The elevator made a ding sound when it reached its destination. Elizabeth and Nyx came out of the elevator a huge bag in Elizabeth's hand that anyone would find heavy should they look at it. Elizabeth just walked like it was nothing and went to the receptionist's desk and rang the bell. A door opened from behind the desk and a man around 30 walked out.
"Miss Vaughn how can I help you?" Questioned the man with a smile on his face.
"Good night, I would like to use the hotel's gym sections privately if possible." Said Elizabeth with a small smile on his face.
"To my knowledge the gym is empty," the man looked at his watch "it's getting quite late should I turn on the sound dampening system?" Inquired the man.
"Please, I haven't used the gym in a long time. I may drop a few things." Said Elizabeth with a full smile decorating her face.
"Please consider it done. Also, is the lady going to accompany you?" Asked the man not expecting an answer.
"Yes please put Nyx on top of my close acquaintances."
After Elizabeth said her part the man just bowed and bit the ladies to have fun. The two of them once again stepped into the elevator and the girl pushed the button for floor -1. Nyx pondered on the earlier conversation trying to piece together what this place was exactly and how much Elizabeth was involved previously with the underworld of this planet. Before she could reach any plausible conclusion they reached their destination and Elizabeth already moved out of the elevator. The gym betrayed Nyx's expectations as it was just normal, machines everywhere to train muscled and shoot guns as she had expected from the conversations before. Elizabeth on the other hand just went towards a sliding door that said "Private Gym" and put her hands on the door. A blue ripple went along the black door and slid open revealing an unlit room after it.
"Light." Said Elizabeth in a soft tone.
The ceiling lit up with a pleasant orange glow and Elizabeth her bad down on one of the many desks. As the room came into view it revealed a shooting range. Nyx followed her and caught a whiskey glass that was suddenly thrown her way.
"What should I do with this?" Elizabeth could see the question mark pop up above Nyx's head.
"I'll show what I am but first I read a long time ago that fairies have a humane body they just use mana to buff themself. Is that true?" Elizabeth wanted to confirm her knowledge.
"Mostly yes we live entirely on mana so our body uses it like second nature." Replied Nyx.
"Then please use your hand to crush the glass." A small smile floated onto the girl's lips.
Nyx looked at the glass and frowned she didn't understand what the girl was trying to show her. Still, she tried breaking the glass but she needed to focus on not using her mana to strengthen her grip which made her lose focus on actually crushing the glass. Half a minute has passed, Nyx gave up on trying and threw back the glass to Elizabeth. The moment it reached her hands the glass exploded sending shards flying everywhere. Nyx made a shield in front of herself to protect her from the pieces of glass flying everywhere. Finally, Elizabeth opened her hand clapped away the glass dust that remained stuck to her hand.
"As you can see" Elizabeth grabbed her right hand's wrist with which she destroyed the glass "I'm not human entirely" and pulled off her hand from her elbow.
Nyx just looked at Elizabeth's smug smile with a dumbfounded look in the meantime the girl put her hand back.
"You know that 70% of the world's population has at least one implant right?" Nyx asked with one of her brows raised. "So you what makes you not entirely human?"
"I would rephrase that question into what keeps me from becoming inhuman." Elizabeth tapped her head with one of her fingers "My brain and about half of my spinal cord it still flesh and bones any other part is metal and blood."
It took a few seconds for Nyx to comprehend what Elizabeth had said and after that, she looked at the girl with confusion. Her mana has never registered any unnatural things about Elizabeth's body and finally she understood it.
"You are beyond crazy." said Nyx in disbelief. "You are a living representation of brain in a jar."
"They call it Magibiotechincal engineering. This body is a prototype and yes you could say I'm a brain in a jar. BioTechnika is returning the favor after everything I've done for them yet they still could not solve the problem of magical weapons penetrating through." stated Elizabeth.
"Have you never wanted to get your real body back or change this one to fit you better?" Nyx's voice carried worry.
"So you can even feel that huh?" Elizabeth asked a poetic question."To answer the second part of your question. Yes, I want to change this body but the materials it is made from are quite hard and any change such as tattoos or piercings are fundamentally impossible while I don't even remember how a real body felt this body has enough senses to satisfy me."
Nyx could not watch Elizabeth's smile for a second more and hugged her with all of her strength. Elizabeth just accepted the hug and the warmth that she received. Nyx's mind was in chaos, she knew that Elizabeth's strength was something that she earnt considering she was a walking experiment. Their connection allowed her to feel that Elizabeth would never be against turning herself into something that was an abomination if she could have the freedom she desired.
