Chapter 11 - Master and Apprentice
Fenrir Far East Branch, Director's Office - The very next day after the end of the previous chapter
(General P.O.V)
Director Johannes sits at his desk contemplating the path forward in regard to his plans after learning of the death of his Co-Conspirator of a heart attack, something the good doctor had been warned about regarding his smoking and eating habits long before now
However, it seems that all that warning was in vain as it seems that his body finally had enough, and now Dr. Daigo Oguruma is dead with the director now having to work on his own regarding his plans for the true Aegis project..
At first, he had suspected foul play from Captain Amamiya but when there were no traces of any poisonous substance of any kind found in either the deceased doctor's body during the medical autopsy nor was there any found in things he was drinking yesterday, he had to concede the fact that the doctor's death was the result of poorly-timed natural causes…
Still, the saving grace in his eyes is that before his death, the doctor was able to brainwash Ms. Amellia one last time so she should still be on track to deal with the snooping Captain regardless…
While he had preferred to have a knowing co-conspirator on his side, he will have to make do with the unwitting assistance of the God-Eaters in the Far East as well as make use of the supernatural talents of one Scáthach who may yet prove herself even further to be of great use to his plans, unknowingly or not…
Considering her now being the teacher of Ms. Amellia, he had considered bringing her on board with his plans several times already, especially now that Dr. Daigo Oguruma is dead, and if she somehow finds out about the brainwashing he can just pin it all on the dead doctor and wash his hands of the whole thing…
However, it's that same power and skill that also makes him hesitant to try and clue her in on his plans as he knows full well that if she were to find great fault in his plans for whatever reason, she can easily run him through and flee the base with no one being able to stop her…
With that in mind, he decides to make her more of an unknowing assistant like the God-Eaters of the Far East Branch in order to still make use of her but ensure she doesn't find out on the off chance she would indeed take offense to his plans…
Not to mention the rumors regarding her and his son have accelerated due to how the duel between the two ended yesterday, something he admittedly stoked the flames of a bit in the right direction so Scáthach doesn't get cold feet in continuing to bond with his son…
If he had to be honest though, seeing his son starting to break out of his shell around the sorceress is something he is quite glad about even if it doesn't ultimately result in anything romantic…
He is all he has left of his dear departed wife after all, and despite their current distance he can't help but want his son to at least find some happiness. Even if his plans for the Aegis project's true purpose never come to fruition he hopes that his son is able to not only solidify his bond with Scáthach but also start bonding with the other God Eaters again despite his reputation.
The Director sighs as he decides to get out of his office and clear his head, lest his focus drift even further away as with the doctor dead he needs to bring his attention squarely on the plan ahead, regardless of what stands in his way.
But in the back of his mind, he begins to wonder if his plans are truly worth the cost with what he may have at his fingertips. However, Johannes has put too much investment into the Aegis project now to give up without good reason to put a halt to his plans…
However, the fact he is even willing to consider halting his plans is what is troubling him as, if Scáthach had never appeared with her supernatural abilities, he would never be second-guessing his long-built plans as he is now…
Only time will tell if Scáthach will indeed prove to be the instrument of the completion of his plans, or be the catalyst to him being the one who dismantles years of work…
Meanwhile - The pocket dimension manor of Scáthach
(Scáthach's P.O.V)
Well, this is an unexpected conundrum I find myself facing…
I sigh as I and my dear Alissa had just failed my final attempt to see if it is possible for Alissa to perform mage-craft normally as I had run through the entire list of things I could do to activate her magic circuits but it seems that there is just flat out none there…
"I'm sorry for disappointing you Mistress…." Alissa says as she looks guilty at the fact she is unable to learn anything beyond martial skills from me, however just because she lacks the abilities naturally does not mean we have no more options…
Summoning the Company Phone from the pocket space, I bring to flick through the template options trying to find a suitable Nasuverse template, and find myself instinctively drifting between two options…
The First is Fergus Mac Roich who is one of two students of the woman whose body I hold as my own now along with her abilities of course, however, the bulky spear that he holds is something that is too different from my own that it might cause people to get suspicious which unfortunately shelves that template idea.
