Author's Notes:
Firstly, as always, I would like to thank all those who favorite, followed or reviewed my story. Your support is really appreciated and pushes me to try harder.
Secondly, in answer to a few questions regarding the last chapter.
Taylor blushing was due to her thinking about asking Anit's help in dealing with the searing migraine she would get the moment she dropped her Eternity's Sight, just like the mage did after her battle with Khepri, and the fact that said help would demand Anit to kiss her in order to transfer the spell past her natural Campione resistance to magic.
As for Pandora's Gift, she used Khepri's remains, or as they are called in the Campione-verse the 'Dragon Bones' that were created from his defeat, in order to empower Taylor's Shards of Infinity Authority, which evolved from carrying three power shards to a total of four. The time limits of the Authority remained the same, only now Taylor has Four charges for her use instead of the original Three.
Thirdly, I just found out that Skittering Campione now has a TV Tropes page and that's freaking awesome! A heartfelt thank you to whoever created it!
Lastly: I do not own "Campione!" or "Worm Serial".
\V/
Deal With it.
Walking down through a small side street while enjoying the sun gently warming her face Taylor couldn't help but hmm in contentment at the perfect weather. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and there wasn't a single cloud in sight upon the sky's azure depths.
As she kept going towards her destination, she could only conclude that it was truly a perfect day.
But despite the perfect weather a small uneasy feeling was slowly emerging from the pit of her stomach, as if an instinctual warning that something was not right, as if a little voice whispering at her ear about an impending danger.
Doing her best to ignore that pesky little feeling she turned around the corner, a small happy smile firm upon her features as she drew closer to her destination with each step she took.
Closing in towards the last turn that was separating her from her intended target she started to hurry her footsteps, eager to finally reach it after so long.
Only to abruptly stoop upon her tracks the moment her eyes rested upon it. The uneasy feeling that had been growing with each steep she took now a leaden weight deep within her as a sudden unexplainable weariness made itself known.
She simply stood there for a few moments, smile gone from her face and eyes transfixed by the sight that was there right in front of her, her instincts all but screaming at her to turn around a leave, to not take a single step closer.
She didn't truly know why she was feeling like this, why the mere sight of the building standing at the end of the street was filling her heart with such dread. But she knew that she couldn't turn back now, not after everything that she had done to reach this point. And so she took a small uncertain steep forward, followed by another, and another, pushing back her fear and nervousness with sheer willpower.
"That's a really bad idea you know." A small teasing voice whispered in her ear, making Taylor swiftly turn around with a start, only for nothing but the completely empty street to greet her gaze.
"There is nothing for you there any longer; you know that, don't you?" The voice whispered from her other side, the words making a shiver go down her spine.
Deciding to simply ignore it after once again seeing nothing but an empty street she went forward towards the building, skipping one of the wooden steps that led towards the door out of habit, knowing it to be rotten and unstable.
Entering into the darkened house she swiftly moved towards the living room, the feeling of apprehension she had been experiencing earlier intensifying with every step she took. And yet she forged onwards despite it all, she had to know, it was as simple as that.
Entering into the room, her eyes taking in the faded and old furniture, she saw him. Sitting upon the worn and faded couch, his back turned towards her, was a man, a tall, skinny, bespectacled man, his dark hair showing early signs of going bald.
A strong feeling of relief taking over her mind Taylor rushed toward the couch, her eyes shining with happiness as she opened her mouth to greet him.
Only to stop the moment she managed to see his eyes, his dead, glassy eyes.
Stopping midstride as if frozen she took it all in, anger, hurt and denial battling within her mind for a moment before the body dissolved into sand, disappearing from sight.
"I told you so." Something whispered in her ear with barely contained glee, as if deeply enjoying the scene.
Turning around and running out of the room, a feeling of loss now overpowering everything else, she attempted to exit her childhood home. Only to stop in surprise the moment she passed through the doorway leading towards the street.