"Eli, you can change your body if you want." Stated Nyx.
"Really!?" The excitement in the girl's voice was uncontrollable.
"Yes, the powers you gained are more than they seem." Nyx loosened the hug so she could look into Elizabeth's eyes. "First, where they come from. Seeing I'm not gonna return to either of the factions I'll tell you a little secret. The powers we wake up inside you are connected to the event or feelings of your pasts. Chains. The representation of slavery to an event, person, emotion. Displacement. The representation of escape, you wanted but you couldn't so you escaped to a world of your imagination. And lastly, Corruption is the representation of sex. Your desire to mold a person your ideal and their true self. These are the names and descriptions you would get from a fairy if you asked them what power you have. Corruption is pretty versatile it can do anything that you want it to do even change your body. On the other hand, it had one drawback..." Nyx's voice got quieter as she tried finishing her sentence.
"I'll be no longer human not like I'm one anyway so let's do it." Elizabeth was quite optimistic about her change.
"First I'll need to teach you how to control the Corruption then you can change and you promised to show what you are capable of." Nyx's tone held a bit of impatience.
Elizabeth's face twisted in displeasure as Nyx broke the image of an easy path to the body she desired. Nyx, on the other hand, failed to predict that the girl would throw away her body this fast even if she wouldn't mind becoming inhuman for what she desired. Elizabeth finally broke the hug and went to unpack her bag. The first gun to come out of the bag were two pistols. Elizabeth looked at the weapons for a second before putting them onto the table and pulling out a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. Nyx looked over the weapons and her eyes got stuck on the sniper even she knew of it because not once have her Angles' lives got taken away by that caliber. Elizabeth already pulled out a belt from the bag and loaded it with full mags for the pistols and the assault rifle. She then grabbed all three weapons went over to a firing lane, flipped a switch that summoned a holo target some 20 meters into the lane.
She is not angry rather she is hyper-focused. Show me, dear, show me that you are more than you seem.
Elizabeth's eyes were closed while she searched for something inside herself. When she finally found it she breathed in and breathed out opening her eyes in the process. The colors drained from their hues leaving only a gray world. Pistol already in her hand she pulled the trigger yet no sound was made. Casing after casing hit the floor silently and finally the magazine. With trained motion, Elizabeth just pulled out another from her belt, inserted it into the gun, and released the slide.
How much? How much did you suffer for so much power? You are such a lovely being yet your world is without color or sound. The pure mana you are using now is what we consider suicidal yet you take it like it's normal. How many secrets are you hiding from Mother, Eli-chan?
By the time the last casing hit the floor with a loud clang Elizabeth was breathing heavily. Elizabeth almost dropped the assault rifle down onto the table in front of her. Nyx went over to her rubbed her back to calm the girl down a little faster. The woman started circulating her mana in Elizabeth and frowned when she found no damage done to the girl's organs.
"They call it Angel's blood. The first time I got it I was satisfying a VIP customer and he said it would make me feel like I'm in heaven. 5ml into my blood, the effect was imminent I OD-ed and went into psychosis. The moment I pulled the syringe out I stabbed the guy in the neck whit it and had sex whit one of my girls. For the first few hours, I truly felt like I was in heaven after that came hell. They burned around a million credit just to keep me alive." said Elizabeth as her breathing returned to normal.
"Eli." Nyx turned Elizabeth to face her "The ability you gained by surviving is what we fairies would kill for. Your blood is slowly becoming pure mana just like ours but your body should have never survived this much trauma." Nyx's eyes and tone were full of concern. Elizabeth on the other hand just let out a dumbstruck sound.
"From what you said it was not the first time you injected it meaning your saturation should be quite high. Your supernatural abilities are the effect that you survived the process called Purity when emotions get cleansed from fairies for a short period so that pure mana could create a pool where mana was burned. You could also hear my thoughts no?" asked Nyx.
"Yes. My magical senses get amplified by about three times during that mode and anything other than that gets cut off, similar to alcohol expect the cut-off effect."
"By the Devourer you are a tier 2 fairy sapling, not even a tier 5 human seed."
Nyx was flabbergasted by what she had found. Her first thought was that the walkers had some hand in what she and the girl went through yet to the most important question she could not find an answer to. Why?
"What do you mean I'm a tier 2 fairy and what is this sapling you are talking about?" Elizabeth's question broke Nyx's thought process.