The second and more viable option is Cú Chulainn, even at a TS1 his spear would be invaluable to help Alissa as well as prove that not only am I able to teach mage-craft to God eaters, but I deemed her worthy of her wielding one of my spears.
"You need not apologize my dear, it just means we've exhausted our normal options and must move to company measures instead so don't look so down.." I say as I gently kiss Alissa on the forehead as she blushes and gives a tender smile at my reassurance of her worth.
I soon pull up the template purchase screen and select Cú Chulainn at TS1 before purchasing for Alissa, the white-haired Russian God-Eater suddenly feels a sensation of power akin to electrical currents flowing through her body without harming her as through the power of the company's strange methods, she not only gains access to magic circuits of Cú Chulainn but also his weapon the legendary Gae Bolg…
However this Gae Bolg seems to be sealed by unusual runes along the shaft, likely the company's attempt to ensure the template stack doesn't become too strong due to busted equipment…
While I could technically break the runes with ease due to my inherited knowledge of rune magic from the original Scáthach, I decide to not do so as it would do well to serve as impromptu training wheels for the God-Eater.
"Alright Allisa, put away your God Arc, and let's see how much of Sétanta's abilities have been ingrained in you.." I say with a sultry, eager smile while my twin spears appear in my hands, Alissa grimacing as she gets into a familiar stance with the weapon which makes me grin eagerly…
I would spend the next two hours fighting Alissa, holding back in order to make full use of the Martial talent on my build so she can make rapid gains on her use of the legendary weapon, albeit a sealed one…
After those two hours are done though, the two of us take a break inside the manor itself as we down a can of coca cola each, the black sugary liquid is, and forever shall be, the one addiction I can't bring myself to rid myself even in this new body.
"So I shall leave you in the Pocket Dimension for the moment as I need to talk to Dr. Sakaki regarding how mass production of my God Arc Design is going, in the meantime I want you to run through your technique with Gae Bolg as much as you can as if I deem it sufficient enough I'll reward you with an elemental cloak of your own.." I say to Alissa whose eyes widen as I briefly manifest the shadowy cloak over my body suit to emphasize what she could have for herself…
I give her a quick peck on the cheek before walking out of the manor, snapping my fingers as a portal opens back to my room in the far east branch and I walk on through the portal, intending to indeed talk with Dr. Sakaki regarding the Dual Blades Mass-Production…
Fenrir Far East Branch - 10 minutes later
(Scáthach's P.O.V)
As I leave Dr. Sakaki's office after having the discussion regarding the status of the mass production of the dual-blades, I decide to go grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria before I head back into the pocket dimension itself.
While making my way to the elevator, Lindow suddenly comes up behind me and waves with a casual smile on his face and says… "Yo, how's the new-type apprentice of yours so far, she up to your standards..?"
I roll my eyes at the blatant attempt to fish for information but ultimately relent and simply say… "She's not just living up to my expectations Captain Amamiya, she's exceeding them quite well despite how brief the time it has been for her to undergo my teachings.."
Lindow gives a low, impressed whistle as the black-haired young man maintains his casual smile as he soon says… "Geez, these New-Types really are something.." I merely shake my head in disagreement with his assumption of it being entirely down to the New-Type God Eater process and soon say...
"On the contrary, Ms. Amelia's talent has nothing to do with the New-Type Process, just pure raw talent at her disposal that I intend to hone to perfection.." My words make Lindow's eyes widen briefly as he is slightly surprised at my praise of Alissa although if he knew the thing I did, he really wouldn't…
Before he can get a word though we arrive at the elevator and I step in, as I do I decide to say one last thing which is… "As far as I am concerned Captain Amamiya, the labels of old types and new-types have absolutely no basis on whether or not my teachings will work better or not, just pure raw talent…"
As I head down to the cafeteria floor in the elevator, I can't help but wonder if such thoughts are shared about Alissa's apprenticeship around the rank-and-file God-Eaters and not just one casual ass of a captain...
So when I head into the cafeteria itself, I decide to listen out for any rumors regarding me or Alissa and it's not even a full minute before I hear a rumor regarding me and Soma first, this one apparently saying that he and I are already in a secret relationship of sorts.
