stuffing the tickets back into her bag. “Anyways, you’ll come, ne?” “Hrmm, I dunno. I mean, why would I want to.” Becki grinned. “Of course I’ll go stupid, why would I say ‘No’?” “I’ll go, I have Saturday off. No practice this weekend. I still plan on doing some exercises at home though. But ya, count me in.” Denise, Suki and Becki stared at Brent and Kent. The guys just looked at each other and shrugged. “Do we have a choice to say no?” Brent laughed. “Ya, I’ll go, I can probably drive us there.” “Umm... you already know my answer.” Kent adjusted his glasses. “Ya, d’uh. Hehe.” Denise smiled at her friends. “Thanks guys. This should be really...” She was cut off by the warning bell signaling the end of lunch. “Already over.” jamming the rest of her popcorn chicken into her mouth, she grabbed her backpack. “I gotta go hit up my locker, have fun guys.” The group watched her wander off down the hallway, still half-asleep. Becki gave Suki a worried look, who returned it. “You think she’s ok?” “Well... uh, I did have her out late... last night.” Kent stuttered. “She came with me to see... my dad. So she wasn’t home... til a little after 10PM. She probably had homework... maybe too excited cause of the tickets...” “You gave her the tickets?” Becki blinked. “Yes.” “Oh wow. Where in the world did you get those...” The group chit-chatted for a few more minutes before they hurried off in different directions to their afternoon classes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Denise walked out of the gyms locker rooms for the second time that day, tying her still damp hair up in it’s usual ponytail and proceeded towards her final class that day. The jog around the gym didn’t fully wake her up, quite the opposite, but she was feeling a bit better. She grabbed a Pepsi from the vending machines as she passed through the cafeteria. Sipping the pop, she trotted upstairs and to the 400's section, dodging students as she went. Something wasn’t sitting right with her. And it wasn’t the staying up late. This tiredness wasn’t normal. After a certain lack of sleep she usually just went into some sugar-high mode and had endless energy. But that wasn’t happening today. Collapsing into her seat, she smiled at Kent who tossed her a worried look. “More Pepsi?” He scratched his head. “I have to disagree with how much of that stuff you drink.” “Sorry. I need sugar.” “Is that what it really is?” Kent’s question through her off guard. “This doesn’t seem like your normal ‘Out-Of-It, Need Sleep’ we usually see once a week. Are you sure you’re ok? Is something bothering you?” Denise set the pop down on her desk, staring past Kent and out the window. Truth be told, something was bothering her. It had started last night. Something, a sinking feeling in her gut. It had been happening a lot recently, where feelings of dread just sort of invaded her happy thoughts, putting her in a uncomfortable mood. The feelings from last night had dragged on through the day, but started picking up again after lunch. Like something was coming. Something was going to happen, but she wasn’t sure quite what. She sighed and sipped her Pepsi again. This wasn’t like her. At all. She shook her head, trying to shake the annoying thoughts when her eyes shot open wide. Something had just happened. Or, she thought something had just happened. She looked around the classroom as students took their seats. Nothing in here was out of place. And nothing was going on in the school. But something was telling her something terrible was happening. Something related to her mood. Kent’s hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, her wide eyes coming to a rest on Kent’s worried face. “...Denise?” “Betsuni...” She downed her Pepsi and placed the bottle in her desk. Whatever it was that was bothering her wasn’t going to be solved by her just sitting there at her desk sulking over the annoying thoughts. She flipped open her math book as the teacher came into class, prepared to just ignore everything and focus on her math. Link~ to other chapters ^^;
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2008-06-03, 04:30
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Link #5944 | ||
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Is not prepared
Author
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Stormwind, Azeroth
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And YES BWHAHAH!~ I combined Thriller and Caramelldansen... and the Fonz? Heyyy *does Fonzy's thumbsup* Quote:
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 Saber - Signum - Serenn Life is a thing most of us take for granted. Until we lose someone that we charish, are we forced to realize that things will never always be the same. |
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2008-06-03, 05:21
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Link #5945 |
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The dustbunnies did it...
Join Date: May 2008
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2008-06-03, 07:55
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Link #5946 |
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Vividly Vivio
Author
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Over there
Age: 40
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just for an update, I think I'm going to do this:
Make Vampire!Fate's backstory still in the works, but continue it a little on forums while I'm at work. Havn't fully decided yet though.... So far the special is 5,550 words ( all you old RO fans should giggle at that hehe ). I think it'll push 10,000 words.... I'm starting to get less detalistic ( I invited a word? )with it and more storyline focused. Hopefully I can trim it down ><
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2008-06-03, 08:11
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Link #5948 | |
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The Interstellar Medium
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 34
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2008-06-03, 10:03
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Link #5949 |
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Vividly Vivio
Author
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Over there
Age: 40
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June 4th, a day that should have been the happiest of the year- save maybe Christmas. It was my birthday, and I was finally turning twenty. Hey, another year and I'll be legal!
----------- ahhhhhhhhh break cut short.well, that's a preview! I'll pick it up soon
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Last edited by Satashi; 2008-06-03 at 10:24. |
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2008-06-03, 10:06
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Link #5951 | |
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Sleep beneath the flowers
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lording above all of humanity >;3
Age: 34
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 Satashi-sama told me its ok for fics to be posted in FF that have OCs so long as the main cast is still largely involved and doesn't just show up once in a while to remind everyone they're there.
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2008-06-03, 10:16
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Link #5952 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Philippines
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This just in.
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Expect some BIRTHDAY SPECIAL BLUECHEESIUM to come in a few hours!
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2008-06-03, 10:27
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Link #5953 | |
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Vividly Vivio
Author
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Over there
Age: 40
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But it is welcome here ^^ Never hesitate to share. Though you should post it on the OC forum also, because more people there will give you advice and comment on it Alot of OCers come here too, so they will probably be attacking your story with yummy comments shortly
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2008-06-03, 11:38
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Link #5954 |
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Black Dragon
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: In the Netherrealm, thinking who to betray next...
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Sorry for my lack of activity guys, I'm working really hard to improve in the next chapter of Rise of Techno - Union who will be launched next week
 BTW: Too many new fics and to short time to read them, my brain is going to recive an overload! @_@
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2008-06-03, 12:18
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Link #5955 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PEI, Canada
Age: 39
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Thanks Satashi^^; I'm still a bit nervous to posting it as I worry sometimes at the comments. (nothing bad yet, and I like criticism.) I got one on FF.net, which I'm happy about. T_T I really need to get the character sheets up. I'll probably do that after my Dynamis tonight. As someone pointed out, I know it doesn't -feel- like Nanoha, but I have plans ;x never meant to rush into the "Eat Magic, Deadly Creature!" thing.
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2008-06-03, 13:04
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Link #5956 | |
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Vividly Vivio
Author
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Over there
Age: 40
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Even if you pissed them off about something, you still brought out emotions, which is what writing is for. Its hard getting used to it but once you learn how to take reviews you can better yourself. But also remember that there are idiots out there who want nothing more than to rip your story to shreds with chainsaws. Ignore them, they're not worth your time. If they're not constructive just point and laugh at them :3 As for making it -feel- like Nanoha... I can't really say 'cause I haven't read it yet, but for a beginning author, it's very important to make readers feel at home right off. I have a fanbase and they will give each of my stories a few chapters before judging in or out of character ( like in my SbtB ). If you are looking to grab people's attention to keep following your works, try and make it more like Nanoha ASAP or they may stop reading. But then again, there are people who really like that just gotta find your crowd.
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2008-06-03, 13:07
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Link #5957 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PEI, Canada
Age: 39
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>.<;!! I'm going to be late for work~ *runs off* Oh, Suki Motomiya from my story~
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2008-06-03, 13:09
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Link #5958 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Philippines
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For Hayate's B-day...
~~~~BLUECHEESIUM POST!!~~~~  ~~~~BIRTHDAY SPECIAL!!!~~~~ ~MSLN GenerationS~ Chapter 2 Here are the must-reads to get what the hell is happening here. Chapter 1, part 1 and 2. Spoiler for GenerationS: Chapter 2.1:
[Magic Weapons Research Facility, TSAB Naval Base] [May 24th, MC 077] [1707 hours]
*beep beep beep* “System check,” [100% complete. ] “Device parameters.” [Stable. ] “Recalibration.” [Complete.] “Finalize data-storage key inputs.” [Acknowledged.] “Hu…” Aurion straightens up and extended his hand inside the glowing field holding the Tome of the Night Sky, the book floating obediently over his hand. “So it’s finally finished?” inquired Hayate, staring at her Storage Medium with well-contained excitement. “Yes.” Aurion smiles as the book drops to his hand, “Here.” He hands it over to Hayate. “Thank you.” Hayate replies gratefully as she took the book in her arms. “Wha-!” the book almost fell out of her grip as her arms buckled, “I-it’s so heavy!” “After all that I did to it? You should expect it.” Aurion replies in a deadpan manner as he watches in amusement Hayate’s attempts in heaving the book higher. “Just make it float already.” “Uh, okay.” Hayate’s hand glows a serene white radiance, making her book float above her palm. Aurion inserted his hands into his pockets as he began walking past Hayate, who was still gazing curiously at her tome. He stopped walking as he was directly parallel to her, his eyes glancing sideways with a strange glint in his eyes, “Why don’t you try greeting it? Like I said days ago, I’ve installed a rudimentary A.I. there.” “Yes.” Hayate complied as she stroked the tome rather nervously, “Hello.” [Guttentag, mein Meister.] replied the book in a mechanical female tone. “!!!!!!!” Hayate’s eyes widened in shock upon hearing the reply; the voice, the very same mechanical female voice she first heard the first time the Book of Darkness activated. The voice that sealed her destiny… “What-” her hands dropped to her sides, visibly shaking, “is the meaning of this?” her eyes slid sideways to meet Aurion’s starting an odd sideways staring match. A smile crept up Aurion’s lips, “What do you think?” he advanced further, breaking eye contact, “‘She’ has a nice voice, don’t you think so, Hayate?” “…” Hayate’s head lowers, hiding her eyes by the fringes of her hair, “You know,” her hand rose to once again caress the smooth pages of the now open tome, “you’re a very cruel person…” “Hehe.” Silent laughter emanated from the man, “What’s wrong?” he kept walking towards his table “You don’t like it?” his right hand touched an old and seemingly broken inverted V-shaped pendant on a small stand. “No. It’s very nostalgic.” the tome closed at Hayate’s bidding and started to flow closer to her, “I’m happy about it…” Hayate embraced the book, holding it tightly to her chest, “But… it’s painful too…” she smiled sadly, “You’re a really cruel person… Oji-chan.” “You don’t have to say it twice.” Aurion deadpanned. “And you’re welcome…” “……” “Hm?” Aurion’s eyebrows rose in intrigue as a blinding white glow filled the portion of the room behind him. He turned