She was now in what appeared to be a warehouse that had been redecorated and repurposed into a loft, a large tv screen, various gaming systems, a huge comfortable looking couch and other amenities littering the room.
She knew this place; she would recognize it in a heartbeat anywhere in the world. For in many ways it had been just as important to her as her old childhood home despite the short period of time she had lived within its walls.
But it was not the place that had her glued to the spot, but the two young men within it, one a lanky man with dark curls and an aristocratic face, sprawled upon the cushions of the couch, the other a dark skinned man with a muscular frame, standing right next to the first one.
Both of them staring at her with dead, glassy eyes; their unseeing stares silently accusing her with every moment that passed.
"It was all your fault, you know it to be true." She heard it being whispered in her ear while she vehemently shook her head in denial, a hand gently resting upon her shoulder stopping her slow backwards retreat.
"All your fault..." Whoever it was that was right behind her gleefully whispered right into her ears, her warm breath gently caressing Taylor's skin and causing goosebumps to run down her spine as she watched both of their bodies dissolve into sand.
Feeling the feminine hand gently guiding her head to the side she followed the movement until she took in who it was that was standing behind her, wide eyes taking it all in with an strange sense of detachment.
It was a tall thin woman, with long curly black hair, a wide expressive mouth and large eyes. It was a figure she knew far too well, a figure she saw everyday when looking upon a mirror.
Standing frozen on the spot she gazed upon herself, but even amidst her shocked state she could immediately see something wrong upon her doppelganger's face. For her smiling mouth was far too wide to fit upon a human mouth, it showed far too many teeth for it to be natural. And her eyes were not her own sea green color, but were instead a midnight black that seemed to encompass their entirety, all the way to the sclera, not leaving a single speck of white within them.
"All. Your. Fault!" She heard herself speak, carefully enunciating every word, mouth opened in a parody of a smile and dark eyes gazing into her very soul. Loss and anger consuming her being for a moment before everything was suddenly engulfed by a radiant golden light.
\V/
Gasping for breath as her heart violently hammered within her chest Taylor took in her surroundings, adrenaline flooding her system as her weary eyes swiftly searched for potential dangers or possible enemies, muscles coiled and ready to burst into motion at the smallest sign of an attack.
After a few more moments of tense expectation, upon which no threats presented themselves, she realized exactly where she was.
Taking in the darkened, fancy hotel room upon which she had laid to sleep last night through what little light coming from the streetlights down bellow that was entering by the large windows she slowly understood what had just happened.
'Get a hold of yourself Taylor, it was just a nightmare.' She chided herself with an angry scoff, lightly shaking her head in order to clear her still slightly sleepy mind as she attempted to control her furiously beating heart.
Getting out of bed she moved towards one of the room's large windows, all the while inwardly mourning the loss of her ability to simply shunt all her unwanted emotions into her swarm, for she could certainly make use of said ability right now.
It had been nearly two weeks since her battle with Leviathan, but while nothing had truly happened during this time to set her on edge, for the past several nights her sleep had been plagued by nightmares.
Nightmares that harshly reminded her of both her past mistakes and what she had lost.
Looking at the full moon high above, idly noting that by its position it wouldn't be long before dawn, Taylor pondered that it was probably that exact lack of events of note that was at the core of her current problem.
When had it been the last time upon which she had she simply sit down and done nothing? When had it been the last time she hadn't been madly scrambling towards some near impossible goal? When had it been the last time she hadn't been under the unspoken all encompassing pressure of some life endangering threat or another?
Strangely enough, the current peace she was experiencing was the problem.
For without an actual emergency or other pressing situation looming overhead for her to focus upon, her mind had far too much free time to remember and reminisce. And for someone that had seen what she had seen, had done what she had done, that was a dangerous prospect indeed.
'I wonder if Dr. Yamada does inter dimensional calls?' She half jokingly thought, remembering the psychiatrist she had seen while being a member of the Wards, and wondering how many new issues she would say Taylor had accumulated since their last session.