I roll my eyes at that one and despite how I briefly do contemplate the possibility of something happening between me and Soma, I quickly push it out of my mind and keep going. The next one is a bit darker as some male God-eaters have a rumor going that every night Soma drags me into his room and has his way with me like a beast.
I think that rumor is due to simple male horniness that the body suit I wear almost daily attracts, especially due to my wide hips, huge breasts, and large ass being almost entirely shown off in this tight body suit.
That and of course Soma's prior bad reputation not exactly helping matters either, although thinking about it now does make me blush and make my mind drift to….places….before I shake my head free of such fantasies and move on swiftly.
Another rumor I hear is one regarding Alissa, that she was merely chosen due to being one of the two New-Type God eaters at the base, which while true does not factor in the innate talent that lies within her, although she, unfortunately, didn't have any magic circuits until the template so…
The final rumor that I hear this time is surprisingly not one about any of the three of us but rather about the deceased doctor and how he supposedly died due to choking on his own cigarette. Honestly, rumors are wild no matter if they come about in high school or in a fucking military complex it seems.
Still, with the lack of any real excitement beyond the duels and the new Dual-blade God Arcs, I can't exactly blame them for being bored enough to come up with these insane bullshit rumors. It's just annoying that Soma, Alissa, and I are the main targets of these rumors really..
Either way, I should probably look into combatting these rumors at some point by either disproving them entirely or giving them something else to naw on so that the old rumors are forgotten about.
Soon enough I am able to very quickly grab a pre-made ham sandwich and start heading back towards the elevator, ignoring any rumors this time as I make my way up to the Personnel Quarters level so I can return to Alissa post-haste.
As I reach the Personnel Quarters level, I walk out of the elevator and start heading to my room at a brisk pace as I have no desire to make a chance encounter with someone right now. Eventually, I make my way into my room and lock the door behind me…only to turn around and sigh when I see a very familiar eye-patch-wearing man sitting on my couch again…
"How long have you been waiting for me to return Xigbar..?" I can't help but ask, the cloaked man shrugging as he folds his arms behind his head and responds by saying… "Eeeh, roughly about 9 minutes so far, was just checking up on you while I was in the area so to speak.."
I sigh and toss him the pre-made Ham Sandwich which he catches in one hand and begins to chow down on it, the man only speaking once he finishes the entire sandwich and says... "Thanks, I was feeling somewhat peckish if I'm being honest Kiddo so I appreciate it.."
I roll my eyes at him before I take a seat on the opposite-facing couch in front of Xigbar and stare flatly at the cloaked contractor before I say… "So, considering I told you before I don't intend to deal with the mission you gave me until after I am done here, I am assuming that whatever business you have is not anything related to that then.."
Xigbar nods as he leans forward while smirking before he says... "You could definitely say that kiddo, I'm on a mission regarding some illegal monster smuggling from the company and let's just say the monster in question is a big deal indeed.."
My eyes narrow as I find myself curious enough to ask… "What sort of monster are we talking about here, perhaps I can help you..?" Considering the available resources of Fenrir, if anything unusual pops up in this world I doubt it would go unnoticed for very long at all if it's a giant creature or something…
Unfortunately, Xigbar shakes his head as he simply responds by saying… "Can't do that Kiddo, the mission target is a need-to-know basis and I don't have the authority to let you in on the target in question.." Xigbar grimaces as he honestly seems like he wanted my help in this due to my affiliation to Fenrir but his hands are essentially tied on this matter for now…
I ultimately sigh at that but there is nothing I can really do to help it seems, we end up catching up for a bit before he eventually gets a call on his company phone, likely from one of the other contractors on the team assigned to the mission as he soon says...
"Contractor X Here…..you say you found them huh….alright then I'll head on over, don't you dare head in without me you hear, I am not bringing your corpse back to your retinue if you decide to be an idiot…" Xigbar then ends the call to his fellow contractor as he gets up, taking a moment to calm himself before he looks over at me as he waves goodbye and opens a dark corridor out of my room and likely out of my world at that.
I just shake my head and open a portal back to my pocket dimension manor as I am quite eager to see how Alissa is doing with her new Spear, hopefully, she'll be ready for her new elemental shroud…
Pocket Dimension of Scáthach - 10 seconds later
(Scáthach's P.O.V)
As I appear outside the pocket dimension, I briefly spot Alissa going through a familiar set of drills with her spear, the Russian God Eater very quickly adapting to the new weapon as if it was tailor-made for her use.