around to see Hayate, still facing away from him with her arms outstretched, the tome once again opened and automatically flicking pages at a uniformly quick pace. Hayate’s eyes were closed, her hair and clothes being billowed by the winds of her magic, “So many changes… it’s almost like you completely replaced everything… And also so many new facets that all look so interesting…” “It’s supposed to be that way.” He smirked, “I didn’t spend several years researching all of your devices for nothing.” “I feel like I have a new partner…” Hayate whispered serenely as her link to the tome furthered. “It’s nice to meet you.” [Ja, bitte.] the pages finished flipping and the book closed with a resounding clap. [Anfang.] The glow brightened even more that Aurion had to shield his eyes for a few seconds. After a few more moments, the glow subsided. Hayate turned around to face him, her eyes shortly glowing in an electric-blue hue like when she’s in Unison before reverting back to her normal eye-color. The Book was nowhere to be seen; since she has already assimilated it into to herself as per usual. Aurion smirked as he walked towards Hayate. He placed his hand gently on her head upon reaching her, “Well, what do you think?” “Hm~” Hayate smiled earnestly as he gazed up to him, “I like her. Thank you.” “It’s not over yet.” “Why?” “You still need to give her a name.” Aurion replied as he removed his hand from her head and walked back towards his table. “Well…” Hayate touched her chin with her hand, in deep thought. “Let me think about it…” “I have a suggestion, though…” Aurion smiled wickedly as he sat down on his chair. “Oh? Let me hear it, Oji-chan.” Aurion rested his chin on his fist, “I think a fitting name would be… ‘Tiara’.” “Tiara?” Hayate intones… “Tiara…” her eyes shows signs of confusion, “For some reason, that name seems familiar to me…” A strange glint can be seen in Aurion’s eye for one second. ‘Ahh… So I was correct. It seems like I might figure out the gist of it sooner than I thought, Saga…’ “Hmm. I like the name! Thanks.” “No problem.” “What about Schwertkreuz?” “My, impatient aren’t we?” “Ahaha~!” Aurion marches towards the other holding field. He then typed some commands on the keyboard, which caused a hologram display to show in the center of the room. The hologram depicted Schwertkreuz with several lines and labels surrounding it for function descriptions. “I don’t really need to change much here. I’m just mostly going to synchronize it with Tiara’s newer system.” “So it will be done today?” Hayate asked, making one holographic label enlarge for easier reading. “Well, yes.” “That’s nice…” “After getting used to it, you should carry out some combat testing with the upgrades to your devices.” He glances at her, “Let’s have a mock battle.” “!!!” Hayate froze in surprise, before snapping back to reality and looking incredulously at Aurion, “EH?! A-against you?!” she asked while pointing at him. “Why not? If you’re worried about imbalances,” Aurion raises his left arm and dispels the transformation magic, revealing the robotic limb, “I’m just fighting with Reishiki. I’m not using Almaria or my other equipment. Likewise, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use Unison.” “A-ah… But-!” “Okay. Then it’s set! Around three days from now…” “Oji-chan!” Aurion browsed a planet catalogue, apparently not listening, “Orpheus should be close enough. It has a pretty good testing ground too.” Hayate fumed indignantly, “MOU~!!! Don’t decide on you own!” ………… Needless to say, the appointment was set. ~~~~~~~ [Magic Weapons Simulation and Testing Ground, TSAB Research Installation, Planet Orpheus] [May 27th, MC 077] [1243 hours] “Right.” Aurion marched through the rocky terrain without losing stride. “Let’s try to get as much as we can done this day. I don’t want to embark on our mission a few days from now with any bugs left in your devices.” “We could, as long as you promise to go easy on me.” Hayate replies cheerfully as she jogged a bit to keep up with the taller person’s pace. “What does that have to do with anything?” Aurion answered back dismissively, “Anyway, remember how Nanoha used to train Lanster and the others after the incident?” “Yes.” Hayate then fakes a frightened tone, “Wait… that means… *gasp* Iya~!” she hugs herself and does an affected shiver, “Please don’t push me that hard! I’m very fragile~!” “Sure, sure, I won’t.” he then smiles wickedly, “I’ll just push you harder.” “Oji-chan!” “I’m not joking.” “But you know I’m-” “Your lack of exercise and arguably weak constitution won’t concern your enemies, and naturally won’t concern me as well since I’ll be your opponent. Besides, I heard Tesla’s been working you hard for several months now.” he shrugs “So you should be used to it.” “But-!” Hayate complained indignantly, “But that training landed me in the infirmary for a couple of days on more than one occasion!” “Wha-?!” Genuine surprise showed in Aurion’s expression this time, “Eh?” “It’s tru-Oops!” Hayate covers her mouth and laughs nervously. “F-forget I said that!” She then looked away. ‘Uu~, I’m sorry, Tesla!’ “Hoho~…” Aurion strokes his chin amusedly, “so Tesla’s been teaching you quite properly after all…” ~~~~~~~ “Ha-chiuu!” sneezes Tesla. “Bless you, desu~!” “Ah, thanks…” Tesla smiles at Rein, followed by a confused expression appearing on her face. ‘What was that about?’ ~~~~~~~ As the two finally reached their starting positions… “Remember. This is different from how I fought against you and the other three Aces eight years ago.” Aurion stated stridently, staring at Hayate’s direction. “I’m not going to joke around this time. I’m coming after you as a high-level threat. So you better take this seriously or you’ll just make a complete fool of yourself.” “I understand!” Hayate replied clearly, “I will regard this exercise as if it was the real thing!” “Good.” The elderly man took a stance. [Standing by.] His left arm was covered in a bright azure glow, reverting back to its natural appearance as an armed prosthetic appendage/device. [Bereitschafts Bereiten Sie Vor](Standby. Ready.) Hayate held Schwertkreuz’s portable form in her right hand, her left hand raised with the tome floating over it. “Reishiki.” Aurion intoned. [Acknowledged. Barrier Jacket,] Several radiant bursts of zigzagging lines of energy burst from Aurion’s prosthetic arm, briefly orbiting around him before ramming themselves forcefully onto his body. [Ready.] After a brief flash of light, his Barrier Jacket replaced his prior attire. Aurion’s Barrier Jacket was very similar to the standard Enforcer design. The only noticeable difference was the darker color scheme with sharper details and a lighter frame, with a corresponding cape that covers his entire body. He also sports a lightly decorated cobalt metal gauntlet at his right arm and matching metal boots at his feet. He lightly flicked his right hand downward and took a loose combat stance. “Schwertkreuz, Tiara. My armor…” Hayate spoke softly, holding the two items close to her. [Verstanden.] Tiara replied. She closed her eyes as she held out her arms, crossing wrists and ankles, “SET UP!” [Activierung.] Haruka Naru Ishi (Meister des Nachthimmeis) ~Theme of HAYATE~ A blinding field of powerful white energy encased Hayate. Her clothes gradually dissolved away starting from her hands towards her body. Pieces of her Knight Armor slowly replaced her previous outfit. A black minidress with gold accents formed, followed by a white and black jacket over it. Protective gilded plates atop a flowing black cloak bound around her waist and small black boots covered her feet. A white balmoral formed and landed on her head. Finally, Schwertkreuz enlarged into its proper form, a long staff tipped at the end with a golden cross. Opening her eyes, she grabbed the staff, immediately followed by six pairs of black wings bursting elegantly from her back; with ebony feathers being scattered into the air. The field broke, revealing Hayate just as she twirled her staff and uncrossed her arms; ready for combat. Spoiler for Hayate:
“Flashy as always…” Aurion commented dryly, though he was smiling, “But then again, I guess a little eye-candy before an extensive exercise is fine too.” Hayate readied her stance, floating up a few meters into the air. “Alright. Here’s the agenda in this battle.” Aurion stated loudly, “You’re primary objective is to defend and escape from my attacks. And if you find a chance, counterattack and land a clean hit on me. That would count as the end of the round in your favor. It wouldn’t count if I blocked your attack with Reishiki.” He raised his left arm for emphasis, “However, if I get knocked back even if I blocked successfully, then it would still count as your point. Bombardment spells are fine, as long as they’re not lethal and won’t blow up this place, and for that matter, me, into smithereens. Understood?” “Yes!” Hayate replied just as loudly. But a confused expression was on her face, “but Oji-chan, aren’t I just supposed to-” “I want to advance forward a bit and see what you can do after defending against me.” Aurion interjected. “That’s why I did some upgrades to your devices to better facilitate counterattacks, have I not?” he shrugged while smiling cruelly, “Call me irrational, but I’m the head of this project, anyway. So I’m free to abuse my position as long as you don’t spill the beans to the higher-ups,” he raised an eyebrow, “right?” “Oh, you’re so irresponsible…” Hayate felt a smile forming on her lips despite herself, “Understood!” she readied her stance, “And then I guess the same rules will apply for me with regards to points.” “No.” “Huh?” “I’m supposed to subdue you effectively before I declare your loss.” He grinned, “The odds are already stacked against you. So why make any more unreasonable mission agendas?” “Oh…” Hayate’s expression drooped slightly, “I understand.” “Oi, don’t give me that face!” Aurion reprimanded her, “Just think of it as a means for me to have my way with you.” Hayate blushed at the outright bawdy comment, but her disposition clearly brightened, “Its fine then. But…” she giggled, covering her mouth demurely with her book and fluttering her eyelashes. “P-please be gentle.” Aurion snorted audibly, “Not on your life.” he replied with indifference, though he was obviously amused by Hayate’s similarly suggestive jest. The gaps in Reishiki armor platings glowed briefly, its internal systems kicking into gear. A cobalt Mid-Childan sigil formed underneath Aurion’s feet, “I’m coming in full force!” “Meanie.” Hayate murmured, smiling. A white Belkan sigil formed underneath her. ~~~~~~~ Meanwhile… “Okay… What in the Nine Hells was that about?” Agito asked with her eyebrows twitching and a small blush on her face. “Hayate-chan is so daring, desu~!” Rein sighed, who was also blushing with her hands under her chin; a dreamy expression on her face. “E-eh?!” “Ahh~, our Hayate-chan has really grown up…” squealed Shamal happily, holding her equally flushed face with both hands, shaking her head repeatedly with eyes closed. “Wh-what?!” Agito asked again, not at all liking how the first two were acting. “…… Hmph!” Vita closed her eyes and crossed her arms, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. “O-oi, masaka!” Agito exclaimed apprehensively, “D-don’t tell me Hayate-san is-is-!” “Ta~bun! (May~be!)” Tesla winked at her mischievously, giggling lightheartedly. “No… No way…” Agito’s arms dropped lifeless to her sides; slowly looking at the viewing screen in blatant disbelief. Her jaw felt like dropping several inches past her body, “I never knew Hayate-san l-li-lik-likes that-OUCH!” she felt her head propelled several centimeters forward as somebody’s finger poked her head from behind. “What was that for?!” she yelled furiously as she faced the poker, “S-Signum?!” “Don’t be so gullible, Agito.” Signum mildly reprimanded her (though she was smiling as well…). “H-heh?” “And all of you…” Signum shot the other females a disapproving stare, “Don’t plant weird ideas into her head.” “I didn’t say anything!” Vita protested while the other three made apologetic gestures. “You-you tricked me!” Agito shouted at the others, glaring particularly at Rein. “Ehehe~!” Rein scratched her head while laughing sheepishly. “KONO!” Agito flung out her hand and caused a small explosion in front of Rein. “KYA!” Rein cried out before running away (well, flying away) from Agito. But the small red-head quickly captured her in a headlock a few seconds later. “Ow-ow! B-but! It was-ow! Tesla-chan’s-ouch! Idea, desuuu~~~!!! Aahhh~!” “Stop trying to wiggle your way out of this!” Agito yelled irritatedly and kept strangling Rein until Tesla spoke with her. “Part of initiation, Agito!” Tesla chirped in cheerfully, “Ossan is a person who likes taking different personas in conversation; talking like an old perv is just one of those. Hayate just likes to play along at times. So you better be prepared to hear more!” “A many-faced old man, huh?” Agito mused… “So what’s he really like?” “I’m not so sure myself!” Tesla replied with a bright smile. Agito imagined she felt a large bead of sweat drop behind her head. “How… can you say that with a straight face…?” ‘And I’m seriously beginning to like that old man less and less…’ “A-anou…” Rein moaned weakly. “What?” “You can let me go now, desuuu~….” “Shh!” Vita cut them off, “They’re at it!” ~~~~~~~ It has started… “Hmph.” Aurion raised his right arm sideways and snapped his fingers, causing a few dozen orbs of cobalt energy to surround him. [Proton Bolt.] He pointed, the projectiles following and orbiting around his arm in zigzagging patterns. Hayate wasn’t wasting any time either. “Tiara!” [Ja?] “Strengthen my armor!” [Verstanden. Panzergeist.] A white aura surrounded Hayate’s entire body as she stood her ground and brandished Schwertkreuz. “Standing ground…” Aurion muttered, seeing Hayate’s stance. ‘Let’s see… B-rank power per unit and three dozen shots total.’ He pointed upward at Hayate, “Attack!” The azure projectiles zipped towards Hayate. However, the girl only stood her ground and accepted each shot without blocking, the white field around her body actually withstanding the blasts, the shots splashed harmlessly at her. She immediately raised Schwertkreuz and chanted, “Bring forth spears and infuse them with blood!” [Blutiger Dolch.] Several glistening crimson blades gathered around Hayate as she pointed Schwertkreuz at Aurion’s direction. “Bloody Dagger!” The daggers shot at Aurion at incredible speed. But instead of dodging, the man only held out his left hand. [Round Shield.] A Mid-Childan symbol appeared, taking the brunt of the force from Hayate’s attack. The area was engulfed in a small explosion of dust and smoke. “He didn’t dodge?” Hayate asked herself, surprised. But she shook her head and immediately prepared her next move. ‘Oji-chan will definitely start using his illusion spells now…’ With her left hand, she quickly caressed a page from her tome, causing a small rectangular piece of stiff paper inscribed with runes to appear. She took it and assimilated the book temporarily into herself. A white glow surrounded her body as she raised her guard in case of a sneak attack. As she expected, nothing was left after the smoke subsided. Her eyes scanned her surroundings cautiously, staff raised slightly and the small ‘bookmark’ held tightly between her fingers. Several Bloody Daggers also appeared defensively around her as well. ‘I won’t let you get the better of me…’ her eyes started to scan her surroundings, her energies being focused for an immediate counterattack, ‘For as long as I can!’ ~~~~~~~ The excitement was starting to build in the viewing room. “Hm~hm!” Tesla hummed with satisfaction, “Off to a good start!” “I must say…” Signum said softly, “I’m apprehensive of what can happen to our Mistress here. Everything else notwithstanding, Dauer isn’t someone you can take lightly…” “Don’t worry, Signum!” piped in Rein. “Aurion-jiisan won’t hurt her.” “Ah!” Vita almost shouted; then a bit later, “Nice one!” “Nice, Hayate!” Tesla whooped as well. ~~~~~~~ “There!” Hayate quickly held up a shield when a beam of blue energy lanced out at her from the left. Aurion can be seen again. She quickly willed several of the daggers to fly at him at the same time, but they only flew thru him. A mirage… ‘Not quick enough, Hayate…’ Aurion’s telepathical call resounded in her head. “Ugh…” Hayate tensed a bit and gradually prepared more Daggers. ‘Not even Keroko-chan can properly figure out where he is like this…’ she glanced at the small strip of synthetic paper on her left hand. ‘I can’t use this yet… But how can I…?’ ‘I’m not just going to wait, you know…’ Aurion’s voice once again ringed in her head, followed by several mirages of Aurion appearing at respectable distances around Hayate. Orbs of blue light accompanied them. “Oh no!” Hayate gasped in alarm, as the projectiles started rushing towards her from seemingly all angles. “Barrier!” she quickly commanded, covering herself once again with a thick layer of white light. ‘Heh…’ But instead of hitting her, the projectiles did something else… “Ah!” The Proton Bolts collided with all the Bloody Daggers Hayate had prepared in twos or threes per blade, completely eradicating all of her prepared projectiles. The rest smashed harmlessly against her defense, but the damage has been done. “He got me.” Hayate muttered under her breath. She quickly looked around at the illusions starting to advance, ‘There’s no time! I guess it can’t be helped…’ As the several illusions started charging her, she quickly let go of the bookmark in her left hand and struck it with Schwertkreuz. [Eisengeheul.] (Iron Howl) Instantly, Hayate’s surroundings were blasted by a powerful shockwave from the Iron Howl. She chanted quickly under her breath. [Schwarzer Wirkung.] Schwertkreuz’s tip became surrounded by strands of black energy. “Keh! Correct counter!” Aurion, who was covering his face with one arm exclaimed as his illusion spells were blasted into nothingness by the shock of Hayate’s last spell. His own invisibility spell was disabled as well, revealing his location. The raging winds were very powerful. So much so that he had to use up more than usual energy to stabilize his flight. “Found you!” Hayate shouted, flying directly towards Aurion, who was still being buffeted by the howling winds as fast as she could, edge-first. “Black Impact!” “But the follow-up is…” Aurion smiled sardonically as his prosthetic arm rose to meet Hayate’s attack straight on. “Reverse Phalanx.” [Reverse Phalanx. Sword and Shield.] A single energy blade sprouted in front of his palm, followed by a double-layered barrier on its tip. Hayate didn’t stop, putting all her momentum into her attack. “Yaaaahhh!!” Collision! Hayate’s attack almost instantly broke thru the layers of defense, proceeding to break down Aurion’s energy blade as easily as a pile bunker breaks through concrete. “Hm.” He only smiled wider, his eyes glowing suddenly. [Break Impulse.] *BOOM!!!* As the dust cleared, Hayate could only gape in shock as she saw the tip of Schwertkreuz… held with only three fingers by Aurion’s mechanical hand. Her vastly superior Black Impact completely neutralized. He wasn’t even pushed back an inch. “Amai. (Naïve.)” Aurion said, grabbing Schwertkreuz and pulling it towards him, with Hayate along with it. He swiftly accelerated forward and drove his knee onto Hayate’s gut; knocking out the wind from the girl’s lungs, he then grabs her by the arm and swings her around, throwing the dazed girl diagonally downwards one hill. “A-aaaghh!” He pointed Reishiki at her, the streamlined barrel on the forearm extended past his faux knuckle. A firing ring formed around the sphere of energy gathering at the barrel’s tip. [Proton Blaster.] “Attack!” A half meter-wide sustained beam of energy shot from Aurion’s arm, headed towards the quickly dropping Hayate. As for her, she managed to somehow draw out a barrier before the beam hit her. However, the force of the attack still propelled her towards the hill, slamming her there. “Ugu~ugh!” Hayate coughed out as she tried to open her eyes despite the pain. Aurion was already flying towards her. “N-now… *gasp* Tiara…” The book reappeared, triggering Hayate’s delayed spell. [Blutiger Dolch.] More crimson daggers appeared and zoomed at Aurion’s direction. He immediately erected a barrier as he continued to fly towards her, but the shots tore through his barrier this time- “Wha-?” Only to hit thin air as Aurion’s body vanished upon contact. Hayate was just beginning to stand up shakily, holding her hurt stomach, “I-illusion… again?!” Aurion phased in right behind her. “It’s over.” “!!!!!!” Hayate attempted to turn around, “Akh!” but felt a large hand grab her tightly by the throat. He was actually in front of her! Aurion’s real body phased into existence; starting from his hand towards his entire body. He lifted her by the neck, her feet hanging limply a few inches from the ground. She attempted to raise Schwertkreuz and invoke another spell from Tiara, but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand and tightened his vice grip on her neck, ruining her concentration. “A-anhk!” “Hah!” “Agh!” Aurion has slammed her hard against the hill’s side by his arm holding her throat, creating several cracks along the rock’s surface. He pinned down her right arm with his knee and pointed his left arm at her face. “Reishiki.” Hayate was suffocating and couldn’t even begin to react to the immediate threat. “Dead End-” [Proton Cannon.] A large amount of energy gathered at the end of Reishiki’s barrel; a couple of inches from Hayate’s face. “Shot.” A loud explosion ripped thru the air, accompanied by a flash of blue light… ~~~~~~~ The viewing room was stunned into complete silence for several seconds, closely followed by cries of Hayate’s name as all of the Knights went to rush onto the field, almost… “Where do you think you’re going?” resounded Aurion’s voice as his face showed up beside Vita in the viewing room. “You bastard!” Vita all but screamed at him, “What did you do to-” “I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Aurion cut her off, “Heck, I didn’t even shoot her directly. She’s fine.” “V-Vita…” came Hayate’s weak tone thru the communication line. Her face followed in another screen. She was still lying on the ground and looked in pain, but otherwise fine. There was a gaping hole the size of a fist on the ground beside her head. “Hayate!” Vita cried out in alarm, “Are you alright?!” “Hayate-chan!” came simultaneously from Tesla, Rein and Shamal. “Y-yes… I’m fine… but,” Hayate coughed out for a few seconds before endearingly crying out a complaint, “Oji-chan was handling me roughly~!” “It’s good to see that you can still make jokes after being promptly mowed down,” He checked the time, “in a little over a minute.” Aurion chided her sarcastically. “Mou! You weren’t giving me any slack!” “I’m not supposed to.” He shot back. “Anyway, your course of action far from the best one. But it could work in some other circumstances…And lasting for a whole minute… Not bad for a first try.” “Does that mean I pass?” “Absolutely not. You still fail horribly by proper standards.” “Uu~!” “Transmission out. Listen here Haya-” the line was cut off by Almaria (who was in the terminal). Agito could only stare in incredulity, “Like nothing happened… Didn’t the old man almost behead her?” “… It’s… normal…” Tesla said softly as she stared intently at the viewing screen. Her focus was clearly somewhere else this time. “Agito.” Signum called her, “Pay attention to the next parts… This should provide you with enough chance to study both our Mistress’ and Dauer’s styles.” Her stance didn’t change, but her eyes showed a suddenly large amount of focus as she stared at the screen as well. “Ahh.” Agito couldn’t help but notice the change in atmosphere. All the other Knights were now silent, staring intently at the screen. “But why-” “I want to know as well…” Tesla replied; her eyes narrowed in concentration, “Ossan… this isn’t how he usually fights…” “If he ever does something to Hayate…” Vita uttered in a low growl, her fist clenched. “Calm down Vita.” A deep male voice interjected calmly. “As bad as it may seem, it’s still improbable that it will happen.” “Ah, Zafira-san…” Agito looked at the Guardian Beast, surprised. “Tche… We’ll see…” Vita muttered doubtfully. ‘I forgot Zafira-san was here as well…’ Agito thought as she scratched her head. ~~~~~~~ “Transmission out. Listen here, Hayate. That last move you just did couldn’t have worked too well.” Aurion began, “What prompted you to think that I wouldn’t rather dodge? Or maybe that last Bloody Dagger salvo was supposed to be the insurance?” Hayate sat up, wincing, “Yes… but I didn’t expect you to block-” “If only you were a bit faster, you could have used them simultaneously or at least consecutively… So the plan was to knock me back even if I blocked or nail me with the delayed Bloody Dagger at close range if I dodged, huh… Tch, you underestimated me.” “N-no! That wasn’t-” “Listen. As you should already know, by comparison, I can barely compete against you or the other Aces, as well as your main offensive Knights with regards to magical power; since I only have roughly less than half of Nanoha’s. And that’s taking into consideration my Magical Field Manipulation ability already.” He raised his left arm and clenched his fist, “But you know; I think I’m a good enough mage to manage defending even against her Buster attacks if I wanted to; though that isn’t very healthy for my stamina. Not even an AAA+ ranked direct attack like Black Impact can so much as budge me if you do it half-heartedly like back then.” He helped Hayate up by the arm, “Don’t be afraid of attacking me properly because I’m not going to be pulling any punches myself; just so you’ve noticed by my last assault.” “I, *cough* more than just noticed!” Hayate retorted with a glare, still holding her stomach with her right arm and massaging her neck with her left, “This is way too different from our last fight years ago!” “Hmph. Well it should be.” Aurion’s gauntlet dematerialized as he held out his right and moved Hayate’s arm away from her neck, subsequently grabbing it. “This style is similar to how I fought when I was an Enforcer…” his hand glowed. “Wha…?” Hayate tensed up, but felt a slight amount of heat emanating from Aurion’s hand. The pain her neck slowly receded as Aurion rubbed it gently. She blushed lightly at his act. “Does it still hurt?” Aurion asked kindly, withdrawing his hand. “My grip was a little too reinforced with magic a while back so I might have overdone it. Sorry if I almost strangled you to death.” “I-it’s fine now. Thank you…” Hayate replied timidly as she touched her neckline. “AH!” However, a sudden realization struck her head, causing her to jump away from Aurion and grab her neck protectively with both her hands, “You don’t need to touch a person for healing magic to work!” she cried out while blushing furiously, “You did that just to feel me up, didn’t you!?” “Hahahaha!” Aurion laughed out, “I just needed you to be more alert, Hayate.” He closed and opened his right hand, “Though I must say; your neck muscles are actually in pretty good shape.” He smiled suggestively, “So, want me to heal your stomach as well?” “You’re the worst! Oji-chan no ecchi!” Hayate squeaked indignantly. She leaned farther away from him, her flushed face still burning brightly as she grabbed her stomach with her left hand. “Ha…” the right-arm gauntlet rematerialized, a wide smirk on his face, his eyes closed, “Anyway, now that you’re all tense…” his eyes opened, revealing the telltale cobalt glow on his irises. He points upward with his left forefinger. “Ah!” Hayate’s eyes widened as she finally noticed a sphere of energy charging a few feet above her head. His raised finger went down, “Vertical Buster.” *CRASH!!!