Shoving the stray thought to the back of her mind she moved towards the door and into the adjacent room, turning on the lights before heading towards the large oaken table near another window and the several large leather books resting upon it.
Since she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep she may as well put her time to good use, instead of simply wallowing upon her feelings.
Oh, she knew she would have to deal with her issues sooner or later, just like she knew she probably had quite a few of them by this point of her life. But quite frankly that was simply something she would deal with when she had to, and not a moment sooner.
She knew that if she had still been the girl she had been a few years ago, that she would have retread from the pain and fear the memories of her actions brought forth. That she would simply curl up and hide from her suffering and her poor decisions.
She knew that if she had still been the woman she had been but a few weeks ago she would have ignored it completely, burning them way in the pyre of her desperate crusade, completely uncaring for her own wellbeing.
So following that line of thought the fact that she was actually acknowledging her problems and compartmentalizing them so that she could deal with them later could probably be called a step in the right direction.
After all she was still functioning just fine, and as such she saw no need to mess with her head at the moment. And that was her excuse and she was sticking with it.
Letting out a small humorless laugh she opened the tome she had been reading before going to sleep. One of several she had obtained from the council in an attempt to understand exactly how her Shards of Infinity had grown from having initially three shards, to the four shards she now currently held.
And she believed that she now had at least a partial answer.
As a rule when a supernatural creature died their body simply dissolved into nothing, but in rare occasions upon the death of a particularly powerful supernatural being a part of their bodies could crystallize into an actual physical form, which would still contain a part of that beings power.
Such objects could be literally anything, the feather of an angel, the scales of a mermaid or the bones of a dragon. Which was why they were colloquially called 'Dragon's Bones' by the magical organizations of this world, whom desperately sought them out for the powerful spells and artifacts that could be crafted by using them as a basis.
She wondered what said organizations reactions would be if they learned she had been wearing one of said priceless objects like a necklace of all things. Especially considering it had been formed from the remains of an actual God instead of a mere Divine Beast.
The more she read about the subject the more she believed her theory was right. That Pandora had somehow used Khepri's Dragon's Bones in order to empower her Authority, allowing it to grow.
But that in turn brought forth a very important question which she eagerly wanted to find the answer to. Which was: Could the process be replicated?
Turning over the page Taylor eagerly took in the information presented upon the tome, her nightmare and emotional turmoil forcefully shoved aside for the moment.
She had far more important things to do after all.
\V/
Entering her liege's current abode Anit immediately noticed Taylor was already hard at work perusing the tomes the Council had provided her, despite how early it was.
While she could understand her newfound interest upon the supernatural in general, what with her having just found out it existed, and magical artifacts more specifically, since her stumbling upon a Grimoire of all things would undoubtedly had gathered her interest, the fact still remained that during the last few days her King seemed to be always doing something, never truly stopping.
It didn't matter if it was researching something or experimenting with her Authorities, Taylor seemed to be always on the move, always striving to either improve herself or discover something new.
And while she knew that the Council was slightly worried about her apparent erratic behavior, since it made extremely hard to predict her next movements or even her plans for the future, Anit simply wished Taylor would curb her enthusiasm enough to allow her to not have to remind her liege to do some things, like eating for example.
"Good morning Taylor, I brought you some breakfast if you'd like it." Anit said while putting down the plastic bag containing the still hot taameyya she had gotten en route to the hotel, knowing that Taylor had grown a certain fondness for the fava beam dish and that she had become slightly sick of the hotel's room service by this point.
"Thanks Anit, you are a life saver." Taylor replied, putting down the book she had been perusing and happily moving towards the table in order to eat. "I guess you have already eaten?"
Nodding her head Anit watched as the Eighth Campione eagerly devoured the Egyptian falafel, internally trying to connect the fierce relentless warrior she had met amidst the billowing sands with the slightly geeky acting woman right before her.
"When I finish we are going out to the city, there are some things I want to find so that I can do a little experiment." Taylor calmly said while savoring her meal, the fact her words made a small frown appear on Anit's face immediately catching her attention. "What's the matter, Anit?"