"Within a tier, there are three ranks seed, sapling, and tree. For human's ranks only matter in tier 5 but for fairies, it matters all the time. You can only defeat those who are above you with a trap or with help. Right now you should have the power of a tier 2 human but if you rank up one more time even a tier 4 wouldn't be a problem." Explained Nyx.
Elizabeth went back to pick up her sniper rifle. First, she opened the bolt, put a mag in it, turned around, and shoot it. Nyx was astounded. No sound. There was no sound when Elizabeth fired a bullet or cycling of the bolt the only sound that could be heard was when an empty casing hit the floor. After the fifth shot, she opened the bold and put the sniper down. Elizabeth looked over to the display that showed where she hit the target. She just scoffed at the display as it showed a plus symbol.
"And what tier can I beat now?" Asked Elizabeth all smug.
"Maybe even a tier 5 human if you hit their hearth."
"Maybe?" Elizabeth lifted one of her eyebrows "I killed many with this gun even Angels and they died if no to the bullet then to the poison inside it."
"You have glass head bullets?!" Shouted Nyx her question at Elizabeth.
"Yep. During my two decades living, twelve was used to learn how to kill even the most defended people. Making the poison for the glass heads is like going eating organic food, I can but I not always will. I got one more surprise left for you." Answered Elizabeth.
Elizabeth went over to her bag once more. What she pulled out sent shivers down Nyx's spine from which the aura it emitted. Nyx could feel the katana Elizabeth held brimming with bloodlust and she thought after the glass heads not much will surprise her about Elizabeth.
"What the fuck is that katana?" Asked Nyx in a calm but concerned voice.
"My whole life."
Elizabeth just pulled the katana out of its sheet and slashed at Nyx. The woman put up a curved shield in front of her. The shield crumbled under its weight and fell to the floor in five big pieces. Nyx just frowned.
"That line... whatever I'm not even gonna add anything to it. But this." Nyx picked up a piece of the shield. "Creative. Using the sword as a wand to cast magic. Sending mana into an area then using the sword as an example for them to what to do. But don't you think you should refine it a bit more? These look like claw marks rather than sword marks."
"That's the point. Claw swipes cause a lot more damage to the tissue than just sword cuts." Pointed out Elizabeth
"That katana would make for a good empowerer but let's make you a better one."
"What's an empowerer?"
"A weapon or ability that sucks mana out of your defeated enemies' hearth. Most Angels use an ability, weapon, or just suck up the mana left behind, in turn, empowering their own abilities. This is mine." From behind Nyx's back, a tentacle-like monster appeared. "Seeing as we have the same corruption power. You should be able to do this as well."
The tentacle had scales and looked as if it was a part of a snake but its head betrayed that thought by having long sharp teeth and eyes that were looked like long scars.1I didn't know how to write it but I imagined them like Venom's eyes. As if having its own mind the tentacle monster extended and got closer to Elizabeth. The girl was not afraid of it rather she reached out to the sharp teethed creature and stroked the creature's chin. Elizabeth pulled out one of her tentacles and guided it close to the monster. The monster bit down onto the tentacle Elizabeth only felt that Nyx's mana was being injected into her tentacle. Soon her tentacle looked just like the monster that bit down on it except it was fully white. The two monsters hissed at each other for a moment and eventually, Nyx pulled hers back.
"What are these?"
"You can call them whatever you want. I call them mana wyrms you should use them to eat hearths or brains. Eating their hearth gives you better efficiency rather than just sucking the mana out. Brains can give them a hive-mind-like ability but you don't need human brains for that you can use just about any monster for that."
Elizabeth was fascinated by the monster she just received and started to play with it. Nyx on the other hand was pondering over how to train her and her abilities to a higher level.
"Quick question. I have two to be more precise." Nyx tried getting Elizabeth's attention
"Shoot." Answered Elizabeth without looking back
"First, how can you silence weapons this easily? Second, how good are you with experimentation?" stated Nyx her two questions.
"My OS is self-programmable so to speak. I programmed it so that when my eyes see a weapon it knows when, where, and how much mana it should use to create a bubble that blocks sound completely." Elizabeth turned towards Nyx "And to your second question, I'm a designer and an alchemist at the same time. The moments I got my powers I wondered where their limits are." Answered with a smug grin on her face.
Magibiotech and tells about how to combine them even more.... Holy sh*t is this a precious gem I've found. Aaannyways thanks for the chapter.
Thank you for reading hope I can amaze you even more with where to story will go.
Nyx said her powers are chains, displacement, and corruption so where do her tentacles fit in? Are they part of corruption?
You'd be correct. Think of them as arms to remodel someone. Also thank you for reading