* The ground where Hayate was standing on was reduced to a pile of rubble as the column of cobalt energy rained down. Hayate just managed to dodge in time as she took into the air, her staff and tome ready. She stared down at Aurion, who was shaking his arm lightly, staring at her as well. His expression completely changed from being jovial to emotionless. “Phase 2, starting.” He declared dispassionately, a Mid-Childa sigil forming under his feet. Five energy blades formed and began spinning around him this time. [Stinger Blade.] He raised his right arm sideways, “Condense.” The sigil under his feet shattered and was replaced by a Neo-Belkan triangle. The five Stinger Blades spun faster around his outstretched arm. [Strike Blade.] The five blades compacted into one and formed a single energy sword, which he grabbed with his right hand. He pointed the blade at Hayate’s direction. “We’re resuming. And Hayate, please do better this time; this not a request.” Aurion then snapped his fingers on his left, prompting several Proton Bolts to form around him, “It’s an order.” Hayate took a steadying breath and nodded, setting her jaw in determination, “I understand! Ikuyo, Tiara!” [Verstanden, mein Meister.] “Tears of the angry skies…” Hayate invoked; her surroundings became surrounded by currents of voltage, forming several balls of crackling electricity. [Blitzschlag.] (Lightning Stroke) ~~~~~~~ “Yes, exactly what she needed!” Tesla whispered audibly. “Huh? Why?” Agito asked. “My Blitzschlag is the closest thing you can get to Bloody Dagger with regards to speed. Hayate can cast them faster.” Tesla replied, “It may not be as powerful, but Ossan will have as hard a time as dodging them. The only problem is it’s easier to block…” “I see…” “And of course, I helped Hayate learn from my combat style since we share the most similar equipment.” Tesla held her clenched fist to her chest, “I also helped her prepare for this fight. She won’t fall so easily. Not even to him!” “Hm!” Vita nodded while looking at the blue-haired girl. “Okay.” Agito couldn’t help but smile at the show of confidence. She then turned her attention back to the screen; showing Hayate flying away from Aurion and his projectiles. “But that old man… Did he just use a Buster-class spell not coming from a part of his body? But isn’t that supposed to be extremely hard to pull off?” “Yes, it should... But…” Signum replied, “Dauer may not exactly be a frighteningly powerful mage; as his magic potential is just about half of my own by comparison.” She crosses her arms, “But instead, he is an astoundingly versatile and proficient magic-user… Those are his defining traits as a mage. A Jack of all Trades…” Agito continued, “-and a master of none?” “Uh-hm.” Shamal shook her head this time, “-and a master of some.” “Wha-? Are you kidding me?” Shamal giggles lightly, “A bit. Aurion-san is a tactical offense mage like Tesla-chan. He could only use basic healing magic for light injuries. Plus, he doesn’t really have much proficiency in tracking and searching like me… So he wouldn’t fit in my area of specialty.” “Regardless…” Zafira cuts in this time. “His specialized abilities are very formidable. I have yet to see an Illusionist as skilled as him. And his ability of mental control over his magic surpasses even that of Takamachi Nanoha’s.” Agito’s wings twitched uncomfortably as she looked closer at the screen depicting Aurion currently flying around and swooping once in a while to try and strike Hayate while easily dodging her inevitably slow-cast counterattacks. “How is it possible? I mean, Nanoha-san is supposed to be the best of the Aces when it comes to control, right?” “Hmm…” Tesla touched her chin thoughtfully, “Well, it’s not really a matter of more talent, but an issue of inherent skills…” “Inherent…?” “You see, Ossan has one particular trait that isn’t natural at all… He has this special ability, a Rare Skill, if you would like to think of it that way.” She started playing with a lock of her blue hair, involuntarily wincing after seeing Hayate receive a second decisive blow that lost her the second round, “Do you know the concept behind Nanoha-chan’s Starlight Breaker?” “Starlight Breaker?” Agito repeated, looking thoughtful. Realization suddenly hit her, “Ah! Gathering residual magic particles from the air to form an attack?” “Yes.” Tesla nodded affirmatively, “Ossan’s ability runs on the same concept. He has a much easier time controlling residual energy from his surroundings in a more subdued but more flexible way compared to Nanoha-chan’s… So much so that he can use it constantly in a battle. His control is heightened in light of such ability as well. And what makes it more unbelievable is that his Linker is not strained as much as it should be with the use of that skill!” “No way!” exclaimed Agito, her face etched with disbelief, “If that’s the case then it no longer matters if his Linker Core is weaker! He’d just continuously use the opponent’s left-over energies against them!” “Hmm…” Signum shakes her head, “There is a measure of truth in there… but that isn’t exactly the case.” “Then what-?” “He has strict limitations with the use of such ability.” The blue-haired girl fought back a giggle upon seeing Aurion help up a blushing Hayate. He most likely teased her about something again (much to Vita’s apparent irritation.)… “It is true that he is far more efficient than it is normally possible with that skill, but he can only do so much until he reaches his mental limit.” “Wait, why mental?” Tesla turned to Agito and playfully tapped the side her head while winking, “That ability requires a great deal of concentration and can cause the mandatory strain. But what makes it worse is that skill actually degenerates the immediate condition of his cerebral functions with extensive use.” “…?” the red-haired Unison Device only tilts her head, apparently not fully comprehending Tesla’s words. Tesla does giggle this time to Agito’s apparent confusion, “To put it simply, that ability causes an immediate and accumulating mental strain on him.” She shrugs, “He experiences severe headaches with extensive use of that ability. And if it gets too much, he’ll experience mental collapse and most likely black out in the middle of battle and stay knocked out for a bit of time.” “Ah…” Agito smacks her fist onto her palm upon understanding Tesla’s explanation, “Then how much is too much?” “Give him several more minutes and you’ll see.” Tesla replies, jerking her thumb at the screen. “He’s currently fighting aggressively and uses above-average to high-powered spells on an almost regular basis. This is one type of fight he shouldn’t be participating in.” she then looks back at the monitor with frown on her face. “Normally, he would quickly and effectively defeat an enemy from the very first chance and promptly end it there, using as little energy as possible. But with the circumstances now, as this is a mock battle to test Hayate and her upgraded Devices’ combat ability… It shouldn’t take very long for him to start running low on energy.” Signum continues on where Tesla left, “For all his versatility, his smaller pool of energy and his limited use of his ability are better used in directly supporting us by causing diversions, while the attacking would be left to the natural attackers like me and Vita.” She shrugs, “With his overall skill and experience, he can take on and almost certainly even defeat any of the combat Aces one on one. But that is ultimately detrimental in a battle of attrition.” “I get it now, but…” The red-haired Unison Device looked troubled, “this is also exactly the type of fight Hayate-san shouldn’t participate in, right?” “………” “… Yeah…” Vita answered, her voice strained… ~~~~~~~ Seventh round… “Attack!” Aurion commanded, sending several Proton Bolts at Hayate’s direction “Ungh!” Hayate groaned in slight vexation, flying backwards as quickly as she could while using minimally sufficient defenses against Aurion’s attacks. ‘This isn’t going anywhere… I can’t keep up with him!’ She dodged another two Buster shots and blocked the third. And clearly, Aurion wasn’t wasting any time, “Increase reserve energy output by 13%.” he ordered. [Acknowledged.] Reishiki’s system highlights blinked several times, increasing the release of the stored energy within Aurion’s prosthetic arm. “Reishiki…” He then activates his Magic Field Manipulation ability, signified by his eyes starting to glow a cobalt hue. Several beads of residual energy from the surroundings begin forming around him. “Bullet, RM-6...” [Remote Bullet: Unit count, six.] Six spheres that are noticeably larger than his Proton Bolt units form from the gathered energy. [Preparation, complete.] He points forward with his right and snaps his fingers, “Attack!” Hayate tried defending, but the six bullets only danced around her shields, two managing to score clean hits. “Ahh!” she was temporarily knocked out of her flight, falling down quickly towards the ground. “No reprise allowed yet.” Aurion flies towards Hayate, directing the four remaining orbs at her. ‘What can I do?’ Hayate stops her fall and gets ready to defend, but an idea hits her. ‘Ah! Now I know!’ Just when the bullets were about to hit her from four sides, she deactivates her flight magic entirely, as well as storing her staff and tome, freefalling towards the ground. ‘Uncontrolled descent?’ Aurion slows down his pursuit and made his bullets follow her faster instead. ‘Alright…’ Hayate pressed her arms to her sides and her legs together for least air friction, plummeting headfirst towards the ground. She closes her eyes in concentration, connecting with Tiara inside her, ‘Barrier of the Hall of Heroes… Heed my call…’ her body begins shining. ‘Not fast enough!’ His eyes glow brighter as he wills his projectiles to go even faster in pursuit. Hayate does a quick reversal as she activates her wings again before hitting the ground. She summons her staff, slamming its hilt onto the earth. “Calamity Wall!” [Mauer des Schicksalsschlages.] Hayate’s immediate surroundings became encased in a shimmering dome of pure white energy. An orb of energy from Aurion hit it, only to slam ineffectively against the barrier. He pulled back the remaining three. “A defensive dome…” Aurion points his left arm towards the glimmering sphere, a significant amount of energy coalescing in front of Reshiki’s barrel. “Then let’s see how tough it is.” [Proton Cannon.] ‘Four hits on one point…’ Aurion fires, also making the three Remote Bullets converge on exactly the same spot. *BOOM!!!* “What the…” The smoke cleared. No visible damage was dealt. “Hmm…” Aurion expression is unreadable, but he smiles as he nears the point. “Reishiki, Front Attacker. Ten seconds!” [Acknowledged. Readying Auto-Guard and reinforcing frame…] Aurion plunges towards the ground beside the dome, flips before landing, turns and rears back his left fist. [Break Impulse.] “Hyah!” he punches the side of the field defense and a powerful explosion follows, causing several cracks to appear but not quite breaking the barrier. But before he could do anything further, an intense beam of contrasting black energy blasted out of the damaged exterior of the field, which would have hit Aurion head-on if he didn’t use his prepared defense as leverage to get out of the ray’s trajectory in time. Apparently, Hayate wasn’t dawdling inside her shield. Calamity Wall is an autonomous defense that doesn’t need any further sustenance after being released; giving her a chance for casting other spells inside, though it takes a considerable amount of energy to use. The spell she had cast unleashed six sizable orbs of jet black energy, all of which fired equally ebony beams at the older mage. “Tch.” Aurion quickly ascended while zipping left and right to avoid the six dark pulsating spheres which were firing buster-like beams at him. ‘A self-sustained barrier able to withstand up to an AAA power single-hit attack…and an independent attack drone spell…’ Valkyric Buster. A new spell Hayate developed to compensate for her slow magic processing speed. Once cast, six orbs of light would automatically seek out specified enemies and shoot them with powerful beams of about A+ ranked power. Each orb can fire at least fifteen times each. Normally, it would take some time to cast, but Hayate managed to pull it off due to the… ‘Calamity Wall, huh?’ Aurion thought contemplatively as he was forced to duck and make an awkward mid-air bent-pirouette to avoid a simultaneous shot from the six. ‘She kept herself safe while casting another spell. Nice.’ He pointed his left arm at one orb and fired off a Proton Blaster, only for his shot to be met with almost equal force by an onyx beam emitted from the sphere, eventually being overwhelmed as a second sphere fires as well, forcing him to pull back his arm to avoid getting hit. “Hah… I’m being outdone …” he mutters flippantly as he dodges a third sphere. ‘I could definitely handle that barrier the next instance its cast if given enough time, but these spheres are too tenacious… It depends on her next move…’ “Yosh.” Hayate put some more distance between them, touching down on the ground. She raises her staff, “Once more!” and bashes Schwertkreuz’s hilt on the earth once again, “Calamity Wall!” her surroundings becomes surrounded for the second time with a dome of white defensive energy. “Tsk, there goes my chance.” Aurion’s eyes start glowing again as he prepares energy for his next moves. ‘Smart girl… That’s how you do it!’ He smiles with satisfaction despite his disadvantage. ‘But…’ His smile grows wider. ‘You’ll have to do better than that to hit me properly!’ Eleven other figures of himself appear via Illusion magic, throwing off the tracking of the Valkyric Busters since the illusions dodge as well. ‘Just as expected… Still…’ Hayate breaths deeply and raises her staff; her tome flipping several pages. “Hear me, Divine Heralds of Rebirth thru Destruction…” Several pinions of light began swirling around Hayate. After several seconds of charging, she points her staff skyward, “Cast down your Spears of Judgment and end this ephemeral conflict!” the points of light begins to gather on bladed tip of Schwertkreuz. [Weißsturm.] “Divine Arrows of Light; White Storm!” “Wha-!” Aurion exclaims as he sees the spectacular sight. A single ray of radiant light bursts upward from Hayate’s dome of protection. After reaching a point in the sky, the tip exploded into innumerable arcs of energy, each individual beam barreling onto the earth with such incredible speed. All of Aurion’s illusions weren’t able to dodge the shafts of light from skewering them, promptly vanishing upon contact. Even the Valkyric Busters were destroyed by friendly fire. For a few moments, a diameter of three hundred meters around Hayate was illuminated by the dazzling needles of energy descending from the sky. A deafening trail of explosions accompanied the splendorous display. And Hayate, not taking any chances, surrounded herself with a smaller but equally powerful barrier, as well as raising another shield above her head, letting the shafts of light rain down on her position as well to ensure minimal blind spots. After the bombardment subsided, a great amount of dust litters the air, clearly blown off the ground by Hayate’s last attack, even if it was set to non-lethal damage. Hayate panted heavily after deactivating her overhead shield, the casting of such a powerful spell and defending against it taking their immediate toll. She quickly scanned her surroundings “N-no…” The only problem is… the real Aurion was nowhere to be seen… He wasn’t there, only the illusions were hit!