"The Council had requested a meeting this morning, remember? Twenty minutes from now?" The Egyptian mage calmly explained, a strained smile upon her features. "I told you that last night."
"Oh, right… Well tell then to reschedule it then." She nonchalantly replied with a shrug of her shoulders while going to wash her hands, clearly not giving the fact any attention. "I have far more important things to do."
"Like what?" She uneasily asked, slightly startled at the idea of slighting the gathering of the most powerful magic users in the country like that.
"Going to a few electronic and hardware stores." Taylor calmly answered.
"Taylor, you can't just brush off the Council like that for nothing!" The mage said in alarm, mouth slightly agape at the reason given.
"You know they are going to just ramble about nothing of importance for a while before trying to give me something in order to try and tie me down to Egypt or something like that." She said while giving Anit a slightly irritated look.
"Very likely, yes." The olive skinned woman sheepishly said, knowing her liege was most likely right. "But the fact remains that if they gather and no one appears it will be a huge offense towards them."
This made the Devil-king stop for a moment as she was taking a seat, an irritated look upon her features as she seemed to ponder about the situation while grabbing pen and paper.
In one hand, the fact she was a Campione meant that the Council would more than likely ignore any slight she made against them no matter how major, but in the other, it would indubitably gain her at least some animosity from them, no matter how veiled.
"Fine, I see your point." She grumbled for a moment, turning towards Anit with an unhappy expression for a moment, an unhappy expression that was swiftly replaced with one of vindictive glee, much to the mage's consternation.
"But, since it's such a big deal, then you can go and see what they want." She chirpily said, giving Anit a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Since you work for me anyway, you can act as my representative or something."
Mouth slightly agape at the idea Anit simply stared at Taylor for a moment, before with a defeated sight she nodded her agreement. It would definitely work, especially since the Council would most likely see it as a good sign that the Eighth Campione trusted her enough to use Anit as an envoy of her will. But that didn't mean she had to be happy about enduring a round of useless politics with a bunch of windbags.
"Anit, going from a one to ten scale, with one being extremely unlikely to ten being almost unavoidable, what are the chances of the Council doing something to you if I send you by yourself to see what they want?" Taylor suddenly asked with perfect seriousness, stopping the mage's bitter musings, eyes fixed upon a list she was writing down and a hint of steel entering her voice as she made the question.
Blinking her eyes in surprise at the question and sudden change of mood the Egyptian mage watched the Eighth Campione's form for a moment, as if expecting her to elaborate about the strange question, before with a shrug of her shoulders upon realizing no explanation was coming she decided to simply answer it.
"A one, perhaps a two, but I wouldn't bet on it." She simply replied, watching as Taylor raised her head to look out the window as if seriously thinking about something.
"Eh, why risk it." The Campione nonchalantly said, almost as if talking with herself before rising from her seat and walking towards Anit with purposeful steps. "Even if it's unlikely, better safe than sorry after all."
Wondering what exactly Taylor was planning Anit watched as she stopped right in front of her, before a chill ran down her spine as power inundated the room the very next moment as Taylor started up one of her Authorities.
"From the void I claim you! From the ether I beseech you! Come to me fragments of creation! Grant me thy blessings in my hour of need; invest me with thy might; empower me with thy graces; for I am the agent of thy will!"
Wide eyed she watched as the Eighth Campione called forth her divine powers less than a feet away from her, incredulous wonder clear upon the mage's features, a feeling that was drastically intensified the very next moment, as she felt pure power being poured into her very being.
She felt stronger than she had ever felt before, as if she could easily bench press a truck without breaking a sweat, strong enough to tangle with a Divine Beast and beat it with her bare hands without suffering a single scratch.
But not only that, she now somehow knew that for all intents and purposes she was impervious to harm, that some kind of mystical barrier that was now covering her skin would nullify any attack sent her way.