While the Template did give her quite the head-start and she had the benefits of Martial talent, she still had to put in the world for it to be worth a damn, so in my eyes, that is enough to give her an elemental shroud on the basis of merit, even though I had always intended to give her one regardless...
"Alissa, I'm back!" I say as Alissa stops her drills with her spear and looks delighted to see me as she rushes up to me with Gae Bolg held at her side as she soon asks… "How was your discussion with Dr. Sakaki Mistress..?"
I smile and gently pat her head as I soon respond by saying… "It's still getting off the ground due to lacking the material and engineers proficient in building the Dual Blades by hand but at least it's not dead in the water.."
Alissa smiles as I pat her on the head before I pull my hand away and smirk before saying.. "Considering what I saw before I called out to you, it seems you've grown quite adept with your drills using the new spear, as a result, I am proud to grant you an Elemental Shroud of your own..so tell me, what element do you want for it..?"
The Russian God-Eater ponders for a moment before she simply smiles and says… "I want a shroud of shadows, just like you mistress.." her words making feel quite warm inside and so I smile and nod, purchasing the elemental shroud for Alissa as her basic shroud of power emerges on her body as it begins to warp and change into a shroud midnight black in color and made of thick, black flame-like energy while resembling the form of the Organization XIII cloak my own shroud of power has taken the form of itself…
The power of the Elemental Shroud even greatly boosted her power to the point Alissa and I now stand upon the same Tier rating together, something that gives me great pleasure as it means that I can begin working on her full power with the template for the rest of the day in order to start releasing the sealing runes on her Gae Bolg…
"With your new shroud on you my dear Alissa, it is time I make full use of your newfound power and train you to handle it for the rest of the day….alright Alissa..?" I say to the smiling White-haired God Eater who nods and the two of us quickly get into familiar stances as I begin to drill her into getting used to the full scope of her new strength, the joy that I will have someone who is just as strong as I am resounding through my heart and soul as I allow myself to forget my concern for the rumors as I train my only retinue member to my heart's content…
Meanwhile - Company Crossroad of Worlds
(Xigbar's P.O.V)
I fucking told the idiot not even a few minutes ago NOT TO RUSH IN WITHOUT ME!
So instead of waiting for me so we can ambush the smugglers together, the dumbass decided to Leroy Jenkins into the smuggler base in a bid to hog the rewards for himself instead of splitting as we agreed.
There is a good fucking reason why I of all people was assigned to this team that previously consisted of four contractors, including me, without our retinues in order to not tip off the smugglers of our presence…
The reason is that the smugglers were suspected to have a very dangerous monster in their cages, although it wasn't confirmed. I grit my teeth as I dodge a red beam coming from the monster's mouth as it's red eyes gaze dangerously at me, dispelling my Keyblade in favor of my Iconic Xigbar-style bolt-blasters, I begin to return fire with bolts of pink and blue as the monster disappears into the shadows for what is perhaps the third fucking time…
"It's situations like this that make me remember why I never worked with anyone other than my wife…" I say before I dodge a massive blue ball of power that would have slammed into me and dealt massive damage.
It's one thing to face a fucking monster like this in the first place, it's another to do it while having been injured prior, alone, and with no fucking backup in sight. As the monster once again disappears into the shadows, my sole working eye darts around to find the bastard before he—
"AGH!" I cry out as I am struck from behind without warning, losing my left arm and getting my right leg severed at the knee-cap as Inky, shadowy energy gushes out and quickly replaces my lost limbs with new ones from the many souls inside my body that I have consumed over the years when I got the Alucard Template at the suggestion of my wife herself…
However, it's been so long since I've been forced into using my abilities as a vampire that the sensation still leaves me falling to one knee as I recover my senses. I spot the monster suddenly turning its head and begins to rip open a shadowy gate into one of the worlds, no wait I know that world it's heading toward!