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Last edited by Aaron008R; 2008-06-03 at 13:35. |
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2008-06-03, 13:10
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Link #5959 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Philippines
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Spoiler for GenerationS Chapter 2.2:
“He wasn’t there?!” Hayate began frantically turning her head around to look for him, “But that’s-!” She shakes her head. ‘This isn’t the time to leave myself vulnerable!’ Her surroundings begin glowing with defensive energy again. ‘I don’t know how you escaped, but I won’t give you an opening!’ She considered using Calamity Wall again, but thought the better of it since it already strained her more than necessary just to cast the last two. Each cast drains as much energy as a full-powered Hraesvelgr salvo. And the defense was not much to talk about when seen once by a cunning opponent such as Aurion…
~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the viewing room, the atmosphere was best described as pumped. Everyone watching was impressed by Hayate’s latest display. And Tesla was currently glowing with pride at her Mistress’ progress, to which she contributed much of her sweat, blood and tears on (Figuratively, of course. Hayate was definitely the one having the hard time in their training…). “Hayate-chan is amazing, desu~!” Rein squeaked excitedly. “…” even Agito was shortly rendered speechless by the display, “Wow… That’s it Hayate-san!” she cheered as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ “There!” Hayate quickly sent a couple of the Valkyric Busters she prepared after the figure in the distance. Five more figures appear. “This is-!” Hayate quickly began scanning her surroundings faster. As she expected, even more illusions were coming. ‘He’s trying to get to me with his illusions as bait. That means he’s either invisible or one of these figures.’ Her grip on Schwertkreuz tightens. *VOOM!* “Ah!” Hayate quickly twisted her body out of the way as a cobalt beam hurtled towards her from the right. ‘Thinking of how my strategies work is fine and all.’ Aurion’s voice ringed in her head. ‘But-’ *VOOM!* Another beam shot towards her from above this time. Hayate blocked it. ‘-you’re open.’ “Ugh!” Hayate starts moving around quicker to avoid the sneak shots directed at her. As if on cue, Aurion’s illusions from far away vanish and rephases near her area, zooming around menacingly around her. Subsequently, her Valkyric Busters all quickly fly back to her and starts shooting around erratically at the illusions. ‘Hora, hora. You can’t keep up like that forever.’ Her opponent’s mocking voice rings out again in her head as a faster azure projectile simultaneously grazes her left shoulder this time, ripping off a part of her Knight Armor. ‘Why can he attack from different directions this quickly?’ Hayate asked herself as she grabbed her hurt shoulder, flying quicker. ‘I should use Iron Howl again. But he won’t be surprised this time…’ She closes her eyes, ‘Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan. Please let me borrow your powers for a bit!’ Both Schwertkreuz and her Tome start glowing. ‘Iron Howl? Or something different?’ Aurion ponders as he witnesses Hayate’s preparations. ‘However, it won’t be that easy.’ He begins flying around and attacking quicker, along with his illusions. He fires a Proton Cannon and destroys one of her six remaining remote attack orbs. “Ugh!” Hayate grits her teeth against the pain as three projectiles collide consecutively with the field defense surrounding her body in a white aura. She concentrates harder, ‘Please… Finish in time!’ Another bookmark was already inserted in Tiara’s pages. But there was more processing to be done. Another Valkyric Buster dissipates as its ‘ammunition’ is depleted. Aurion wills most of his illusions to move farther in one direction to be followed by Hayate’s remote busters, situating himself on a separate direction while under invisibility. His prosthetic arm starts vibrating with charged energy barely contained inside the barrel. It was taking a fair bit of his concentration on maintaining the invisibility despite the high level of magical activity within Reishiki. He points at Hayate’s direction. [Charging complete.] Aurion calmly pockets his right hand, ‘Check.’ [Proton Cannon +] The bullet is fired. ‘Done!’ Hayate’s eyes open just before Aurion fired. She raised Schwertkreuz with both hands, a broad blade of golden energy sprouting from the bladed cross. “Raikou Shogeki! (Lightning Shock)” “Sprite Zamber!” She swings her staff down, the energy sword detonating and causing her surroundings to be blasted with an incredible amount of electrical energy. Aurion’s bullet is destroyed before it reaches her. And all the illusions in the area were dispelled. “What!?” Aurion quickly opened his left palm and casts a Round Shield. But it got shattered almost as quickly. He attempted to move away, but his movement was severely compromised by the charged energy around him. “D-damn!” “I’ve got you now!” Hayate shouts, turning towards Aurion with the bookmark prepared earlier floating in front of her. “Tenbatsu! (Divine Punishment)” she thrusts the bladed tip of her staff at it, piercing the bookmark and causing an enormous sphere of powerful pink energy to be released, “Excelion Buster!” A large column of energy lunges out and shoots toward the blue-haired man. “Heh.” Aurion pulled back his right hand from his pocket just before Hayate fired, holding a small card. He then quickly flicks it down at his feet, creating a Mid-Childa sigil that promptly sucked him downward and flung him towards the ground at high speed, saving him a hairsbreadth from being hit by the pink buster. “Wha-!” Hayate was stunned by the escape. “Below!” she quickly regains her bearings and begins chanting another spell. “Keh!” Aurion grunted as he landed rather heavily on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt. “Bloody Dagger!” “That’s it!” he said in an annoyed tone, “Interception!” [Accel Shift.] His position was surrounded by several Bloody Daggers, or should have been. This is because Aurion promptly blasted off the ground at a speed faster than Hayate could follow. Hayate jolted in alarm. “He disappeared!” She then attempted to fly away, but it was too late. Aurion was already behind her, “I don’t think so!” “A-agh!” She cried out in pain. Aurion had immediately grabbed her right wrist holding Schwertkreuz and twisted her arm to her back. Hayate tried to struggle, but he gave her a warning, “Hey, don’t look at me. Look at your little drones.” “Wh-” Hayate looked back at her three remaining attack spheres which survived the recent attacks due to being far off. They have just erroneously launched three simultaneous beams, aimed at Aurion, who was using her as a shield! “No!” [Panzerschild.] She held out Tiara on her left hand and made an energy shield, partly repelling the blasts as she mentally deactivated the three energy spheres. And at the exact same moment, several small spheres of energy appeared around the both of them, “Agh!” slamming against Hayate’s body and subsequently stunning her shortly. “As expected, almost no control at all.” Aurion released her arm and quickly flew downward, grabbing her right ankle with his prosthetic hand. He began spinning rapidly, dragging Hayate along the rotation. “Kyaa!” [Acceleration Field] “Hya!” he then smashed her back-first onto the hill’s surface, passing thru and being accelerated significantly by the accelerating field he just cast. She was partially buried to the ground due to the powerful collision. “AGH!” Hayate body crashed so powerfully on the hill that she temporarily blacked out for three full seconds because of the impact. “The next time you make alterations to your tracking buster spheres, give them the capability to distinguish between targets and non-targets quicker.” he began berating her without giving the chance to recover. Hayate painfully opened her eyes, issuing a dazed mental order at the piece of paper fluttering behind the apparently oblivious Aurion. ‘G-got you!’ The bookmark flashed, sending a dozen Bloody Daggers at Aurion’s back. And almost just as quickly, Aurion produced another card from a pocket of his Barrier Jacket, faced backwards slightly and held it out in his right hand, releasing the stored barrier in the card and absorbing the full force of Hayate’s attack. ‘It didn’t work?!’ Hayate thought desperately as she tried to get up. However, a shaft of glowing cobalt energy extended from Reishiki’s barrel, headed right for her face. “Ah!” It almost hit her, but the ray stopped just short of piercing her between the eyes. “Don’t think a delayed attack such as that would work so easily on me, Hayate. You’re still three steps behind.” the blue-haired man turned to look down on her, “Have you forgotten I made the Bookmark System for Tiara? Of course I have some Spell Cards of my own to counter those.” “Mou!” she whined discontentedly before coughing a bit. “How come you always seem to be prepared for anything?” “I am not prepared for everything. I’m just more prepared than you.” He comments dryly, bending down and helping her sit up, dusting her back lightly. “Three minute break?” he asked mildly. “Please…” Hayate murmured, breathing heavily. She winces once and lets out a soft whimper as her body began hurting from her crash full force, her eyes closing involuntarily in pain. “Okay.” Aurion’s hand glowed with simple healing energy as he held it over her back, “By the way, your technique and tactics do seem to be getting better after each round. Using Nanoha and Fate’s spells did surprise me.” “Ahaha…” Hayate laughed softly before wincing again, “Even when we’re apart from each other, I still depend on them…” she opens her eyes, smiling wryly. “I guess I’m really that kind of person.” “Whatever.” Aurion comments nonchalantly, “It’s not like it’s a bad thing. But,” he then taps her lightly on the nose with his finger; grinning humorously, “those are still not enough to manage landing a clean hit on me.” Hayate blushes lightly and then glares at him, “Ooh~! If only I could have enough time to shoot you with Starlight Breaker!” “You know I wouldn’t allow you to even so much as start casting Diabolic Emission. What makes you think I’d let you fire an overpowered Starlight Breaker?” “That’s why I wish I had the time!” “Hahaha! Anyway, we lasted six minutes this time, almost as long as the previous rounds put together. You’ve improved much more than I expected.” Aurion praises her. He then stands up, “Can you hold out some more?” She beams brightly from his complement and then nods confidently, “Of course… Tesla put me thru similarly tiring exercises when she trained me.” “Good.” He fished out two small bottles of water from another pocket, opening one and taking a swift draft of water before tossing the other to Hayate, “Drink up. You’ll need it.” Hayate catches and opens the bottle, “Thank you.” she raises the bottle’s mouthpiece to her lips and drinks several mouthfuls of water. ‘Not bad, not bad at all!’ Aurion walks over to a small boulder and sits down. ‘She definitely has potential. Given enough time and development, Hayate could very well reach the SSS rank eventually; even if it’s a composite one like her SS rank now.’ He smiles and gazes back fondly at Hayate, who currently has her eyes closed and breathing rhythmically to lessen her fatigue. ‘But currently, I’ll have to help her improve on what she can do right now…’ He gulps down some water again, chuckling silently in amusement. ‘Heheh… This is far more entertaining than I ever imagined…’ “Urk!” He grimaces as he lightly touches his head, which has started to feel sharp throbs. ‘Oh well, I used too much this round, apparently. I guess the countdown of my remaining time in the field has started…’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Mou, that was so close, desu~!” Rein cried out disappointedly. “Guu~, this is frustrating!” Tesla grumbled furiously as she stomped the ground once and dropped her clenched fists on her sides. “I plotted that particular course of action for Hayate myself! And he blew thru it like he knew exactly what’s going to happen!” “As much as I don’t want to admit it…” Signum sighed disappointedly as well, “I was somewhat expecting this to happen...” “Signum, that’s-!” “I know. But there’s no place for excessive subjectivity here, Vita.” “Tsk.” Vita crosses her arms. “This is getting excessive.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over an entire hour has transpired… several more (failed) rounds and a couple of short breaks have passed as well. Hayate and Aurion were currently engaged in a mid-air game of tag, with Aurion being the predator that’s flying around quickly and trying to strike Hayate with his energy blade. Hayate was having a hard time because of her lower agility… *CLANG* Aurion’s eyes narrowed as Hayate cleanly blocked his strike with Schwertkreuz, regardless of the fact that her weaker arms buckled from the impact. ‘She’s doing better than expected…’ He struck two more times, all of which she managed to parry closely while flying backwards. Despite this, Hayate didn’t look too well; as she was already panting heavily and her face perspired so much that her hair was getting drenched with sweat. Regardless, she still continued on. “Hah!” She thrusts out her left hand, sending several electrical orbs soaring at him. “Rotate.” Aurion removes his hold on the Strike Blade and makes it spin rapidly on his palm as the axis, creating an improvised shield that blocks Hayate’s shots. “Hehe… Much more like it…” he smiles and channels more mana into his energy blade; charging forward as well as summoning several Proton Bolts to match Hayate’s projectiles. Despite not looking the part, Aurion was starting to really feel the strain of battle as well. His inferior mana reserve is already dwindling on dangerously low levels, while his head was now throbbing harshly with the overuse of his Magical Field Manipulation ability. An amount of sweat litters the air as he flies around quickly, being blown away from his face by the rushing wind. “Ugh!” Hayate grunted as she was drove backward by his assault. ‘As expected, he’s still not letting up even after this long…’ her body was already screaming in protest from so much exertion, ‘I don’t now how much more of this I can take.’ She kept flying backward as he pursued her. ‘Must get enough distance between us!’ Firing even more of her orbs of lightning, all of which were blocked, she altered her flight path as best she can; rising diagonally upward. ‘Slippery now, aren’t we?’ Aurion called over her telepathically, looking like he was still thoroughly enjoying the chase. ‘Tesla thought me well.’ Hayate called back in kind, smiling. She drew out another spell bookmark she had been preparing and threw it towards him, “Take this!” Aurion countered by throwing his blade towards the piece of paper; which exploded and sent several glowing blades of light homing in at him. “What the-?!” he quickly flew erratically to dodge most of them, blocking the rest with a Round Shield. “Chance!” Hayate flew even further away. She called forth her tome and began preparing a more powerful spell. Suddenly, Aurion appeared behind her. Turning her head slightly around, ‘Not even Oji-chan can move this far this quickly, it’s just an illusion to distract me!’ she just kept on flying backwards. As she expected, a ray of energy shot from the smoke in Aurion’s location; most likely a long-ranged bind spell. ‘I won’t let you confuse me!’ She held out her left hand, prompting Tiara to face her pages towards the incoming bind and repel it with a barrier. ‘Gotcha…’ “Agh!” Hayate collided against the supposed illusion, but instead of passing thru, she crashed into it as if it was solid. “Ugh, h-how?!” she quickly turned around and swung Schwertkreuz at Aurion, only for the staff to pass thru him. It WAS an illusion! The mirage vanished, revealing a two spell circles right in front of her. Immediately, several glowing chains of energy erupted from the two sigils. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to repel the magical restraints from reaching her this time, the binds beginning to entwine themselves around her body. “No-Kyaah!” Her arms were pinned to her sides while her legs were bound together by the powerful restraints. She was held struggling helplessly against her bonds in midair. Meanwhile, Aurion has just recovered from Hayate’s attack and the multitude of spells he just cast. He made a move to fly immediately towards the captured girl, but stopped and staggered midway, “Urgh!” he clutched his head in obvious pain. ‘D-damn… High-speed quadruple-sequencing a powerful combination trap that far… on top of having to defend. Even with my level of control… It’s still too much without Almaria…’ He took a full six seconds to recover fully before rushing towards Hayate. However, the delay was more than enough time for her to regain her bearings. “Tiara,” Hayate gasped out urgently while straining desperately against the magical chains which bound her body, “Breaker!” [Brecher…] the tome glowed brightly, causing Hayate’s restraints to shatter a few seconds later. Aurion smiled wryly, “Too late? Tsk.” [Strike Blade.] Another energy blade formed. This time, in his left hand… “But,” his smile widened into a grin, “more interesting results will come from this!” A small Mid-childa sigil appeared on his left forearm. “Hng…” Hayate manages to turn around and bring Schwertkreuz to bear just as Aurion is about to strike her. “HYAH!” Aurion swung the blade at Hayate. His arm accelerated forward, passing the small sigil near his arm and being propelled towards the target. Surprisingly, his blade shattered upon contact with her staff. “AAGH!” However, she was still literally blown away and sent spinning out of control by the attack. The magically-augmented kinetic force behind the blow turned out to be too much for the energy blade to handle. ‘Enough…’ He clenched his right hand, his eyes glowing brightly as he chanted his personal incantation. "Tetractys Grammaton..." His surroundings started to get saturated with residual magic particles. Raising his right fist, his gauntlet purged itself as he opens it, releasing the composite magic particles in the air. “Stinger Blade…” the energy he gathered compressed themselves into hundred energy blades in the space above him. He waves his left arm sideways. [Acceleration Field.] a large Mid-childa sigil appeared in front of him. Finally, he brings his right hand downward, “Execution Shift!” the blades rain down, all towards Hayate, who was still spiraling out of control. The blades accelerate up to six times their normal speed as they go thru Acceleration Field. ………… “Ungh!” Hayate just barely managed not hitting the ground, her wings flapping once powerfully to finally stabilize her flight. “!!!” nevertheless, it was too late to dodge the torrent of accelerated Stinger Blades headed for her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “HAYATE!!!” Vita screamed as the multitude of energy swords rained down on their Mistress. “N-NO!” Shamal covered her face, not able to bear the sight. “Hayate-san…” Agito gritted her teeth, her nails digging into her palms of her clenched fists. “Grr…” even Zafira wasn’t able to hold back a low growl this time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reishiki’s metal platings mechanically loosened and dispersed, allowing steam to vent out of Aurion’s prosthetic arm. “Ugh…” Aurion wobbled slightly in midair, his arms and head drooping in exhaustion. His chest heaved heavily as he drew in many a lungful of air. Despite this, a small grin can be seen on his face, “Not-” *VNNG!* Instantly, his entire surroundings were filled with hundreds upon hundreds of spears of electricity… all aimed at him… in every conceivable angle. “-done yet, huh?” The smoke below cleared, revealing a similarly out of breath Hayate. Several parts of her Knight Armor were in tatters, exposing her smooth skin beneath. She was standing on a larger-than-normal Belkan triangle, while an even larger golden Mid-Childan spell circle hovering diagonally on the raised Schwertkreuz’s tip. Tiara was glowing brightly in front of her, with her left arm hanging limply to her side. ~~~~~~~~~~~ “YES!” Tesla shouted in exhilaration. “You got him!” “Get him, Hayate-chan!” Rein cheered in. “Now’s her chance…” muttered Signum in obvious anticipation. “Yes, that’s it!” Agito yelled as well. “Finish him off!” Vita screamed last. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Hayate took in a deep breath, her eyes steeling as she looked up at the cornered Aurion, “Here I come, Oji-chan!” she raised her staff higher, causing the spell sigils to rotate faster. “Photon Lancer!” Schwertkreuz swung down, its edge hitting and cutting into the ground. “Genocide Shift!!!” “Hehe…” Aurion didn’t move, only willing a barrier to form around him… *BOOM!!!* The Photon Lancers hurtled in for the kill, completely eating up Aurion’s area in a multitude of powerful explosions. “Ungh…!” Hayate’s knees buckled, her legs collapsing under her weight as she sagged down into a sitting position on the ground. Schwertkreuz dropped with a clang beside her. Tiara floated slowly into her slightly outstretched right arm; her black wings vanishing as she completely gave in to physical exhaustion. … The targeted area was now only covered with dust and smoke from the explosions. Nothing else can be seen for now… …… Hayate rubbed the numbness from her left arm as she raised her tired eyes, staring at ground zero with anticipation. ……… After several more moments, Aurion’s battered form fell from the smoke, dropping lifelessly to the ground. Hayate took a great, shuddering gasp, her eyes widening in panic as she immediately grabbed Schwertkreuz and used it as a support for standing up; she assimilated Tiara into herself. “Oji-chan!” she called out in worry, ‘Did I overdo it?’ she thought worriedly as she walked unsteadily towards him. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Wha-?!” Hayate exclaimed in surprise as Aurion phased in right in front of her. “Hah!” Aurion lashed out with his left arm, batting Schwertkreuz away from Hayate’s hand. His other hand quickly rose to clamp on her left shoulder. A Mid-Childa circle formed beneath his feet at the same time, with Hayate standing on it as well. Aurion’s metal boots exploded and returned to being magic particles, leaving behind the standard leather-like boots underneath. “Struggle Bind.” Several binds burst out from the sigil and forms from the scattered magic particles, snaking up and wrapping around her body. “K-kya~!” Hayate screamed in surprise as her arms were forcefully bound to her back. Similarly, her legs were pinned together once more, causing her to lose footing and subsequently topple unceremoniously down to her side. She felt her magic control weaken considerably due to the specialized binding spell he just used to bind her. “Hahaha…” Aurion laughed silently as he tiredly kneeled beside Hayate, pushing her shoulder once so she was now lying on her back. Forming a cobalt energy dagger on one hand, he held it a couple of inches over her throat. “It seems like… You didn’t get me… after all… Hayate…” he wheezes tiredly at the captured girl. “Unh~…” Hayate only gazed up at him with quivering eyes, completely helpless due to being bound, both in body and in magic, “H-how?” “I was expecting a counterattack… So I left an illusion of myself that was overlapped with an empty barrier… My real location was seven meters above the impact point; under invisibility, of course.” Aurion took a few seconds to catch his breath, grinning again, “I inserted new barriers every few seconds to replace the on being destroyed for it to appear realistic. Mind you, it was hard as hell. And I simply inserted another illusion inside the debris after the attack subsided, making a semi-corporeal dummy that I can drop to the ground to trick you…” another deep breath, “It’s a shame that Hraesvelgr is not suitable for this battle, you might just have nailed me good with that.” “But… Why didn’t you just attack instead of going through all those just to trick me?” Hayate asked curiously, shifting her restrained body slightly for a more comfortable position. Aurion only dispelled his dagger and raised her head with his left arm, moving his face closer to hers and saying quietly, “In a certain point of view, this battle is but a game to me, Hayate…” he smirks cynically while tracing a finger down her cheek, causing her to blush and squirm nervously under her binds, “It’s impractical in real-life situations, but I’m free to play as I wish in these settings.” After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence (to Hayate, at least) Aurion finally moves his head back and helps her sit up properly. “Well, actually, I also factored in how far you were from my position.” “Ah, okay…” Hayate sighed in slight relief but felt more disappointed inside. Her eyes gazed sideward to the ground dejectedly. “I guess I wasn’t able to pass today’s exercise, huh, Oji-chan…?” she murmured gloomily, closing her eyes. “Hmm...” Aurion breathed deeply. Before standing up and dusting his Barrier Jacket. “No. Not really.” “Huh?” Hayate reopened her eyes and looked back up at him. “Take a good look.” Aurion commanded, spreading out his arms for a full view of his physical condition. “You have me beat, actually.” “A-ah…” Hayate’s eyes widens in surprise as she sees a number of rips on Aurion’s cape, as well as several torn cloth and broken armor plating scattered across his body. “I was still hit by around 23 Photon Lancers due to their widespread positioning.” Aurion stated simply, “I could no longer spare any more energy or concentration for defending, so I just poured my own remaining power in maintaining and renewing my invisibility spell despite the shocks, as well as using all the external power I can harness for maintaining the decoy barriers. It was a do or die risk; but my ploy paid off. Though that does not change the fact that I lost this last round since I miscalculated a number of things…” He smiles warmly, “Congratulations. Mission accomplished, Hayate.” “Ah… Hahaha…” Hayate choked out a small laugh of elation, her eyes closing as she slumped on the ground. A fulfilled smile bejeweled her features as her breathing became more animated. “Yes!” she squealed happily. She attempted to raise her arms, but got reminded all-too-well of her current circumstance. “Oji-chan~!” she moaned cutely as she squirmed weakly against her bonds, “You don’t have to keep me tied up anymore, right~?” “Oh, right.” Aurion blinked and chuckled at his own lack of attention. He waved his hand, causing the binds around her body to disappear. “Sorry. It slipped my mind. I must be getting old.” Hayate sat up shakily, then gave Aurion a playful glare as she embraced herself protectively and tucked her legs to her side, as if she was violated, “Mou~! You just wanted to tie me up didn’t you?!” she complained, her cheeks tinged with red… “Nonsense.” Aurion deadpanned while waggling a finger, “It was for a more interesting finish for the exercise.” He smiled at her, “Besides, victory feels sweeter when you least expect it, especially if you’re thinking that you just failed. Consider it as a little bonus reward from me.” “Hmph, some bonus reward!” Hayate, still sitting on the ground crossed her arms and turned her head away grouchily, eyes closed, “Well, I still don’t think you had to tie me up for it! That’s just some bogus excuse to commit sekuhara (sexual harassment)!” After a few seconds she smiled shyly and looked back at Aurion with one eye opened in a wink. ‘Thank you…’ she expressed her gratitude mentally, ‘I guess it did work…’ Aurion winks back and taps his right temple twice with his organic forefinger, “Feelings of accomplishment can be amplified with proper psychological conditioning.” He crossed his arms, “You should be grateful. It’s not often that I-ARGH!” he suddenly staggered, almost falling down. His right hand shot up and grasped his head, his face contorted in pain. “Oji-chan!” Hayate cried out in alarm she attempted to get up unsuccessfully to help him. She tried some more until Aurion held up a pacifying arm and took several deep breaths. His eyes were closed, his brows knitted together and twitching uncontrollably. “Are you alright?” Hayate asked with utmost concern. “Apparently not!” Aurion countered, grimacing due to his throbbing head. His breathing became ragged, wincing every few seconds. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep up with your gigantic amount of energy? Not to mention the length of the exercise!” “W-what?” Aurion kept on speaking, only pausing several times mid-sentence to catch his breath, “Simply put… I didn’t have enough… mana to keep attacking you… with sufficiently powerful attacks continuously… for this long, so I had to use… my ability of Magical Energy Recycling quite liberally.” He shook his head to ward of some of the pain, “Actually, I lied earlier… It’s actually a good thing… that the match ended as it did… My stamina… couldn’t have lasted… much longer… anyway… I’m almost completely… burnt out.” His breathing slowly stabilized as he smiled wryly, “Don’t worry… I’ll just need a long nap or two to recover.” “O-okay…” still, Hayate looked worried. “Urgh… anyway…” Aurion removed his hand from his head, “Having trouble getting up?” “Yes.” Hayate smiled tiredly. While her mana reserves are still comparatively plentiful, her battered body wasn’t too keen on listening to most of her commands for movement. Attempting to stand up was one of them. She gently stroked her faintly trembling legs, “My legs won’t listen to me…” “Oi, oi, don’t tell me I have to carry you back…” Aurion replied with an eyebrow raised. “It would be nice if you would.” she replied while sticking out her tongue, “You were abusing me all day~! So the least you could do is to carry me back.” “Hell no.” he countered, giving his temples a massage, “I’m just about as tired as or maybe even more tired than you are right now. So I don’t think I can carry you properly. You’re heavy. *DEATH GLARE!!!* (From Hayate) “I am NOT heavy!” she retorted vehemently. “Hahahah-Ite!” Aurion grimaced again as another spike of pain drove itself into his head. “Serves you right!” Hayate scolded him. “Calling a girl heavy is not nice at all; especially when they’re not!” “Hehehe… Alright, alright; you’re not.” He laughed out lightly, removing Hayate’s balmoral and then patting her head. “Yup!” Hayate winked and stuck out her tongue playfully at him before laughing cheerfully. Aurion only sighed and replaced the balmoral on her head, smiling as well. “Hayate!” “Hayate-chan!” “Oh…” “Ah, here they come…” The Wolkenritter promptly arrived, all sporting anxious expressions as they flocked around and attended to their Mistress. Shamal started healing Hayate’s bruises and the aching parts on her body while Vita helped wipe away her sweat with a towel. “Good work, Hayate-chan!” cheered Rein. “You were holding out quite well, desu~!” “Ahaha~, maybe a little.” Hayate replied cheerfully. “But Hayate-chan… This isn’t the sort of exercise you should be doing.” Shamal said disapprovingly, “I’m going to talk to Aurion-san about this.” “N-no need, Shamal!” Hayate laughed out nervously. “Hayate, are you really alright?” Vita asked worriedly. She just smiled tiredly, “I’m fine. Just a bit tired…” “You were performing very well for a first try. Nice work, Hayate!” Tesla stated as she kneeled beside the Mistress of the Night Sky, handing her a bottle of water to which Hayate drank gratefully. “Thank you, Tesla.” Hayate’s smile brightened as she put her hand on Tesla’s shoulder, “That’s because I had an excellent coach to teach me, ne?” she then giggled lightheartedly. “Un!” Tesla nodded, giggling as well. “By the way, Tesla.” Hayate added as an afterthought, “Did you bring Oji-chan’s medicine? He was pushing himself again…” Tesla blinked upon recollection, “Ah yes, of course. I’ll bring it to him now.” “Yes, please do.” ……… Meanwhile, Aurion had deactivated his damaged Barrier Jacket and found himself a raised rock formation, leaning there on his back and closing his eyes wearily. “Ossan.” chirps a sweet, but stern tone. “Hm?” Aurion opened one eye to see Tesla right in front of him, holding out a towel, a small container and a bottle of water. “Oh, thanks.” Aurion says as he reaches for the items. Slinging the towel over his shoulder first, he opened the small container and took out a couple of pills, popping them into his mouth and downing a few gulps of water. (Dear reader, before you think