'With this I'm probably one of the strongest beings in the whole of Egypt…' She thought in wonder, raising her hands towards her face as if it would allow her to see the power that was now hidden beneath her skin.
"Well that's only a level three shard, but it should do the job just fine I guess." Taylor nonchalantly said, either not seeing or not caring about Anit's awestruck expression. "The power will last for forty eight minutes, more than enough time for you to see if there is anything wrong with the meeting, get out of there and come to warn me should the worst happen."
"What do you mean 'only a level three'?" Anit asked in a near whisper with a suddenly dry mouth, failing to connect the word 'only' with the massive power she now temporarily wielded. "How many levels are there?"
"There are ten levels. Now I know it's unlikely anything will happen, but do be careful and warn me immediately should anything go wrong, okay?" Taylor stated with a serious look, staring at Anit's dazed expression for a moment until she woodenly nodded her head and robotically started to walk towards the door.
'Ten levels… this is a three out of ten…' Her mind boggled at the idea that the incredible power she now felt wasn't even half of the full power of the Authority, while part of her mind wondered if Taylor's golden avatar was it at level ten.
Exiting the hotel room Anit felt, and not for the first time, extremely grateful that Taylor was not her enemy.
\V/
Seating at the luxurious couch of her hotel room, an irritated frown clear on her features, Taylor kept glaring at the half assembled Sci-Fi looking portable supercomputer that was innocently resting upon the corner table with its screen lit up, annoyance all but radiating out of her body.
It was not the fact that her first attempt at using a Tinker power had ended up with a half finished product due to the power running out before the work was done that was irritating the young God-slayer. Neither was it the fact that her hotel room was now sporting an dissected TV, a dismantled mini fridge and an disassembled ordinary computer, the items having been cannibalized for parts for her project despite the fact she had gone through the trouble of acquiring a lot of spare parts before attempting to use her power to avoid exactly such an outcome.
No, she was fairly certain she could recover that specific Tinker power, or another similar enough, to finish her own portable supercomputer later on, and she had more than enough money at the moment to reimburse the hotel for the broken appliances.
No, part of what was annoying her was that, now that her Tinker Shard was gone, she had absolutely no idea how she had managed to make the materials she had just used on her project do what they were currently doing.
None of the materials she had used should be able to work for what she knew she had used them for, that was an indisputable fact. And yet, somehow, they still worked as she intended them to work at the moment of construction regardless of their natural characteristics and properties.
Even half assembled and missing most of its parts she knew that her Tinker-tech computer was still on par with a military grade supercomputer. The mundane materials she had used apparently happily telling something as ordinary and plebeian as the laws of physics to go bother someone else, as they worked as her power had demanded them to work, and not as nature expected them to.
'Tinkers are bullshit.' The familiar saying from her home world promptly drifted through her mind as she let out an irritated scoff.
But that was only part of what was annoying her, a minor part at that.
The major source of her irritation was that she had had the brilliant idea of using a Thinker power to try and make sense of how the hell her hodgepodge Frankenstein supercomputer was working.
Only for said idea to sink like a stone as her Shards of Infinity Authority apparently decide to be, in a word, uncooperative.
That had been nearly eight minutes ago.
Discarding another extremely interesting but utterly useless power for the task at hand, Taylor started to seriously consider the possibility of her Shard's Authority being at least partially sentient, just like the Entities Shards themselves. And also the possibility that, just like said shards, it appeared to be a battle maniac.
It was the only explanation she could think from the top of her head for her Shards to be so useful and helpful at battle situations, but then decide to be utterly stubborn and uncooperative if they were used for anything that was not related to combat in some way.
Ditching another two powers, one that would grant her perfect short term battle precognition, and another that would allow her to pick up catastrophic weak points at anything she looked at, she decided that it was almost like watching a child playing with the vegetables on their plate for as long as possible in the hopes that their mother would not force them to eat them in the end after all.
'I wonder if the only reason it helped me in a timely manner the last few times I used it for research was due to the fact that what I was researching was relevant for possible future conflicts.'
