Chapter Four
The sky was blue.
Too blue, honestly.
Annoyingly peaceful.
Aiden lay flat on his back in the grass outside the training courtyard, staring upward like a tragic hero whose entire life had been destroyed by one sexually aggressive sword.
Brittany had given him approximately four minutes to recover.
That was generous.
"You're being dramatic. You lived."
Aiden didn't blink.
"You screamed call me good girl, coward at my instructor."
"Correct."
"In front of everyone."
"Also correct."
"You projected it across the entire courtyard."
"I had just unlocked a new ability. It would've been irresponsible not to test it."
Aiden slowly turned his head toward the katana lying in the grass beside him.
"You called him Neil."
"I called him many things."
"You called him Instructor Ruin-Me."
"Privately."
"You said it in my head!"
"Exactly. Privacy."
Aiden looked back at the sky.
"I have to come back tomorrow."
"Probably."
"With people."
"Usually how schools work."
"They're going to remember this forever."
Brittany considered that.
"You're welcome."
Aiden covered his face.
"I wanted to be remembered for being good."
"You destroyed half the training field."
"Because you hijacked my body!"
"Assisted."
"You threw me through a wall."
"And Neil called us impressive."
"That's not the point!"
Brittany hummed contentedly.
Aiden groaned.
"I wanted people to remember my skill. Not because my Support has a crush on the faculty."
"Crush is a very juvenile word."
"You're acting juvenile."
"I'd let him sheath me."
Aiden curled onto his side.
Entire body.
Full fetal position.
Brittany waited.
"...Too much?"
"Don't talk to me."
"Noted."
Three seconds passed.
"For the record—"
"BRITTANY."
A chime interrupted them.
Aiden froze.
A translucent window unfolded above him.
ACADEMY NOTICE
SOLO ASSESSMENT ASSIGNED
REPORT TO: GATE THREE
SUPERVISOR: ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR BELL
RECOMMENDED THREAT LEVEL: LOW
Aiden stared at it.
Then closed his eyes.
"Oh, good."
Brittany read the notice through him.
"Look at that. The universe heard you needed some space."
"A solo assessment."
"Yes."
"Immediately after that."
"Character building."
"I'm going to die."
"Oh, stop."
Aiden sat up.
"You threw me through a wall twenty minutes ago."
"And you're fine."
"My shoulder hurts."
"That's how you know you have one."
He glared at her.
Brittany's runes flickered.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you with my blade, my sass, and my complete lack of respect for authority."
"That last one is what I'm worried about."
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Assistant Instructor Bell looked exactly like someone assigned to supervise low-level Academy assessments.
Tired.
Unimpressed.
And deeply resentful that fourteen-year-olds existed.
"This should be quick," he said as they stopped outside a stone boundary marker.
Beyond it, the land changed.
Healthy grass gave way to cracked earth. Thin trees twisted from the ground at awkward angles, their bark gray and peeling.
A faint green haze drifted between them.
"Residual curse zone," Bell continued. "Mostly minor spirits. Plague rats if you're unlucky."
Aiden adjusted Brittany across his back.
"If I'm lucky?"
"Nothing."
"Oh."
Bell gave him a flat look.
"You're here to demonstrate independent combat competency. I stay outside the boundary unless you trigger an emergency signal."
Aiden stared.
"You're not coming?"
"No."
Brittany spoke inside his head.
"Comforting."
Bell's eyes flicked toward the sword.
Aiden grimaced.
"She talks."
"I heard."
Of course he had.
Everyone had heard.
Bell pointed toward the boundary.
"Don't embarrass the Academy."
Aiden stepped through.
Brittany waited until they were several yards away.
"He seems delightful."
"Please don't develop another crush."
"Absolutely not. My standards survived death."
Aiden laughed despite himself.
Better.
That was better.
They kept walking.
The first plague rat appeared less than five minutes later.
It was approximately the size of a small dog.
Hairless.
Glowing faintly green.
And possessed teeth that Brittany considered unnecessarily ambitious.
"Absolutely fucking not."
Aiden drew her.
The rat lunged.
Aiden slashed.
Badly.
Brittany corrected his wrist.
The creature hit the dirt in two pieces.
A window appeared.
PLAGUE RAT DEFEATED
EXP +1
Aiden grinned.
"That was easy."
"You almost missed."
"But I didn't."
"Because I moved your hand."
"You assisted."
Brittany paused.
"...I hate that you're learning my vocabulary."
Two more came from beneath a fallen tree.
Aiden handled those better.
Slash.
Turn.
Step back.
Brittany adjusted only slightly.
The second rat fell.
Then the third.
Aiden breathed hard but steadily.
Brittany felt the satisfaction moving through their bond.
Not arrogance.
Not quite.
He was proud of himself.
She found herself proud too.
Annoying.
"Nice form."
Aiden blinked.
"Was that a compliment?"
"Don't make it weird."
"It was!"
"+1 Basic Competence."
"That's not real."
"Neither is Aethryn Shadowbane."
"Fuck you."
Brittany gasped.