of anything funny, they’re simply pain-reliever capsules like Paracetamols and not some kind of weird drugs, capiche?) “You sure know how to put on a good show.” Tesla praised him sarcastically as she crossed her arms, a teasing look on her face, “So you let her defeat you instead of knocking yourself out due to mental strain, huh? I’ll admit; that looks definitely cooler than passing out in the middle of a mock battle. Plus, it makes Hayate feel some accomplishment as well…” “Nah.” Aurion commented as he rubbed his still-aching head gingerly with the towel, setting down the small pillbox and bottle on a flat rock, “I had no plans of losing on purpose. I was to apprehend her after my last magic trick and end the battle there since I’m at my limit.” he smirks, “But she outdone me at the last moment with such a big attack, even after this long…” he smiles at the blue-haired girl, “She did improve quite a bit. You did a good job in training her, Tesla.” The Knight of the Sky smiles and puffs herself up proudly, “Naturally. A good teacher produces good results thru their students.” “May I remind you that I had your beloved student running around like a little raccoon for a good part of the last hour?” Aurion verbally jabs at her suddenly. “At least you thought her how to run well.” He tells her sarcastically. “Hmph!” Tesla huffs, her eyebrows twitching once, “Says the old man who runs out of energy easily.” “Hahaha!” “Aurion-san~!” Shamal’s gentle voice chimed as she came over as well, “Do you need any healing?” “Oh, no need, Doctor.” Aurion shrugs, “I don’t really have any wounds to speak of, and mental strain cannot be healed by magic, anyway. I can recover after a good rest.” “Okay.” “Dauer.” Signum’s sharp tone snaps this time. She was currently cradling Hayate in her arms, “We might have to talk a bit later about how you went about with this battle.” He then fakes an edgy expression, “Uhoh…” “I-it’s alright, Signum!” Hayate timidly complained in the pink-haired woman’s arms, “I’m alright. Oji-chan didn’t hurt me more than he should.” “But still…” “Anyway…” Hayate smiles and wraps her arms around Signum’s neck, rubbing her face against the other woman’s own. “I missed the feeling of being carried by you, Signum~!” “M-mistress…!” Signum exclaimed a little uneasily at Hayate’s showy display of affection. “E-eheh…” Agito blushed slightly at the awkward scene and faced away, planting her face on her palm. ‘What am I thinking? I’ve been watching too much of those damned TV shows…’ ‘Maa, it means your part of the family now.’ Vita suddenly says to the Unison Device telepathically. She smiles matter-of-factly and scratches her cheek, ‘Hayate can get really affectionate with her actions when it’s just the people she trusts around her. And you’re no exception. That’s because your part of our family now, Agito.’ ‘Ah… I see…’ Agito then smiles embarrassedly, her blush growing. For some reason, her heart felt really warm right now, ‘A part of a family… The concept’s still quite new for me…’ ‘You’ll get used to it.’ ‘Than what about that old ma-’ ‘Forget him!’ ‘Hehe…’ “Reinforce.” Aurion called. “Yes?” “About what we talked about earlier…” “Ah!” Rein pounded her fist onto her palm, “I remember now.” She then flew towards Signum who was carrying Hayate. “Excuse me, desu~!” her body then turned into ivory-colored energy before entering Hayate’s body. “Huh? Rein?” Hayate looked surprised at the sudden Unison, her eyes turning electric blue while her hair became pale blonde. Her body glowed slightly. “I requested her to input more refined combat data into Tiara after our mock battle.” Aurion stated, “It would also do well to remaster your synchronization rate with her after the alterations to your devices.” “I see.” “Tiara-chan says that the battle was exciting, desu~!” Rein’s voice piped out as if coming from all around them. The other Wolkenritter only looked uneasily at each other upon hearing the new name of the Tome of the Night Sky again, before Signum shrugged and smiled lightly. ……………… Just as they were walking back (Rein was still in Unison with Hayate), Aurion sent Tesla a telepathic message ‘Hey, Tesla.’ ‘What is it?’ Tesla looked back curiously at him. He smiled roguishly, ‘I heard you actually got Hayate bedridden due to injuries a couple of times when you were training her.’ ‘AH?!’ a bright blush flared up Tesla’s face, her expression one of shock. Almost immediately, she turned her head frontward and glared at her Mistress, who was nervously watching the exchange as if expecting it. “Kya!” Hayate flinched and buried her face under Signum’s chin. “A-ah! M-mistress!” Signum cries out in surprise and discomfiture at Hayate’s act. “Save me, Signum~!” Hayate moaned endearingly as she squirmed and rubbed her face against the Blazing Flame General’s neck, much to the latter’s discomfort (who was actually blushing lightly now). She turned around to glare at Aurion, “What is it this time, Dauer?!” she demanded. “Huh? Why are you asking me?” Aurion asked innocently as he shrugged. “Hayate-chan~!” Tesla called out sweetly (with unnervingly heavy emphasis on the ‘-chan’ suffix). “We’ll be having a new training program after the mission, ne~?” she asked, eliciting a frightened whimper from Mistress of the Night Sky. The only thing the others could do was to look back and forth curiously at their trembling Mistress and the menacingly sweet-looking Knight of the Sky. ‘Uweh…’ Aurion only chuckled silently at the scene. ‘How ironic that Hayate in her most powerful form is currently trembling in fright at the thought of a harder training regimen…’ he sighs, ‘I would most likely have been at a disadvantage if I fought her earlier in Unison.’ “A-anou…” Rein’s voice echoed out nervously from inside Hayate, “D-do I have to join in the training, d-desu~?” “………” “Haha… Hahahahaha!” Aurion laughed; closely followed by Hayate peeking out of Signum’s shoulder and giggling lightheartedly. Tesla’s body shook with mirth as she giggled as well, then Shamal… Soon, everybody was already laughing one way or another as they marched back towards the facility… Long post is long? Anyway. I highly suggest also going thru the profiles of the OC's involved since this is an OC story. So far, here are the OC's to know for some good background info and some mind-bogglingly long reads. >:3 Aurion Dauer, Part 2 Tesla Takamachi Georashi Keroko Most of the needed data can be found in the links in Chapter 1. I know it would be very hard to get used to or understand at first. But I hope that some may at least get used to it.>< Thank you for your time. :3
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Last edited by Aaron008R; 2008-06-06 at 05:35. |
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2008-06-03, 13:30
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Link #5960 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Philippines
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That should be enough Blueheesum for now...:3
NOT. >:3 Mou ichidou da!!! ~MSLN GenerationS~ Chapter 3 Part 1 Spoiler for GenerationS: Chapter 3.1:
[Meeting Room, TSAB Naval Base] [May 23rd, MC 077] [1030 hours]
After the test run, Aurion summarily took away Hayate’s devices for further adjustments. Or rather, that’s what he was planning. Unfortunately, his exertion over the mock battle was much higher than expected, giving rise to the need of his mandatory recovery period after such occasions. Leaving Hayate and most of the Wolkenritter to the facility lounge after he and Hayate cleaned themselves, he went straight for his own quarters for his aptly-named ‘long nap’. Signum and Agito went of to the communication room to receive the latest orders from TSA Naval Command that they were notified about when the mock battle almost ended. While discussing a 36-year old man’s sleeping habits should be interesting (not), let us take a look instead at the Belka Knights, who are currently the only people occupying the lounge instead… “Aah~…” groaned Hayate as she reclined on the couch, her entire body still aching from the physical exertion, “So tired!” “Hayate-chan!” Shamal scolded her, “I told you not to lie down yet!” “But I’m too sore and tired, Shamal-sensei~!” Hayate whined cutely. “You should listen when the doctor says, ‘No!’” the blond Wolkenritter insisted as she forcefully but gently lifted their Mistress up by the shoulders and sat her upright with Vita helping by pulling her legs to a proper position despite the Hayate’s whining. She then proceeded to administer the post-primary treatment to help soothe Hayate’s aching muscles and remaining small bruises, also telling Vita to sit beside Hayate and prevent her from lying down again. “Why do you have to act like Nanoha-chan and Keroko-chan right now of all times?!” she complained as she passed her hands glowing with healing magic over Hayate’s back, a displeased expression on her face, “Their recklessness is seriously starting to influence you as well.” Done with her patient’s back, she then began treating the area on Hayate’s thighs, “Don’t you care about how healers like me feel?” she added in an upset tone. “Oh, the pains of being a doctor…” Tesla quipped in a sing-song voice as she tapped her virtual keyboard on a seat across Hayate’s couch, smiling slyly. She kept glancing every here and then at the scene like watching an amusing sitcom; though she immediately averted her gaze back towards her analysis window as Shamal glared at her because of the teasing. Hayate only laughed as she leaned heavily on Shamal, her head landing on the latter’s chest and earning a panicked squeal from the Knight of the Lake. “I’m sorry. But seriously, you shouldn’t worry too much about me. It’s not like I’m trying to change my style into an attacker.” She stubbornly held her head on its remarkably soft pair of ‘pillows’ as a distressed Shamal tried to push her off gently. “I just wanted to try expanding on my capabilities in the battlefield since such an ideal opportunity is here now.” “That’s right, desu~!” Rein piped in cheerfully while hovering above Vita’s head, “And Hayate-chan was performing quite amazingly back then!” “Mou~!” Shamal whined, finally getting her Mistress off her, “But still, this is being reckless.” “Excessive worrying is not allowed!” the Mistress of the Night Sky declared authoratively as she draped one of her arms over Shamal’s shoulders and raised the other threateningly over the blond Knight’s chest. “Ah~! Hayate-chan! N-not here!” Shamal cried out in distress, her face going red. “Hahahaha!” Hayate laughed as she raised her arms to wrap around Shamal’s neck in a hug instead, “Just kidding~!” “Mou!” Hayate, Tesla and Reinforce Zwei giggled over Shamal’s blushing. Several more moments passed as Hayate’s treatment was finally completed. By then, she decided to just keep on sitting instead of lying back down, the irony not being lost to the disgruntled Shamal and giving rise to another reason for laughter from the others. “……” Through all these, Vita only kept on sitting silently beside Hayate, her expression somewhat distant. “Vita?” “Wha-!” Vita was shocked out of her stupor as Hayate called out her name gently. She looked at her and tilted her head inquisitively, “Hm? What is it, Hayate?” “You’re unusually quiet. Is something wrong?” Hayate asked, her expression showing concern. “It’s…” Vita looked away, “Nothing…” “Vita…” “I was just thinking… With you starting to adapt to fighting and all… I guess I’m…” she scratched her cheek, “I’m kinda worried too. If anything happened to you…” her tone sounded neutral, but her expression showed genuine worry. “Oh…” Hayate looked genuinely taken back, some guilt creeping into her heart. “Vita…” she mumbled contritely, “Sorry if I didn’t consider your feelings …” she apologized, her head down. “Th-that’s not it!” Vita insisted as she looked at Hayate again, becoming immediately alarmed by her Mistress’ expression, “I-I was just a little rattled by the idea. Don’t worry about me too much!” “Vita.” “I’m fine!” she insisted. “I…” she fidgeted, “believe in you, after all.” Hayate’s expression softened, “Oh, you! Come here!” “W-whoa!” Vita yelped as Hayate grabbed her around the waist and yanked her towards herself, “Hayate~!” “Its fine isn’t it?” giggled the Mistress of the Night Sky as she sat Vita on her lap and cuddled the little Knight. Though she struggled at first while Tesla, Shamal and Reinforce laughed, “Still, I’m really sorry. But don’t worry. I may be trying new things, but I’m always counting on you to protect me, Vita…” Hayate tightened her hug, her voice softening to a poignant murmur, “Like always…” “Hayate…” Vita gazed up at Hayate’s kind blue eyes, filled with earnestness and trust in her. “… Um!” Vita smiled and nodded, feeling better and making her relent and snuggle comfortably in Hayate’s arms. “I’m feeling better already since Vita is here…” Hayate mumbled contentedly, causing the Iron Count to blush. Several more moments passed as they all chatted and laughed about several matters, most of them being related to Hayate’s recent mock battle. Just as the rest finished laughing over Reinforce Zwei’s antics, the sliding door opened, the pink-haired leader of the Wolkenritter as well as her partner Unison-device, Agito entering. “Ah, Signum, Agito!” Hayate called her over. “Hayate-san!” Agito waved. “Mistress.” Signum replied in kind as she walked over to their area, taking a seat across the couch were Hayate, Vita and Shamal were and crossing her legs comfortably. “I’ve just received the latest adjustments on the schedule for the coming mission.” “What did they say?” Shamal asked curiously as she let Agito land on her shoulder. Signum crossed her arms, “It seems like our schedule might be pushed forward by one day.” “Eh?” Vita, still sitting on Hayate’s lap with the latter’s arms around her exclaimed, “They seem to be quite in a hurry. This is the third time that the schedule’s been adjusted.” “It’s mostly related to the availability of transportation to such a far away planetary system with little to no connections with common trade routes, as far as I know.” Zafira, who was curled up beside Hayate’s feet said. He raised his head to look at Signum, “I assume that the transport ship to be used is available sooner than expected.” “Yeah.” Agito answered instead as she flew to land on Signum’s shoulder this time. “It also seems like that the commander of the exceptionally far-area transport vessel is one of that old man’s acquaintances. So I guess that should explain it too.” She said, referring to Aurion. “As expected from Oji-chan. Getting results even when not planning to.” the brown-haired Ace smiles brightly at the coincidence. “Hmm… Well, I guess this much is fine.” Hayate stated simply. “It’s not like were doing anything else of much urgency anyway… And the extra day is not really a bother.” “I agree.” Tesla followed up as she finally finished her data analysis. “Besides, as far as I’ve studied, we have enough data and prepared equipment for the trip. Better end it as soon as possible so we can go on to other important activities.” She closed her virtual terminal. “Come to think of it, it’s a good thing Oji-chan scheduled the testing to be now instead of tomorrow or even later.” The Hayate exclaimed after some thought. “I don’t think my body can bear going out on a mission immediately after so much punishment in one day.” She continued with an uneasy smile as she rested her chin lightly on Vita’s head. “That’s why I said this isn’t the type of exercise you should be having, Hayate-chan.” Shamal cut in, pouting. “Ahaha~.” “Don’t worry, Shamal!” Tesla cheerfully assured her as she hopped up from her seat and pranced behind the couch, laying her hands on Hayate’s shoulders and smiling widely, “Hayate-chan will be able to last thru such exercises on a regular basis once I’m thru with her!” Accordingly, Hayate shrunk in mock fear. “Tesla~!” she pleaded with her blue-haired Knight, “Please go easy on me!” The Knight of the Sky only puffed out her cheeks playfully, “No way.” Tesla replied as she stuck out her tongue, making Hayate back away from her and tightened her hug on Vita even tighter. “Akh! H-hayate!” Vita choked. “Ah, sorry, sorry!” Hayate loosened her grasp on the red-haired girl and giggled, shortly followed by laughter from the rest as well. “Though I’ve been thinking…” Agito blurts out later, making everyone look at her, “Wasn’t the