Thinking about that particular possibility, while rejecting yet another power, she wondered what would happen if she decided to change her search parameters to something that could help her combat effectiveness; only to nearly bolt upright in a start as her power suddenly lurched forth like an overenthusiastic puppy, a new power being presented to her with what she couldn't help but label as eagerness.
Blinking her eyes, her musings and suspicions regarding her power temporally shoved to the side, she felt as her annoyance at how difficult her Shards were being disappeared in an instant as she examined the newest power that was being offered to her, her mouth opening slightly in silent surprise.
Immediately recognizing the power her Authority was currently offering her Taylor simply couldn't hide the manic grin that was slowly forming upon her face, an incredibly useful power whose original holder had utterly squandered it.
The ability to achieve mastery levels of competency in any skill that was desired nearly instantaneously, in other words, Uber's power.
Olympic class gymnast, Special-Ops level marksmen, World class martial artist, Pentagon level hacker, all that and more. Any conceivable ability or skill, as long as it could be done by a person his power would allow him to master them to the top tier of human ability.
An ability that quite frankly had it been used appropriately could have easily turned him into an incredibly dangerous individual, instead of the C ranked videogame fanatic joke villain he had been.
And now here she was, holding either that very same power or a very close analogue at her fingertips, and unlike its original wielder she didn't have a video game obsession hindering her thought patterns.
Examining the power more closely she analyzed its effects and limitations. It would allow her to achieve mastery level of any skill she trained in after measly five minutes of training, and as long as she constantly kept practicing with the acquired skills at least once a week for a few hours her skill level would barely degrade after the power had run its course.
And at this very moment she still had twenty two minutes until her current shard ran out of juice, meaning she could grab four skills at a mastery level out of the deal.
Knowing perfectly well that her powers were basically bribing her but not really caring at the moment she selected the power with finality, immediately starting a list of what skills she needed or desired, screening for the most desirable or immediately useful while at the same time making a note to, most definitely, try and find this power again in the near future.
'And I don't think that will be a problem.' She mused, clearly noting the slight feeling of approval that particular line of thought had brought from her Shards.
Humming in contentment, while idly making a note to try and investigate how much awareness her powers really had at a later date, she opened her half assembled supercomputer's internet browser, mind already set upon the first skill she desired as she remembered an oddly appropriate phrase from a movie she had once seen years ago, a manic grin firmly placed upon her features.
'I know Kung-fu.'
\V/
Entering her liege's abode, Anit couldn't help but sigh in relief, both at leaving behind the smoldering mid-day Egyptian sun behind, and at the fact that she didn't need to keep listening to the Council's long winded speeches any longer for the rest of the week.
She understood why Taylor wanted her to act as a bridge between her and Egypt's Mage Association, her knowledge in regards to the Council from her years of service allowing her to excel at the job and keep things running smoothly.
That, alongside a very well practiced kind of patience that meant that she wouldn't try and murder the whole lot of them after listening to half an hour of an overblown, far too polite speech that could basically be summarized into two paragraphs of truly pertinent information amounting to a renewed offer of support to anything the young Campione could need, and subtle enquires regarding if she planned to remain on Egypt in a more permanent basis, meant that she was perfect for the job.
'Yeah, the longer Taylor avoids these meetings the better for everyone involved.' She thought only half jokingly, as she mused how her extremely practical and scarily efficient liege would probably react to being in a room with a bunch of old politicians blabbering meaningless polite chatter for prolonged periods of time.
'Yeah that wouldn't end well…' She grimly concluded, acknowledging the necessity of the task even if she didn't like it one bit.
At the very least her close connection to Taylor meant that she had an unspoken immunity amidst the Council nowadays. Not to mention that the Eighth Campione was apparently quite protective of her, in Taylor's own words, loyal minion. Something that had been clearly highlighted by the fact she had used an Authority to ensure the Egyptian mage's safety before sending her to the meeting.