"Oh no you don't!" I say as I force open a dark corridor right in front of the monster, for a moment I believe it's about to turn to face me once more. It's right then I feel a sharp blade stab through my body as I turn to see that some of the smugglers have recovered from the beating my team gave them before they got here…
The stab causes my concentration to break and the monster resumes its departure into the world, making me growl angrily and lean forward, forcing the smuggler to lurch forward where I slam the back of my head into his forehead and knock him backward.
It's right then that I pounce on him and begin to feed on his blood, shocking the other smugglers as I absorb the bastard's very soul. As I slowly stand up and pull the sword out of my back, I slowly remove my eye patch to reveal my other eye is glowing vampiric red as I scowl at the smugglers…
And as I begin to carve my way through the smugglers, I see the monster finally duck into the shadowy gate it forced open, and as it leaves me and the smugglers to our bloody conflict…. It lets out a horrific cry.
BISHAAAAAAAN!
Author's Notes
- The Author slowly opens the door that hasn't been opened in almost a full month with a sheepish look on their face -
Well, this is embarrassing, I had intended to have a chapter out long before now at least for all three of my stories, and well, a myriad of IRL problems, massive writer's block, and my mojo for story writing being bone dry until very recently.
Even so, I feel I must apologize for the long wait and hope the myriad of recent content releases happening for all three stories at the same time will go a long way to mending the gap that the long time between content releases has created.
It is here before I get into the plot points of this chapter that I make an announcement regarding my stories.
First of all, I am moving Sentient Wrath to a monthly release schedule as much as it pains me to admit, I have overestimated my ability to handle that particular medium and as such have moved it to a once-a-month release schedule as well as asked for aid from someone who knows Honkai Impact 3rd far better than I do in terms of lore and world mechanics in order to ensure that Sentient Wrath can continue despite the disadvantages I am facing regarding the story.
Secondly, regular chapter releases of A Golden Goddess and Wrapped in Shadows will resume next week as I have no intention of moving either of those to the monthly schedule…
And finally, I am announcing I will be releasing a new Waifu Catalog story, some of those who I have been talking to in the Waifu Catalog and Waifu Catalog Interactive discords may know what story I am referring to which will be working on a once-a-month minimum irregular release schedule.
In short, I am back in business everyone!
Now to begin with the story plot points discussions as per usual!
Director Johannes's reaction to the Death of Dr. Daigo Oguruma
It is both simple yet complicated to explore Johannes's feelings toward both his co-conspirator and his own plans. With Scáthach essentially being able to completely hide her involvement in Dr. Oguruma's death, suspicions fell on Lindow briefly until the autopsy had come in.
With that in mind, his thoughts began to drift toward his complicated thoughts regarding Scáthach and his plans for her as well as his desire to see his son bond with Scáthach and by proxy others, his resolve regarding the True Aegis Project is beginning to crumble, although he is not pulling out yet, he has at least been given reason to doubt his grand plans.
Mage Craft with Alissa
While I would have liked to give Alissa access to Magic circuits innately, I was, unfortunately, unable to provide an adequate reason so I went for a Nasuverse template instead.
Several of my readers who I was talking with suggested a template of Proto-Cu Cuchlainn, I had to go for a TS1 of true Cu Cuchlainn instead To counterbalance the power of Gae Bolg, the company has applied seals to the weapon in order to ensure Alissa isn't given an immediate boost.
Although that is swiftly sorted out by a later Elemental Shrould upgrade for Alissa who has now Wrapped In Shadows just like her dear mistress herself. This also gives her a Tier boost of +2 according to Shroud rulings I could find, making her go from Tier 6 to tier 8 and making her have the power of Scáthach but not the skill of course.
Something that will be both a joy for Scáthach to ingrain in her apprentice and a boon for what comes very soon.
Brief P.O.V with Xigbar
I figured I'd give Xigbar his own fight scene as well as some further character depth regarding his potential full power, as some may have guessed the eye-patch isn't just some decoration but actually acts as a Kenpachi-like seal for his vampiric abilities
Of course, I don't intend to reveal what escaped into Scáthach's World just yet, but the only hint of what it may be is already displayed in the fight scene.
Well then, Next time in Wrapped in Shadows: Shadows over the Far East, Hunting the otherworldly beast and Scáthach VS ? pt.1
See you all next week!