old man overdoing it?” she crosses her arms and legs as she floats on mid-air, her wings flapping gently, “That didn’t look like any mock battle I’ve seen before. He was downright brutal.” “Hmm…” Hayate tapped her chin in thought. “Well…” “I would like to agree with that.” Shamal added, with Vita nodding in assent. “Actually,” Signum cut in, “it’s in a sense the opposite.” “Huh?” Agito turned her head to look at her partner. “Yeah…” Hayate affirmed with a thoughtful nod. “He said he was going all out. But he was apparently bluffing.” She absentmindedly stroked Vita’s hair, “While his attacks, both magical and physical all look like they could have killed me,” she laughed nervously, “none of them could have actually broke any of my bones nor wound me severely, with the worst possible injury I’d get would have been simply getting a dislocated joint.” She sighed, “I don’t want to think of what could have happened if he was really going at me as someone classified as a ‘high-level threat’ in his terms.” “Though an attack may look flashy, one should never judge such just by how imposing they appear, for the smaller attacks can be more powerful than one that looks like it can do more damage.” Zafira concluded in a simplification of an old Belkan saying. “Funny you should say that.” Agito nodded, “But still… that felt excessive for a training match.” “It’s a bit of a mix, actually.” Tesla joined in, walking around the couch and plopping down beside Signum, “He WAS going all-out in the sense of the amount of energy he expended the exercise, as can be seen with the telltale signs of his over-exertions after the fight. But with regards to the method he used, it was all pretty straightforward left-right tactics and non-lethal/maiming attacks… ideal for training on the rudimentary levels of closer combat.” She crossed her legs as well, “And Hayate, despite not being any sort of specialist in closer ranges, is one extremely tough cookie due to her very powerful magical defenses. So naturally, he would have had to expend more energy and put more effort behind his spells to even so much as properly hit her.” Tesla winked at Hayate knowingly, who winked back as well with a smile; “He was having a harder time than he let on with the fighting method he used… though I must admit that he was pushing his other attacks a bit over the top at some points…” “That’s why I said it was getting excessive, didn’t I?” Vita complained. “Like you all should talk!” Shamal said agitatedly. “You and the other Aces’ training matches can get frighteningly violent almost all the time!” she placed a hand on her cheek and sighed as she shook her head exasperatedly, “Especially when it comes to those matches between Signum and Fate-chan in the past. I couldn’t let them fight without me supervising in fear that they might cut each other open for real!” The pink-haired Knight cocked an eyebrow, “That’s a rather excessive way of putting it, isn’t it, Shamal?” Signum replied, smiling humorously. “We have fewer worries about going all out to test our abilities to their limits since we have such a reliable healer on standby.” “In a sense, we’re all spoiled by you, Shamal.” Vita quipped in, grinning mischievously. “Hopeless battle maniacs like Signum and Fate gets more chances to fight more since you can heal them right back to tip-top condition after beating each other up!” she then stuck out her tongue at Signum’s direction, who looked a little offended at first but shrugged off the comment soon after. “Oh. So that’s why Shamal was being upset over Hayate-chan’s recent battle!” Rein chirped in, “Another addition to the list of regular patients, desu~!” “Mou~, why are you people being so mean to me today?!” Shamal whined as he buried her face on her hands, causing everybody to laugh. “Hahaha~! Alright, let’s not be too mean on her now, shall we?” Hayate reprimanded the others mildly, though she was obviously filled with mirth at Shamal’s woes herself. Luckily, her tiny plea had the desired effect, managing to stem the verbal pokes towards Shamal somewhat. “Personally, Mistress.” Signum spoke up, “I’d prefer it if any further training is to occur between you and Dauer that he keeps down the intensity of his approach in combat.” She leaned forward slightly, a serious expression on her features, “While it has its merits, such a heavy-handed approach so early into your training with upgraded devices is hardly what I’d call ideal. You don’t have to push yourself so hard to improve so quickly.” Her expression became thoughtful, “Though the way we Wolkenritter became what we are now was most likely due to similar intensive training, the situation now is hardly one that needs preparation for war, unlike that with our previous lives…” “Hmm… I’ll tell him that.” Hayate agreed, nodding her head. “Though getting him to agree would be a little difficult, desu~…” Rein surmised, raising a finger up her chin in thought. “Then just warn him that I’ll bust his head open with Graf Eisen if he doesn’t comply.” Vita added irately, drawing another round of laughter from everyone. “Then I take it that that old guy still has a lot of tricks up his sleeve?” Agito asked. “And since he’s positively leagues above your average mage from what I’ve seen, why is he in the Research business in the first place?” “For the first question, correct.” Tesla answered. “For the second question… it’s more like he never came back to the military.” She raised an eyebrow in intrigue, “You’re rather inquisitive about him, aren’t you, Agito?” “Huh? Well…” the red-haired Unison Device scratched her head, grinning wryly, “It’s not often that you see a scientist with such high aptitude and skill with using magic… seeing that a large portion of the actual mages in the TSAB military are such a sorry bunch of pushovers.” (This last comment drew a couple or so disapproving stares from the others, making Agito raise her hands apologetically) she then tilted her head, “And back on topic, what do you mean never returned?” “To put it simply,” Hayate answered this time, “Oji-chan once worked under the TSAB as an Enforcer like Fate-chan; which was almost two decades ago…” she smiled, “As far as I’ve seen and heard; he was also classified as an Ace during his time, in a similar sense to Chrono-kun.” “Ho?” A small burst of laughter came from her throat, “I never would have imagined it from a person like him.” Agito smiled incredulously, “Actually being an Ace as well all that time ago... What made him quit?” “……” “… Err…” Agito fidgeted uncomfortably as everybody else went silent after hearing her question, “Y-you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Sorry.” she said tentatively. “No, it’s alright.” Hayate said with a dismissive wave of her hand, though her smile was a sad one, “It’s just that just thinking about the accident that happened to him and his teammates is really saddening…” “What happened?” “We weren’t given any specifics, and the databases regarding him are pretty uninformative about the matter too.” Tesla said, “All we know is that it was a particularly dangerous and strictly confidential Lost Logia incident where… his entire team was wiped out…” she shrugged uncomfortably, “And it was also the reason why he lost his left arm in the first place. I don’t know what happened specifically, but you can bet that the scenario was very, very ugly…” “Oh…” was the only answer Agito could give, starting to feel uncomfortable as well. “It must have been harsh…” “It was… hell…” Hayate whispered with her head down, making the Wolkenritter look at her in slight surprise, “He wasn’t just devastated by the tragedy… He also felt so guilty for a mistake he made during that time that he wanted to kill himself on numerous occasions…” “Wait,” the blue-haired girl exclaimed in astonishment, “I never hear anything about this!” The Mistress of the Night Sky only gazed sadly at her, “As far as I know, only I and Nanoha-chan, Keroko-chan and Fate-chan knows of this…” she panned her gaze back down her hands curled up on Vita’s lap, “He said that he also made a terrible mistake that took the lives of many more… Even the very people he was supposed to look after…” she wrapped her arms around Vita anxiously, “I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard it could have been on him… being the reason for the demise of so many people you were trying to protect.” The atmosphere in the lounge quickly became uncomfortably silent as all of them contemplated Hayate’s shared information… “……” the five senior Wolkenritter all exchanged meaningful glances. Tesla made a motion to speak but Shamal shook her head, quickly followed by a quick mental agreement between the five. “Hm?” Hayate raised her eyes inquisitively at their unusual silence, “What’s wrong?” “Uh…” Tesla muttered, her mind currently formulating several dozen excuses per second, “Err…” but she eventually settled for the most tactically sound (maybe) excuse, “N-nothing.” She then forced an awkward smile. Hayate didn’t look convinced, though and was about to ask more when… “A-anyway!” came Agito’s well-timed interjection, “S-so I guess he just could no longer bear to return to service…?” she flailed her arms for extra emphasis. “Uhm.” Vita shifts restlessly in Hayate’s arms while giving Agito one of the many subtle gestures of gratitude from the Wolkenritter for the close save, “I dunno. Maybe he just chickened out?” “I don’t think so, desu~.” Rein disagreed, “Aurion-jiisan is still involved in some military matters at certain times after all.” “Well…” Hayate shook her head slightly, reluctantly letting the previous matter go, “I’m not sure… But some people I’ve talked with said that he was planning to re-enter eventually.” She scratched her cheek, “But I guess he grew attached to this profession.” “After getting to know him, I think I’d actually believe that reasoning…” Tesla stated, tapping her chin in thought, “despite being in a job not requiring any aptitude in magic whatsoever, he apparently relearned and improved upon his abilities as a mage to the impressively high level it is right now.” She reclined her back on the couch and hung her head backwards, staring at the ceiling, “With that said, that fact makes him an invaluable human resource in some situations that needs attention of high-level mages in case the officials are unavailable, yet he has the benefits of the extra freedom by not being in direct military service-Hm?!” Tesla stalled her speech and blinked a couple of times as if an idea just hit her, “Wait… Come to think of it, this kind of career setup is just like him.” She then straightened her head and grinned mischievously, “He has such a serious love-hate relationship with rules and regulations that he spent the extra effort to obtain the uncommon status he has right now.” “Hahaha! You’re right!” Hayate nodded with assent, giggling. “Oji-chan’s such a difficult individual. He’s the type of person who would follow rules to the book if only they were beneficial to him and manipulate every single loophole available for everything else.” “In short, being completely insufferable, insubordinate and bullheaded prick.” Vita summarized non-contritely. “Vita!” the brown-haired Ace scolded her, “I told you,” she pinched Vita’s nose, earning a nasal whining from the child Knight, “At least try to be nice to him.” “Ngit’s ngo hart to mbe nite tso shobfwat liksh hibu! (It’s so hard to be nice to someone like him!)” Vita complained thru her pinched nose. She coughed out a bit after Hayate giggled and released her squeeze on Vita’s nose. “Pweh… He should try to be being less annoying first!” she finished while crossing her arms in a huff. “Why should I bother getting along with someone who gets out of his way to go around acting like an irritatingly capricious jerk?” “Vitaaa~.” Hayate warned her with a playful glare. “But Hayate-” Vita whined some more before she gasped loudly, “Ubu-waahahaha!!! Ha-Hayate!” and begun laughing uncontrollably as the Mistress of the Night Sky grabbed her tightly started tickling her stomach, “Hahahaha! Okay, I-hahah-g-give up! Sorry! Hahaha!” Once again, lighthearted peals of laughter erupted inside the lounge at the scenario. “But you know,” Hayate said, still giggling, “Even though were almost always together nowadays; we’ve never had a chance to just sit down and talk like this.” She then beamed brightly at her beloved Knights and Agito, “I’m happy we were able to do it now.” She finished. “Hayate…” Vita looked up at her with a smile, mirroring the expressions of everyone else in the lounge. “I share the same sentiments, Mistress. We all do.” Signum added. Indeed, how could they not be happy at the situation? In front of them, the girl Yagami Hayate, their Mistress, their benefactor, their precious friend. None of them could tell why, but she is currently more radiant and lively than they’ve seen her in recent times. Nor did they complain, for in their hearts, seeing Hayate like this is the greatest joy they can have… “Well then… Before the mission…” Hayate leaned forward and stretched out her hand, “Tiara.” she called gently. [Ja?] answered the Tome of the Night Sky as her hand glowed and it appeared hovering over it. “Everybody.” Hayate continued, gazing fondly at each of her beloved Knights and Agito, “Let us do our best and finish it in good time…” She smiled vibrantly, “Together like always; with the new member of our family.” She then placed her hand on the tome. “Of course!” Vita, grinning, jumped off Hayate’s lap and skipped near the book and placed her hand over Hayate’s. “This will be a cinch, with all of us together!” “Yes. Together.” Tesla agreed as she put her hand over theirs. “The system is almost perfect.” “Though let us always be careful, alright?” Shamal stated mildly as she followed suit. “No problem, desu~!” Rein answered as she floated down and landed on the book, placing her tiny hand on the others’ as well. “…” Zafira didn’t say anything and simply placed his gauntleted paw lightly over their hands “No matter what enemy or adversities we will face.” Signum stated stalwartly, doing the same, “We, the Wolkenritter, will protect you to the very end, my Mistress.” “……” Agito stared silently at the scene while floating on the air, a small smile tugging at the side of her mouth. “Agito.” Hayate’s kind voice called out to her. “Ah! H-huh?” the Unison Device jolted and stared at the Mistress of the Night Sky, who was gazing kindly at her. As if on cue, everybody else, Rein, Vita, Tesla, Shamal, Signum and Zafira looked at her expectantly, making her blush. “What are you waiting for?” Vita asked. “I-I…” “It’s fine, desu~! You’re one of us now!” Rein insisted with a bright smile. “……” “Agito…” Hayate called out again, her smile beckoning to the little red-haired girl. “Uhm…” Agito fidgeted uncomfortably. “We are not forcing you to be part of us…” Signum said, “But as an important comrade, I believe that you are definitely not out of place here.” “…Haha!” a small burst of laughter came from Agito’s mouth. She smiled widely and flew towards the book and landing on it opposite Rein. “I don’t know about being part of the Wolkenritter or being just a comrade…” she raised her hand, “But…” and then placed it on top of Signum’s staring with fervor at each of them, lasting longest at Signum and Rein. “You can always count on me for help!” she then gazed at Hayate “I, the great Blazing Flame Pixy, Agito is at your service!” “Oh~! Such a cute little toughie act!” Tesla crooned playfully. “Tche, acting so damn tough just to look cool.” Vita commented with a wry grin. Hayate giggled, “Okay. I’m counting on you too, Agito.” The looking once again at everyone else, her blue eyes shone with iron resolve and faith at each of them, “Okay, everyone... Let’s do our best!” “YES!!!” thundered the response. Correctly reading the mood, the Tome glowed with a brilliant white radiance, as if mirroring the strength and purity of the bond of trust and friendship shared by the individuals in the room. A new and remarkable era for the Mistress of the Night Sky and the Wolkenritter... has begun. ~Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha~ ~GenerationS~ A new chapter, a new adventure... has finally started... So far, only that. Expect Chapter 3 to be extra-long compared to the last two!And of course. Happy Birthday, Hayate.
Last edited by Aaron008R; 2008-06-04 at 01:08. |
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