Absentmindedly looking at her hands Anit let her mind wander towards the feeling of incredible power she had felt upon being graced by the Authority, a feeling that despite the fact the Authority had already long since dissipated still lingered within her mind.
Shaking her head in order to clear her thoughts, Anit started to muse about her King's behavior instead. And how it seemed to flux from scarily competent and utterly focused to mischievous and playful at the drop of a hat, in such a manner that she couldn't help but think that there may be a bit of truth to the rumors that all Devil-kings were slightly insane.
Opening the door to her Liege's hotel room in order to report how the meeting had gone Anit simply stopped and stared, her mind trying to understand exactly what she was seeing.
Watching as Taylor swiftly moved around the spacious room, arms and legs moving in a blur of speed as she jumped from one piece of furniture to the other with perfect balance and grace while executing a series of Hollywood grade martial arts maneuvers, all the while sporting a manic grin on her face, she decided that there really might be some truth to those particular rumors after all.
"Taylor… what are you doing?" She cautiously asked, setting the binder she had been carrying into a desk, eyes still locked at her Liege's now still body, which was perched atop the backrest of a chair in an impressive show of balance, while part of her mind idly wondered why the TV was dismantled into dozens of tiny pieces.
Taylor immediately turned to regard her upon hearing Anit's voice, her eyes taking in the olive skinned mage for a moment with a suddenly pondering look, curiosity and eagerness swiftly crossing her features, before her grin somehow grew even larger, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Anit, is mage-craft a skill?" Taylor immediately enquired, swiftly jumping to the mage's side while completely ignoring Anit's previous question.
"What?" The Egyptian mage asked, befuddled by the apparent non sequitur of her Liege's sudden question.
"Is mage-craft a skill?" Taylor asked once again, moving closer before stopping inches away from the olive skinned woman, her eager eyes fixed upon Anit's own. "Is it an ability anyone can learn through personal effort and training, or does it demand some kind of mage bloodline or anything like that in order to be used?"
Giving herself a mental shake to get rid of her confusion Anit decided to simply answer the question, she could try and find out what Taylor was plotting later.
"Although there are indeed some magical abilities that are connected to bloodlines, like for instance the ability of Spirit Vision." Seeing the curious look her liege was giving her she decided to briefly explain said ability.
"It's a Hime-Miko's ability that allows the user to access the Memories of The Void, the immaterial repository of all knowledge that lays in the Netherworld." She explained, receiving a brief nod in understanding.
"So like I was saying, while some abilities are indeed only available to those with the correct bloodline, mage-craft as a whole can be learned by any person that posses enough willpower and sufficiently large magical reserves, if they work hard enough and dedicate themselves to the craft that is."
"So in that aspect, yes, I suppose that you could say that mage-craft is a skill." She finished her explanation, giving the Eighth Campione a searching look. "Why do you ask Taylor? Do you want to learn it? As a Campione you posses' huge magical reserves and we both know how much willpower you have, so if you want I could get you a few beginner tomes about the subject so you could get started."
Later on Anit would freely admit that the long, slightly maniacal, super villain style laughter that answered her question was slightly unnerving.
\V/
Author's Notes:
I tried to make Taylor try and slow down a little in this chapter since she doesn't have a specific objective or goal in sight at present and her crusade is now over. But unsurprisingly enough the little munchkin decided that her idea of R&R is to try and develop Tinker Tech, study about magic, and all in all start to escalate things preemptively in preparation for any future threats.
That and show that she has some lingering issues after living the life she lived so far, not that that is any surprise, after all happy well adjusted individuals don't tend to develop martyr complexes…
In a separate note, the nightmare in the beginning of the chapter was a truly unexpected pain to write down. I wanted to give it a slightly surreal feeling without immediately showing anything was truly wrong, or that it was a dream, but that was harder to achieve than I had expected.
In the end I rewrote that particular scene thrice, and I'm still not completely happy with it, but in the end I think it turned up decent enough.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review before leaving.