"Language."
Aiden nearly tripped.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
The green haze thinned.
The path widened.
Aiden relaxed.
That was when the air changed.
Brittany felt it first.
Not cold.
Not exactly.
Pressure.
Something pressed against the bond between them.
Her runes dimmed.
Then flared.
A window snapped open.
WARNING
Brittany stopped.
Aiden took another step.
"Wait."
He froze.
"What?"
Another line appeared.
UNRECOGNIZED SYSTEM ACTIVITY DETECTED
Brittany stared at it.
Her interface flickered.
Then:
SIGNATURE MATCH: PARTIAL
Her entire awareness went cold.
"Aiden."
He heard it immediately.
No joke.
No sarcasm.
He drew her.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
The green haze shifted between the trees.
Something moved inside it.
Too tall.
Too narrow.
Human-shaped only in the loosest possible sense.
Aiden stepped backward.
The creature emerged.
Its arms hung nearly to its knees. Gray skin stretched tightly over bone. Its mouth had been stitched closed at some point.
Most of the stitches were gone.
The smile beneath them was worse.
Its eyes settled on Brittany.
The creature stopped.
Aiden whispered, "What the fuck is that?"
For once, Brittany didn't correct his language.
The creature tilted its head.
Then smiled wider.
"Found you."
Aiden went completely still.
Brittany's System exploded with warnings.
IDENTIFICATION FAILED
IDENTIFICATION FAILED
IDENTIFICATION FAILED
Then:
LEGACY SIGNATURE DETECTED
Brittany stared.
Legacy?
The creature inhaled.
Not through its nose.
Through the split in its mouth.
Its entire chest expanded.
"You smell wrong," it whispered.
Aiden's grip tightened.
The creature's eyes remained fixed on the blade.
"Dead thing."
Brittany's runes flashed crimson.
A new warning appeared.
SYSTEM ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED
ACCESS DENIED
Brittany didn't understand any of it.
But one thing she understood perfectly.
That thing wanted her.
And Aiden was standing between them.
"Back up."
Aiden swallowed.
"What?"
"Slowly."
He moved.
The creature followed.
"Aiden."
"Yeah?"
Brittany's voice went very quiet.
"If I tell you to run, you run."
He stared at the monster.
"What about you?"
"I'm attached to you, genius."
That got the smallest breath of laughter from him.
Good.
Then the creature lunged.
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Aiden barely raised Brittany in time.
Claws struck steel.
Pain detonated through the bond.
Brittany screamed.
Not theatrically.
Not WHEE.
Pain.
Pure and immediate.
Aiden felt it too.
"BRITTANY!"
"MOVE!"
The creature struck again.
Aiden stumbled backward.
Too slow.
Brittany seized Combat Assistance.
Their bond opened wider.
His feet corrected.
Shoulder dropped.
Blade turned.
Claws scraped down her edge, throwing sparks into the fog.
The creature laughed.
Brittany hated that sound.
Aiden swung.
The cut landed across its ribs.
Black fluid spilled from the wound.
The creature looked down.
Then back up.
Still smiling.
"Oh, fuck that," Aiden whispered.
"Agreed."
It attacked again.
Faster.
Aiden blocked once.
Twice.
Missed the third.
Claws tore across his shoulder.
He screamed.
Something inside Brittany snapped.
Not emotionally.
Systemically.
A notification flashed.
USER INJURY DETECTED
Then another.
PROTECTIVE OVERRIDE AVAILABLE
Brittany didn't read anything else.
She selected it.
The bond surged.
Aiden gasped.
Suddenly Brittany could feel every part of him.
Every muscle.
Every joint.
Every tremor.
She didn't take him.
She moved with him.
His intention arrived.
Her correction followed before the mistake.
Step.
Turn.
Duck.
Slash.
The creature lunged.
Aiden wasn't there anymore.
Brittany cut through its arm.
It shrieked.
They pivoted together.
Another slash opened its side.
Black sludge sprayed across the dead grass.
The creature spun.
Its claws closed around Brittany's blade.
Pain ripped through her.
"FUCK!"
Aiden screamed with her.
The creature leaned closer.
Its wet eyes gleamed.
"You're awake."
Brittany froze.
Just enough.
The creature smiled.
"There you are."
Her interface flashed.
EXTERNAL QUERY DETECTED
SOURCE AUTHORIZATION: INVALID
CONNECTION REJECTED
Brittany didn't know what the fuck that meant.
She knew she wanted it to stop.
"AIDEN."
He understood.
They moved.
Together.
Aiden released one hand.
Shifted his weight.
Brittany guided the angle.
He swung with everything he had.
The creature's head separated from its body.
For one strange second, it remained standing.
Then the head hit the ground.
The body collapsed.
Black smoke poured from both.
Silence.
The fog began to retreat.
Aiden remained standing for approximately two seconds.
Then his knees gave out.
He hit the ground.
Brittany fell with him.
Neither spoke.
Aiden's breathing came fast and shallow.
His hands shook around her hilt.
Brittany could feel the blood running down his shoulder.
Too much?
She didn't know.
She had no fucking idea how much blood fourteen-year-olds were allowed to lose.
"Aiden."
"I'm okay."
"You're bleeding."
"I'm okay."
"You're shaking."
"So are you."
Brittany stopped.
Her blade was vibrating.
He was right.
Aiden lowered her carefully across his lap.
"You okay?"
Brittany tried to make a joke.
Nothing came.
He waited.
Finally:
"...No."
Aiden nodded.
Neither of them pretended otherwise.
Brittany stared at the black smoke rising from the corpse.
Then at the warnings still hanging in her awareness.
LEGACY SIGNATURE DETECTED
EXTERNAL QUERY DETECTED
SOURCE AUTHORIZATION: INVALID
She didn't understand any of those words in this context.
And that terrified her far more than the monster had.
Aiden swallowed.
"What did it mean?"
"I don't know."
"It knew you."
Brittany wanted to deny it.
She couldn't.
"It thought it did."
"It called you dead."
"I am dead."
"You know what I mean."
Yeah.
She did.
Aiden stared at the corpse.
"Your System recognized it."
Brittany looked at the warnings.
"Something recognized something."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I've got."
Aiden went quiet.
Brittany hated how young he looked sitting there.
Fourteen.
Actually fourteen.
Not the swagger.
Not Aethryn Shadowbane.
Just a kid with blood running down his arm.
She suddenly understood something she hadn't considered before.
If Aiden died—
What happened to her?
The thought arrived.
Then immediately became irrelevant.
Because another one followed.
If Aiden died—
Aiden would be dead.
Brittany's voice dropped.
"I don't know how to fix you if you die, kid."
Aiden looked down at her.
For once, he didn't tease her.
"I'll try not to."
"Try harder."
His mouth twitched.
Barely.
Then the System chimed.
Both of them jumped.
Aiden's interface filled his vision.
ASSESSMENT UPDATE
DEFEATED: PLAGUE RAT x3
DEFEATED: UNKNOWN ENTITY
Aiden frowned.
"Unknown?"
Brittany didn't answer.
More text appeared.
EXP AWARDED
FIRST LETHAL ENCOUNTER BONUS
COMBAT SYNCHRONIZATION BONUS
THREAT DISCREPANCY BONUS
The total climbed.
And climbed.
And kept climbing.
Aiden's eyes widened.
"Uh..."
"What?"
"I think something's wrong."
His level indicator flashed.
Then jumped.
Once.
Again.
Again.
Again.
LEVEL INCREASE
LEVEL INCREASE
LEVEL INCREASE
Brittany stared.
"That seems excessive."
"That thing gave me more experience than everything I've fought this year."
That was concerning.
A final notification appeared.
NEW PASSIVE UNLOCKED
TERROR RESISTANCE I
Panic-related penalties moderately reduced following exposure to severe threat.
Brittany read it.
Aiden read it.
Then beneath it, smaller:
You've seen some shit.
Silence.
Aiden pointed.
"Did you write that?"
Brittany stared.
"...No."
They looked at each other.
Or, more accurately, Aiden looked at Brittany while Brittany perceived the look through his nervous system.
Then another notification appeared.
Not on Aiden's interface.
On hers.
ANOMALOUS CONTACT LOGGED
REPORTING STATUS: PENDING
Brittany's awareness narrowed.
Pending?
Aiden shifted.
"What?"
She closed the notification.
Fast.
"Nothing."
It was the first lie she'd told him that didn't feel like a joke.
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They didn't speak much on the walk back.
Aiden's shoulder had stopped bleeding.
Mostly.
Brittany had spent the first mile insisting that mostly was not an acceptable medical standard.
Aiden had spent the second telling her to stop asking if he felt dizzy.
By the third, neither had much left to say.
The sun was beginning to drop.
Their shadows stretched ahead of them.
Aiden carried Brittany in his hand instead of sheathing her.
Neither mentioned it.
Finally, Aiden spoke.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"If that thing comes back..."
Brittany waited.
"...you'll tell me, right?"
She thought about the message she'd hidden.
ANOMALOUS CONTACT LOGGED
REPORTING STATUS: PENDING
Her runes flickered faintly.
"Yeah."
Aiden nodded.
They continued walking.
Brittany stared out through his eyes at the road ahead.
She had died on a Thursday.
Been reincarnated as a sword.
Been assigned to a fourteen-year-old aspiring anime protagonist.
Flirted aggressively with his instructor.
Beat up several children.
And killed something that apparently knew more about her than she did.
It had been a very long fucking day.
Then one final message appeared.
Only for Brittany.
REPORTING STATUS UPDATED
ANOMALOUS CONTACT: SUPPRESSED
She stopped.
Aiden felt it immediately.
"What?"
Brittany stared at the word.
Suppressed.
Not resolved.
Not dismissed.
Suppressed.
Someone—or something—had decided that encounter wasn't going anywhere.
"...Nothing."
Aiden watched her for another moment.
Then kept walking.
Brittany didn't joke again.
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